"How did you figure out what you want to do with your life? How did you have the courage to pursue your dream?” These are questions Celina explores with people from different walks of life. Their journeys reveal stories about dreams, courage, inspiration and creativity. www.celinalee.co
Episodes
Friday May 31, 2019
Friday May 31, 2019
I have learned so much over the years about how we can be happy in our career and life. I learned them through my career transitions, coaching many professionals, and giving talks in front of thousands of people, and also interviewing many successful people for my book and on this podcast.
I have discovered the common themes of successful people, and the difference between people who achieve incredible amount of success and live fulfilling lives, and those who don’t.
I also learned why so many people are stuck, and unhappy in their careers and life, and realized we never learned in school or from our families how to figure out our career and life. So if you are feeling stuck, you are not alone and it’s not your fault!
True fulfillment in a career is possible only when what we do is aligned with who we are. I have developed the LOVE framework to help people transition out of jobs they hate and into careers they love, and live happy and fulfilling lives.
LOVE
Learn About Yourself
Overcome Internal Obstacles
Visualize Your Success
Explore and Take Action
I’m so excited to share with you I’m launching my very first group coaching program! I’ve taken everything I’ve learned over the years and designed a powerful program where I’ll be guiding you through an inspirational journey of transforming your career and life through the LOVE framework. https://celinalee.co/cha/
Today’s show notes: www.celinalee.co/episode30
Thursday May 23, 2019
Thursday May 23, 2019
Thomas Park Clement is the founder of Mectra Laboratories, a company he started in his attic in 1988. He is a successful inventor of medical devices and holds 41 patents.
Thomas was born during the Korean War, as the son of an American military man and a Korean woman. He was abandoned when he was about four and a half years old, and lived on the street for about two years until he was taken to an orphanage.
Thomas was eventually adopted by an American family and moved to the U.S. A biracial war orphan who was once considered “stupid” grew up to become a very successful inventor, an entrepreneur, and a philanthropist, and achieved his childhood dream along the way. His story is about love and hope, and the resilient human spirit that serves as an inspiration for so many people. (Original broadcast date: August 16, 2018)
Today’s show notes: www.celinalee.co/episode29
Thursday May 16, 2019
Thursday May 16, 2019
I share with you a story about the person who changed my life, Mr. David Weiss, my 8th grade English teacher.
As I shared in my last episode (www.celinalee.co/episode27), I was born in LA, and moved with my parents to Seoul, Korea when I was three-years-old, and came back to Southern California ten years later. I had to learn English and adjust to the American culture as a 7th grader. All I wanted to do was fit in, but other kids made sure I knew that I was different. I was constantly bullied at school, and it was one of the most painful times of my life.
I share with you what Mr. Weiss did to change the way others saw me, and also how I saw myself. He reinforced my belief that I can achieve my dream. I grew up and realized my childhood dream of writing a book, all because one teacher believed in me when nobody did.
He lifted me up and held me up like a champion when everybody else put me down. It takes just one encouragement at a critical moment to make all the difference in a person’s life.
Thank you Mr. Weiss and all the teachers for your hard work and all the lives you have touched and changed!
Today’s show notes: www.celinalee.co/episode28
Friday May 10, 2019
Friday May 10, 2019
I am sharing a personal story about how growing up to become bilingual and bicultural has made a profound impact on who I am today.
I was born in Los Angeles and moved with my parents to Seoul, Korea when I was three-years-old, and came back to Southern California ten years later. I learned English and adjusted to the American culture as a 7th grader. All I wanted to do was fit in, but other kids would go out their ways to tell me that I was different. I was constantly bullied at school, and it was one of the most difficult experiences of my life.
Being Korean-American and speaking Korean meant that I was different and it has given me a lot of pain when I was younger. After I grew up, however, my bilingual and bicultural background actually made me be unique, and turned out to be one of my greatest strengths and blessings in my life. I ended up writing a book in Korean, which led me to start my community, Give One Dream, inspiring many people around the world to pursue their own dreams, and also led me to start this podcast.
In this episode, I also share with you a story about Howard Koh, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health during the Obama administration and now a professor at Harvard School of Public Health, about his experience of growing up as a Korean-American in 1950s.
You will hear about why Howard and his siblings (his younger brother is Harold Koh, who served as the Legal Advisor during the Obama administration and teaches at Yale Law School) became so successful against all odds, and achieved seemingly impossible dreams.
