Episode 305: We’re Taking a Hiatus - Our Reasons Why & What Happens Next
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Hi everyone, it's Janet here from ABG. The Asian Bosco podcast is on hiatus, but I will be coming back with my own show, now titled Living Well or Trying To with Janet, relaunching in May. A couple of new things, the show will now be on video, but tempered expectations please, because I am now a one-woman team, but I will continue doing my best to bring you quality, and most importantly, personable content. The

The show will continue to be a combination of solo and guest conversations. I talk more about this in the first episode dropping May 6th. So please go search Living Well or Trying To with Janet on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Or if you're on YouTube, look up Janet W. That's Janet, the word double and the letter U. Please follow and subscribe and tune in for all the episodes to come. Right now, The Home Depot has spring deals under twenty dollars.

So no matter what you're working on, the deals are blooming at the Home Depot with savings on plants, flowers, soil, and more. Then light up your outdoor space with Hampton Bay String Lights. Was $34.97, now only $19.99. And get the grill going with two 16-pound bags of Kingsford Charcoal. Was $19.98, now only $17.88. Don't miss spring deals under $20 now through May 7th at the Home Depot. Subject to availability, valid on select items only.

Welcome to ABG Asian Boss Girl, a podcast for the modern-day Asian American woman. I'm Janet. I'm Mel. And I'm Helen. Hello, everyone. Today is a special day. We have an announcement to make. My heart is literally beating. Mine is too. And that announcement is that we have decided to take a hiatus from the show.

Kind of like a K-pop group that decides to take a break. I know it sounds crazy. It sounds like, oh my God, to even say it out loud. But this is something that we have talked about internally and have decided to move forward with. And we wanted to take this episode to kind of talk to the reasons why we landed on this decision.

I want to like pause for any shock out there right now because yes, we've been talking about it a lot, but this is our first time that we're sharing with our listeners, with all of you out there. Some of our friends don't even know that we're doing this. It's been something that we've just been internally like figuring out the logistics for, but we're here. It is January that we're releasing this. It's not April. It's not an April Fool's joke. This is real y'all. So just let that sink in. I know.

I'm like kind of like shaking a little. I know me too. I'm like nervous laughing, nervous laughing. But yeah, this is really difficult for us to share with you all. I mean, when we started this podcast back in 2017, seven years ago now, this was the biggest, most scary and inescapable

exhilarating leap of faith that we had ever taken in our careers and our lives, leaving our full-time corporate jobs to start this podcast together as friends. We started this podcast without any real goal in mind, if we're being honest, you know, and it's, yeah, we weren't trying to aim for much here, but we weren't trying to be one of the top podcasts that serves an Asian community and demographic. And we're not blowing up our own egos here. That is stats that our agents, agencies have told us.

And we most definitely weren't trying to get to a place where we were speaking at all of these

colleges and universities across the country and these prestigious companies like Meta and Blue Shield and Skadden and Disney and so many others. And we definitely weren't trying to get on the Today Show either. Like none of that was in our goals. It was a bonus. It was a surprise. When we started this podcast, our real goal was to just have a conversation between the three of us, you know, these honest and candid conversations about

waxing and fuck boys and the nuances of working in corporate, what it's like to be an Asian American woman in her twenties and thirties, working, living, thriving in Los Angeles and to have fun while doing it. While all of you out there, you could just eavesdrop into our conversations, you know, and in building up this podcast, um,

you know, up to 300 and how many? 305 episodes? 305 episodes. We've had a lot of fun. We've had so much fun doing it. We're still having fun, you know, and we are

extremely proud of where this podcast has gotten to, how much of an impact this podcast has made on so many of you out there. And it's exceeded our expectations. Clearly, we really had none. Like Helen said, it's been so much fun.

But you know, sometimes fun does not last forever and sometimes it is no longer enough to keep going in a certain direction. And so I want to talk a little bit about specific reasons why we decided on a hiatus. As much as we've enjoyed having these conversations and being creators, putting out content once a week every

every single week for seven years, which is crazy to think about, over 300 episodes. And if you've been following us for the last year, year and a half, we actually put out content twice a week now with our mini shows. It's been amazing and fun and inspiring, but

creative burnout is real. You know, I mean, how many times can I talk about my love life? How many times can we talk about our friendships over and over again? And we know, you know, like there's a lot of benefit to that content, but we see the comments too of people saying this is starting to get repetitive. And we agree. Sharing so much of our personal lives can be incredibly rewarding, but there is also some aspect of it that can be very, very,

challenging at times, right? We've talked about some very personal things and as much as we love people being able to resonate with that, there is a level sometimes where it feels like, okay, maybe it's time that we need to take a bit of a pause and some time to like live life and maybe have more things that we can share with you all where we feel like we're contributing and adding more value. The next thing is, you know, when we went full-time,

We left our corporate jobs and became full-time content creators working on this podcast as a show, but then also on ABG as a brand. We did see some comments around how we were not as relatable anymore, which totally makes sense. You know, we started this podcast, as Helen said, as nine to five working women living in Los Angeles, talking about all the dynamics of that lifestyle. And when we went full-time into content creation, that aspect changed completely.

