Navigating the Rise, Author at Navigating the Rise

14Mar 2020 by Navigating the Rise

[S2] [E4] Is K-Pop and K-Drama All You Need to Know about Korean Culture w/ Alex Sohn, Head of US Office at King Sejong Institute Foundation

Culture

This week I have the opportunity to speak with Alex (Woo Seung) Sohn, Head of US Office, King Sejong Institute Foundation. The goal of the organization for King Sejong is to share Korean culture through activities and Korean Language. Given the recent rise in K-Pop and K-Drama, many people are becoming interested in Korean culture. But that is still at a superficial level. To fully become more immersed in the culture, it is imperative to learn about the language. One of the ways is that the Korean language is more of a context-driven language than a non-context driven language. For example, in English and other languages, the sentence itself can quickly convey the meaning by itself. However, Koreans like to communicate a bit directly, and one word can mean different…

28Feb 2020 by Navigating the Rise

[S2] [E3] How Asian Culture Help Propels Entrepreneurship with John Kang, Co-Founder and CEO of Reasi

Business

This week I have the honor of having a session with Co-Founder and CEO of Reasi. Reasi automates property settlements so customers can transact real estate using only their phones. Reasi streamlined home closings and eliminated frustration in a $110 billion industry plagued by expensive fees and wire fraud. However the deal is sourced; Reasi will close it efficiently and securely. John described how his Asian culture ensures his worth ethic. His experience showcased that Asians are discriminated against. Hene, he believes that it is up to Asians themselves to put in the extra effort to bridge the gap. Like other successful entrepreneurs, he doesn't want to give anyone an excuse for any failures, even if the reason is something he can't change, such as his race. Challenges From the…

14Feb 2020 by Navigating the Rise

[S2] [E2] How Superstition Affects People’s Lives with John Houser, Content/Web Project Manager at Verizon Wireless

Business

John is a web manager with over 10+ years of experience launching web sites, applications, and content to market. My passion lies in learning new techniques and technologies to improve business operations. We explored how deep superstitions are within different cultures, and the range of depth is varied depending on where in the world you are. We explored both Eastern and Western countries on where they are in the superstition ladder and that Eastern has more significant. Tarot Cards as One Analogy John also mentioned how he got into Tarot readings and how one of the podcasts that were related to fiction that caused him to explore the unknown. One of the merch is tarot cards. He decided to explore that and became one of the most popular things at…

28Jan 2020 by Navigating the Rise

[S2] [E1] How to Strengthen Your Emotional Intelligence w/ Valerie Reeves, Motivational Trainer and Hypnotherapist

Spiritual

Valerie Reeves, Motivational Trainer This week we explored what it means to have strong emotional intelligence. People usually associate emotional intelligence in how well we can read and understand other people. Valerie gave her perspective in developing a strong foundation for emotional intelligence, and that begins with the self instead of with others. After all, how can we say we know about someone else when we don't even know about ourselves. Additionally, we also explored how the people we don't like can be potentially what we don't like about ourselves. Valerie mentioned how she was a hypnotherapist to get people to get over their fears and blockages. Many times, it results from the lack of awareness and acknowledgment of the situation. How many times have you noticed where you ignore…

14Jan 2020 by Navigating the Rise

[S1] [25] How to Navigate Life as a Meek Individual with Tim Chak, Manager at Strategy&

Spiritual

This week we explored how to navigate the situation as a meek individual. We investigated how it affects our work lives as well as our personal lives. These effects have long term consequences. They are both good and bad. The environment we are in creates these situations. We explored how can we deal with that situation in cultures where being meek is perceived to be incompetent. Because of those situations, we need to understand content switching between the two is vitally important. As such, the conclusion boils down to personal development. When we are consciously aware of our surroundings, we can look at the situation objectively and do context switching rather quickly. Even if we mess up, we can readjust accordingly as opposed to constantly worrying about what the next…

30Dec 2019 by Navigating the Rise

[S1] [E24] How to Build Up a Successful Business with Alex Yu, Luxury Home Specialist at First Team Estates

Business

Alexander Yu, Luxury Home Specialist This week we explored how to build up the mentality of having a successful business when the traditional path either cannot or won't serve you. Alex started his career a bit different from most people. He had most of his income came from commissions. That means he gets paid based on results as opposed to time like a regular job. As a result, he had to be creative in how he approaches his career. Like most Asian households, he had a lot of communication challenges with Asian parents. For example, these include what needs to be done where pleasing his parents meant making minimum wage. He decided to chart his path into a real estate business. He also altered his mindset on his approaches toward…

16Dec 2019 by Navigating the Rise

[S1] [E23] Do You Really Want to Be a Lawyer with Peter Lee, Partner at Lee Hong Degerman

Culture

Life of a Lawyer Peter Lee has been in law practice for over 25 years. He practiced many different areas of law with current specialties in the following: Real estate transaction and litigation. Commercial leases and unlawful detainer actions. Construction contracts and disputes. Business consultation and litigation. Peter Lee shared his background and how his family indirectly influenced him to practice law. One of the significant thing that helped Peter pivot into law was doing well on the LSAT. That started his career into law and stayed in that field for a while. Like many people who began their careers without experiencing other professions, Peter also wondered if being a lawyer was the right career path for him. Because of that, his early years where he was tempted to find…

28Nov 2019 by Navigating the Rise

[S1][E22] How to Disappoint Your Asian Parents w/ Mary Ngo, Founder of Little Shop of Mary

Business

This week we explored with engineer turned business owner. She branched out in creating not one, but two businesses. We examined how she went about creating her activities. Also, we examined what Asian traits she utilized to make her business successful. Some sample traits mentioned including the cost-conscious and the hard-working behavior. These behaviors are commonly exhibited in the Asian community. Perfection helped her in addressing all the logistics in opening her first sandwich shop. We also explored how the Asian culture of being obedient and humble hurt our climbing of the corporate environment, which also contributed to her desire to opening her businesses.

14Nov 2019 by Navigating the Rise

[S1] [E21] How to Merge with Your Past Self w/ Shian Chuan, Energy Healer, NLP Master Practitioner & Executive Coach

Spiritual

Known as the "Career Whisperer" in Fortune 500 companies for being the most sought out coach for employee & team success. Shian Chuan is a certified Master NLP practitioner and a Peak Performance business consultant. Shian has mentored over 300 clients and is an accomplished trainer and speaker. She presented to 1000's of leaders around the world on behavioral science and human psychology. Originally from California, Shian has more than 11 years of training, coursework, and experience related to mindset, brain and body-based personal development, and alternative healing. Background We explored various solutions and ideas on how to merge with our past selves. Many pieces of baggage and experiences have both positives and negatives that are manifesting in our lives that we are not aware of. Until we can look…

28Oct 2019 by Navigating the Rise

[S1][E20][P3/3] Cheat Guide for Asian Professionals with Jerry Lee, Strategy and Operations Manager at Google

Culture, Tech

In this episode, Jerry Lee gave us some top tips on how to overcome some of the perceived limitations of being Asians. Also, we addressed some of the cultural nuances that affected Asians in the workplace in the United States. Jerry Lee is an admin from the Subtle Asian Networking Group in the US, and he takes his experience in the group as a guide on how to overcome these potentially harmful perceived traits. Be aware of the Asian upbringings on, and values growing and try to understand them as strengths instead of weaknesses Asians tend to be hard workers and put their heads down. That is great; however, the lack of challenging the status quo causes issues as that puts Asians in a bind is not being perceived super…

Author: Navigating the Rise