South Asian Trailblazers

To kick off Season 5, Simi sits down with Kal Penn , esteemed Actor, Author, and former White House Staffer. Kal jumpstarted his acting career in the early 2000s, with performances in The Namesake and Harold & Kumar franchise. He has also starred in a host of other fan favorites: Designated Survivor , House , and How I Met Your Mother to name a few. In 2009, Kalpen made a left turn out of acti...

For our Season 4 finale, Simi sits down with Megha Rao, Fashion Designer and Founder of holiCHIC . A renowned global fashion brand, holiChic offers South Asian-inspired fashion ensembles with a Western twist. Megha’s brand made its runway premiere at New York Fashion Week in 2021, and was also featured in the iconic Jalebi Baby remix video with Tesher and Jason Derulo. Before starting holiChic in...

Simi sits down with Dr. Sreekanth Chaguturu, Chief Medical Officer at CVS Health. Shortly after this episode was recorded, Sree ascended to this role , becoming CMO for all of CVS Health. He previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for CVS Caremark — the patient benefits arm of CVS Health that ensures that patients have access to safe and affordable prescriptions. Befor...

Simi welcomes our first trailblazer in fitness, Aditi Shah , Instructor at Peloton and Global Ambassador for PUMA. Aditi joined Peloton in 2018, having been recruited to help launch their Yoga and Meditation practice. She first discovered her love of yoga while living in Mumbai after graduating from Rutgers University, where she studied math. While in India, she pursued modeling, appearing in camp...

In our latest episode, Simi is joined by Maneesh Goyal , Founder & Partner of NY-based restaurant SONA . Maneesh is a serial entrepreneur. In 2003, he launched his own event marketing company called MKG , where he worked with the likes of Google, Target, Delta, and other high-profile clients before selling the company in 2019. He’s since founded 3 other companies: Live in the Grey, a company c...

In this special edition of South Asian Trailblazers , Simi sits down with Aparna Shewakramani in front of a live audience, hosting our first-ever live podcast at the World Trade Center in New York City. Aparna is the breakout star of Netflix’s hit series Indian Matchmaking — where she went from controversial character to overnight ambassador for women demanding to be heard. This conversation marke...

Simi catches up with Shilpa Shah , Co-Founder and Chief Experience Officer of Cuyana . Founded in 2011, Cuyana is a direct-to-consumer luxury fashion brand founded on the philosophy of “fewer, better” to encourage customers to invest in fewer, but higher-quality essentials. Over the past decade, the brand has become a favorite among celebrities like Jessica Alba, Ayesha Curry, Poorna Jagannathan....

Simi speaks with Usman Ahmed, Head of Global Public Policy and Research at PayPal. Usman began his career in public service at non-profits focused on voting rights and good governance. Eventually, he decided to pursue his law degree at the University of Michigan. While there, he pursued a legal fellowship at eBay, quickly ascending to the role of Policy Counsel just a few years after graduating. ...

In this episode, Simi catches up with Sushma Dwivedi , Head of Communications and Brand Marketing at Daily Harvest and Founder of the Purple Pundit Project .  Sushma spent the early innings of her career with major global communications firms including Edelman and Fleishman Hillard. Focused on food and beverage space early on, she worked closely with companies like Chobani, Dannon, and Perdue Farm...

Simi speaks with Saeed Ahmed, Director of Digital News at NPR . Prior to joining NPR in 2021, Saeed served as Assistant Managing Editor of CNN Digital. He began his 13-year career at CNN as a news desk editor for The CNN Wire , and went on to spearhead content diversity efforts and create the top two newsletters in CNN's portfolio: 5 Things and The Good Stuff . Prior to CNN, Saeed spent seven...

To kick off Season 4, Simi welcomes Payal Kadakia, Founder of ClassPass, Artist, and Author. ClassPass is a subscription-based platform that enables people to book a variety of fitness classes without paying for individual memberships. After founding the company in 2013, Payal served as CEO of the company until 2017, at which point she became Executive Chairman. By 2020, ClassPass became the first...

For our Season 3 finale, Simi catches up with Sunayna Tuteja, the first-ever Chief Innovation Officer of the Federal Reserve. Prior to joining the Fed in February of 2021, Sunayna served as the Global Head of Emerging Tech & Strategic Partnerships at TD Ameritrade . She spent a number of years building out their cryptocurrency and blockchain practices as Head of Digital Assets. Prior to TD Ame...

