The ALIA
Volume I. Issue XI. Oct. 13, 2020.
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the eleventh issue of The ALIA, a weekly newsletter dedicated to the lives of Asian women in America, and beyond, where we bring you the latest news and insightful conversations with industry professionals. In this volume, we feature women in fashion, media and arts. Subscribe for free here.
Letter from the editor:
Hello! It’s so good to see you again, and a warm welcome to our new subscribers. It’s apple picking and pumpkin spice latte season! Fall is officially upon us, and that means fall fashion, neutrals and earthy-tones are in. Our Asian-owned brands feature two of my favorite designers, read on to find out who they are.
Our guest this week is Janet Wang, one-third of the trio making up Asian Boss Girl, a podcast for Asian American women hosted by Janet, Melody Cheng and Helen Wu. As another media outlet with a mission to support Asian representation, I immensely admire the ladies of ABG and their work.
Janet chats with us about the early days of ABG when they were starting out, coping with the transition to working from home, leaving their corporate jobs, birthday celebrations during COVID-19, and so much more.
P.S. You may have noticed different emailing times over the last month. With readers worldwide, we are experimenting with various publishing times. Let us know what time you want to see us in your inbox!
I hope you enjoy!
Sincerely,
Annie Lin
Founder of The ALIA
If you could like to learn more about this project, please contact us at contact@alia.news
Asian Creatives
Clockwise from top left: @tsangtastic, @stephyttravels, @marikokuo, @honeynsilk
Community News
Battling bias • In a powerful 30-minutes news program produced by the CBS News Race and Culture unit, “Asian Americans: Battling Bias” takes a closer look at the discrimination Asian Americans have faced in 2020, including high unemployment, business boycotts and racist attacks. *Trigger warning* Watch: CBS News
Overlooked • Unemployment rates for Asian Americans have soared from previously being the lowest in the country among whites, Blacks and Latinos, to one of the highest. We have been largely overlooked as people assume Asians are the model minority. Listen: NPR
Lost in translation • National Coming Out Day was on Sunday, Oct. 11. Asian American LGBTQ+ advocates discuss the struggle of finding the right vocabulary in Asian languages to describe same-sex attraction and nonbinary identities as the terms literally does not translate in many Asian languages, and “existing words are often nonexistent, stereotypical or offensive.” Read: NBC News
Artistic visions • Chinese American director and photographer Andrew Huang reimagines the queer Chinese diaspora in a portrait series for Out Magazine. Huang said, “This portrait series highlights the faces of the queer, trans, and nonbinary Chinese diaspora I am privileged to share spiritual and artistic community with.” View: Out Magazine
In Conversation with Janet Wang
This week, we’re joined by Janet Wang, 35, one third of Asian Boss Girl, aka ABG. Janet founded ABG, a podcast for the modern day Asian American woman, with her friends Helen Wu, 32, and Melody Cheng, 29. The three friends met while balancing life, careers and relationships in Los Angeles. Janet talks everything ABG, turning 35 during a pandemic, practicing meditation and yoga, and the role of Asian values in her family.
This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
How was Asian Boss Girl founded?
It started back in 2017 as a podcast for the modern day Asian American woman. In the last eight months or so, we’ve been really focused on growing it. Our base is podcasting, but we’re expanding to other media platforms, like our Youtube channel, which we launched in April this year. ABG started for fun as a passion project, but once we really got into it, it tapped into something deeper in the three of us. Each of us felt like we had a desire to do something other than our nine to five jobs. Knowing that Asian American women are not well-represented in media gave us a tangible mission to cling onto.
The three of us, Helen, Melody and I, had previously worked corporate jobs before leaving to work on ABG full-time. Helen has a background in finance, Melody worked in social media for fast fashion and media companies, and I was working as a UX designer. We had many friends in the new media, Youtube space that was creating content for the Asian American community. Our workdays looked very different from theirs. We would all hang out together, and through observations and conversations, they suggested we start a creative project.
It definitely did not start overnight. At first, we thought making a podcast would be as easy as getting some mics and recording. I think we recorded the first episode like four times, and we did not account for the fact that you needed to know how to edit. Our wonderfully thoughtful and gracious friends generously put in the time to sit down with us to edit, listen and give us feedback. We were fortunate that our friends donated their time to get us off the ground. Now that we’re up and running, we have a professional editor who does all our episodes.
