Tag: creative

Matthew Pellegrino was born in Chungcheongnam-do Province, South Korea, and adopted into a white American family in Long Island at four months old. His parents supported him to the best of their abilities but he always knew he was different and faced many instances of discrimination and bullying as a child. It was not until pursuing his masters in music composition at Johns Hopkins University that Matthew truly began exploring Korean culture and what it meant to him.

As a kid, Ducky Chang didn’t see his parents often because they worked long hours running a grocery store and other jobs here and there. He saw them working as fluidity and felt encouraged to try anything that interested him. One thing led to another, and he decided to pursue film at California State University. Ducky dropped out two years into school due to an injury, so he took that opportunity to explore whatever he wanted.

Joseph Kim left Korea at four years old and grew up in Colorado Springs. His father felt strongly about their Korean heritage and emphasized the importance of speaking Korean. Joseph currently resides in Korea and shares his unexpected journey into the Korean music industry as a songwriter and producer. With many songs and hits under his belt, Joseph recognizes the large range of talents in Korea. He is now at a point in his career where he wants to nurture and guide the next generation of creatives in the Korean music industry and hopes to showcase their skills to the world.

John Song would describe his childhood as atypical. He and his sister were latchkey kids who didn’t follow the traditional path a Korean American kid should take and experienced lots of bumps on the road. At 11 years old, John’s father passed away from cancer; six days later, his 17-year-old sister gave birth.

Jennifer Chung grew up in San Francisco constantly surrounded by music and dance. Her mother was a traditional Korean dancer and her father was a recording artist and radio DJ. Even after her parent’s divorce, she recalls traveling around in her mother’s van performing and falling in love with music.

Daniel K. Isaac is best known for his ensemble role on the Showtime series Billions where he plays portfolio manager Ben Kim. But 2022 was a pivotal year for the actor and playwright, whose passion is the stage. He starred in The Chinese Lady at the Public Theater; he made his playwriting debut with Once Upon a (korean) Time for the Ma-Yi Theater Company; and he’s currently starring opposite Linda Lavin in You Will Get Sick at the Roundabout Theater. Daniel was born in Southern California, the only child of a single mother active in her evangelical Korean church. As a gay teenager, he struggled against his sexual orientation and even underwent conversion therapy. (Spoiler alert: It did not work.) In a candid, funny and yes, raunchy, conversation he opens up about his early sexual experiences, his estrangement from his father and his ongoing conflict with his mother, who disowned him when he was in college and is still “in the closet” about being the mom of a gay son — despite the fact that Isaac has turned many of her remarks into the viral hashtag #accordingtomymother. Prepare to laugh, cry and cover your young children’s ears.

James “Uzuhan” Han was born and raised in Washington, DC, and often worked at his family’s dry cleaning business. As a child, witnessing his parents interact with customers gave James insight into how the world viewed them and a desire to protect his family. It wasn’t until middle school that he discovered hip hop, allowing him to channel those feelings and connect with himself and his peers in a new way.

Robert Joe was born in NY and raised in Texas after his father decided to quit his job at Samsung to stay in America during the ’70s. As a child, he was drawn to his creativity and eventually grew up to pursue film studies at the University of Texas after realizing the impact movies made on his life. Since moving to Korea in 2002, Robert has been able to reflect on his limitations as a Korean American living there– from issues with its healthcare system while taking care of his sick mother, to questioning what he as a Korean American has to offer the quickly growing country.

Grace Kim was born in Dallas, Texas and was raised in a town a little outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Growing up, she didn’t realize how different it was to be a Korean American until her friends made negative comments about her bring kimbap to share with everyone for her birthday. In that split second, she thought to herself that she didn’t like it anymore. Wanting to find an outlet and explore life further, Grace took on hobbies such as dance and photography to show her creativity.

Kathleen Kim is the talented puppeteer behind Ji-Young, the electric guitar-playing, ddukbokki-eating seven-year-old Muppet character who made her debut on Sesame Street last fall. Kathy was born in Flushing, Queens to parents who immigrated to the States in the 1970s. Puppeteering was just a hobby until 2014, when Kathy — who had been working as a reality TV producer — was accepted into a program at Sesame Workshop and found herself fast-tracked into the niche world of professional puppetry. Kathy tells Juliana and Catherine how she first fell in love with the craft; what it’s like working on set alongside Cookie Monster, the Honkers and Abby Cadabby; and her experience hearing from so many Asian Americans about what the existence of a character like Ji-Young has meant to them.

