Rice Pudding Project

Amin
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The Rice Pudding Project is an independent podcast featuring authentic conversations with athletes, creatives, and entrepreneurs worldwide. Hosted by director and comedian Amin Soltani, each episode dives into powerful human stories — from personal challenges and failures to resilience, creativity, and success. If you’re looking for a podcast that blends inspiration, humour, and unfiltered storytelling, this is it.

  1. 4h ago

    "Cancer at 31" - Luiza Salem

    Kidnapping, Losing Her Family, Cancer at 31 & Taking Accountability for Her Life - Luiza Salem | The Rice Pudding ProjectLuiza Salem has been through things most people never face.When her dad was kidnapped, he found out they wanted to kidnap her too. The case was never resolved. She never saw her brother again, and she does not know if he has passed. She grieves him anyway.She has lived through the loss of her parents, a relationship where she became smaller, and a diagnosis at 31 of a 6 centimetre tumour. In the middle of chemo, her white blood cells dropped to almost nothing, and she thought she was going to die.In this conversation, Luiza and Amin talk about grief that has a different shape for every person you lose, what it means to become an orphan in your 30s, and how the experiences her family went through became a block she had to find her way out of.But this episode is also about something bigger than what happened to her.It is about the moment she decided to take accountability for her own choices, and how that changed her in every way.What you will hear in this episode:• What happened when her dad was kidnapped, and why the case was never resolved• Why she is grieving a brother she does not know is gone• How she grieved her brother, her father and her mother in three different ways• Why becoming an orphan in your 30s takes away your sense of safety• How her family’s experiences became a block, and why she resented life without resenting her parents• What grounded her in Colombia• What it was like to be told she had a spontaneous HER2 positive cancer at 31• The December in chemo when her white blood cells almost disappeared• Why she decided to fight, and what changed after Follow Luiza on Instagram: @luzsalemvThe Rice Pudding Project is an independent podcast hosted by Amin Soltani, comedian, director and host, featuring athletes, creatives and entrepreneurs sharing the stories behind the people they have become.Follow us on Instagram: @thericepuddingprojectFollow Amin: @itsaminsoltaniSubscribe for new episodes every week#RicePuddingProject

  2. 6h ago

    Growing Up Without a Dad - Shaun Gordan

    Growing Up Without a Dad, the Voice in Your Head & Why Your Wardrobe Is Still Junior - Shaun Gordon | The Rice Pudding ProjectShaun Gordon is a personal menswear stylist who helps affluent men present themselves in a way that matches their personality, their leadership and their authority.But the conversation starts long before the clothes.Shaun grew up as an only child, living with his auntie, in a primary school full of kids who all had a mum and a dad. He did not have the language for what that felt like. He just had the question: why didn’t my dad come and look for me? What is wrong with me?In this conversation, Shaun and Amin talk about what a child concludes about himself when someone is missing, why most men speak to themselves in a way they would never speak to their wife, their best friend or their son, and what changed when Shaun finally stopped to listen to his own head.Then they get into the part most men avoid. How you look is being judged in a fraction of a second, before you open your mouth. And a lot of men are still dressing like the junior version of themselves, years after their career and their spending power moved on.What you will hear in this episode:Why a child turns a parent’s absence into a verdict about himselfWhat happened when Shaun paused before a stressful moment and listened to his own self talkWhy waiting for the right time to dress like the man you are today is the wrong callHow clearing out your wardrobe shows you the real gap, so spending becomes intentionalWhy a decision about you is made in a nanosecond, and what that means for men in leadership and selling rolesThe Rice Pudding Project is an independent podcast hosted by Amin Soltani, comedian, director and host, featuring athletes, creatives and entrepreneurs sharing the stories behind the people they have become.Follow us on Instagram: @thericepuddingprojectFollow Amin: @itsaminsoltaniSubscribe for new episodes every week#RicePuddingProject #ShaunGordon #MensStyle #MensMentalHealth #SelfTalk #Podcast #Dubai

  3. 5d ago

    "You're Not Alone" — Sam Minhas on Building a Safe Space for Women Who Feel Unheard

    Sam Minhas didn't set out to build a company — she set out to fix a silence. As the founder of She Knows Best, she's created an anonymous space where women can talk to each other about the things they're carrying alone, without judgment and without fear. In this episode, we talk about what it really means to feel isolated, why anonymity can be the thing that finally lets someone tell the truth, and how a community built by women, for women, is helping people find their voice again. If you've ever felt like no one would understand, this one's for you.#RicePuddingProject #SheKnowsBest #YoureNotAlone #WomenSupportingWomen #SafeSpace #AnonymousCommunity #MentalHealthMatters #FemaleFounders #PodcastEpisode #WomenEmpowerment

  4. Oct 28

    Snakes in Nightclubs, Ignoring Your Big No’s & Learning to Walk Away | Nicole Drinkwater

