The Hot Pot Pod

This week we are talking about haircare for the Asian hair. With so much information and products out there today, it’s natural to be confused and overwhelmed. On this episode, we discuss why we care so much (or so little) about hair and what’s worked for us. We also cover hair beauty ‘idols’ and trends we grew up with (we’re looking at you, South Korea), Asian and American standards of beauty, our personal experiences with hair thinning and loss in our 30s, our personal haircare regimen, and favorite Asian hair salons. Get ready for vulnerability, laughs, and tips.

We cover:

• Our Asian hair beauty idols growing up
• Asian v. American standards of beauty
• Hair thinning and loss in your 20s/30s, including postpartum hair loss
• Hair trends, products, and home remedies we’ve seen and tried
• Hair loss in men v. women
• Asian steal, splurge, show, story of the week: Asian hair salons we love

This episode is for the working moms, mom-to-be’s, and aspiring moms out there. The Hot Pot Pod discuss what it means to be an Asian American working mom today, the cultural stigmas, societal norms, and generational biases that come with it. The ladies delve into the unspoken mental strains of moms, perceptions verses realities of managing career and motherhood, the current state of working moms in America, and how motherhood impacts career decisions. Also in this episode, we have a low key surprise, don’t miss it.

We cover:

• What is the default parent?
• Switching gears between competent working professional and messy mom
• Perceptions of working moms/parents before we became moms 
• The Supermom myth, the tradeoffs working moms face, getting over discomfort of asking for help
• The state of working moms in the US
• Issues that are minimized and/or unspoken by previous generations in Asian immigrant families
• Asian cultural biases of motherhood we grew up with and mental shifts we’re making in the modern age
• How motherhood led to professional career wins

Sources:

This week, Serene shares her uncomfortable reaction to her mother-in-law’s random “I love you.” The Hot Pot Pod ladies discuss how verbalizing and reciprocating these words may feel awkward to not only our Asian families, but also to us as Asian Americans. They also cover Asian vs. American cultural expressions of love, notions of romantic and familial love, and being aware of people’s different ways of “saying” I love you (Are emojis a cop out?).

This week, we’re getting comfortable discussing the uncomfortable topic about money and wealth. The Hot Pot ladies discuss how personal finances were managed and talked about (or not talked about) while growing up with immigrant parents, why Asian Americans today are least hopeful they will reach their financial goals, and how Asian cultures have influenced our mindsets towards saving verses investing, the cost of time verses money, and emphasis on frugality.

Liz watches a Korean reality dating show that spurs the question, what does it mean to be beautiful in Asian American culture? From there, the ladies discuss growing up with beauty ideals they never lived up to, colorism, lucky noses, and Wendy makes a strong case for the 7 (not 10) step Korean skincare regimen. Note: this is a re-air (an oldie, but a goodie from our earlier and scrappier days. We received such positive reaction from our beta listener community that we decided to make this more broadly available.)