Rediscovering Identity and Resilience Across Generations with Eddie Shiomi
Ronderings8 Okt 2025

Rediscovering Identity and Resilience Across Generations with Eddie Shiomi

From uncovering a hidden family history to empowering a new generation of AAPI leaders, Eddie Shiomi shares how reclaiming his past reshaped his purpose and deepened his approach to leadership, storytelling, and civic engagement.

In this heartfelt and historically rich conversation, Eddie joins host Ron to trace a remarkable lineage stretching from Okayama, Japan to the United States and beyond. He reflects on his great-grandfather Kaishi’s immigration in 1883, his family’s harrowing wartime experiences across Manchuria and Tokyo, and the extraordinary Senate bill that eventually reunited them. These revelations, discovered through his grandmother’s autobiography and a decades-old family binder, transformed Eddie’s understanding of identity and reminded him that “who we are is who we were.”

What began as a personal exploration evolved into a professional philosophy. Drawing from years in public service, including work with the California State Assembly Speaker and leadership roles at Coro New York, Venture for America, and Apex for Youth, Eddie learned that effective leadership begins with curiosity and empathy. Now as Chief Operating Officer of AAPI LEAD, he helps cultivate that ethos at scale by spotlighting the stories of local and municipal AAPI officials and reminding listeners that character development is not just for fiction; it is the heart of authentic leadership.

Together, Ron and Eddie reflect on the intersections of ancestry, politics, and creative expression, exploring how storytelling humanizes civic life and strengthens communities. They discuss the growing visibility of Asian Americans in culture and politics, the challenges of sustaining inclusion across diverse identities, and the urgent need for solidarity amid global uncertainty. Through Eddie’s lens, understanding history becomes not an act of nostalgia but a roadmap for resilience and unity.

Tune in to hear an inspiring journey through generations that bridges art, activism, and ancestry, and rediscover why knowing each other’s stories may be the most powerful form of leadership we have.

Chapters

🎙️ 00:38 Meet Eddie Shiomi and His Journey of Resilience and Activism

📘 01:08 Publish your book at https://leveragepublishinggroup.com/

🌏 02:54 Eddie’s Family History from Japan to America

🌿 15:26 Discovering Family Roots and Reconnecting

💡 20:32 Lessons in Leadership and Character Development

🖋️ 23:27 Find support for writing your impact-driven book at booksthatmatter.org

🏛️ 25:12 Exploring the World of State Government

✨ 26:07 Spotlighting Local Elected Officials

🤝 27:36 Personal Stories Shaping Political Impact

🌪️ 30:40 A Personal Journey Through Political Turmoil

🌍 40:24 If you are a leader or a changemaker looking for support, check out geniusdiscovery.org

🎧 53:06 Want a podcast just like this one? Check out podcastsmatter.org


Links
Website: https://www.aapilead.org/
Instagram:@aapi_lead
Instagram: @eddieshowme

Check out AAPI LEAD’s work, follow Eddie Shiomi on Instagram, and explore how his leadership journey continues to shape a more connected, story-driven future for AAPI communities everywhere.

Rapatalo Group: rapataloconsulting@gmail.com

Leverage Publishing: www.leveragepublishinggroup.com
Books That Matter: http://booksthatmatter.org
Genius Discovery: http://geniusdiscovery.org
Podcasts Matter: http://podcastsmatter.org

Connect with Ron: www.linkedin.com/in/rapatalo

Ron’s book: www.amazon.com/dp/1613431473

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(107)

Invest in Your Energy: Liberation, Burnout, and Leading Without Shrinking with Shayna Renee Hammond

Invest in Your Energy: Liberation, Burnout, and Leading Without Shrinking with Shayna Renee Hammond

Executive coach and Lead For Liberation founder Shayna Renee Hammond has spent two decades coaching Black leaders through burnout, and she says the work starts with energy, not strategy.In this episod...

19 Aug 54min

Make the Ask: Social Capital, Trust, and Why Slow Does Not Mean No with Dr. LaShawnna Harris

Make the Ask: Social Capital, Trust, and Why Slow Does Not Mean No with Dr. LaShawnna Harris

Founding principal turned entrepreneur Dr. LaShawnna Harris opened a New York City public school with 220 kindergartners and ran the operations flawlessly. Her appointment still stalled, because syste...

12 Aug 55min

Leadership Is a Creative Practice: Nonprofit Boards, Trust, and Saying Yes to Possibility with Gary Bagley

Leadership Is a Creative Practice: Nonprofit Boards, Trust, and Saying Yes to Possibility with Gary Bagley

Nonprofit leadership is a creative practice, not a title you master. Executive coach Gary Bagley led New York Cares and now works with the executives and boards holding organizations together.In this ...

5 Aug 52min

Equity Over Equality: Failing the Gifted Test, Parent Advocacy, and Asking Families What They Actually Want with Punam V. Saxena

Equity Over Equality: Failing the Gifted Test, Parent Advocacy, and Asking Families What They Actually Want with Punam V. Saxena

Parent engagement advocate Punam V. Saxena failed the gifted test in second grade, and spent the next twenty five years believing she was not smart.In this episode of Ronderings, Ron sits down with Pu...

29 Juli 57min

Belonging, Masculinity, and Black Boy Joy: Taking L's on the Way to Elevation with Craig Aarons-Martin

Belonging, Masculinity, and Black Boy Joy: Taking L's on the Way to Elevation with Craig Aarons-Martin

Educator and community builder Craig Aarons-Martin, founder of the Black Boy Joy Summit, has spent more than two decades doing transformative work in Boston's schools, and he is candid here about the ...

22 Juli 50min

The System Will Replace You, Your Family Cannot: Wellness, Burnout, and Leaving the Principalship with Dr. Nadia Lopez

The System Will Replace You, Your Family Cannot: Wellness, Burnout, and Leaving the Principalship with Dr. Nadia Lopez

Dr. Nadia Lopez banked 156 unused sick days. When she finally got too sick to work, the Department of Education separated her from payroll and told her she could come back to work.In this episode of R...

15 Juli 59min

From Urban Planning to the Akashic Records: Intuition, Life Purpose, and a Science of Spirituality with Julie Chan

From Urban Planning to the Akashic Records: Intuition, Life Purpose, and a Science of Spirituality with Julie Chan

Julie Chan was a Yale and MIT-trained urban planner building a career in economic development when a spontaneous spiritual awakening opened intuitive abilities she never asked for and could not explai...

8 Juli 52min

Ask Why, Then Act: From a High School Newsroom to New Leaders and the Good Jobs Economy with Jon Schnur

Ask Why, Then Act: From a High School Newsroom to New Leaders and the Good Jobs Economy with Jon Schnur

A high school sports editor watched a fellow editor dismiss a brilliant Black student's writing. The question that moment raised never left him.In this episode of Ronderings, Ron sits down with Jon Sc...

1 Juli 1h 6min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

framgangspodden
rss-jossan-nina
badfluence
varvet
rss-borsens-finest
avanzapodden
uppgang-och-fall
dynastin
svd-tech-brief
rss-inga-dumma-fragor-om-pengar
bathina-en-podcast
fill-or-kill
skaraborgspodden
rss-hos-psykologen
rss-dagen-med-di
borsmorgon
lastbilspodden
rikatillsammans-om-privatekonomi-rikedom-i-livet
tabberaset
rss-kort-lang-analyspodden-fran-di