Feel the Good Conversation, Episode 5: Hitha Palepu
Thank you so much for visiting the Feel the Good podcast website. This is the transcript of my FTG conversation with Hitha Palepu. My apologies if it has a few typos in it or the grammar is off. I tried my best to comb through it to make it as accurate as possible. I do use a program that helps me transcribe so it might be off here or there, but overall it’s very close to our conversation. Hope you enjoy it and please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or more suggestions on how I can make it easier for you, if you can’t listen to the podcast.
Shawl
Hey y'all! Welcome to Feel the Good. Thank you so much for being here and listening. I am so excited about today's conversation, because I've been really looking forward to chatting with my guest. I've admired her for a long time and I just think she's one of the coolest gals out there, but more about her in a minute. First off, I just have to say before I get into my gratitude, because that's how I start off every show. I got a shout out some gratitude, actually, for those of you who have written podcast reviews and rated and reviewed on Apple podcasts, especially. Wow, thank you so much for taking the time. You know, I know I've said this before in social media posts or even an earlier episodes, but it really does mean so much when you write a review or when you rate because, especially for a new show - It helps people find the podcast and it helps your show get bumped up in the feed. And so when more people write and review, that's when your show gets more attention. So anyway, it just it made me It always makes me feel good. And I actually wanted to shout out one review that I thought was really sweet. This is from the handle christinenagen and it's says perfect title. Perfect... I actually can't even see the rest of the title but obviously it's something really nice Because what she wrote is "life has been weird and unpredictable. And we're living in an unprecedented world. This podcast is just what everyone needs right now. It's filled with some feel good stories, joy and happiness. And we're only a couple of episodes and looking forward to hearing from shawl and her guests shine some light and goodness into each episode, sharing their journeys, triumphs, and most of all, love. Great job shawl xo." I thought that was the sweetest review. Thank you so much. And there are so many more that are on there. So if you have not done it yet, if you could just take a few minutes to do a rate review for me, especially an apple podcasts, I would so appreciate it, or even just share the podcast with someone that you think might enjoy it. That would mean so much to me. Now, I want to start off like I always see with some gratitude, personally about my own life and you know, I just I love sharing this because I think like I've always said it, it really puts you in a positive headspace when you can share something that you're grateful for. And actually before I share what I'm grateful for this week, I wanted to give you a moment to think about what you might be grateful for. So I'm just going to give you a few moments now and then I will share mine.
Shawl
Okay, so I hope you were able to have that moment of gratitude for yourself. And now I'll share mine. We recently were able to take a family trip and this episode is actually dropping on Labor Day weekend. So for those of you who might have actually been able to take a little getaway this weekend, or just even been able to relax or hang out or have some family time if you were able to be off of work. That's so glorious. Then I hope you were able to do that. But we had a glorious time last week where we got to get away for a little bit and I'm so grateful that we one we're able to make the trip we went to Philly, which we've never been there before. It's such a cool city and funnily enough, my guest today on the show is also from Philly so again said she was the coolest gal Philly was one of the coolest cities so not surprising that she claims that as her hometown so highly recommend if you can travel there, you know, even with the pandemic, it's still was really safe, you know, you can still safely social distance and and find a place where you can, you know, still see the city and be safe. And we were able to do that and we also stayed in a place where we had a pool and that is something that my daughter, that Veena has really been missing. She literally since the pandemic started back in March when everything shut down for us here in New York City. I don't think there's been like a week that's gone by where she has not mentioned swimming because she was really getting into swimming and her swim lessons before. Everything shut down. So we got to have a pool. And it was sort of my little trip that I planned for our family and a trip specifically for her to sort of send off this like summer vibe before we start school, and which is coming up soon. And she just loved it. It's just so amazing when you can see your children, be so joyful and enjoy something that they love so much. And so we were in the pool a lot, but we also got to see the cool city of Philly and got to go to the Rocky steps for some inspiration and motivation. And anyway, I just am so grateful that we were able to take that time together and you know luxuriate in each other's company even when we had some wild toddler moments, which I'm sure all the parents listening can understand. We definitely had some breakdowns and some meltdowns, which were not so fun. But then we were on an upswing again and, and had some joyful moments too. So anyway, I am so grateful that I got to spend that time with my family before Fall starts and you know, sort of all the craziness of school and what that's going to look like and also just my job and my husband's job picks up a lot during this time, so it was nice to get away. And I have to add that it was our sixth wedding anniversary. So my husband James, and I got to celebrate with our daughter Veena and I'm so grateful that we just keep choosing one another and we keep growing together and loving one another. So that was another really special part of this trip.
Shawl
If you have something that you're grateful for, please share it with me. I would love to hear it. You can DM me on any of my social media channels or go to my website Shawlinivmh.com and shoot me a message there. I would love, love, love to hear from you. So I know at the top of the episode I said this is one of the conversations I was looking forward to because my guest today Hitha Palepu is, like I said she's one of the coolest gals. I know. I love everything that she creates. She's a content creator. She's an influencer. She is the founder of Hitha on the Go, which is her blog, and website. She is an author. She wrote a popular book called How to Pack Travel Smart for Any Trip. She is the CEO of Ro Pharmaceuticals. So we talk about healthcare a lot in this conversation. And she calls herself a multi hyphenate I mean, no joke, like you just heard a few of the things that she does. So we talk about what that means as well. And one of the things that I love most about her is her curation of news items that she calls Five Smart Reads and she actually has a podcast as well. So we get to dive into what Five Smart Reads is and what it's about and just hear her entire life story, which is super cool. She's Indian American like me. So we do talk about our experiences growing up and we talk about the model minority myth and we talk about being moms. We get to hear about motherhood from Hitha. I mean, really, this is just such a great conversation. And I learned so much from Hitha's advocacy and her activism and just her voice. She has just a phenomenal voice in terms of her opinion on things and her stance on things and I learned a lot and I felt good about a lot of the things that she stands for. And she shares some really cool charities to spread good as well. So here is my Feel the Good conversation with Hitha Palepu. (End Shawl Intro)
Shawl
Hitha thank you so much for doing this with me. I'm so excited because And sadly, I know you and I were supposed to go get drinks right before the COVID situation happened and what, what is that now? Like, I don't know, 300 days ago or something I don't even know? (laugh)
HItha
A million years ago? (laugh)
Shawl
Yeah, exactly. Um, so it's so awesome that you're taking time today to chat with me. And, you know, the reason why I asked you to be on the show is because I, I love your content, I love the types of things that you put out to your audience and that you put out to everyone. So the first thing I want to sort of start with is you call yourself or you've coined the term multi hyphen it. So what what does that mean exactly? multi hyphenate?
HItha
It means I have a number of jobs and it's easier to say that than it is to list them all off. Because when I do I get very, very tired.