Mark Wilson was born in Seoul, South Korea, and adopted to a small suburban town in Philadelphia at nine months old. He grew up in a two-parent household with a brother who is ten years older and was domestically adopted. Upon entering college, Mark was still trying to find where he belonged. At times he would walk by the table of Korean students in the cafeteria but never felt connected with them. Having housemates involved in exchange programs, he ended up meeting the Korean students at a house party and became close friends with them. They invited him to their gatherings and even talked to him about going back to visit Korea.

In recent years we’ve seen a boom of Asian American actors in film and TV. But for decades, John Cho was practically the only one. He first came to fame in 2004 playing Harold in the Harold and Kumar films, a role that challenged many people’s ideas about what a leading man could look like. He’s built his career thoughtfully ever since, taking roles (Sulu in the Star Trek films, Spike Spiegel in Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop) that don’t play into negative stereotypes. The son of a minister, Cho was born in Seoul and moved to the States when he was six. He has just written his first book, Troublemaker, a middle grade novel about a 12-year-old Korean American boy’s experience of the LA riots. In a candid and open conversation, Cho recalls his own experience of 사이구(SaIGu), his memories of growing up in the church and the bottled up anger he’s often felt as an Asian American man. Juliana and Catherine also get to hear about Cho’s love of Little House on the Prairie and how books helped him through his peripatetic childhood.

Eric Kim is a writer for the New York Times and author of the cookbook Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home. Over the past couple of years, Eric has become something of a darling in the New York food world not only for his innovative and idiosyncratic creations (think: sheet-pan bibimbap, gochugaru salmon, Stouffer’s style mac & cheese) but the intimate stories that accompany them. His readers know that as a kid growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta, he loved the McNuggets and greasy ball pit at McDonald’s. They also know that for his first date with his boyfriend, he made kimchi and mayo sandwiches. Eric attended NYU and was on his way to getting a PhD in English at Columbia when he dropped out to pursue food writing full time. He tells Catherine and Juliana about his experience moving home during the pandemic, where he stayed nearly a year to work on recipes alongside his mother. He also shares his theory about the connection between Atlanta’s strip clubs and lemon pepper chicken wings, the story of how he came out to his parents and his not-very-Korean take on the best way to make rice.

If you’ve seen a Pixar movie in the last 20 years, you’ve almost certainly enjoyed the work of Peter Sohn. A director, animator and voice actor, Sohn’s credits include Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL.E, and 2015’s The Good Dinosaur, which he directed and co-wrote. Another fun fact: Peter served as the physical model for Russell, the lead character in Up. Peter tells Catherine and Juliana about his memories of growing up in the Bronx in the ‘70s, where his parents owned a grocery store. He also shares stories about his mother, a talented artist whom he credits for sparking his lifelong love of movies (despite her later objections to his choice of career). Animation fans will enjoy hearing about Peter’s path to CalArts, his experience co-directing the English language version of Ponyo (stressful!) and the types of new multicultural stories he hopes to tell.

Bernie Cho was born in Pittsburgh, PA and recalls moving around a lot before settling in Jamestown, NY, where both his doctor parents had their practice. During junior high, MTV was on the rise and Bernie became fascinated and obsessed. Living in a small town with very few minorities in his neighborhood, he recognized that there were no Asian VJs, music videos, or acts being represented and oftentimes became frustrated by the stereotypes portrayed in mainstream media.

Jason Lee was born in Queens, New York but ended up moving around a lot with his family. He hated dancing because his friends said he didn’t have rhythm and wasn’t born with it – so he believed it to be a genetic thing. While attending college, he had the opportunity to see the Oprah Winfrey Show where they brought a choreographer to teach the basic steps of dancing. He felt inspired and put months of practice into simple choreographies that soon sparked his love for dance and eventually joining a street dance crew in Time Square.

Fifth edition of Writers Block with author David Yoon, author of “Version Zero”! Join us as we get to know more about the book and his personal story.

Danny Cho is a Korean American stand-up comedian, writer, and content creator. He was born and raised in Boyle Heights in East LA as one of the only Asian Americans in his community. Danny discovered his love for stand-up comedy the summer before his first year at UCLA when he performed at an open-mic; not only did it feel good to prove that an Asian could be funny, he loved the energy of the audience and continued to crave the rush. Comedy soon became a hobby after college but with the encouragement of fellow Korean American comedians it pushed him to quit his job as a consultant and pursue stand-up full time.

