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Ana Gabriela Lopez is the founder of Chica Mala, an eco-friendly textile and lifestyle shop handcrafted by artisans in her home country of Guatemala. We start off the conversation with some history on Ana’s childhood growing up in Guatemala, the “colorism” that exists in the country, and the inspiration she drew from her two strong, but different, grandmothers. She then talks about her transition from Guatemala to Gilroy, California, some of the struggles she faced fitting in, and how she noticed that more opportunities came her way as she made more friends that were white or white passing. Finally, she tells us how all this led to her starting a social impact business called Chica Mala, which uses a unique business model focused on equity, providing significant financial opportunities to the indigenous Guatemalan women of her home country.

Chica Mala:

https://shopchicamala.com/

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Farid Holakouee is a clinical psychologist and host of podcast “In Session with Dr. Farid Holakouee” -- you may also know him as the son of the renown Iranian radio show host, Dr. Farhang Holakouee. We start in his early days at Beverley Hill High School where 30% of the school was Persian, not feeling cultural pressures from his family, and how his initial passion of becoming a physician transitioned into his career in clinical psychology. In the latter half, we jump into some of the juicy topics, like the most common themes of therapy sessions with the Persian population, the role and effects of parental control present in Persian and other cultures, and the concept of perfectionism. Enjoy the show!

Farid's Podcast:

https://msha.ke/drfarid/

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Taneen is a Berkeley native and the co-founder of UK company MobiSkip. In the episode, we hear about Taneen’s thoughts on labels, and how society’s urge to label everyone and everything has fundamentally negative effects on living an authentic life. He talks about being told by his teacher that he will never make it to a four year college, how Eminem inspired his passion for language and using words with intention, the irony of racial segregation in the courtyard at Berkeley High School, and a lot more. Sit back and enjoy a truly unique and organic story!

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Nina Taylor holds a Master’s in Public Administration and currently works at Clari as a talent recruiter and an independent college admissions advisor on the side. In this episode, Nina talks about her deep Italian roots, starting with her family’s emigration from Sicily to the United States back in 1958. She reflects on the patriarchal aspects of Italian culture, attempts to fit in in the Los Altos school district through academic achievement, the curse of curly black hair and much more. Hope you all enjoy this candid and insightful conversation with Nina! 🙂

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Bruna Pinheiro is currently a Master's candidate in school psychology and a friend I've spent hours talking to about mental health and culture. In this episode, Bruna touches on growing up culturally different but white-passing at school, some of the less progressive views Brazilians have on topics like mental health and sexuality, and the importance of letting kids express their feelings and opinions. Given she is in a longterm relationship with a close Persian friend of mine, she sheds some light on her experience around Persian culture and the positive aspects that she  hopes to preserve from both Persian and Brazilian culture in the future. Hope you enjoy! 🙂

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Reetu Sandhu is an Organizational Therapist and recent transplant from Seattle to the Bay Area Peninsula. In this episode, we talk about the challenges around multi-cultural relationships and weddings; things like introducing her non-Indian significant other to her parents and family, the strict requirements on her lipstick color during her wedding ceremony, having an Indian wedding and a "white" wedding, and a lot more. We also talk about tradition, which hills to die on when confronted with cultural pressures or expectations, and the importance of choosing the people you give energy to carefully.

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Rubén is a 31 year old User Experience Designer at a large U.S. tax preparation company — but he's far more than that. His story starts off inside his mother's womb, being snuck across the Mexican border in an enclosed, hollowed out section of a truck right by the engine, for 4 hours straight. And that's just the beginning. Rubén talks about being born into the Mexican mob and gang life, the machismo that is present in Mexican culture, spending 6 months with the rich kids at Palo Alto high school, and a lot, lot more. Get ready for a heavy hitter.

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Preston is a 29 year old Machine Learning Engineer based out out of San Jose, CA. He grew up with Chinese parents who split up when he was young -- his mom subscribing to a "just do your best" mentality and promoting independent thinking, while his dad found meaning in Faith and exists with more of a "scarcity mindset" influenced by humble upbringings in SF Chinatown projects. Preston details his journey, from a non-academic wandering into college trying to appease parental and cultural pressures, to ironically self-choosing to get a second Bachelor's and eventually his Masters in AI from Stanford.

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Looking for therapy? 👉🏽 Find Ida and other therapists here!