Holding Heritage

Today we sit down with Linh Nguyen - owner of Pearly Nails and Spa in the Comox Valley.
Linh was born and raised in Vietnam and immigrated to Canada 7 years ago. Within the short amount of time, she worked hard to open her own salon at the age of 23!

We explore her newcomer entrepreneur journey, experiences, challenges and successes.
You can also read the online article for Linh's story here.

This episode is produced in collaboration with the Immigrant Welcome Centre's Welcoming Communities Coalition and the Comox Valley Record Newspaper - which are both based in the beautiful Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. 

The goal of this series of interviews aims to learn more about and amplify the voices of newcomers in the Comox Valley who own businesses - and create jobs - in the community. We chat with them about their stories, successes and challenges starting and running their businesses in the Valley. The goal is to help dispel negative misconceptions about the impact of newcomers on the Canadian economy, to highlight diversity and underrepresented voices, and contribute to making our communities more welcoming for all.

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As always, head over to holdingheritage.com to check out the episode show notes!

Intro & Outro Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!

As always, head over to holdingheritage.com to check out the episode show notes!

Intro & Outro Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!

Happy Lunar New Year!   |    新年快樂!    |    Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!

In today’s episode, I’ll be going over some of the many common New Year greetings and wishes in both Cantonese and Vietnamese to help wish you, your family and loved ones all the best for the year of the tiger to come!

As always, head over to holdingheritage.com to check out the episode show notes - where you’ll find all of these greetings, wishes and information in a beautifully convenient and printable sheet for your reference and practice.

Intro & Outro Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!

As always, head over to holdingheritage.com to check out the episode show notes!

Intro & Outro Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!

In this episode I chat with 2 friends - Michael and Chon about growing up speaking an obscure dialect of Chinese referred to as Ngai! We dive into what it was like for them, and how they've both navigated growing up in Canada and England. 

Be sure to visit holdingheritage.com for show notes and more information.

Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!

Also check out Chon's own Blog to learn more about his family and personal experiences in more depth!

As always, head over to holdingheritage.com to check out the episode show notes!

Intro & Outro Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!

Today’s episode is an exciting one because I get to introduce one of my best friends, Annie - and her incredible mom! 

We share with you today a really remarkable and poignant moment in Annie’s Mom’s refugee story - which was when she was almost left behind in China while being 7-8 months pregnant with her first child! Then Annie and I hop into conversation around some of her experiences connecting with her parents and reflecting on her cultural identity and the sense of community that we were lucky enough to grow up with.

Be sure to visit holdingheritage.com for show notes and more information.

Music by Blue Wednesday - be sure to check him out!

As always, head over to holdingheritage.com to check out the episode show notes!

Intro & Outro Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!

In today’s episode, I’m really happy to be able to introduce you to Raymond Liens, he shares pieces of his wonderful family story - like growing up in South Vietnam, their journey to Canada being government sponsored, opening the first South-East Asian grocery store in Winnipeg - being the first to bring Sriracha to Canada, we also discuss how food is an incredible conduit to preserving culture and heritage - so keep on listening and let’s dive right in!

Along with being passionate about food, Raymond is also a cook himself and has classes available! He’s currently working with In My Kitchen Vancouver which is an organization that offers immersive Culinary Adventures from Cooks of many different diverse cultures - they share their unique recipes so be sure to head to www.inmykitchen.ca to check it out!

Be sure to visit holdingheritage.com for show notes and more information.

Music by Blue Wednesday - be sure to check him out!

As always, head over to holdingheritage.com to check out the episode show notes!

Intro & Outro Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!

Trong Nguyen is one of my uncles! In this episode, you hear about his personal experiences fleeing Vietnam in the 1980’s from South Vietnam. He was one of the captains of his boat at the age of 19, and he lets us into several of his incredible memories including escaping from the army, planning and organizing the escape, fixing a damaged boat, being rescued by a ship from  the US, and eventually arriving at the Pulau Bidong Refugee Camp in Malaysia.

Be sure to visit holdingheritage.com for show notes and more information.

Music by Blue Wednesday - be sure to check him out!

As always, head over to holdingheritage.com to check out the episode show notes!

Intro & Outro Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!

Meet the amazing Nina Le! Nina is currently the communication coordinator for Montreal’s Concordia University’s TESL Resource Centre and a Master's student in Applied Linguistics at the University. She's focusing on heritage language maintenance and critical pedagogy. Nina was born and raised in Saigon, Vietnam until she was 15, when she received a scholarship to study A-level in Cambridge in the UK. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree  at the University of Birmingham in Business Management with Communications and started working for the fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar.

If you’re ready and in the mood for a deep diving conversation, Nina and I explore a lot of our thoughts around cultural identity, cultural preservation, intergenerational connection, and Heritage Language maintenance!

In her free time, she manages the Instagram account @cona.yourvietnameseauntie, which aims at sharing her personal studying/living abroad knowledge and experiences to young Vietnamese women stepping out of their families for the first time!

Be sure to visit holdingheritage.com for show notes and more information.

Music by Blue Wednesday - be sure to check him out!

As always, head over to holdingheritage.com to check out the episode show notes!

Intro & Outro Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!

In Part 3 of this 3 part series with Sinh Ha, you’ll hear about my dad’s memories of the day his family left down to the beach to board their refugee boat to Hong Kong.

Be sure to visit holdingheritage.com for show notes and more information.

Music by Blue Wednesday - be sure to check him out!

As always, head over to holdingheritage.com to check out the episode show notes!

Intro & Outro Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!

This episode is Part 2 of a 3 part series with Sinh Ha - My Dad. In this episode you’ll hear about how and why my grandfather and eldest uncle were put in jail, and my dad’s memories and experiences around these events leading up to their boat journey to Hong Kong.

Be sure to visit holdingheritage.com for show notes and more information.

Music by Blue Wednesday - be sure to check him out!

As always, head over to holdingheritage.com to check out the episode show notes!

Intro & Outro Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!

If you’ve listened to episode 2, you’ll have already briefly met my dad and heard a few of his memories, but in this coming 3 part series with him, I’ll guide you through a more detailed account of his early past and experiences. 

In Part 1 - you’ll see into what it was like for my dad growing up in North Vietnam as a young boy, and a few of his major childhood memories and experiences. Including having to hide out during bombings of North Vietnam, attending school as a young Chinese-Vietnamese boy, their family business of noodle making, and a beautiful story about one of my dad's sisters. My dad also opens up about some of his thoughts and feelings behind opening up about his past, and sharing his story.

Be sure to visit holdingheritage.com for show notes and more information.

Music by Blue Wednesday - be sure to check him out!

As always, head over to holdingheritage.com to check out the episode show notes!

Intro & Outro Music by Blue Wednesday – be sure to check him out!