Though Bobby Choy was born and raised in NYC, he never quite felt comfortable living there. He felt safest every weekend at church where he and his brother could be around other Korean Americans with similar life experiences. By the time he reached high school, he had moved 18 times and found it difficult to form strong connections with the people around him. It was through music and poetry Bobby was able to find comfort and joy. He had never considered music as a career path he could take as a Korean American, but with the support of his brother, he was able to nurture those dreams in adulthood.

With his lacerating wit, pop culture savvy and equal fluency with humor and pathos, the Emmy-nominated screenwriter, playwright and producer Jason Kim is one of the most dynamic young voices in the entertainment world. He has written for Girls and Love and is a producer on HBO’s Barry. He also wrote the book for KPOP, an off-Broadway show that won Outstanding Musical at the 2018 Lucille Lortel awards. Currently, he’s developing a series for Amazon called Neon Machine, starring Korean hip-hop star Tablo. Born in Seoul, Jason immigrated with his family to St. Louis, MO when he was ten. He talks to Catherine and Juliana about fleeing the midwest for NYC immediately after high school, his quarter-life crisis as a young staffer at The New Yorker, his decade-long process of coming out to his parents, his grandmother who encouraged him to be a writer and — last but not least – his devotion to his dermatologist.

Michelle Zauner is a singer, songwriter and guitarist who records dreamy, melancholic indie pop under the name Japanese Breakfast. She’s also a talented writer whose debut book, a memoir titled Crying in H Mart, is being published by Knopf this spring. In it, she recounts her experiences growing up half-Korean in her mostly white town of Eugene, OR, her path to becoming a musician and her struggle to reclaim her Korean heritage after her mother’s early death from cancer. From her home in Brooklyn, Michelle talks to Catherine and Juliana about her idyllic childhood summers in Seoul, her tumultuous relationship with her mom, her channeling of grief into creativity and the importance of Korean role models in her life, from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen Oh to You Tuber Maangchi. Stay tuned to the very end, when she shares her favorite snacks and staples from H Mart! Photo credit: Peter Ash Lee

Kam Redlawsk was born in Daegu, South Korea in 1979 and adopted by an American family in Michigan in 1983. Growing up in an almost entirely white community, she was made to feel like an outsider for her physical differences. It was during college that Ms. Redlawsk was diagnosed with what is known today as GNE myopathy, a rare genetic disease that leads to weakness and wasting in one’s muscles and affects only around one thousand people worldwide. Today, she uses her skills and artistic talent for advocacy and spreading awareness about rare diseases like hers. Dealing with loneliness and watching her disease progress to affect more and more of her physical abilities over time only pushed her to live life to the fullest by seeking out new experiences. In sharing her experiences as a Korean adoptee and someone affected by a physical disability, she hopes to spread the message that everyone has their own reserves of unlimited courage and that empathy can only be built when people begin to seek out each other’s differences.

D. Haejin Bang grew up in Koreatown in the city of Los Angeles, California, surrounded by Korean American peers. Growing dissatisfaction with the Korean American community’s lack of empathy towards other marginalized groups led to their own personal struggle with their cultural and ethnic identity and eventual distancing from the community. Music had always been a source of strength and solace, but after a profound experience at a pansori concert, Haejin was led to redirect their studies to traditional Korean music. Through these studies, they found themselves reclaiming their cultural identity after spending several years away from Korean communities and learning more about the history of people in the Korean diaspora.

Meet classical violinist David Kim. A child prodigy since the age of six, David fiercely trained to be a world-class violinist under his mother’s intense supervision. In this first installment of NAYA, David graciously invites us to his home and the music hall where we explore his passion for music and the journey that led him to become the concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra. NAYA (나야), produced by KoreanAmericanStory.org, is a mini-documentary series that paints vivid, visual stories of unique Korean American individuals and passion for their craft.

Chang-rae Lee is the author of Native Speaker, On Such a Full Sea, A Gesture Life, Aloft, and The Surrendered, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His latest novel, My Year Abroad, is a dazzling tale about an American college student whose life is upended when he travels to Asia under the wing of a mysterious Chinese American entrepreneur. From his home in San Francisco, where he’s on sabbatical from his position as a professor at Stanford, Chang-rae talks with Catherine and Juliana about overcoming the pressures of being “the first” well-known Korean American novelist, developing his early love of writing as a student at Exeter, and the way his mother’s early death from cancer at age 52 may have influenced his decision to pursue writing as a career. He also shares stories about his parents (we learn his mother was featured in Time magazine in 1956!) and his fond memories of the Korean church summer camp he attended as a kid.

