PODCAST · society
Tradition Breakers
by Mary Vallarta
Join host, Mary Vallarta, as she interviews AAPI individuals who bravely broke free of cultural expectations to follow their creative, artistic, or entrepreneurial passions. Our hope is to inspire more AAPI youth to break free from tradition and expectations to follow their unique path to greatness. Mary comes from a Pilipino immigrant family and grew up in LA's Historic Filipinotown. She is the founder of Tasty Directives, an agency based in Venice, CA that specializes in marketing and business development for growing brands. Her expansive career includes working as a buyer for major retailers like Macy's and BCBG, launching and scaling multiple fashion and hospitality concepts in high profile markets like LA, NY, SF, and Boston, as well as leading Marketing & Creative for a national restaurant concept. But the most valuable experience Mary continues to relish is parenting her 8-year old daughter, Rumi, with her partner, Enrico.
Episodes
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Eldest Daughter Syndrome: How to Stop Carrying Your Whole Family
"My dad was able to come to my UCLA graduation, but my mom had to stay behind and help the church. That's when I learned I wasn't a priority." If you grew up as the eldest daughter — the peacemaker, the second parent, the one who keeps everyone in line while nobody asks how you're doing — this...
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An MIT Engineer Hacked Her Broken Body Back to Health
Sixteen years ago, a spinal injury during childbirth left MIT-trained engineer and Goldman Sachs alum Winnie Wang unable to sit for ten minutes. After six years of chronic pain and depression, she made an engineer's decision: go to medical school and rebuild her body from the ground up. It…
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Personal Branding for Introverts: How to Get Seen Without Being Loud
What does it look like to take up space authentically — without burning out, performing, or shrinking yourself to fit cultural expectations? In this episode of Tradition Breakers, host Mary Moses sits down with Goldie Chan — keynote speaker, founder of Warm Robots, Forbes senior contributor…
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AI for Entrepreneurs & Creatives: Practical Steps to Gain a Competitive Edge
Most entrepreneurs focus on solving big problems—what if AI could help you streamline those solutions and genuinely grow your business? Tim Park, an AI expert passionate about empowering real estate professionals and all industries, reveals how you can harness the power of AI—even if you're not...
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How to Raise Confident Kids Without Losing Your Asian Values
What does it look like to honor the values you were raised with — high standards, resilience, hard work — while also raising kids who are emotionally confident, able to express themselves, and free from shame? That's the question at the center of this conversation with Dr. Michelle Chung…
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How Writers Actually Find Their Voice (It's Not What You Think)
What does it really take to build a life as a writer? In this episode of Tradition Breakers, Mary sits down with award-winning Filipino-American writer and journalist, Ryan Riddle, to talk about the creative process, finding your authentic voice, and building a sustainable career as a…
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The Invisible Systems Quietly Running Your Life — a Designer Explains
What does it mean to design the invisible systems that shape our everyday lives? In this episode of Tradition Breakers, Mary sits down with Lee-Sean Huang—artist, service designer, educator, and Co-Executive Director of AIGA—to unpack how the systems we move through every day are intentionally...
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Why You Second-Guess Yourself at Work (and How to Stop)
In a world that often demands we follow a pre-written script, how do you find the courage to write your own? This week on Tradition Breakers, Mary Moses sits down with Tara Parsons, Vice President and Deputy Publisher at HarperCollins, and one of the few AAPI women leading a major global…
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He Left Opera for Stand-Up Comedy — With No Role Models to Follow
In this episode of Tradition Breakers, Mary Moses sits down with the brilliant and wickedly funny Jonah Nigh — a queer Korean adoptee raised by a Jewish mother and a Southern Baptist father, former opera singer, and now one of comedy's most intriguing new voices. Jonah's story is anything but...
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What Staying Silent at Work Is Really Costing You
In this solo episode of Tradition Breakers, Mary tackles a pervasive issue in the AAPI community: the tendency to stifle our voices to keep the peace. Mary opens up about her own journey of learning to speak her truth and explores the high price we pay when we stay silent. We dive deep into the...
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A Stanford Decision Engineer's 3-Step Method for Impossible Decisions
In this episode of Tradition Breakers, host Mary Moses sits down with Michelle Florendo — a Stanford-trained Decision Engineer, executive coach, and Filipino American mother of two — to unpack the exact 3-part framework she teaches leaders to make decisions with clarity, confidence, and…
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Her Parents Dropped Her Off in America at 12. Now She Runs SoCal's Biggest Climbing Gym
In this deeply moving episode of Tradition Breakers, host, Mary Moses, sits down with Alice Kao — an Asian American woman who went from being a 12-year-old "parachute kid" raising herself in the U.S. to becoming the CEO of one of Southern California's largest indoor climbing gyms, Sender One.…
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Growing Up Mixed and Never Feeling Like "Enough"
In this powerful episode of Tradition Breakers, host Mary Moses sits down with Ingrid Hu Dahl, leadership coach, consultant, and author of the memoir, Sun Shining on Morning Snow, for an intimate conversation on identity, grief, belonging, and the evolution of "humane leadership." Born into an...
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Everyone's Discounting. Does My Brand Have To?: How to Turn Black Friday Momentum into Long-Term Growth
Every founder feels the pressure this time of year. Ads everywhere. Deep discounts. Competing voices shouting "Do more! Sell more!" But does your brand really have to follow the same playbook? In this solo episode of Tradition Breakers, host Mary Moses — Fractional CMO for growing brands — shares...
