A list of all the episodes you will find in the So This Is My Why podcast, including show notes, links and other episodes that you might find interesting.
Hillary Yip is the 15-year-old founder & CEO of MinorMynas, an online startup she founded at the age of 10 that aims to be the platform for kids to connect and learn from one another. Learn what it takes to be a child entrepreneur & how she balances all that with homeschooling & being well, a teenager!
Ep 13: Hillary Yip – 15-Year-Old Founder & CEO of MinorMynas Read More »
Danielle Merlyn Kettlewell is an Australian synchronised swimmer who competed in the team synchronised swimming event in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. She was vice-captain of the Australian team which placed eighth overall with 75.4333 in the free routine and 74.0667 in the technical.
She was also selected as Australia’s first Mixed Duet in the sport of artistic swimming for the 2019 FINA World Aquatic Championships. She is now a coach and motivational speaker.
Ep 12: Danielle Kettlewell – Olympian (Australian Synchronised Swimmer) Read More »
Morgan Then is one half of the popular Australian electronic duo, Slumberjack. Since launching their career with a No. 1 track on Triple J’s influential sister station, Unearthed, SLUMBERJACK have released four EPs—including their newest effort, Black & Blue—and over 10 singles. They’ve received 2 ARIA Gold Records (for their 2014 self-titled debut and their 2017 single, “Fracture”), while their second EP, Fracture, debuted at No. 1 on iTunes Australia’s electronic chart.
Ep 11: Morgan Then – Electronic Music Artist (Slumberjack) Read More »
Benjamin Von Wong is a mining engineer turned artist who designs campaigns around social impact and has succeeded in raising over 100 million views for different causes including plastics, fast fashion and electronic waste. He has a Guinness Book Record, a community of over 500,000 followers and tries to change the world through amplifying positive impact.
Rabi Chandra Malla is a Nepali social entrepreneur and founder of KOLPA World – a Nepali social enterprise based in Kathmandu, Nepal. KOLPA sells natural, organic and handcrafted products using skills passed down from generations from tribes like the nomadic Raute tribe and the Terai people from the Tharu region of Nepal. Learn how Rabi’s journey began and how he built this incredible social enterprise from the ground up!
Ep 9: Rabi Chandra Malla – Nepali Social Entrepreneur Read More »
Barbara Woolsey was raised on the Canadian prairies in a culturally-vibrant family. Barbara is am of Filipino, Scottish and Irish heritage, and this unique experience has shaped her passion for journalism, storytelling, and wordsmanship.
As a freelance journalist, Barbara Woolsey has covered a wide range of topics, including lifestyle, culture, food, travel, and politics, for a variety of publications: Reuters, The Guardian, The Telegraph, USA Today, AFAR, Condé Nast Traveler, Tasting Table, Thrillist, Time Out, Roads & Kingdoms, Vice, and others.
Prior to becoming a freelance journalist, Barbara worked for the Bangkok Post, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as a television and radio reporter, and In Channel (formerly True Visions 92), a former English-language channel in Bangkok.
Barbara’s live moderation experience includes: emceeing the Digital Innovation Awards (DIA) in Bangkok in 2013, and participating in a panel on travel journalism in 2014. In 2018, she moderated the Digital Science Match, a gathering of over 1,000 science and tech specialists, put on by the German daily newspaper Tagesspiegel in Berlin.
Ep 8: Barbara Woolsey – Freelance Journalist Read More »
Jan Wong is an entrepreneur, youth advocate, and founder of OpenMinds; a 8years bootstrapped, data-driven martech company based in KL, Singapore and Hong Kong. Starting at the age of 17, he has ventured into eight businesses, a part time lecturer at theAsia Pacific University (APIIT / APU), a certified e-commerce consultant, published an academic journal during his Masters degree, sits on the Academic Advisory Board of KDU, Sunway Collegeand Sunway University, a regional keynote speaker in events and conferences, a mentor for multiple startup communities including Techstars Global and NEXT50 Singapore, a regular contributor on BFM radio, a 2-time TEDx speaker,recognized as one of the top 10 new generation businessmen to watch in 2020, listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2017 list and recently published his first book campaign on Building Your Digital Net Worth.
Ep 7: Jan Wong – Forbes 30 Under 30 Entrepreneur & Founder of OpenMinds Read More »
South African dancer Ashley Dean is a First Artist of The Royal Ballet. She trained at English National Ballet School and graduated into The Royal Ballet’s Aud Jebsen Young Dancers Programme in 2014, entering the Company in 2015 and promoted to First Artist in 2019.
Dean started dancing at the age of five and trained at Cape Junior Ballet Company before joining English National Ballet School in 2011. Awards while a student included bronze medal at the 2011 Genée International Ballet Competition and the Royal Academy of Dance’s Solo Seal Award in 2013. While a student she performed with English National Ballet as Flower (Le Corsaire) and Snowflake (The Nutcracker) and with The Royal Ballet on tour in Manon in Moscow and Romeo and Juliet in Taipei.
Roles since joining The Royal Ballet have included Clara (The Nutcracker), White Cat (The Sleeping Beauty), Young Girl’s Friend (The Two Pigeons), Cygnets (Swan Lake) and in the world premieres of Hofesh Shechter’s Untouchable and Crystal Pite’s Flight Pattern.
Ep 6: Ashley Dean – First Artist of the Royal Ballet Read More »
Milena is a violist of the Dover Quartet.
Praised by Strad magazine as having “lyricism that stood out…a silky tone and beautiful, supple lines,” violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt has established herself as one of the most sought-after violists of her generation. In addition to appearances as soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, she has performed in recitals and chamber-music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, and Europe, including an acclaimed 2011 debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, which was described in Strad as being “fleet and energetic…powerful and focused”.
Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt is the founding violist of the Dover Quartet, First Prize-winner and recipient of every special award at the Banff International String Quartet Competition 2013, and winner of the Gold Medal and Grand Prize in the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Her numerous awards also include First Prize of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and top prizes at the Tokyo International Viola Competition and the Sphinx Competition. Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt’s summer festival appearances include Marlboro, Bowdoin, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Sarasota, Strings, Bravo! Vail, and La Jolla Summerfest, as well as Italy’s Emilia Romagna Festival. Among the conductors with whom she has worked are Seiji Ozawa, Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert, Charles Dutoit, and Otto-Werner Mueller.
A violin student of Sergiu Schwartz and Melissa Pierson-Barrett for several years, she began studying viola with Michael Klotz at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in 2005. Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Roberto Diaz, Michael Tree, Misha Amory, and Joseph de Pasquale. She then received her Master’s Degree in String Quartet with the Dover Quartet at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, as a student of James Dunham. Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt performs on a 2004 copy of the Primrose Amati, originally made for Roberto Diaz by Gabrielle Kundert and on a 1780 Michele Deconet generously on loan by the grandson of the viola’s former owner, Boris Kroyt of the Budapest String Quartet.
Ep 5: Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt – Violist of the Dover Quartet Read More »
Sara Holden is a Hollywood stunt actress from Detroit, Michigan. In Episode 4, we learn what she was like as a child (hint: a tomboy unafraid of getting dirty!), how her exposure to university rugby prepped her well for a life in stunts, and what it took for her to succeed in Hollywood: a place she first moved to when she had no job, no connections and no SAG card. Nothing but grit and the life mantra, “What’s the worst that could happen?”. And if pursuing a life in stunts appeals to you, we also talk about how you can make that a reality!
Ep 4: Sara Holden – Surviving Hollywood as a Stunt Actress Read More »