Growing up in Georgia, I was literally the only Asian girl in my school. And I never in a million years thought I was going to be part of the entertainment world.
—Agnes Mayasari

Watch it here.

Key moments during the interview:

Crystal Bui:
How difficult has it been as an actress? We barely had anyone until recently, Asian American and winning the Oscars, win Emmys. How has it been for you being in the field?

Agnes Mayasari: 

There were some rough times when I was kind of navigating because no one really taught me. I didn’t have a friend and be like, “Hey, you know, girlfriend, can you teach me how to be a model or an actress?”

So that was very, very difficult because I had to kind of look on YouTube or online or watch movies and see that, wow, there’s very few of us.

And so it was amazing that the entertainment world has come to Georgia and I was basically sucked into it.  I really didn’t have anybody to help me. It’s nice that now people are starting to do acting starting to get into the film industry. It’s nice to be able to see more Asian people coming together and helping each other out.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Agnes MayasarI (@agnesmayasari)

Crystal:
It must have been hard, I imagine, in the beginning, because it’s not like you probably had a family that had nepotism, legacy in the industry. Same with me. I didn’t come from a family of TV news reporters. So what kind of got you inspired to do it? And then did you feel like there was a moment that was your big break or kind of your AHA moment with the industry?

Agnes:
I am a person who loves challenges. I love to be different.

I think that’s kind of something that I grew up with as a kid, I never wanted to be like anyone else because I wasn’t like anybody else.

I was the only Asian female in my school. I grew up in Clarkston. So it was like majority African American. And then I moved to North of Lawrenceville, and it was like the majority of Caucasian and Asian. I never felt like I was accepted into a certain crowd.

I was always my own person, I was always independent.

So I felt like this is fun; this is really challenging.

At first, it was just more of like, “Let’s see what I can do. Let’s see, you know how far this can go.”

And as you said, it’s very challenging, because your parents are very traditional. My parents are Vietnamese. They’re like, “I don’t really know what you’re doing, but if you’re having fun, then that’s great.”

My AHA moment was just, I guess falling down and making mistakes.

When I first started eight years ago, I went into the room, I had no idea what I was doing.

I was like, “They think I’m cute, but what am I supposed to do?”

And so I kept just getting better.

It can be scary because sometimes it does take a long time. Every single audition and every single project is different. So I never, ever feel like I 100% know what I’m doing. But I just learned from my experience that you just have to just do your best and that’s all you can do. And once I learned that I was like, “You know what, it’s not that scary, right? Everybody is feeling the same emotions as me. So I might as well do something that I enjoy and have fun doing.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Agnes MayasarI (@agnesmayasari)

Crystal:
I imagine it comes with a lot of auditions, and a lot of rejections. How did you build that resilience or maybe not take something too personally when some auditions didn’t work out?

Agnes:
My first big audition my first year of acting, I actually got a role to audition for X-Men. I was devastated.

I think I didn’t get over it for like, the first year. And I was just beating myself up for it. Because I was like, “Oh, man, you should have gotten this. This role would have been so big and so awesome.”

But in the end, I feel like if it’s not right, for me, it’s not right.

For me, there’s going to be something out there that’s going to fit me, and it’s surprising. I’ve auditioned for numerous roles for something for a casting director or for a company. And I’m like, “Oh, I didn’t get this.” But then soon after, they start noticing me. And then they asked me for something even better.

And I’m like, “Wow, so I shouldn’t be so sad.”

In Hollywood, there’s always going to be something new coming out. If I miss one opportunity, just like in life you miss one opportunity, there’s going to be another. Everyone has life challenges. Everyone has things that they have to do. So once I feel like things are going well, it will it will come.
—Agnes Mayasari

Crystal:
So I think I saw some photos of you doing was it the Powerpuff Girls? Can you talk me about some different auditions that maybe must have been groundbreaking? When I watched stuff like The Powerpuff Girls, obviously, it wasn’t an Asian lead. So tell me a little bit about that role, and then other roles that you feel like you broke the glass ceiling for as an Asian woman being able to be cast in that role?

Agnes:
I was super excited. A casting director recommended me.  I was actually able to cover for someone who got COVID. And they called me last minute.

I didn’t even know about this project until like, probably nine hours before. And then I had to learn 10 pages.

Luckily, I did a big project before so I was just like, “Okay, 10 pages and isn’t anything compared to like a big movie with like 90 pages.”

So when they contacted me and said, “We’re looking for an Asian Powerpuff Girl; we want Buttercup to be Asian.”

I think it’d be great. And they’re going to show it to CW and all these big production companies.

So I was like, “This is my niche. I have a background in martial arts. I’ve done Godzilla. I’ve done stunts.”

At that moment in my career, I really wanted to do an amazing lead role that had to do with action. So I was excited.

Because it was a pilot, I felt like I had a voice. Of course, everyone grew up watching Cartoon Network and The Powerpuff Girls. I was just like, this is amazing. I can’t imagine being able to be a child superhero. My dream was to be an action star. That’s why I tried out for X-Men and did movies like Godzilla.

I felt like that was kind of a step up in my career.

