Creators in Vietnam

🥗 Vegan and Plant-based lifestyles are popular in western countries where it is nowadays quite accessible, supported, and understood.

But what about Vietnam? 

🗣️ We are trying to answer this question in this episode with our guest Giang Chu. A young and modern Vietnamese professional that aspires to be the next voice of the Vietnam Vegan Lifestyle.

🔈 From generational misunderstanding, modernizing the already present Vietnamese Vegetarian "Chay" Culture and the deep struggle to maintain the lifestyle without proper support in a country full of delicious meat-dishes...Giang offers us a first glimpse into what could be Vietnam's Vegan life in the coming years.

In this episode:

🎙️ Traveling the world and her move from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City

🎙️ How she discovered Veganism and her first attempts at adopting the lifestyle

🎙️ The Difference between Veganism in Vietnam and  the western world

🎙️ Her motivations behind wanting to become Vegans and some of her struggles

Books Mentioned in this episode:

How Not to Die: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25663961-how-not-to-die

Thay Đổi Cuộc Sống Với Nhân Số Học: https://www.fahasa.com/thay-doi-cuoc-song-voi-nhan-so-hoc.html

Khởi Sự Ăn Chay: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48775030-kh-i-s-n-chay

Connect with Giang:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/giang.chu.96

Get in touch with Tue-Si:

Website: https://tuesi.carrd.co/

Get in touch with Dana Drahos:

Website: https://danadrahos.carrd.co/

Get in touch with Nicolas Thanh:

Website: https://nicolasthanh.com/

If you met Tony Fornaro in his 20's or 30's, you would have met a completely different person than the Tony of today.

When Tony reflects on his 20's and 30's, he's the first to say he was honestly, a total a$$hole. He had a series of relationships and each one didn't end so well. But this is all in retrospect...at the time, he thought he was a pretty good, normal guy. He had a well paying job, on paper he was "adulting" but he never really felt like an adult. He was just going through the motions.

Every relationship blew up in disaster, and eventually in his mid-30's, he sought the help of a therapist. He also started to travel internationally. This is when he was able to see life from a different perspective, to self-reflect, to question his behaviors and dig deeper into past trauma in order to become more self aware.

Finally, he made the decision to quit life in the US and move to Vietnam at the age of 41. What happened? Tune in to find out:)

Connect with Tony:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anth_meatballs/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tony.fornaro.1

Get in touch with Tue-Si:

Website: https://tuesi.carrd.co/

Get in touch with Dana Drahos:

Website: https://danadrahos.carrd.co/

Get in touch with Nicolas Thanh:

Website: https://nicolasthanh.com/

🔈 This week, the crew at Creators in Saigon did something new and special! Armed with our brand new equipment and our trusted cellphones, we decided to travel to our guest and interview him in his element!

So we have a shorter episode for you that especially goes in tandem with a video on our Instagram page so be sure to check it out!

🍰 Our guest, Robin Mouquet is a pastry chef that has worked very closely with the world-renown & legendary Pierre Hermé, the "Picasso of Pastry".

He has now chosen Vietnam to settle and develop his own brand and wishes for all of Vietnam to discover his pastries! He actually rented a whole house in district 10 and re-designed the whole ground floor to be his pastry kitchen & shop so do not hesitate to go and visit him there.

It is hard to sit with Robin and not feel the overflowing passion he has for his craft and creations and it was quite invigorating to share a moment with him. The whole team wishes him the very best and we will come back for more eating 😋 

In this episode we discuss:

🎙️ His journey from France to Vietnam

🎙️ His relationship with Pierre Hermé "The Picasso of Pastry"

🎙️ His care and patience for every customers' pastry creation

🎙️ His wishes to make all of Vietnam try his creations and what he hopes for in the near future!