Shawl
So sort of tell everyone what that is. I mean, you've got a blog, a podcast--
HItha
Well, the blog has kind of morphed, but yeah, I'm an online content creator. I run a pharmaceutical company with my dad, which is a journey. I'm an early stage investor and have invested in about 12 women founded and women focused startup companies. I wrote a book that came out three years ago that is sadly irrelevant now because it's about packing and travel. (laugh) And I have two little boys that keep me really busy and are I'm sure gonna barge in here at some point.
Shawl
Oh, I hope so. Because they are so cute. And I have always like in love with them. And I also love their names too. I love that you did the R's. Yes, Roshan and Raki right?
HItha
Yes. Rakesh? Yeah,
Shawl
But do you call them Rocky?
HItha
Yeah, I don't call them Roshan or Rakesh unless they're in trouble.
Shawl
That is so cute. So one of the things that I love that you do specifically, 1.) I don't even know how you sleep. Do you sleep? With all the you just said?
HItha
Not enough! Look at my dark under eye circles like....blah.
Shawl
No, you guys, she doesn't have any. I don't know what she's talking about actually I'm looking at her and I don't see it. But seriously how when you're saying you're doing all of these things? Well, how does one do all of those things? I mean, it does sound like a lot, right?
HItha
I don't lie on my bed and scroll Instagram as much as I used to.
Shawl
Yeah, so you really parcel out to your Yeah, like really big on like time and figuring out what goes where,
HItha
if I have a second like I'm in my email responding to the quick little emails that I can fire off a response to in a minute, or I'm reading an article to see if it's a fit for Five Smart Reads. Or I'm, I'm on my phone a lot, which like is the detriment with my kids because sometimes I can get sucked in and I'm not paying attention to them and they're causing trouble. So I tried to when I'm with them, leave my phone upstairs. So I'm giving them my full attention and like, maybe just bring a book with me. I have this fantasy that will have these quiet reading afternoons. It's like never gonna happen.
Shawl
I have the same fantasy and I actually did try to start creating that with my daughter and it worked for like, I mean, she sort of naturally started doing it where she would read certain like she would go, she loves books. I love the elephant and piggy books. I don't know if your boys love books too. So she would just look through them. And she started doing that every afternoon and I was like, Oh, this is it. This is when it's happening. We're just gonna have that quiet time you know, and then then she got around to doing other things and not doing that anymore. So I lost out on that too, is what I'm saying.
HItha
Most of my afternoons are sat like you were recording this from my little corner of my bedroom. Like I'm in bed with Rho and he's like watching five hours of the iPad and while I get worked up because that keeps me quiet while his brother is napping or whatever. So, yes, we have been in just heads down survival mode during Covid. We are thankfully coming home to New York in a couple of weeks because our caregivers feel comfortable to come back to work. And I am so excited about getting back into a routine.
Shawl
I know it has been so hard on families, I think especially I mean, it's been hard on everyone. But, but families have, I think a very unique thing, right? Because we have little ones that we are trying to figure out and especially when they're little like ours or little. There's not a lot that they're doing necessarily independently unless you are doing you know the iPad or you are showing shows or there are certain apps that kids love that they can learn from too that I'm sure your boys are doing as well. Yeah, um, but you brought up Five Smart Reads which is one of the things that you've created that I adore.
HItha
Thank you.
Shawl
I find so incredibly valuable Hitha, I can't tell you. I mean, you're actually one of the first accounts that I specifically go to, to look at what you've picked for the Five Smart Reads. So, one can we explain to everyone what Five Smart Reads is you also have a podcast too so if we can talk about that, and then I want to delve into I want to find out how it works with you and what you gravitate towards. I want to find out some some secrets.
HItha
Okay. I'm an open book like just call me Jessica Simpson, because I'll tell you anything.
Shawl
Perfect. Jessica, go. I'm ready.
HItha
Five Smart Reads is a daily news curation where I share five really important stories that have kind of gotten lost in the conversation. Um, because what is trending isn't necessarily what is really important. We can kind of skip over some really important news stories depending on what the President is tweeting, or issued. So, it was my way of amplifying news stories, particularly ones written by women and women of color about women and women of color. That is extremely important in this day and age. I started it on Instagram stories, like a year and a half ago, if you had told me like, it was actually gonna be really well received, I probably wouldn't have believed you. I was doing it because it was something I wanted, like, this content did not exist. So I'm like, I will create it myself. I am not a journalist. But I am very curious. And I read a lot of stuff in the morning. And my father and husband are sick of me texting them all these links. I mean, like "we talked about it, can we talk about it? Can you talk about it?" So I did it so I could have people to talk about the news with that has such a quickly morphed into a weekly newsletter as well, where I send out all of the links that I shared that previous week. The podcast launched earlier this year and I've had put it on hiatus as Covid happens, but I'm planning to relaunch it in September with a really fun, well, I think it's fun but a really informative month long series about vaccines everything from like the science of how they actually work to, you know, the politicization of vaccination and why we are here. And I also just this week launched the daily Five Smart Reads newsletter for the people who don't necessarily want to be on Instagram. First thing in the morning you can get it delivered to your inbox or if you're a paid subscriber, go to Five Smart Reads.com and view the day's reads on a you know, behind a paywall blog post.
Shawl
I love that and I actually love what you just said about how you created this because you had a need for it, yourself. I think a lot of things that take off or that are genuine and authentic or from built from that place. And one of the things that I think I love about it is it's not just I mean, you pick news stories that are very obviously very relevant to either politics or healthcare or what you know, some government sort of topics but you also pick like you said, I mean, you're amplifying storytellers. You're talking about motherhood when you're posting certain articles. I mean, all the topics, there's a widespread. So how long does it take you to sort of curate that?
HItha
So I've read I probably spend my first hour of the day still in bed. Once I have posted the day's Five Smart Reads onto Instagram stories and I prepped them the day before, like actually reading the news. So I read through probably 10 to 15 different newsletters, I'm skimming them like I'm not reading, reading, I click to about 10 articles that I will do a fast read of and then go back and read 15 articles and then I'll go back and read eight to 10 in detail. And from there, I usually will pick the Five Smart Reads, but if I realize everything I've picked for the following day, is veering too dark and depressing or like that kind of news, I'll go to certain sites like Zora or the Cut, or Essence, or the Grio. And look for more uplifting stories that will compliment kind of the doom and gloom.
Shawl
Well, I mean, that's one of the reasons why I love it is that it really is a mix where and you know, the thing is, is that you know, even with Feel the Good. I think that you know, Feel the Good is this place that I've created this podcast, because, yes, good means uplifting and positive, but I also think good is knowledge. And when you have I mean, again, when I go to your account, I'm reading what you're curating for me. I feel like I'm learning and I'm growing and or I'm finding out about something that I didn't know, especially because you are amplifying a lot of people of color or women, which I mean, would you agree don't get amplified enough?