You know, we still tried to focus a lot on the very human parts of being an Asian American woman in your 20s and 30s. But yeah, that definitely changed the dynamic a bit. And so we recognize that and we feel like we've really lived out the life of telling the corporate side and then also now as the, you know, the content creation side. So now seven years later, where we feel like we have really, you know, been able to share our lives physically,

from all of the different life transitions, not only in our careers, but in our personal lives, we feel like we have done what we set out to do with this show. You know, we feel like we've really lived out that mission and we're really excited to see how things evolve in the next step of Asian Boss Girl and of each of us individually. I know, this sounds crazy. I'm pretty sure on the opposite side of the screen, people are like, what is going

I know. Drop your face right now. What's your emoji face? Drop it in the comments. We want to see. You know, but at the same time, there might be some of you that, you know, kind of are like accepting and understand this decision as well. Oh, I hope there's no like angry faces. Yeah.

Please don't be mad at us. Please accept this decision. No red hot sweating character. Yeah, we're okay with that one. But like Janet mentioned, these are all core reasons why we decided to land on a hiatus. And I also want to share that the three of us have had long conversations, tough convos the last two years that led us to this decision. But we also want to talk about the individual reasons why.

why we also landed here because there's also that reason. It's not just, you know, as a brand we thought this, like, a hiatus is where we should be. But I think at the end of it, like, the three of us are individuals and I want to dive into, like, why we landed here. So, sorry, I'm, like, nervous still. But Janet, why don't you share first, like, how did you land here? ♪

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Yeah, I mean, I think like Mella said, this was a really hard decision to make. And honestly, it's been like almost, I want to say six months to a year in the making. In a lot of our episodes this year, I kept expressing like that I was kind of feeling not myself. I was feeling a little down. And while a lot of that was because of my personal life with some of my like love life, there was a lot of that was because of my personal life with some of my like love life.

The thing that I didn't feel was okay to share yet was a lot of it came from a place of dealing with this decision as well and working through ABG. So there's definitely been a lot of a grieving process for me personally in coming to this decision. I feel really good about it now. I think that this, I think we're doing the right thing. And it's been a good opportunity in prepping for this episode to reflect back on

all of the amazing high points of this journey. But for a lot of this year, I was like so sad and so internally conflicted because this is something that we built together. And as a co-host, as a founder, it's hard sometimes to feel like you're not

failing as an individual because you can't figure out a way to make this work. So I had my own kind of like emotional journey with this, right? But I've arrived at a place where I think this is the right decision. I think we're all on the same page and feeling like this is the good direction to go. And I'm focused on being excited for, you know, the potential future of how things might evolve. Like Mel said, it's a hiatus. We're not saying like things are ending forever, right? It's just it's the next stage. But with that said, like I

I think my own grieving process also involved a bit of like creative burnout. And this is something that I was like so confused about because I've had burnout in my career and other points, but never like this. And I was like, what is what am I experiencing? And I was, you know, went down like the YouTube hole and different things like that and, you know, learned about this thing called burnout.

Like, I don't know what the proper term for it is, but a lot of other content creators have talked about the very unique type of burnout you get as someone who is on camera all the time, someone who is sharing your stories either through social media or through podcasts.

there was this weird dissonance that I started having where I was like losing my sense of self a little bit, like not really sure where I was, what I stood for. And some of this was experiencing some very challenging things in my personal life and having to do it publicly. And then also just being someone who is like, you know, looking at this as a job and trying to figure out what are things, what are ways that am I doing? Am I doing well? If our downloads aren't doing well, what are the things that I need to be adjusting personally? And if,

if you are a front-facing person, it can become very challenging to just not nitpick every little thing about yourself to the point where you're like,

wait, am I doing a good job anymore? I don't know. And there was a little bit of anxiety involved and all that kind of stuff and realizing that it was basically burnout. Like seven years of publicly sharing so much about your life when you're going through a challenging time, it just got even harder. The second aspect I want to talk about personally is the...

part about running this company as an entrepreneur. When we started ABG, like Helen said, we kind of, it was like a passion project. It was for fun. And then when we went in full time, I remember us having conversations to really talk about how we wanted to work on this, how we wanted to spend our time on this. And I was so at that point in my life focused on work-life balance and really, really wanting to be able to like not

Yeah.

