Brown Game Strong

In this episode I ask Aanya how she quite literally manages being a Psycle instructor whilst doing a full time science PhD. From having been diagnosed with leukaemia as a child whilst growing up in Sri Lanka, to coming to London for treatment and boarding school and falling in love with science, fitness has been something that has followed her throughout her adult journey, and she shares with us how she organically came across the opportunity to apply to be an instructor at Psycle or the PhD she is now pursuing. Through her 'A Team', she motivates hundreds of people to fall in love with themselves and their bodies, and push themselves to show up and be better. However she doesn't shy away from her struggles and we talk about the times she has found it really difficult to manage everything and what she does to help get herself out of a funk. One of my favourite parts of this episode is discussing food and nutrition and various misconceptions that exist around certain diets such as vegetarianism or veganism. There are some great practical tips on how to include certain food groups if you are struggling to figure out what to cook at home.  Aanya may not quite realise it but she is massively paving the way for South Asian women to fall in love with fitness and their relationships with food. I'm so proud that she is part of the same Sindhi community that I am from, because many women in our community don't typically place much importance on fitness and exercise and so it's great to see her  among some other amazingSouth Asian women in the fitness space in Europe, charging right through that barrier. You can find Aanya on Instagram at @aanya.h and definitely check out some of her music playlists that will get you pumped on your next workout.

I spoke with Akash Mehta, the co-founder and CEO of the haircare wellness brand, Fable and Mane to talk about where the idea for the brand came from, how he turned his failures into his strength, his tips on how to grow your social media platform, how he ended up on Forbes 30 under 30, how he takes care of himself mentally and physically whilst running 3 companies and much, MUCH more.  Fun fact; although Akash and I didn't know eachother at uni being there at the same time, we were simultaneously living very similar experiences and going through similar growth pains - I loved that we connected over that. He also speaks candidly about his upbringing in the UK, his experiences with the South Asian community and colourism growing up and how his relationship with his roots has evolved over time and has translated into what his company stands for today. He also shares the story of how he made a complete switch from studying engineering to working in the beauty industry and ended up becoming the youngest ever Digital Manager at Estée Lauder and eventually went on to launch his own company with his sister. Akash is probably the most driven person I know and I’m so excited to share this chat, where he tells us how he manages 3 businesses, how his product ended up in Sephora and went absolutely viral on TikTok, how he built his extensive influencer network, how he ended up on Forbes 30 under 30, how he takes care of his mind and body with such a demanding career (basically living on a Peloton bike) and how anyone can grow their online platform and get cracking on their business idea today. I found this to be an incredibly inspiring and useful conversation for aspiring entrepreneurs because it gives a great insight into what it really takes. If you’re stuck in a rut with your business, have a ton of self doubt, want to start but don’t know how or are building one but could do with some perspectives from someone who’s been there, I think you’ll really enjoy listening to this.

I have a lovely chat with the powerhouse that is Dr. Tina Mistry about all things conscious parenting, intergenerational trauma (we are born holding trauma in our bodies from our grandparents, you guys!) and why mental health is so misunderstood in children and in the South Asian community in general. I love love loved this honest and raw conversation about what life is like as a parent of two young children in a pandemic, about how ‘disciplining your child’ is often approached so incorrectly, toxic masculinity and how that stems from childhood, emotional absenteeism in parenting, and how we can unlearn the bad stuff to avoid passing it on to our kids! And of course that none of this is a perfect process; it’s messy AF, full of ups and downs and perhaps there is a lot of beauty that lies in that. Also Dr. Tina is so soft spoken that I feel like I've undergone therapy just by listening to her voice. So light a nice candle, get a hot drink and get comfortable to listen to the gems dropped in this conversation. If you are a pandemic parent, especially a South Asian one, or wondering what life is like as one, this episode will be of interest to you! If you haven’t already, please check out Dr. Tina’s platform; @brownpsychologist. She puts out awesome content on South Asian mental health and now has her own fabulous podcast called ‘Brownology’ discussing these topics in even more depth.

If it isn't blatantly obvious, I'm a big fan of ZHK Designs, and so I had the absolute time of my life sitting down with Zoe, the founder, and just having a good old chit chat.  ZHK Designs is a digital art platform which strives to empower and educate the South Asian community and beyond. Zoe Harveen Kaur, the designer, focuses on representation and sharing various cultures and backgrounds through her art. Zoe is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and comes from a Punjabi-Sikh background, however her goal is to empower every community and share their traditions and cultures with others around the world. You can find her work on @zhkdesigns or zhkdesigns.com In this masala-filled episode, we discuss Zoe's childhood growing up in Calgary and basically being related to every other Punjabi-Sikh in town, attending college, founding her business, dating as an entrepreneur, some of the most memorable pieces and series of illustrations she has released on ZHK Designs, her favourite Netflix shows and Bollywood films and what inspires her to create such cool art, as well as the community around her and how she deals with copycat artists. There's no doubt that Zoe is going to continue to soar and reach new heights, all whilst inspiring, educating and empowering the South Asian community in her wake, and we're all so here for it!