HItha
I mean, white men run media companies, so they really kind of only care about stories about white men. And I think everything you are like our society is in this incredible tipping point right now, where I hope we are going to push forward and make sure that the one person of color and an executive team is not always the chief diversity officer and that executive committees and boards and Congress and elected bodies are going to start looking like the people they govern, not just what has always been the case. And Five Smart Reads is my little political way of democratizing and making the news more diverse. And if like I can help people expand, you know their own news consumption and coverage to include these really important stories featuring people of color, women of color, the LGBTQ plus community, different abled people and cultivating a little bit of sense, a better sense of empathy for people who are not like us, you know, the long term effects are only going to be good. Like there's no downside to consuming this kind of news and learning about lives that are different than yours. None.
Shawl
Absolutely. And, again, the curation is key because I mean, you know, even when I'm looking at the news, it's like there's just so much to look at. So that's why again, it's super important that you've just already like organized it for me and and I love that What sort of jumps out to you that makes it a smart read? Is there like a baseline like that you look at that?
HItha
it's did this grab my attention where I went back and I had to reread it is kind of a good litmus test. And then it's a matter of also, what a lot of people share really smart reads with me as well, which is incredibly helpful. And I have friends who are journalists and writers who I actively, like, seek out their latest work because I think they're just important voices to add to, you know, the Zeitgeist and the dialogue happening in the world today on all the topics so it really is the Oh, like, I had to sit with it and like think and if it impacted me in some way whether, you know, I can't believe I didn't know this, or this made me feel better.
Shawl
Yeah, I love that. I'm curious, you know, you also do something that I love is you have a lot of book recommendations. Again, how this woman also reads books. I don't know... where you find the time to do that. Do you listen to audiobooks too?
HItha
I do.
Shawl
Okay.
HItha
I listen to audiobooks. I also like I have a regular just Kindle Kindle, that I kind of I'm always walking around the house with either my phone or my Kindle in my hand. It's really bad. I have like an device attached to me almost at all times.
Shawl
So what what I mean, again, with your book recommendations, they sort of run the gamut, too. I mean, you, you know, you you'll post some YA fantasy, sometimes you'll post like a grea,t nonfiction biography. I mean, is it really just a reflection of your tastes? Or how do you pick sort of those recommendations?
HItha
I read anything like I am, like a slut of a reader, I guess. (laugh) Um, I'm a voracious reader or very diverse reader. Um, it's, again, it's did this book change me or like, make me think in a specific way? And again, I asked right now I can only handle like romance and like fluffy books like the world is so depressing, and
Shawl
the escapism you need it.. You need that
HItha
Yea the escapism. it's like the reading I do during the day for work or like medical journals. These are not fun, light things to read. So I just need to check out of my brain but when things are a little bit lighter on the work front, that's what I'm reading the heavier, more literary books or the deep nonfiction books and things like that, but I did just finish. I finished it a little while ago, a really beautiful book of essays called Craigslist Confessional. This writer interviewed people strangers off of Craigslist who like she posts on Craigslist, because I want to hear your story. And like, and it's amazing. And what's really interesting about this is it's focused on the story. You don't know their race, you don't necessarily know their ethnicity, their age or anything unless it's specifically mentioned on you do know if they're usually men or women because of the way you know the stories are telling, particularly in the love section. It is a remarkable book and I think it's just a masterclass in empathy in book form.
Shawl
Wow.
HItha
That's a really fantastic, fantastic book that, you know, right now kind of gives me hope of that we are all not so different. Like I think you could empathize almost with every single person who shared their story in this book. And I think it's important for us to remind remember that in that there's a lot more that unites us than divides us, and we got to stop letting certain world leaders divide us.
Shawl
That is fascinating. I need to pick that up. That sounds incredible. And I also like the fact that you said that you're really not. I mean, yes, you know, gender, possibly you could probably guess either male or female, but the other biases that you may have, you know, or not have reading something or even, not even biases exactly, but even just expectations you might have are taken out of it. So you're really just focusing on the story, which is very cool. Thank you so much. Something that you mentioned earlier was doing this vaccine series for your podcast and you work with your dad. In pharma. So actually, that's going to be valuable to all of us, because I know that something that you are, you have expertise in, you've been in that world in pharma for a long time. So can you talk about sort of that side of what you do and working with your dad, I, maybe people could have heard this in her voice, but her face when you're like, and I work with my dad, and it's interesting. So tell everybody about that.
HItha
So, for a full disclosure, we are not in vaccine development. So--
Shawl
Yes, sorry, I didn't make it sound
HItha
Don't mean to sound like oh, we're working on a covid vaccine. Cause we're not. We're not.
Shawl
Somebody though. Please, somebody help.
HItha
Just like effective antivirals, effective antivirals because frankly, if we haven't cracked the nut on developing an effective vaccine for any kind of coronavirus I, I don't have much hope. And I don't think we're gonna get an effective covid vaccine. So anyway, I work with my father I have for the past 11 years. We are, we have a very unique relationship where we're like, He's my best friend. He's my dad, he's my coworker and really my boss. (laugh) And it's a difficult to be in just one role, like all of those roles kind of roll into one. And so we're we've never really turned off of work. So being home for the past four months as meant almost always being on when it comes to work. And that's been a little exhausting. Not gonna lie. I mean, one of the I'm going to miss my dad. Like he's my wine buddy. Like, by five o'clock. He's usually like texting me the wine emojis. (laugh) which I appreciate.
Shawl
Oh, that's so sweet in a sense that you guys are close like that.
HItha
Oh yea. Well it's because like my mom has like her schedule. My husband like doesn't like to drink on weekdays and doesn't usually join us. So it's usually just like my Dad and I feeding the boys dinner and drinking wine and eating some flaming hot Cheetos.
Shawl
That's the go to? Red wine and Cheetos is the go to? Wow. Okay, good. I gotta try that combo. I haven't.
HItha
The spicy ones, obviously, like the bright red ones that stain your fingers and if you rub your eyes, you're gonna die. That one?
Shawl
Yeah, we're Indian people. We know, we know about the spice. Absolutely. Um, so working with him to sort of talk about, so as a pharma company, do you do you develop drugs?
HItha
So we there are a lot of of drugs, classes of drugs across the board, there are like the pills, you'll take that your doctor prescribes to you whether it's birth control or steroids because you have an inflammatory infection or something like that, then there are injectable drugs that you know are often administered in a hospital or in your doctor's office setting. And then there are even, within those two categories, there are small molecules which are relatively stable and easier to formulate, not always and have better shelf stability. Then there's biologics which are that active waiting the drugs alive, hence biologic, and they're more difficult to develop as a result, and it's more expensive Then you have if you're really sick, like immuno therapies that are often administered in the hospital setting. So we operate in the small molecule, injectable specialty hospital drug market and in our last company, we improved existing products. So if there were two vials system, we developed a single vial, if they were formulated with excipients, or the chemicals used to stabilize or solubilize, a drug that caused a lot of side effects for patients, we would figure out a formulation. Well, he would figure out a formulation that removed them and had better tolerated excipients. And so we have from our last company, three drugs on the market and one being launched next year, maybe two, still discussions with the FDA.
Shawlini Manjunath-Holbrook
Injectables meaning like can you give me an example of what somebody would go without a hospital and then use one of the drugs that you've developed?
