What happens when a multimedia storyteller who's built a name for herself across the art, design, and streetwear world gets brutally honest about the hardest chapter of her life — motherhood?

In this raw, deeply personal two-part conversation, Dr. Sohee Jun sits down with Sophia Chang — a Queens-raised creative force who has collaborated with brands like Samsung, Nike, Adidas, Apple, Footlocker, HBO, and the NBA. But this episode isn't about brand campaigns. It's about the "dark night of the soul" Sophia experienced with postpartum, the isolation no one prepared her for, and how she found her way back to herself through agency, choice, and — eventually — joy.

From growing up an only child in sensory-rich Flushing, Queens, to early Photoshop experiments that sparked a creative career, to the unfiltered truth about what her body and mind went through months after giving birth, Sophia and Sohee go somewhere few conversations about modern motherhood are willing to go.

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Part 2 drops on August 19th.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• How an unstructured, sensory-rich childhood can shape a lasting sense of identity and creative freedom
• Why embracing mistakes — instead of avoiding them — is often the fastest path to creative growth
• How to "choose hope" as a daily practice, even on an ordinary, unremarkable morning
• An honest look at postpartum dread, panic, and isolation — including why symptoms can surface months after birth, not just in the early weeks
• Why so many women leave the doctor's office after birth with no real mental health support — and what to do instead
• How swapping "but" for "and" in the way you talk to yourself can shift an entire narrative
• What gets lost when we mother without a village — and why intergenerational community matters more than we think
• How "choosing joy" can become a daily practice that rewires the brain during a hard season

Quotes From This Episode:

• "There's always agency, there's always choice, you can always choose. That's very empowering — it shifts your entire body chemistry and state of being." — Sophia Chang
• "Trying to minimize our ‘buts’ in our sentence structures and narratives and replacing it with an ‘and’." — Sophia Chang
• “…mindset is all about what's possible. There's always a ‘possible’ and you get to choose within that, which is such an empowering place.” — Dr. Sohee Jun

Reflection Questions for You:

• What's your relationship with making mistakes? Do you try to avoid them at all costs because of how it will make you look or feel? How can you loosen the grip of not making mistakes and allow yourself to actually learn from them?
• How will you embrace and infuse the mindset of agency and choice into your work and life — and what would happen if you did more of that? What might you unlock in terms of being truly aligned and authentic?
• What micro-action will you take from the mindset of embracing agency and choice — in your work life or your life in general?

About Sophia Chang:

Sophia Chang hails from the borough of Queens, New York, and within two decades has championed a name for herself in the art, design, and streetwear community worldwide. With her BFA from Parsons School of Design coupled with a natural acumen for business, she has collaborated with a-list names across multiple fields such as Samsung, Nike, Refinery29, Adidas, Apple, Footlocker, HBO, and the NBA, to name a few. As a gifted multimedia storyteller with the ability to create lucid and inspirited imagery, she's expanding market boundaries and defining a new, vivid visual vocabulary. She understands that presence has dimension — online or in real life, Sophia inspires connection. Passionate about everyone's story, she listens and interprets those stories to empower the community she loves and respects. Sophia is a creative engine that lives to propel her friends and clients to greatness.

Connect with Sophia:

• Website: www.esymai.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/esymai

About Dr. Sohee Jun:

Dr. Sohee Jun is the founder of "asian, like me…" — a podcast and community for the modern Asian woman redefining what it means to thrive. A Korean immigrant, executive coach, author, and entrepreneur, Sohee has spent over 20 years helping high-achieving women navigate culture, career, and identity. She is also the founder of EVRten, a wellness brand for women who are ever curious and growth focused.

Resources & Links:

• Connect with Sophia Chang: www.esymai.com | instagram.com/esymai
• Explore Dr. Sohee's bestselling books — Mommytracked & The Aligned Mindset: https://soheejunphd.com/books
• Connect with Dr. Sohee to explore 1:1 coaching: www.soheejunphd.com
• Connect with Dr. Sohee to explore speaking at your company or event: https://soheejunphd.com/contact
• Explore Dr. Sohee's wellness products: www.evrten.com

SUBSCRIBE to the podcast and don't miss a drop: https://soheejunphd.com/insights

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Part 2 of this conversation drops in two weeks — don't miss it

This is your space to feel seen, heard, and inspired. Let's grow together.