Video Podcaster Josh Louie explores heritage and identity through ‘Shoes at the Door’ series and ‘The Burbs’ podcast

What inspired Josh Louie to take the leap into content creation and embark on not one—but two—STORYHIVE projects? A mix of personal reflection on his Asian Canadian identity, a passion for storytelling and the collaborative spirit of his work with friends and fellow creators.

The Coquitlam-based Video Podcaster kicked off his content creation journey with Shoes at the Door, a STORYHIVE Voices series that explores the experiences of Asian Canadians through intimate, food-centered conversations. His most recent endeavour, a STORYHIVE Video Podcast, The Burbs, explores the coming-of-age experiences of 20-something suburbanites, where personal stories unfold against a backdrop of Louie’s childhood playground in Coquitlam.

We caught up with Josh to discuss his evolving career, the challenges and rewards of his STORYHIVE projects and his advice for new and emerging content creators who are ready to take their passion project to the next level.

STORYHIVE: Congrats on the launch of The Burbs, and previously for Shoes at the Door. This is your second STORYHIVE project under two different programs—can you tell me more about your first foray into STORYHIVE and how you heard about it?

Josh Louie: I was first introduced to STORYHIVE through an Instagram ad. At the time, my friend and I had a passion project we wanted to pursue and it aligned well with the Voices program. It kind of just snowballed from there.

STORYHIVE: Tell me a little more about your working background—is content creation something you always wanted to do? Do you want to become a filmmaker, documentarian or podcaster?

Josh Louie: Honestly, not really. I did my undergrad in design—interactive design—so, like, web app design, UX/UI. I was in a very different field. I worked in tech for a bit but it didn’t really resonate with me. Then I ended up in this content creator program and that kind of started me on this whole content creation journey.

I’m not sure the [content creation] lifestyle is totally for me either but it put me in a place where I felt comfortable pursuing STORYHIVE opportunities. Right now, I just do freelance photography and videography work but I’m willing to try everything. I’ll probably still do more content creation. I hope to do more STORYHIVE projects and just see whatever comes my way.

STORYHIVE: Your first Voices project, Shoes at the Door, explores the experiences of Asian Canadians while doing a task—like cooking dumplings. Can you tell me a little more about that concept and why you felt like these stories needed to be told?

Josh Louie: Yeah, we had this passion project—this was before I discovered the Voices program—and we just wanted to spotlight Asian Canadians within our community. We had no real intention for what to do after that.

We actually did a full photo shoot and interview with a friend of a friend—we didn’t really know her well. This was all before Voices. So we had all this material and we didn’t know what to do with it. We were like, should we start hosting it? Should we make a publication or something?

Then we came across the STORYHIVE program and it seemed like a good opportunity to evolve the project to fit the Voices program. We realized the importance of creating a safe space for intimate conversation—just over food—as a more comfortable setting but also one that’s culturally significant. What’s on the table and how you eat says a lot.

It felt very right to layer all these aspects together—to introduce these people, their backgrounds and how that ties into being Canadian. Some of the food wasn’t necessarily Asian but it was still significant to them. It became a great entry point for every episode. And honestly, it’s just nice to have food with people.

STORYHIVE: In The Burbs, the very first episode is you and a friend talking about the immigrant experience—or the racialized experience—but the experience of growing up in a suburb. What other topics will the rest of the season tackle?

Josh Louie: With the guests I have on the episodes, I try to anticipate what they’d want to talk about and keep it relevant to the podcast. I try to help facilitate that conversation but I also want them to fully feel comfortable—like, to take the lead in whatever they want to share, especially when it comes to their experiences growing up.

I don’t want to be too overbearing with it. I just want to let them go with it—though some of the episodes, we ended up shooting for four or five hours. I don’t want to do that again. 

STORYHIVE: I did want to compliment you on the shot itself. I think the way you filmed it is very cool—and obviously very different from two people just sitting in a room with mics. I thought it was really interesting how you brought that physical background into the show. It feels like a nod to where you grew up, where you came from. Did you want to use Coquitlam as a backdrop because you feel very attached to your childhood there?

Josh Louie: Actually, initially, it was about supporting community relevancy and it kind of tied into the whole coming-of-age/post coming-of-age theme. It felt relevant to me personally as well.