Get in touch with Robin:

Robin.Mouquet on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robinmouquet.shop

on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robin.mouquet/

Get in touch with Tue-Si:

Website: https://tuesi.carrd.co/

Get in touch with Dana Drahos:

Website: https://danadrahos.carrd.co/

Get in touch with Nicolas Thanh:

Website: https://nicolasthanh.com/

It is quite hard to walk away from any discussions with Will without thinking: "What a nice, genuine guy!"

Being in hospitality for half of his life working for Michelin-starred restaurants, Will is now an entrepreneur in his own right and the proud owner of Luu Bar and soon to open Bento Bistro.

Will is an encyclopedia of good and candid stories written in the sweat of his past mistakes and successes.

His creative entrepreneurial journey is far from being over and It was very refreshing to get his experience and point of view on the F&B industry in Vietnam and how he attempts to live a balanced lifestyle while being the owner of a bar!

In this episode, we discuss:

🎙️ His F&B Journey that lead him to travel the world and working for Michelin-starred restaurants

🎙️ How he settled and fell in love with Vietnam in 10 min

🎙️ His first few businesses in Vietnam and how he learnt from his mistakes

🎙️ Opening and owning his own bar and his successes & struggles after being open for a year and half

🎙️ How he attempts to find balance in his life

⁣

Get in touch with Will:

Luu Bar: https://www.facebook.com/LuuBarSaigon/

Get in touch with Tue-Si:

Website: https://newperspective.me/

Get in touch with Dana Drahos:

Website: https://danadrahos.carrd.co/

Get in touch with Nicolas Thanh:

Website: https://nicolasthanh.com/

Jana Van Beek's favorite toy as a child was...a comb! Not the usual toy, but it makes perfect sense when you meet Jana today, who followed her passion of hair styling to become a Professional Hair Stylist, and creator of Earthy Blonde, an all-natural shampoo product to protect blonde hair from pollution and coloring.

Jana started her first very successful hair salon in South Africa at just 23 years old and was styling hair for fashion week and Miss South Africa. After some unfortunate events, she had to close the business and made her way to Asia. She re-built her business in Saigon from scratch, all while juggling full time school and a teaching job, and now has over 30K followers on her Facebook business page!

In this episode, we discuss:

Jana has been kind enough to offer an exclusive discount for our listeners! Head to her website https://www.janavanbeek.com/ or her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/JVBstylist/ and use the promo code CREATORSINSAIGON to get 10% off your purchase! All proceeds from this episode will be going to Little Rose Shelter, a charity and shelter in Saigon for young girls❤️

Get in touch with Jana Van Beek:

Website: https://www.janavanbeek.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JVBstylist/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jvbstylist/

Get in touch with Dana Drahos:

Website: https://danadrahos.carrd.co/

Get in touch with Nicolas Thanh:

Website: https://nicolasthanh.com/

Lua Le, in her previous life, was a promising Vietnamese female office-worker who was recognized by her co-workers and praised by her family. But she also felt deep down that something was missing. She was bored and frustrated about her day to day.

So she started to go dancing and meet some international friends in Saigon. That is how she met some digital nomads and started to question more about her career. But still, she needed to go see the world for herself.

So, at 30+ year-old, after many moments of thinking and doubts, she decides to quit her job, leave her family for a moment, take her savings and travel the world on her own.

This decision changed her life.

And in this episode, we cover the many difficulties coming along such a big decision. Lua Le shares how her family reacted to it, her travel adventures, how « not-perfect » this adventure was and how she found herself.

You will also learn about how she started her cooking class business and why it’s now rated as a top-experience on Airbnb or TripAdvisor. She explains us all the journey toward her current success, with all the ups and downs; including how she pivoted during the pandemic.

At the end of the episode we have a really insightful conversation about « getting out of your comfort-zone ». We really hope you learn a lot and enjoy this episode!

To connect with Lua Le, please find her on Facebook and feel free to ask her anything!

Hosts: Nicola Thành & Dana Drahos

This episode is brought to you by Creators in Saigon Podcast!