And a little bit about other projects that I’ve done: I did a time-traveling movie called “Time Boys 2.” They also cast me as an Asian lead with a Caucasian and an African American, both amazing people.

It was amazing to be able to represent. I feel like now Hollywood is pushing the boundary for Asian Americans and want us to be seen. And I’m very happy and proud to be that person.
—Agnes Mayasari

Crystal:
When you were growing up, you mentioned a little bit earlier about being the only Asian woman Asian girl in school. Were you bullied? What was that experience? Like if you can tell me a little bit about it?

Agnes:
When I was growing up in elementary school, I used to be called many names and one of them was “c—-.”

Of course everyone you know, assumes that all Asians were whatever type of Asian that they thought. I also growing up had guys come up to me like, I guess the Asian fetish, and it felt dehumanizing.

Because I was like, what you see on the internet is not who I am. I’m American. I’m Asian, of course, but I grew up in Georgia since I was two years old.

So part of me and my culture is, very much similar to my classmates, more than they know.

And so for them to kind of separate me into a different category, it made me feel less confident in myself.

Growing up in elementary school, I was always shy, or I always felt like I couldn’t say anything because no one wanted to hear my voice. So it’s nice that now that I’m part of the entertainment world, people are listening to me.

Hopefully, I can make a difference for the people who felt the same way, or is currently feeling the same way, that they don’t have a voice because people were are separating them from the group. —Agnes Mayasari

Crystal:
What did it take for you to find that confidence and to begin feeling proud to be Asian after feeling like, there was so much discrimination growing up?

Agnes:
I just kind of was at the point where you can’t fight them. So you might as well just accept it, and make the best of it.

I kind of accepted that I was always going to be different.

People are always going to tell me, “Oh, you don’t deserve this, and that you don’t deserve your accomplishment because you’re already smart. Because you’re Asian.”

Everyone kind of made me feel like I never deserved anything that I’ve worked for. And I just shut that out. I just shut the noise.

I’m like, “You know what? If I keep trying to impress people, or convince people of how hard working I am or how deserving I am, it’s never going to end. I might as well just do me do what makes me happy. And in that way can inspire a little girl to do the same thing. And you know, in not like, feel like insecure about herself and that that’s a win for me.
—Agnes Mayasari

You can follow Agnes Mayasari:

• www.AgnesMayasari.com
• Instagram
• Youtube
• IMDB

The post Agnes Mayasari: Hollywood Action Star appeared first on The Proud Asian.

The Chinese-Canadian actor, best known for the 2021 Marvel film “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” wrote in his Instagram announcement, “This song was written for all of the hard times in my life where I have questioned my worth and felt like an imposter. it is for every single person who ever has felt alone, different, heartbroken or hopeless. you are worthy. you belong. you MATTER.”

The record was produced with 88rising.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Simu Liu (@simuliu)

Lyrics for Don’t by Simu Liu: 

20-somethings in a crowded room
Feels like everybody’s in on something –
Some big secret they’re not telling you
about

Looking around
Everybody’s got it figured out.
Perfect strangers with their arms around somebody.
Shouting lyrics to a song that you don’t know.

And I saw you there in the corner.
Your eyes fixed on the floorboards –
I came this close to walking over.
Damn, I wish I’d have told ya

Don’t give up when you’re halfway down the road.
There’s so much inside you than you know.
When everything is telling you it’s over –
Baby, don’t.

There will be times when it gets hard to stay
It’s easier to throw it all away,
just give me one more day
when you think of letting go
Baby, don’t.

Conversation with the mirror now.
Making faces just to try them out cause
maybe one of them will feel like who you are.

And it gets blurry under the city lights-
just one step in a million miles.

I came this close to walking over
Damn I wish I would have told ya
Don’t give up when you’re halfway down the road.
There’s so much more inside you than you know
When everything is telling you it’s over –
Baby, don’t.

There will be times when it gets hard to stay
It’s easier to throw it all away, just
give me one more day
when you think of letting go

You don’t have to be a soldier

If you look a little closer
there’s somebody; there’s somebody; there’s somebody rooting for ya

So don’t give up when you’re halfway down the road
There is so much more inside than you know.

When everything is telling you it’s over,
Over,
Don’t.

There will be times when it gets hard to stay
It’s easier to throw it all away
Just give me one more day
when you think of letting go,

Baby don’t.

The 33-year-old actor is one of the many Kens in Greta Gerwig’s latest film “Barbie.” The feature film is expected to be released July 21, 2023. While the actual plot of the movie is still secret, the movie’s IMDb notes that the plot is, “A doll living in ‘Barbieland’ is expelled for not being perfect enough and sets off on an adventure in the real world.”

Last year, the 33-year-old actor published his memoir: “We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story.” The book is about his In s his journey from native China to Canada as an immigrant and his journey to becoming a superhero actor. Simu Liu shares the challenges he faced with cultural stereotypes and his own identity.

The post Simu Liu releases new single ‘Don’t’ appeared first on The Proud Asian.

To celebrate AAPI Heritage month, The White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) in Washington, D.C. will host a community-wide celebration on May 3, 2023. The forum will feature Biden-Harris Administration officials, groundbreaking artists, and trailblazers.

