CuriosityBased

06/03/2026

Have you ever said "I'd have people over, but my place isn't nice enough"?

Growing up, CuriosityBased founder Julie Pham absorbed that message — and ran with it. She was buying clearance martini glasses in high school to furnish her someday-perfect home. 🍸
It wasn't until her 20s, moving internationally and leaving most of her belongings behind, that she finally let go of that idea of "enough." Now her hosting philosophy is simple: great conversations over nice table settings.

The stories we tell ourselves about having enough — they shape so much more than our homes.

Julie got into all of this on Melanie Vargas's beautiful podcast What's in Your Neighborhood? Give it a listen 👇
🎙️ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-neighborhood-of-enough-with-julie-pham-phd/id1837935787?i=1000760334829

What did "enough" mean in your house growing up?

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Image caption: As a teenager, Julie loved window shopping at stores like Crate and Barrel to get ideas of what she needed to host a dinner.

05/27/2026

Athleisure every day — with a few intentional exceptions. 👟

CuriosityBased founder Julie Pham is the first to admit her default uniform is joggers and sneakers. But a conversation with image consultant got her thinking about the deeper connection between what we wear and how we show up for others.
Lazaruk's "3C" framework — Character, Congruence, and Choice — reframes getting dressed not as conforming, but as a form of self-expression and, sometimes, respect.

Because sometimes what we wear says "I see you" before we ever say a word.

Do you ever think about what you wear as a way of showing respect? Or is comfort always king? 👇

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☑️Listen to Julie read the full newsletter on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xlnb_c2F9Uo

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Image caption: Julie was invited to try Armoire, a clothing rental company, and got clothing suggestions from a personal stylist. This was the closest she came to exploring non athletic gear in years

05/26/2026

What if the way you show respect is different from what your team actually experiences?

On a recent "Lifting Leaders Podcast Gems" episode, the hosts and revisit insights from their conversation with Julie PhamJulie about her book, “The 7 Forms of Respect®.”

After taking the "7 Forms" Respect Assessment themselves, they reflect on:

👉Why respect can look wildly different across teams and cultures

👉How co-creating team norms builds stronger trust and belonging

👉The small shifts leaders can make to create healthier communication and culture

A thoughtful listen for leaders who want to lead with more awareness, clarity, and intention.

🎙️ Tune in and see what resonates. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/building-a-culture-of-respect-leadership-gems/id1616243616?i=1000749100121

Podcast Episode · Lifting Leaders Podcast · February 10 · 49m

05/20/2026

This AANHPI Heritage Month, we've been reflecting on a simple but powerful question: What shaped you before you even knew it was shaping you?

That's the heart of Hyderabad Days by — a memoir about growing up in a close-knit Hyderabad neighborhood in the 1980s and 90s. Not a story of hardship overcome, but of community, simplicity, and belonging that quietly became a lifelong compass.

He writes: "We didn't have frameworks. We had festivals. We didn't have awareness campaigns. We had invitations."
It stopped us in our tracks.

CuriosityBased put together a full list of leadership books by AANHPI authors — because these stories deserve to be read, shared, and celebrated.

📚 Explore the list → https://curiositybased.com/2026-aanhpi-authored-leadership-books/

You can check out our other leadership book lists by Black authors, those who identify as having disabilities, Hispanic/Latino/Latinx, LGBTQ, Native American, and women at https://curiositybased.com/category/books/.

Know a book that should be on here? Drop it in the comments! 👇

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☑️Listen to Julie Pham read the full newsletter on YouTube: https://youtu.be/C1X0EA8squQ

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In honor of AANHPI Heritage Month, CuriosityBased curated this 2026 AANHPI Authored Leadership Book List...

05/19/2026

Here's something Julie PhamJulie said in this episode that we keep coming back to: Vietnam’s "Liberation Day" and "The Day We Lost Our Country" — both are real. Both are true. And both deserve to be held.

In Episode 58 of "Everything's Not Black & White" podcast, Julie joins hosts and for one of those rare conversations that actually slows you down. She talks about the Rubber Band Rule — how far you can stretch to meet someone else before you lose yourself in the process. She talks about what it means to pause before you react, especially when something lands hard. And she shares the personal history behind her life's work — the refugee experience, the South Vietnamese perspective that history often leaves out, and how all of it shaped her belief that curiosity is the antidote to a world that wants everything sorted into sides.

This is the kind of conversation the CuriosityBased community was built for.

🎧 Give it a listen → https://www.buzzsprout.com/773981/episodes/19061723

What's a truth you've had to hold alongside someone else's very different truth? Drop it in the comments — we'd love to hear.

Can multiple truths coexist in one conversation? In this episode of Everything’s Not Black & White, hosts Lachandra and Brian sit down with Dr. Hoai Julie Pham, a PhD historian and CEO of Curiosity Based. From her journey as a Vietnamese refug...

05/14/2026

What does curiosity look like inside county government?