My relationship with Coquitlam has changed a lot over the years. I always wanted to get out as soon as possible and I felt very detached from it. But actually, through doing the podcast, I kind of fell in love with it again. It was really cool to hear everyone’s perspectives.

Also, I don’t think you can really tell from the series—maybe because of how I ordered the episodes—but how I felt about Coquitlam changed throughout the episodes.

STORYHIVE: Stories are important but so is your team. Can you tell me a little bit about the people you worked with on both projects? Shoes at the Door was with Chantal Lee. Tell me more about your collaborators and guests—what was the working relationship like?

Josh Louie: Yeah, so for the Voices project Shoes at the Door, that was fully co-directed and co-produced with Chantal. I can only take 50 per cent ownership of that. It was really fun because we had never worked together professionally before. That’s a very different dynamic, especially with a friend and when you have different visions for the project.

It’s easier for me to direct when I’m behind the camera but Chantal was in front of the camera, so she also had a role in directing—in leading the conversation or deciding what she wanted to include in the episode. Honestly, it was really nice to do with a friend. I think it would have been more challenging in a purely professional relationship because we had to have some very honest conversations about what to cut. Some of the material was really intimate or vulnerable and that would’ve been harder to navigate without that personal connection.

Then, with The Burbs, that was more of a fun, casual project. I just asked any friends who wanted to participate. I actually posted a kind of casting call on my Instagram story and got a lot of responses—even from people I hadn’t spoken to in 10 years. I’d say half the people I wasn’t even close to before filming.

I really leaned into not knowing their perspective on their coming-of-age experience. I kept the door open to whatever people wanted to talk about—whoever they were—and just let the conversations unfold naturally.

STORYHIVE: Now that you’ve been through the STORYHIVE Voices and Video Podcast programs, what advice would you give to other emerging digital content creators and video podcasters who are thinking of applying?

Josh Louie: The application process can seem really intimidating at first because of everything that’s being asked but once you start, it’s not as scary as it looks. You probably have more answers than you think.

Filming yourself for a pitch video might feel uncomfortable but if it’s a project you’re passionate about, it will just happen—it’ll flow and it’ll work. You really just have to trust yourself.

I think, especially since this program is designed for entry-level amateur creators, it’s easy to feel like… what’s the term? Like a fraud, I guess. But the truth is: you are a creative and you are a creator. Even if you haven’t had much experience, your project is real—and you probably have a lot more capability than you think.

STORYHIVE: What advice would you have for any video podcasters currently creating their STORYHIVE projects?

Josh Louie: For the podcast, I did a practice episode with a friend. I told him, “I’m not sure if this will be included because I honestly have no idea what I’m doing.” The footage could’ve turned out terrible, the sound could’ve been awful—but it ended up being a really helpful sandbox experience.

It gave me space to experiment. I’m usually behind the camera, so it was also a chance to get more comfortable being in front of the camera and trying out new equipment. Even after filming, it helped me get a better feel for how I’d edit the footage—because how you edit will ultimately shape how you shoot. But if you film everything first, you can start anticipating what your editing process will be like.

It just helped me get a feel for the whole process before diving in too deep.

STORYHIVE: What’s next for Josh Louie?

Josh Louie: I'm actually in Taiwan right now, studying Chinese—I didn’t know any Chinese before this. It was kind of a leap off of Shoes at the Door, actually.

I think it came from hearing everyone’s experiences with being Asian Canadian—their relationships with their Asian identities or wherever their families are from—and how much that varied. Some people were really far removed from their culture while others had an incredibly intimate connection. That contrast made me reflect on my own relationship with being Chinese and where I want that to stand.

I don’t think there’s one specific way it has to look for anyone but for me, I realized I have the privilege and capacity to explore it—so I really wanted to go for it. I wanted to know where my grandparents came from—not just hear stories about it. Especially as they’re getting older, I don’t know how much they’ll be able to tell me going forward. I want to actually go to those places, maybe meet the people who are still there and help my grandparents reconnect with people they haven’t spoken to in, like, 70 years.

But also—I just applied to the TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Storyteller Edition, so we’ll see where that goes.

Watch The Burbs, Shoes at the Door and more Canadian & Indigenous video podcasts and digital series on TELUS Optik TV, Stream+ and STORYHIVE’s YouTube channel now.