Founder's Story - Dropping Out of College to TV Host to Top Podcast in Asia | Ep. 33 with Joyce Pring Creator of Adulting with Joyce Pring

Episode Date: August 24, 2020

Today's episode is sponsored by USUAL WINES. Visit https://usualwines.com/ and Use code: KATEHANCOCK for $8 dollars off your first order. Joyce Pring is a media expert having started in TV and radio presenting and hosting followed by starting a podcast... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ibhshow/supportOur Sponsors:* Check out PrizePicks and use my code FOUNDERS for a great deal: www.prizepicks.com* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: www.rosettastone.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome to Inspired by Her, the podcast that will give you the inspiration, motivation, and tips for success from some of the top executives, CEOs, and influencers from around the globe. With your host, serial entrepreneur, and named one of the most influential Filipina in the world, Kate Hancock. And we are live. Hi, everyone. This is Kate Hancock for the Inspired by Her podcast. And we are live. Hi everyone, this is Katie Hancock for the Inspired by Hair podcast and today I have a special guest all the way from the Philippines, Joyce Prang. Hi Joyce. Hi Kate, I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for having me. I know, thank you for waking up 6.30 in the morning your time. Correction, I woke up at 5 in the morning to make it to 6 30 oh my god okay well i have to

make sure you know you have to visit a ventana i'll cover that for you okay thank you thanks everyone joy joy's is a passionate about purposeful living and maximizing individual potential for the greater good and she's the number one host, podcast host in the Philippines, Joyce. Welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be here and to share my story. Yeah.

So Joyce, tell me, what was your journey like to get where you are? Oh my goodness. You know, I recently posted on Instagram a photo of myself from 2011 when I had like a fake Mohawk where I shaved my head and I wrote in the caption, it feels like I've lived 200 lives in the 27 years that I've been living on this earth. And it really does feel that way. You know, my journey has been so zigzagged. It's been not a straight line. I started out in TV. At 18 years old, I had to work. So I didn't come from a rich family, an affluent family. I come from humble backgrounds. So my friends told me that I should be a host. And so I tried out, I won this competition and then I became a TV host. And then from TV, I started doing digital. And for some reason, people knew me more from my digital work than they did from my TV work.

So I kept doing that while simultaneously doing TV. And, you know, it wasn't an easy path because I feel like I didn't have any background in TV. I didn't have anybody who I knew. And in the Philippines, when you go into show business, it's always that you have friends or family who are already in the industry and then they help you get through. And I didn't have that. I didn't have any background at all. I studied fine arts in college. I was like a nerd in high school. So it was really so different for me. But I feel like God places us in different paths of life. And then he gives you the skill set to thrive in that path, however difficult it may be. So that's the journey in a nutshell.

Wow. Wow. Now, Joyce, you started your podcast in what year? In 2018. Okay. So, and you're the number one in the Philippines and is that a whole Asia too? Yeah. So my podcast is actually ranking in different countries. So I just checked it recently. We're ranking in Japan and South Korea and Singapore and Hong Kong and also like in some parts of Europe for some reason and United Arab Emirates. So I feel like it's also because there are a lot of OFWs all over the world who probably know me and listen to the podcast. But then also I would get messages from foreigners who just stumble upon my podcast. Like they, they, they listen to, they see the charts, you know, and it's charting. So they listen to the podcast. So it's, it's really interesting. Um, but yeah, it feels like I'm

tooting my own horn, but it's, it's great because it started out as a passion project and I never imagined it for, for, for it to be this big. So it's really surprising, even me. That's amazing. And you're 27 years old. You have 2 million listeners globally. That's impressive. Thank you. Thank you. You can tell me what was the secret? What was the secret sauce? The secret sauce? I feel like it's going to sound super cheesy and cliche, but the secret sauce is authenticity. I think it's really being honest about who you are, about what you know. It's being honest about what you're passionate about.

