American Desi

“Dating Journey” — it’s not just about finding your person, it’s about finding yourself along the way. We’ve all been there — the butterflies, the heartbreaks, the almosts, and the “what ifs.” Everyone dreams of a happily ever after, but real life? It’s messier, more complicated, and sometimes even more beautiful. This journey is about love, growth, and everything that happens in between.

In this episode, Randi and I reflect on our journey through the Jay Shetty Life Coaching Certification School. We talk about our personal experiences in the program and how it influenced the way we coach today. I had so much fun creating this conversation with my good friend, who also happens to be an incredible life coach.

So grateful to have had @besesky on the podcast! We had the best time chatting and geeking out over @lilly — what a blast! 💥 We dove into everything from being Neurodivergent and Queer to growing up Indian and the importance of representation. So many fun and meaningful conversations in one episode! 🎙️✨

I got the amazing opportunity to talk with Jaya Badiga. She is a trailblazing Indian-American judge serving on the Sacramento County Superior Court in California. Known for her cultural pride and commitment to justice, her historic appointment in 2024 marked a significant milestone for representation in the American judiciary.

Join me and my college roommate and good friend Ramya as we dive into our experiences growing up as Indian-Americans. We'll explore the challenges and joys of navigating two cultures, balancing our parents' Indian heritage with our American upbringing, and figuring out our own identities. We've had countless conversations about this topic off the record, and we're excited to share our thoughts and stories with you. Tune in for a relatable and heartfelt discussion about identity, culture, and growing up between two worlds.

Shalika Neelaveni is a Stanford PhD studying mechanical engineering. Shalika and I have a conversation about women in stem. Shalika shares her journey.

I got to interview, my childhood friend Vyas. We talked about being Indian and growing up being neurodivergent! Vyas has a great podcast, called Bright Colors of Inspiration. Here’s the link to his podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/1WEOtXyGjLWyd3jUcwRLe5?si=8bClqqhBTrqb7ctfI1vzLA

Interview with Matt Strong, PhD student at Stanford University, studying robotics. Matt also gives advice to Computer Science students.Spoiler alert, we give away endings from the movies iRobot and Big Hero 6

A glimpse into life coaching - an unedited life coaching session with my client. https://nylifecoach4u.wixsite.com/nylifecoaching

My friends are back to discuss another topic. We're talking about cultural appropriation. We appreciate people appreciating our culture, but just in a respectful way, not offensive. We discuss videos on social media.

 Lillian Frances is a self-produced indie pop artist based out of Sacramento, CA. She is a sonic collager of sorts - weaving together organic and synthetic sounds to create captivating sonic landscapes. While crafting her music, Frances isn’t bothered by genre, or motivated to create in a particular style. One minute she leads you through a poppy, textured dream-land, the next you tumble into sparse, trappy beats as Lillian glides effortlessly between English and Spanish.https://open.spotify.com/artist/2wNWtyoNoZkC3L5mYJDA2f?si=B7dN9lW0RQK4JY1QHswnDQ

The film documents Selena’s struggles with fame, physical illness and mental health. Selena shows us it’s OK to NOT be OK. She shows it by sharing her vulnerabilities. Selena Gomez is a successful actor, producer and philanthropist. Trigger warning: talk of suicide, mental health and chronic illness

I got the opportunity to meet and talk with Nagarjuna!! He is an Indian movie superstar! He has been a leading actor for the past 40 years. The legendary film actor has also been an entrepreneur, television presenter, producer, philanthropist, and studio owner. He has acted in over 100 films and has received many awards over the years. It was an honor speaking with him; he was very kind and welcoming.

I interviewed Aleena from WEAVE (When Everyone Act Violence Ends). Aleena is Community Educator/Youth Advocate from WEAVE. Aleena received two bachelor degrees from the University of California, Davis in Psychology and Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies. Aleena is passionate about prevention education especially when it comes to talking to youth about consent and building safe/healthy relationships. When Aleena is not engaging with the community, they can be found enjoying a farmer’s market, spending time in nature, and trying out a new craft hobby! Weave Support Line: 916-920-2952  Weave Business Line: 916-448-2321  https://www.weaveinc.org

I talk about how people in India prefer having sons over daughters. https://youtu.be/ZwjU_zuXazQ https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRVCLK29/ https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRVCMtvg/ https://youtu.be/q68P2iNk9as https://youtu.be/fo2yDJdyIu https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRgyo7Cu/ https://youtu.be/_UAj-kqwKh https://youtu.be/TE7NE1qw0mI

Zara and I met through Desi Rainbow, which is an organization for South Asian queer people and their parents. It’s an amazing organization and I’m glad To be a part of it. I got to meet so many wonderful people like Zara. Zara Ahmed is non-binary Pakistani educator, organizer, and advocate for inclusion and equity in the media industry. Zara had held leadership roles in multiple fields, including documentary filmmaking, youth media, public school education, refugee resettlement, and small business operations. Through all of these experiences, they have cultivated a strong sense of community building, holding space for vulnerable conversations, and utilizing storytelling as a tool for healing. Zara currently works as the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Manager at BAYCAT, a San Francisco production studio an academy centered on supporting young BIPOC and Queer creatives in navigating barriers to employment in the the film and media industry. Outside of the nonprofit world, Zara is passionate about building intergenerational community within the Queer and Trans South Asian diaspora, and they do so by producing art and food pop ups with their collective Queer Mango.

I talk about the importance of Indian representation in main stream media.

Over the past few years I’ve been going on a journey to find my true self. I talk about my experiences.

I can’t believe I have fans!! That’s so cool!! I went to my cousin’s wedding last week, at event I met two of my biggest fans. They messaged me over Instagram, but this was the first time I met them in person. I decided to do an impromptu interview with them. Sorry for all the background noise, it was really loud at the wedding venue.

During this episode my friends and I have a conversation about the differences between South Indian and North Indian culture. Here are the links  I mention, if you’re interested in watching https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdyPTcnE/.  https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdyGC2tK/