Exsto Cognac is the very first Cognac created by Sabrina Duong, in partnership with one of the world’s best sommelier, Julie Dupouy. As cognac lovers and cognac makers, they have created a new, modern Cognac for a new generation of cultured drinkers.

By embracing quality with an accessible, minimalist approach – and rejecting dated, stuffy perceptions – we have reimagined fine Cognac with an exuberant, youthful French spirit infused with global inspirations.

Before establishing Exsto Cognac, Sabrina worked for 15 years at L’Oreal. She has extensive experience both in managing and developing local markets, and launching new cosmetic and fragrance brands in China, Japan, and Hong Kong.

Sabrina has a passion for high-end gastronomy, and in her previous career regularly brought chefs from restaurants rated by the French Michelin Guide to collaborate on luxury culinary experiences in Asia.

Julie, One of the world’s Best Sommeliers

Originally from the southwest of France, Julie Dupouy has been living in Dublin since 2004.

She started her career in one of Ireland’s most acclaimed restaurants, Patrick Guilbaud, which has two Michelin stars, and worked at Greenhouse and Chapter One, both of which have one star. Julie founded her consultancy company Down2Wine in 2014. Julie has won the title of Best Sommelier in Ireland every year since 2009.

In 2016, Julie placed third at the ASI World’s Best Sommelier Championship. She was one of just four women in the competition and the second female sommelier ever to reach the final of the world championships.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

VinFast is a Vietnamese-founded private automotive company. Established in 2017, it is a member of the conglomerate organization Vingroup, one of the largest private conglomerates in Vietnam that was founded by Phạm Nhật Vượng. 

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lan P. Duong is Associate Professor in Cinema & Media Studies at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She is the author of Nothing Follows, a book of poetry that draws from the genres of memoir and poetry.

Written from a young girl’s perspective, the center of this world is a military father, an absent mother, sisters who come and go, broken brothers, and friends she meets in San José.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tracy and Tiffany Pham are the second generation of Red Boat fish sauce, a premium Vietnamese fish sauce company started by their father Cuong Pham. 

Red Boat is produced on Phu Quoc, an island famous for making the best fish sauce. When they aren't shedding blood, sweat, and tears at the family business, they spend their time on the mats practicing jiu jitsu.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Anh Do is the community engagement editor at the Los Angeles Times, working across the newsroom to connect with readers and helping to deepen relationship with audiences.

Earlier, she spent 11 years in Metro covering Asian American issues and general assignments. A second-generation journalist, she has worked at the Seattle Times, the Orange County Register and Nguoi Viet Daily News.

Her writing on culture and trauma has won awards from Columbia University and the Asian American Journalists Assn. She received Yale’s Poynter Fellowship in Journalism, and in 2016, was part of The Times team that won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news coverage of the San Bernardino terrorist attacks.

Born in Saigon, Do is a graduate of USC with degrees in journalism and English. Apart from words, she’s passionate about all things canine, spending 28 years supporting dog rescue around the globe.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jonathan Tran Pham is the Founder & CEO at Reflect, an online mental health therapy portal.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Andrew Ly founded Sugar Bowl Bakery in 1984 with his four brothers, and became President and Chief Executive Office of Ly Brothers Corporation in 1993, a parent company of Sugar Bowl Bakery.

Currently, Sugar Bowl Bakery is still family-owned. It employs a few hundred employees making signature Brownie Bites, Palmiers, Madeleines, Duet Bites, and Apple Fritters, as well as seasonal varieties like Pumpkin Spice Madeleines and Peppermint Duet Bites. The company sells to retailers like Walmart, Sprouts and Costco across the US and also distributes around the world.

Sugar Bowl Bakery operates two plants - one in Hayward, California, and one in Tucker, Georgia.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Maura Nguyen Donohue has been making experimental performance works in NYC for 20 years. Her work has been produced by Dance Theater Workshop (now New York Live Arts), Roulette, Danspace Project, Performance Space 122, La Mama, The Asia Society, Mulberry St. Theater, the West End Theater, and has toured across the US and to Europe and Asia.

She is an Associate Professor of Dance at Hunter College/CUNY, Director of MFA and faculty fellow for the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute. As a member of La Mama's Great Jones Rep since 1997, she has toured across Europe and Asia. From '99-04, as artistic advisor for DTW’s Mekong Project, she facilitated residencies in the US and SE Asia.

Her essay "Ambivalent Selves: The Asian Female Body in American Concert Dance" was published in Contemporary Directions in Asian American Dance and she writes for Culturebot. Prior to serving on MR's Board, she served on its Artist Advisory Council.

She also serves on the Bessies Committee and collaborates with Perry Yung on the ongoing durational performance of parenting 2 (slightly) smaller humans.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Daniel Nguyen is the founder and master distiller of Song Cai Gin. Sông Cái is a first-of-its-kind Vietnamese distillery bottling the taste of Việt Nam’s biodiverse terroir through gins and other spirits. Founded by Vietnamese-American sustainable agriculture visionary Daniel Nguyen, Sông Cái sources botanicals exclusively from long-standing farming and foraging H’mong, Red Dzao, and Kinh families.