Alison Choi was born and raised in Hong Kong, before permanently moving to the United States in 2015. Both of her parents grew up in the United States, and her American roots, coupled with her Korean heritage, gave her a unique cultural identity. While Ms. Choi felt in tune with her American identity, her Korean one was harder to reconcile with growing up in Hong Kong due to the relative lack of Korean-Americans in her community. It wasn’t until she began attending college that she was able to more directly confront and understand her Asian-American identity. She first immersed herself in the history of different ethnic groups in the United States before delving into Asian-American studies. Ms. Choi began to document stories not only about her own family but also about the intersection and interaction between Korean-American and Black communities. Her journey of discovering and exploring her identity speaks to her sense of purpose and her motivation to contribute to the community she is a part of.

All content has been recorded in advance prior to the US outbreak of COVID-19.

Born in Columbus, Ohio in 1966, May Lee faced a significant amount of bullying and discrimination growing up as an Asian American in her neighborhood. Like any other child, she sought to fit in and assimilate with the rest of her community. However, these challenges would build her character and the experiences she was able to bring to the table as a journalist. After realizing that medical school was not the right path for her, she was guided by her religious faith and began to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. Ms. Lee’s perseverance helped her secure her first job in Redding, California, despite the widespread anti-Japanese and anti-Asian sentiments of the time. At one point in her career, she confronted a group of verbally abusive and racist men while conducting coverage on a protest in Dayton, Ohio. Today, she hosts her own podcast, called The May Lee Show, that digs deeper into Asian and Asian American stories through open, honest, conversation. Her process of learning to embrace her own identity and combating racism throughout her life has shaped her devotion to social justice, truth-telling, and speaking up for the voiceless.

The youngest of five daughters, Nancy Yoon grew up in Koreatown, Los Angeles during the 1970’s, after immigrating to the United States at the age of four with the rest of her family. As an adult, Ms. Yoon worked in finance for a while before transitioning to more creative work in the entertainment industry. About twenty years ago, Ms. Yoon struggled with the death of her father which led her to take care of her single mother until she eventually passed in a car accident. Ms. Yoon speaks about the experience of seeing her mother’s spirit in several separate instances. Following her mother’s sudden death, Ms. Yoon felt a strong desire to change her life and eventually got more involved in the Korean American community in Los Angeles which led her to start Asians In LA (@AsiansinLA) – a social network of Asian American influencers in politics, entertainment, nonprofit and community leaders. Empowered by her unshakable faith, she tells a story that demonstrates the power of connection and the importance of representation.

Everyone says food is the universal language of love. Somehow I missed it. My family and I immigrated to the US when I was 8 years old and since then, all I could remember was that our days were a blur.

Jim Lee is one of the most influential and revered figures in the world of comic books. The chief creative officer and publisher of DC Comics, Jim was born in Korea and immigrated to the States when he was nearly five. From Superman to Batman to Iron Man to Wonder Woman, Jim has drawn just about every superhero you can think of and holds the record for the best-selling comic book of all time, X-Men, #1. Jim tells Catherine and Juliana about his earliest childhood memories of life in Seoul; his lifelong obsession with drawing; his teenage years as a Korean American prep schooler; and the epic blowout he had with his parents when he announced he wasn’t going to medical school. He also shares his thoughts on the importance of representation in the industry and the possibility of Americans embracing an Asian superhero. Joining our co-hosts for this special episode is K-Pod audio engineer and Jim Lee superfan AJ Valente.

Designer Carol Lim has been at the leading edge of American fashion since 2002, when she and Humberto Leon co-founded the retail shop Opening Ceremony in downtown New York. She and Humberto went on to design their own acclaimed fashion collection, also called Opening Ceremony, and to become co-creative directors of Kenzo, a position they held for eight years. In January 2020, Opening Ceremony announced that it would be coming under new ownership and closing all its retail locations. In a Zoom call, Carol chats with Catherine and Juliana about the major changes at the company. She also shares stories about growing up in Los Angeles, her favorite dress in middle school (Benetton), her SAT scores, her famous friendship with fellow Berkeley classmate Humberto, and her belief in the value of nunchi (눈치).

Margaret Cho needs no introduction. In 1994, the comedian was the first Asian American to have her own sitcom (All-American Girl, loosely based on her experience as a teenager growing up in San Francisco). After the show was cancelled, she returned to standup, where she built a reputation for her confessional, bawdy and subversive material, which targeted racism, homophobia, fat shaming, the entertainment industry, and most mercilessly, herself. From her Los Angeles home where she and her chihuahua, Lucia, have been sheltering during the pandemic, Margaret tells Catherine and Juliana about her minister grandfather, her dad’s deportation, becoming financially independent at age 18, a shaman’s surprising prophecy and her favorite K-dramas (Itaewon Class, Replay 1988, Mystic Pop Up Bar, Prison Playbook, Hospital Playlist, It’s Ok Not To Be Ok, Flower of Evil, Stranger 2).

