gen asian

In this episode of gen·asian, we discuss all the feelings and anxieties of starting a new job 😬. From how to make a good first impression, to the challenges of starting at a fully remote company. Michelle shares her struggles of enjoying the new era of hybrid work while fulfilling her managerial duties and holding her team to an in-office culture. Winnie shares her experience as an remote employee starting at two different jobs and the differences in her two experiences.

It's wedding season 💕! In this episode of gen·asian, we answer tough questions about wedding guest etiquette. How much do you gift? How much money should you spend as a wedding guest? How do you decline a wedding invite? Would we have a wedding without an open bar? Also, Michelle discusses the differences between family vs friend weddings. While, Winnie shares about the sensory overload of attending an Indian wedding.

In this episode of gen·asian, we have a special guest Brian Wong, a multi-hyphenate who has jumped from various careers, from accounting to consulting and now tech, while also running a fashion company as a side-hustle, Norman's Apparel, with his long distance childhood best friend. He shares about the challenges of running a remote company with a 13-hr time difference and the differences of working culture in Asia vs North America. Brian grew up in Hong Kong and spent his adult years in Canada, so we dive into where he feels a sense of belonging and his take on being 'in-between'.

In this episode of gen·asian, we talk about long distance relationships - tips to survive it (e.g. regular video calls) and the chaotic travelling schedule that comes with it. Winnie shares about how being long distance makes it easier to overlook issues. Michelle reveals how her and Matt talked through and decided on how to end their long distance situation.

In this episode of gen·asian, Michelle turns 29. We address our summer sabbatical (sorry!) and talk about our feelings about birthdays and getting older. Michelle shares about feeling incongruent with her real age after 'losing' 2 years to the pandemic. Winnie reflects on the personal growth in the last few years and we talk about single anxiety and the societal/biological time pressure that women face.

A mini update episode of gen·asian where we chat about our podcast highlights from 2022 (thank you Spotify Wrapped 🙌🏻) and discuss our podcast goals for 2023. 

In this episode of gen·asian, we chat about our green and red flags 🚩when job searching. We discuss how asking personal questions in a job interview can be a fine line and share our different perspective on approaching friends for job referrals.

In this episode of gen·asian, we chat about the perks and challenges of moving in with a partner. Michelle fills us in on how her 1 week trial with Matt is going. Winnie shares about moving in too early, feeling stuck, and not knowing how to move out without breaking up.

In this episode of gen·asian, we discuss the complexities of travelling with other people whether it be friends or a partner. Winnie shares about using ✨communication✨ to set expectations and the importance of learning the culture and language of the place you're visiting. Michelle chats about how her travel style has changed over the years and centering her trips around a purpose or activity.

In this episode of gen·asian, we talk about the "corporate game" and our gripes to corporate life. Winnie talks about her transition from bedside nursing to a more corporate role and the pros and cons having seen both sides. Michelle talks about her framework behind optimizing the “work-to-pay ratio" and her thoughts on the rise of the "lying flat" movement in China.

In this episode of gen·asian, we talk about the perpetual struggle of not fitting in on our Asian side and Canadian side, and how the Asian-American experience is it's own culture. Winnie discusses her interactions with men who have dating preferences for asian women vs having yellow fever. Michelle shares about what she’s most proud of (hint: a relationship breakthrough over the last year).

In this episode of gen·asian, we discuss unequal split of invisible and emotional labour within our parents relationships and our own relationships. Michelle talks about being upset about how she met her boyfriend's grandparents for the first time (lesson learned: give your partner a heads up before). Winnie shares about the time she was offered to be a 5th wheel with an ex 😂.

It's another dating episode on gen·asian (lol) where we chat about what makes a suitable long-term partner. Take a listen to Winnie grill Michelle about whether she thinks her boyfriend, Matt, has marriage potential 👀. And Winnie shares about what traits are must-haves vs nice-to-haves in a partner.

In this episode of gen·asian, we share our thoughts about the different stages of dating. We talk about if we date multiple people at the same time, when we introduce our SO to our friends and how we approach the conversation of DTR😱. Michelle talks about her experience in the earlier stages of dating with her current SO and the transition with DTR. Winnie reflects on the pressure of labels and her experiences of transitions from dating back into friendship.

We're back from our summer hiatus! In this episode of gen·asian, we share what we've been up to. Michelle travels with her bf for the first time, and wonders what introducing him to family will be like. Winnie has been enjoying hot vax summer, shares reflections on healing from exes, and thinks about her upcoming 10 year high school anniversary.