We were lucky that we met each other at the right time and had the right people around to support and encourage us. As we were building it, there was a receptive audience too. The whole process happened very organically. We’re always connecting with our listeners and iterating based on what our audience wants. If people want merchandise, we’re making merch. If people want to see us in videos, we’re making videos. It’s about listening and following the natural flow of what people desire. What originally started as a side passion project has turned into a real desire to build something for Asian American women and men. Most of our listeners are younger women, and we want to produce content they can relate to and be inspired by.
How did the three of you meet?
That’s a really good question. We get asked that a lot. So, I went to college with Philip Wang, from Wong Fu Productions, who is Helen’s fiance. I moved around quite a bit and had moved back to Southern California. Helen and Phil were dating at the time. Mel also went to the University of California, San Diego, like me, but she’s much younger, and she had been interning at Wong Fu. Socially, we were all in the same circle. Since most of our other friends worked in the creative space, we bonded over working in corporate jobs. We found ourselves hanging out on the weekends, grabbing dinner or drinks with the group, and the three of our personalities naturally blended together.
I can’t imagine doing this with any other two people. Our dynamic, from friendship to working styles, is complementary in such a weird way. In the absence of one person, it feels somehow uneven. I’m extremely appreciative of them, and we’re thankful to have this opportunity to grow ABG in the immediate and long-term future. We’re incredibly grateful for the people who listen to our podcast, and we want to produce more content that people will find beneficial and inspiring.
How did you all make the decision to leave behind your corporate careers?
Like much of how ABG started, it happened organically and unplanned. I was in a new job, which I had been at for about eight months before making a deliberate decision to leave. At the time, I thought I’d take a bit of time off before looking for another UX design job. I hadn’t planned to go into ABG full-time. Helen had been in her finance career for a very long time was planning a break too. It worked out for her to make the leap around the same time as me. Within one to two weeks, Mel and the startup company she was working for came to a mutual understanding that her role wasn’t going to be a fit anymore. All of a sudden, the three of us ended up without any nine to five job tying us down. We always said it was a bit of divine intervention. But of course, there was a lot of thinking we had to do – plan how we would go about ABG, looking at our financial situations and figuring out the cadence for “Dear ABG.” It all happened very naturally.
Janet Wang, Melody Cheng and Helen Wu (Left to right)
For ABG, what has it been like adapting to the work from home environment?
Helen, Mel and I get tested for COVID-19 every time we gather in a group larger than ourselves. Generally, we have the same schedules and aren’t seeing a lot of other people. We meet twice a week. We will Zoom on the other days if we need to. We’ve found that recording the podcast over Zoom works pretty well because it records separate audio tracks. When we’re in the same room, the mics will pick up on each. We still record in person sometimes, but it’s been nice to find another way of working. In the beginning, it definitely felt isolating. I had a tough time working by myself, even with Zoom. The days we do get to meet in-person are so much happier and I feel more fulfilled to be around them. We’ve been able to make it work and have a combination of both.
What can we expect to see from ABG in the upcoming episodes?
We continue to put out a podcast episode every Thursday. One of the biggest things we’re trying to do is feature more awesome Asian American women. Doing more episodes featuring their life stories, and sprinkling in topics that our listeners love which are related to careers, dating, friendship, culture, identity, self-exploration and self-discovery. In terms of content, we’re planning to go more in-depth with guests. Beyond the podcast, we’ve started doing a series called “Dear ABG” on Youtube on a regular basis, and we’re working on producing more items for our merchandise collection. We’ve been doing more speaking events virtually for schools and companies, and we hope to do more of that.
You practice mediation and yoga. How has that helped you cope with everything that’s been happening?
Meditation has been incredibly helpful. I’ve practiced meditation on and off for many years. There was a long time I wasn’t doing it, but with the timing of leaving my last job, I decided to start meditating regularly again. Then a couple of months later, the pandemic hit. Meditation and yoga have been critical for coping with everything that’s happening.