Um, because of that, I feel like there's a bit of burnout on that end for me personally. So I kind of, yeah, I need some time to like reset so that, so that I can be a better person for myself and my friends and my family. Yeah. Yeah. These are,

These are such real answers. Yeah. Thank you for sharing, Janet. Everything you're saying is so valid. And I just feel like a lot of people think that content creation is easy. I think it's perceived to be easy. Sorry, Mel, you were going to say something. I'm nodding along. Nodding along. Because I think, I mean, I 100%, I'll share mine later, but I relate so much to what you said. Yeah. I think a lot of people perceive content creation to be easy, but we've sort of had...

extensive stints in both the corporate world and also in content creation, right? And while I will say that content creation does allow for a lot more flexibility in your life, you have to be on 24/7. And that is the difference. It's so easy and you can fall into the trap of like getting the lines blurred between public and private and then you start to lose yourself a little bit. And I feel like that is the main thing that makes it so difficult for content creation. So thank you for sharing that, Jae.

Hey there. I'm David Harbour from Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts. I don't mean to interrupt your favorite podcast. Well, actually, maybe I do just a little bit, but I have a good reason. My new film hits theaters Friday, May 2nd, and it's got everything-- action, suspense, humor, heart, and Bob. Who's Bob? Find out by getting tickets now. OK, now back to the show or on to the next ad. What are you looking forward to? Yeah, what's next? I still personally really love podcasting.

And I think back to those early days when it was just us, very low production value with our mics around a kitchen table just having a conversation. I still really like that. And so I want to, my plan is to continue doing my mini show, Living Well with Janet, and ramping it up to become a weekly podcast.

And it's going to be low. There's not going to be a video component. It'll just be audio. But yeah, I still am very passionate about having conversations, being able to explore topics that relate to living well. That's not just health and wellness, but a little bit of like personal development as well. And I like being able to share that with people. But yeah, I think doing it on a much more scaled down level and where it'll just be

be me either sharing personal stories or interviewing people. Yeah. I think it's really cool that you're continuing on with your show. It's funny because we always call our individual shows mini shows, but I'm like,

It's going to be your main show now. Yeah. It's going to be a show. It's not a mini show no more. So I think that's really exciting. It's your show. Living great with Jay. I don't know how to make it more main. Main character energy. Yeah. I mean, there is... I have to say emotionally, there's a little bit of this...

part inside of me that feels like when I'm prepping for and like trying to plan around it that I'm like oh I feel so sad that it's like different I don't have the two of you with me right but I know that you know like it's yeah those are those are just feelings yeah can I ask how do you feel like you're going to set up those boundaries then so that you avoid the same feeling you had with main maybe it was like too many shows yeah podcast yeah it's a great question that is a great question honestly should I continue yeah just kidding

I think like...

For me, the low production podcasting, that workload, I enjoy. I think it's when we up production and there's like teams and schedules and video components and like tech type things. Like that to me started like I think being on the having for us because we are such a small team, we had to play the behind the scenes roles. Those aren't necessarily my strengths. And those are the things that kind of I think caused me to like burn out a little bit more. So I think

What I will do with boundaries is like, yeah, I'm going to keep be be much more honest around what are the things that I enjoy doing and only do that part. Yeah. We're excited for your show. We'll be tuning in for sure. Oh, my gosh. We're going to be listeners now. Oh, so weird. But we kind of are with our own. That's true. I don't know what you guys are talking about on your mini show. I'm not going to.

I know you don't listen sometimes to ours. Anyway, called you out. I'm so busy with our main show. Yeah. I mean, that is something to say about like the volume. It wasn't mine either. I don't know.

That's making you say that to me. Let's be honest. We review so much content. Yeah, we review so much content. It got to the point where we couldn't keep up with each other's lives and shows. But I don't know. Who wants to go next to share a little bit about your own... Oh, sorry. Can you see my boogers? Sorry. I feel so dry. I'm going to miss these booger checks with Mel. My nose is so dry but wet at the same time. I like how we started off this super...

We have an announcement. And now Mel's picking her nose. And we're going to keep this in the edit. I know who's next. Oh, goodness. Come on, Helen. I want to hear your reasons, even though I know them. Well, I think first I just want to take a step back because this is going to be, this is actually not our last episode. Oh, yeah, it's not. Hooray.

Put some flags on my finger. The next one is going to be our last episode. This is more just to explain why. And then the last one is going to feel a little bit more celebratory. Yeah. But I did want to say thank you to everyone out there for giving us this opportunity. Yeah.

ABG has made such an impact on all of our lives here. And if it wasn't for all of you out there that supported us, like we would not be able to have done any of this for seven years. I remember when I was working in corporate and I would look at my husband and I would look at our creative friends and think to myself, there's no way, right? Like there's no way we could do what they do. Like it's so, it's tough.

