The Tamil Creator Ara Ehamparam

Apiramy Jeyarajah is the Head of UK Wholesale at Aviva Investors.

She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to chat about topics like working hard to get herself into a leadership role in the finance industry where people that look like her are rare, a growing trend towards digital platforms & robo-advisors, to moving from Sri Lanka to London at the age of 2, her dad instilling a belief in her that she was no less than anyone else, the notion that money is no longer the main motivator for employees, wanting to create an environment where everyone feels like they belong, pushing the ladder down to allow the next person to come up, and so much more.

Follow Apiramy:
- Instagram (https://www.linkedin.com/in/apiramy-jeyarajah-1218821b/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Apiramy
00:55 - Apiramy speaks on her upbringing and being driven by curiosity
02:09 - What sports did/does she play?
02:44 - What led Apiramy to a career in education and then finance
04:30 - How her perception of the finance industry has changed over the years
06:28 - Apiramy’s colleagues would describe her by saying…
07:03 - Moving from HSBC to Aviva Investors
08:21 - What her role as Head of UK Wholesale at Aviva entails
11:55 - A growing trend towards digital platforms, robo-advisors, and more
16:02 - The new work culture; how COVID-19 changed her hiring process
19:21 - One of the most interesting job package requests she has been asked for
21:52 - Her role as Diversity Project Ambassador and why its important to her
23:27 - Being in a position of influence and trying to use it for good
25:39 - Does Apiramy see a lot of other Tamil faces in leadership positions?
26:54 - Where she sees herself in the next 3 to 5 years
28:13 - Apiramy’s thoughts on cryptocurrencies
30:35 - What she has invested in, and her general investing strategy
33:09 - Her biggest learning lesson in the last few years; needing a work-life balance
34:48 - The impact of the UK-Tamil community on Apiramy’s personal and professional life
35:57 - Advice she would give her 16-year-old self
37:07 - How she wants to be remembered by friends and family
37:36 - Creator Confessions
40:31 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan              

Tharshan Rajendiram (@tharshanr) is writer, director, standup comedian and actor, along with being the co-creator behind the famous "Basement Reels" YouTube channel (@basementreels, 80,000+ subscribers).

He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss how he he met his co-creator behind the "Basement Reels" YouTube channel, the desire to belong after immigrating to Canada from Sri Lanka, Basement Reels growing to more than 80K subscribers, making a demo tape during the pandemic, how fans inspire him to keep making content, not getting bogged down by failure, and so much more.

Follow Tharshan:
- Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/tharshanr/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Tharshan Raj
01:05 - From Sri Lanka to Canada, studying at Ryerson, going viral on Basement Reels
09:35 - The observational comedy of Basement Reels and its relatability
12:46 - Tharshan’s lifelong passion for acting
13:18 - Working with an agent, securing auditions, and being busy while doing what he loves
14:55 - Balancing a full-time job while driving his creative career forward
16:39 - How skills from his full-time job have helped with Basement Reels
17:38 - Feedback and reactions to the videos Tharshan has made
21:04 - What the future looks like for Basement Reels and Tharshan
21:51 - How Basement Reels in funded; YouTube revenue and business partners
22:58 - Ara calls dibs on Tharshan’s first NFT
28:46 - Tharshan’s biggest learnings in the last few years
31:57 - Gradual progression and the importance of incrementally improving
33:40 - How Tharshan wants to be remembered by friends and family
34:34 - Advice he would give his 16-year-old self; be a little bit more disciplined
35:27 - Learning to appreciate time changed Tharshan’s life for the better
36:43 - Podcasts ,being inspired by things around us, and getting out of your comfort zone
42:20 - Creator Confessions
46:02 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan             

Rathika Sitsabaiesan (@rathikasitsabaiesan) is a former politician (Canada's First Tamil Member of Parliament) and currently a professor at Centennial College (@centennialcollege).

She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss growing up in a single income household, watching her parents help other Tamil immigrants get on their feet in Canada, introducing Tamil Heritage Month with the late Jack Layton’s full support, the impact of a Tamil being elected as an MP, taking 8 months off in 2015 due to extreme burnout, how somebody in the Vietnamese community encouraged her to become a teacher; her ensuing passion for education, working in a hospital for 5 years before realizing she didn’t want to be a doctor and so much more.

Follow Rathika:
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rathikasitsabaiesan/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Rathika Sitsabaiesan
01:27 - Rathika speaks on her family upbringing and how it led her to a career in politics, and then education
09:41 - Growing up at a faster pace as the child of an immigrant
11:04 - How shifting from University of Toronto to Carleton led her into politics
14:08 - The moment Rathika was officially elected and her immediate reaction
17:00 - What it was like working with Jack Layton
23:08 - Rathika reflects on her career in politics and assesses her performance
29:19 - Why she didn’t resume her politics career; Jack Layton’s passing
35:50 - What she would have done differently as an MP and when she considering running as an independent
40:21 - Is Rathika done with politics?
41:06 - Being involved in post secondary education and advocacy for the past 15 years
44:17 - How Rathika sees the education space evolving amidst the pandemic recovery
52:25 - What she would tell her 16-year-old self; her parents not understanding mental illness but still being supportive
58:08 - How she wants to be remembered by her friends and family
1:01:26 - How her political career is still useful in her everyday life today
1:02:11 - Creator Confessions
1:10:40 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan            

Dunstan Peter is a serial entrepreneur who is the founder of several companies including Trinity Tech, Tnext Communication & Trinity Star Development. He was an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in 2019.

He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss the power of education, building up the sales momentum for his multi-million dollar business with no sales reps initially except himself, having a desire to give from a young age, working to change homelessness, killing snakes in his childhood and the PTSD he experiences now because of it, loving himself and having zero regrets or insecurities, and so much more.