This week, I sit down to have a chat with Jonah Batambuze, the founder and creator of Blindian Project, a platform showcasing the stories of Black x South Asian couples. The globally crowdsourced, art-based documentary project aims to normalise Black x South Asian relationships and dismantle anti-blackness within both communities. Jonah is a Ugandan-American, multidisciplinary creative with a focus on community building. He is now based in London and his work focuses on uplifting the underdog and connecting communities through online & offline activations. I’m such a huge fan of the work Jonah is doing, and we delve into all things growing up in Chicago, being a college athlete, travelling to Ireland and meeting his now wife who is Indian, and what motivated Jonah to start his platform. We also talk about his beautiful wedding, the importance of travel, a bit of healthy competition, getting over fears of cultural barriers between two families and how he manages it all with his full-time consulting job and family life. Loved this candid chat and felt like I learnt so much about Jonah and also about the purpose of his project. I hope you get to learn some interesting things too from it! Disclaimer: Thoughts and views expressed are our very own; we are purely speaking from our personal experiences and do not aim to offend or disrespect. If you have any concerns with any of the areas discussed, please reach out.

TW: Topics around death and grief are discussed in this episode. The first thing I noticed about Shirin when I met her for the first time at a dance class was how reserved she appeared to be, but as soon as we started getting to know one another, I quickly learned how chilled and at times goofy she is, and also how much wisdom she has to offer despite not quite appreciating it herself. Aside from being a lawyer, a great dancer and overall lovely person, none of which she gives herself enough credit for (do any of us?) she is also impressively the co-founder of South Asian Sisters Speak (SASS), an organisation and community designed to open up difficult conversations around the South Asian female and non-binary experience. They run book clubs and round tables where ideas are shared among many other inspiring and educational events. It has been a privilege to hear the story of how this community came about from one of the founding mothers herself. Perhaps a topic that we hardly ever hear about in any culture or community is that of death, loss and grief. Yet as Shirin so eloquently puts it, it's the only guaranteed thing in all our lives. We will all have an experience with it at some point, and so it is important to think about how to navigate it rather than brushing it under the carpet and how to be more empathetic towards those experiencing it. This is one of the very first times Shirin has shared her experience with losing her dad earlier this year; a deep rooted, ominous fear that many of us who are close to our parents carry on our chest, and I really learnt a lot from her experience with it, and particularly amidst a global pandemic. Feel free to reach out to Shirin on twitter.com/shirinfulna or on Instagram via @weare_sass to get involved in their exciting events and community. Disclaimer: Thoughts and views expressed are our very own; we are purely speaking from our personal experiences and do not aim to offend or disrespect. If you have any concerns with any of the areas discussed, please reach out.

I came across Roshni's profile about a year ago when she featured on the Live Tinted Instagram page, and her story was so striking to me that I knew I absolutely had to bring her on here to have a chat. And it just so happens that we were both wearing the Live Tinted huestick when we recorded this episode! #notanad Roshni is a proud Surinamese woman, often mistaken at first glance for being Indian, yet at the same time being so deeply and proudly ingrained in South Asian culture. She graduated from Rutgers University in May 2018 and is working in the digital marketing space in New York. In April 2019, Roshni was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer in which she endured 16 rounds of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy. Through her experience, Roshni is working to destigmatise what being a cancer patient is and to educate young women, especially those of ethnic backgrounds, to not be afraid to advocate for their health. What better time to do so than during October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In this episode we speak about everything from her finally feeling some form of representation through fellow Indo-Caribbean Nadia from Indian Matchmaking, to getting a puppy (it seems there is a theme with these episodes!) to embracing her new hairstyle and wearing lots of colourful wigs, to surprisingly uncovering even more childhood-related traumas than cancer-related ones through therapy. We talk about experiencing chemo brain at work, and whether chemo hurts as much as they say it does? And also why it’s so important to keep your body in check, not letting societal stereotypes (and the patriarchy) shame you into not talking about feeling your breasts regularly. We also touch on the common idea of not wanting to ‘stand out’ too much in the workplace or among friends, yet still choosing to be outspoken and wanting to share our experiences with the hopes that it may somehow help somebody. I loved our chat and I hope you do too. Disclaimer: Thoughts and views expressed are our very own; we are purely speaking from our personal experiences and do not aim to offend or disrespect. If you have any concerns with any of the areas discussed, please reach out.

I sat down to have a chat with Pranav Patel, co-founder of AfroDesi (an eclectic fusion of African and Indian dance styles), professional dancer, ex-Nasa intern, law student, among like 3 other degrees, and proud puppy owner! We discussed how he embraced his Gujarati roots growing up in the US and navigated his dual identity in a very positive way, whilst doing every extracurricular activity he could possibly get his hands on. We spoke about procrastination. And politics and BLM. And piercings. And dealing with getting evicted from his flat. We also covered the South Asian dance scene in the US; him participating in and judging dance competitions and the conception of AfroDesi and what the future holds. Most importantly, we spoke at length about his beautiful dog. I could have talked about her all episode, tbh. We got a chance to hang out last year while Pranav was visiting London teaching dance workshops. Whilst talking to him and making him down masala coke, which he did like a trooper, what struck me the most is how no-BS he is. The more I spoke to him during the recording of this episode, the more I realised that he's also managed to figure out how to balance all the different moving parts really efficiently. Or at least make it look like he does. Watch this space, because there are big things coming from this one! Instagram: @pranavpatel.jpg @afrod3si Disclaimer: Thoughts and views expressed are our very own; we are purely speaking from our personal experiences and do not aim to offend or disrespect. If you have any concerns with any of the areas discussed, please reach out.