I remember sitting in my cubicle, like barely seeing the light of day, thinking to myself, I don't have a creative bone in my body unless it's it's being finding creative ways to fit a number to be within a reasonable range. That's where all my accounting folks out there. I was like, what? But going all into ABG has shown me that there is no such thing as.

creative and non-creative people like everyone is a creative creativity in adulthood is just when your inner child comes out to play again I really do feel that way and I feel grateful and thankful that I've been able to meet my inner child with this podcast I've been able to learn how to be vulnerable I feel like before this podcast I was not vulnerable definitely not in a public setting and

and I was able to find my voice which I don't know if I had continued doing corporate if that would have been a path that you know I would have taken to find my voice so for that I will never take this for granted and it is just so cool that this has happened for all of us okay so I'm gonna go into my reasons why am I so derpy this is how I cope with this

Okay, so for the reasons why I decided to take a hiatus, they're going to be different from Janet's. But I have two main reasons. The first of which is that I have a visceral reaction to being stagnant. I despise the feeling of not feeling like I'm growing. One of the reasons why I left Boston was

when I was 25 is because I felt so complacent. I felt so comfortable. I felt like I could visualize what my life was going to be like for the next 10, 15 years. And I felt like that growth was capped and I did not like that feeling. And the reason why I left corporate was kind of for the same, that dreaded feeling of like, is this it? And so with this podcast, I think,

seven years in, I've sort of reached that point where everything is kind of plug and play now, which is great, right? Which is so nice because when you first start any company, it's like, oh, I want to get to a point where it's easy. And now maybe it feels a little too easy that it's not making me feel challenged. It was definitely challenging before, like even getting on a mic and speaking into a mic, like public speaking is my greatest fear. That became our job somehow, right? Yeah.

And so I feel like I kind of got better at it. And so I don't know if that's still a challenge that I want to pursue. But I think I just miss the feeling of being bad at something. Oh, okay. Like being bad at something and wanting to get un-bad at it. I thought you were going to say, I want to be a baddie. I was like, yeah, you already are though. Asian baddie girl. But yeah, I just want to be bad at something and be like, let's go. I want that let's go energy. Yeah.

Does that define me? Yeah, it definitely does. I don't know why I said it and I feel like you would have said it for me. Let's go. Yeah, let's go.

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A lot of, I remember like all of our like annual reflection or like goal setting episodes, Helen is so, you're very driven by growth and wanting to develop and, you know, get better and skill up. And it makes total sense. Yeah, we've been doing this for seven years and it's kind of, you start to hit a point where you're coasting a bit. And that doesn't feel inspiring or like stimulating the same way. Growth is definitely one of my top five core values. And I think if I didn't feel that, I would shrivel up and die.

Okay, so my second reason, and I've told you ladies this like in the beginning, is that I don't fully feel comfortable being front-facing. Wow, tongue twister. You did it right. Fully feel comfortable being front-facing. I never loved the fact that, you know, I was the product that was being shared and being consumed.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like I have this entrepreneurial itch and I feel like this was our first like venture into an entrepreneurial thing. But and I still have that itch, but I think I want to like stand behind something. I want to be like a spokesperson for something. I want to like put all my passion and energy into that. Whatever that is, rather than it being me. Makes total sense. I think I've said that like since the very beginning.

Yeah. Of like not fully comfortable feeling front facing. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I have like a list of like creative ideas and inventions and I've always wanted to like just open up that list and do something about it. And so maybe that is now is the time to actually do that. So are you sharing what you're doing next? Yeah.

Okay, so next, I have like short-term goals and then longer-term goals. In the short-term, I think I'll still keep the podcast, my Spill the Baby Tea. It might not be consistent. It might be like once every...

She's like, you're literally freaking out right now. Yeah, I'm deciding right now. But I think in the near, near term, like I want the luxury of time. I've never not worked since college, which you're in school and then you're working. Like I worked right out of undergrad, hopped into, had one job, went straight into ABG and spend nonstop, never taken a break ever. And I know it's a privilege to even like have.

like, have the luxury of time. But I work damn hard to get that luxury of time. So... Get your time. I know. I want to try not to feel guilty taking it. But I really want to, in the more immediate term, just, like...

check off my to-do list you know get to like inbox zero like start fresh if you get to inbox zero i'll be literally i'm gonna get there yes i've i've definitely like peaked out of front i'm like oh my god yes yes i need to just like cleanse my life in my closet you know donate a bunch of clothes i want to like grab a book sit in a cafe read for five hours i have not

ever done that yeah and I feel like that I see people who do that I envy that like I'm always bringing my laptop always working yeah and not just being there to relax that's true so that's something I definitely just the luxury of time I want to I want to be able to just get some time back for myself um I think I also want to maybe help out my husband with his business yeah and become a family business I don't know but they've been really busy just because they're growing and expanding their cafe they have like three stores right now they're gonna have five by the time the

this insane. And then I think they have two more next year. So it is a lot. And I know, you know, that stress is heavy. So I do want to relieve some of that burden for him. And even for our friend, Eric, who runs Bopo with him. And then hopefully sometime within the next year, we,

expanding our family and, and yeah, going into that, my, my notes with all the different creative ideas and picking one and maybe doing something about that. Last thing I want to say is that I heard this somewhere that I really liked this.