Julian Kim is an editor, producer, filmmaker, and father of Ian, his 20-month-old son. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many families have experienced a dramatic change within their household when it comes to parenting, especially for those with young children.

Los Angeles-based siblings Jeanne Yang and Ben Yang have both made their mark on the fashion world, but in very different ways. Jeanne Yang is a highly sought-after stylist known for her work with Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr. and Christian Bale.

Diana Son is a television writer and producer whose credits include The West Wing, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Southland, Dirty John, Blue Bloods and Thirteen Reasons Why, where she served as showrunner. She first came to fame as a young playwright in 1998 with the acclaimed play Stop Kiss, which premiered at the Public Theatre and starred an unknown Sandra Oh. In a Zoom interview, Catherine and Juliana learn about Diana’s recent bout with Covid-19, her experience being the only Asian or Asian woman in countless writing rooms and her most recent project, an adaptation of the novel If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha into a series for Apple.

Author David Yoon became a breakout star in 2019 with his critically acclaimed YA debut novel, Frankly in Love, which hit the New York Times bestseller list and has also been optioned for a movie. In a Zoom interview, Juliana and Catherine talk to David about his path to becoming a writer, the “surreal” experience of seeing his first novel take off, and his partnership in love and literature with his wife, YA superstar author Nicola Yoon. (“I feel like I won the love lottery with her.”)

Ashley Park is a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy-nominated musical theater actress who has dazzled Broadway audiences with her performances in Mamma Mia, Sunday in the Park With George, The King and I and Mean Girls. She has also appeared in Netflix’s Tales of the City and off-Broadway in KPOP and Grand Horizons. But Park didn’t waltz her way into stardom without struggle. As a teenager in Ann Arbor, she was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia, necessitating eight months in the hospital. Ashley tells Catherine and Juliana about how her passion for performing fueled her recovery and shares some of the secrets to her success.

Visual artist KangHee Kim, best known as @tinycactus on Instagram, uses Photoshop to transform images of everyday street scenes and apartment interiors into surreal dreamscapes, all featuring portals into dreamlike worlds. On a visit to KangHee’s home and studio in Queens, Catherine and Juliana learn that the artist’s very distinctive work is directly connected to her status as a DACA recipient, which has prevented her from leaving the U.S. for over a decade. These images of “surreal escapism,” as she refers to them, have since become a form of visual therapy and have been called emblematic of today’s digital aesthetic.

Eunjo “Jo” Park is the executive chef at Kāwi, the fine-dining Korean restaurant opened by David Chang’s Momofuku restaurant group in New York City. Jo is at the forefront of a growing group of chefs putting modern Korean food on the map. After culinary school at CIA she climbed the ranks in some of the best kitchens in the country, including Daniel, Per Se and Momofuku Ko. She tells Catherine and Juliana about her childhood in rural Korea, learning to cook for herself while her parents ran a dry cleaners, a devastating injury early on in her career, and the challenges lying ahead.

Welcome to Season 2 of K-Pod! For our opening episode, we’re turning the tables on the show’s co-hosts, writer Catherine Hong and photographer Juliana Sohn. The longtime friends chat with the founder of KoreanAmericanStory.org, HJ Lee, about their first meeting (at summer school in the 1980s!), their work for magazines, and what’s most surprised them about doing the podcast.

Julian Kim is a video editor, filmmaker, and director of “Happy Cleaners.”

Jessica Park, current Project and Communications Manager at KoreanAmericanStory.org, was born in Arlington, Virginia

Jenny Kwak put Korean food on the map when she opened the restaurant Dok Suni in New York’s East Village in 1992 when she was just 19.  Later, she opened a second successful restaurant, Do Hwa, where Quentin Tarantino was famously an investor. Catherine and Juliana catch up with the pioneering chef-restaurateur at her new Brooklyn restaurant, Haenyeo, where she’s flexing her creativity with dishes like cajun-inflected dduk boki. Jenny talks about her thwarted plans to be a painter; the rollicking early days of Dok Suni; her ambivalence about celebrity chef culture and her close relationship with her mom (who still keeps her kimchi recipe a secret, even from Jenny).

