Written and curated by Jessica Lin of Cultureful

Co-Creating Podcast Memoirs Means Sharing My Own Vulnerabilities

Sometimes, when I peel myself up from a long edit for a stretch break, I have a moment of disbelief. How amazing is it that I get to do this? I’ll be listening to a guest describe her parents’ charming "meet-cute" in San Francisco’s Chinatown or her dad’s enterprising survival skills in a Malaysian refugee camp; and I’m hit with awe.

But really, how did the most challenging part of my life turn into something so beautiful? That “something” is Cultureful: an archive I’m building of intimate, co-created memoirs where underrepresented folks like me get to share our stories in our own words; as the protagonists we don’t usually get to be. It’s a space where strangers become neighbors; where guests trust me with not only their stories but also their family stories. But before all that, I was in a dark hole.

I realized that I can’t expect my guests to be so brave and vulnerable – to build this global neighborhood with me – without sharing about myself, too. So, here goes nothing.

The Forced Pause

Let’s back up. I’m from LA, and I’ve always gone wherever the wind blew; from college in the Midwest as a nonconformist teenager, then abroad to work in global health. I spent years in rural villages; thriving in home stays, biking crazy distances, and hanging out in deep time. As long as I believed in the purpose and worked in community, I was happy.

But in my 30s, the wind changed. I moved stateside to be near my aging parents and took an office job. Working in public health when COVID-19 broke out was an endless marathon sprint at the computer. My colleagues and I carried the weight of the pandemic on our shoulders, working hard to stem the tide of rising death tolls. Repetitive stress injuries compounded until one day, I walked into a doctor’s office, got a diagnosis, and the career I loved slipped away.

Four years of disability, chronic pain, and depression followed. Recovery was a long, hard, uphill crawl. In the forced pause, I had an identity crisis; if I don’t have work, who am I? I polled my friends and family: who is the “Jess” they see? Slowly, the "me” without my career came into focus. It turns out, I am a serial conversationalist; perpetually curious about people and culture. My brother put two and two together: “Jess, you should start a podcast.” I literally laughed out loud. I was too risk-averse to color outside the lines of gainful employment.

But that forced pause grew, and I knew I had to reinvent myself to move forward. I had to focus on how to make something of what I still had rather than fixate on what I’d lost. As a quintessential millennial, the only thing that could motivate me was the same, albeit privileged, question I’d asked myself my whole career:

What social impact work can I support?

I realized I could bring together my unique multicultural perspective from my own life, work, and relationships to create a space where underrepresented voices are seen and held. I could create a space for listeners from all cultures to learn about other people and backgrounds without feeling like outsiders. I could call it Cultureful: “culture” plus “FUL” like “beautiful.”

Building an independent podcast from my living room, often while managing the ebbs and flows of chronic pain, was a far cry from the global health career I had known. Still, it became my new way to contribute something of value, something I could believe in, one conversation at a time.

The New Purpose: Many More Than The Single Story

Cultureful became my new purpose; my way of reclaiming my voice while amplifying others. I wanted to challenge what one of my favorite authors, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, calls "the danger of a single story." This is the idea that showing a people as only one thing, over and over again, is how we create stereotypes. By adding many more stories, we can start to see each other as individuals. I wanted to add more stories to the ether.

The "aha" moments from my seven years living abroad drive this work. In Zambia, I realized how travelers misread rural life as "idyllic," missing the grueling pre-dawn labor of my neighbors. In Morocco, my own preconceptions about gender were shattered when a friend shared details about her marriage. Each time I was surprised by a culture and people, I found the same root cause: I had never had a friend from that background before. These cross-cultural friendships teach me profound lessons I could learn no other way. It’s as Brené Brown puts it in Braving the Wilderness: "People are hard to hate close up."

I would go further: it’s hard not to understand, feel for, and love people when you see them close up.

I am building Cultureful to help us see each other really up close. But I know that personal stories don't exist in a vacuum, and it’s hard to feel like you belong when you don't know the history behind the conversation. That’s why I ground every memoir in historical and cultural context notes. Whether I’m explaining the ripples of the Chinese Cultural Revolution or the roots of Gullah Geechee heritage, these notes ensure every listener feels welcome and knows they belong.

Curated Collections: Beyond the Monolith

Every guest, family, and story is unique. To highlight this beautiful diversity, I am honoring February’s Black History Month and Lunar New Year by curating special playlists of Cultureful’s Black, Chinese, and Taiwanese memoirs. When we take these stories side-by-side, each collection undeniably dismantles the monolith scripts we often see in the media.

The Black Voices Collection:

Moving beyond the textbooks and dusty history to see the leadership, authenticity, and joy of our neighbors today.

Martina: On growing up in San Francisco, passing down Kwanzaa traditions, and her grandmother’s journey from sharecropping to nursing during the AIDS crisis.
Denetra: A mother’s big love, a powerful exploration of Gullah Geechee heritage, and turning personal grief into a fight for bereavement rights.
Tonisha: Her grandfather’s legacy as a Vietnam veteran and her own reality serving as an Air Force cop.
Hakim: From church leadership to living his truth, a queer therapist’s journey to alignment.

The Chinese & Taiwanese Voices Collection:

Beyond the red envelopes and model minority script lies a tapestry of complicated, deeply human stories of family and identity from across the diaspora.

Sheng: An audacious defiance of family expectations to pursue a career as a hockey reporter; despite never being allowed to play.
Tina: The beautiful, messy work of parenting with a blend of Taiwanese, Chinese, and Russian-Ukrainian heritage in one home.
Joanne: An animated story of failing, succeeding, and eventually leaving academia behind to build the life she truly wants.
Steve: Born in Italy and now in America, Steve offers a candid reflection on dating, identity, and his search for love as a Chinese man.

This Season’s Premiere: The Jin Series

Alongside these collections, I have also dropped our season 3 premiere series. How does the daughter of a Cultural Revolution survivor and a Chinese-Vietnamese refugee become a Tech Product Manager in the Bay Area? In this three-part series, Cultureful deconstructs immigrant tropes to uncover a story of regular incredible humanity. Spanning war, displacement, and the relentless pursuit of love, it’s a journey that helps us find empathy for our parents and ourselves.

Cultureful is an archive of these intimate, unpolished conversations. It’s my way of countering division by highlighting one beautiful person at a time and providing the context we need to truly connect. I want you to walk away feeling like you aren't just observing a story, but that you belong to this global neighborhood. Come in for story time. You’re welcome here.

Explore the Global Neighborhood | Listen to Cultureful

About the Author:

Jess Lin is a Taiwanese American, disabled independent creator and a proud daughter of immigrants. A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer with a decade of global health work in communities across Zambia, Southeast Asia, and Honduras, she founded Cultureful to bridge cultures and build empathy. A fierce proponent of narrative justice, Jess rejects the hierarchy of stories that prioritizes resumes over lived experience. She believes everyone is like an accordion book: a series of endless layers that reveal something incredible and beautiful when unfolded. When she isn't behind the mic, Jess is a yoga teacher, a meditator, and a lifelong language learner. She is originally from Los Angeles and currently lives in Atlanta with her husband/collaborator and their spoiled cat.

The Regular Incredible: Curated Voices for Black History Month, Lunar New Year, and Beyond