Take 1.5 Podcast: Stories From The In-Between

Sylvia Kim knows how to build something that lasts.For over 25 years, she led Mom & I magazine, growing it into a trusted voice within the Korean American community. As a single mother, she built both a career and a community rooted in trust and connection.In this episode, we talk about reinvention, cross-cultural leadership, and what it takes to start a new chapter after decades in one path.Find us on YouTube and all the major podcast platforms. Follow and leave a comment!!

Sheena Yap Chan, bestselling author and TEDx speaker who helps women move from self-doubt to self-trust. Sheena discusses visibility and why cultural pressure to stay backgrounded hurts career progress. She talks about perfectionism, the model minority myth, and the cost of staying silent. Practical topics include small confidence-building steps, setting boundaries, reframing failure, and self-promotion as leadership.

Carol Pak, Founder & CEO of Sool and maker of Makku, is a Korean American entrepreneur who modernizes traditional makgeolli for U.S. drinkers. She discusses discovering craft makgeolli, building a cross‑border production partnership, flavor and packaging choices, fundraising and scaling, and balancing family life with launching Korean alcohol in America.

In this episode, we talk with Evelyn Moon, founder, mother, mentor, and a Korean American lawyer who grew up speaking Korean as her first language. She shares the challenges of becoming an attorney while navigating cultural barriers, raising a child, and leading her own firm.Evelyn opens up about the reality of work-life balance as a working mom, and why she’s passionate about mentoring the next generation of women walking a similar path.About the guest: Evelyn Moon is the Founder and Principal Attorney at Evelyn Moon Law PC, a dedicated and compassionate immigration attorney with over 19 years of industry experience representing corporate, investor, and individual clients worldwide. With big firm partner background and sophistication and currently a firm owner, she takes pride in helping her clients navigate immigration challenges, expand into new opportunities, and ultimately achieve their immigration goals in the U.S. with much more personalized services. Evelyn has been a featured speaker at numerous AILA, EB-5 and other business conferences and seminars, covering a wide range of immigration topics, including work visa options for students, E-2 and EB-5 investment visas, L-1A and EB-1C visas for multinational executives and managers, and PERM-based green card applications. She is licensed to practice law in California and the District of Columbia and is fluent in English and Korean.

Haley, a Brooklyn-based writer and actor, joins Take 1.5 with Min Lee for a powerful conversation about identity, Korean culture, family expectations, and generational trauma.With a background as an elementary school educator, Haley brings deep insight into social-emotional development, childhood experiences, and how early family dynamics shape the way we communicate, cope, and form relationships. Her creative work explores language, cultural identity, and the long-term impact of generational patterns.✨ If you’ve ever felt like you’re carrying feelings your parents never had space to process — you’re not alone.✨ childhood and emotional development✨ family dynamics that shape who we become✨ the tension between respect and self-expression✨ and how storytelling can become a form of healingThis isn’t about blaming the previous generation.It’s about noticing what we’re carrying… and deciding what we want to pass forward.If you’ve ever felt like you’re working through emotions your family never had space to name — this one will stay with you.🎧 Listen to the full episode of Take 1.5 with Min Lee — link in bio.#Take15Podcast #GenerationalHealing #KoreanCulture #IdentityJourney #FamilyDynamics #EmotionalHealth #StorytellingAsHealing

What if being a nurse didn’t mean choosing between caring for others and building financial freedom?In this episode, we sit down with Jiwon Lee — a New Jersey–based psychiatric nurse, educator, real estate investor, and future Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner — who is redefining what’s possible in a nursing career.Since 2015, Jiwon has worked across an incredible range of clinical settings, including medical-surgical units, pediatrics, infertility, hemodialysis, and emergency departments in New York, Boston, and Nebraska. But her impact doesn’t stop at the bedside. With a Master’s degree in Health Leadership and Nursing Education, she’s served as an adjunct clinical instructor, private lecturer, and clinical operations manager at a healthcare startup.Outside the hospital, Jiwon is just as driven. She manages both long- and short-term rental properties and is involved in a joint venture real estate project — all while teaching nurses to think beyond traditional career paths. Through her platform “Rich Nurse” and her book Rich Nurse, Poor Nurse in America, she advocates for financial literacy, smart investing, and career diversification within nursing.She also serves as Media Director for KITEE (Korean-American Innovative Technology Engineers and Entrepreneurs), where she helps connect healthcare professionals with the worlds of tech, investment, and entrepreneurship.In this conversation, we talk about:✨ Breaking out of the “burnout-only” nursing narrative💰 Why financial literacy is essential for healthcare professionals🏠 How she got started in real estate while working as a nurse🧠 Mental health, leadership, and long-term career sustainability🌉 Bridging healthcare, business, and community impactWhether you’re in healthcare, curious about investing, or figuring out how to design a life beyond just one job title — this episode will expand your vision of what’s possible.