Authenticity comes first, and then the second one is really a heart for serving others. I feel like when you create content that's just for you, something that is just for your own fame or for your own glory or fortune, people know it immediately. And so they tend to not pay attention. And I feel like if you create content with the hopes of it helping or inspiring or educating or entertaining somebody else

or your audience, I feel like that resonates more to your listeners. And I feel like that's the secret sauce. That's the not secret sauce. You know, you don't think about that kind of thing. It's just what you aim to do. It's starting with your why. It's starting with your purpose. All right. Now tell me the backstory about the title of your podcast. Why? I love that. Adulting with Joy Spring. Oh my goodness. It, you know what? It wasn't a well thought of title. I just felt like it rhymed and it was fitting for what I was going through. When I started the podcast, I had just turned 25 years old. And I really felt like I was going through a quarter life crisis, you know, because I felt like at 23, I got to achieve a lot of things that I wanted to

achieve. You know, I was working in TV, I was working in radio as well. I was doing live events, I was traveling the world, I felt like I was doing all these fulfilled things that by the age of 25, I had no idea what else I'm supposed to do. Like, okay, now what? Like, am I supposed to get married now? I was single, you know, I had just gotten out of a breakup. And it really felt like I hit the wall. And it felt like I had a lot of issues that I needed to discuss and I needed to process that I didn't have the materials to help me process. And I was looking for like podcasts and books and nothing was really particular for anybody my age. You know, there would always be books about being successful and earning money and doing this and that.

But there wasn't any material specifically for people in their mid-20s or in their early 20s who were struggling with all these human problems, which is how do I deal with the relationship that just ended? How do I deal with my fate? Like how I see the world, my worldview, how do I deal with my career? Nobody really was talking about the struggles of a young adult. And so I felt like adulting was the perfect topic, not because I had discovered the answers to my questions, but because I had a lot of questions that needed answering and that needed a conversation. So that's why adulting. Now, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

Knowing what I know now, I would probably, honestly, I would have finished college because I didn't finish college. I went straight into. So what happened was I was studying in college. I was a scholar, you know, studying fine arts and UP Diliman in the University of the Philippines, which is, I would like to say the most prestigious school and the best school in the Philippines. I will say, yeah, it's fair. It's fair. And I had to go and work because, you know, we didn't have money to put me through school. So what happened was I was working from 12 midnight to 10 a.m. Sorry, 12 minutes to 9 a.m. And then I had a class in UP at 10 a.m. And I was just so tired. So I just I left school school. I was like, you know what? I'm just

going to leave school. I'm going to, I'm going to work. And then after working in an offshore company, like a BPO company, I started working for TV and I never went back to my studies. But right now with everything that I'm doing, I really, I really wished I finished my college because I felt like, I feel like I'd be more equipped to do what I'm doing right now. If I had finished my studies, I mean, obviously, I don't denounce the fact that I was able to achieve a lot of things even without a college degree. But right now at this stage in my life, I feel like it could be better if you know, if I finished my studies. But then again, we go through different paths, right,

and different journeys. And sometimes it doesn't really matter the kind of diploma that you're holding. What matters is what you do with that diploma. I mean, a lot of people have diplomas and they don't do anything with it. So I just feel like with what I know now, I'd be better off if I had finished college, but I'm actually planning to go back to school um in the coming years so hopefully that adds out are you going to continue doing finance or it's going to be something different no I want to go into psychology so something that's kind of related to what I'm doing now um a lot of people have told me you know like I'm a therapist like they would tell me they listen to the podcast.

