From a home-based cake shop in the Philippines to head pastry chef at Naya Mayfair, Chef Gerard Apurado joins us to talk about risk, humility and why pastry should always be worth the calories. A published author and 40 Under 40 UK nominee, Gerard shares how he turned down the safe route of nursing, won competitions through honest feedback, and built a COVID takeaway business to bring his team back to work.

We also get into the science of baking, the story behind his onion-and-chocolate “Mahal Kita” cake, and his advice for anyone ready to take a leap. Plus, find out what he brought to taste on camera. Watch the full episode on YouTube to see the pastries.

Actor and creative founder Nicole Miners joins us to talk about rejection, representation and building something of your own. Best known for Visions of a Vivid Life and They’re Outside, Nicole shares what it’s like to be “ethnically ambiguous” in the UK industry, why not hearing back hurts more than a no, and how running auditions from the other side changed how she sees her own.

We also dive into founding HOKOYO Productions with her fiancé, making a £10K short film while working a full-time job, and the story behind The Algorithm of Loss, a Black Mirror-style film about recreating a lost partner with AI. Along the way, Nicole shares her advice for anyone starting out: start small, share your contacts, and keep it fun.

Kevin Lam, co-host of Bunch of Bananas - one of the UK’s early ESEA podcasts - joins Nina to talk identity, community, and why he’d rather fail loudly than stay quiet.

Kevin shares how he met co-host Eric in uni, growing up as one of the only Chinese kids in Blackpool, and the push-pull of feeling “more British in Asia, more Chinese in the UK.” They dig into code-switching as a survival skill, Bunch of Bananas’ growth from sofa chats to a real platform (including a new ESEA football club with 50+ players), and Kevin’s long list of failed side hustles - gachapon machines, a Vietnamese coffee cart, sunglasses e-commerce - and what they taught him.

Follow Bunch of Bananas on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube and @kevinthelam. Follow The Tea House Podcast for more conversations on culture, identity, and the people behind the stories.