HItha
Oh, cancer mostly. So Bendeca is a chemotherapy drug that's used for not for leukemia and lymphoma, different kinds of leukemia and lymphoma and the product The version we formulated it took a two vial system into a ready to administer mini bag. So if you were had cancer and you were going into the infusion center, that would be the drug you'd receive. But ours can be administered in a fraction of the time that old one did.
Shawl
That's super valuable.
HItha
Very valuable. Because, look, if you have cancer, and you're going in for chemo, you're sitting in that chair. For hours. Hours, and it's already awful. Like you already have cancer getting treated for cancer is just as terrible as the diseases. So that's mostly what our expertise has been. This is not a cancer drug. This is an injectable version of a very common oral drug. And that's all I can say right now.
Shawl
Oh, that's so that's so interesting. Because again, you know, obviously pharmaceuticals is so fascinating, just in general why, you know, how does the drug get made? How does it get developed, but to actually hear you talk about the value in which It's not only you know, when drugs are essentially healing people and saving their lives, but there's another set that are saving time. There's many reasons as to why they're valuable. So I'm curious, you know, because we are both Indian. We're both South Asian. When did your parents immigrate? And did you immigrate with them? Were you born in India? Were you born here?
HItha
I was born here. My parents immigrated in the 70s. And I was born in 84 aint no shame in my age people. I'm 36. But I grew up going back to India very often, like every other year would be there for two to three months at a time. And so I grew up with like a deep deep sense of attachment to certainly Hyderabad. Both my parents' hometown, and especially my mom's family home in Hyderabad because we moved around a ton. So that house is as close to like a stable home as I have and when I think of home, that house is actually what pops up in my mind the most so it's really special to me. I'm pretty useless in most places of India I only speak Telugu. So if I'm in Telangana or Andhra Pradesh, I'll be fine. But...(laugh)
Shawl
Yeah, and I mean, I sort of speak Kannada. Not really. We're both South Indian. So, Telugu and Kannada have similar words. But I really can understand it, not really speak it. I always feel like my accent is weird and off and so, I get embarrassed. And then we have a caste dialect too that my whole family speaks as well and that, I'm completely lost. I don't know any of that. They can all start talking and like they they can have secrets. All the family secrets can be in there and I won't know what they are. So, growing up here, what was that experience like for you specifically? Because I know a lot of I mean, yes, there are similarities with Indian Americans and sort of some of the things that we've grown up with but everybody's unique and depends on where you grew up to. You grew up in, in Pennsylvania?
HItha
I mean, we moved around a lot. So a lot of my most earliest memories were from Ohio. We lived in Dublin, right outside of Columbus. I mean, what of my most, like strongest memories was being asked by one of my classmates, "what tribe I was from?"
Shawl
I've had that happen as well. Actually, somebody thought because my name is Shawlini. They asked me if our family was part of the Shawnee tribe, because Shawlini, Shawnee, so I have been there. That's really what how old were you when that happened to you? Do you remember?
HItha
I was in first grade.
Shawl
Yeah, I think actually, that was the age I was to around six or seven years old. That's a werid question to ask. What did you say? You were like? No. (laugh).
HItha
I was like I'm from, my family's from India, the country. (laugh) Like, I was like dot, dot Indian (laugh) which like we joke about now but it's like... kids understand and can pick up differences in color and differences in culture and it's on us and specifically it's on you white parents to teach your kids better please. It was not a comfortable thing for six year old me to deal with and then listen, my name HItha Palepu and I was eight realize that my name sounded like Hitha Pile of Poo.
Shawl
Oh no. Kids can be mean.
HItha
And like I just so badly and wished My name was Jennifer, you know,
Shawl
Or Jessica. I always was like, Jessica was like the name that everyone But so you did have some of those experiences where we both sort of faced a little bit like people didn't know who "what we were", I'm putting that in air quotes, right? like, What are you? You know, is a question some people have asked me before, but in terms of assimilating, did you feel different? Or did you feel like, Oh, you know what I'm, I'm okay, you know, because some people that I've talked to feel like, Oh, this is my Indian self. And then this is my American self. And some people are able to blend them really well. And then some people are like, no, I'm only my Indian self, you know? So I'm curious, where do you fall?
HItha
I feel like I had those two lives. Like I had my Indian life and I had my American life and very rarely and I actually like my, my mom would try to like, make me embrace my Indian life and my American life.
Shawl
And oh, to merge them. You mean like, to connect them?
HItha
Yeah and to be so proud of your culture and your heritage and whatnot and like, I resisted for a while. I mean, I remember she invited when I did my Arangetram so my graduation dance recital from Bharatanatyam when I was 13, she invited all my teachers, like, from second grade onwards, and I was like, I had just finished seventh grade. And I was like, Mom, "what are you doing?!" Like, I didn't invite any of like my America friends.
Shawl
I love your mom. I love that.
HItha
And she's like, NO. No, you should be this is a huge achievement. You should be so proud of yourself. And I want your teachers who were, you know, such a big part of your education to see it and watch you do this incredible performance. By the way the white people enjoyed my Arangetram more than the Indian people did.
Shawl
I believe that. First of all, I mean, Bharatanatyam is no joke the way I have my cousins have done it. And again, this one not so much, but it's incredible. So it's a beautiful thing to watch and there's so much skill and it's incredible.
Shawl
Why do you think though at that time that you felt that way? Like what what was that was an embarrassment? Was it just like, I can't reconcile the two? Like what about it was--
HItha
Being different when you were 12 in 1997 was not a good thing. Like it made you a target for bullying. My boys are being being raised in a very different world where differences at least in like New York are incredibly celebrated, celebrated and, you know, his non Indian friends are like, Can we like, have a Diwali party and I'm like, well, we call it the Deepavali. . Like, this is something my dad engraved in me that like I only said that the Telugu words for holidays and stuff. Um, and they're so careful to understand how to properly pronounce like, you know, his first and last name, whereas like I had, we had to deal with that uncomfortable silence like the first day of school or when there was a substitute teacher during attendance and being like me Yep, that's me.
Shawl
Oh yeah. I mean, I've come up with a, you know, a little gimmick for my name right Shawlini like colony not like panini. You know, like I always when I meet people or I say just call me Shawl, which I'm always fine with because that's a nickname anyway, in my house. My family calls me that, my sister. I didn't create that for people to make it easier for them. It's literally just like, it's part of my identity too. And I love it. But I do I always say Oh, it's Shawlini like colony, not like panini. So you do have to be creative coming up with that and I do resonate with that a lot and can relate to that. I also love what you said about how you're seeing a difference in the way your kids are growing up now and I do think across the board that is happening everywhere, I hope anyway.
HItha
I hope so too. I mean, and I also think it is influenced where we chose to raise our children in our family is think we would have a very hard time going into a community that didn't have diversity. Something I love about living in New York as you walk out the door and like Rho hears different languages being spoken like he sees people of all different skin colors. And that's so normal for him now that when he's watching a show and like even in a cartoon where almost all the characters are white, he notices it and says that's wrong.
