Our mission is for everyday Asian American women to feel heard, seen, and connected.

Learn more about our story

On a Friday night in 2017, after an evening out in DTLA, Helen, Mel, Janet, and a few friends returned to a downtown apartment. It was the usual convo - sharing the gripes of work, a mother’s “friendly reminders”, the latest dating fails, and podcasts they’d been listening to. The conversation felt endless and flowed naturally into the night. “You ladies should record this,” said a friend, “there are people out there who would totally relate to your conversations.” Helen, Mel and Janet responded with “NO, we could never.” Call it liquid courage or the insistent support of friends - they took that leap of faith and thus, AsianBossGirl was born.

THE Start

Ok the reality of what happened between that night and the first episode upload was a lot more involved. For months, on evenings after our full-time jobs and weekends, we met to plan and outline episode topics, discuss show branding and a social media plan, tinker with podcast and website hosting platforms, learn how to edit on Premiere Pro, and record (we recorded episode 1 three times). But on September 21, 2017, we pressed “publish” and released our first episode.

THE EARLY YEARS

For the next 2 years, we’d continue releasing weekly episodes while balancing our full-time corporate careers. Slowly, our listeners/followers grew, we got requests to create merch, we hosted our first meetup while on a trip in NY. Meetups in LA, SF, and Toronto quickly followed as we witnessed an amazing community of women (and men) develop and grow around our common mission.

THE GROWTH

In 2019, chance would have it that we all quit our corporate jobs for different reasons. Instead of seeking new roles in our corporate careers, we thought, “What if we all went full time into AsianBossGirl?” Advertisers were beginning to show interest in our show, we were turning down speaking requests due to work schedules, and our merch launches seemed promising if only we had the time to create more.

So we decided to make that leap! We expanded onto YouTube, invited more inspiring and accomplished guests onto our show, signed a contract with a podcast advertising agency, began booking multi-platform campaigns with brands like Bumble, CW, and Old Navy, spoke at over 25 universities and companies like Blue Shield, Disney, and Facebook, started the ABG Collective - our discord community, were featured on the Today Show, expanded our team with a few incredible women, and even wrote our first children’s book, Lucky Cat.

WHAT’S NEXT?

What started as a passion project turned into a multi-media business that we now run full-time. We can’t wait to keep building AsianBossGirl with our amazing community.

If you’re a listener, send us a message hello@asianbossgirl.com, a brand who wants to partner with us? partner@asianbossgirl.com, or a company or school who wants to book us for a speaking engagement? book@asianbossgirl.com.

“ABG’s greatest asset is the personalities of the hosts. Janet’s thoughtfulness and coolness, Mel’s spunk and freshness, and Helen’s humor and logic, all really balance each other out. They are so relatable so I feel at home with these women, like we’re old friends catching up.”

— jennypoke

The hosts

Melody Cheng

Hello! I’m Melody Cheng (friends call me Mel) and I’m a proud Taiwanese-American from the Bay Area. I now call Los Angeles my home after moving down here to pursue my passion in story-telling through digital media.

Prior to working at AsianBossGirl, I’ve worked mostly in the media space from talent managing & producing for Asian American creators, working corporate in social media marketing and studio production for fashion, and leading community & social media growth at other digital media companies.

When I’m not working at ABG, you can either find me on my couch binge-watching Korean dramas or eating Dan Dan Noodles or Pho somewhere.

Host of No Dumb Questions with Mel.

HELEN WU-wang

Hallur, I’m Helen! Growing up in the city of Boston, I was the type of kid who sat on her stoop and loved to people watch and talk to strangers (yikes, I know, but our immigrant parents were hard at work!) My first job out of undergrad was in Corporate America where I worked at one of the Big 4 accounting firms as a Business Valuation Manager. It wasn’t until my now husband introduced me to Mel and Janet that I peeked my head outside of my cubicle walls and started to visualize a world where I could create content that represented and empowered API women. With AsianBossGirl, my personal mission is to break down the walls that hold us back from reaching our potential, and like the stoop kid in me once loved - to connect with you all in the most authentic and gritty way possible.

I am also a first-time mom to a beautiful baby boy, and he is my daily reminder to laugh from the belly, to cry from an open heart, and to see the world with the wondering eyes of a child.

Host of Spill the Baby Tea with Helen.

janet wang

Hi, I’m Janet! I’m a Chinese-American Southern California native who lived in San Francisco, New York, Miami, and Kenya before settling down in Los Angeles. Prior to ABG, I worked in technology as a user experience designer. My career spans a wide variety - from economic consulting to brand strategy in advertising and even a semester in Chinese Medicine school - my interests have always varied, but creative expression and a desire to help people have been strong themes in my life. I could not have dreamed up a more meaningful experience than AsianBossGirl. Through this work, I’ve not only connected more with my own self and identity, but with others at levels I never imagined.

I am a practitioner of meditation, yoga, and plant-based eating and living. I also love visiting art galleries and museums (contemporary art is my jam!), attending sound baths, and going on hikes with my boyfriend and pup. Thanks for reading this and may you be well :)

Host of Living Well with Janet.