Today we’d like to introduce you to Melody Cheng.
Melody, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
AsianBossGirl is a podcast hosted by three Asian American women –myself, Helen Wu, and Janet Wang. We use this podcast as a means to share stories that relate to the 20-30 years old Asian American woman, speaking about topics such as working, dating, and living in Los Angeles.
Initially, the idea of creating the podcast came from a night of casual “girl-talk” while around some of our friends who work in the media and entertainment space. They thought that our conversation reflected a unique perspective that would appeal to a wider audience, and we all agreed that there is a lack of Asian female voices in media (and those who are present mostly represent the fashion, beauty, or blogging industries).
The name ABG is an acronym that can be interpreted as “Asian Baby Girl”, a term commonly used in the 1990s to refer to a type of girl in an Asian American subculture who flaunted her sexuality and was usually associated with gangsters but was a strong and commanding figure. As women who grew up in the 90s, we have a particular connection to this archetype. And now, as adults establishing careers and lifestyles in 2018, a time when cultural diversity and equality for women are very prominent topics, we saw the possibility to re-define the “Asian Baby Girl” archetype as an “AsianBossGirl” – a woman whose lifestyle may be polarizing (whether that is working in a male-dominated career or going clubbing in provocative attire), but who is in command of her life and identity.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The beginning was definitely challenging. Starting the podcast was a huge learning curve for us. All three of us had to learn how to edit with Adobe Premiere, learn social media marketing skills, figure out how to record, create a website, and distribute to iTunes and other podcasting platforms while maintaining full-time jobs & social lives.
Our most recent challenge is learning how to run this small media company. We recently quit our jobs (due to uncanny timing- was not planned!) and have decided to pursue this podcast full time. From working part-time on a passion project & relying on steady income from our full-time jobs to essentially gambling on your small business is definitely different. We feel like we’re entering this time of unpredictability, but knowing that we have each other (we remind each other all the time that we’re friends first before business partners) is reassuring.
Please tell us about AsianBossGirl.
As a podcast, we put out audio content every week when we’re on season. Topics range from diving into our mother’s immigration journey, our relationship with our mental health to silly things like our waxing experience. We currently are six seasons into the podcast & take two months off to prepare for the future season & other projects. We recently have been expanding into other forms of media from starting a YouTube channel (just search up asianbossgirl) to sending out monthly newsletters.
When we started two years ago, there weren’t many Asian American podcast, so I think we definitely stood out due to that. Now, we’re so happy to see a variety of Asian & Asian American hosts on all the podcasting platforms.
I’m really proud of the fact that this podcast is expanding and touching people in a way we never expected. Before COVID, we started talking at colleges and corporate companies to connect with other people that had the same experience as we did. A lot of them shared with us how, before the podcast, they felt alone, isolated in their thoughts and our podcast was the first time they heard these thoughts/stories/experiences voiced out loud.
Our goal really is to share as much as we can about the Asian American experience through our personal stories and our guests to create a larger understanding of our community.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I want to say you can’t have luck without timing.
For the success of the podcast, I’d say it was a combination of luck +timing + hard work. I think if anyone of those are removed, we wouldn’t be here today.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.asianbossgirl.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/asianbossgirl
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/55vG1j5hNc1R6J0rO4Yh1h
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAPLyHqOqq7yiTns_ddKLkw/about
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