I recently sat down with Chris W. Hubbert in his Shanghai townhouse to reflect on how moving to Asia—and stepping away from the place of my birth—helped me truly find myself and finally blossom.

As the child of a displaced person, I grew up in Germany with a deep-rooted sense of disconnection. My family never felt entirely at home, and this feeling of displacement profoundly shaped my upbringing. When I lost my grandmother, who had been my anchor, and then my father shortly after, at just 69, I felt utterly lost.

My life seemed to crumble around me, and financial hardships soon followed, making my dream of becoming a designer feel increasingly out of reach. In this podcast, I share my journey through those challenging years and the small yet life-changing decision in 2007 to apply for a scholarship.

That single choice transformed my outlook and gave me the resources and resilience to find my way back and pursue my dreams, even when the odds felt stacked against me.