    Nicole Drinkwater does not tell the polished version.She used to work at Waitrose in the morning, then Hollister, then go home, pick up her snakes and take them to nightclubs, where people paid to have their photo taken with them. She mentions it casually, as if it were nothing.She has also asked an AI to describe her ideal man while she was sad and lonely, and then walked into a room months later and asked a stranger, “Who are you?”In this conversation, Nicole and Amin go deep on what it looks like to ignore your own big no’s, why she stayed in relationships thinking she could change someone, and what changed when she finally walked out.But this episode is also about something bigger than one person’s story.It is about learning to choose yourself without making a speech about it. Giving yourself a year to see how you feel. Saying no when you are tired. Understanding why people leave cruel comments, and being honest that knowing the reason does not make it easy.What you will hear in this episode:The snakes, the nightclubs and the day job in betweenWhy she calls ignoring your big no’s a compromiseThe moment she walked out and what she realisedWhy no happy person leaves a nasty comment onlineThe year she gave herself, and how her comedy journey changedWhy Amin tells strangers he loves them, and says it to his family every dayThe Rice Pudding Project is an independent podcast hosted by Amin Soltani, comedian, director, and host, featuring athletes, creatives, and entrepreneurs sharing the stories behind the people they have become.🎙️ Follow us on Instagram: @thericepuddingproject📲 Follow Amin: @itsaminsoltani▶️ Subscribe for new episodes every week#RicePuddingProject #NicoleDrinkwater #Relationships #Boundaries #Comedy #Podcast #Dubai #MensConversation

  5. Oct 27

    The Two Ring Rule, Quitting Without a Job & Who Are You When the Title Is Gone | Luca

    Luca — The Two Ring Rule, Quitting Without a Job & Who Are You When the Title Is Gone | The Rice Pudding Project**When Luca was CEO everyone answered on two rings.Then he left.Four rings. Five rings. Sometimes nothing at all.Luca has spent years thinking about what happens to people when the position disappears and the calls stop coming. The identity that was built around a title. The silence where the answer to "what do you do?" used to live. The two years of question marks that followed one of the biggest decisions of his life.He quit without a job lined up. His son was 10 weeks old. His other child was one. His wife said go for it because two years earlier he had said the same thing to her.In this conversation Luca and Amin get into all of it. The boarding school at six years old that taught him to wear a certain thing, act a certain way, be a certain person, until he lost track of who he actually was underneath all of it. The mother who gave up her dream for her children and why he refuses to repeat that pattern. The cautious man who packs five pairs of underwear for a three-day trip and still managed to walk away from everything comfortable. And the question he spent two years failing to answer quickly enough.Who are you when there is nothing left to mirror?What you will hear in this episode:— The two ring rule — what it tells you about power, identity, and what happens when you leave— Why Luca believes the parent who sacrifices their dream quietly teaches their children not to chase theirs— Quitting without a job at 38 with a 10-week-old and a one-year-old at home— Boarding school at six years old and losing your personality before you even found it— The go to school, get a job, retire at 65, die pipeline — and what it costs you— Two years of identity crisis after leaving a title everyone knew him by— A childhood of feeling unloved and spending decades mirroring other people to get connection— Why if you answer the who are you question quickly, you are probably wrongThe Rice Pudding Project is an independent podcast hosted by Amin Soltani, comedian, director, and host — featuring athletes, creatives, and entrepreneurs sharing the stories behind the people they have become.🎙 Follow us on Instagram: @thericepuddingproject📲 Follow Amin: @itsaminsoltani▶️ Subscribe for new episodes every week#RicePuddingProject #Luca #Podcast #Dubai #Identity #Entrepreneurship #PersonalGrowth #UAE

  6. Oct 25

    Behind the Laughter And The Voice That Started at 8 | Ellie Iskander

    Depression Behind the Laughter, The Voice That Started at 8 & Learning to Grieve Out Loud | The Rice Pudding ProjectEllie Iskander is one of the most naturally upbeat people in any room.He has also been depressed for years.That contradiction is exactly what makes this conversation worth an hour of your time. Ellie is a comedian, voice artist, and performer who built a career on making people laugh, while quietly carrying self-doubt, anxiety, and grief that most people never saw coming from someone who seemed so effortlessly funny.In this conversation, Ellie and Amin get into all of it. Where the voice came from. What it was like to lose his father when his son was just sixteen days old. The inner voice that kept asking who would ever want to watch this. And how he recorded an entire TV season in seven days while pretending to be sick because sometimes the only way forward is to just do the thing anyway.This is a conversation about what it actually costs to be the funny one in the room.What you will hear in this episode: — The 85 year old chain-smoking neighbour who accidentally gave Ellie his most famous voice — Recording a full season alone, six to seven hours a day, seven days straight — What the voice in your head says when you are about to do something that matters — His father's passing when his son was sixteen days old and what grief looks like when you are the upbeat one — Why confidence is built on losses, not wins — The depression nobody saw coming from the man who never stopped smilingThe Rice Pudding Project is an independent podcast hosted by Amin Soltani — comedian, director, and host — featuring athletes, creatives, and entrepreneurs sharing the stories behind the people they have become.🎙 Follow us on Instagram: @thericepuddingproject 📲 Follow Amin: @itsaminsoltani ▶️ Subscribe for new episodes every week#RicePuddingProject #EllieIskander #Comedy #Podcast #Dubai #MentalHealth #Grief

