David Kaye, Brand Director for Wink Hotels, was the first hire for the company in 2019, and was tasked with building the brand from the ground up -- before there were even any hotels to stay in. In this interview, David shares about how his background in editing and publishing led him to working in Saigon, Vietnam, and how by putting his focus on understanding his audience, he's been able to launch successful events, create a go-to bilingual magazine resource, and even write for...

The best cup of coffee you've ever had might be in your near future. Lacàph coffee founder Timen Swijtink explains all about the fascinating world of coffee in Vietnam in this interview. You'll hear his insights about the rapidly evolving markets in Vietnam, learn about how he built a story-driven brand from the ground up, and hear about why he feels providing people with meaningful experiences is essential to creating brand value.  Find Lacàph online:Lacàph Homepage:...

CGI Director Vicki Dang grew up in Vietnam, studied abroad in the UK, worked in Shanghai, and is now based once again in Vietnam, where she is focused on her studio, from.an0ther. In this talk, she explains how she was drawn to mythological forms, how she questioned why these creatures were portrayed as dangerous or evil, and how she might look at them in a new light with her uniquely defined set of digital art making skills.  Where to find Vicki:Instagram:...

Ben Nguyen is a Saigon-based creative whose work focuses on illustration, interior design, and visual merchandising. In this talk, he shares about how while his road to his artistic career was certainly not a straightforward one, the experiences, connections, and opportunities he found along the way all contributed to him ultimately becoming the multi-talented individual he is today. You'll get some insights into the job-hunting process in Vietnam, the creative scene in Vietnam today, and the...

Award-winning Egyptian-Canadian creative (director) Ibrahim Youssef talks about working in Asia, the importance of side projects, adapting to different cultures, how to make yourself stand out, and the use of social media in relation to creativity.

Writer and Photographer Lance Henderstein shares about how he got interested in languages, studied abroad on a limited budget, and built photography and writing skills to create travel media for outlets like the BBC, VICE, and Vanity Fair Italia.

Ayana Wyse describes what brought her to Osaka and her motivations for starting the Black Creatives Japan community and the Kurly in Kansai podcast.

Portrait Photographer Irwin Wong talks about how he got interested in photography and how it led to him photographing some of Japan's most famous faces. He shares details about his photobook Handmade in Japan.

Zélia Sakhi shares about how her mother bringing home a computer when she was 11 kickstarted her interest in Pokémon, the Internet, and language learning. This led to her career as a creative director, which has taken her from her home country of France to London, Sweden, and Japan.

AI researcher and book author Max Frenzel describes how his studies led him from Germany to London, Greece, and Japan. He describes how his travels helped him realize that being busy does not always mean being productive.

Brooklyn-born James Catchpole (aka Mr. OK Jazz) describes his road to Japan and how his love for music and film led to him creating media projects celebrating jazz bars in the Tokyo area.

Maltese videographer Franco Rizzo talks about the things that made him want to move to Seoul, South Korea to pursue film and video related work.

Seoul-based Canadian singer/songwriter Erockfor talks about the road that led her to South Korea, what it's like to pursue a music career in Seoul, and what she's working on for 2020.

Egyptian Dentist/Cartoonist Sherif Adel shares about his work creating humorous comics centered on everyday life observations in Egypt (and describes how he brought that approach to Japan with him as he works towards his PhD in dentistry).

MUTEK Japan Artistic and Communications Director Maurice Jones describes what brought him to Japan from Germany, how he found his role within the MUTEK organization, and what specific topics the art/music festival is focusing on next.

Plant-based Tokyo author and food consultant Momoko Nakamura shares how she moved from working in food media producing television shows like Iron Chef and Master Chef to curating food experiences from the Japanese countryside.

In this episode, New Zealand-born Hikosaemon talks about the experience of growing up an "army brat" and moving around the world a lot. He shared about how he established his life in Japan and how the online community (especially YouTube) has evolved and grown and been a part of his non-work life for more than 10 years. His projects and interests span many fields, including music, video, and, most recently, app development. Hiko talked about MyChan, a service he has developed to help people...

Restaurant owner and 20-year Japan resident Dexter Greenwood shared about what it's like to have been born in Jamaica, grow up in Toronto Canada, and eventually open seasonal businesses in the Japanese countryside.

Freelance Japanese to English translator Emily Balistrieri talked about how he got his start in the translation world, what it's like to be a translator for a Japanese publishing company (even part time), described some of the challenges translators face in their work. This discussion includes some great suggestions for how to practice translation. Emily also shared some very exciting news about a huge upcoming project (studio Ghibli fans take note)! This episode is a wonderful listen for...

Tokyo-based Luuvu Hoang works in the role of creative director for food-related projects. Though he doesn't call himself a food photographer, you'll find his amazing food photos in international publications from time to time, too. In this discussion, Luuvu shared about what helped him move from the world of banking to the world of food and photography. He talked about his experiences running a food truck in Tokyo and also discussed how he moved from that to his current restaurant, Txiki...

Born in the Phillippines, videographer and cinematographer Ice Elloso found herself drawn to visual media and gadgets from a young age, even using cables she found around her house to record music from her favorite anime and play tricks on her classmates. In this episode of Nonnative Creative, Ice talks about how those interests eventually inspired her to come to Japan, where today she works as part of a team producing advertisements and other commercial work. Ice shared her advice for people...

Freelance videographer and video editor Meg Igarashi was born in the United States and had to move to Japan when she was a teenager. Not so interested in school, Meg found she had a passion for video making when she started creating videos for fun with the webcam on her laptop. Learn how Meg turned this passion into a freelance lifestyle in Tokyo! She shared about her recent workshop with Adobe, a film she had accepted to a film festival, and her advice for creators.