Shawl
Wow. Yeah, I mean, my daughter I don't know if she's there yet, but she, I think she really values the fact that I mean, we chose our preschool obviously we're not in school right now and that's over. And we didn't even get to do graduation. You know, that little cute graduation they do? But anyway, one of the reasons why we chose her preschool is because lot of the schools that we saw, even you know, in our neighborhood, a lot of them were not diverse. And when I say like they weren't ethnically diverse, and they also, we didn't see any kids with disabilities either. So there was a lot of ableism, there were a lot of, you know, abled people, abled children and I wanted her to be at a school where she saw all different types of kids, and was exposed to that. And now I think, you know, for her, she just has all different types of friends that in in in some way she doesn't even she doesn't know that. That's not what everybody has. Do you know what I mean?
HItha
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you've done a great job with that.
Shawl
Well, you know, I think, you know, we'll see, I hope that that continues, right. I hope that she'll keep you know, befriending everyone. And, and there won't be that, like, you know, oh, that person is different than me and being scared of that, or really taking that on. I mean, like, Oh, I want to know about them, or I want to, I want to explore that or I want to include them and you know, yeah, I want that for her. You know, obviously we're talking about our Indian American upbringing and, I know, you've posted and talked about the model minority myth. Can you explain to everyone what that means? And what your take on it is?
HItha
Yeah, so the model minority myth is something we have very much grown up with where Asian American, South Asian Americans have kind of been exemplified by white people, as well, look, they came here and they made it and they're contributing to society so any minority group should. What this fails to capture is the systemic racism that has kept black people from accumulating wealth from purchasing homes from having the stability enjoyed by white and privileged minority Americans, and has, frankly used us to propagate that systemic racism so I have been the token minority and used as the token minority. Because being a model minority, they're the ones people are most "comfortable" with. And I say that with quotes and you know, for sponsored Projects with you know, my Instagram, I am usually the last person cast, the only person of color and taking much less than women and creators with similar audiences because they kind of ate up all the budget up first and I kind of had to deal with whatever was left even after negotiating. I've had to, you know, I was paid below my rate quite a bit. And sometimes it was because I truly love the brand and I was a brand I worked I've used on my own for years and I wanted to build the relationship so I was willing to leave some money on the table, but what that always left me with was two things. One is a very big pressure to over deliver because I fear if I don't do a good job, no minority will ever have that opportunity. Like I need to do what I can to keep the door open to bring other creators of color, especially black creators, into those projects, and then to just feeling deeply, deeply uncomfortable about being tokenized and being the one different and you know, I don't think any of the white creators have those stresses on top of just the stress of creating content and making sure you're delivering on your, what the brand wants, and you know, wanting to do a good job, but the sense of this pressure of Oh my God, if I've screwed this up, what if I screwed up for all creators of color? If I screw this up, you know, what does that mean for you know, future brand projects and then the sense of why was the one I was the one that got picked, like, this isn't even my full time job like, right? Am I taking the spot of someone who actually like this does pay their bills and the guilt associated with that. So...
Shawl
Well, you know, it's interesting too, because the model minority myth, I think, I mean, I've fed into it sometimes. I can only speak for some of the South Asian people I know. But I think we've all had to sort of say, Oh, wait a minute, we actually sometimes do feed into it. Am I special? Or, Well, I have worked hard... you know? Our culture is about doing well academically, working hard and doing good in school. And, you know, these are, quote, unquote, stereotypes for a reason, because they're sort of across the board, something culturally we all share. But it's still I feel like sometimes we've almost utilized this model minority thing for our own gain in a way. And I think we also need to dismantle that too, within ourselves.
HItha
Yeah. And something that it's caused some you know, really interesting and a little difficult conversations with my parents because there is the sense of when you talk about Black Lives Matter to immigrant parents who dealt with their own outright and micro racism in their first decades in this country. You don't want to ever disrespect what they went through. But you also have to acknowledge some of the chances you got is because white people decided you got that chance. And, frankly, the immigration acts that allowed many of our families to come here the National Immigration--
Shawl
It's because of the civil rights movement.
HItha
Yeah, it was because Martin Luther King lobby for that Immigration Act, oh, white people, right. So let's recognize who we have to thank, for helping us get here. And how do we now, you know, pay it forward and show up for those people.
Shawl
Especially because a lot of us have built prosperous lives here. You know, we built we've again, through hard work and I mean, if you look at our parents, I'm sure your parents share a similar story. Like, you know, I look at my dad and my mom and the bravery and the courageousness. And the perseverance and the resilience. I mean, yeah, I don't I don't think I could do that. I'm looking at them and going, this is extraordinary. This is incredible.
HItha
Same.
Shawl
But we all have to look at Okay, well, they built this life for us here. And now we're here in this really great place and how do we --
HItha
Pay it forward.
Shawl
Pay it forward. Exactly.
HItha
They worked hard for the very privileged life that I think many of us first generation that are born here, yes, have gotten to enjoy. And so it's on us to respect our parents like hard work and appreciate and acknowledge that privilege, but also deployment for Black Lives Matter and for good
Shawl
or good
HItha
for Native American and for good, I mean Just like this country was built on the backs of slaves, and by displacing the people who are already here, if we can't acknowledge that fundamental truth that, yes, our founding fathers had some really good ideas and it's a miracle that our Constitution has lasted this long, and has kind of evolved with our society. And those are wonderful things. But what are some awful things are slavery and the displacement of indigenous tribes and the occupation of their lands, and really terrible treatment of them. And so, you know, the truth is somewhere in between, so we have to, we can't just selectively view our history. We have to acknowledge all of it if we're going to teach it to our kids, if we are going to figure out any path forward.
Shawl
Well, again, thank you for your voice and for the way, I like the way you articulate things. Paying it forward for good is really what I love that you've talked about that a lot. In terms of the model minority, so I appreciate you sharing that now.
HItha
Thank you.
Shawl
Now with your parents did they... Because again, you're doing a lot of different things you're working with your dad, you're also investing in companies and some of the ones that you've invested in. I for one love. Small packages.
HItha
Yay!
Shawl
Yes, it's fantastic. And talk about making people feel good. That is a company that I mean, they're sending you tailored gift packages, you can send to your friends or family member it's just such a wonderful idea. Is that something that you look for when you invest in companies that they're doing some sort of good like that? What is it you look for?