The month of May as AAPI Heritage month was chosen as a way to honor and commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States; this happened on May 7, 1843. The month of May also is the anniversary of the transcontinental railroad being finished. A majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants, and the work was done on May 10, 1869.

Individual registration for the May 3 event is required.
To attend in person or virtually, RSVP using this link.

Share any requests for reasonable accommodations when registering for this event before April 17, 2023.

Direct accommodations-related inquiries to [email protected].

Related work from the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI):

On May 26, 2021, To address the increased harassment and violence directed at Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students, The Department of Justice and the Department of Education jointly issued a letter to educators about their role in addressing discrimination, including harassment, against AAPI students.

On May 28, 2021, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14031, “Advancing Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders” to establish the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) and deliver on his commitment to reinstate and reinvigorate this Initiative.

On January 17, 2023, the White House released the Biden-Harris Administration’s first-ever strategy to promote safety and equity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

Filing a Complaint with the HHS Office for Civil Rights

If you believe that you have been discriminated against on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, religion, or sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), you can file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal, available at https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf.

You can call: 1–800–868–1019, 800–537–7697 (TDD)

You can mail info to:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
200 Independence Avenue SW., Room 509F, HHH Building,
Washington, DC 20201,

Complaint forms are available at: Public Law 102-450.

The post You’re Invited: Biden-Harris to host national Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration appeared first on The Proud Asian.

The story is about Ingrid Yung who is a first-generation Chinese American and the first lawyer in her family. Ingrid is the first minority woman to make partner at Parsons Valentine & Hunt, an old law firm with a boys’ club corporate culture.

A racially-insensitive and offensive incident happens at the law firm and Ingrid is tasked with doing damage control, despite being treated like an outsider.

Helen lives in New York state. She has written for The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and CNN. She is currently working on another book while also serving as a diversity and inclusion consultant, among other big projects.

I can’t believe my subway scribblings from 20 yrs ago will soon be a new @Netflix TV show, premiering a week from today. That’s me, blinking back tears, gazing up at a giant Times Square billboard showing @arden_cho & the rest of this amazing #PartnerTrack cast! I NY. pic.twitter.com/NJnrWQUawH

— Helen Wan (@helenwan1) August 19, 2022

Here is the 10-minute interview with The Proud Asian:

Watch it here.

Key moments during the interview:

Crystal Bui:
The nuances. They’re really important and I know that you brought in some of those nuances in the show. Like, it’s no secret [Ingrid Yung, played by Arden Cho] is Asian and she’s in a very male-dominated world. [The men] have advantages. There’s a boys club. Clearly, there are backdoor dealings. It’s almost like some of it isn’t merited, but because they’re white men, there is nepotism, almost because of race.

How did you navigate that sort of nuance and that script in your writing or if Netflix consulted you at all on how to play that out in a sensitive but empowering manner at the same time?

Helen Wan:
I’ve been very fortunate in that when I, myself, binge-watched the show up over one weekend, I was really impressed by how sensitively and thoughtfully Netflix treated the issues of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) in the corporate workplace.

I was impressed with the way that they updated it.

Because as I mentioned, the book was originally published in 2011, that it makes sense to have some updates to the story. They added some characters and they added some backstory to my existing characters. I was just really honestly pretty pleased with the end result. I thought it was it was both a sensitive treatment of those kinds of issues and themes that I was trying to tackle.

But also, frankly, I thought it was an entertaining show. It wasn’t just about being Asian and for being a color or being a woman lawyer or what have you.

Crystal:
Growing up, I did not see many people on TV who were Asian.

It was a part of the reason why I first went in and was a TV news reporter. I wanted young girls to see something different or to see themselves, quite frankly.

Did you get emotional seeing it on the screen? Or what was it like seeing the pages that you wrote come to life to know that people would have to physically see the characters that you created?

Helen:
It was amazing.

On the premiere night, in Los Angeles, it was like Cinderella at the ball moment for me, because there’s artists, there’s Georgia Lee, there’s Julie Anne Robinson [director of Netflix’s Bridgerton] was sitting next to me. I was just like, “Wow, this is my character from when I was a first-year law associate are up on the screen.”

If you had told me that anything like that would have happened to me and to those characters, that began as my subway scribblings… I just wouldn’t have believed it.

Crystal:
Since I was so obsessed with the show and binge-watched it, this is a selfish question, but I would love to know: what is next for you?

Are you working on something? What can you share?

Helen:
I’m trying very hard to put the finishing touches on the ending of a new book. It’s been fun diving into a new project.

It’s not a sequel to The Partner Track, although it touches on similar themes that I’m interested in about how family backgrounds, race, gender, socio-economic, class, privilege, whether or not you’re a first generation in your family, or to go to college… I certainly was the first to go to law school in my family… and how all of these factors just impact our decisions about personal and professional decisions, and also ambition.

Crystal:
Growing up, I was really ashamed to be Asian because I was picked on.

I imagine with the nuances of your show and your book, it was probably not easy for people to realize, “I’m not part of this white boys’ club.”

Did you feel the same way growing up? And then what inspired you to kind of reclaim that and own that and put that in your book?