Byron Kim is a Brooklyn-based artist who works in an area known as the abstract sublime. Part of the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, his minimalist paintings sit at the threshold between abstraction and representation, conceptualism and pure painting. Catherine and Juliana learn about Byron’s original plan to become a poet (he switched to art, thinking it would be “easier”); his physician parents, who immigrated to New York back in the 1950s; the gigs that got him through his early years as a struggling New York artist (four words: Skadden Arps graveyard shift); his career breakthrough at the landmark 1993 Whitney Biennial; and his ongoing series known as “Sunday Paintings,” arguably his most personal work to date.

Soyoung Lee built her career at Metropolitan Museum of Art where she was the museum’s first curator of Korean art, organizing such landmark shows as  “Silla: Korea’s Golden Kingdom” and “Diamond Mountains: Travel and Nostalgia in Korean Art.” Last year, after 15 years at the Met, she was appointed Chief Curator of the Harvard Art Museums. She talks to Juliana and Catherine about her childhood as the daughter of a South Korean diplomat living in Jakarta, Stockholm and London; her early love of Japanese art; and the challenges of making ancient art compelling to modern American audiences.

Romon K. Yang — aka Rostarr — is a Brooklyn-based artist, currently living in Bali, who works in painting, drawing, sculpture, digital and film. His signature works are large-scale black-and-white abstract paintings that recall both calligraphy and street art. In 2016, he collaborated with Nike on a much-coveted collection of sneakers and apparel; he has also created work for the Standard Hotels group and Moncler. Rostarr tells Catherine and Juliana about his rebellious childhood in Virginia, his fraught relationship with his parents, and the years he spent as a break dancer, graphic designer and music industry art director before finding his calling as an artist.

Writer-performer Karen Chee is a rising star in the comedy world and the youngest member of the writing staff of Late Night with Seth Meyers. A 2017 graduate of Harvard, she’s known for smart, quirky humor that’s unafraid to take on issues of gender, race and politics. Thanks to the recurring segment “What Does Karen Know?” she’s also known for her millennial ignorance of fax machines and Nirvana. Karen tells Catherine and Juliana about her childhood as a “square” (she only watched PBS and C-Span), her early ambitions to be a political speechwriter and how she got her first big gig, writing jokes for Sandra Oh at the Golden Globes.

Fears of the unknown and uncertainty have never stopped Jinhee Ahn Kim from having her own adventure.

Peter Kim grew up in New Jersey knowing he wanted to do one thing in life: act. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, he made his Broadway debut in Thoroughly Modern Millie and has since built a solid stage, film and television career. This past fall, he astonished audiences with a funny and heartbreaking performance in the play Wild Goose Dreams at the Public Theater. Catherine and Juliana learn about Peter’s family (spoiler alert: his parents weren’t exactly thrilled about having a “gay actor son”), the casting challenges he’s faced, and his growing role as a mentor, teacher and activist.

Youngsong Martin is the founder of Wildflower Linen, well-known for its quality fabrics designed for luxurious large-scale events.

Oejong Kim worked as a translator, chef and corporate housing specialist in Tokyo and New York before discovering her true passion: knitting. In 2004, Kim co-founded the yarn and knitwear company Loopy Mango, which has become a creative force in the knitting world. Loopy Mango’s signature product is Big Loop, a luxuriously thick, chunky merino wool yarn that has inspired many imitators. Catherine and Juliana travel to Beacon, NY to meet Oejong and see for themselves why this artsy, eccentric Korean-American in the oversized glasses has become a cult figure in the DIY world.

In part 2, Jessica shares her journey starting from graduating with a Historical Linguistics degree and pursuing linguistics research, to changing her career path in order to become a writer

Jessica shares the story behind her various tattoos and how she fell in love with the art.

Facebook creative director Ji Lee is one of the most influential graphic designers working in the country today. Born in Korea and raised in Brazil, he built his career in advertising, working for Google Creative Lab, Droga 5 and Saatchi & Saatchi. But it’s his wide range of witty and subversive personal projects — like the Bubble Project and the Instagram sensation Drawings for my Grandchildren, which features the artwork of his 76-year-old father — that are dearest to his heart. Catherine and Juliana learn about his Korean-Brazilian childhood, his unique creative process and his passion for challenging the way we see the world.

The process of creating a book, regardless of the target audience, is deeply involved and requires a plethora of patience and many hours of revisions.

