Why I started a podcast

How growing up as a minority influences my guest choices

TBH, this pic I took at the Grand Canyon is not super relevant haha. But I wanted something pretty to start things off. Plus, it’s sunny and I was doing some exploring that day, and I want the podcast to be sunny and explorative, so basically, it’s actually perfectly relevant.

Hello friends. Today, I’m going to talk about why I started a podcast.

Learn With Lels started off only as a blog where I talk about the things I’ve been learning, but then I felt really narcissistic just talking about myself. Plus, I figured it’d be much more valuable to also share other people’s stories, so that’s what I’m doing.

In figuring out who to have as my guests, I’ve been thinking about whom I would want to sit down and listen to and whom I think the world would benefit from hearing.

When I think about the content I consume, career fulfillment, quality relationships, and general happiness in life are the key topics that interest me, so I definitely want to talk to people who are able to share great work, love, and life stories and lessons.

When I think about the content that the world would benefit from hearing, I automatically think about immigrants—hence, my mom as the first guest.

The reason this is my automatic thought is because I grew up as one of the very few Filipinos in a predominantly White town. Don’t get me wrong, my upbringing and friends and community were largely great; however, I’ve certainly had personal experiences of overt racism (which I have suppressed h-core) and subtle racism (like being told in a complimentary way that I’m “basically White” or “not like other Asians,” as if being Asian were a bad thing).

I’ve also been in blood boiling spaces where I’ve overheard people bashing immigrants and people of colour. As someone who directly connects to both of those communities, you can see how that could get uncomfortable and leave a lasting impression on me.

I’ve said this before, but I feel that it is so, so, so important for people to understand that unless you are an Indigenous person, you are an immigrant to Canada. People should really think about that and understand how their ancestors got to this country before they form such strong opinions.

I’ve seen firsthand the ignorance and even the hate that people can develop when they haven’t been exposed to people who aren’t exactly like them.

The solution to disrupting those negative mindsets? In my opinion, it’s storytelling.

If you get to know people from many walks of life, if you hear their backstories, understand why they are how they are, and get some context, I really feel that it’s a lot harder to dislike them. It sounds cheesy, but empathy can really make for a better and kinder world.

I feel that I should make it clear that I don’t want to completely blame the people whom I’ve heard these troubling opinions from. It’s obviously not your fault nor is it necessarily a bad thing if you’re born into a homogenous society, plus, it’s only recently that we’ve been seeing diversity on our TVs. Also, it’s not like I know everything either. Your girl’s also learning and figuring things out as well.

All I ever watch is rom coms. What a delight to finally get some Asian leading ladies.

And leading men. :)

A great thing about our world today, though, is that you don’t have to be physically surrounded by diversity to become more aware of what else is out there. We got the internet now, so regardless of where we are or whom we’re with, we can learn whatever we need to learn.

And if those lessons can be delivered in an entertaining way, like via an upbeat podcast, then hopefully people would be willing to hear from individuals whom they wouldn’t typically interact with.

I have a growing list of the people whom I want to chat with. Generally, I want to hear stories and lessons from people with unique career paths, loving relationships, and fulfilling lives, as well as people who’ve faced adversity or who may be misunderstood and lack representation in the media.

My list of potential guests is big and pretty broad, and maybe I’ll need to narrow things down or create different sections once I get more episodes. We’ll see how things work out, but I also don’t want to overthink it because that can lead to me just planning and not actually doing anything.

But the overarching purpose of the Learn With Lels podcast is to have guests share their stories and lessons to encourage empathy and learning while also being entertaining.

If you’ve listened to any of the episodes so far (thank you), I hope that’s what you’ve got from them! I also hope that you continue to tune in to see who else I have on the podcast and to find out how everything works out.

If you haven’t listened yet, feel free to go to the podcast page of this website or search Learn With Lels wherever you listen to podcasts.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for listening. Be yourself. Hehehe.