Julie Pham finds out in Episode 31 of Curiosity at Work with guest , CIO for Snohomish County Government — on what it really takes to lead IT in the public sector.

Viggo made the jump from private to public sector and doesn't shy away from what's different: the timelines, the accountability, the stakes. And why curiosity is the throughline that makes it work.

In this episode:

✔️ Normalizing questions and new ideas in government

✔️ Innovation funds as a tool for agile experimentation

✔️ AI as a productivity tool — not a job threat

✔️ What building a curious culture actually looks like

Bottom line: In IT, curiosity isn't a nice-to-have. It's how you stay relevant.

➡️ The podcast is live now: https://curiositybased.com/curiosity-at-work-podcast-episode-31-curiosity-in-county-it-with-viggo-forde/

👉 Explore more Curiosity at Work episodes:
https://curiositybased.com/category/curiosity-at-work-podcast/

05/13/2026

Being helpful might be more harmful to you than you think

Have you ever felt more appreciated by strangers than by the people closest to you — or the colleagues you see every day? There may be a reason for it rooted in how influence actually works.

CuriosityBased founder Julie Pham recently attended a workshop led by exploring the six core influence principles drawn from Dr. Dr. Robert Cialdini's framework: reciprocity, commitment/consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. While these are often associated with sales and marketing, McCann applies them to how leaders show up in relationships — at work and at home.

One insight stood out: the very traits that make someone a great leader or colleague — being generous, helpful, and always available — can actually undermine their influence over time. When someone makes themselves endlessly available, others may begin to take them for granted. Team members who give the most don't always feel the most heard.

What changes when people make themselves just a little less available? The early answer is less resentment — and potentially more influence.

This is the kind of curiosity-driven reflection that CuriosityBased brings into its workshops and retreats. Understanding how influence operates can transform how teams communicate, build trust, and show up for one another.

What's your "go to" influence style — and where might there be room to grow? Share your thoughts in the comments. 👇

Image caption: A shelf at a grocery store with many missing products, possibly making shoppers desire them even more.

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05/12/2026

✨ Dr. Julie Pham is out here making people rethink everything — and we are here for it.

Julie recently joined the Born Without a Choice podcast for a conversation about something deceptively simple: hat happens when we slow down, get curious, and actually try to understand people before we react to them?

Spoiler — a lot changes.

She and the host Victory Igberase dig into how our unexamined assumptions quietly shape our relationships, our decisions, and the way we see ourselves. And Julie brings the 7 Forms of Respect® into the mix, as only she can.

This episode is for you if:
🔹 You've ever reacted to someone and immediately wished you'd asked a question first
🔹 You lead a team and want to build more trust and less friction
🔹 You're working on becoming a more intentional communicator

Give it a listen and tell us — what's one assumption you've had to unlearn? Drop it in the comments.

🎧 Rethinking Respect, Curiosity, and Human Assumptions on the Born without a choice podcast is live now. 👉 https://open.spotify.com/episode/0uTT56BSMMACcW9nW6Pq7g

Born without a choice · Episode

05/06/2026

Four years ago, CuriosityBased founder Julie Pham self-published her best-selling book, “7 Forms of Respect®.” What she didn't do? Record an audiobook — until now.

After months of DIY trial and error, Julie was stuck. The audio quality wasn't there, and she couldn't figure out why. She turned to ChatGPT, which diagnosed a software calibration issue, walked her through the fix step-by-step, and even helped her find a freelance audio editor for under $200. The entire 3-hour book was recorded from home in a day and a half.

Sometimes the obstacles that stop us aren't signs to quit — they're signs the timing isn't right yet. The tools that exist today made something possible that simply wasn't four years ago.

Have you ever waited on something, only to realize the timing turned out to be perfect?

🎧 7 Forms of Respect® is now on Audible and Amazon. The paperback is discounted to $9.99 for the rest of May at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Y2SKVNF

Image caption: Julie recording her audio book at home with her mic and laptop.

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05/05/2026

✨ Julie Pham is back in a conversation you're going to want to share with every leader you know.

She joined Dr. Lola Adeyemo on the Workplaces That Work podcast to tackle a question that sounds simple, but really isn't: What does respect actually look like at work?

Here's the thing most leaders miss - just because you think you're being respectful doesn't mean it's landing that way. Intention and impact are two very different things. And when a team doesn't have a shared understanding of what respect means, tension builds quietly, often without anyone realizing where it's coming from.

Julie brings the 7 Forms of Respect® into the conversation and gets practical about what leaders and teams can actually do differently.

This episode is especially worth your time if you're:
🔹 A leader trying to build a stronger, more trusting team culture
🔹 An HR professional navigating workplace dynamics
🔹 Someone who's ever felt disrespected at work — even when no harm was intended

We'd love to know what respect at work looks like to you. Drop your answer in the comments.

▶️ Watch Rethinking Respect at Work on the Workplaces That Work podcast — live now on YouTube. 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz2EZiF1SSI

Workplaces That Work | Rethinking Respect at Work