This episode is a special one for many reasons. (1) We have our first guest on gen·asian! (2) We got to have a very special and intimate conversation with one of our closest friends about his journey with grief and loss with the death of his father. Elvis talks to us about the loneliness and isolation he felt, what was and wasn't helpful support from friends, and shares about a healing cross-country road-trip to Vancouver.

Timestamps:

• 1:14 - 1 thing
• 6:00 - Elvis' Story
• 43:30 - Wildcard Q

Get to know Michelle and Winnie better in this light and fun episode of gen·asian. We go through a list of categories and share our favourite thing from each one. Also, stay tuned 'til the end for a little (big) podcast update!

Timestamps:

• 1:06 - 1 thing
• 3:39 - Movie
• 5:37 - Music
• 7:43 - Pandemic Activity
• 9:24 - Book
• 13:27 - Youtube Channel
• 14:56 - Podcast
• 17:18 - Food
• 18:49 - Phone App
• 21:35 - Travel Destination
• 27:17 - Wildcard Q
• 28:14 - Pod Update

Links:

This was a dreaded episode for us - we put it off for a long time for many reasons but hope that by sharing our experience with therapy openly, we can normalize it. Take a listen and let us know what you think!

Timestamps:

• 0:54 - 1 thing
• 3:49 - Why we started
• 18:01 - Biggest takeaways
• 24:40 - Wildcard Q

In this episode of gen·asian, we dive into our career journey. Michelle shares about the difficult decision of choosing her own path and disappointing her parents. Winnie talks about nursing being a practical career vs passion career. And we discuss toxic hustle culture mentality 🙅🏻‍♀️, and the pressure on millennials to monetize and optimize everything in our lives.

In this episode of gen·asian, we share our favourite first date questions, and thoughts about breaking the touch barrier. Michelle remembers the time she dodged a first kiss 💋, and Winnie reflects on how her asian culture influences who would be a suitable partner.

In this episode of gen·asian, we chat about working out to fight our Asian genetics, Michelle is surprised her parents didn’t call her fat 🥲, and we discuss minimizing our culture at work so we’re not “too asian”.

In this episode of gen·asian, we share our experiences of workplace racism/microaggressions, feeling invisible at work and feeling bad for taking up space. Winnie retells a story about getting called the wrong name for hours 🙄 while Michelle reflects on the impact of the rise of Anti-Asian racism.

In this episode of gen·asian, Michelle and Winnie chat about the fuck boys who’ve played them, whether ghosting is ever ok, and answer the age-old question “Are men shit? Or are you attracted to men who are shit?”. Also, Michelle shares about the time she was called out for ghosting 👻, and Winnie reveals her affinity for fuck boys in backwards hats.

The long-awaited get to know us episode! In this episode of gen·asian, we break down our MBTI personalities, Harry Potter house, and love languages. Also, Winnie shares about that time her ex got her flowers 🥀 and Michelle reminisces about being a sensitive kid 🥲. (Sorry about the audio quality, we’re working on it!)

In this Valentine’s Day episode of gen·asian, Michelle wonders what it means to be in love (baby don’t hurt me...), Winnie reflects on the difference between loving vs being in love, and we chat about whether we believe in 'The One'. (Sorry about the audio quality, we’re working on it!)

In this New Years themed episode of gen·asian, Michelle shares about her year of change in both her work and personal life, Winnie reflects on her break up in early 2020, and we make it a podcast goal to be more consistent (oops 😬). (Sorry about the audio quality, we’re working on it!)

In this episode of gen·asian, Michelle has a new status update(!) and tells us what she liked about her new boo's profile 👀. Winnie shares what she auto-swipes left on a dating app, and a funny story about a month of going on multiple first dates.

In this part 2 on friendships on gen·asian, Winnie and Michelle wonder if it matters whether or not your therapist is asian, if guys and girls can be just friends, and discuss the pain of friendship breakups.

On this part 1 episode on friendship on gen·asian, Michelle talks about craving deeper friendship and the 5 elements that maintain a friendship, and Winnie shares about catching feelings then getting ghosted.

In this episode of gen·asian, Winnie and Michelle discuss changes in the dynamic with our parents after moving out, dating in a new city vs one you grew up in, and having two different identities.

In this episode of gen·asian, Winnie and Michelle discuss the extracurriculars we did/didn’t do growing up, when tiger parenting becomes abusive, and how we codeswitch between English vs Chinese.

gen·asian is a podcast that explores the unique identity and experiences of Asian Canadian millennials.

In our inaugural episode, Winnie Cheng and Michelle Ng talk about social media and how it's changed with COVID-19, how being immigrants makes us more competitive with others, and the struggles of being a banana in a family chat that communicates only in Chinese.