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In this episode, Dr. Kim Middleton joins Dr. Shawna Gann to talk about growing up Korean American and White in Las Vegas, being misread in both White and Korean spaces, and the rare, life-changing moments when someone sees you exactly as you see yourself.

In this episode:

• Kim’s undergraduate years at the Johnston Center for Integrative Learning at the University of Redlands, a program with no majors and no grades
• Her family’s history, from Korean immigration to Hawaii’s sugar plantations to a mixed marriage in California
• The babysitting story that showed Kim she hadn’t yet seen herself as mixed
• Getting “the eyebrow” from white colleagues and disappointment in Koreatown
• The campus tour that made her want to move back West
• Why Black folks give each other the nod, and what it means to be seen far from home
• The meaning behind Whole Fishes Consulting and a lesson from her mother
• What’s broken in higher ed and why it needs to start with students
• Mixed Message: feeling closest to a group that doesn’t fully share your experience, and the difference between being accepted and being trusted

About our guest:
Dr. Kim Middleton is a second generation educator and principal at Whole Fishes Consulting, where she guides institutional leaders through organizational strategy, research, and facilitation, and designs programming focused on sustaining joy in challenging times. She hosts and produces the podcast This Book Made Me.

Connect with Kim:
LinkedIn: Kim Middleton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/middletonkim/
This Book Made Me podcast: https://www.thisbookmademe.com/

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook.

If this is your first time with OTC, check out EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!

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“We don’t look like we belong together, but we do.”

That’s what Maeve and Shea Lucas’s mom used to say when strangers couldn’t see them as a family. In this episode, Dr. Shawna Gann sits down with the sisters, both adopted as babies from China and raised by White parents in Northville, Michigan. They share a family and an adoption story, but their experiences of identity couldn’t be more different. Maeve found community early, surrounded by Chinese friends and later a network of adoptees and mixed-race peers. Shea spent years feeling “not Asian enough, not white enough,” until she found friends who also lived in the in-between.

Together they unpack the “what are you” question, strangers mistaking Maeve for her father’s wife, the “you’re so lucky” narrative and the savior framing behind it, and the difference between curiosity and someone needing to sort you. They also share how preparing for this episode sparked a conversation about race and identity they had never had with each other.

In this episode:

• Why Shea doesn’t lead with being adopted, and why she wants to tell that part on her own terms
• Being mistaken for a partner rather than a daughter when out with their dad
• How to tell genuine curiosity from the need to categorize, and a better way to ask about someone’s background
• Grace, intent, and educating people who don’t know better
• Two sisters, two very different childhoods: community found versus community waited for
• Fitting in versus belonging, and why Shawna thinks of fitting in like getting a dress tailored
• Advice for stepping outside the boxes others build for you

About the guests:
Maeve Lucas is a University of Michigan graduate and clinical research coordinator at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, preparing for medical school. She is wrapping up a study on Down syndrome adoption, an underrepresented area within adoption research.

Shea Lucas is a senior at Wayne State University in Detroit studying biology with a minor in chemistry, with plans for a career in forensic science. She helped found Wayne State’s first club water polo team.

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook.

If this is your first time with OTC, check out EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!

MESSAGE ME HERE!

How would you answer if someone asked you what it means to "live out loud"?

In this episode of Our True Colors, Dr. Shawna Gann and co-host Marcel De Jonghe welcome Drew Faulkner, a Buffalo, New York native currently completing a Fulbright teaching internship in Klagenfurt, Austria. With a background in linguistics and German, Drew brings a thoughtful perspective on identity, belonging, cultural differences, and what it means to live out loud.

Together, we explore how moving between communities shapes our sense of belonging, how race and nationality influence the way others perceive us, and why the labels we use for people can carry assumptions we don't always recognize.

Drew also shares his perspective on masculinity, growing up with restrictive expectations, and finding the freedom to embrace aspects of himself that don't fit traditional ideas of what a man should be. Along the way, we discuss the differences between being called an expat and an immigrant, navigating identity across cultures, and the importance of finding people who accept and support us as we are.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Growing up between places and learning to find belonging
• Navigating racial ambiguity and identity across cultures
• The differences in how people perceive expats and immigrants
• Living authentically while navigating assumptions and stereotypes
• How traditional masculinity can limit self-expression
• The pressure to perform masculinity for other men
• Creating space for people to embrace their identities without apology

Continue the conversation

Learn more about Shawna's book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work, including the audiobook, which is now available.

If this is your first time with OTC, check out EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram!

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, and eBook. The audiobook is coming soon—stay tuned!

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!