It's as if I'm a virtual therapist. And it's so funny because I've always had a curiosity for cognitive neuroscience. And I feel like it's something that I want to study. So I'm actually looking at that. Something medically related. That's actually exciting. I actually went to college for psychology. Oh, thank you. Yes. related that's actually exciting I actually went to college for psychology and yes yes

is it a good course to go through it is it is I actually enjoyed it a lot I actually did a lot yeah so Joyce um it's so impressive as young as you are where do you think the hustle from is there where is that I think the hustle from? Is there, where is that? I think the hustle comes from not having anything growing up. You know, I mean, I feel like knowing your story, you'd also be able to relate to what I was saying. I had my own $20 moment turned into multi-million peso dream. But I feel like it's really because I didn't have anything. So I was braver in the risks that I took because I had nothing to lose. And I knew that I had to invest in myself

because I had nothing else to invest on. I had no money to invest on anything else. So I had to invest in myself. I had to be street smart. I had to be book smart. I had to create connections that I didn't have growing up. I had to learn how to be financially adept and understand business and understand how everything works on a standpoint of somebody who never was in this industry. And I had to teach myself and I had to hustle because if I didn't hustle and if I didn't teach myself, then nobody else will help me. So I feel like it comes from that. I mean, I don't want to take away the fact that my parents really did try their best to give me a good life despite all the difficulties that they faced. But I also understand that, you know, we're born with a lot of situations and circumstances that probably won't work the best for us.

But if you look at the grand scheme of things, it's what fuels us to be better. Because I feel like if I was born into a more comfortable lifestyle, if I was born in a family that was more well-off, I don't think I would be hustling and working as hard as I do now because I'd have a certain level of comfortability. Why do I need to work that hard when my parents already did the hard work of giving me a comfortable life? And I didn't have a comfortable life. So I had that goal. I had a goal of a better life for myself. I had the vision of a better life for my future family. And I also wanted to use whatever it was that I was learning to help others from the same situation that I was in to say, hey, you know what? Your circumstances and the life that you were born into doesn't have to be the very definition of who you are. You could actually

mold the reality and change the reality of your life by working hard by working smart and by by having this innate need and want to help others as well so yeah now joyce what's your ultimate goal today's episode is sponsored by usual wines i would love to drink more wine, but I'm worried about the sugar content. That is why I really love this wine. But don't grapes contain sugar? To clarify, all usual wines are produced using natural, sustainable grapes harvested every fall. These grapes are picked at optimal ripeness to ensure all sugar will be fermented completely until the wines are dry with no residual sugar. I do love the fact that it is single serve.

I waste so much wine because I can't finish it in one sitting. Go check out the website at www.usualwine.com and use my discount code, Kate Hancock, for $8 off your first order and try your first glass on us. My ultimate goal as a Christian, my ultimate goal is to glorify God and to use everything that he's given me to, you know, really maximize all those talents and all the blessings that he's given me to bless others as well. And I think that's my ultimate goal in a nutshell. I want to glorify God. I want to do things that would highlight how good he has been in my life. And yeah, just to help other people. I feel like Adulting with Joyce, putting my podcast was born out of that need as well. Knowing that a lot of people needed to have that conversation about us growing up and having all

these adulting issues. It all came from that need to help others as well and to glorify God through these conversations. So that's the ultimate goal. And probably also have my own boutique hotel in the future. I'm going to have to contact you for that. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Definitely. Now, Joyce, can you name a person who has had tremendous impact on you oh my goodness so many i could think of authors maybe but probably growing up when you know how oprah was such a huge thing when you're growing up and and i feel like like Oprah was one of the first, if not the first woman that I looked up to because she was so smart and she was so gracious. She was so graceful at that too. She had a book club and I needed a person like that, that I could look up to, like a smart,

an intelligent, a minority woman who was able to achieve all the things that she was able to achieve and do so in such a way that's so entertaining and so inspiring. And I remember watching Oprah when I was a kid and all her projects in Africa or her other, you know, philanthropic projects. And I just keep thinking to myself, I kept thinking to myself, I need to be that successful and that good at my job so that I could also help kids who might need help. And just having someone like a strong woman like that to be able to look up to as a kid and not just, and I'm not denouncing anybody else who isn't my generation right now, but, you know, it's easy to find a lot of men and women on social media that has no substance,

you know, that can be very famous, but, you know, has no substance or has no want to help other people, but only is out there for fame or for fortune. It's hard now to find women who are inspiring. And so to find someone like that on TV, plastered every day watching her shows, was so inspiring for me. So Oprah. Now, what was the most challenging experience

