Meet Elise Hu | Journalist, author and podcast host

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elise Hu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elise, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk? I am for it. Perhaps it’s a function of my personality, but I don’t hesitate much or even deliberate much between starting something new, or trying things. Even if you fall flat on your face, there are lessons and growth from it. I am shaped by a series of risks — leaving the confines of television news to help start a digital news organization in Texas, jumping at a chance to leave Texas for an editor role in Washington, uprooting my entire family (and dog and cats) to move across the world to a country I’d never stepped foot in before to live there for nearly four years, leaving traditional journalism to become an entrepreneur, and so on and so on. Nothing along the way has gone 100 percent smoothly. But each risk led me to stretch and grow and depend on others for help in ways that fortified my relationships and who I am as a human being.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m most proud that my career trajectory has moved in the direction I’ve long wanted — toward greater freedom and flexibility. I know it’s easy to measure success by “hard” or ego-driven metrics like money, but I always wanted my career to move in the direction of letting me be more me. I’ve been knocked down many times along the way to trying to let me be me, and I feel really proud that today I have complete agency over my choices, I can say no far more easily than before, and I am staying true to my values and relationships.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Koreatown is my favorite part of the city, whether it’s seeing a show at The Wiltern, getting a dessert (like the famous croffle) at Bumsan Milk Bar, savoring all the delicious meat at Korean barbecue (Pigya, Jeong Yuk Jeom and the OG Chosun Galbi are my go-tos), and/or spending hours at a Korean spa (jimjilbang) where you can soak in alternating hot or cold pools and take naps in cozy saunas.

Sportswise I enjoy watching high-paced LA Kings hockey at the Staples Center (I’m still calling in Staples, come after me Crypto bros), and I cannot recommend more highly catching the women’s expansion team, our beloved Angel City FC. IMHO if you’re coming to LA during their season, that’s a stadium and an experience you can’t miss.

I’m a Westsider, so my “locals” for drinking are Alibi Room (which features Roy Choi’s KOGI taco truck food), Cozy Inn, which has an excellent juke box I’m always spending all my money at, Corner Door, which is just a few blocks down the street from me.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shout out my business partner and dear friend, Rachel Swaby. She was the one who approched me five years ago about coming together and starting our own podcast production company, even though the headwinds were against us and competition was fierce. Rachel is a model of empathetic leadership. We prioritize so much in our business that’s not just the bottom line, and she is so dedicated about staying true to our mission of giving everyone we work with — from our employees to our clients to our one-time vendors — a positive experience in the industry such that they can continue to give their time and talent to storytelling and great audio. Thank you, Rachel, and I love you!

Website: https://www.elisehu.com

Instagram: @elisewho

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elise-hu/

Twitter: @elisewho

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elisehuofficial

Other: TikTok @whoelise

Image Credits
Bamboo image: Mandee Johnson, B/W: Emily Cummings. Everything else Courtesy Elise Hu