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Feeling Stuck? How to Reprogram Your Mind with NLP
Have you ever achieved "success" on paper but still felt stuck or unfulfilled inside? In this episode of Tradition Breakers, host Mary Moses sits down with Judy Tsuei — a high-level mindset coach, former agency founder, and certified expert in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Mental…
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Rewriting Your Money Story: Healing Inherited Survival Patterns with Meenadchi
What if the fear, guilt, or anxiety you feel about money… isn't actually yours? In this powerful episode of Tradition Breakers, somatic healing practitioner and TEDx speaker Meenadchi reveals how our money beliefs are shaped by inherited survival patterns — passed down through generations that…
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Modern Dating & Relationships with Matchmaker, Cassindy Chao
What happens when a high-powered Goldman Sachs executive walks away from Wall Street to help people find love? In this episode of Tradition Breakers, host Mary Moses sits down with Cassindy Chao, a proud daughter of Asian immigrants who left a demanding finance career to become an elite…
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From Generational Trauma to Creative Freedom: Desire Lacap's Journey as a Filmmaker & Content Creator
In this episode of Tradition Breakers, we sit down with Desire Lacap, also known as @lacapturevisuals. She is a filmmaker, content creator, and director of photography for her production company, Lacap Productions. Raised in a Filipino household where careers in medicine were the expected path,...
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From Outcast to Advocate: Sonia Chand on Life Before & After an Autism Diagnosis
In this inspiring episode of Tradition Breakers, host Mary Moses sits down with Sonia Chand—psychotherapist, speaker, and advocate—whose late autism diagnosis at age 20 transformed her life. Growing up undiagnosed, Sonia faced relentless bullying, social isolation, and misunderstanding from…
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From Burnout to Feminine Empowerment, Ancestral Healing, and A Thriving Wellness Business with Vietnamese-American
Welcome back to Tradition Breakers, the podcast where we highlight the transformative stories of AAPI individuals who have chosen to break from tradition to follow their own path—be it creatively, spiritually, or in entrepreneurship. In today's episode, I'm honored to introduce Mimi Chau, a...
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Episode 7 with Jessica Chun Williams
Have you ever thought to yourself, 'It's too late to write that book,' 'I'm too old to change careers,' or 'Social media is a young person's thing?' If you've ever felt these limiting beliefs hold you back from pursuing your dreams or exploring your curiosities, then you're going to love this...
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Episode 6 with Ryan Letada
"Who do I really want to become?" This is a question that can cause us to either take on the challenge of going into the unknown to find the answer or to retreat to the world we already know. In today's episode, I sit down with Ryan Letada—a dad, serial entrepreneur, immigrant, and human…
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Episode 5 with Misa Chien
Episode five of Tradition Breakers is for those of you who've ever felt like an outsider. If want to learn how to turn that feeling into a powerful force for creating a meaningful career, a thriving community, and a fulfilling family life, this conversation is for you. My guest, Misa Chien, is an...
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Episode 4 with Vasavi Kumar
Episode 4 of Tradition Breakers is for anyone who has ever struggled to fully embrace their true self or for those who ever felt split between 2 very different cultures. My guest today is Vasavi Kumar, a first-generation Indian immigrant who has firsthand experience breaking free from societal…
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From Visa Anxiety to Agency CEO: An Immigrant Founder's Playbook
Today's episode of Tradition Breakers is really going to hit home for those of you who may not have been born into a supportive family dynamic. My guest, Carol, had that experience. But you know what - she proves that that doesn't have to be a setback. She's going to tell us how that lack of…
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Why High-Achieving Women Struggle in Love
Tradition Breakers Episode 2 is for those of you looking to create the relationships you've only dreamed of in both your personal and professional lives. My guest, Christine Chang, is a podcast host and a bestselling author and speaker. She helps high-performing women who are kicking ass in life,...
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I Googled "Filipina Women. " What Came Up Explains Everything
We launch Tradition Breakers with a powerful episode with Filipina on the Rise founder, Krystl Fabella. As an avid podcast listener, in January 2019, Krystl was desperately searching for Podcasts of Filipino women. Finding none, instead of feeling disempowered, she saw this as her calling to…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Join host, Mary Vallarta, as she interviews AAPI individuals who bravely broke free of cultural expectations to follow their creative, artistic, or entrepreneurial passions. Our hope is to inspire more AAPI youth to break free from tradition and expectations to follow their unique path to greatness. Mary comes from a Pilipino immigrant family and grew up in LA's Historic Filipinotown. She is the founder of Tasty Directives, an agency based in Venice, CA that specializes in marketing and business development for growing brands. Her expansive career includes working as a buyer for major retailers like Macy's and BCBG, launching and scaling multiple fashion and hospitality concepts in high profile markets like LA, NY, SF, and Boston, as well as leading Marketing & Creative for a national restaurant concept. But the most valuable experience Mary continues to relish is parenting her 8-year old daughter, Rumi, with her partner, Enrico.
HOSTED BY
Mary Vallarta
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Tradition Breakers have?
Tradition Breakers currently has 27 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Tradition Breakers about?
Join host, Mary Vallarta, as she interviews AAPI individuals who bravely broke free of cultural expectations to follow their creative, artistic, or entrepreneurial passions. Our hope is to inspire more AAPI youth to break free from tradition and expectations to follow their unique path to...
How often does Tradition Breakers release new episodes?
Tradition Breakers has 27 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Tradition Breakers?
You can listen to Tradition Breakers on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Tradition Breakers?
Tradition Breakers is created and hosted by Mary Vallarta.
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