Today’s show notes: www.celinalee.co/episode27
Thursday May 02, 2019
Thursday May 02, 2019
Dale Minami is a lawyer who has defended the civil rights of the Asian Americans and other minorities.
His parents and his then one-year-old brother were one of 120,000 Japanese Americans the U.S. government incarcerated during the World War II.
Dale was born in California and grew up to become a lawyer. He led a landmark civil rights lawsuit that overturned a 40-year-old conviction for Fred Korematsu, who refused to go to the government’s incarceration camps for Japanese Americans.
After Fred Korematsu was arrested and convicted of defying the government’s order, he appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1944, the Supreme Court ruled against him, arguing that the incarceration was justified due to military necessity.
40 years later, Dale led the charge to overturn Fred Korematsu’s conviction after finding evidences of possible governmental misconduct. In 1983, a federal judge overturned Fred Korematsu’s conviction in the same San Francisco courtroom where he had been convicted in 1944. It was a significant moment in civil rights history.
Dale gave Japanese-Americans and his parents a fair trial that they never had.
Dale has also co-founded Asian Law Caucus, the first nonprofit to help poor Asian-Americans with legal problems.
He has always tried to boost the image of Asian Americans, and not just in the courtrooms. He produced two films, “Drinking Tea” and “Life Tastes Good” with all Asian American actors. Both films screened at the Sundance Film Festival.
When Dale was in his 50s, People Magazine named him as one of America’s Top 50 Bachelors.
Today’s show notes: www.celinalee.co/episode26
Friday Apr 26, 2019
Friday Apr 26, 2019
Hooni Kim is a chef and owner at restaurant Danji and Hanjan in NYC. We talk about how once an aspiring doctor became a chef and why he still pursued his dream even when so many people around him were against it. He was only one semester away from finishing medical school, and as you can imagine, it was not an easy decision. His mom didn’t talk to him for a year when Hooni decided to not become a doctor.
Many people told him, “What are you doing? You are crazy!” But instead of listening to others, he looked within and listened to his own soul about which path to choose.
Hooni's first restaurant, Danji, received a star rating from the Michelin Guide in 2011, making it the first Korean restaurant in America to receive the prestigious distinction. (Original broadcast date: July 3, 2018)
Other episodes I have mentioned.
3 Steps to Career Happiness
How to Gain Self-Awareness (https://celinalee.co/episode20)
Overcome Internal Obstacles (https://celinalee.co/episode22)
Take Action (https://celinalee.co/episode23/)
How to Pursue Your Dreams Even When Your Loved Ones Don’t Believe in Them (https://celinalee.co/episode15/)
Today’s show notes: www.celinalee.co/episode25
Thursday Apr 18, 2019
Thursday Apr 18, 2019
The word, networking, makes a lot of people cringe because it feels fake and makes us feel like we are using people. But meeting people and building relationships are crucial to our success. No one can succeed alone and achieve dreams alone.
When we build meaningful relationships, we can help and support one another, and achieve far greater things than we could ever do on our own. We need people to help us to get to where we want to go, and should do the same for others when we are in a position to help.
It’s not easy going to receptions and conferences where there are a lot of people, start a conversation with someone we just met, and then turn it into a meaningful relationship.
Over the years, I’ve attended countless networking events, receptions, and conferences. I share with you 5 things I learned about how to become better at networking, and turn the conversations into meaningful relationships.
1. Actively listen with a genuine curiosity to get to know the person.
2. Listen more than talk.
3. Follow up within 24 hours if possible, and mention something the person talked about in the email.
4. Remember people’s names including correct spellings.
5. Try new things and have diverse experiences.
Other episodes I have mentioned.
Third Step Towards Career Happiness: Take Action (https://celinalee.co/episode23/)
How to Pursue Your Dreams Even When Your Loved Ones Don’t Believe in Them (https://celinalee.co/episode15/)
How to Make Yourself Happy (https://celinalee.co/episode21)
I’d love to hear from you about your tips on networking and building relationships! Send me a message www.celinalee.co/contact
Today’s show notes: www.celinalee.co/episode24
Thursday Apr 11, 2019
Thursday Apr 11, 2019
It’s only through action that our lives will change. “When you walk on the way, the way appears.” This is my favorite quote by the poet, Rumi.
When we have big dreams, it can seem intimidating at first and we don’t even know where to begin. I share with you how we can start to take one small action towards our goals and eventually achieve big dreams.