Helen:
While I was born in California, my family moved to the East Coast when I was quite young. I mostly grew up in the DC suburbs, which was a fairly white area. I was one of perhaps, two, or maybe, three Asian American students in my public elementary school. And I certainly felt it and the playground teasing, and the eyes [teasing], and things like that.

I certainly felt it. 

It does take a certain thick skin, which I don’t naturally have, to write about such experiences. And it took me a long time to do so.

But I started doing so in those journal entries. Those things did make their way into the novel. And I’m really glad I did, because a lot of people will point to some of those scenes, and readers will say, “That happened to me. That playground taunting did happen to me too.”

It’s very important to see some of those perspectives and stories represented.

I hope that people enjoy the book, enjoy the show, and can take away something meaningful from them. And I really, really appreciate everything that has happened and all the people who take the time to reach out to me or to any of the creators of the show, or other writers who are out there telling their similar, authentic stories that they don’t see out there, so they write the book themselves.

It means a lot when people say they have taken something away from your work, so thank you.

The post Helen Wan: Author behind the Netflix series “The Partner Track” appeared first on The Proud Asian.

In 2019, Elena Ledoux was named the SBA’s Small Business Person of the Year in Nevada and Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners for Southern Nevada for turning Superbmaids from a start-up to a million-dollar company in a short amount of time. Superbmaids in Las Vegas has nearly 5,000 clients. 

Through Boss Security Screens, Elena Ledoux has also made it her mission to keep people safe in their homes and offices. The company creates heavy-duty stainless steel security screens which act as a property crime deterrent and the first line of defense against intruders. The screens are installed on the outside of windows and doors, and Boss Security Screens designs were vetted by law enforcement experts for quality control and safety standards.

I believe that entrepreneurship is one of the best things you can do for yourself, for developing yourself as a person realizing your full potential. And culturally, we as women, especially Asian women, are placed in this position of being almost discouraged to take a chance, take a risk.

We have a very specific role that was supposed to be a supportive, supporting role, not the main character: very docile. And I think this is just wrong. That’s a waste of our potential. So go for it.

— Elena Ledoux

Watch her interview with The Proud Asian here.

Crystal Bui:
Tell me a little bit about your childhood. Where did you grow up? What’s your ethnicity?

Elena Ledoux:
I have a little bit of a strange background. Ethnically, I’m Korean. But I was born in the former Soviet Union before it all fell apart. And I moved to the U.S. when I was 21.

Crystal:
What prompted your move to America?

Elena:
I always felt like I was born in the wrong place. There are not a lot of opportunities for women, especially minority women [in the former Soviet Union]. There was a very, very specific role that was dedicated to you. And that was very suffocating. The United States is a much better environment for realizing your potential as a person.

Crystal:
When you came over to America, what did you pursue?

Elena:
I went to law school. And afterward, I practice law for 11 years in litigation.

Crystal:
What was that like? Traditionally, especially in litigation, it’s very male-dominated, white, male-dominated, and older, male-dominated. What was it like for you to be in that space? What was the culture like, and then how did you navigate that?

Elena:
In the beginning, it was a little bit intimidating, because I was a lot of times the youngest, the strangest person in the room. And a lot of times that was underestimated, which turned out to be actually an advantage, because litigation is about battling. So if you believe that your opponent is weaker than you are, or less capable than you are, then you’re not going to pay as much attention and you’re gonna lose your case.

Crystal:
Did you feel like when people looked at you, you were younger, you’re a woman, you’re Asian, people just thought they would beat you right away? So they didn’t have to prepare?

Elena:
Yes, they were a lot more relaxed about it. They paid more attention to what I was wearing to my shoes, or how I carry myself, as [opposed] to what I’m going to do to their clients in that case. And so after the first case [that I won] everything shifted into more professional, and then [them] paying attention.

Crystal:
So you probably surprise them. And I imagine then you started intimidating some of these men and realizing that you were a true competitor.

Elena:
In the beginning, I was treated very dismissively. And even in writings and legal writing, I was referred to as “that woman,”  or, “She just should go to wherever she’s from, that’s how they do things.” Similar things, disparaging things like that, but it never affected me. But you know, as soon as I beat them, then all of a sudden, I was “Ms. Ledoux.”

Crystal:
After you did litigation, what did you do next?

Elena:
I actually took a couple of years off. And I took a sabbatical with my family in Europe. We brought two of our kids and my parents, and we lived in France, Spain, and Ireland; it was fantastic. So I was a mom and played the role of a mom for a couple of years.

Crystal:
After you were able to spend time with your family, how did you get into the business?

Elena:
My best childhood friend from Uzbekistan actually won the Green Card Lottery. She was coming to the U.S. with her family. And because she didn’t speak any English, and she didn’t drive a car, she didn’t have any money. We started a cleaning company just so we can make some money to pay her bills.

Crystal:
[The original goal was $2,000 a month] So after that, did your company grow? Did you achieve what you wanted to?

Elena:
Definitely, made $2,000, and then some. It grew really, really well. And it was voted best of Las Vegas within the first year of business by the readers of Las Vegas Review-Journal. And we grew tremendously since then. We won a bunch of awards, including SBA’s Small Business of the Year by the state of Nevada.

Crystal:
Wow.  then so There was some sort of ceremony you were able to go to in DC talk to me about what that was.