you've had to overcome? The most challenging will have to be, I was diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety in 2017. And I think up till now, that's still the most challenging thing that I have to deal with. It's so funny because my psychologist would always tell me, knowing Joyce Spring and talking to you, nobody will ever know that you're suffering through depression and anxiety. Nobody will ever know all the traumatic experiences that you've had. But I was diagnosed in 2017, and I've been in and out of meds since 2017. And I think that's the toughest thing for me. But I feel like having professional help,

having my faith, and also having family and friends who look after me and who care for me, my husband is so supportive. It really helps. But it's a challenge. It's an everyday, it's a moment by moment battle for me. Yeah, at least everyone is opening about mental health now. it's a topic of discussion well before like i remember growing up in the philippines you like if you know someone like they don't treat you nice at all yeah yeah and they think you're like they literally just call you crazy and i remember when i was younger so i feel like i've had depression since i was maybe in my teens and whenever i I would talk about it, like, there's something wrong with me. I can't sleep.

I can't sleep. My brain keeps thinking, you know, I'm so sad. I don't know what to do. And people will just tell you like, oh, you're just an artist. Maybe that's why I took up fine arts, because people would just keep telling me, you're just an artist. You're just being melodramatic, you know, get over it, Get over it. Some people have it worse. And I feel like that's the stigma that you have to constantly deal with. Even with right now in the Philippines, it's still hard to talk about it because not a lot of people open up about it. And even the older generation don't really think about it as an actual medical case that you have to treat.

They just think of it as, you just have a problem. You're just melodramatic. So I feel like it's getting slowly better. It's still not where we want it to be, especially for mental health advocates like myself. We still want the conversation to be more fluid and and comfortable for a lot of people who suffer through it but it is getting better yeah and especially in this time in this pandemic i mean not being social that's gotta be that's very difficult you're not out

there you don't see your friends you need a hug like what advice would you give to anyone who's suffering the same that they they don't really have any choice? Yeah, I think it's maximizing technology, right? I mean, Kate, you're in the States and I'm in the Philippines, but we're having this great conversation through Zoom. And I feel like just thinking about it that way, thinking about how we could use technology to stay connected. I was talking to one of my guests on the podcast, her name is Simone Hang, and she's a human connection specialist. And I was asking her like, Simone, how do I do this? How do we connect with people during this time? And she was like, you know what, make it as human as possible. If you could send a voice

message instead of a text message, if you could do a video call instead of just a voice call, make it as human as possible and try to recreate those human connections through technology. So I think that's number one. the mistake that we make is we will keep focusing on how do I deal with my relationships without even thinking about how do I deal with what I'm currently feeling right now and what I'm going through. And I feel like thinking about first about your self-care and about how you can take care of yourself and then thinking about how you could take care of others, that's the healthiest balance that you can have in creating human connection. As Simone Heng also mentioned, she said, we cannot create good human connection with others

if we do not have a strong human connection with ourselves. So I think that's so important. Wow. Now, tell me about being the World Vision Philippines ambassador for education. Is that something that you always wanted? Tell me that journey. Yeah. So I've been a World Vision sponsor is what you call people who sponsor and who are a part of World Vision since I was 18 years old. So I started working at 17, I told you. So when I started getting like a normal job in TV at 18, I started donating in World Vision and sponsoring one child.

And in 2017, I became a World Vision ambassador. So I officially worked with them like before I was just a sponsor. And then in 2017, they finally tapped me to be one of their ambassadors. And it's really honestly one of the most, if not the most fulfilling aspect of my job, being able to be a part of an organization that believes in the importance of our Filipino children, the importance of supplying, you know, clean water and a safe environment and quality education to our children and sustainable living for the families that we cater to. It's really such a great cause. And it's so easy to sponsor a child, like for just 750 pesos a month, you get to sponsor one kid. And it's just everything's electronic. You just do it and go to worldvision.org.ph and you can even pick like the children that you want to, you know, the profiles of the kids that you want to sponsor. And it's fulfilling.

