Inspirations In My Backyard

"What I have been looking for is always there, inside me."

A tantric retreat changed everything. 

What happened? Why did Martina so scared of the trip at first? And what made her want to explore herself and end up doing what she is doing? 

Listen to this episode to hear about Martina's soul searching journey and learn some tips on relationships and how to embrace your authentic self and deepen your intuition.

Martina's website: https://martinahughes.com/

Stephanie Daughtry, a co-director and producer of an award-winning  Fringe show Eating Tomorrow this year. It's an interesting time travel experiment, imagining what future food would look like.

To my surprise, she only started to call herself an artist recently.  Also, I discovered her life is experimental too. After many trials and challenges, she finally found out her secret power and what she can bring to this world.

Promila Gupta immigrated to Australia almost 40 years ago from India.  With only $500 in hand and being in a completely new environment, she cried a lot initially, but what made her change and thrive? From being a  housewife to a chef, an author, a radio show host and a tutor. But most of all, she has become a public figure in the culture and community space. Promila has promoted her rich culture and cuisine to Australia  and has done many amazing works for the community.

Apart from reflecting on her turning point, Promila also talked about her values, thought process on maintaining her culture in a different country, advice to other immigrants and her views about racism in Australia.

Mahmood Khan is a singer-songwriter and music producer originally from Pakistan. He has created many first-time records. For example, his recent song Jagamarra, a folk-pop world music hybrid dedicated to the  Indigenous community, is Australia’s first-ever orchestral set to achieve a No. 1 iTunes chart.

What touched me the most is his dedication and passion for music.  Before these successes, he just worked on his music consistently without making much money for over 15 years. How could he do that, and what are his supporting values and crazy stories he had? Find the answer by yourself, now.

If you are an immigrant like him, you will understand why he said: “You can replant and reseed things anywhere you want to”.

Sanja Jovanovic is a public speaking coach and founder at Talent  Academy where she cures stage fright. But what interests me the most is  how she got to where she is and her passion for international students,  refugees and immigrants. Surrounded by a macro minority family culture  in Australia, she sees herself as a global citizen.

Sanja used to be a shy girl, that's why she was sent to learn dancing  and performing. But life made her notice and started to use her  superpower: a skill almost always trumps the rest.

Listen in to feel her strong heart and explore her inspiring journey.

Henry Thong didn’t discover his passion for filmmaking until something happened in high school.

He then broke the norm. You may be aware that for people born in an  Asian family, working in a creative industry is usually not encouraged by their family. But Henry was determined, and in fact, he even decided  not to attend university.

What made Henry push through all the boundaries? And how did he deal with some extra challenges as being a minority in Australia, this western world?

Listen in to find out his journey, how Henry embraced adversity and made his dream come true. If you are a creative person, you will get some practical tips from him too. 

Sabina Qader’s life is filled with different cultures: having parents from Bangladesh and Ukraine, she grew up in Kuwait, stuck in the US for  2 years and moved to Australia at the age of 12, then she has taught  English in South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and the UK. Now she has her own business S&S Development Co, because she’s passionate about seeing better dialogue with people from different cultures.

In this episode, you are going to hear Sabina’s personal journey, her struggles, observations and tips on better interacting with people from different cultures, and how she started her own business during COVID. For example:

From choosing to study Actuarial Studies and Commerce at uni (trying to be a good Asian daughter),

to dressing like a mid-aged white man (trying to fit in),

to finally becoming an Asian Australian who is proud of her own identity, Jean Sum's journey is not easy.

However, because of that, she eventually discovered her life purpose,  to support and mentor young Asian Australian women so they can celebrate their diversity and feminine qualities, ultimately truly seeing and believing in themselves through her passion project https://sumofjean.com.

Listen in to find out her personal journey, including lots of turning points, tips and reflections.

Show notes:

Resources and people who've supported her personal growth:

* Biodanza - "Dance of Life" - a beautiful way to connect with myself, others and my environment - https://www.biodanza.com.au/

* Martina Hughes - understanding feminine and masculine energies, amazing coach! https://martinahughes.com/

* The Art of Relating - understanding the relationship with ourselves  to support us in our relationship with others  https://www.theartofrelating.com.au/

A great resource for Asian-Australians:

* Shapes and Sounds - Asian-Australian mental health - https://justshapesandsounds.mykajabi.com/

Jerald has many titles, professor, dean, business consultant,  visiting fellow at Harvard University, and so many more. But the most important one for him is the founder of Planet startup educational NGO.

He always wanted to bridge an inequality gap, opportunities are not even globally. Many people told him: "You're never going to make a  difference." But he did.

In this episode, you are going to hear his evolving journey:

Bonus: one book Jerald finds most interesting and useful:

Want to support Planet startup? Feel free to contact Jerald directly at +1 202 997 1323  or email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Planet, check out: www.PlanetStartup.org

I think it's time to have this solo show :)

Why am I doing what I am doing? To start and host this podcast while my hands (having a full-time job, a radio show and a blog) are already very full. It took me two whole months to decide to do this.

Listen in to find out the reasons (many interesting mini-stories), and the things I learned.

If you have any feedback or potential guest for me, please let me know. I would love to hear from you.