HItha
It is solving a tangible problem and one that I feel like I have, that is a need to have not a nice to have for me. So with Small Packages it is, I have a lot of friends that live all over the place, and even the ones in New York I don't see nearly as much as I want to. So a way to continue to foster connectivity and connection in this increasingly digital world with physical products that are really thoughtfully curated. And I also think, amplify and uplift other small business owners just, it's so smart. And I love that. And it's, you know, very much a circular economy. Similarly, Girls Night In is fostering a community among women who are like, I just want to hang out with cool women and not have to leave my house, or leave my house and, you know, taking online community offline in a really elegant and thoughtful way. You know, I was a big fan before I was a friend of Alicia, the founder and then an investor. So it's kind of been the lifecycle of a lot of my investments is like, I am a fan and then I badgered the founder into being friends with me then I write them a check. (laugh)
Shawl
I mean, listen, they're probably happy 1.) Also that you're such a cool person, like, Who wouldn't want to be friends with you? But, I was gonna ask if your parents, does your dad ever see those things competing with your time ever? Or are they proud of the fact that I mean, obviously, like, you're doing a lot of good for female businesses? I mean, you're investing in them.
HItha
Yea I mean, my dad's thing is like, as long as he sees me getting my Rho Pharma stuff, he's fine with it. Again, like I work in kind of the micro moment. So, you know, our company takes my precedent every day and then in the middle of the day, if something were to come up, but I also, you know, I don't, I need to give myself more offline time to just like think and process I'm not doing enough of that. And I like I'm on the verge of burnout. A little bit. So I need to start prioritizing that better. But then also different portfolio companies need me at different times. So it's not like all 12 of them, I am have calls with every single month, it might be that there are two to three or two to four that I am like hands on in on a regular basis, and then on a monthly basis, and then I'm having catch up calls or maybe just hopping on and talking through a certain challenge a founder might be having a couple times a month and I find ways to fit it in.
Shawl
Sort of doing research for this interview, and I sort of already knew this about your husband, but he seems like someone who has been a totally supportive partner for you. In terms of everything that you're doing.
HItha
I have, Guys like I hate to gush and make y'all jealous, but I have one of the best husbands. Truly. I have to credit my mother in law here because she was a really nice strong, fierce woman who raised a feminist son, who my husband never had any notions of any kind of more traditional things of, Oh, well, you'll change change your name, of course, or, oh, well, you know, my career matters first. No, like he has prioritized me as much as possible and making sure I have time to work and all of this and the way we kind of operate and shifts with the kids and work. He is like the most hands on dad. Like he's amazing. Like the way he has like so much more patience with them sometimes than I do. I'm just like, You are awesome. And like he does little things like on the weekends like he'll bring me coffee in bed because he's like, and let me sleep in and you know, deal with the boys until like, I've been able to wake up and process and become human in the morning and he's, he's amazing. And it's like, I know there's like all this talk right now of women being set back and having to choose between the kids and career at no point, I've had moments of course and of course he must have had as well when he was with both boys for like three hours and is like I need a break, we all have those moments, but there hasn't been like days or weeks or longer stretches where I have resented him because he's always prioritized my time and my work and valued it the way he values his.
Shawl
I love that and I appreciate that you shouted out your mother in law because you have two boys too. I think it's so important to raise young men and boys with that in mind. And both of your boys seeing that with you and seeing their dad have that relationship with you and fostering that is so important.
HItha
Yeah, I mean, my husband is a morning person and I am an evening person. And I think that also helps like he's got the energy and the mental capacity to handle the boys in the morning. While I can wake up, and then I'm happy to put the boys down. Because I have more energy in the evenings and frankly, like it's the best job like you're snuggling with them when they still want to snuggle you. And like you're just in a dark quiet room and I like the feeling of your kids breathing on you is a really comforting thing because like before I know it they're not gonna want they're not going to want anything to do with me.
Shawlini Manjunath-Holbrook
I know. I hope that doesn't happen. I think I have a long way to go until that happens. But yeah, I think I'm gonna cry a lot when that time comes.
HItha
So, yea I'm soaking it in like of course I want to be the one to put my kids to bed. Bath time I kind of hate so like if he wants to give Raki a bath especially it's totally fine Rho I could just put him in my shower and just sort of hose him down and it's fine.
Shawlini Manjunath-Holbrook
How do you think motherhood has changed you ? Before you were a mom sort of doing all that you do because I'm sure you were also just as busy before you were a mom and then now. I mean, I'm not talking so much about the time maintenance even though that's a huge part of it. But how do you think? Has motherhood changed you at all?
HItha
Oh, yeah, I mean motherhood has. The biggest thing motherhood has taught me is what is actually important and what is not like, things that would bother me before having kids just no longer bother me now because I know that in the grand scheme of things, they don't matter much. It's, it's kind of like are my kids healthy and loved and feel loved and feel safe? Did I get what I absolutely need to get done today? Did I maybe like breathe for a second today or get in a little workout or maybe read before I went to bed. Like, you know, the big things. I just know what matters to me now like my priorities are much clearer after becoming after becoming a parent than they were pre motherhood.
Shawlini Manjunath-Holbrook
Yeah, I would say that's probably the the same for me too. That's probably the biggest change that I've seen in myself and like you said, also, you have someone else. And not that I wasn't obviously actively trying to think outside of myself, but there are moments right? Where we're all, culturally I think too, self focused. And so I do think children bring you out of that a little bit or, or whether you want to be out of it or not, right. They're like, uh hello, I'm right here. So, yeah, I would say that's probably me too. Do you ever feel overwhelmed though? Because you seem like the type of person that in all honesty doesn't get overwhelmed a lot. Yes! You all can't see her face, but she's looking at me like, I don't. What are you talking about?
HItha
So, honestly that like evening glass, let's be honest like glasses of wine helps me so much because for me it is like that break of workday is over family time is beginning. I leave my devices that's when I have like my book with me that I never ever read but it's just there with me while I'm, you know, feeding the boys with my dad and we're talking about not work like now our new thing is talking about where we're going to go in a post COVID world, like travel wise, which is somewhat torturous, but you know, it is what it is. And that helps. CBD helps a lot. Whether it's just purely placebo effect or whatnot. I don't know if for some reason taking my soft gel in the morning and the oil at night makes me feel better. I have started doing like mini meditations during the day. So like, I'm not gonna sit and meditate for 20 minutes in the morning. Are you kidding me? But I will meditate. For like the little three or five minute meditations few times during the day that just helps refocus, recall and it really does help. It does for me too because I probably am not aware of how little or how deeply I'm breathing until I do that and then working out I have become one of those annoying people that's like I need to work out every day.
Shawl
Well you've made me jealous because I don't have a peloton bike
HItha
You don't need a bike.
Shawl
Okay so I don't need the bike but every time Okay, maybe I could still do it
HItha
I think it really comes down to you need to find exercise that makes you feel that you actually look forward to it. That you Enjoy. So for me, I love the peloton yoga classes. I love Aditi her classes are just awesome. And Chelsea is fantastic too. We have a treadmill at my parents house. So I've been doing a lot of their runs, but you could easily do those outside as well. And I just also love cheesy pop music so being able to filter workouts based off of like the music I want to listen to has been a game changer. And one of my other favorite non peloton workouts is forward space. I have tried all of the dance cardio like options out there like I tried dance body I try to try to obey all of them felt like like aerobics. But forward space actually feels like choreography and dancing. And their fire program uses weights so it's like the best kind of strength training because I will not ever do strength training if left to my own devices. But I do it with them because I actually enjoy it.
