Leaders Creating Rukus

This week, Aashi Arora sat down with Dr. Saba Fatima, a pediatric hospitalist, researcher, writer, and creator of Muted in Medicine, for a conversation about identity, grief, belonging, and the hidden emotional labor carried by people in healthcare. From her childhood in Karachi, to medical training in Philadelphia, to caring for hospitalized children in Kansas, Saba’s story offers a close look at...

In this episode of Leaders Creating Rukus, Aashi Arora speaks with Rania Chami, a nutrition and life coach whose story reaches from wartime Beirut to coaching rooms in the United States. The episode follows her journey through immigration, motherhood, divorce, and professional reinvention, then shows how these experiences shaped the work she brings to women navigating midlife changes. Rania explai...

What if parenting and leadership were really two sides of the same lesson? In this episode Aashi has an illuminating conversation with parenting expert, positive psychologist, and licensed educational board-certified behavior analyst Reena B. Patel. For more than two decades, Reena has worked with families and children, guiding them through the emotional, academic, and social layers of growth. She...

What if leading your business felt less about tracking numbers and more about building steady, intentional growth? In this episode Aashi Arora sits down with Rush Shah, Chief Financial Officer, founder of Modern CFO Services, and trusted advisor to companies aiming to scale with purpose. With more than twenty years of experience in finance across Providence, Kaiser Permanente, and NAPA Center, Rus...

In this special episode, Aashi sits down with Emily Scott, financial confidant and thought partner, for a candid, full-circle conversation about leadership, legacy, and the values that shaped her path. From a 20+ years executive career to building a thriving coaching practice, she has created a podcast that amplifies voices of innovation and change. For Aashi, leadership has always been rooted in...

What if success didn’t mean doing more—but doing it with meaning? This Sunday at 4 PM PST, tune in to Leaders Creating Rukus as Aashi Arora sits down with Priya Shah—communications strategist, founder, and CEO of ShahSquared® Consulting—for an inspiring conversation on redefining success, storytelling, and self-leadership. With over 15 years of experience leading global communications for enterpri...

What if understanding your nervous system could reshape the way you lead? In this episode, Aashi Arora sits down with Amber Ussin-Davey, MA, LCPC, PCC, an executive coach and therapist with more than two decades of experience helping leaders, teams, and mission-driven women navigate change with clarity and steadiness. Amber combines applied neuroscience, somatic awareness, and mindfulness to teach...

This week on Leaders Creating Rukus, we sit down with multilingual commercial real estate broker Nicole Lu, who shares her fascinating path from world traveler to Los Angeles dealmaker. Nicole has worked in seven languages across Asia, Africa, and Europe, before returning home to California to help international and local clients identify U.S. investment properties. Whether it’s multifamily, retai...

This week, Aashi Arora sat down with Asha Kumar—literary manager, producer, and founder of Door 38 Management & Production—and her husband Anil Punyapu, founder and CEO of UpHealth.ai. Asha’s path stretched from scaling a network of imaging centers in healthcare to building a creative firm that develops films, TV series, and documentaries amplifying underrepresented voices. Anil spent two deca...

In this episode of  Leaders Creating Rukus, I’m sitting down with Ashlee Klevens Hayes, PharmD, MHA—founder of RX Ashlee, three-time author (including Confidently You), keynote speaker, and host of the podcast This Wasn’t My Plan. Ashlee has coached more than 6,000 clients worldwide on interviews, negotiations, and leadership growth, teaching ambitious professionals how to cut through the noise wi...

This week, Aashi Arora sat down with Sapna Abrol—environmental scientist, founder of Alpha Environmental, and lifelong advocate for sustainability—for a powerful dialogue about science, entrepreneurship, and building solutions that serve both people and the planet. From starting a family business with her dad over 20 years ago, to advising state and local governments on climate change and water qu...

In this episode of Leaders Creating Rukus we sit down with entrepreneur, investor, and visionary founder Nikki Arora. With over two decades of experience driving transformation across private enterprises and non-profits globally, Nikki is the force behind CerraCap Ventures—a firm dedicated to human-centric innovation and empowering diverse women entrepreneurs. Her path wasn’t conventional. From na...

With 20 years of teaching experience and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership, Genie has spent her career helping people whose brains work differently thrive—in classrooms, in families, and now in organizations. Through Beyond Coaching and her NeuroAutonomy Method, she equips leaders with practical strategies: clarifying expectations without micromanaging, creating executive-function-friend...