  7. Oct 12

    Wolfi — The Fire That Took Everything, Building a Cycling Community in the UAE & Why Hard Times Make Hard Men | The Rice Pudding Project**

    Wolfi — The Fire That Took Everything, Building a Cycling Community in the UAE & Why Hard Times Make Hard Men | The Rice Pudding Project**The warehouse burned to the ground.The only thing left standing was a yellow Tour de France jersey that fell from a frame and somehow survived the fire.Within 48 hours Wolfi had replaced every customer's bike, found a new location, and made a decision that defined everything about who he is: this is our problem, not yours.Wolfi is the man behind one of the UAE's most beloved cycling communities. But before any of that, he was a 10 year old running a tennis centre while his mother did her chores — reading maps in a delivery van, working in a restaurant kitchen, cleaning offices. Every hard thing that happened to him, he says, molded him into the person who could build what he built.In this conversation Wolfi and Amin get into what resilience actually looks like when it is tested, not as a concept, but as a lived experience. The fire. The rebuild. The yellow jersey. And why Wolfi almost wishes more people could experience losing everything, because he believes that is the only thing that truly creates strength.What you will hear in this episode:— The warehouse fire that destroyed everything and how Wolfi rebuilt in 48 hours— Why he replaced every single customer's bike without being asked— The Tour de France jersey that survived when nothing else did— Growing up doing every job imaginable alongside his mother — and why he is grateful for all of it— Work-life harmony versus balance — and why the distinction matters— Hard times make hard men — and why modern society is protecting people from the experiences that would make them stronger— You were given one human to look after at the start of your life. That human is you.The Rice Pudding Project is an independent podcast hosted by Amin Soltani — comedian, director, and host, featuring athletes, creatives, and entrepreneurs sharing the stories behind the people they have become.🎙 Follow us on Instagram: @thericepuddingproject📲 Follow Amin: @itsaminsoltani▶️ Subscribe for new episodes every week#RicePuddingProject #Wolfi #Podcast #Dubai #Cycling #Resilience #Entrepreneurship #UAE

  8. Oct 8

    Deji — 71 Million Views, The Brother Who Almost Didn't Show Up & What Nobody Tells You About Going Viral | The Rice Pudding Project

    Deji — 71 Million Views, The Brother Who Almost Didn't Show Up & What Nobody Tells You About Going Viral | The Rice Pudding ProjectThe person who was supposed to show up for the shoot didn't. His older brother was just sitting in the room. One question. One yes. 71 million views on TikTok.Deji has been making content since he was 15. He predicted to his brother at a party that people would know his name by the end of 2021. His brother laughed. By December he had 100,000 followers on TikTok. What followed was a masterclass in understanding that overnight success is never overnight — it is years of grafting, trial and error, and showing up even when nobody is watching.In this conversation Deji and Amin get into all of it. The algorithm myths. The fear of becoming irrelevant. Why posting everywhere beats optimising for one platform. What it actually takes to keep momentum after a viral video. And the moment a building caught fire next to his house while the internet accused him of being paid off to say everything was fine.This is a conversation about building something real in public and what it costs you when you do.What you will hear in this episode:— The shoot that fell apart and the 71 million view video that came from it— Why Deji posts the same content everywhere and makes money from platforms he barely thinks about— The overnight success myth — Anand's four years of daily puns, Sandeep's ten years of comedy before anyone called them viral— The fear of irrelevance that never fully goes away even with millions of followers— Why going viral is the easy part — keeping the momentum is where most people fall apart— The Lagos situation — proving he was fine while a building burned next doorThe Rice Pudding Project is an independent podcast hosted by Amin Soltani — comedian, director, and host — featuring athletes, creatives, and entrepreneurs sharing the stories behind the people they have become.🎙 Follow us on Instagram: @thericepuddingproject📲 Follow Amin: @itsaminsoltani▶️ Subscribe for new episodes every week

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About

The Rice Pudding Project is an independent podcast featuring authentic conversations with athletes, creatives, and entrepreneurs worldwide. Hosted by director and comedian Amin Soltani, each episode dives into powerful human stories — from personal challenges and failures to resilience, creativity, and success. If you’re looking for a podcast that blends inspiration, humour, and unfiltered storytelling, this is it.

Information

  • Creator
    Amin
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    93
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Amin
  • Show Website
    Rice Pudding Project