The Lucas Weaver Show

Angela Bu tells her story of going from working as a champagne girl in the largest nightclub in Taipei to becoming a DJ. She talks about her very own festival which she started called "Airplane Mode" which focuses on various health and sustainability initiatives for people in Taipei, how it feels to perform at your favorite festival, as well as how it was growing up Taiwanese Aboriginal. We got vulnerable and talked a bit about our mental health struggles and Angela gives her best mental health tips. You can follow Angela on Instagram: @angelabu_music Airplane Mode: @airplanemode_tw and you can catch her mixes on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/angela-h-ho

Clip from episode 12 where Han Kim and I discuss the wild reality of Korean drinking culture in Seoul vs. the image shown in K-dramas.

Han Kim was working a steady 9-5 job in Seoul at a telecom company. Despite being well paid and secure, inside he knew he wasn't happy and wanted to see the world. After trying to emigrate to Canada, he shifted his focus to move to Australia,  and with everything ready to go, his plans suddenly changed at the last minute.  2 years later, still needing to fulfill his ambitions, he left everything behind in Seoul and moved to the Netherlands.   After learning there how to become a barber and experiencing the Dutch version of work/life balance, Han is back in Seoul where he's started his own barbershop: Lekker Barbershop, in Itaewon.    In this episode, we talked about his background and journey, his experience living in the Netherlands, work, drinking, and pop culture in Korea, as well as the difference between the cultures in America, Korea, and the Netherlands.   To find out more about Han and his barbershop, you can check him out here on Naver: https://www.fresha.com/a/lekker-barbershop-seoul-iteawon-dong-72-29-rfz45yfqor follow the barbershop on Instagram at @lekkerbarbers.

Ana Monforte is the founder of Grapekeeper, a platform that offers you the possibility to create your own custom labeled wine from your very own dedicated sustainable vineyard. Ranging in locations from Italy to Spain, Ana is working to bring the authentic vineyard experience to people passionate about wine and sustainability across the world. In this episode, Ana tells the story of how she went from having a long career as an environmental engineer in Europe to branching out and launching her own company just before COVID hit. We discussed some of the struggles she's faced, her approach to maintaining her mental health, as well as the situation facing female entrepreneurs.   You can find Grapekeeper here: https://www.grapekeeper.com/  Ana on Instagram here: @grape.keeper   Thanks for listening!

Erwin Spolders founded Redavia in 2010 with the aim of becoming involved in the young but up and coming solar energy sector. In 2014, they did their first off-grid solar projects in communities in Tanzania, and later in 2015 they started their first B2B solar power contracts. Since then, Redavia has opened offices in Accra and Nairobi, becoming one of the industry leaders in Solar helping businesses in West and East Africa transition to solar energy while saving costs. In this episode, Founder & CEO Erwin, along with CFO Oliver Keilhack and Director of Operations Affan Ahsan join me to discuss:  the struggles and successes they've experienced throughout their journeys what motivated them to work for a social enterprise  the unique challenges of starting a business in Africa the importance of funding for SMEs in emerging markets the impact of fast and agile growth capital via crowdfunding from Lendahand what they've found rewarding in their work their future plans for Redavia You can learn more about Redavia here and also follow their journey on LinkedIn. 

Anders Östlund details what life is like now for Ukrainians dealing with the Russian invasion. He explains the strength of the Ukrainian people, how they're dealing with difficulties such as water shortages, rationing food and groceries, and restriction of movement. He also gives his overview on the direction of the war, and he names a few things people outside of Ukraine can do to help. Anders is currently raising money for Maternity Hospital #5 in Kyiv who are working to help mothers with prematurely born children and pregnancy complications. Read more about how you can help here: https://twitter.com/andersostlund/sta... You can also click here to donate to UNICEF's fund for Ukraine: https://www.unicef.org/ukraine/en And here for the Red Cross: https://www.icrc.org/en/donate/ukraine Follow Anders on Twitter: @andersostlund

Elissa Glorie is the Co-founder of Moja Wear, a social impact underwear company based in The Netherlands selling sustainable underwear across Europe. They've ingrained social impact into their DNA by setting up a system in Tanzania to train local women there in sewing and entrepreneurship. The women produce underwear and sanitary pads. These sanitary pads are distributed to local schools for free, allowing children to have better health and hygiene. The women can then sell the underwear they make and keep their profits. It's a wonderful initiative, and the best part is that it's built INTO their revenue model, meaning they don't make a dime in profit unless they can provide these services first.    Elissa is a great human to talk to, impressively knowledgable about sustainability and transparently passionate about the topic. She gave great advice on how we can think about sustainability, how we can avoid things like "climate anxiety", and how the choices we make in our daily lives can actually make a difference in solving some of the many problems our world faces.    Moja Wear is online here: https://www.mojawear.com  Moja Wear on Instagram: @mojawear  Elissa on Instagram: @lissglorie   Me on Instagram: @lucasaweaver  My online English school: https://www.weaverenglish.nl

Valentina Gritti is an Italian entrepreneur living in The Netherlands who is using her knowledge and passion for food to help change the way the world interacts with food. She hosts workshops and food tastings around the Netherlands and Italy to help people experience food in new ways. She hosts a podcast for the Slow Food Youth Network to tell the stories of the people across the globe who produce the food we eat every day. She's also incredibly knowledgeable about food systems, and what we as individuals can do to help make them more sustainable.    This was Episode 7.0 of the Lucas Weaver Show, and Valentina and I had some great conversation that anyone interested in thinking more about their food and the choices they make around it will be interested in.    Valentina on Instagram: @vale.gastronome  Her podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sfyn-podcast/id1513172029  Contact her if you want to connect about food, creating a food experience, or if you're a new mother who wants to chat about being a new mom!   Lucas Weaver Show on Instagram: @lucasaweaver  Online English Lessons: https://www.weaverenglish.nl Weaver English on Instagram: @weaverenglish

Get a quick preview of Episode 6.0 Parts 1 & 2 with this short and fun trailer.

In Part 2 of this episode learn how Merlijn turned his one-product Amazon listing into a multi-million dollar e-commerce business. Hear the story of how he and a friend launched their first Amazon business with an improved version of the famous Shark Tank product "the Squatty Potty", and how he learned from that experience to launch his company Fox & Fern. Find out what he learned from his success, how he feels now after selling his business, and also what's next for him as he launches Koalo, a new Nairobi based tech startup. Have feedback from the episode? Send me a message on Instagram @lucasaweaver. If you want to see this podcast in video format, check out The Lucas Weaver Show on YouTube here.