Shawl
Oh, that's so cool. I'll have to look into that. Is there a go to song that you like? You said you'd like pop music? Is there a go to song for you that like just you dance it out too and you feel good?
HItha
The late 90s and early 2000s of pop music it just is so good.
Shawl
Are you a boy person to like, do you like boy band anything?
HItha
I like them all. I like the boy bands? I like the pop starlet tartlets I like them all like them all. I don't discriminate.
Shawlini Manjunath-Holbrook
Youu brought up travel. Obviously a lot of people are not doing that right now. But you do you did have a book, you do have a book about planning. Did you love travel? Is that why you wrote the book about travel tips? I would imagine so, but--
HItha
I wrote the book because I was traveling all the time. Like before I had, I guess, right before I found out I was pregnant with Rho which is when I was starting to phase out on my dad's last company, I was on an airplane like three to four times a month. And I just was on the go so once I had figured out a method and a way to pack that suited my needs, always fit in a carry on on, didn't cause me stress and actually kind of gave me a little bit of joy. I started blogging about it on the blog Hitha on the Go. And I was actually approached by my publisher to write the book. So I didn't have to do a proposal. I didn't have an agent when I got my offer letter, quickly got one right after and she renegotiated the offer letter. And yeah, I had to write the book in six months.And that was the year Rho was born. So that was I don't remember 2015 very much.
Shawlini Manjunath-Holbrook
(laugh) Why do you think people I mean, it's so funny to me, because I think travel is one of those things that like, you know, you're looking forward to the trip, but then it can be stressful to pack the suitcase, but it can also be sort of fun to pack the suitcase, like, where do you lie on that, like, in terms of is it fun for you to sort of get everything together? Or is it like, that's why you wrote the tips here's how to do it so you can problem solve because it's stressful?
HItha
Little bit of both. So it very much speaks to my Virgo moon, Capricorn rising to have like a method for all of this, but it speaks to my Cancer sun to like, make it fun and a ritual and something that brings you joy and calm and peace. So I view it as it's like, you're prepping your home away from home, like I am a homebody. So I'm like, What are the clothes that are going to make me feel most comfortable and fit the reason why am I traveling? What are the little things I'm going to want that are going to make me feel at home when I know I'm gonna be on the road for like two weeks straight? And it's when you think when you reframe packing from this annoying chore I have to do to how am I going to take care of myself when I am away? What am I looking forward to? And what are the items that are going to fit into this sort of fantasy and vision that I have this trip?
Shawl
Oh, I love that and shifting that perspective to the positive. Where are you and your dad daydreaming about going right now? Where are you day dreaming about going? Anywhere, really?
HItha
Anywhere.We keep talking about Australia, New Zealand and like spending six months there we talk a lot about quite antartica Because why not? Before it melts.
Shawlini Manjunath-Holbrook
I really want to see the penguins. I want to see the penguins there. That would be neat. And your boys are probably going to love that too.
HItha
I know. I mean, Rho will remember it at this age, Raki, though. He's just like, he walks like a penguin. (laugh)
Shawl
So he'd fit right in. (laugh).
HItha
He'd fit right in.
Shawl
I sort of want to chat with you about what's next? What's the goal with sort of all the things that you're doing? Do they all do they all feed each other? Is there synergy there? What's next for you?
HItha
You know, I was just telling somebody this before. Pharma and healthcare is my career and I want it to be a little bit more of my calling versus content creation has kind of been my calling, but I want to monetize it more efficiently and make it a little bit more of my career. And that sort of flip flop is interesting because I think after this company, I don't want to run another drug company. I have no visions of going and working at a global biopharma. But the one thing I have faced personally, in running this company and then just faced as a patient is we don't formulate drugs with women in mind. We don't administer health care. For women. With really women in mind. Gynecology is actually a relatively new practice and prior to existing it was mostly midwives and a much more nurturing kind of care for women and our reproductive health. And I would like to figure out a way to blend that with modern medicine and make healthcare just more equitable. Across the board and really start bringing more women into the table. So, obviously want to do that as an investor. I want to do that through philanthropy. I want to do that through my own education and time. So one thing I'd love to do is go get my master's in public health and potentially my Master's in health administration as well. Columbia has a dual program that I'm very interested in applying because I only really understand very well my little area of healthcare that our company operates in and I want to have a better understanding of the big picture. So I could take my investor, my entrepreneur, and my content creator selves and figure out where I could be of best use to make healthcare focused on actual health and less about disease management.
Shawlini Manjunath-Holbrook
Oh my gosh, I think that's incredible. And I can't wait until you do that because just you know, obviously, you're gonna have the expertise but because you have the talent and the ability to create content that I think, really anyone can understand,you know, I've noticed that you you break down certain things that are quite complicated actually, like, I'm like, how is she going to explain this to me? And then you do. And so I think that's another gift of yours. So however you can include that as a part of it, I think you should, because you're actually a really good storyteller. And in that way, an educator. So I'm very excited to see that. hHave you seen anything else sort of within healthcare now? Like, what are the hot button things for you right now that you think we really need to change? Like, is there one thing that right now, I mean, aside from Covid and the pandemic, obviously, is there something that you see that is like, why haven't we made this change yet?
HItha
I mean, the one very very simple thing is drug prices. Um, I am all for innovation and also the kinds of drugs that are being developed right now. To me, it is an absolute crime that we don't care about antibiotic and antiviral drug development unless we're in a global pandemic, or antibiotic resistance surging, and we're not proactive about developing therapeutics in that region, we're very reactive. Meanwhile, rare diseases are incredibly important. But why is all the venture capital and private equity funds and health care being poured into rare disease? It's because if it's rare, you can often price it at however you want. And it's all about that margin and profitability and how much money you can make. Health is I think, like this pandemic has made me a little socialist by being perfectly honest, because I was someone who was like Medicare for All is way too complex. You're basically bankrupting this multi trillion dollar industry that is healthcare. And that industry needs to be disrupted. No. The way this has been working is not working. And I do think a lot of money, like good money can still be made for good things, but it's going to require this everything about health care, to be turned on its head, like for the administration, for the people at the top, there has to be this reckoning of the way we've been doing things no longer works, and will not work in the future. So let's come to the drawing board and figure out a new kind of healthcare in this country about how we restructure and reimagine our businesses, the kinds of drugs we develop the kinds of things we do in a hospital. How can we leverage telehealth more effectively, along with maybe, you know, I think of like how food carts kind of resolutely brought different kinds of food and democratize different access of food. Why can't we have like medical carts are like kind of souped up bigger than ambulances to go into low income communities to provide basic health screenings and primary care visits and come to them on a regular enough basis to provide that general practitioner care, and pediatric care and dental care and vision care that makes up health care. And if we are monitoring things from the get go, we're also focused on bringing agriculture and food under this umbrella. And let's stop loading everything with our food is formulated to be addictive. Like that should not be illegal. There's just like, I guess my biggest thing, there's been this whole is it legal? Is it legal? Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right. And I mean that across the board in America, remember slavery was legal at one time, it was legal for women to be denied the right to vote. It was legal to prevent Asians from immigrating to the United States, it was legal to intern Japanese Americans, like I'm just done with that argument. And I'm only interested in writing laws that reflect the country we want to be so we can aspire to be this shining beacon on a hill that we haven't been for a really long time.
