Speakers from Asian Family Support Services of Austin (AFSSA), Asian Texans for Justice (ATJ), Austin Asian American Film Festival (AAAFF), and Austin Asian Community Health Initiative (AACHI) joined us for a live moderated panel discussion at the Austin Asian Professional Summit in May this year. During the discussion we learned more about the direct services and support they offer to the AANHPI community in Austin, why it's important to focus on our community and how individuals can get companies involved to support their work.

Moderated by:
Minh Vu, Asian in Austin Podcast

Panelists:

• Zahra Shakur Jamal, Director of Prevention, Outreach and Education, Asian Support Family Services of Austin
• Hailey Easley, Executive Director, Austin Asian Community Health Initiative
• Sabrina Sha, Operations and Development Manager, Asian Texans for Justice
• Hanna Huang, Executive Director, Austin Asian American Film Festival

The Austin Asian Professional Summit was hosted in collaboration with the Asian American Resource Center and the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce, with support from Austin Asian Film Festival, Orchid Events, and Northshore Media.

Materials Referenced:

• Austin Asian Professional Summit
• Asian Support Family Services of Austin (IG)
• Austin Asian Community Health Initiative (IG)
• Asian Texans for Justice (IG)
• Austin Asian American Film Festival (IG)
• Asian American Resource Center (IG)
• Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce (IG)
• Orchid Events (IG)
• Northshore Media (IG)

Nelson Lin is a retired Chinese restaurant child laborer, with decades of experience in the food industry and shoving down his feelings. He currently takes credit for running Soupleaf Hot Pot with his mom and brother, which is Austin's first all you can eat hot pot restaurant. He also runs a meme group called Subtle Asian Real Estate, with over 23,000 members helping each other get from 0 to 1 on their first home. Subtle Asset Management, his investment company, primarily focuses on funding affordable housing with $35M AUM. He has degrees in engineering from Columbia University and Cal Poly SLO, and was formerly a techie at Apple, Microsoft, and Brookfield Asset Management.

Topics Covered:

• The history of his family from the Fujian province in China.
• Austin's welcoming environment for restaurateurs
• The difference between Austin's Asian food scene and other larger areas
• Mom and pop run Asian restaurants vs a newer wave of restaurants
• Running a restaurant with family members
• Striking balance of authenticity when serving hot pot
• The success behind Soupleaf
• Investing in real estate and tips on how to get started

Materials Referenced:

• Soupleaf Hotpot
• Subtle Asian Real Estate Group
• The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream by Patrick Radden

Dr. Pooja Lakshmin MD is a board-certified psychiatrist, author, keynote speaker, and a contributor to The New York Times. Her debut book, REAL SELF-CARE: Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble-Baths Not Included, is an NPR Best Book of 2023 and a national best-seller. Real Self-Care has been featured by Good Morning America, NPR’s Code Switch, The New York Times, The Ezra Klein Show, The Guardian, and translated into 10 languages. She lives in Austin with her partner Justin, their toddler, and their two cats, Kitty and Fifi.

Topics Covered:

• Growing up spending summers in India and navigating life as a "Good Indian Girl"
• Becoming disillusioned with medicine and psychiatry and that journey that led her on
• Her move to Austin since 2020 and how that experience has been
• The growing interest in self-care and what the difference is between self-care and faux self-care
• The nuances of holistic or integrative medicine and the barriers communities of people face in mainstream medicine
• The differences between tools and principles in real self-care and how they can work together to help you make big decisions in life
• How to apply real self-care to Asian American guilt
• Disrupting intergenerational trauma
• How to identify which boundaries are yours vs boundaries that may have been passed down by your culture or family

Materials Referenced:

• REAL SELF-CARE: Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble-Baths Not Included by Dr. Pooja Lakshmin MD
• Dr. Pooja Lakshmin Instagram
• Good Morning America Segment
• NPR's Code Switch: Real self-care takes real systemic change

On the heels of her being announced as part of ACL Fest's 2024 line up, KUTX's artist of the month and more, we're talking to the pop rap artist promqueen to share more about her past year, her musical inspirations, and more!

promqueen (she/they) is a second generation queer Vietnamese American pop rap artist based in Austin, TX. As a daughter to Vietnamese born parents, promqueen draws lyrical inspiration from her family history, own experiences and self reflection as second generation raised in Texas.

Alongside music, promqueen thrives in collaborative environments as a multidisciplinary artist across acting, community organizing and writing. promqueen is active in the AAPI community, performing at Asian Culture Fair, Asia World Night Market, AAAFF Gala, AARC Tonesfest and UT’s Silk Club 10th zine release anniversary. Through her music, she hopes AAPI folks feel encouraged to process, express and share their art to the world.

Topics Covered:

• Learnings and reflections from her szn one EP release in 2023 and what 2024 has brought
• Writing a family memoir and how it inspired the music and development of promqueen
• Music inspirations from both Vietnamese music and rap
• Themes in her music and what's to come for the rest of 2024
• Jewelry and its symbolism

Materials Referenced:

• Instagram: @saypromqueen
• Website: saypromqueen.com
• July 13th second annual prom ticket presale
• szn two vinyl pre order
• June 1st Show - Arlington, TX
• Population Change and Demographic Trends for Austin’s Asian American Population
• KUTX Artist of the Month
• ACL 2024 Lineup
• Paris by Night / Lynda Trang Dai
• Kim Son Jewlery

We've got a special episode recapping the opportunity to host an official AAPI meetup at South by Southwest (SXSW) this year along with teasing our new season this year.

