AAPI Healing Session | Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay Artwork

Thrive Spice

Thrive Spice is a podcast centered on the Asian American mental health experience while navigating career, family, identity and social empowerment. Join host Vanessa Tsang Shiliwala as she invites diverse business and political leaders, entrepreneurs, activists, and creators to share their real stories and practical advice on how they found their "Thrive Spice" - the joy that comes from finally owning our identity, power, and worth. Our mission is to promote a more inclusive world that centers intersectional communities, including women of color, AAPI, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ communities. Join us as we unpack some feelings and spill the tea: from sharing what real self-care and boundaries look like for us as we create social, political, and economic change; how we're healing from hate crimes, intergenerational trauma, and racism; and what we're doing to break glass ceilings, reclaim our stories and redefine what true happiness and success look like - for ourselves, and for the next generation.

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Thrive Spice

AAPI Healing Session | Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay

January 27, 2023 • Vanessa Tsang Shiliwala • Season 2 • Episode 6

Join Vanessa Shiliwala and special guest Leslie Lew as we hold space for AAPI community healing in the aftermath of Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay shootings. It's a raw, honest session as we struggle to process grief alongside joy during Lunar New Year, which is supposed to be a time of celebration, community and joy. We talk about the intersections of anti-Asian violence and mental health, self-worth, and why we will not be silenced as Asian women.

Plus: we want to hear from you. Send us your voice memos or audio clips to info@thrivespicemedia.com or DM us on instagram @thrivespice.

About Leslie Lew (she/her): Leslie is a trauma-informed self-defense coach, international speaker, and podcast host. You can find her on Instagram @reclaimingyourcourage and listen to her podcast Reclaiming Your Voice. She will be hosting a healing circle this upcoming week. For details, please visit her Instagram.

About Vanessa Shiliwala (she/her): Vanessa is the Founder/CEO of Thrive Spice Media, a mental health podcast and leadership platform that seeks to amplify and empower AAPI leaders, creators, and changemakers. She is also an award-winning DEI advocate, speaker, senior marketing leader, mother, and NYU graduate. You can find her on instagram @thrivespice.

Resources:

Stand with Asian Americans x Google x Coqual - "Strangers at Home: Key Findings on Asian and Asian American professionals, and erasure and invisibility of Pacific Islanders"

Lunar New Year Victim's Fund

Stop AAPI Hate Mental Health Resources Guide (San Mateo County and virtual/nationwide)

Asian Mental Health Project

Asian American Journalists Association - verified pronunciation of victims' names in the Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay shootings

Asian American therapist directory

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Vanessa Tsang Shiliwala

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