A mantra that I want to live by is the three L's, which is to learn, to laugh, and to leave a mark. So whatever I do next, I want to do those three things. I feel like it used to be, I've heard like live, love. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But like learn is big, laugh is huge.

huge and leave a mark is really important. Wow. So those are the three things I want to do. I really like those three. Yeah. I think just hearing, you know, hearing your answer and then yours, what I like about this and maybe this episode like on like the positive side is that I think we're kind of stepping into our next authentic self, which I really like because I

I think for the longest time, obviously we're sharing our life on the show, but we're humans and we're growing, evolving. But to hear you... Because we spend time off camera a lot together. And so even hearing Helen, I've been at the dinner table, you're like, I had this idea. And then having that conversation, but now... And it goes nowhere. Yeah. Not yet. Not yet. But for me, it's nice to hear that these convos we've been having privately, that you guys could take steps forward with that. So for me as a friend...

I'm really excited and very supportive of both your guys' steps forward. So yeah, thanks for sharing. Thank you. Yeah, and I want to say for Helen, particularly watching you become a mom during the time of this show, I've seen it's been beautiful, but I also see how much work it takes and how much you've had to reshuffle and balance your time. And it's hard to run a business like this and also be a mom and also have other creative ideas that you want to pursue, right? So I like this idea that now you can kind of like

you know, be relieved a bit of this, this aspect and close this chapter and then move on to, I don't know why I'm getting emotional. Oh yeah. Yeah. I think we're honestly, we feel so many emotions right now. All of us, we came into this like recording studio, super jittery. We're like, what are we feeling? Excited. I don't know. Um, so I'm feeling all the emotions and we'll cry at anything right now, but I'm holding it in. Toe. Toe.

I was like, what would not make her cry? I mean, you guys can cry. We cry so much on this show. I know. I think you're on mute. Workday starting to sound the same. I think you're on mute. Find something that sounds better for your career on LinkedIn. With LinkedIn Job Collections, you can browse curated collections by relevant industries and benefits, like FlexPTO or hybrid workplaces, so you can find the right job for you.

Get started at linkedin.com slash jobs. Finding where you fit. LinkedIn knows how. But Mel, I want to hear your reasons, your personal reasons, and also what you're looking forward to. I feel like you both touch on reasons on why I decided that this was the right step for me. And the first one is also related to what Janet said about creative burnout.

I hate to admit it, but I was, I've been creatively burnt out for almost two years now. And it's something I didn't really want to acknowledge and accept. I think again, like, you know, doing the show, you're always sharing and it's great and it's fun. And I love being creative, doing social media and marketing in general. But yeah, I'm like, I'm honestly burnt out. And it's, I didn't realize it until probably earlier this year where I felt like I had no energy to do anything. Like it's hard for me to do certain things, but even with ABG and I'm like, oh, I used to be so efficient. I used to be so like,

And why can't I do that? And I'm just like, oh, it's because I'm actually burnt out. So yeah, I think creatively, I think I need to take a step back. I think in relation to that, again, to touch on what Janet said about like, when you're always sharing your personal life on the mic or in public, you also reach a point where you're

You just kind of want to unplug and be disconnected from things for a while. I get asked a lot about, like, what's your relation with social media? Blah, blah, blah. You work on it for so, like, you know, this is, like, my job. And I think, yeah, it's tough. Like, I think I'm at a point right now where I kind of just want to take a step away and unplug and be disconnected. And I think one big thing that contributed to this feeling is that, you know, I did have a huge move this year. And...

I haven't shared the other side of the move, but it's like really freaking tough. Like the move is really hard for me and I'm going through things and I feel like I'm still sorry. I get it.

emotional. Toe. Toe. Oh yeah, she did. It's been really hard with the move. A lot of transitions, a lot of changes. And I think I just feel like I need to take some time to really process and kind of like work out my, how do I say, problems. Just work out, work through these changes privately and not feel the pressure. Like I need to share what's going on in my life all the time. And I also want to mention one more thing because like