What if understanding your money story could unlock not just financial freedom—but peace of mind? In this episode of Leaders Creating Rukus we sit down with Emily Scott—confidential thought partner, author, and financial guide—who has spent decades helping people see how their money story shapes every part of life. Emily’s path has taken her from Wall Street to family office management, philanthro...

What if transforming healthcare—and making medicine more affordable—wasn’t just a policy decision, but a leadership choice? In this episode of Leaders Creating Rukus we sit down with Ritu Malhotra, PharmD—nationally recognized pharmacist, healthcare leader, and founder of NiaVista Group—whose two decades in the pharmacy benefits industry have helped plan sponsors, employers, and health systems ret...

This week, Aashi Arora sat down with Dharshini Mahadevan—healthcare executive, mentor, and trailblazing leader—for a deep dive into connection, candor, and thriving in spaces where you're underestimated. From growing up in a tight-knit immigrant medical community to leading a $120M portfolio at DaVita, Dharshini shares how her journey from dietitian to executive taught her the real currency of lea...

This week, Aashi Arora sat down with Dr. Deepti Gandhi—family physician, Menopause Society Certified Practitioner, and advocate for midlife women’s health—for a groundbreaking conversation about hormonal health, equity, and why leadership must include conversations we’ve been conditioned to avoid. From cultural silence to clinical gaps, Dr. Gandhi unpacks why menopause isn’t just a health issue—it...

This week, Aashi Arora sat down with Preethi Raghu—COO, equity advocate, and healthcare changemaker—for a powerful conversation about burnout, legacy, and leading with integrity in high-stakes spaces. From overseeing care for 120,000+ patients to healing from the toll of traditional success, Preethi shares how redefining leadership—from the inside out—has helped her build systems that center peopl...

This week, Aashi Arora sat down with Reshma Patel, PA-C, MMS—a trailblazing physician assistant and founder of Ananda Integrative Medicine—for a must-hear episode on redefining wellness in a world of band-aid solutions. After 25+ years in emergency and urgent care, Reshma took a leap of faith and left conventional medicine behind. Today, she helps patients get to the root of their symptoms through...

In this episode, Aashi Arora sits down with Shaheen Sheik-Sadhal—lawyer, founder, musician, and startup advocate—for a conversation about reinvention, ambition, and building a business (and a life) that actually feels like yours. From dragging a toy guitar across the country to law school, to becoming a professional musician, to founding a law firm that champions purpose-driven entrepreneurs—Shahe...

This week, Aashi Arora sat down with Hema Dey—marketing disruptor, tech strategist, and founder of Iffel International—to explore what it means to lead with candor, compassion, and curiosity in today’s complex business world. Born into a culturally mixed family in Malaysia and later migrating to New Zealand, Hema’s life has been defined by disruption—and transformation. Her unique perspective, hon...

This week, Aashi Arora sat down with Sujata Kamdar—President and Chairperson of GBS Linens, Inc.—for a deep dive into what it means to grow within a family business, honor the generations before you, and make bold decisions in both work and life. From starting in the business at age 16 to leading it through a pandemic, Sujata’s journey is one of resilience, humility, and fierce dedication. Togethe...

This week, Aashi Arora sat down with Saja Raoof—immigration attorney, activist, and daughter of a genius visa recipient—to talk about leadership in the face of injustice, the power of advocacy, and what it really means to stand up for others in polarized times. From helping her father compile a green card application at age 13, to challenging post-9/11 civil liberties erosion in law school, to gui...

This week, Aashi Arora sat down with Maliya Patel—high school senior, social impact entrepreneur, and host of The Mental Playbook Podcast—to talk leadership, resilience, and redefining mental wellness through sports. From founding a mental health podcast to co-creating a social app and interning for the San Diego Padres, Maliya is rewriting the rules of what’s possible for Gen Z leaders. In this e...

We’re joined by Dr. Bhavi Shah, Senior Manager of Pharmacy Operations at Hoag Hospital, and Deepa Solorzano, Director in the Chief Compliance Office at AT&T—two powerhouse leaders reshaping their fields with a rare mix of expertise, vision, and heart. With over two decades at institutions like Stanford and Hoag, Dr. Shah has transformed hospital pharmacy through interdisciplinary collaboration...