Before We Get There

Nicholas Braman
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Before We Get There is a podcast about resilience, pivots, and the unfinished paths we all walk. Host Nicholas Braman sits down with creatives, athletes, chefs, entrepreneurs, and others from Singapore and across Asia to surface the moments that reshape them, what stops working, what becomes clearer, and what keeps them moving forward before anything feels settled. New episodes every other Thursday. Learn more at https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast.

  1. 12h ago

    52. Lines Of Tropical Sensibility with Ng Yi-Sheng

    In this episode of Before We Get There, host Nicholas Braman interviews Ng Yi-Sheng, a poet, playwright, novelist and activist who has spent three decades writing the parts of Singapore that official stories leave out. He grew up loving fantasy and science fiction at a time when Singapore's literary scene looked down on both. It took a novel from Colombia, read during national service, to show him that his dad's kampung stories counted as literature. Since then he's written about pre-colonial kingdoms, queer Singaporeans and ghosts, and he's learned what it means to end up on a gray list instead of a blacklist. We talk about why he never settled on one form, what it was like to publish SQ21, why he came home from New York, what he thinks makes Singapore Singapore, and why his newest readers are kids. Before We Get There is a podcast about the moments that shape us, the ones we plan for and the ones we don't. New episodes every other Thursday. Yi-Sheng's links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yishkabob/  Website: https://www.ngyisheng.com/  Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast   00:00 Poetry In Prose 04:26 Finishing Utama 06:05 Genre And Respectability 08:46 Oral Tales And Colonial Lens 12:07 SQ21 Coming Out Stories 17:23 Queerness In Fiction 22:45 Censorship And Gray Lists 28:39 Activism And 377A Aftermath 32:50 Why Stay In Singapore 36:13 What Makes Singapore 43:41 Where To Follow Yi-Sheng

  2. Sep 17

    51. What Is This Behavior with Lav Chloe

    In this episode of Before We Get There, host Nicholas Braman interviews Lav Chloe, a Malaysian content creator known for her accents and impressions. She went viral in December last year from a one-take video she made for her friends and meant to delete. It passed a million views, then kept climbing, and it became her whole career. They talk about the line she walks doing accents without mocking anyone, and why she so often ends up defending people in her own comments. She makes the case that Malaysian humor comes from something heavier, generations of hardship turned into a way of laughing at pain. They also get into being wired differently and diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, why she resists being called an influencer, and where she wants to take all of this next. Lav's links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sorude_/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sorude_  Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast 00:00 Podcast and Lav intro 04:20 Respectful Impressions 06:25 Handling Haters 10:07 Privacy And Boundaries 16:10 ADHD Diagnosis Journey 21:58 Culture And Awareness 26:08 Neurodivergence As Magic 28:11 Malaysian Humor Roots 36:49 Authenticity Over Performance 43:15 Five Year Definition Of Success 44:21 Where To Find Lav

  3. Sep 3

    50. Still Fighting with Angela Lee

    Angela Lee was a six-time MMA world champion. She retired in 2023, not long after losing her sister Victoria. When she stopped fighting, she started talking about mental health, about Victoria, about who she was underneath the fighter. Not everyone around her was ready for that. She felt like a black sheep, with just her husband and daughter supporting her. What pulled her through was learning to advocate for herself, something she says she could only do at first by treating it the way she'd stand up for the people she loves. She built her nonprofit, Fight Story, out of the same instinct, and slowly found new people, at the gym and around the work, who became a new family. This conversation is about who she is now, what she's still fighting for, and much more. Angela's links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelaleemma/  Fight Story: https://fightstory.org/  United We Rise Book: https://a.co/d/0g481yuk  Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast   00:00 Welcoming Angela Lee Back To Singapore 05:15 Identity Crisis After Fighting 11:49 Why She Retired 13:43 Burnout And Mental Health 22:46 Losing Victoria And Starting Fight Story 27:41 Becoming The Black Sheep 33:08 Building A New Tribe 36:27 Writing United We Rise 42:31 Five-Year Vision 44:43 Closing

  4. Aug 20

    49. They Called Me Xiao Mei with Amber Tan

    In this episode of Before We Get There, host Nicholas Braman interviews Amber Tan, who left her Singapore Airlines cabin crew career to set up a wholesale fish business at Jurong Fishery Port for her then-partner. Funding the venture with her own savings, she lost about $170K, discovered repeated lies and affairs, and ultimately ended the relationship after a friend warned what staying would model for her daughter. When her ex left debts and an incoming fish shipment under a company in her name, Amber took over, put in a final $10K, let a worker go, and learned the trade hands-on at 3:00 AM, breaking even by February. She discusses navigating a male-dominated port, code-switching between "SQ mode" and wet-market life, expanding via door-to-door delivery and a wet market partnership, and her hope to keep wet markets from dying. Amber's links: Business Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paogeseafood/  Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valeisky/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/pao-ge-seafood  Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast   00:00 Meet Amber Tan 03:17 Starting the Fish Company 05:18 Betrayal and Taking Over 09:16 Life at the Fishery Port 11:44 Last Straw and Daughter 16:25 Winning Over the Uncles 22:00 Motherhood Changes Everything 27:34 SQ Identity And Port Life 31:33 Tomboy To Cabin Crew 37:11 Saving Wet Market Culture 42:53 Where To Follow And Farewell