I think when Janet was saying about like it is you get to a point when you're always vulnerable on the mic. And this is our job. There's a point where like sometimes you feel like, oh, my gosh, I have nothing going in my life. I don't know what to say. And you question like what value am I adding to this? And there's I remember there's one year we were doing ABG where I felt like pressure to be like, oh, my God, nothing's going on in my life. But then everyone's commenting like you guys are talking about the same thing. But I was like, yeah, I don't have anything going in my life to share. It's like when it's not chaotic, it's when it's chaotic.

it's good. And then you don't have content. And if you're like, why aren't you sharing and being vulnerable? It's like, well, life is good right now. But I guess right now would be the best time to share. I know. You're also not ready to share that yet. And it's also because I think like you, when you're doing this for your job, it's like you go into moments where like, I do feel comfortable sharing. Like even with our like episodes on the breakups and stuff, we always say,

whenever you feel comfortable, whenever you feel like you process and you can share whatever you're going through. The thing is, my reality is like, I'm going through it still and I don't feel comfortable sharing. And I think I'm in this part of my life where let me, I just want to be private. Yeah. I'm an open book usually, but I'll come back. Yeah. I closed book for now. Totally valid. Yeah. The other thing that,

Jana also shared, is the entrepreneur lifestyle. It is tough. And like Hela mentioned earlier, when we did the podcast, we had no goals. It was for fun. And it had a lot of fun. Bad Asians. Yeah. We just wanted to have fun. But I think the more and more that we stepped into this entrepreneur role, I feel like it did take on the responsibility of it. And to be honest, deep down, I always felt like...

I always say like, I'm a founder, but I don't think deep down I really felt it. I think because the harsh reality that I had to come to terms with, I think, I forgot when we had this conversation, but...

I think maybe last year is that I realized that I don't want to be an entrepreneur. That lifestyle isn't really for me. And I've seen my friends do it. I've seen them have this hunger, this itch, this like always working on things after they do their personal stuff, they open up their laptops and work. And I think I realized like, I don't want to say I'm not built for it. It's more like, I don't like that. Like I'm maybe not at this point in your life, in this phase, given your other priorities. Yeah. And so I think it's

telling telling telling myself like I don't think I want this was also hard because I think in tandem with that is that like it's also hard to admit that you don't want to push harder or you don't want to keep going with the company you actually created and I think that's the really tough reality I think all three of us have to accept is like we created ABG this is a brand that feels very authentically us and it's hard to make that decision to step away from that because you feel like your heart like ABG essentially is us

And to say, I think I don't want this anymore. I don't want that type of lifestyle is a hard conclusion to come to. But I think that's something I had to do. And I realized like, hey, people are built for that grind. People have that spirit. I don't have that spirit. I have other spirits. So like, I think I love like the marketing, the conversation, the content part is always something I loved about ABG with that.

the entrepreneur thing. What's really tough for me is that being an entrepreneur means that sometimes with finances and lifestyle, it can, it could change every year. And I think I'm at a place in my life where I don't think I could feel comfortable with, um,

that type of lifestyle and I'm seeking something more stable and secure especially as someone that has has done that in my 20s like I did the whole I'm gonna go for it like I already did it once and I'm like okay I did it again twice AVG but now I'm just like okay I think I need I'm craving something more stable I feel like the move has just like put so many things in perspective for me and I told you both this is that like and I mentioned on previous episodes where I feel like now in

Like I'm 33. Like a lot of my future has been knocking at my doorstep. And I feel like with these realities approaching, like me wanting to start a family, me wanting to, you know, move on to my next life,

personal milestone is that I need, I'm looking for, again, security and stability. And so, and I think that's why the entrepreneur lifestyle isn't something that's really fit for me at this time. And the last thing that I could really relate to Helen on is that I think I feel stagnant as well in terms of learning. I'm really craving wanting to be a student again and not feeling like a teacher. I

I think it's really, I think when you're a founder, you're like CEO or you're like the top of your company. You do have, you know, you're mentoring your team, you're teaching them stuff. Like for me, it's like teaching them my team analytics, social media and marketing and like ideation. And it's great. But I feel like I reached a point where like, I don't feel like I'm actually being challenged at all either. And like, I want to learn, like I really want to be a student and just learn from other people. Because one of my values is also personal development and growth. And I just feel like

know if I'm learning anymore. As much as I do love plug and play and I love what we do, I'm like, I think I'm craving wanting to feel challenged.

I'm not craving wanting to be bad at something. I don't know if I like that feeling, but I just, I think I'm just, again, just craving being a student again, which leads me to share like what's next for me. I am going to go back to corporate because I do think that's probably with everything I shared, that's probably the best situation or environment for me to one, learn, find stability and

And for other reasons, too. So I'm joining. Wow. Mel could be your co-worker. Yeah. I'm going back to our roots, which is kind of crazy. Full circle moment. And I have to plug this in here. So if you know anyone that's hiring. But yeah, if you want to work with me, just let me know. It's hard out there. But yeah, I am...