Selina Lee’s journey weaves together art, storytelling, and food. Born in Seoul and raised in the U.S. as a teenager, she began her career in graphic design and publishing before following a growing passion for Korean cooking. In this episode, Selina shares how that pivot led to founding Banchan Workshop, co-authoring The Korean Instant Pot Cookbook, and building a career as a menu and recipe developer. We talk about creativity, reinvention, and what it means to carry Korean flavors into everyday home cooking.

In this Part 2 episode of Take 1.5, Min Lee interviews Dr. Jiwon Yoo, a licensed psychologist who works closely with children, adolescents, and families. Drawing from both her clinical work and her own lived experience, Dr. Yoo discusses what it’s like to grow up navigating two cultural worlds—and how that shapes identity, mental health, and family relationships.Together, we discuss the unspoken emotional pressures many Korean American families carry, why intergenerational misunderstandings occur so often, and how cultural context matters in therapy. Dr. Yoo also discusses how children and adolescents internalize expectations, how parents and caregivers can foster healthier communication, and what it truly means to feel a sense of belonging.This conversation is for anyone who has ever felt “in between,” struggled to articulate their experience, or wondered how culture quietly shapes the way we think, feel, and relate to others.🎧 In this episode:Why belonging can feel so complicatedHow culture influences mental health and family dynamicsIdentity development across childhood and adolescenceWhat culturally sensitive care actually looks likeFinding language for experiences we’ve long held inside.Subscribe to Take 1.5 for more honest conversations about identity, culture, and the spaces in between. "This Take 1.5 conversation, I reflect on her own story, the experiences of other Korean Americans, and how navigating two cultures shapes mental health, family relationships, and belonging." -Dr. Yoo

In this Part 1 episode of Take 1.5, Min Lee interviews Dr. Jiwon Yoo, a licensed psychologist who works closely with children, adolescents, and families. Drawing from both her clinical work and her own lived experience, Dr. Yoo discusses what it’s like to grow up navigating two cultural worlds—and how that shapes identity, mental health, and family relationships.Together, we discuss the unspoken emotional pressures many Korean American families carry, why intergenerational misunderstandings occur so often, and how cultural context matters in therapy. Dr. Yoo also discusses how children and adolescents internalize expectations, how parents and caregivers can foster healthier communication, and what it truly means to feel a sense of belonging.This conversation is for anyone who has ever felt “in between,” struggled to articulate their experience, or wondered how culture quietly shapes the way we think, feel, and relate to others.🎧 In this episode:Why belonging can feel so complicatedHow culture influences mental health and family dynamicsIdentity development across childhood and adolescenceWhat culturally sensitive care actually looks likeFinding language for experiences we’ve long held inside.Subscribe to Take 1.5 for more honest conversations about identity, culture, and the spaces in between. "This Take 1.5 conversation, I reflect on her own story, the experiences of other Korean Americans, and how navigating two cultures shapes mental health, family relationships, and belonging." -Dr. Yoo

What happens when a Korean American dad and daughter realize they grew up in two completely different cultures… under the same roof?Yosef and Seul Lee open up about identity, language, family expectations, and what “being Korean American” really means across generations.Raw. Honest. Funny. Relatable.If you’ve ever lived in the in-between, this one hits home.🎙️ New episode out now👇 Tell us how YOU define your Korean Americanness.이요셉은 변호사로 일하면서 멀티패밀리 투자, 남성합창단 단장, 뉴욕한인 청소년합창단 자문, 한미장학재단 이사 등 다양한 역할을 즐기며 사는 좋은사람만나는것을 제일 좋아하는 에너지 넘치는 아빠입니다. 슬이는 헌터고 10학년에 재학 중이며 오보와 북을 연주하고, 친구들과 만나 맛있는 걸 먹고 놀고 수다 떠는 걸 진심으로 사랑하는 찐 Z세대죠. 겉보기엔 조용해 보여도 사실 개그 본능을 숨기고 있는 매력적인 아이입니다. 바쁜 와중에도 딸과의 시간을 가장 소중히 여기는 아빠와, 솔직하고 유쾌한 이슬이 함께 들려주는 이번 인터뷰, 꽤 재미있을 겁니다.