Celebrity manicurist Jin Soon Choi has been a force in the beauty world for the last two decades. Her pioneering work has been featured on countless magazine covers and has made her a backstage fixture during New York Fashion Week. In the industry, everyone loves Jin — she’s the fun-loving, ageless cool kid who hangs out with Marc Jacobs and the Hadid sisters, always with a smile on her face. But what Catherine and Juliana learn is she’s never forgotten her humble start in the States when she spoke just a few words of English and worked as a waitress at GamMeeOk in Koreatown.

For this week’s #NotYourAverage Julie Young is joined by co-host Noah Oh as they hang out with Doug Kim – former World Series poker player now turned actor. From getting rejected from limited Asian American roles, Doug shares his story of how he took the road less traveled by funding his own series called Just Doug, giving him the freedom to be his own Korean American authentic self.

For this episode of #NotYourAverage, Julie Young sits down with Jean Lee – a former magazine photographer and now artist agent representing professional photographers and stylists. From graduating art school to working for newspapers and magazines, Jean shares her story discovering a creative career she never even knew existed.

In this episode of #NotYourAverage, model, Shadowbox instructor, and medical student Joey Kim sits down with Julie Young to talk about how he juggles his eclectic career paths. Kim also shares the origin story behind his unconventional journey, including how growing up without Asian American role models pushed him to use modeling to combat stereotypes.

In our latest #NotYourAverage episode, TV host and actress Ellie Lee takes Julie Young through the ups and downs of her journey as a woman of color in the media industry. Lee, now the digital host for iHeartRadio, opens about the hardest moments in her career, including her on-camera audition for VH1 and her emotional breakdown after “going back to nothing.”

Born in Daegu, South Korea and raised in Albany, New York since he was four months old, Alex Myung Wager struggled with his identity as not only a Korean adoptee but also a gay man.

In our latest installment of the Not Your Average series, host Julie Young sits down with Donnie Kwak, the East Coast Bureau Chief at The Ringer, an up-and-coming sports, pop culture, and tech website. He discusses growing up in Glenmont, Md., with immigrant parents — his mom an ESL teacher, his dad a foreign services officer for the U.S. government.

Young Hae Han was a professional pianist before she became a wife and mother.

Justin Chon, director of the film Gook, talks about why doing what you love is more important than leaving behind a legacy. He also shares why it was impossible to dream of being an actor while growing up as an Asian American. “I know what I’m capable of, which is so much more than what I’ve been allowed to do.”

My name is Brian Bomster-Jabs, and I am a Korean Adoptee. I was adopted when I was 5 months old and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. When I arrived, I had a brother waiting for me.

“For me, you know, fashion wasn’t always about clothing, and fashion is never just about how you look. Fashion to me is transformative.” David Yi, founder of verygoodlight.com, talks about the importance of men’s beauty and makeup, and why fashion is more than just appearance.

In this month’s KoreanAmericanStory with KRB 87.7 FM, Jeannie Park, founding president of AAJA-NY and a former executive editor of People Magazine, shares about her childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, and how she broke into an exciting career in journalism.

Filmmaker Andrew Ahn reflects on his journey of merging his gay identity and Korean American identity.

Rob Lim, skateboarder and head designer of fashion label Saturdays NYC, talks to Julie Young about growing up in Texas and California, fully realizing his Korean identity, getting into skateboarding, and his parents’ separation.

Joon Chung, comedian, filmmaker and editor from Staten Island shares his experience with KoreanAmericanStory, KRB 87.7 FM.

In this week’s KoreanAmericanStory with KRB 87.7FM, Julie Young, former litigation attorney and writer for KoreanAmericanStory.org, talks about her life journey as an adoptee.

In this week’s Korean American Story with KRB 87.7 FM, documentary filmmaker Pearl Park talks about mental illness, and shares about her recent work Can, which features a Vietnamese-American man and his battle with bipolar disorder.

In this week’s Korean American Story with KRB 87.7 FM, David You talks about his journey as a young Asian American musician and wows listeners with his original music.

In this week’s Korean American Story with KRB 87.7 FM, professional photographer Juliana Sohn talks about her recent project that involves taking funerary photos for Korean elders in the community, and interviewing these individuals about how they would like to be remembered.

In this installment of Not Your Average, Julie Young sits down with Phil Yu, founder of popular blog Angry Asian Man. Among the many things they discuss, Phil dishes on his love for movies, the origin behind his now 15 year-old blog, and items on his bucket list.

In this week’s Korean American Story with KRB 87.7 FM, Milton Washington talks about the tumultuous years of his life after his adoption to America, and how he came to resolve the inner conflicts regarding his identity.

