From Where to Here

Send a textSarah moved to Japan, thinking it would only be temporary. Nearly half her life later, she’s still there, raising a family and navigating two cultures.What happens when a short trip turns into an entirely new life?In this episode of From Where to Here, Alexandra sits down with Sarah Sawane, who grew up in Alabama and moved to Japan for what was supposed to be a temporary experience…...

Send a textWhat happens when you let the people who love you reflect you back to yourself?In this first episode of a new solo series called In Translation, I celebrate turning 35 by reading handwritten notes from local friends and family answering two prompts:What’s one thing I should try this year? What’s one thing I do well — or could do better?From skydiving and Bollywood dancing to learning a...

Send a textWelcome to Episode 2 of the Language Legacy Project Series, a 5-part community storytelling initiative capturing the powerful conversations between youth from Alabama and elders from immigrant and refugee communities.In this second episode, Alex D., a young interviewer sits down with Jack Schniper, an elder whose journey began thousands of miles away, arriving in the United States in...

Send a textWhat happens when you learn a new language later in life, and have to rebuild identity, confidence, and belonging from scratch?In this episode of From Where to Here, host Alexandra sits down with the Fernández family to talk about learning English as adults, navigating life with an accent, and building a sense of home far from where they started.Rather than growing up bilingual, the...

Send a textWelcome to Episode 1 of the Language Legacy Project Series, a 5-part community storytelling initiative capturing the powerful conversations between youth from Alabama and elders from immigrant and refugee communities.In this first episode, a young teen sits down with an elder who left Taiwan at 18, uncovering a deeply personal story about language, identity, family, and the journey of...

Send a textWhen Yumna "Yumi" Yassin left Damascus at age 13, she had no idea what life in Alabama would hold. From learning English and building friendships to navigating faith, identity, and belonging as a Muslim woman in the South. Her story is one of courage, reflection, and heart.In this episode of From Where to Here, host Alexandra Lloyd sits down with Yumi to explore:What it felt like to...

Send a textGrowing up across the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Cass learned to feel at home in difference and to see cultural fluidity as a strength. Her story traces how global events like 9/11 shaped perceptions of identity and belonging, and how being mixed race taught her to navigate worlds with empathy and awareness.Now a leader in tech and host of the podcast How She Got Here, Cass shares...

Send a textIn this episode of From Where to Here, Alexandra sits down with Dr. John Maddox, a professor of Spanish and Portuguese at UAB, to explore the intersections of language, culture, history, and identity. Dr. Maddox shares how an inspiring Spanish teacher set him on a lifelong path in languages, how games and stories made learning accessible, and why perfection in language learning is a...

Send a textJoin us for an intimate conversation with Juliana Madrid, a Colombian business operations director who transformed a simple dream of perfecting her English into a beautiful cross-cultural love story. Discover how she navigated building relationships, career success, and family traditions while bridging two very different worlds. Her honest insights about cultural stereotypes, the...

Send a textIn this deeply personal solo episode, host Alexandra Lloyd shares her real-life story of moving from Montreal, Canada, to Birmingham, Alabama, for love. What began as a spontaneous connection on a tropical island turned into a long-distance relationship, a K1 visa journey, and a completely new life in a new country.Alexandra opens up about:How she met her now-husband on vacation in the...