Elena:
Yes, this was a surreal, incredible experience. Every winner from every state gets invited to DC. And it was this really beautiful space that usually hosts ambassadors and dignitaries. And so here, were me and my partner and our kids. We kept looking at each other. And there are all these other very esteemed entrepreneurs, very titled entrepreneurs from all over the country. It was an incredible experience.

Crystal
Was this just women or men and women?

Elena:
Men and women, of course, because it’s a business world, the business field. There are a lot more men, of course. A lot of companies were larger and more established, or in business for decades, kind of those behemoths, even though it’s called “small business” which was anything under 500 employees.

Crystal:
Talk to me about finances.

Elena:
By the second year in business, were grossing over a million dollars a year.

Crystal:
What was that like? What do you feel set your company apart? I imagine the cleaning industry or even the hospitality industry, it’s so competitive, right? There are so many people saturated in that field. So how did you build it into a million-dollar company? And why do you think you were able to do that?

Elena:
As women, I believe, and especially as immigrants, we are more resilient. I feel like women are generally more resilient, and more adaptable. And that’s what it takes to succeed in business. And this business is a very tough business; it’s fiercely competitive.

Crystal:
So you’re also operating other businesses right now, as an entrepreneur? Tell me a little bit more about some of your other endeavors.

Elena:
I’m the Chief Operating Officer of Boss Security Screens. We protect people in their own homes, by preventing burglars and all the bad guys from coming into your home. We are currently in three states and expanding a few more. And then we have American Security Screens, which we just started. This is going to be licensing arm. We’re going to open our representations all over the United States. I’m very excited about that.

Crystal:
What is Boss Security Screens, and how does it keep homeowners secure?

Elena:
Sure, if you can imagine, a regular bug screen, but it’s made out of ultra-tough materials, stainless steel and aluminum, aircraft-grade aluminum that’s encasing it. And it gets bolted into the frame, the actual structure of your home, outside of every window and then outside of the door. Of course, you can release it easily from the inside, but from the outside, you cannot get through.

Crystal:
So it’s like normal homes have that like mesh screen? And then instead of the mesh screen that is easy for people to cut through and break into your product is different. And you said it was steel, or how is it much tougher than what people have?

Elena:
It’s actually a mesh, but it’s woven out of stainless steel wire. And it’s quite thick. It allows pretty good visibility still, so it’s not like ugly bars or something, or shatters or something like that. It allows airflow, but it prevents all the bad stuff from coming in, whether it’s burglars or bears, or bugs. It deflects some of the sunshine as well. So it’s quite a useful product. It’s been very, very popular.

Crystal:
So that means you don’t have to use as much AC if it’s keeping your home protected? My last question is, what do you want to tell women, Asian women, because entrepreneurs are so dominated right now, by men?

Elena:
If you’re a woman, and you are considering becoming an entrepreneur, just give it a try. Because a lot of times we as women suffer from imposter syndrome, and a lot of men do too. But I believe that women are specifically specially afflicted by that.

And I believe that entrepreneurship is one of the best things you can do for yourself, for developing yourself as a person realizing your full potential. And culturally, we as women, especially Asian women, are placed in this position of being almost discouraged to take a chance, take a risk.

We have a very specific role that was supposed to be a supportive, supporting role, not the main character: very docile. And I think this is just wrong. That’s a waste of our potential. So go for it.

The post Elena Ledoux: Successful entrepreneur in The Golden Spotlight appeared first on The Proud Asian.

Samantha has made it her mission to combat Asian hate and show Asian girls that white dolls aren’t the only options out there: they will now see themselves represented in her new line of Asian dolls and build confidence knowing they, too, are beautiful.

Because of her work in making sure Asian American children no longer feel invisible, The Proud Asian has chosen to put Samantha and Joey Dolls in our Golden Spotlight.

Here is their 5-minute interview: 

Watch it here.

An excerpt from the interview:

Samantha Ong:
I created this company during the pandemic. It responds to anti-Asian hate, to really celebrate Asian diversity and culture through what I call “adorable, playful dolls for children.”

Crystal Bui:
Tell me about these dolls. What are they? What do they look like? Describe them for people who don’t know about Joey Dolls yet.

Samantha:
I created the company when I started to look for adults for my daughter. I realized there weren’t many dolls out there that fully represented the diversity of the Asian diaspora. When my daughter was having her first year birthday, I was putting her in her traditional outfits, Chinese and Korean outfits, and I realized dolls don’t really display, or really celebrate these fun moments: having the traditional outfit. I decided to celebrate each of the cultures within Asia, through dolls. I wanted them to be safe for young children, just like my daughter. So they’re soft, they’re plush dolls.

Our first collection is six cultures, which are: Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipina, Japanese, and Indian. I hope to represent more cultures in the future.

Crystal:
That is such a cool idea because I was talking to some friends about being able to interview today. And I was saying when I was growing up, we had, of course, the American Girl dolls. But there were no Asian dolls within the American Girl dolls, which is problematic because I’m American as well. And I remember as a little kid, I picked up the Samantha doll because she had brown hair. That was like the closest I could get. And so I’m very excited about your line.