Topics Covered:

• Our experience at SXSW this year and what we hope to see next year
• A brief unofficial primer on SXSW along with a few pro tips on how to navigate the festival
• Our plans for Season 3 and the podcast

Materials Referenced:

• AAPI Meetup at SXSW
• Vietnamese-Hungarian Singer, Hien

Jenni Lee is an investigative reporter and Midday anchor at KVUE in Austin, Texas. Jenni joined the KVUE news Team in June 2015 as the Weekend Daybreak anchor and weekday reporter but the veteran journalist has worked in the Austin TV market since 2001.

Before arriving in Austin, Jenni worked at KBTX-TV in Bryan and College Station after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. For more than 20 years now, Jenni has been breaking and covering stories important to our community and to our world. Her work has been recognized by several organizations: the Texas Associated Press of Broadcasters; the Lone Star Emmy Chapter; the American Cancer Society; the Diversity Council and the Austin Mayor's Committee for People with Disabilities.

Jenni was born and raised in Richardson, a suburb of Dallas. She is married, has a son, adopted two crazy rescue dogs and is raising all of them. She no longer does gymnastics.

NOTE: This episode was recorded in Summer of 2023.

Topics Covered:

• The origins of her interest in journalism
• Her experience with gymnastics
• Taking a break from anchoring
• One of the most challenging stories she's had to cover.
• Reporting during the height of the Stop Asian Hate movement
• AAPI representation in news reporting and in media and her experience in that
• Separating work from home life and the importance of work/life balance and self care exercises
• The story Jenni still wants to share
• The importance of mental health
• What brought Jenni to Austin and what's kept her here
• What does Jenni want to be known for?
• Her relationship to her ethnic identity today.

Materials Referenced:

• 3 Part KVUE Series: The fasting-growing minority segment in Austin - AAPI
• Kome, Coco's Cafe, Qi Austin
• 99 Ranch, 85 Bakery, Soup Leaf Hot Pot
• Pew - Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the U.S.
• KVUE: Jenni Lee

Yola Lu is a comedian and actress based out of Austin, TX. She is the co-founder of Y'all We Asian, Austin's first and only all-Asian American improv troupe. She also is the 2022 Austin Chronicle Best Actress winner, and is currently in post production of her short film, Patsy. You can see her perform with her all female-identifying improv troupe, Garage, every Thursday at the Fallout Theater, and with Y'all We Asian every first Friday of the month also at Fallout Theater. She also hosts a monthly stand up show called Oops! All Headliners which is every last Saturday of the month at ColdTowne Theater.

NOTE: This episode covers topics related to miscarriages and depression. This episode was recorded in June 2023.

Topics Covered:

• Feeling the pressure of being at times the only woman or Asian comic on a standup lineup across Texas.
• What motivated Yola to pursue more creative endeavors for a career instead of a more corporate path.
• Describing what it felt like to perform standup for the first time and how she knew she did well.
• Directing, producing and promoting neighborhood productions as a kid.
• Her parents perspective on the neighborhood productions and encouragement in her life.
• What inspires her standup material?
• Taboo topics around divorce and miscarriages and her short film, "Patsy".
• The importance of mental health and therapy and the differences between generations of Asian Americans.
• What brought Yola to Austin and how she found community and stability here.
• Starting Y'all We Asian and aspirations for the future.

Materials Referenced

• Yola Lu Comedy | Instagram
• "Patsy" - A Short Film by Yola Lu
• Y'all We Asian Comedy Troupe
• The Alchemist Book
• Xian Fresh Restaurant
• China Family Restaurant

The first-born child of immigrants, Zohaib 'Zo' Qadri is the first South Asian American and Muslim elected to serve on the Austin City Council. He was elected to represent District 9 in 2022 and serves the residents of some of Austin’s oldest neighborhoods, including Travis Heights, Hyde Park, and Downtown. He is committed to tackling Austin’s housing crisis, fighting for an expanded and equitable transit system, and protecting and uplifting Austin most marginalized residents. He currently lives in Downtown Austin with his wife, Wafa, a physician assistant at Baylor Scott & White, and their cat, Daisy Mae.

Topics Covered:

• Spending down time w/ wife and friends
• Growing up in Victoria and A Town Called Victoria Documentary by Li Lu
• Pivoting from medicine/healthcare into public service and being inspired by his family's giving back.
• Zo's political career journey from graduate school, working with the City of Kyle, City of Houston and pivoting towards electoral work, getting involved in campaigns (Beto's Senate Race), working at the capitol and worked at Senator Warren's Presidential Campaign, before running for Council.
• Difference between Texas State and Rice University and what drew Zo back to Austin
• Family expeirences with politics and reaction to Zo's pivot.
• Zo's perspective on the changes and growth Austin has experienced and representing District 9.
• Not taking for granted being the first South Asian city council member and the importance of representation.
• Helping to pass increased safety measures on Sixth Street and Rainey Street after the Lady Bird Lake incidents.
• How Zo wants to be remembered for during his time on City Council

Referenced Materials:

District 9 | Austin, Texas
A Town Called Victoria Documentary
Kiin Di Thai Truck

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mountaineer/anatolia
License code: CTKXYDZ8R9QDK4F8