In this episode, Simi speaks with Paraag Marathe, President of 49ers Enterprises & Executive Vice President of Football Operations. Paraag is no stranger to football — he is in his 21st year with the 49ers. And previously, he served as team president and Chief Operating Officer. On the football side, Paraag serves as the team’s chief contract negotiator and salary cap architect, while overseei...

Simi welcomes a founder trio to the podcast. Mythili Sankaran, Chitra Nayak, and Sruthi Ramaswami are the co-founders of Neythri , an organization dedicated to creating a network of South Asian professional women. Most recently, they launched the Neythri Futures Fund , a startup investment fund with an investor base of primarily South Asian women. Now a little more about the women behind Neythri....

Simi catches up with Dhanusha Sivajee, Chief Marketing Officer at Angi. In her role, Dhanusha is responsible for brand and marketing strategy. Angi, previously known as Angie’s List, is an online resource for finding vetted, local providers for various home services. Prior to Angi, Dhanusha served as Chief Marketing Officer of The Knot, a platform providing content and services to couples planning...

Simi welcomes Brinda Adhikari, Executive Producer and Showrunner of The Problem with Jon Stewart . This new AppleTV show marks the famed Jon Stewart’s return to television as he tackles a new societal issue in every episode. And Brinda — she's at the helm. Brinda joined The Problem   from CBS News, where she was a senior broadcast producer for segments anchored by major TV personalities like...

Simi sits down with Reshma Saujani — Founder of Girls Who Code . Reshma is also an international bestselling author, attorney, and activist.  The daughter of Indian refugees, Reshma studied political science and eventually went on to pursue her Masters in Public Policy and J.D. After graduating from Yale Law, Reshma worked as a corporate attorney on Wall Street. But soon, she pivoted to politics....

Simi welcomes Sruthi Lanka, Chief Financial Officer at Public.com . Public is a platform that makes investing easy, accessible, and social. The Robinhood rival launched in September 2019, and has since acquired 1 million users, achieving a valuation of $1.2 billion. Before joining Public, Sruthi served as Head of Strategic Finance at MoneyLion , another emerging fintech startup. But Sruthi isn’t n...

Simi sits down with Nik Sharma of Sharma Brands . Nik got his start in one of the most unique ways we’ve yet to see on this podcast: by managing  social media for influential celebrities like Priyanka Chopra and Pitbull when he was just 15 years old. With that as his start, Nik decided to forgo college to make his mark in advertising and marketing. He eventually made his way to Hint Water to lead...

In this episode, Simi welcomes Geetha Murali , CEO at Room to Read . Dr. Geetha Murali is the first non-founder CEO of Room to Read , an international education nonprofit that seeks to transform millions of children’s lives through the power of education. In her 12 years with them, Geetha has expanded Room to Read’s presence to 20 countries and reached 20 million children globally.  Geetha began h...

In our Season 3 opener, Simi welcomes Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase . As Chief Legal Officer, Paul spearheads all legal and regulatory matters for the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, which also IPO’d in April at a valuation of $65 billion. A friendly face in the world of law and tech, Paul previously served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Facebook . He began...

Simi speaks with Ann Mukherjee , CEO and Chairman at Pernod Ricard North America.  Ann is a marketing maven turned rebel executive at various household consumer companies: Pernod Ricard, Kraft Foods, and Pepsi. As Chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard North America, she heads up hallmark brands in the spirits industry: Absolut, Jameson, Kahlúa, and others. Unafraid to center cultural issues, she led t...

Simi welcomes Snigdha Sur , Founder and CEO of The Juggernaut . The Juggernaut is a subscription media company and community that produces deep-dive reporting on South Asia(ns). A trailblazer with a passion for telling South Asian stories? Dare I say more? Snigdha Sur began her career journey at McKinsey.  She subsequently moved to India and channeled her long-time passion for media into independe...

It's not all that often we see South Asians in sales. This week, Simi welcomes Renu Gupta, Head of Sales at Thrive Global.  Renu is a seasoned sales executive who’s traversed some of the most ambitious tech companies in the world. She currently serves as the VP of Sales at Arianna Huffington ’s famed company Thrive Global , a behavior change platform tackling the burnout epidemic. Previously,...

Can you imagine a world without Google Maps? Well, imagine building it. Simi meets the man behind Maps, Manik Gupta , Investor and Former Chief Product Officer at Uber.  Manik Gupta mapped the world from scratch as a Product Leader for Google Maps, where he also spearheaded the Maps launch in India and led the parent company’s acquisition of Waze. His foray into tech began out of college, when he...