Tôn Nữ Thiên An has stories that likely many Vietnamese Millennials can relate to, but very few of which have talked about out loud. We hope this episode opens up a conversation for young Vietnamese to discuss mental health, body image, and bullying.

In Vietnam, it's considered "weak" to share about your problems. We hope to change this narrative, to encourage people to openly share and express your emotions. You are NOT alone.

Resources:

Connect with Nicolas Thành:

French Expat Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/frenchexpatsvn

IzyViet: https://izyviet.com/

Personal website: https://nicolasthanh.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolasthanhg/

Connect with Dana Drahos:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dana.drahos/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dana.drahos/

Connect with Tue Si Nguyen:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tuesi

🔊 Today, we have the pleasure to introduce you Amélie Huynh Le Maux, a multi-project creators in Saigon who have had literally different lives: she was a Biologist PhD working for a pharmaceutical company to become an entrepreneur in Vietnam partnering with her husband...

Now, she is building a new project with her friend Linda called "Copywriting For Good" and in parallele, explores different creative things. Find out more about here: SaigonHer - Women blogging community or read her cultural newsletter Wander & Wonder in HCMC !

Sometimes, in the creative process, we have too many ideas, too many opportunities of projects... Sometimes the problem is the contrary of the blank page!

It was the opportunity for us to get insights from Amélie's perspective on how to look at opportunities in life from an authentic perspective. In this 28th podcast episode, she explains us more how COVID changed all her plans (and a lot of creators, freelancers, entrepreneurs plans too), how to take your time and be authentic, positive and always openminded.

And of course, because we are all super curious and enthusiastic, our conversation got driven out of the topic and we talked about her relationship, her struggles to ask for money, her discovery about being multi-potential, female-entrepreneurs, cultural events in Saigon, her starting project about copywriting for good causes, ikigai, etc.

Amélie has always been creative and energetic, in all the different aspect of her life. In the end, that is maybe the key to unlock opportunities and connect with people?

🎙Co-hosts: Dana & Nico

✅ Episode 28 - Creators in Saigon Podcast

After listening to our episode, feel free to let us know how you liked it and how we can improve it, but reviewing us on Apple Podcast or itunes.

🎧 I am very excited to share with you this introspective and deeply interesting interview with Thao Tran, CEO of her own translation company Thao & Co https://thaonco.com/.

🧠 In this episode, we delved deeper into her experience as a High School For the Gifted Alumni and her time studying business abroad, and how she is now trying to change the translation market by bringing her passionate views and different approaches she gained from her previous mistakes & successes in the corporate world and her real care for her customers.

🚶🏽I walked out of this interview feeling grateful to her and how she played along and allowed herself to be vulnerable and open about the pressure she is facing, the passionate life she is building for herself, and the deep love she carries for her family and hometown Saigon.

📜 If you are in need of any translation services please visit her website https://thaonco.com/ and do not hesitate to contact her if you would like to help her test out her new system!

Connect with Nicolas Thành:

French Expat Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/frenchexpatsvn

IzyViet: https://izyviet.com/

Personal website: https://nicolasthanh.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolasthanhg/

Connect with Dana Drahos:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dana.drahos/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dana.drahos/

Connect with Tue Si Nguyen:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tuesi

From now, once a month we will be only the three of us recording a « team episode » were we can expand on more topics and choose a different angle to our conversations. This one is our first episode as a team … And it was really fun!

It was great because we had some questions about the way we manage the podcast of course and how is Vietnam for « creative people » but also some questions about self development, relationship management and more!

Dana, Tue-si and Nico are sharing a vulnerable moment spent together with you, thanks to your questions. This episode is the first of its kind so if you like it, please share it with people who may be interested in our podcast!

And if you have other questions, feel free to write them down the comments below. Actually we would like to know if you guys like our content and if you see anything we could improve… so feel free to comment about this as well!

Thank you all for listening, stay creative!

Co-hosted by Dana Drahos, Nicolas Thành and Tuê-Si Nguyen

Find us on Instagram!