Shame of Not Belonging: Jiemi Gao on immigrating and finding your people

We sat down with Jiemi Gao, founder of Nori, to talk about shame, belonging, and what it actually takes to feel like you fit somewhere. Jiemi moved from Hangzhou, China to Canada at 12, spent months working through ESL workbooks on her own, and eventually realized the language gap was only part of what she was carrying. We got into why strangers can sometimes hold space better than the people closest to us, how empathy moves shame to the sidelines, and what Jiemi built on the other side of feeling like an outsider. We closed with moments of gratitude, including Lacey's daughter Iris, who has started asking big questions about meetings, people who have passed, and what it means to want bangs.Topics CoveredJiemi's experience moving from China to Canada at 12 and the shame of not fitting inWhy her MBA program at INSEAD was the first place she felt like she truly belongedHow small group discussions with strangers unlock honesty that conversations with close friends often don'tSara's own shame around hosting a "one and done" group for moms of single childrenLacey's daughter Iris asking questions about death, meetings, and bangsLinks & ResourcesLearn more about Nori.Submit your own joy moment, a question for No Shame in Our Game, or apply to be on our shows.