Like sometimes, not sometimes, all the time for my birthday, we would, you know, we would organize events and parties for the kids. And we've gone to different places, like we've gone to Malabon and Batangas and all these other different parties for the kids. And we've gone to different places, like we've gone to Malabon and Batangas and all these other different places in the Philippines. So we gather the kids, we celebrate with them, you know, we give them school supplies. And it's really one of the most fulfilling things

that I've ever done in my life. And I want to keep doing, yeah. Wow, that's so inspiring of you. You're so young and i started and like helping kids now do you get in contact with that doing that for the last nine years do you have communication the kids that you're helping yeah so what's great with world vision is they actually create the connection between the sponsor and the child. So the kids will send you letters, like handwritten letters, and update you about how they are. So they'll start telling you like,

I started schooling already. I hope you're okay. I'm praying for you at the joys, things like that. And you get the chance to also send them letters and send them gifts on their birthdays, which is really cool. So that's what's special about World Vision Philippines. It's not like you're just throwing money at an organization and then allowing them to use the money for whatever they need or whatever the family needs, but it's really creating that connection between sponsor and child and being able to be a part of the life of the the child that you're sponsoring so yeah that's yeah um i that's actually my favorite thing to do every time i would visit come again we have a school a little bit above our property so we hand out food there and it's so nice they're

so sweet but joy you mentioned about providing clean water. Someone actually reached out to me, an organization here in America where they provide filter and they want me to connect in the Philippines, maybe something we can do to help out for school and hospital. Yeah, that would be great. So yeah, that's something that we can really discuss. I love what you're doing. Joyce, how do you want to be remembered? How do I want to be remembered? I want to be remembered as somebody who lived her life to the fullest and somebody who lived her life to the fullest to serve others. That simple. I want for people to know that I'm a Christian, that I love God, that the reason why I'm doing all these incredible things and the reason why I'm able to do all these incredible things is because God has really blessed me so much and God has been good in my life and that that goodness is something that I want to overflow from

my life to the lives of others. So that's how I want to be remembered. Now, what advice would you give for 20 something female in the Philippines? 20 something females in the Philippines, I would say that, you know, the first thing that came to my mind, honestly, was to take it easy. Because I feel like being a woman in the Philippines, you know, there are a lot of opportunities for you, there are a lot of things that you could do. And sometimes the thing that I would often hear from my listeners is they have a difficult time slowing down because you're always like, rah, rah, rah, let's go and get this. Let's hustle it out. And then you forget about

the other important things in life, which is nurturing your relationships and taking a break and taking care of yourself, taking care of others. So I would say it's okay. And it's great that you're hustling and you're working hard for your dreams. You should always remember what your purpose is, what your why is. But at the end of the day, don't forget to slow down and smell the roses in the sense that you understand what you're doing these things for and why you're doing them, as well as taking breaks in between to make sure that you're taking care of yourself first, your mental health, your emotional health, your spiritual health, your physical health, and then letting that overflow in the careers and the relationships that you have.

So that would be my advice. And maximize the opportunities that we have here in the careers and the relationships that we have. So that would be my advice and maximize the opportunities that we have here in the Philippines. I love it. Joyce, where can they find you, your podcast? We have a lot of Filipino listeners right now in the United States. Awesome. Yeah. So go ahead. Yeah. So you guys can check me out at www.joyspring.com. And also, you can check out my podcast, Adulting with Joy Spring. I'm on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, everywhere else at Joy Spring.

We release new episodes every week. So hopefully you guys can listen to the podcast and check out my website, joyspring.com. I love it. Thank you so much, Joyce. Thank you, Kate. Hopefully I'll see you in the Philippines. I know. Just message me when you're back in the Philippines or we'll come to see you in the States.

Yes, yes, yes. All right. Have a good day. Bye. Thank you so much. Bye-bye. We hope you enjoyed the show. Don't forget to rate review and subscribe

and visit katehancock.com so you don't miss out on the next episode