CuriosityBased

CuriosityBased

  • Services
    • Workshops
    • Digital Courses
    • Speaking Engagements
  • About Us
    • Why CuriosityBased
    • Meet the Team
    • Press
  • Resources
    • Events
    • Booklist
    • Articles
    • Podcasts
  • Blog
  • Forms of Respect
  • Connect

About Us

CuriosityBased team member five females clapping their hands

Why CuriosityBased?

Why CuriosityBased?

At CuriosityBased, we think of curiosity as a practice, not as a trait. We liken it to meditation— it looks easy, yet it can be really hard to practice curiosity.

Our team understands the hurdles and rewards of fostering curiosity, having experienced both. An environment that promotes questioning and understanding is empowering and fosters risk-taking, innovation, and problem solving. 

That’s why we care so much about helping others practice curiosity too. 

We’ve witnessed how in any given group, when a majority of people embrace the practice of curiosity, their attitude can elevate team morale and foster positive work cultures. 

Need evidence to show your colleagues on why curiosity is important?

Get the Proof

What we can do for you

We design professional development experiences, based on original content, that foster belonging and inclusion. We can help teams quickly build trust through creating small group sessions that allow for open discussion and mutual accountability. We guide our clients in the practice of curiosity through virtual and in-person learning experiences, workshops, and retreat facilitations. 

If you need strategic planning or program evaluation combined with team building, we have partners who can help.

Who we serve

We work with organizations who believe change and progress moves at the speed of trust and they need to invest time and resources into building relationships. Our clients appreciate our high touch approach and bring us in for multiple small-group sessions across their organizations, usually starting with their leadership team. They understand there is no single right answer, there is always more to learn, and the journey is more valuable than the destination.

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How we approach learning

True learning begins outside the comfort zone. Our approach challenges teams and individuals to stretch, delve deep, and embrace the practice of curiosity. We don’t take for granted that practicing curiosity is hard. That’s why we guide people through a series of curiosity-strengthening exercises that starts with self-awareness. While most people think they are self-aware, only 10-15% actually fit the criteria. We help people practice inward curiosity first so they can then engage in reciprocal curiosity with their colleagues to build genuine relationships.

Training Versus Learning

We prioritize learning over training. The best teachers are our colleagues. We’re here to guide you into learning from one another. We guide you on your learning journey. We recognize that each team is different. Learning is beyond the book. You learn from one another, it has to be experiential. Just like every conversation is different, every session is different. 

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Mission

Empower people in the workplace to become more self-aware, build relationships, and communicate clearly.

Vision

Help the world practice curiosity and build empathy.

Values

  1. Curiosity
  2. Growth
  3. Connection
  4. Clarity 
  5. Difference
  6. Adaptability 

Forms Of Respect
We Prioritize

  1. Candor 
  2. Procedure
  3. Information

Who we are

We represent a diversity of disciplines, including history, social work, engineering, international relations,  and business administration, as well as cultural backgrounds, which is reflected in our native languages: Spanish, Burmese, Vietnamese, and English. This diversity influences our approach to our work. We are also a certified Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise.

Julie Pham, PhD

Founder and CEO

Meet Me

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Julie Pham, PhD

Founder and CEO

I’m always looking for the question behind the question. I decided to take my 15+ years of community-organizing, including building a cross-sector collaboration fellowship for the tech industry, founding an ethnic media coalition, running a Vietnamese-language newspaper, and mobilizing small business owners in South Seattle, combined with my 8 years of academic research, to start CuriosityBased. I have deep experience in motivating people from diverse personal and professional backgrounds to connect and collaborate. My approach to belonging and inclusion has been informed by having lived as an expatriate in Germany, France, England, and Vietnam and having grown up as a refugee in the US. I believe learning continues after we leave school, which is why I’m dedicated to helping our clients build learning organizations. I thrive when I’m surrounded by learn-it-all’s.

