Stop Settling For a Life and Love You Don't Deserve feat. Joanne Molinaro

On this week's guest episode, I'm joined by Joanne Lee Molinaro, aka The Korean Vegan, who reveals her journey from courtroom drama to cooking fame. With nearly 5 million followers, she's not just whipping up vegan delights but also running marathons, publishing NYT bestsellers and winning awards (ahem, hello James Beard). Joanne gets real about growing up as a child of North Korean immigrants in suburban Illinois, feeling like an outsider, and why she chose her first career in law.

She opens up about her past marriage, sharing how she eventually 'Googled how to stop crying' and found the courage to leave an abusive relationship. Joanne discusses navigating the world of online for the first time at 35, meeting her now-husband, and how going vegan and becoming a marathon runner reshaped her life, turning food from a frenemy to a source of empowerment.

Follow Anna:
https://www.instagram.com/maybeboth/
https://www.tiktok.com/@maybeboth
https://www.youtube.com/@maybeboth

Follow Joanne:
https://www.instagram.com/thekoreanvegan/?hl=en
https://www.youtube.com/@TheKoreanVegan/featured
https://www.tiktok.com/@thekoreanvegan?lang=en
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Brutally Anna — the podcast where we stop pretending we’re fine and start telling the f*cking truth.
I’m Anna, a writer, accidental influencer, and self-appointed spokesperson for the women who feel too much, think too hard, and talk to themselves in the shower. This isn’t a self-help podcast. It’s a self-honesty one.
Each week, I dive into the mess of being a human — the shame, the silence, the spirals — and say the things we’re all thinking but too afraid to post. From heartbreak to ambition, mental health to creative burnout, loneliness to the urge to completely disappear... nothing is off-limits. If it’s brutally honest, we go there.
No fake pep talks. No toxic positivity. Just the deeply uncomfortable, strangely funny, painfully freeing truth.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re too much or not enough — you’re in the right place. Pull up a chair. Let’s get brutal. New episodes on Wednesdays.

• No. of episodes: 60
• Latest episode: 2025-07-16
• Society & Culture

Where can you listen?