Dude, the job market's tough. I already know. So I'm like anticipating that. I know it's going to be tough. But another thing I am looking to do later on this year with, you know, this transition is I think I'm craving some time with my family. And obviously now that I'm in between like jobs and as I'm looking for jobs, I do have an opportunity to go back to Taiwan in Q1 or Q2 because we're moving my grandpa to a different apartment. And I just feel this strong feeling of like,

my time is being is going to get cut short and being limited that I want to spend time with him and spend intentional time. So I think I'm thinking about spending a month or two with my grandpa as I apply for jobs.

And just, you know, I feel like it's now or never kind of feeling. And so that's something I want to do and interact with him, maybe bring games for him to play with. So spend some time with family. Take just some quiet time to, you know, transition back into my life in New York. I've been traveling to LA so much this year. I'll be joining the job hunt.

Wow. I know. Yeah. I mean, that is a lot. And even hearing like both of your responses, I'm excited as like a consumer of like your lives to, I'm like interested in seeing what happens. Yeah. You know. Me too. Yeah. I don't know what happens. Yeah. Like next year is going to be really telling. And I think it's funny because you're like, oh, I'm going back to corporate. Yeah.

What's funny is that like at any time we told our agency, our podcast agent, like we told these people and they're like, why? Like, why would you leave this podcast? It's doing so well. But, you know, I think because we've just had this guttural feeling of just like, I think it's time to move on and try something different. And we've all been feeling that.

We just didn't want to leave when we felt super, super like burnt out or like down in dumps and like crashed this company or something. So we are leaving on a bit of a high, I would say. And that's what makes it a really difficult decision for us, you know, too. But at the same time, we're trusting our instincts and we know that this is right for us. We don't like to waste time. We don't want to drag anything out. So that's why, you know, we're here today. And I think it's going to be awesome that you're going back to corporate.

it like you're going to be able to bring so much more back to the podcast you know if and when we start again yeah and really share that experience which I think is really cool you're going to learn a lot too and be that be that student yeah who won't be bad at things maybe bad like a little maybe a little bit yeah I agree I feel like

I think at the end of the day, like we, I know we love this brand. We love the show, but we always say like said, like it's our friendship is first. And I do think for me, when I think about friendship is about making sure my friends are happy and they're doing things that fulfill them. And I think that's why all three of us,

are okay and very accepting of this decision and we are very excited to see where all of us goes and we're still friends like we're not like it's not this is not a friendship breakup at all this is just us i was like what's another word um french friend no i heard this on another um podcast like their end of show podcast and they were saying how it's kind of like when you buy a luxury item right and then after a while like you kind of want another luxury item and

It doesn't mean that that luxury item doesn't have value to it. It might even increase in value over time. But sometimes you just want like a new, I don't know, a new bag or new whatever. Yeah. So that's kind of what this like transition feels like. I'm thinking about which bag. But one more thing that I want to say is that when we first started this podcast, like honestly, there was no there were.

not a lot of other Asian podcasts out there. I remember when we started, we were only on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts. Oh, hello, Spotify. Thank you for letting us use your space, by the way. But they weren't even around yet. This studio was definitely not around yet. And when we searched, because we were trying to figure out what platform to use, and we're like, oh, podcasting will be the easiest because then we don't have to put on a face. We can record from the comforts of our own beds. And

And when we did a search for like other Asian podcasts out there, there were only 10, five of which were inactive, two of which were our friends. Shout out to Minji, first of all, podcast. I think she's still going. But it was, we were sort of like the default Asian podcast out there. And now seven years later. Holy.

Holy crap. There's so many. There's so many podcasts now and so many amazing podcasts out there as well who serve like the Asian demographic and community. So a part of us is like, oh man, should we continue doing this to serve the community or should we

Not. And I think looking around, like, it is comforting to know that there are so many amazing creators out there, a lot of whom I know have reached out to us and said, like, oh, we started a podcast because of you guys. And it

That's so cool. So I feel like we're leaving, but we're not leaving a void. I agree. Yeah. I think we've served our purpose in the greater mission. And it's amazing to see that there are other people continuing to carry on the torch, I guess, if you will. What are some key words that you would use to describe the feeling that you're feeling right now? Mine would be relief.

To be quite honest, I feel like we've kind of been sitting on this decision for a while. So it feels nice. Or not nice. It feels relieving. I cannot speak. I do feel relief knowing that we're finally sharing it with everyone. And the second word is challenging because I know...