Do you wish you also had Asian dolls growing up? I mean, what does this personally mean to you?

Samantha:
Yeah, exactly. When I was looking for dolls for my daughter, I really reflected upon my own experience growing up. And knowing that I, too, played with blonde hair dolls, and how that really affected me growing up and seeing myself in the world. I just thought I was meant to be more on the sidelines, not really someone that can go out and achieve things that I want to. I didn’t really see myself in dolls, or toys, or media, or anything like that.

So it really made me feel self-conscious. I  didn’t have good self-esteem. And I always felt that I wasn’t lucky enough to be born to be blonde.

Crystal:
Right, because you had all the pretty dolls that were blonde. I remember being upset that my hair was black because there were beautiful dolls that were blonde. And none of them looked like me. And I think you’re right, it really affected for awhile my self-confidence, even like you said, wishing that I could look like some of these dolls. And now you have the chance to provide so many Asian girls, and Asian boys with the ability to see themselves look like some of these precious dolls.

What do your children think about this? What did they feel like when they started looking at the prototype?

Samantha:
I feel like I’m such a perfectionist. A lot of the time, I don’t want to put my dolls out there for them to see sometimes because I’m like, “It’s not done yet.” One time I was hiding them away, and then my daughter found them in my office and she ran in and she was like, “Mommy, I really love these dolls. Can I play with them yet?”

Every time she sees them, and I’m working with them, designing them, she comes over my shoulder, and it’s so cute. She can’t wait to play with them. She really sees herself.

Watch the full interview here.

Editor’s note:
Joey Dolls plans to launch in May. Once they launch, use the promo code: theproudasian at check-out for a discount exclusive to The Proud Asian readers. Sign up at www.JoeyDolls.com to get an alert when they’ve launched.

www.joeydolls.com

The post Joey Dolls: The Asian American dolls you didn’t have growing up appeared first on The Proud Asian.

Vivian is the daughter of Chinese immigrants, now known for the viral financial advice she gives across her social media platforms. She said she grew up in a frugal home and has made it her mission to help others understand how money works, and how to build wealth. 

“We should all feel really, really Proud to be Asian. It is a blanket term. And obviously, it’s not easy to be like, “Ah, I’m Asian,” because it covers so many ethnicities and cultures and communities. But, I’m very proud to be Asian. And I think that common thread does tie a lot of us together, and in the famous words of Ronnie Chang: I hope you get rich.” —Vivian Tu, @YourRichBFF

Watch it here.

Crystal Bui:
How did this get started? Generally, when I’m looking at financial advice, I see it from older, white men. So you’re in a way, you’re very unexpected.

Vivian Tu:
I wish I could tell you I had this evil mastermind plan. But genuinely, it was because when I had left Wall Street, I had started my job in the tech space, and all of my new colleagues were like, “You came from Wall Street! You’re going to rebalance my 401k. You’re going to tell me which health insurance to pick. You’re going to tell me what you’re investing in, so I can do the exact same thing.”

And it made me laugh so much. Because all of these people were so different. There were people who had two kids and lived in the suburbs, people who were younger than me, and people who were older than me. And they all ask the same questions.

I realized that there was nobody who was speaking to this topic, like a friend, the same way that you would ask your best friend, “Hey, where do you get your haircut?” Or, “Hey, where should I go for lunch this weekend? My parents were in town.”

It was all old white guys in suits. It was a little too male, pale, and stale for my liking. Because when I saw these people on the news, I didn’t look like them. And I wasn’t going to listen to them. Because they seemed like they were lecturing. And I wanted to create content for people that looked like me. And for people where I looked like their best friend.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Vivian Tu | Your Rich BFF (@your.richbff)

Crystal:
What was it like sitting in these college classes, working on Wall Street, and not seeing a lot of people look like you?

Vivian:
It certainly wasn’t easy. Wall Street has a history of hiring a lot of cisgender, white men. And that was certainly the case. I, however, was very, very fortunate in that my very first boss and very first mentor ended up being the only other woman, and the only other Asian person, on my desk: two Asian women, and then everybody else was a white guy.

She took me under her wing, and she asked me things like, “Hey, are you contributing to your 401k?”

I wasn’t.

“Are you using the corporate catalog to save on hotels?”

I didn’t know how to do that.

And she was like, “Hey, are you even saving money?”

And I wasn’t, because I wasn’t educated in that way. So for her to help me do that, I always call her the “original rich BFF.” And she taught me a lot of what I know.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Vivian Tu | Your Rich BFF (@your.richbff)

Crystal:
So there’s a concept that I love. I don’t know if you’ve heard it called, “She-splaining.” Instead of “mansplaining,” where someone is talking down to you, a woman “she-splaining” is a woman lifting up other women.

And what I’ve heard is that you’re one of the best “she-splainers” around.

What do you think about that? You are helping so many women with financial advice. And it’s so important because when we talk about equity and agency and financial freedom, it’s hard to have that if you don’t know how to manage your money. What is your overall message for women out there?

Vivian:
It’s exactly that: talk to each other about money. It’s really important to me to be able to explain any concepts like you’re a fifth grader. Because if I can’t explain it to you, I don’t really understand what I’m talking about. You should be able to explain things in really simple concepts and help people understand.