In this week’s Korean American Story with KRB 87.7 FM, Milton Washington talks about his childhood in Korea as a half-Korean and half-African American boy. With pride, he shares about his prostitute mother – the essence of love and security up until his adoption to America at 8 years old, and the reason why he was able to endure the unfriendliness of a world that gave him birth.

For this week’s Korean American Story, Jaeki Cho, co-producer of the hip-hop documentary Bad Rap, talks to hosts and audience of KRB (87.7 FM) about what life was like growing up in Queens, NY, his own experience working in a creative field, and the challenges Asian Americans face in the music industry.

In this week’s Korean American Story with KRB 87.7 FM, actress and musician Diana Oh talks about the creative profession, her My Lingerie Play, and what it means to be a queer individual.

Born in New Jersey, Deborah Kim grew up in Staten Island but frequently visited Korea since she was a child—forming a multicultural identity that made her feel like an outsider in both societies. At a young age, she began experimenting with spoken word poetry after discovering Def Poetry Jam on YouTube. Now currently training to become a professional dancer, Deborah will be moving to Korea in 2016 to teach English while studying ballet and breaking but hopes to continue using spoken word and dance as a way to tell stories that reflect on relationships, social boundaries, and identity.

Ms. Yi Yoon-shin is a ceramic artist and the founder of Yido, a store which specializes in handcrafted ceramic ware for everyday use.

Yi, Yoonshin (intentional comma), is a ceramic artist based in Seoul and the founder of Yido (이 + 도자기 – Yi, surname + dojagi, ceramics). Growing up in Seoul as an only child, Yi would frequent art galleries, listen to music, and sketch.

Victori was born in 1943 in a small peach farming village outside of Seoul, Korea.

At the end of 2008, as the economy was collapsing, Grace Chon decided to quit her full-time job at a major ad agency to pursue her dream: pet photography.

Artist, music producer, and entrepreneur Chino (Kyu Min Lee)is “Seoul-born, Bogotá-raised, L.A.-grown, Brooklyn-aged.” He’s dined with diplomats and considers Erykah Badu a friend.

Jonathan is a 24 year old graduate of Miami University of Ohio and Jeremy is a 22 year old student at Berklee School of Music.

Kim’s paintings often engage with themes of vulnerability and contrast, and her artistic influences extend beyond visual artists to include writers (such as T.S. Eliot and the Korean poet Midang), her grandmother, and her friend who was a flower vendor on 14th Street.

Smith is an inter- and multi-disciplinary artist whose work engages with themes of memory and identity as well as political and social landscapes. Her work has been featured in GQ, The Atlantic, Hyperallergic, The Washington Post, and Angry Asian Man, among others.

I expected the artist Daru to be a mysterious and distant character, even more so due to her impressive credentials: a Bachelor’s degree from the prestigious Seoul National University in 1977 and a Master’s degree from the Pratt Institute in 1980.

“Divided Families,” the documentary that Ahn co-directed and co-produced, tells the stories of Korean American immigrants who have been separated from family members in North Korea for more than fifty years as a result of the Korean War, which divided the country into north and south.

As a child, comic books were Kim’s gateway to art. Some of his favorite comics included Akira (“the greatest work of graphic fiction ever!”), Blade of the Immortal, Ghost in the Shell, Dragonball, X-Men and Generation X. Kim states, “Comics remain my main inspiration. I’m equally interested in storytelling and writing fiction, and comics are a synthesis of those two.”

I never want to forget the look on my mom’s face when the cashier rang up the sneakers and we realized that they were not on sale. I never want to forget picking up a TV that was thrown out on the street in Williamsburg for my first apartment in NYC,

To see Hyun Kim in person, one might think he seems to fit the part of the hip, well-styled and good-looking marketing industry insider. Follow him on Twitter and you see that he, appropriately so for his profession, has his finger on the pulse of all that is current.

The week after he returned from the hospital, she came home from teaching her fourth grade class to find him listening to Beethoven and pushing himself around with a broom and dustpan on his lap. She called it the accident again, and he whirled his wheelchair around so his back was to her.

Never in a million years did Marja Vongerichten think she would become the unofficial ambassador of Korean food to the United States. Her story is well known at this point. Born to a Korean mother and an African-American serviceman father, at the age of three she was adopted by an African-American couple, Colonel James Allen and Margo McKay.

Spoken word poetry by Lili Kim.

Diana Son is an award-winning playwright, a writer and producer for television, and a screenwriter. Her plays Stop Kiss and Satellites premiered at The Public Theater.