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
Latest Episodes
Come Sit With Us
Is Self-Love Selfish? On Rest Guilt, Boundaries, and Actually Loving Yourself
Is self-love selfish? We're going to argue no... but it's complicated.
Apr 6, 2026 · 40 min
Fearing Living More Than Dying: On Health Scares, Loss, and the Long Way Back (with Chris Gunawan)
If you've ever been really good at escaping your own feelings, this one's for you. In this guest episode of Trying Very Hard, we sit down with Chris "Toto" Gunawan, Monica's friend since preschool, Jakarta local, and self-described YOLO hypochondriac to talk about the last decade o...
Mar 30, 2026 · 50 min
You Don't Have to Be Broken to Go to Therapy: On Mental Health, Stigma, and What We've Learned
We use therapy language all the time now. Triggered. Boundaries. Protecting your peace. But how many of us are actually in therapy, and how many of us are actually doing the work when we get there?Why is it so hard to fully show up in therapy, even when you know you need it?
Mar 23, 2026 · 39 min
If You Care for Me: One Banker's Journey from Shower Singer to Releasing Original Music (with Kelvin Kuan)
What happens when you've spent your whole life being "the practical one," and then music starts demanding more of you?
Mar 16, 2026 · 45 min
Friendship After 30: Why It's Harder, Why It's Better, and How to Actually Keep It
Friendships in your 30s require something your school-age self never had to give: actual, deliberate effort.
Mar 9, 2026 · 46 min
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.
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 take on 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.
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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