Zaka Presents: My Journey

Paul Herman & Greg Maurice
  • 4.8 (4)
  • CAREERS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

“My Journey”shares inspiring and motivational stories from the successful leaders in the First & Second generation communities in America. We are surrounded by heroes everywhere from our teachers, our farmers, lawyers etc and to our small business owners, chefs and fitness trainers. "My Journey" will be a safe, authentic and vulnerable space for the immigrant community. Zaka is a learning and community platform for first and second generation immigrants to gain the professional blueprint in advancing their careers and unlocking opportunities. www.zakaconnect.com

  1. FEB 5

    #192 Zaka Presents My Journey Ché Ann

    Paul Herman sits down with Ché Ahn, a Korean American immigrant, longtime pastor, global faith leader, and now a candidate for Governor of California. Ché shares his extraordinary journey from immigrating to the U.S. with nothing, to dropping out of high school at 17, battling addiction and homelessness, and ultimately experiencing a life-altering spiritual encounter that redirected his purpose. With raw honesty, he reflects on family conflict, failure, and faith and how those early struggles shaped his compassion for the most vulnerable in society. After 46 years in ministry and leading a global network of churches across more than 70 nations, Ché opens up about the moment that changed everything: being awakened in the early morning hours and feeling called reluctantly but obediently to run for governor. This episode is a vulnerable, hope-filled conversation about obedience over comfort, leadership forged through adversity, and why an immigrant who once hit rock bottom now believes his calling is to serve California at the highest level.

    49 min

  2. JAN 27

    #191 Zaka Presents My Journey Rodhmir Labadie

    Leaving comfort is never easy especially when you’re an immigrant professional who’s been taught to value stability. In our latest conversation with Rodhmir, a seasoned Product Leader who has helped launch 30+ products across tech, finance, energy, and consumer brands, he opens up about the quiet courage it takes to walk away from “safe” roles after mastering them and choosing growth anyway. His journey is rooted in that familiar tension many immigrants carry: gratitude for opportunity, paired with the relentless feeling that you’re meant to do more. Rodhmir speaks candidly about taking “reach roles,” embracing risk before feeling fully ready, and redefining failure not as an endpoint but as a mindset. He shares how assuming responsibility early, even when the stakes felt high, forced him to grow faster, sharpen his decision-making, and build frameworks that now guide how he leads, builds, and executes with clarity. It’s a powerful reminder that progress often comes from failing forward and trusting yourself before the world catches up.

    39 min

  3. 11/25/2025

    #190 Zaka Presents My Journey Vijay Rajendran

    Vijay Rajendran has coached founders in more than 80 countries, but in this conversation we go far beyond Silicon Valley buzzwords and venture metrics. Vijay opens up about growing up between countries, learning to read new cultures and power dynamics from scratch, and how those immigrant experiences shaped his approach to leadership, risk, and resilience. He shares how watching his father serve patients from every walk of life led him to microfinance work in Cameroon, and how that calling to “be of service” eventually evolved into coaching entrepreneurial leaders around the world. We talk about pressure, expectations, and that simple but life-changing question: “Would I ever want my children to feel this way?”  Vijay breaks down imposter syndrome as a sign of growth, not failure, and explains how to find the “joy of juggling” when you have a lot on your shoulders. He shares practical tools to minimize regret, find clarity in uncertainty, and reclaim your agency so your confidence can finally shine through.

    39 min

  4. 11/03/2025

    #189 Zaka Presents My Journey Brandon Baptiste

    Brandon Baptiste grew up in a Haitian home where every guest “crossed the threshold into Haiti,” greeted parents first, and learned that community and respect come before everything. In this episode, Brandon, now an Assistant Director of Training and Program Development, traces his path from the only Haitian family on the block in New Hampshire, with parents commuting daily to Boston, to leading 100+ peer-mediation trainings across NYC schools. He shares how Haitian values of faith, service, and “How can I help?” shaped his trauma-informed approach to conflict resolution, and why immigrant grit prepared him to start his role on the very day the city shut down and still build programs that last. A self-described “learned leader,” Brandon opens up about choosing discomfort to grow, the difference between being good at something and being good at the process to get there, and how unmet needs and miscommunication sit at the heart of most conflicts. He honors the siblings and mentors who sharpened his competitive drive, explains why he left security work to help kids before harm happens, and offers practical tools any student, educator, or child of immigrants can use to turn tension into understanding.