Shawl
Well, I am so impressed with your, with your advocacy, with your activism. And again, I just think that I'm very excited to see you get that Master's get more of that expertise. Personally, I think that all sounds really good. And I think it also shifts the priorities that we're talking about, which is, I'm no expert, but what I noticed is that we need to be thinking about our people. We need to be servicing our people and our society and if healthcare can do that and servicing not only you know, patients, but also our medical professionals and our health care professionals. I mean, I think that's one of the things that we've seen during covid that we're not taking care of them appropriately. And so I think you're right, there needs to be an overhaul in, what are our priorities? What are we thinking about? Why are we doing what we are doing? Why are these systems that are in place in place? Who are they helping? So all of these questions I think are happening and these conversations are starting, and I really appreciate you being one of those voices. Is there, before we end up the show, is there some nonprofits that you really care about, or organizations you care about that people can? It doesn't necessarily have to be in health care but yeah, ones that you care about that we can spotlight and share with everyone?
HItha
Absolutely. On the healthcare front, there are two that I think one is health care and one is a little bit more wellness. Black Mamas Matter is an incredible nonprofit. That is working really hard to basically, black women are dying in childbirth when they don't need to be and that's messed up. And they are fighting that.
Shawl
The maternal mortality rate in which Black women are and again, before I feel bad to say this, I was so ignorant of it before I was actually in the situation of being a mom and having to even give birth. I was so ignorant of it and then starting to look at my own birth experience. What do I want that to look like? And then starting to key in Oh, there are other women that are experiencing something different to the point where they're losing their life?
HItha
Yeah. I mean, I have a friend who said, all my doctors are Black, because, and like to me at first when she said that I it didn't hit me. I'm like, well, and then I was like, oh, because Black pains is not taken seriously as white pain is and that empathy gap is not something I think you can fix in a classroom and medical school. It has to become a part of care we have to change how we deliver health care in this country. So Black Mama's Matter in like what is its own epidemic and crisis is incredibly important. A non healthcare one that I'm on the board of and I'm very passionate about is Youth Represent. They are a legal service and public policy advocacy nonprofit in New York City, helping youth who got in the system. Get them out of the system by providing immediate legal services and also their incredible mentors to get them you know, just back on track because one minor, you know, infraction is not going to affect a white kid, or even an Asian American kid, but a Black kid it will determine the rest of their life and that's not right. It's not right. And so what they do is so, so viscerally important and I couldn't be more proud to be on that board and help share their story and vision.
Shawl
Amazing. I will tag all those in our episode notes. And the way we end out is I have something called Feel the Five and Hitha, five is my lucky number actually so your 5 smart reads I'm always like, oh five is my lucky number.
HItha
Oh yea!
Shawl
So, Feel the Five, I'm going to give you five words and you just tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Feel the five. Home.
HItha
Heart.
Shawl
Joy.
HItha
My kids laughter.
Shawl
Fear,
HItha
Failure.
Shawl
Regret.
HItha
Not get taking a computer science class in university. (laugh)
Shawl
(laugh) Okaay. Ah, Hope
HItha
My kids.
HItha
Oh God I'm such a cliche mom.
Shawl
No, not at all. I mean, those were beautiful. I mean, the computer science, we'll have to discuss that another time as to why. Is it because you've been doing so much with with the internet? I mean, you're doing so much content creation.
HItha
Honest to God, I wonder, I went to the University of Washington, which is basically the University of Microsoft and Amazon. I felt like I denied myself something really important by not just taking intro to computer science.
Shawl
Oh, Seattle is such a cool town too. I bet that was amazing.
HItha
Yeah, it was,
Shawl
Oh my gosh, well, I can't thank you enough for your time and for sharing. This has been just a wonderful conversation. Thank you so much.
HItha
Thank you so much fun. Take care. (End Interview)
Shawl
(OUTRO) I told you she's one of the coolest gals ever, right? I mean, Hitha is such a go getter, she's such a supporter. I mean, I love the fact that she invests in so many female businesses which we got to hear about. I loved that we dived into health care, and specifically health care for women, a lot of the goals that she wants to achieve in her career specifically around health care, which I thought was neat. A few of the takeaways that I got out of the conversation. One, like we said, we dived into health care, which I really love the way she breaks down things. And so if you are not following her, I will tag all of her social media and her website in the Episode Notes, but please go follow her especially on Instagram because she really dissects a lot of news items and makes it so that you can really understand especially when it's like complicated stuff. Like health care, which obviously she has a lot of expertise in and understands a lot of it. So it helps me break it down. And we just talked about healthcare changes. And one of the big things that came out as a takeaway for me that she said was, just because it's legal, doesn't mean it's right. And I just so appreciated that simple statement, because you can really, you can apply that to any system that we have right now. And I think it's important to remember that, you know, just because there's a law in place does not mean that it's morally right, or it's the right thing to do. And so, we are really in a time in our country right now, where, hopefully, a lot of these conversations are happening and we're reexamining what our systems are and what's in place and we did concentrate on healthcare in this conversation. So I really appreciate HItha saying that. We also chatted in our conversation about the model minority, something that came out of that that was a wonderful takeaway. You know, not only for us as we were having the conversation about our South Asian experience, but paying it forward for good. And so I think that can apply to anyone and everyone and it should apply to anyone and everyone if we can always pay it forward for good. That's what we need to do if we have the privilege of being able to do that, if we have the economic privilege, the time, we need to be paying it forward for good. So I love that out of that conversation that came out of it as well. And it just think that she is such a, I mean, she has such great perspectives on so many things. This conversation was so fascinating. It's so interesting to me to hear from her sort of what matters to her and what she's advocating for. And her charities that she mentioned Black Mamas Matter, which is something that I really feel passionate about as well and Youth Represent which, you know, does so much legal advocacy. Especially for Black youth. So again, I will post all of those charities in the episode notes if you can spread some good there. I would love that. You know, donating isn't the only way you can support, you can support in other ways, you can advocate. However, you can please do go spread some good to those charities that she mentioned. And I just hope you really enjoyed this conversation. Hitha is just one of those people that she's incredible. I think the work that she does is really wonderful because she's an educator in so many ways, she has so much fun escapism that she creates, too. She's got some amazing book recommendations that I always love. And I'm excited to see where her career takes her because as we all heard, she's got some pretty big goals and I think that she's gonna achieve all of them because that's just who she is. So I'm wishing her well. I'm hoping that we get to see more of her and maybe I can sit down with her again or have another conversation with her. Because I think she's pretty fabulous. So, I hope yall left this conversation feeling the good and as always, all the love and light and have a great week. (END).