#44 How She Belongs on Her Own Terms | Saadia Khan | Pakistan → USA

#44 How She Belongs on Her Own Terms | Saadia Khan | Pakistan → USA

Settling down in the United States had never been part of the plan for Saadia Khan. She moved from Lahore, Pakistan, with her husband, who had been accepted to MIT. Recently graduated, young, and ready for an adventure, she saw the move as an opportunity to experience up close a place she had heard so many great stories about from her father. But when they arrived, America pulled them in, as Saadia describes. Between visa constraints and an atmosphere weighted by fear, suspicion, and anti-Muslim sentiment in the post-9/11 era, she faced anxiety, disorientation, and microaggressions. In the midst of all that, Saadia and her husband decided to start their family — and that’s when they realized they would probably not go back to Pakistan. In this episode, we talk about her first years as an immigrant, the impact of visa dependency, and what it felt like to have her career paused before it even had the chance to begin. She also shares more on how she switched from business to human rights, and how she created Immigrantly media, plus her takes on belonging and identity, and how her journey inspired her to create the app Belong On Your Own Terms [https://studio.com/apps/saadia/belong-app?ref=saadia&code=a]. Connect with Saadia: * Immigrantly podcasts [https://immigrantlypod.com/] * Download Belong on Your Own Terms App [https://studio.com/apps/saadia/belong-app?ref=saadia&code=a] * Instagram @itssaadiak [https://www.instagram.com/itssaadiak/] * My episode on Saadia's podcast [https://open.spotify.com/episode/5PPMNYuBQt441tkRBPAWHJ]

#43 Self-Talk, Failure & the Stories We Tell Ourselves | Solo Episode

In this solo episode, I’m sharing some recent experiences and reflections around the way we talk to ourselves — especially when we’re overthinking, doubting ourselves, or being much harsher on ourselves than we would ever be with someone we love. I also talk about quitting, failure, and the fear of feeling embarrassed when something doesn’t go the way we hoped. Since self-discovery, confidence, courage, and life advice are recurring themes in my conversations with guests, I thought it would be interesting to bring those reflections into a solo episode. This is a personal one — about learning to be kinder to yourself, reframing failure, and remembering that trying something that doesn’t work does not make you a failure. Links/ References: * Book - Let Your Mind Run [https://amzn.to/4eFxL68] * Book - Atomic Habits [https://amzn.to/3SL0q1j] * Book in Portuguese - Vertigem [https://amzn.to/4wpOe4q] * My Substack article about inner conversations [https://lifecravings.substack.com/p/how-a-runners-memoir-made-me-question] * Episodes mentioned: #38 & 41

#42 Living Plural Identities | Urmi Hossain | Italy → Canada

Urmi Hossain carries at least three identities as an immigrant woman: she introduces herself as Italian by birth, Bengali by blood, and Canadian by law. From that line alone, you can already imagine how much of her life has been shaped by living in between worlds. Born and raised in a small town in Italy to Bangladeshi parents, Urmi grew up navigating a strict upbringing, different cultures — one at home and another outside — and expectations that didn’t always leave room for her to be fully herself. Later, Urmi moved to Canada, where she found more diversity and the space to grow into her plural identity. She also built a career in finance, a male-dominated industry where she carved out her own path while continuing to explore identity, belonging, and women’s empowerment. In this episode, we talk about what it means to grow up between cultures and constantly negotiate who you are and her experience back in Italy and how moving to Canada gave her space to grow and embrace her plural identity. She also shares valuable lessons on how to invest in herself, her confidence, and her future. Connect with Urmi * LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/urmihossain/] * YouTube channel [http://youtube.com/channel/UCZoiI0SGU0Xo9_lNjtLWtgg?themeRefresh=1] * Podcast - Stories Beyond Borders [https://open.spotify.com/show/2vbwcrVNedmvljLnT5UEPc] * Book — Discovering Your Identity, available on Amazon [https://amzn.to/4oRm4wO] Connect with Transplants: * Follow on IG https://www.instagram.com/transplants.pod * Substack/newsletter - https://wearetransplants.substack.com/ * Laura's IG https://www.instagram.com/laura_peruchi * Follow on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetransplants * Questions, suggestions, or random thoughts you’d like to share? Or maybe you’d like to pitch yourself for the podcast or suggest a guest? Send me an email at laura@lauraperuchi.com.