In episode 15 (https://celinalee.co/episode15/), I talked about how my mom laughed at me when I decided to pursue my childhood dream of writing a book and get it published in South Korea. One of the things she said was, “Who is going to publish your book?!” In this episode, I share with you how setting the intention and taking action to achieve my dream led to me meeting one of the most famous writers from South Korea, and how my book ended up getting published by one of the best publishers in the country.
1. Dream Big and Start Small.
2. Follow your curiosity, not your passion.
3. Give yourself the permission to do things that makes you happy and brings you joy even if it has nothing to do with your career right now.
4. Action lessens fears and grows confidence.
5. Share your ideas, goals and dreams with others.
6. Set the intention and commit to it, then you will start to see opportunities you would have otherwise never seen.
This is the third episode of the 3-Step framework that I use to coach people out of jobs they hate and into careers they love. This framework has been proven effective in transforming careers and the lives of many professionals. If you haven’t yet listened to the first step, How to Gain Self-Awareness (https://celinalee.co/episode20), and the second step, Overcome Internal Obstacles(https://celinalee.co/episode22), I highly recommend you listen to them first. It would be helpful for you to listen to them in order.
Other episodes I mentioned.
Five Things I learned from Starting My Podcast (https://celinalee.co/episode18/)
How to Pursue Your Dreams Even When Your Loved Ones Don’t Believe in Them (https://celinalee.co/episode15/)
Interview with Chef Hooni Kim: How to Have the Courage to Pursue Your Dream (https://celinalee.co/episode2)
Check out my friend & mentor, writer Kyung-Sook Shin’s books! She helped me to achieve my dream :) (http://tinyurl.com/yxvcdnnb)
I’d love to hear from you about what actions you are taking to get one step closer to your dream! Send me a message www.celinalee.co/contact
Today’s show notes: www.celinalee.co/episode23
Friday Apr 05, 2019
Friday Apr 05, 2019
So many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. We often stand in our own way of living the life we want, because fear stops us from taking action. In order to have a successful and fulfilling career, it is crucial to overcome internal struggles, learn how to reframe failures and rejections, and be able to manage our negative inner voice.
In this episode, I talk about how we can overcome our internal obstacles and get out of our own way of living our dreams lives.
1. How to know if you are living your fears
2. Difference between conscious based values and fear based values
3. How to reframe rejections & failures as the evidence that you are trying, challenging yourself, and getting one step closer to your dream
4. The most important story of your life is the story you tell yourself about your life
5. The importance of being aware of your inner negative voice and how to peacefully coexist with it
6. Thoughts lead to feelings, feelings lead to action or inaction, which creates our future & realities
This is the second episode of the 3-Step framework that I use to coach people out of jobs they hate and into careers they love. This framework has been proven effective in transforming careers and the lives of many professionals. If you haven’t yet listened to the first step, How to Gain Self-Awareness, which I talked about in episode 20 (https://celinalee.co/episode20), I highly recommend you listen to episode 20 first. It would be helpful for you to listen to them in order.
Today’s show notes: www.celinalee.co/episode22
Wednesday Mar 27, 2019
Wednesday Mar 27, 2019
Michael Kim is the co-founder of the law firm, Kobre & Kim. Michael and his partner, Steven Kobre, met when they both worked as Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Manhattan while working on a securities case, which ultimately became the movie, the Boiler Room.
They started their law firm at Steven’s apartment kitchen in 2003 and grew it into a global law firm with 10 offices worldwide and over 300 employees.
Michael talks about why he decided to start the law firm even though 99% of the people he talked to said it was a terrible idea, and what he has learned about setting and achieving goals, building authentic relationships, and how to make yourself happy. (Original broadcast date: July 18, 2018)
I’m so excited to let you know that I’m launching my very first group coaching program! I’ve taken everything I’ve learned over the years and designed a powerful program where I’ll be guiding you through an inspirational journey of transforming your career and life through the LOVE framework I have developed. https://celinalee.co/cha/
LOVE
Learn About Yourself
Overcome Internal Obstacles
Visualize Your Success
Explore and Take Action
If you ever felt stuck and needed some help in figuring out your next step, and want to live a life with more purpose and joy, this program is for you!
In episode 12, you can hear about how Michael approaches goal planning and sets new years resolutions! www.celinalee.co/episode12/
If you got any value or joy from my podcast, I would be grateful if you can write me a review and give me a rating. Thank you!
Today’s show notes: www.celinalee.co/episode21