I know the next few years are going to be challenging for me. Like, I just know it's like you're changing your lifestyle. It's a huge change. I'm excited but nervous because, like, I mentioned, like, the job hunt right now. Like, I know people, all my friends who work in corporate, like, it's really tough now, Mel. So it's like I'm walking into a really big, messy place that I'm nervous about, you know? You're in the gray zone again. I am. I'm always in the gray zone. Anyways, those are my words. How about you two? I would, the two words I have are calmness

confident and scared, which are like polar opposites. I feel confident about our decision and how we're closing out this show in terms of a hiatus. I feel really good about that. But like Mel said, entering another point of transition, going into this like messy gray zone is really scary, you know? And like we've done, I think,

We've talked about so many different times where we've each been in a gray zone and then you transition out and you go back into one or whatnot. But yeah, it's back into the gray zone. Yeah. A lot of complex feelings. I think the first one I'm feeling is nostalgia. Like we were moving out our stuff from the Wong Fu office, which is where we kept a lot of our stuff before. And then we moved into storage. And I feel like every piece we were moving had like a memory, a beginning memory associated with it. Even like...

Counting how much merch we have. I was just like, oh, wow. Remember the first time we got merch? $25 for our first shirt. I still remember pricing it and everything. And then also thinking about us sitting around Janet's dining table. All those memories come flooding back as we're putting things away and shutting things down. So nostalgia, I feel a lot of gratitude for.

Like, wow. A lot of gratitude for you ladies, for our listeners. It is just how cool is it that we were able to do this for so many years and have it be our like sustained full-time jobs. You know, I feel empowered, but,

For the next thing, I feel like excited, empowered by our community, by all of you out there that have supported us. And lastly, I feel at peace. And I feel like just everything feels right now.

So I feel at peace of the decision we've made and I feel at peace of where we will be next year, even though it's going to be challenging and different for all of us. I think everything is meant to happen for a reason and it really feels like the right time and it's going to be the right decision and all of that. Yeah, that's a good word, peace. All right, to wrap up today's episode, we thought we'd talk about what's next. I know we talked about what's next for us individually, but how about ABG the brand? Well...

We do have exciting news. We are actually going on tour. That would be really a great way to wrap up this journey by doing a live show and to see our listeners' faces in person. So please, if you are living or are going to be visiting these cities, check our description on the show notes and attend. Yeah, we want this to be a celebration of what the last seven years have been.

were, are, and listeners are a huge part of that journey. So we'd love to see you guys there. And in terms of our Discord community, our online community and home that we have, that will continue to live on. We have an amazing, I guess, what is her, she's like head of community. Yeah, our mods. And our mods who, you know, dedicate their time to fostering that space and

So if you're interested, you can always join and get in on some of those conversations. Yeah, and I want to add real quick for the Discord. The reason we're still keeping it going is because we've heard that a lot of people have made new friends through Discord, and we don't want that to end. So if you are looking for new friends, Discord is a great place for you to join to find other ABGs like you. Yeah. And then as for the three of us, we still have our own personal social platforms. You can follow along.

Yeah, who knows? Like, we don't... We said this is a hiatus. It's a pause. We could be back with the show in a couple months, in a couple years. We could be doing other things, but just follow us along there. Yeah. It's kind of crazy, though. Like, this podcast captures our 20s and 30s. I know. It's like a little scrapbook. Like, a lot. It was our personal...

diary yeah that you all heard you know just know that all of you out there you have impacted us and you have changed our lives and this podcast means everything to us so thank you so much

One last thing. So next week is going to be the last episode and we are taking some voicemails from our listeners. So if you want to be memorialized in like our last episode, we are going to play some of yours out there. So if you want to send something in, share your favorite ABG episode, favorite guest, if you met your bestie through us, if you what you feel about these changes, like anything and everything.

let us know and we may select that and play it in the last episode and we'll leave the link in the show notes. And again, we have over 300 episodes of the ABG podcast, so you could still continue to listen or re-listen to some of your favorites. And we'll, we can, in some ways, we could still be in your ears post-announcement. So feel free to check out Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and listen to all our old episodes. And it's not a goodbye, it's a see you soon. See you soon. And with that, we'll catch you all on the next episode. Bye.

We're going to do a quick shout out for today's episode to our ABG bestie, June Lin. June, thank you so much for supporting us. We are so, so grateful. Thank you so much. And yeah, we will catch you on the next episode. Thank you.

Hi everyone, it's Janet here from ABG. The Asian Bosco podcast is on hiatus, but I will be coming back with my own show, now titled Living Well or Trying To with Janet, relaunching in May. A couple of new things, the show will now be on video, but tempered expectations please, because I am now a one-woman team, but I will continue doing my best to bring you quality, most importantly, personable content.

The show will continue to be a combination of solo and guest conversations. I talk more about this in the first episode dropping May 6th. So please go search Living Well or Trying To with Janet on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Or if you're on YouTube, look up Janet W. That's Janet, the word double and the letter U. Please follow and subscribe and tune in for all the episodes to come.