I sit down with professional Executive MC and actor Terence Nguyen, aka 'The Main with the Mic'. Terence has built a brand as the area's MC, who has hosted weddings, corporate events, charity galas, but his path to getting here was far from typical.

We dive into his evolution from a kid in Western Sydney to a high-energy MC. He shares his foundational training at PYT Fairfield which helped him break the 'quiet Asian' stereotype which led him roles in major products like Anyone But You and Last King of the Cross. Terence also chats about his community work through the Asian Hustle Network and the Blue Dragon Children's Foundation.

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Terence's Links

https://www.instagram.com/terencenguyenmc/

https://www.tiktok.com/@terencenguyenmc

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Need a photobooth? Reach out to SonofaBooth - ⁠https://www.instagram.com/sonofabooth/⁠

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ⁠⁠ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠

Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music: aKu - Love Shine | aKu - The Final Blow

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Chapters

0:00 Intro

1:38 Are MCs Naturally Confident? Public Speaking Secrets

3:48 Acting Career: IMDb, Maria Tran, and Takashi Hara

8:51 Starring in "Tuan’s Party" (Theatre & Performance)

17:25 Theatre vs. Corporate MCing & Trivia Events

21:07 Terence’s Origin Story: From Dinosaur Speeches to the Big Stage

26:16 Personal Development: Breaking the "Shy Kid" Stereotype

28:08 Wedding Inspiration: Immi & Nico’s Wedding and Toastmasters

32:04 University Life and Working at the Courthouse

34:50 Mentorship with Jeremiah Hartman: Violating Expectations

38:18 How to Find MC Gigs & Average MC Rates in Australia

42:37 Being a Chameleon: Adapting Your Energy for Events

44:48 What Makes a Good vs. Bad Wedding MC?

50:26 Studying Marriage Celebrancy

52:11 The Reality of Financial Uncertainty & Freelance Life

57:25 SOAB AD

58:55 Event Demand: Weekday vs. Weekend Work

1:01:23 Speaking Vietnamese: Assessing Language Proficiency

1:07:09 Is Basic Vietnamese Enough for Bilingual Weddings?

1:09:00 Native Vietnamese vs. Viet-Aus MCs & Word of Mouth Marketing

1:12:51 Pricing Strategies: How to Charge Without Undercutting the Market

1:15:56 Vendor Relations: Why Timing is Everything in Events

1:19:21 Client Chemistry: What Makes a Couple Great to Work With?

1:22:58 Essential Wedding Tips: Keep the Speeches Short!

1:28:00 The Worst Wedding Experience

1:39:14 Protecting Your Big Day: Why You Must Check Your Vendors

1:41:47 Community Impact and Working with Sydney Lane

1:44:52 Mastering Improv in Low-Stakes Environments

1:47:49 Favourite Wedding Trends: Chinese Wedding Traditions

1:56:37 Top Venue Recommendations, Dream Gigs, and Career Advice

2:03:35 Outro

We sit down with one of the OG creative and wedding videography veteran Andy Yang, where he shares the moment on a morning train commute was one of the many steps to slowly leave behind a stable finance career to pursue a life behind the lens.

We dive into the evolution of the Asian Australian creative scene, from Andy's early days filming YouTube covers and touring Asia, to navigating the high-stakes world of wedding videography (The SanDisk failure...).

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Andy's Links

https://www.youtube.com/@AndyYangVlogs

https://www.instagram.com/andyyang84

/https://www.andyyangfilms.com/

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Need a photobooth? Reach out to SonofaBooth - https://www.instagram.com/sonofabooth/

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ⁠⁠ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠

Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music: aKu - Love Shine | aKu - The Final Blow

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Chapters

0:00 Intro – Andy’s videography journey

2:25 Andy’s career before filmmaking – switching industries

4:11 How Andy became a videographer – breaking into content creation

9:29 Early life, creative background, and career foundations

14:40 Wedding videographer pricing – hourly rates, market trends, OG vendors

20:51 Pricing strategy for videographers – avoiding undercutting and managing client expectations

23:58 Working with real couples – Nathan & Annette and Andy’s signature filming style

28:40 Data loss in videography – backups, workflow, and AI recovery tools

36:11 Cinematic shooting style explained – Nathan’s on‑set experience

40:42 Editing workflow for videographers – dad content, storytelling, tour vlogs

49:12 How the YouTube creator landscape is changing

53:20 Behind the scenes of wedding videography – difficult clients and real experiences1

:01:14 Dad content and lifestyle filming – meal kits, home shoots

1:07:29 What makes an ideal couple client for videographers

1:10:43 Time management for videographers – structuring a full shoot day

1:12:56 SOAB AD

1:14:26 Crew meal etiquette – what videographers and photographers should know

1:17:44 Unique vendor ideas in the wedding industry

1:21:32 Working styles and camera gear – tools for modern videographers

1:28:46 Beginner videographer advice – how to start in photography and filmmaking

1:31:46 Advice to younger self – favourite wedding trends and industry insights

1:33:40 What couples overspend on – wedding budget tips and smart splurges

1:37:37 Outro – final thoughts on videography and content creation

If you were to ask a year ago, I would've said by day, Anna works 9-5 as a finance manager, and by night, she's LateNightAnna. But since then, she is all in on LateNightAnna, cooking, creating and building a food content brand that started with a viral Basque cheesecake during Covid.

In this episode, I sit down with Anna to talk about her journey from competing in MasterChef as a teenager, to starting a home baking business from scratch, to documenting her life in her 30s through food, travel and content creation. We chat about how she balanced a corporate career with creative passion, growing up Chinese-Australian in Sydney, performing on stages from singing competitions to national finals, and what it really takes to stay consistent when you’re building something on the side.

If you've ever thought about starting a side hustle, chasing a creative dream, or just love food content, this one's for you.

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Anna's Links

Youtube Channel

https://www.instagram.com/latenightannaa

https://www.tiktok.com/@late.night.anna

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Items mentioned

Noodle bowl: https://www.amazon.com.au/Sets-Containers-Microwavable-Restaurants-Self-Adhesive/dp/B0DPJVT1NW/

What we made: https://bylatenightanna.com/fire-carbonara-instant-noodles/

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Need a photobooth? Reach out to SonofaBooth

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ⁠⁠ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠

Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music: aKu - Love Shine | aKu - The Final Blow

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Chapters

0:00 Intro

2:07 Background, corporate life

6:42 Anna's singing journey, different languages

10:57 The basque cheesecake, covid business

17:26 How do you make a living?

21:54 Masterchef appearance

24:18 Why food content?

26:52 Mukbang, our relationship with food

31:37 Bao bae, starting a fast food brand

35:18 Growing up with food, inspiration

39:10 How did you learn to cook?

41:24 When was enough income to replace the corporate gig?

45:12 More followers =/= More income

49:27 Pivoting to long form content

51:43 Culinary Class Wars dishes

56:29 Travel content?

59:42 What is 'latenightanna'?

1:02:04 Son of a Booth ad

1:03:34 Cooking starts

1:06:53 Light vs dark soy sauce

1:12:58 Ingredient you can't live without

1:20:56 Are instant noodles your guilty pleasure food/personality?

1:23:47 Go to dish to impress someone

1:26:47 Drawing on cups

1:29:33 Advice for other content creators

1:37:14 Outro