BETWEEN THE GAP PODCAST

Conversations are one of those things that happen to us on a daily basis. It may seem mundane sometimes, but every once in a while, these conversations can change your life forever. Sometimes you’re the one engaging in these conversations, sometimes you’re just an observer. Like, have you ever had dinner with someone and felt like that dinner conversation changed the way you think about some things in life forever? I certainly have. At first it felt like some of these topics are meaningful just to me. But when I start sharing stories about a meaningful conversation I had with someone, I was met with an overwhelming response of “wow I wish I could be a fly on the wall on this convo!” And this right here, is the only reason I wanted to start Between the Gap.

With the goals in mind, it only makes sense that I start by recording a conversation with my friends, the ones I regularly have these meaningful dinner conversation with. I set out to create a podcast that’s intimate and meaningful while staying true to my authentic self on how I connect with these individuals.

Why “Between the Gap”

I came from a mixed background. I was born and raised in Bangkok, spent 18 years there, but most of my adult life (10 years to be exact) are spent in the United States. As I grow older in my adult life, I start to have some realizations that I don’t quite belong to neither of these places. I’m still too obviously Thai to be accepted in the American culture, while grown so accustomed to the western culture that I’m also “too westernized” to be accepted back to my mother land. You see, I now find myself in a this tiny “gap” of sub genres. In simple words, there aren’t too many people like me.

Every once in a while in my travels, I’d come across people who has similar experiences of “not fitting in” to their respective communities. They feel like they are an outcast, just like me. So I thought, what if there was a way to give a platform for these people to stand on, a voice perhaps. And with the idea of recording dinner conversations with friend I mention above, everything starts to click that this podcast format is the perfect place to represent these outcasts.

Bridging the Gap

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is “how did you get to where you are today?” I, too, have been searching for an answer to this from the people I admire. But it’s not until I stop asking the question and become the one who’s been asked that I truly understand what I was really asking. I was hoping for a “secret sauce” - something that I’ve missed other successful seem to all know, or perhaps even a shortcut. So when met with this question, I felt like I had no answer. While others seem to be able to give concrete logical advice, some even a step by step how-to, I can’t.

I don’t have any secret sauce. I didn’t find any deep hidden secret that gave me a shortcut to where I am today.

And then it dawned on me - what if I could answer these questions by sharing the stories of those who’ve inspired me instead? I had already joked about starting the podcast to my wife so many times. With all of these concepts and ideas I’ve written about above, this is a perfect platform for me to share some of my answers to this question - by simply allowing you to be inspired by those who’ve inspired me.

Take our 2nd episode with Koon W. Ya-inta as an example. While recording this, I realized that he is somebody whose point of view I absorbed subconsciously since a very young age. His child like attitude that never thinks something is impossible rubbed off on me ever since we first met and became a part of who I am today. These are the things I hope to share with you in this podcast. They may be a little less logical and concrete, but rather mindset and attitude driven.

And keep in mind that everyone is different. What works for one person might not be for another. My purpose is to be a vessel for these conversations to unfold itself in the most honest way possible. You as an audience and choose and pick what you resonate with and apply to your daily lives. And if you choose to do nothing but just enjoy an intimate and personal conversation, that is fine by me too!