The more women who have a mastery of their own personal finances and their financial wellness, the more uplifted those communities will be. It’s hard to separate gender and race from money because money is racial money is sexist.

We hear that in the ways that we talk to people about how girls need to not be such “splurge spenders,” but men need to “grasp their power and grow their wealth.” Just the way that we speak to people is very different.

Especially knowing that so much of my audience is Asian and has the same immigrant background I do, being able to speak to that as it pertains to being financially savvy, I think is really, really important.

Crystal:
Can you tell me a little bit more about your background and how do you connect with the audience?

Vivian:
I am the only daughter only child of two Chinese immigrants. I grew up in a really loving home; I was very lucky.

But my parents certainly were not wealthy.

They were very frugal. My mom washes Ziplock bags. We have a bag full of other bags that we collect and use as trash bags. It’s truly very, very immigrant. And I learned a lot about saving money from them about being really responsible and mindful. But I had never learned about truly building and growing and making myself “rich” until I met my mentor.

I joke about how to have the most formative women in my life are my biological Chinese mom, and my half-Chinese half-Taiwanese mentor.

These are people who saw something in me and wanted me to have skills and opportunities that they may not necessarily have gotten.

Crystal:
What do you want women out there to know, Asian people out there to know, who maybe don’t feel like they would fit in in a place like Wall Street? They don’t feel like they should be majoring in finance or trying to understand. They don’t feel like they have a chance to even grow wealth, that maybe your mentor said to you that you want The Proud Asian readers to hear.

Vivian:
She was really honest with me. She said, “You know, Vivian, as an Asian woman, you are going to have to work twice as hard and oftentimes for half as much.”

But, she also made it very clear to me that she said, “If this is something that you want, you are smart enough, you are brave enough, you are capable enough to have everything.”

It’s so important to find advocates and mentors and people who are going to be in your corner to remind you that you’re enough. That you should not be the one telling yourself “No.” And you should not have to feel like you need to make yourself small to fit into any sort of box.

You do not have to be the person they tell you you are. You can be whoever you want to be.

You can follow Vivian Tu for more financial advice:

• Your Rich BFF
• TikTok
• Instagram
• YouTube

The post Vivian Tu: Your Rich BFF in The Golden Spotlight appeared first on The Proud Asian.

The family says their work is inspired by their belief in the cycle of love. Ever since launching “Seniors for Seniors,” groups from retirement homes around north Fulton County have visited for therapeutic sessions with rescue horses, dogs, cats, and even a pig!

Caregivers say the program has shown benefits for their guests; seniors who are ordinarily withdrawn are more social after spending time with the animals. The family says their program has helped those suffering from cognitive and physical decline, even prompting seniors in memory care to recall past experiences with animals.

Watch scenes from Joyous Acres here

43-year-old Joy Lim Nakrin, her 71-year-old parents Teresita Lim King and Andrew Nakrin, and her 73-year-old widowed aunt, Betty Lim King Cuyugan are the founders.

“After my husband died, I fell into a deep depression. But the animals have given me a new purpose. Even though they are the rescues, I feel they saved my life. I wanted to share this with others,” Betty Lim King Cuyugan said.

The outreach efforts to seniors became a priority for the founding family after they noticed the elders among them becoming stronger and more mobile by interacting with the animals.

“My parents and aunt help feed, groom and care for all of our rescue animals. While I am at work, the responsibility falls entirely on them. Despite the demanding work, they seem to be getting younger!” Joy Lim Nakrin said.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Joyus Acres (@joyousacres)

But the participants aren’t the only people benefitting from the program: the rescue animals also appear to be benefiting as well.

The family says, “Many of the rescue animals, including a once slaughter-bound former plow horse, appeared more attentive and confident with perked ears and widened eyes while nuzzling guests and being showered with human affection.”

The program is currently being offered to select retirement centers throughout north Fulton County.

The post Georgia Filipino-American family connects seniors with rescued horses appeared first on The Proud Asian.

We are treated as though we don’t belong in America, even if this is the only home I know.

WTF. Can’t get more racist than this @PurdueNorthwest administrator. Who is this person? #AntiAsianHate #StopAsianHate @AcademicChatter pic.twitter.com/Wt7d9pxM8J

— Rich Lee (@RichLeePhD) December 13, 2022

So, at 4 a.m., still having not gotten any shut-eye, I got up, took my laptop out, and began typing away. I felt passionate that what he said was discriminatory, ignorant, and plain wrong.

Maybe I can’t change the way Purdue University Northwest Chancellor Thomas L. Keon feels about the AAPI community. But, making my voice heard was a sure way to start.

The Chicago Tribune accepted my opinion piece and they published it a few days later.
Check out the Chicago Tribune to read the full commentary piece here.

An excerpt:

I was barely older than 5 the first time I experienced it. Unprovoked, a man faked having an assault rifle and pretended to shoot my mom and me in a grocery store parking lot. He yelled, “Go back to your own country.” I was terrified.

My mom shoved me into the car, locked the doors and fumbled for her keys. She was trembling — something I’d never seen my mother do before. I begged her to call the police, but I could tell she wanted to forget the incident. That day, the man took away my sense of safety and my sense of belonging in America.