As someone who relies on physical activity for mental wellness, it was hard when they closed the gyms, and I haven’t felt safe going to the gym since it reopened. I live downtown, and it’s hard to find places that are good for runs. At-home yoga has been the main thing I rely on for physical activity. That said, I’m not a completely disciplined person where I will meditate and do yoga every day. There are times where I fall entirely off both. But it’s nice to know that they are tools I can use when I need them.
You recently celebrated your 35th birthday. How does it feel to begin a new chapter of your life in the midst of a pandemic?
I’m actually not a big birthday celebration person. I usually have a small gathering of people. For me, it’s just another year. When I turned 30, it felt very anti-climatic. This year, I was very touched that Mel and Helen both organized something for me individually. Being friends with them for the past couple of years has made me very moved to be around people I really care about.
I think I didn’t fully process that it was going to be my 35th birthday. Leading up to my birthday, I did feel the weight of what it means to be 35 and not in the most positive of ways. I think birthdays a time where you recollect what has happened and where you are in life. I think 35 can be a scary age for women in our society, especially if you haven’t built a family yet. A lot of my high school friends are on their second kid.
It was a time for me to seriously think about what I care about, what my goals are and what I want to do. Once the birthday celebration came around, I felt so much happiness and gratitude being around the people that currently build my life. I appreciate that I am exactly where I need to be right now. I’m not saying that there aren’t days where I’m like, Oh, my God, what am I doing with my life. I don’t think anybody arrives at a place where they believe life is perfect. Even if you are, it ebbs and flows.
For me, turning 35 has been the equalization of both states of mind, feeling the weight a bit more and feeling fulfilled with meaning. It’s a combination of the significance of this age, which is neither good nor bad. A lot of it has to do with ABG, feeling blessed to have a community of people and contributing to something other people find meaningful or helpful. I think that has played a pivotal role in making this year significant for me.
Growing up, did traditional Asian values play a big role in your family?
That’s a very nuanced question. Especially for Asian Americans, how do you define what is more or less traditional? My grandparents are from China, and they moved to Taiwan. My parents were born in Taiwan, and they moved to the US. When I was younger, I always saw them as foreign. I didn’t have a concept of the differences. As I got older, I started to parallel my experience of being first-generation American to their experience of being first-generation Taiwanese.
My parents aren’t necessarily very traditional Chinese, but they inherited a lot of that thinking from their parents. As a child, there was dual communication where they’d tell me things in an Americanized way. They always said you should do whatever it is you want, don’t work too hard. Yes, school is important, but make sure to enjoy your life. But in their own working styles, they would be extremely hard working, working long hours, and emphasize the importance of education. In my family, I know I want to pass on and foster the values of hard work, financial stability, education and the importance of family. Although I’m not proficient in Chinese, I would love to find a way to incorporate the language for my future children as well.
Asian-owned Brands
Weekly Thoughts
Last week: What traditional Asian outfit do you wear for occasions?
Your responses:
“Baju raya or baju kurung is the traditional national dress of Malaysia. It’s typically composed of a long-sleeved blouse and long skirt with foldings. I wear them during Eid Mubarak, a Muslim festival celebrating the ending of the fasting period, Ramadan. Sometimes I wear them on other occasions such as Hari Raya Haji, the festival of sacrifice, celebrating the 10th month of the Islamic calendar.” – Linda Saint-Pere in Wellington, New Zealand.
“Mekhela chador is the traditional dress worn by women of the northeast Indian state of Assam. It’s similar to the Indian saree, but it comes in two parts – the cylindrical bottom called mekhela and the drape called chador, making it easier to wear and maintain doing household chores. It can be worn on an everyday basis. Fancier versions are worn for special occasions. What I love about them is that the mekhela and chador can be mixed and matched with beautiful color combinations. Nothing beats the original muga silk color, which is a sort of beige, and it always looks classy and elegant. Women mostly weave the dresses themselves at home. They are so durable that they are passed from one generation to the next as a form of remembrance.” – Aakanksha Gogoi, Gurgaon, India.
This week: What is your favorite thing about fall?
#ALIAtalks and tag us @alia.news to join the conversation and we will feature the best submissions in next week’s newsletter. For email submissions, please email contact@alia.news
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