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Trying Very Hard

Honest yaps that call out & celebrate our inner tryhards.

Two best friends navigating adulthood, ambition, identity, and the messy beauty of caring deeply and trying hard — with microphones.

Hosted by Amanda & Monica

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LatestMonanda

You Don't Have to Be Broken to Go to Therapy: On Mental Health, Stigma, and What We've Learned

Why is it so hard to fully show up in therapy, even when you know you need it? We get into mental health stigma, Asian family dynamics, finding the right therapist, and the quiet self-sabotage of performing wellness.

Mar 24, 2026 · 40 min

Kelvin Kuan

If You Care for Me: One Banker's Journey from Shower Singer to Releasing Original Music

What happens when you've spent your whole life being 'the practical one,' and then music starts demanding more of you? Asian family expectations, the fear of self-promotion, and taking creative passion seriously later in life.

Mar 16, 2026 · 46 min

Monanda

Friendship After 30: Why It's Harder, Why It's Better, and How to Actually Keep It

Friendships in your 30s require actual, deliberate effort. The shift from convenient to intentional friendships, how milestones reshape closeness, and why directness takes years.

Mar 9, 2026 · 47 min

Raissa Smarasista

BookTok Brain: Are Reading Challenges Ruining Reading?

She read 84 books in a year — then realized she was doing it wrong. Hobby burnout, performative reading, Goodreads goals, and the BookTok effect.

Mar 2, 2026 · 58 min

Monanda

This Was Supposed to Feel Better: On Inherited Ambition, Quarter-Life Doubt, and Redefining Success

Why does career success sometimes feel underwhelming? Quarter-life doubt, inherited ambition, and the quiet identity crisis of your 20s and 30s.

Feb 23, 2026 · 39 min

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Who We Are

The Tryhards Behind the Pod

We're Amanda and Monica — a therapist and a startup founder, two third culture kids in Singapore, and best friends who think too much, laugh too hard, and care too deeply. This podcast is our attempt to do it out loud.

Amanda

Equal parts rigor, wit, and wildly contagious curiosity. Amanda is an integrative mind-body therapist and the founder of Somi Therapy, helping people who think too much, feel too much, and achieve too much — then wonder why they're exhausted. She draws from psychology, neuroscience, trauma theory, coaching, and somatic practice, because surface-level has never been her thing. Before becoming a therapist, she spent years in strategy roles across education, microfinance, and consulting. She's the friend who makes you believe in yourself — and now you get to have her in your ears.

Monica

One of the coolest, sharpest, and strongest women you'll meet — and she'll hype you up, call out your bullshit, and ask the one question that cuts right to the truth. Monica is the co-founder of Nona Woman, a platform breaking period stigma and creating space for women in Indonesia to feel seen, heard, and educated. She holds an MBA from London Business School and has worked across EY-Parthenon, public health innovation, startups, and product marketing. She's generous, smart, hilarious, and made of what we suspect is 0% body fat and 100% discipline.

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