    45 min

  5. 10/15/2025

    #188 Zaka Presents My Journey Veronica Moya

    When Veronica Moya arrived in the U.S. from Buenos Aires at just 19, she spoke little English but carried something far greater, an unshakable belief in the power of the mind and spirit. From her early days learning the language through total immersion to building multiple businesses, including her children’s mindfulness company Mindful V, Veronica has turned her immigrant story into a movement that’s changing lives. In this heartfelt episode, Veronica shares how she redefined meditation as a playful, soul-awakening experience for kids helping them manage anxiety, silence negative self-talk, and grow into confident, self-loving individuals. She opens up about overcoming language barriers, discrimination, and reinvention, rising from waitress to general manager, from wedding officiant to Telemundo’s metaphysical expert, and from a dreamer to a thought leader featured in The New York Times. Through affirmation, meditation, and gratitude, Veronica teaches what she calls “mental hygiene”, a daily ritual to prevent the emotional struggles many adults face today.  She built a movement rooted in empathy, resilience, and belief that every child, no matter where they come from, carries infinite brilliance

    54 min

  6. 10/03/2025

    #187 Zaka Presents My Journey Christian Ray Flores

    From child refugee to chart-topping pop star, and now a mentor to thousands, Christian Ray Flores’ journey is one of resilience, reinvention, and unshakable hope. Born in Moscow to a Chilean father and Russian mother, his earliest memories were shaped by displacement after a brutal coup left his father imprisoned in a concentration camp. By the age of seven, Christian had lived in four countries, speaking four languages while navigating war, exile, and cultural upheaval. Out of that adversity, he rose to global stages, with his music once becoming the anthem of freedom during Russia’s pivotal presidential campaign. Today, Christian channels that same passion into mentoring high-achievers, leading nonprofits in Mozambique and Ukraine, and equipping leaders to build personal brands that multiply both income and impact through his company, Xponential Life.

    1h 8m

  7. 09/24/2025

    #186 Zaka Presents My Journey Harish Chandramowli

    From Security Systems to Scaling Startups: Meet the Engineer-Turned-CEO Powering Fashion’s Digital Backbone This week, we interview Harish Chandramowli, the brilliant mind behind Flaire a lightweight, intuitive ERP system that’s quietly transforming how fashion brands manage inventory, purchasing, and operations. Before stepping into the world of fashion tech, Harish built his reputation in elite engineering circles leading cloud infrastructure teams at MongoDB, securing sensitive systems at Bloomberg, and co-founding India’s first P2P bike-sharing platform, Ridengine. With over a decade of technical leadership under his belt, he’s now steering a venture-backed startup in New York that bridges deep tech with business empathy. Flaire isn’t just software, it’s a founder-led, customer-first movement that’s reshaping how emerging brands scale with clarity and control. And Harish isn’t your typical CEO. He codes, jumps on sales calls, rolls out productivity tools like Greptile, and builds remote-first teams with care and culture in mind. In this interview, we go beyond the product. We unpack his immigrant journey, his childhood curiosity, and how he found the courage to shift from code to customer balancing resilience, reinvention, and the business of listening.

    57 min

  8. 09/15/2025

    #185 Zaka Presents My Journey Gustavo Netto

    What does it take to go from not knowing how to hail a cab in Manhattan… to becoming a Vice President of Technology Strategy at a global company? In this deeply moving and energizing episode, we sit down with Gustavo “Guga” Netto, who shares his remarkable journey from São Paulo to New York City with no English, no connections, and no safety net. Gustavo opens up about the early years in survival mode working as a dishwasher, waiter, and roller-skating through Fifth Avenue to stay mentally afloat. But what makes his story extraordinary is the mindset shift he made: choosing growth over fear, and vision over circumstance. From discovering healing routines at Barnes & Noble to becoming a self-taught programmer during the internet boom Whether you’re an immigrant navigating a new beginning or someone dreaming of a seat at the table, Gustavo’s story proves this: you don’t need to have it all figured out, you just need to keep building. Because, as he says, “Survival is just the first stage. Then comes growth. Then comes abundance—and giving back.”

    53 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

“My Journey”shares inspiring and motivational stories from the successful leaders in the First & Second generation communities in America. We are surrounded by heroes everywhere from our teachers, our farmers, lawyers etc and to our small business owners, chefs and fitness trainers. "My Journey" will be a safe, authentic and vulnerable space for the immigrant community. Zaka is a learning and community platform for first and second generation immigrants to gain the professional blueprint in advancing their careers and unlocking opportunities. www.zakaconnect.com

Information

  • Creator
    Paul Herman & Greg Maurice
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    191
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Zaka Presents: My Journey
  • Show Website
    Zaka Presents: My Journey