My family never had “the talk” about race. My parents never acknowledged some Americans would treat the AAPI community as outsiders — even if we were born here too. The pandemic made this hate worse. Violent attacks against Asian Americans surged: 6,603 incidents against the AAPI community were reported to the Stop AAPI Hate organization between March 19, 2020, and March 31, 2021. The organization released this data around the time a white man killed eight people in Georgia — six of whom were of Asian descent.

Read his apology here:
https://www.pnw.edu/an-apology-from-purdue-university-northwest-chancellor-thomas-l-keon/ 

The post Crystal Bui on the Purdue University Northwest chancellor appeared first on The Proud Asian.

The following is an Opinion piece, exclusively written by Crystal Bui, CEO of The Proud Asian.

In light of the deadly mass shootings affecting the Asian community, I can’t believe I even have to write this.

Last week, The Proud Asian received a menacing message, sent through our contact form that lists the AsAmNews and author Randall Yip as the sender. I have graciously chosen to redact his phone number.

In it, Yip, apparently, on behalf of AsAmNews, had grievances about The Proud Asian’s news media website; our website promotes the work of Asian Americans through curated content and also through our own original reporting on stories affecting the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

When I first read the AsAmNews message, I thought: this must be a joke.

Is this meant to be a seemingly threatening message from someone who hates the AAPI community and wants to stop The Proud Asian’s mission to highlight Asian American lives and share Asian American voices? Why is there a photo of a gun — and apparently attached twice “hand-gun.jpg; hand-gun.jpg.” Surely it can’t be a hateful message from one Asian journalist to another.

And yet, there it was. Yip’s message.

Here it is again Twitter! @AsAmNews sending me this email with a photo of a gun attached. A reminder: the #MontereyPark shooting from an Asian perpetrator killing Asian victims, with a gun, was on Jan 21, 2023. 11 victims dead; 9 victims injured. pic.twitter.com/Gs58yluKMJ

— Crystal Bui (@crystalbuitv) February 9, 2023

The Proud Asian showcases other Asian journalists, and factors in any suggested industry guidelines. We share the initial paragraphs of a curated article with our readers (generally less than 2,000 characters). Then, we promote their work by adding a link to the original author’s story and/or their media outlet. We add the news source’s bio, and we also link to their social media handles. It’s free promotion for them.

It’s beneficial to have anyone sharing your work. Our curated content sends more traffic to those websites, elevating their SEO, and also giving publicity to their work.

So, Yip’s grievance is unsound.

However, that’s not the main issue here. It’s the fact that despite having to click “Choose File” and “Attach” the file… Yip is pretending this never really happened. He’s pretending the image isn’t there. He is trying to gaslight a fellow Asian-American journalist.

This means, he’s telling me, you and The Proud Asian, to not believe our eyes.

Yes, I could have let this all go.

I could have chalked it up to the ignorance of one Asian journalist who thought it was appropriate to attach and message a fellow Asian journalist a picture of a gun following mass shootings.

But, you know what? I am tired as an Asian-American woman of being expected to take things in silence. I am tired as an Asian-American woman of being gaslit by others who want to invalidate what I know to be true.

Let me be clear about The Proud Asian’s mission:

Being Asian should not be equated with being a target, being a burden, or being denied a sense of belonging. To me, being Asian now means coming out of the shadows and asserting firmly that we belong here as much as anyone else. That We Are Proud.

The Proud Asian provides a safe community, a place of belonging to share stories that matter to the Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

Per Google News, curated or syndicated content is allowed, as Google News’s website — and other media sources such as Medium, StumbleUpon, Reddit — do the same. Essentially, these websites use programs such as RSS Feeds to share curated news.

So what do I, personally, plan on doing on my own?

Well, first, AsAmNews has sponsors who, apparently, support their work and journalism. On the “About” page for AsAmNews, there is a list of organizations:

The site is supported in part by a grant from the California State Library Commission and by the generous support of its readership who are recognized on our Bad Ass Asian donor Wall of Fame.

In May 2022, AsAmNews received numerous accolades including the Torch Award from the National Association of Asian Pacifics in Politics and Public Affairs […] That same month, the California AAPI Legislative Caucus awarded AsAmNews a commendation for “uplifting Asian American and Pacific Islander visibility and voices in the face of xenophobia and increased anti-Asian violence.”

Earlier in May, the Asian Hustle Network, a 200,000 member support group recognized Randall Yip, founder and editor of AsAmNews, with its its Unsung Heroes Award for working for the betterment of the community with little recognition.

Maybe those organizations and sponsors should know about what AsAmNews is doing behind the scenes and what actions they are taking as bonafide keyboard warriors.

So, this is my response. My voice and the AAPI community’s voice all deserve to be heard. Because in no way should a message like this EVER be acceptable. It is shameful.

Randall Yip: instead of doubling down on a clear lie that the photo was never sent, learn to own up to the truth. This is a reflection of who you are as a person and not a reflection of The Proud Asian’s media website aimed towards helping the AAPI community.

The post AsAmNews reporter sends gun photo, message to The Proud Asian appeared first on The Proud Asian.