Just dropping by to let you know that there are going to be some changes to the podcast. We're super excited to share what is next in store! Stay tuned.

One very special thing 2020 has done is it has given us a LOT of time to reflect. A global pandemic appeared literally out of nowhere and forced us to sit down with our thoughts for long periods of time, either far away from our loved ones or too closely in their space and this has sparked the opportunity to have many an uncomfortable conversation, be it to educate, debate, make a change, clear the air (or simply our conscious). In this episode, we discuss our personal experiences with how we have been approaching difficult conversations, and share practical tools and tips on how we could continue to have them even more effectively going forward.  Disclaimer: Thoughts and views expressed are our very own; we are purely speaking from our personal experiences and do not aim to offend or disrespect. If you have any concerns with any of the areas discussed, please reach out.

It is extremely important for us to understand the meaning of being valuable allies, more so now than ever, to the Black community in light of recent events following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis among several others. There has been a surge of awareness around the Black Lives Matter movement, a plethora of resources and information circulated which has led to a whole lot of internal conflict and confusion about how we can educate ourselves to be better and do better.  In this episode, we talk about how to work on the personal aspects of allyship, where we look at our privilege, behaviours and tendencies head on and question them. We touch on how to approach difficult conversations at the dinner table in South Asian households, where stigma is prevalent and difficult topics are swept under the rug.  We hope that this conversations provides you with some useful insights and perhaps a little more clarity amidst everything that is happening in the current climate.  Disclaimer: Thoughts and views expressed are our very own; we are purely speaking from our personal experiences and do not aim to offend or disrespect. If you have any concerns with any of the areas discussed, please reach out.

Or as we say in Hindi: Log Kya Kahenge? That's it; the (in)famous line we’ve grown up hearing from our Desi mums when we are about to do something that to them is worthy of bringing shame to the family. Got caught in public holding hands with a lover? What will people say? Can’t cook an Indian meal to save your life? What will people say? Who’s going to marry you? Went to a relative’s house and filled your plate with too many samosas? What will people say? They’ll think your parents didn’t teach you any manners! In this episode we explore what the very legitimate fear of others’ opinions means to us as the new wave of young South Asian adults living in the diaspora. Do we still genuinely care what other people think of us? Have we taken our parents’ and grandparents’ deep-rooted fears of what other people will say and simply translated them into our context, rather than eradicating the mentality completely? Disclaimer: Thoughts and views expressed are our very own; we are purely speaking from our personal experiences and do not aim to offend or disrespect. If you have any concerns with any of the areas discussed, please reach out.

It can be difficult sometimes, if not downright impossible, to figure out exactly what your direction should be in life, and get it right on the first go. At the age of 16, we are expected to pick higher level subjects that will influence what we can study at uni, which will eventually shape our careers and the rest of our lives… or so we are told. In this episode, we talk about what the 9-5 life is like, versus the freelance life, why engineering or medicine (could be for you, but) is not always the answer and the perception of side hustles in the workplace. We share some nuggets from our own personal experiences with looking for motivation to stay on top of our work, hobbies and briefly touch upon the importance of mental health in the workplace. Disclaimer: Thoughts and views expressed are our very own; we are purely speaking from our personal experiences and do not aim to offend or disrespect. If you have any concerns with any of the areas discussed, please reach out.

For those of us who are old enough to have lived in the pre-millennium era, the concept of the quarter-life crisis is probably quite familiar by now. We are facing pressures from all sides to make 'important' life decisions and pick our priorities wisely. For South Asians, the pressures are very real and we are here to talk about it. From the sudden jump between not being able to date and suddenly being expected to get married, to often feeling incapable of making life-altering financial decisions, all while listening to the aunties telling you what you really should be doing - we give our take on how we are (or aren't) dealing with our own quarter-life crises. Disclaimer: Thoughts and views expressed are our very own; we are purely speaking from our personal experiences and do not aim to offend or disrespect. If you have any concerns with any of the areas discussed, please reach out.

In recent years there has been a huge movement around the concept of body positivity and more people are openly talking about the importance of embracing their natural selves. In a world where the the media and large corporations dominate and monetise our insecurities, we recognise that the journey of self-acceptance is one we are all on. In this episode we discuss our personal experiences and confusions growing up with regards to our bodies, and how as South Asian women it is so important for us to talk about our struggles in a transparent and progressive way. Disclaimer: Thoughts and views expressed are our very own; we are purely speaking from our personal experiences and do not aim to offend or disrespect. If you have any concerns with any of the areas discussed, please reach out.