I have designed and led workshops, lectures, and conferences, ranging from 6 to 2,000 people and have been invited to speak to audiences from diverse industries around the world, from Yangon, Myanmar to Bratterboro, Vermont. As a writer and speaker, I’m known for my willingness to get vulnerable, to reframe the way we look at common assumptions, and to offer practical advice combined with a thought-provoking call to action. I love hosting dinner parties, reading novels, and talking to friends while walking.

Hnin Johnson, MSW, MPA

Project Manager

Meet Me

Linh Huynh, MSW

Learning and Development Manager

Meet Me

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Hnin Johnson, MSW, MPA

Project Manager

I actively integrate the Three Marks of Existence into my approach to teamwork and collaboration. Born and raised in Myanmar, and like many teenagers in a least-developed country, I left my home in search of better educational and economic opportunities. Over the years, I’ve lived and worked in various places and held different jobs, which has led me to deeply appreciate Buddha’s teachings and the value of embracing change. My career journey has taken me from being a semiconductor technician to working in social services and now navigating the startup world to support others in their success.

At CuriosityBased, I have contributed to initial research for workshops, assisted in launching Dr. Julie Pham’s book “7 Forms of Respect,” and taken on a generalist role involving tasks such as tech support, research, marketing support, and administrative functions to multimedia design. Outside of work, I dedicate my time to volunteering, baking, practicing yoga at home, and taking short walks in the neighborhood. I strive to live a life of simplicity and service, finding contentment in what I have and can do, and adapting to the ever-changing nature of life by keeping the five precepts as my ethical guide.

✕

Linh Huynh, MSW

Learning and Development Manager

I’m someone who likes to explore people’s thought processes and how they view the world. Being born and raised in Seattle as the child of Vietnamese immigrants, then moving to California, I’ve come to understand what people meant by the “Seattle Freeze”, which refers to locals’ unfriendliness toward newcomers and outsiders. I’ve learned that I don’t enjoy the “Seattle Freeze” because I enjoy chatting with people and meeting strangers from all kinds of backgrounds, as it offers me fresh perspectives on life, even if it’s a short conversation. I especially enjoy helping others understand concepts or solve problems. To me, it’s like solving a puzzle by exploring different ways to explain things. I strive to make a more direct impact with individuals by helping people gain clarity and understanding around concepts and people they are trying to understand.

Because I like teaching, I have become the Senior Learning and Development Specialist on the CuriosityBased Team. I help iterate and facilitate our Learning Experiences, aka workshops, to create the optimal learning environments for learners in virtual and in-person settings. Before CuriosityBased, I’ve worked at nonprofits, educational institutions, and government agencies serving diverse populations. Outside of work, I love anything tea related (especially boba), play tennis, and thrift. I’m currently curious about boxing and baking.

Maia Segura

Marketing Manager

Meet Me

Lourdes Tsukada

Business Development Manager

Meet Me

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Maia Segura

Marketing Manager

I’m an idea person. But whenever I start a new project, the thing that gets me most excited is not knowing what I don’t know.

Instead of feeling adrift, I lean into my curiosity. As people react to my ideas with their own knowledge and experience, it allows us to come to powerful solutions that none of us could have reached on our own. So, for me, the CuriosityBased principles are both a way of life and a foundation for my business.

My husband and I founded our economic and community development-focused marketing and communications business over a decade ago. We lived in and served one of the most diverse communities in the USA. It was our mission to both find the common ground as a wide community, and to lift others to celebrate their own unique cultural communities. We continue to bring that sensibility to all the communities that we serve through our work – public, private, big or small.

Having lived in places like Thailand, Tasmania, Minneapolis, Long Beach and Sunset Beach, CA, and Seattle, I’ve always kept a mix of cultural creative curiosities including music, visual, and performance arts, global and local travel, cooking and eating. We now live in Southern Vermont with our two cats & two dogs and where I’m also board chair for a community organization that is preserving and activating an 1850’s one-room schoolhouse that serves as our local community center.

