Far East Movement here. Honored when THE Angry Asian Man contacted us about guest blogging on the site. We're long time readers, fans and friends so we geeked out at the opportunity. Phil, there's actually a ton of pressure with the huge responsibility of contributing to this site bro lol... we took days trying to figure out the right thing to share with your vast audience and it hit us.
Phil always covers some incredible people making waves in the community and we happen to know a few with whom we work with and inspire us daily. There can't be an Angry Asian Man without amazing Angry Asian Women and we happen to work with two amazing women we thought would be cool to interview. Not interviewing just to interview, but these women are breaking down some serious doors in their perspective fields and inspire us daily so we should share.
We narrowed it down to one question each we felt would rep AAM right...
Our first incredible Angry Asian Woman on the rise in the music/entertainment industry goes by the name of Diana Tran. At the young age of 25, she's the Executive Director of the International Secret Agents Concerts and heading up the Transparent Agency with Daniel Park aka DPD, who represent the Far East Movement's digital marketing and coordinate the Far East Movement business behind the scenes with our managers Ted Chung and Russell Redeaux and Cherrytree/Interscope Records all while spending her time searching for new talented artists to work with on YouTube and music blogs. With a workload like that, she understands the music and entertainment industry better than anyone we've met and though we work till we drop, she works harder and its inspiring seeing her break down doors in the industry.
For the younger AAM female readers, we thought it would be good to ask Diana: "What advice do you have for young Angry Asian Women like yourself that might be interested or pursuing a career in the music and entertainment industry?"
Diana says "Hard work pays off -– it really does! I wouldn't be able to do what I do without the amazing team I work with though. The music and entertainment industry can be tough -- but it definitely helps to be surrounded by and working with such passionate and good-hearted individuals who share the same values, visions, and goals and with whom you share a strong support system with. The long hours, the sleepless nights, the 3am conference calls –- it's all worth it when you see everything you put your heart into come together. Whatever your passion is, go for it. Believe in yourself, your idea, your ability -- anything is possible!"
Diana Tran: diana@isastaff.com
The next AAW we've been blessed to work with is an inspiring woman named Diann Kitamura aka Mama D or DDK. A few years back we were contacted by her online to bring us out to speak and perform for students she rewarded for doing well in class for a school district in Sacramento that she was an assistant superintendent of. Through this event, she was inspired to create 4C The Power, a program we proudly work with which combines entertainment and education through workshops to inspire culture, creativity, community and confidence in students (the 4 C's). Her career in education started as the first Asian American (of females and males) teacher in her school district, the first AA Vice Principal in her area, and the first Asian American Director, Assistant Superintendent and elected board member of her city. She's had to breakdown some serious doors in her community and her innovative approach to education is inspiring to us. We asked Mama D to give us an Angry Asian Woman moment in her life that inspired her to inspire culture and confidence in the youth...
DDK says "There isn't a particular moment in my life that inspired me, but a journey I took from wishing I wasn't Asian and having little confidence in embracing who I was as an Asian American woman in a society that has a perception of what I should look and act like to valuing everything about being an Asian American woman in very crazy world. This realization about myself caused me to think about the youth with whom I work. If it took me 30 years to figure out that being Asian was a good thing, that being a woman did not limit what I could do with my life, and most importantly the culture wrapped around all of that was pretty amazing. I wanted youth to experience this same realization but at a much earlier age than me. Youth who understand and believe their culture is awesome will naturally gain the confidence needed to tackle any challenge or barrier in front of them."
Diann Kitamura: 4cthepower@gmail.com
Thank you to Angry Asian Man for inspiring by pushing the community to do more and showcasing those that are.
The Far East Movement are a Free Wired hip hop/ electro/ pop group from Downtown Los Angeles. FM consists of members Kev Nish, Prohgress, J-Splif and DJ Virman and recently signed with Cherrytree and Interscope Records.