“It’s never going to be perfect. That balance will never be perfect. I go back to the idea of tension and dissonance. It’s always going to kind of be this see-saw process. But, you know, that’s just life. That’s how I think life is.” - Jonathan Santiago

Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Jonathan Santiago. Jonathan is a former sports journalist turned content marketer, and in 2016 he started traveling the world. While visiting more than 30 countries since he started this journey, Jonathan also spent time reflecting on his upbringing as a son of immigrants and a first-generation Asian American. Jonathan finds duality and tension in this background, and he and Ashanti explore the beautiful dissonance of life in their conversation. Enjoy the show!

(2:05) Ashanti’s Introduction.

(6:00) Jonathan introduces himself and his life and career in journalism, marketing, and travel.

(10:35) Ashanti and Jonathan make their masks together.

(16:40) Jonathan shares the front of his mask - empathy/kindness, intelligence/articulating, curiosity.

(17:10) Ashanti shares the front of his mask - passionate, caring, dedicated - then shares a tender work story.

(22:20) Jonathan shares the back of his mask - race/Asian American, what it means to be a man, money - before continuing to explore the varied cultural sensitivities people have when discussing money.

(29:40) Ashanti shares the back of his mask - brother’s mental health, getting older, cost of building a big organization - and goes deeper into the responsibilities that are currently weighing on him and the dance of setting boundaries with these responsibilities.

(41:20) Jonathan tells a story about visiting Robin Island in South Africa, a place that held political prisoners during apartheid.

(45:30) Next, Jonathan reflects on his travels as it relates to his Asian American identity, and he and Ashanti discuss how Asian American representation has grown in the mainstream.

(54:15) Jonathan shares his final thoughts on the evolution of masculinity.

(58:30) Jonathan shares how you can get in touch with him.

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Connect with Jonathan Santiago:

Website: santiagos.space

Website: videocraftshow.com

Instagram: instagram.com/jontiag0

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Create your own mask anonymously at www.100kmasks.com

If you are interested in being on the Face to Face podcast, email us at [email protected]

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: instagram.com/branchspeaks

Facebook: facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

Twitter: twitter.com/BranchSpeaks

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch

Website: branchspeaks.com

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Send in a voice message:

anchor.fm/branch-speaks/message

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Connect with Ever Forward Club:

Instagram: instagram.com/everforward

Facebook: facebook.com/everforwardclub

Twitter: twitter.com/everforwardclub

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/the-ever-forward-club