Sông Cái invests back into its partner rural communities through paying fair pricing for botanicals, funding reforestation programs, heirloom botanical preservation and propagation efforts, educational assistance for communities, and shared farming equipment and processing facilities.

Sông Cái Distillery’s spirits are distilled in hand-hammered direct-fired copper alembic pot stills. The brand’s inaugural Việt Nam Dry Gin has earned accolades for its reimagination of the dry gin category by using 16 heirloom Vietnamese ingredients like green turmeric, jungle pepper, black cardamom, and heirloom pomelo.

The name Sông Cái translates to “Mother River,” homage to the cradle of Vietnamese civilization (a concept found universal in Việt Nam) as well as to the distinctly Vietnamese spiritual relationship to the land: that all things come from and are interwoven with mother nature.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is an award-winning Vietnamese poet and novelist. She is the author of twelve books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction in Vietnamese and English.

Her latest novel is Dust Child, a story about family secrets, hidden trauma, and the overriding power of forgiveness, set during the war and in present-day Việt Nam.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Quyen Ngo is an actor, Audie-nominated audiobook narrator, and coach based in Los Angeles, CA.

After 18 years of training groups in capacity building and communication, she now also coaches and consults with individuals. She discusses the politics of symbols, meaning-making, and representation.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jackson Nguyen is a 7-time Emmy award-winning producer, director and showrunner with over 20 years of experience in unscripted television. Nguyen has produced in multiple genres across the television landscape, ranging from hit sports shows including HBO’s 24/7 and The Olympics, to true crime specials and social change programming.

Other credits include American Gangster and Finding Justice for (BET), It Was Him: The Many Murders Of Ed Edwards (Paramount), NFL Pro Bowl (ESPN), and The Price Of Duty (Oxygen). Nguyen is also currently producing a $65 million scripted feature called The Deliverance, directed by Lee Daniels for Netflix.  

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Anne Oliver is the founder and CEO of House of M Beauty, a skincare company infused with saffron, and crafted with quality ingredients.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Cuong Pham founded RED BOAT fish sauce in 2011 after working for decades as an Apple engineer.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Chef Minh Phan is the founder of Porridge + Puffs and Phenakite. Phenakite came together in 10 days and would go on to win a Michelin star after less than a year.

Phenakite was also named the Los Angeles Times Restaurant of the Year in May 2021. This caused a 20,000 name waitlist to explode followed by the Michelin honor.

Phenakite is named for a mineral that becomes a gem under pressure, represents a triumph of turning the hardships of the pandemic into a rare jewel of an eatery.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Scott Ly is the romantic guide and love interest to Rachel Leigh Cook in the NETFLIX feature film A TOURIST'S GUIDE TO LOVE. The film was shot on location throughout Vietnam. The film was written by Eireen Donahue, Produced by Joel L Rice and directed by Stephen Tsuchida.

The story is about an executive, played by Rachel Leigh Cook who goes through an unexpected breakup, then accepts an assignment to go undercover and learn about the tourist industry in Vietnam. She falls in love with her Vietnamese tourist guide. Ly plays the hunky love interest to Cook, a Vietnamese tour guide whom she falls in love with.

Ly's family were boat refugees out of Vietnam right after the fall of Saigon in April1975. Scott, the youngest of four children, is the first born in America, in Houston Texas. However, he was raised and considers the San Gabriel Valley, Southern California his hometown. As a natural born athlete, he was the captain of his high school's basketball and wrestling teams. Scott's dedication led him to his daily practice of circuit training, yoga, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA pursuits. His passion for performing on stage and in front of the camera led him to his craft for acting as his main focus.

Ly's TV credits include the hit shows FBI's Most Wanted for Dick Wolf, BONES, CRIMINAL MINDS, CRIMINAL MINDS: BEYOND BORDERS and a recurring role on ANIMAL KINGDOM to name a few. Ly has performed on stage, in national commercials and major print campaigns.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Marie Hanhnhon Nguyen is a Vietnamese artist, playwright and filmmaker. She was born in Saigon and moved to California with her family when she was 5.

Marie began her creative career as a film and television producer. She has worked alongside filmmaker Yann Demange on WHITE BOY RICK (Sony), LOVECRAFT COUNTRY (HBO).

She is a staff writer on the show BEEF with Netflix.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Rachel Leigh Cook stars in and produces A Tourist's Guide to Love, a love story shot entirely in Vietnam. Scott Ly co stars with Rachel. The film is written by Eirene Tran Donohue.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jeremy is Executive Director, COO, and Co-Founder of Gold House, the premier collective of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) cultural changemakers.

Gold House transforms the public narrative and mobilizes action through innovative programs that advance API representation and success.

Prior to joining Gold House, Jeremy was a counsel at O'Melveny & Myers working on high-stakes entertainment litigation, including the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial and AT&T and Time Warner merger trial.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This Vietnamese Life - In this new series, I share viewpoints about ideas I've collected along the way about Vietnamese life around the world.

In this segment I offer my thoughts on why Viet Kieu entrepreneurs bomb pretty hard when starting businesses in Vietnam.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy