I joined Victoria Rennoldson on her podcast, Become a Global Leader, to talk about a question that comes up in almost every workshop I run: how does a story built in one culture survive the trip to another without losing what made it true? We talked through the C3 Bamboo Framework, why humor, authority, and emotion read differently depending on where a story lands, and what Southeast Asian storytelling can offer leaders working across borders.
Episode 194, released August 21, 2026, treats storytelling as a leadership skill rather than just a creative one. Victoria and I got into why universal experiences like hope, loss, family, and belonging carry different weight depending on the culture receiving them, and how metaphors and local references can quietly get lost in translation. We also walked through the C3 Bamboo Framework and what it takes to keep a story recognizably yours while still landing with an audience that didn’t grow up with it.
Much of what I shared draws on more than 30 years in Philippine media and the research behind my book, Culturally Intelligent Storytelling for Southeast Asian Creators. Victoria and I also spent time on personal cultural identity as a starting point for cross-cultural communication, and on what Southeast Asian storytelling traditions can teach Western leaders about building trust before persuasion.
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Who Is Victoria Rennoldson?
Victoria Rennoldson is a global leadership specialist and cultural intelligence coach based in the United Kingdom. She is the founder of Culture Cuppa, a training and coaching practice that helps professionals and international teams communicate with more confidence across cultures, and she is the bestselling author of Become a Global Leader: Amplify Your Impact and Communicate Across Cultures.
She hosts the weekly podcast Become a Global Leader (formerly Cultural Communication Confidence), where she talks with leaders and experts about working effectively across borders. You can find her at culturecuppa.com, or connect with her on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
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