Joining CuriosityBased as marketing manager, I am learning what I don’t know, but I’m excited leaning into the team’s collective curiosity as we explore possibilities.

✕

Lourdes Tsukada

Business Development Manager

I am a native-born Cuban who has lived in Venezuela, France, Italy, and Argentina, and I’m fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian. Over the past 23+ years, I’ve built a diverse career that includes roles in international logistics, lending, interpreting, sales, business ownership, and entrepreneurship. I also created and hosted the first live weekly Spanish mortgage Q&A radio show.

As the Business Development Manager at CuriosityBased, I focus on cultivating business relationships, conducting market research, and discovering new opportunities. I enjoy connecting with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds, and continuously enjoy learning along the way.

What People Appreciate About CuriosityBased

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“Julie has created a framework to help one learn about their workmates and where your personal internal dialogue stems from. The CuriosityBased team took our 18-person department through a four-hour session on the 7 Forms of Respect. The breakout sessions with prompts gave us an opportunity to explore our thoughts in a shared space and learn from our workmates. The four hours went by quickly but were filled with internal and external insights. I encourage other teams to share this experience of learning the 7 forms of respect framework. It can help gain that extra layer of connection with themselves and others.”
Tisha Held
Philanthropy and BECU Foundation Manager
“At first I thought 2.5 hours was going to be too long to keep our team’s interest. However, the time flew by because the content was very engaging. It wasn’t like other DEI training I’ve participated in, where we focused on key concepts. Instead, we shared stories around race and were encouraged to learn from one another. The surprising bonus was how connected my team felt to one another by the end of the session, which is especially important now that we’re working remotely.”
Elizabeth Scallon
GTM/Operations for Alexa Fund & Startups, Amazon
“Julie’s trainings are so important to improving foundational effective communication! Her workshops at CuriosityBased improved our team building and they helped our team practice more curiosity with one another. She and her team are a joy to work with.”
Peter Bloch Garcia
Nonprofit Leader and co-host of the Adelante Leadership Podcast
“I had my whole company go through the 7 Forms of Respect digital course. The conversations it prompted provided a deeper level of understanding about people’s backgrounds and personalities. It improved our ability to collaborate as a team. We still use the exercises to guide our conversations. The content is very accessible and lends itself to both person and professional growth.”
Lizzie Mintus
CEO and Founder, Here’s Waldo Recruiting
“Working with CuriosityBased gave a group of staff some valuable tools and learnings for them to take to their teams. Julie Pham was a pleasure to work with, giving us guidance on how to structure the workshop given the complexities of our group. Since the initial workshops on the 7 Forms of Respect, we have had Dr. Pham and her team back to present and run workshops with other teams in our large, highly matrixed organization. Each group and team that experiences the Curiosity Based workshops has appreciated the new insight and reframing on Respect. As a DEI professional, I find that the theory Dr. Pham and her team workshop with lends itself to creating a culture of belonging and more quality relationships between colleagues and stakeholders.”
Leilani Lewis
Director Of Diversity, Equity And Inclusion, University of Washington Advancement
“At the beginning of the year, I asked Julie to help us overcome a challenge many mid-size organizations like ours are facing: how do we recreate a collaborative, productive, engaging, and meaningful work environment for our staff–all within the context of hybrid work schedules, virtual and in-person meetings, and new protocols for health and safety. Julie and her team, through a series of retreats, have helped to facilitate connection and trust among our senior leaders as we emerge from the pandemic. In evaluations after each retreat, participants were glowing in their praise for Julie’s facilitation and for the outcomes we achieved in less than a day. I can recommend Julie and CuriosityBased without reservation.”
Ryan Calkins
Commissioner, Port of Seattle
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  • Services
    • Workshops
    • Digital Courses
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  • About Us
    • Why CuriosityBased
    • Meet the Team
    • Press
  • Resources
    • Events
    • Booklist
    • Articles
    • Podcasts
  • Blog
  • Forms of Respect
  • Connect

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