#41 The Courage to Just Do the Thing | Maria Sakr | Lebanon → USA

Maria Sakr has always occupied that “in-between” place that a lot of transplants know so well. She was raised in Dubai by her Lebanese parents, surrounded by a Lebanese community, fascinated by books thanks to her mother, and introduced to the art of photography through her father, who documented the Lebanese Civil War with his own camera. Then, when it was time to go to college, she experienced a return to her origins, moving to Lebanon to study film and starting her professional life while figuring out her next steps. That journey would eventually culminate in her moving to New York City to pursue a master’s in creative writing — another one of her creative passions. The beginning in the Big Apple was definitely not easy, and when COVID hit, she reconnected with photography again. Maria started to build a portfolio and book gigs, and what started out of necessity became a career. Today, she is a multifaceted photographer, working on everything from weddings to celebrities — and even a Rolling Stone magazine cover. In this conversation, we talk about growing up between cultures, the shock of building a life in New York, imposter syndrome, creative ambition, motherhood, and why sometimes the best advice really is: just do the thing. Connect with Maria * Website [https://www.mariasakr.com/] * Instagram @mariagryff [http://instagram.com/mariagryff] Connect with Transplants: * Follow on IG https://www.instagram.com/transplants.pod * Substack/newsletter - https://wearetransplants.substack.com/ * Laura's IG https://www.instagram.com/laura_peruchi * Follow on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetransplants * Questions, suggestions, or random thoughts you’d like to share? Or maybe you’d like to pitch yourself for the podcast or suggest a guest? Send me an email at laura@lauraperuchi.com.

#40 From Teaching English to Building a Food Tour Company | Lauren Aloise | USA → France

While living in rural Massachusetts, Lauren Aloise would travel the world in her imagination by exploring travel magazines. Her trips to New York City to visit family were another opportunity to see how differently people could live. That curiosity led Lauren to do a summer program in Sicily, Italy, when she was 17. While many of her friends were spending their money on cars, she decided to spend hers learning Italian abroad. Later, while trying to get a job in the hospitality industry during the Great Recession — not exactly an amazing time for the American economy — Lauren received an email about the “aux” program, an opportunity to live in Spain for a year and teach English. She decided to say yes and moved to Seville, where she met her husband while doing a language exchange. What was supposed to be one year eventually became a new life abroad. Lauren quickly realized she was not cut out for the teaching world, so she decided to leverage her passion for food and explore different ideas. She created a blog, started hosting cooking classes at her place, and one day stumbled upon the idea of creating food tours. That’s how Devour Tours [https://devourtours.com/] was born — a food tour company that later grew across Europe. In this episode, we talk about how that trip to Sicily changed her perspective on the world, and the events that led her to create Devour Tours and how she leveraged her passion for food, had a good eye for opportunity, and later made the decision to sell the company and eventually leave. We also talked about the identity shift that came with motherhood, her reflections on that transition, and how she is now thinking about her next steps. Connect with Lauren * Substack ⁠ [https://leahpaintsparis.com/]https://projectrecharge.substack.com/ Connect with Transplants: * Follow on IG https://www.instagram.com/transplants.pod * Substack/newsletter - https://wearetransplants.substack.com/ * Laura's IG https://www.instagram.com/laura_peruchi * Follow on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@wearetransplants * Questions, suggestions, or random thoughts you’d like to share? Or maybe you’d like to pitch yourself for the podcast or suggest a guest? Send me an email at laura@lauraperuchi.com.