Follow Dunstan:
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dunstan-peter-besc-emba-3938a732/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Dunstan Peter
01:47 - Dunstan speaks on his childhood, living through the SL war, and using education to escape poverty
04:13 - Looking at everything as a positive and understanding life doesn’t go the way you want it to
06:26 - Having only one meal a day, for six months, as a child
08:00 - How he came up with the idea of Trinity Tech
15:02 - Being hired by Ford to grow a multi-million dollar business
16:27 - Scaling from 0 to 85 clients in the first 2 years; where did he find a quality team for this?
18:31 - The business’s revenue structure; service contracts with his first being $300,000 over 3 weeks
21:35 - His business ventures outside of Trinity Tech; Tnext Communication with 5k employees and plans to scale to 10k
25:35 - Trinity Star Foundation; why he started it and the impact its made thus far
35:46 - The high percentage of success stories as it relates to Tamil immigrant entrepreneurs
42:59 - Balancing family, health, his business; Dunstan slept at the Ford plant for 6 months
48:05 - His view of money; how he invests, saves, and more
50:57 - Advice he would give his 16-year-old self
51:35 - Waking up at 5AM and having a strong morning and night time routine
54:17 - How Dunstan wants to be remembered by friends and family
54:52 - Creator Confessions
1:00:07 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan           

Rubi Balasingam (@rubi_balasingam) is an Australian-based actress and screenwriter, includes roles in TV Series "Jack Irish" and "Improv Sessions".

Rubi joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss starting out her career while doing comedic theatre, the importance of a side hustle as an actor, learning Kung Fu & ballet to improve her odds in acting, discussing being an extrovert vs introvert, if she would ever consider moving to North America for her acting career, the experience with dealing with different agents, Mortal Kombat being filmed in Australia, and much more.

Follow Rubi:
- Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/rubi_balasingam/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Rubi Balasingam
01:03 - Rubi speaks on a ’typical immigrant’ upbringing; unable to watch the Simpsons but violent Tamil movies were okay
03:49 - Her journey to becoming an actress/writer (Ara interrupts to rave about Kim’s Convenience)
06:43 - Not telling her parents about acting, working her way up with agents, landing her first TV show
11:59 - Lack of transparency around actors talking about how difficult it was for them to make it
13:30 - How Rubi deals with ‘repeated rejection’ as it relates to auditions
15:41 - Using martial arts, ballet, and hanging out with her ‘normal 9-5 friends’ as a coping mechanism
17:30 - The importance of perspective and not playing the victim
18:31 - Australia not being known for acting; is Rubi considering a move elsewhere?
21:56 - Rubi’s thoughts on Australia and its Tamil community
24:16 - Living in a immigrant heavy area where Tamil food (and Mutton Rolls) is easily accessible
27:13 - Is pursuing a career in the creative arts being normalized in the Tamil community? Rubi thinks yes
32:04 - How Rubi ‘fills income gaps’ when she’s not acting - her degree and side hustles
35:02 - Rubi’s relationship with money, and how she views it versus how her parents view it
37:21 - Her financial goals as it relates to saving and investing; why she stays in the immediate long-term
39:21 - Not wanting to live a life that isn’t 110% what she wants it to be
40:21 - Rubi is insecure about…
47:10 - Her interests outside of work; socializing, martial arts, ballet, food, dog walking, libraries, and more
48:38 - Is Rubi extroverted or introverted?
50:07 - How she wants to be remembered by friends and family
50:48 - The way in which Rubi’s friendships have changed/evolved
52:14 - What makes a good friend?
53:32 - Transitioning into ‘grown up Rubi’
55:32 - Who she admires from the global Tamil and non-Tamil community
1:02:15 - Creator Confessions
1:05:32 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan          

Rajan Bala (@im.provising) enjoys being a tech builder - he was a co-founder at retail tech startup Hiku.

Rajan joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to how Carleton University (@carleton_u) is underrated when it comes to engineering talent, how the idea for Hiku was formed along with how they got the idea off the ground, missing out a big exit with Walmart, starting a charity to help transfer knowledge from the Tamil diaspora back to Sri Lanka, financial independence and more.

Follow Rajan:
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajanbala/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Rajan Bala
01:25 - Rajan speaks on how he got into building
03:49 - Being 1 of 5 kids and all of them having stereotypical Sri Lankan careers
04:33 - Is Carleton University underrated when it comes to engineering programs?
07:48 - Working for BlackBerry before coming up with Hiku; the idea, the name, using kickstarter
12:17 - What Rajan envisioned for Hiku’s revenue model; was it a one-time free, ongoing subscription, etc.?
15:30 - Why Hiku didn’t charge end users during the data collection process
17:34 - What was the plan to monetize data?
19:40 - How Hiku built relationships with big retails and/or big consumer brands
24:01 - Rajan’s mindset as Hiku began taking off
31:31 - Why Hiku didn’t go down the path of ‘leasing hardware to consumers’
34:33 - Integrating with Walmart and receiving $2.5M in funding, almost being purchase by Google, and more
44:03 - Rajan has no regrets about not getting a ‘lavish exit’ - what he’s learned
45:55 - What the future holds for Rajan; Amazon being an incredible place to learn
52:42 - Rajan’s interests outside of work; travelling, hiking/walking and simultaneously listening to podcasts
53:55 - Co-founding a charity
58:36 - What he’s insecure about; becoming complacent
1:00:12 - The power of consistency; how it has improved Rajan’s life
1:00:56 - The personal legacy he wants to be remembered for by friends and family
1:01:50 - Rajan’s view of financial independence for others, and his own view of money
1:04:20 - Who he admires from the global Tamil and non-Tamil community
1:06:35 - Creator Confessions
1:11:33 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan