The Lost Souls Podcast

The transitional phase that no one really talks about: graduating college to the professional world.  This episode explores many of the emotions, feelings, and experiences one feels leading up to graduating college and then transitioning into the professional world.  This life transition is a huge part of many 20 year old's life experience but can often feel like someone throwing you off the deep end and letting you figure it out.  My guests, hosts of the podcast Y.E.S. - Yoko, Emily, and Sandy and I, discuss our current life experiences with our mid-20 crisis.  We are all in different parts of our 20s, with some of us still in college, some just about to graduate college, and some currently working in the professional world.  We share the struggles we endured and currently live with, including high family expectations, mental health struggles, and feeling lost in purpose.  We are not here to give you solid solutions for your life problems but rather we are here to create space for you to exist in this mid-20 crisis and to take in all the bad and good that surrounds you.  No one is ever too young or too old to experience a life crisis but it's how you go through that crisis that can change your life.   Follow the Y.E.S. Podcast on Instagram and Facebook: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yespodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/y.e.s.podcast/ Follow The Lost Souls Podcast on Instagram and Facebook: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelostsoulspodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelostsoulspodcast/ Spill Your Soul: https://www.thelostsoulspodcast.com/spill-your-soul Email: [email protected] If you're a lost soul, you're not alone! Spill your soul on our website, share your stories, thoughts, or comments and stay anonymous. Closing Song: Numb by Cee-Zure Cee-Zure's SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/cimzeej-catron Show Notes: 1:21 - Mid-20 Criss: What does it look like to each of us? 12:00 - Balance and living a life full of aspirations. 16:30 - Getting that job: The anxiety that comes with it. 21:21 - Connecting your self worth to a job - don't do it. 29:00 - Getting that job: Health insurance and benefits is just as important as the salary y'all! 31:140 - Post-Grad Life: What're my hobbies?  The importance of having hobbies. 41:00 - High family expectations - tips on how to navigate it. 48:55 - Mental health struggles as folks in our mid 20s. 1:03:00 - Lost in Purpose: What are our current life purposes? 1:07:00 - Fire Question Round 1:10:00 - Closing + Social Media Handles

Is one of the differences between your 20s and 30s, lack of confidence for those in their 20s? I think that is a fair statement and have overwhelmingly witnessed talented 20 year old’s doubt their abilities in comparison with older and more experienced folks. I don’t believe this should be a pitting matter but is a common experience of those in their 20s. The idea of confidence has been molded around an extrovert’s world, steeped in patriarchy, and embodies ageism. In this conversation, as two BIPOC women in their mid-20s, Celina and I discuss the complexities and diversity in confidence. We walk through the ways we navigate confidence in the professional world, friendship world, and romantic relationship world. We work to debunk the way confidence has been historically imagined and work to recreate a narrative of confidence that is more inclusive and authentic. We pay homage to the amazing women who have instilled confidence within us and the ways we are manifesting it ourselves as young BIPOC women in this world. Follow Celina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celinaher/ If you're a lost soul, you're not alone!  Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Spill your soul on our website, share your stories, thoughts, or comments and stay anonymous. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelostsoulspodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelostsoulspodcast/ Spill Your Soul: https://www.thelostsoulspodcast.com/spill-your-soul Email: [email protected] Show Notes: 1:55 - What does confidence look like in the USA society?  Extroverted and white. 4:57 - What does confidence look like in the Hmong culture? Patriarchal and saving face. 10:15 - Instilled confidence in our youth - Homage to the Hmong Women who raised us. 20:18 - Confidence in your 20s: Professional Life  29:50 - I got the job because I was lucky?  No, it's because you have the skills! 32:14 - Confidence in your 20s: Friendships  40:40 - Confidence in your 20s: Romantic Relationships & Dating  57:10 - Manifesting confidence in your 20s - you are the baddest! 1:13:01 - Fire Question Round: Finding Homage  1:14:52 - Closing 

The conventional life in the United States: go to school, graduate, apply for jobs, work a 9-5, get married, buy a house, have kids, and spend the rest of your life raising them.  There's nothing wrong with living the conventional life but there is something wrong with forcing everyone to live that way.  In this episode, I talk with Salina, author of Thoughts to the Universe and designer, about rejecting the conventional life and redefining what living a self-fulfilled life looks like to them.  Salina talks us through their journey of living an unconventional life from majoring in fashion design at UW - Madison, to publishing a poetry book at a young age, and to not wanting to conform to a 9-5 after college.  Salina and I hold space for young 20 year olds to really challenge the conventional norms that are continuously pushed on to us.  Join Salina and I, as they reject the conventional life and really redefine what it can look and feel like.  Follow Salina Ntsa Iab Xiong on Social Media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salinantsaiab thoughts to the universe Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thoughtstotheuniverse/ Salina Ntsa Iab's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salina_ntsaiab/ Website: https://www.salinantsaiab.com/ If you're a lost soul, you're not alone!  Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Spill your soul on our website, share your stories, thoughts, or comments and stay anonymous.   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelostsoulspodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelostsoulspodcast/ Spill Your Soul: https://www.thelostsoulspodcast.com/spill-your-soul Email: [email protected] Show Notes: 00:38 - Hey Salina!   1:19 - What does the conventional life look like to you? 4:35 - Marriage + Conventionality  6:18 - Socialization of Conventionality  8:05 - Importance of Community Based Learning  12:00 - Stigmas with nontraditional majors  16:20 - Fashion Internship in Nepal: Impacted Salina's own fashion journey  20:25 - How did Thoughts to the Universe (Salina's Poetry Book) come to be? 23:00 - The logistics of publishing a book  26:50 - Post College: I didn't want the 9-5 but tried anyways  35:19 - Family response to the conventional life  41:00 - Pushback from myself regarding the conventional life  42:09 - She shed a tear, the story that made it worth it in Cali  46:00 - Collectively rejecting the systems that are put into place  49:25 - Word of advice to your younger self  52:00 - Fire Question Round  56:11 - Closing: Social Media

Growing up in predominately white areas as a BIPOC made it easy to always stick out.  It made it easy for me to avoid speaking my native language.  It made it easy for me to wish my parents spoke English.  It made it easy for me to not want to wear my traditional Hmong clothes.  It made it easy for me to resent my own ethnic identity, Hmong.  It made it easy for me to wish to be white.  It made it easy for me to be lost in my own identity.  Many BIPOC who grew up in predominately white areas, have phases in their life where they resent being their racial or ethnic identity. Billy, host of the Hey Billy podcast, and I sat down to talk about how we resented being Hmong for parts of our lives.  We talk about how we grew up wishing we were white, how our society did not teach us to love ourselves, how we've come to love much of our Hmong identity, and how we set healthy boundaries with it.  We also highlight how the Hmong identity can constrain young 20 year olds and talk about how to develop a mindset of the culture that can add to the lives of young and adventurous adults.  Join Billy and I on this podcast, as we bring you through stories of our journeys, our journeys of finding solitude in our Hmong identities as young 20 year olds.  Not all of the Hmong culture is beautiful and there are many things that need to change but we talk about how it is empowering to now appreciate the language we were raised with and love the people who we used to resent.   Follow Hey Billy on Social Media and Spotify Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heyshaman/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0kc2Rrdn1e7rnicaCpOwlu?si=wckbni7MTcOUAdzvQTFtQA If you're a lost soul, you're not alone!  Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Spill your soul on our website, share your stories, thoughts, or comments and stay anonymous. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelostsoulspodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelostsoulspodcast/ Spill Your Soul: https://www.thelostsoulspodcast.com/spill-your-soul Email: [email protected] Show Notes:  00:22 - Introduction: Difficult to love being Hmong  00:39 - Welcome Hey Billy!  A blogger, podcaster, and spiritual healer. 02:41 - Growing up Hmong: The prominence of the Hmong language and culture in our early lives. 08:20 - Didn't like being Hmong in the classrooms but loved being Hmong at home 10:45 - Hello: Hmong Americans are a small part of the Hmong diaspora  12:14 - When did we start to appreciate our Hmong identity? 14:00 - Billy: Hmongness was my way of stabilizing me 18:05 - Relearning Hmong Language through music! 24:35 - Growing up, I wanted to be normal but being Hmong was deemed exotic 30:40 - Young 20 year olds: Deficit thinking about how being Hmong impacts our lives 38:40 - It's not a binary when it comes to appreciating the Hmong Culture  42:18 - Root of all culture are feelings and emotions  44:48 - Healthy boundaries with our own culture  56:05 - Redefining what makes someone Hmong: You are Hmong whether you can speak the language or not 58:50 - Hmong people are our own homeland  01:04:00 - Word of advice to your younger self: It's okay to love being Hmong 01:06:00 - Fire Question Round: Finding Home  01:11:36 - Closing + Social Media 

2020 forced many people to sit with their thoughts and think about what their true life passions are.  Many people either started or continued to grow their passion projects that sometimes turned into small businesses.  Living in a time of uncertainty can be extremely stressful but at the same time offers room for growth and new in sights.   Join me, as I sit with the two Womxn, Pachia & Ying Ye, of Villainous Flower and discuss what it is like being lost in passion and how that can lead to creating a small business.  Villainous Flower is a small business started by two Hmong Womxn who strive to create impactful art.  They aspire to create merchandise that is comfortable, casual, and cute, they hope to empower you.  Do you know the HMOOB AF shirts?   Well if you do, Villainous Flower created them and if you don't, go get yourself a shirt! Villainous Flower creates relatable and empowering merchandise but that doesn't mean that Pachia and Ying Ye always had or always do have it together.  Join us as we talk about the difficulties that can arise with starting a small business - especially the struggles of taking the leap of faith.  We also talk about how even now, as their business is growing, there are still moments of feeling lost in their passion.  Listen to these authentic individuals bring Villainous Flower even more to life, as you get to hear the co-founders life experiences and struggles.  Follow Villainous Flower on Facebook and Instagram at the handle @villainousflower.  You can also find them on Etsy at villainousflower!  If you're a lost soul, you're not alone!  Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at @thelostsoulspodcast.  Ask your questions and share your stories at [email protected].  Spill your soul on our website, share your stories, thoughts, or comments and stay anonymous (thelostsoulspodcast.com). Don't worry, we are all lost souls, no matter how successful we are in life. Show Notes: 01:18 - The Creation of Villainous Flower: How did it all start?  The HMOOB AF shirts! 03:55 - All names have meaning, what does Villainous Flower mean?  07:09 - Biggest struggle starting a small business: Relevancy & Location of Business Partners  09:32 - The Continuous Growth of a Small Business: Villainous Flower Rebranding 11:24 - How does it feel like to be rebranding?  13:50 - Giving up is easy, how Pachia & Ying Ye worked together to not give up. 16:20 - Taking the leap of faith: It was scary but worth it 18:40 - Lost in Passion: Being Concerned about Finances  23:15 - Word of Advice for people who want to take the leap of faith but haven't yet 25:30 - Teamwork makes the dream work: One bought the t-shirt & one asked the logistics of it all 26:08 - Fire Question Round - Finding Home 32:55 - Closing