  5. Aug 6

    48. Winning In Losing With Jeremy Tan

    Jeremy Tan had a successful business and no reason to go into politics. He ran anyway, as an independent with no party behind him, and took the highest independent vote share since 1972. Then he lost. In this one he gets into what pushed him in, what the run cost him, and the read on Singapore he came away with. Wealth that keeps pooling at the top. Work that's about to change faster than most people are ready for. A government he thinks is stuck in its own silos. He's blunt about all of it, including the parts that didn't go his way. Jeremy's links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremytan.sg  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-tan-sg/  Website: https://jeremytan.sg/  Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast   00:00 Introducing Jeremy Tan 01:52 Post Election Life Plans 04:26 Why Run Independent 06:39 Covid Handouts Wake Up 09:44 Campaign Attacks Wealth Gap 15:58 Online Anger Reddit Pulse 20:24 Singapore Identity Immigration 23:17 AI Push Productivity Risks 32:21 Future Work Be A Department 38:51 SkillsFuture Black Box 41:48 Five Year Hopes Outro

  6. Jul 22

    47. Keeping Art Selfish with Nini Marini

    Host Nicholas Braman interviews Nini Marini, a multi-artist and art advocate who spent nearly 20 years in Malaysian broadcasting before leaving to pursue art full-time. Nini explains how she coined “multi-artist” to describe her multidimensional identity, how she balanced a dual track of media work and art, and how a phoenix painting unexpectedly merged her private art life with her corporate role. She recounts proposing a reduced workweek, ultimately taking a package to leave, and using COVID to reassess, study branding, and explore opportunities like a New York surface pattern exhibition. Nini shares that full-time art brought income-driven pressure and dissatisfaction with commissions, leading her toward structured work in art philanthropy focused on heritage, policy gaps for creatives, and elevating craftspeople who don’t see themselves as artists.   Nini's links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ninimarini.art  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ninimarini_  Website: http://www.ninimarini.art/  Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast   00:00 Podcast Intro and Guest 04:38 Art Roots and Identity 08:13 Parents Practical Advice 16:06 Phoenix Painting Breakthrough 21:49 Leaving Corporate Behind 24:05 Money Pressure on Creativity 29:08 Why Full Time Art Felt Heavy 36:38 Craftspeople Worth and Recognition 43:20 Where to Find Nini

  7. Jul 8

    46. Still Not Faking It with Alyssa Lie

    At 18, Alyssa Lie auditioned her way into musical theater with almost no training. A decade later she had the followers, the campaigns, the viral comedy, and she was burning out doing it. Then the comments started. Her accent was fake. Her positivity was fake. Maybe the whole bright, likeable person she'd built online was a performance. She went to Bali to work out whether any of it was real, and the trip made it worse before it made it better. This one's about what's left of you when you stop giving people the version they came for. Alyssa on choosing the risky path young, managing her entire career herself, and the difference between the self you perform and the self you protect. Alyssas' links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsalyssalie/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mxjulianaheng  Website: https://www.alyssalie.com/  Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast 00:00 Introducing Alyssa Lie 03:49 Choosing Plan A 10:06 Bullied In Class 17:11 Graduation Reality Check 20:28 TikTok Algorithm Trap 25:52 Hate Comments And Doubt 27:15 Bali Wake Up Call 31:55 Rebuilding Authentic Content 35:50 Art Versus Income 39:50 Five-Year Vision 41:12 Wrap Up And Where To Find

  8. Jun 24

    45. Just Talk Only with Juliana Heng

    Host Nicholas Braman interviews Juliana Heng, who left a career in accounting in Malaysia to pursue stand-up comedy and, through performing, better understand their identity. Juliana describes being drawn to comedians’ unfiltered expressiveness, struggling and bombing early on, and using comedy as an escape from an unbearable corporate job before briefly living on savings and taking odd jobs like driving Grab and deliveries. They explain how it took about a year to find their footing by choosing the right topics and learning joke structure, but also how difficult it is to make a living from stand-up. Juliana shares discovering they are autistic after the label was raised at work, later confirming it with professionals, and how naming autism on stage improved audience connection. They discuss masking, being queer and neurodivergent, finding community at Edinburgh Fringe, leaving an emotionally unsafe family home, and defining success as being happy, healthy, and well-loved. Juliana's links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mxjulianaheng/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mxjulianaheng  Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2h9gsrWKH9C1KY1OzR12kr?si=2a4d19970632465f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-we-get-there/id1775182252 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforewegettherepodcast/ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nicholasbraman Website: https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast   00:00 Introducing Juliana Heng 03:36 Escaping Accounting Life 08:28 Quitting Job And Money Reality 12:16 Realizing Autism Through Comedy 16:20 Naming It And Empowerment 22:26 Labels Without Limits 24:33 Edinburgh Fringe Audience Magnet 32:09 Family Pressure And Control 40:35 Redefining Success Checklist 43:14 Where To Follow And Farewell

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About

Before We Get There is a podcast about resilience, pivots, and the unfinished paths we all walk. Host Nicholas Braman sits down with creatives, athletes, chefs, entrepreneurs, and others from Singapore and across Asia to surface the moments that reshape them, what stops working, what becomes clearer, and what keeps them moving forward before anything feels settled. New episodes every other Thursday. Learn more at https://nicholasbraman.com/podcast.

Information

  • Creator
    Nicholas Braman
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    54
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Before We Get There