Eason Yang - Founder & Design Director at NED

The Courageous Podcast with Ryan Berman

Eason Yang was on top of his game in his career until cancer shattered his life at the age of 33. But you know what they say about tough times—they reveal the toughest people. Instead of letting the cancer blues bring him down, Eason willed his way into social entrepreneurship and birthed NED (Not Entirely Dead) to take on the biased systems that put cancer survivors and career gaps in a bind. Within just 18 months of its launch, Eason bagged the AIGA Social Design Award in 2022 and even snatched the prestigious Fast Company's World Changing Ideas award in 2023. In a candid and empowering conversation centered on confronting fear amidst adversity, Eason shares with Ryan his remarkable two-year journey battling cancer head-on. He recounts the incredible tale of how he connected with Dr. Lawrence Einhorn, the esteemed physician of Lance Armstrong, through a daring cold call. Their conversation delves into Eason's profound motivation for founding NED— and how what once felt like a solitary struggle, a "you vs. you" battle, now transforms into a unifying force, bringing people with a common cause together.