The Tamil Creator Ara Ehamparam

Sindu Sivapalan (@sindusiva) is a real estate investor who made the bold move from the GTA to the East Coast (Moncton) with her husband while she was 8 months pregnant to pursue financial freedom.

She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss having a ‘go with the flow’ mindset, what she learned from analyzing portfolios as a financial advisor, the benefits of East Coast living, having a passion for real estate from a young age, the importance of using your equity to work for you while making calculating decisions, and so much more.

Follow Sindu:
- Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sindusiva/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Sindu Sivapalan
02:46 - Relocating to the East Coast of Canada with her husband
06:45 - The impact of her childhood; listing her parents home at 15 years old
11:05 - How quitting her accounting job led to her obsession with real estate
13:15 - Why real estate is a simple math equation
14:52 - Her learnings from analyzing portfolios as a financial advisor
17:58 - Building a multi-family investment portfolio with her husband
21:35 - The Fire Movement; wanting to ‘retire’ early
22:47 - What she plans to do with her time upon retiring
24:00 - Has Sindu’s success convinced her family/friends to follow her blueprint?
26:38 - The benefits of moving from the GTA to the East Coast
31:02 - Does she miss Toronto and will she ever come back?
32:06 - Her plan for the next five years
33:45 - Her biggest learning lesson
36:24 - Advice she would give her 16-year-old self
36:46 - The personal legacy she wants to be remembered for
37:09 - Creator Confessions
39:47 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan  

Mano Kulasingam (@manok4) is currently the Founder & Managing Partner for Flair Ventures, a VC firm focused on investing in early-stage startups with at least 1 immigrant founder. Previously, he was the co-founder and CEO of Digiflare which was acquired 10 years into the business by Accedo.tv.

He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss the impact of family (father/brother) in his life, the benefit of being a late entrant into a market, studying in Ottawa (a city that was once considered "Silicon Valley North"), succeeding with Digiflare through failure & eventually exiting, starting Flair Ventures to support immigrant founders, having a long-term mindset as an investor, and so much more.

Follow Mano:
- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/manok/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Mano Kulasingam
00:59 - How he got into entrepreneurship and tech; his father and brother
03:23 - Pop culture’s impact on entrepreneurship, creating Digiflare in 2008
08:29 - Finding the right co-founder; why it’s like a marriage
10:59 - What Digiflare was and why Mano created it
12:48 - How much luck is involved in a company’s success?
14:04 - Apple Benefiting from Blackberry’s work; Mano benefiting from Netflix
15:04 - Why he and his co-founder chose to sell Digiflare
17:20 - The M&A process
18:04 - Why trying to sell a business is like managing two companies at once
20:14 - Minimizing the number of people who knew a deal was being worked on
21:39 - Transitioning from employer to employee upon selling Digiflare
24:23 - The feeling Mano had when he sold his company
26:33 - Launching Flair Ventures; investing in immigrant founders
29:21 - Ventures are relationships and networking; investing in 7 of 400 companies
32:35 - How Mano allocates his time; fundraising, content marketing, and more
34:25 - His 10-15 year plan for Flair Ventures; aiming for 23 companies
37:37 - Being tempted to create again; keeping an open mind for the right opportunity
38:57 - His biggest failure/learning lesson; the Tamil mentality of showing no emotions
42:43 - Advice he would give his 16-year-old self
43:24 - The personal legacy he wants to leave behind
44:07 - Creator Confessions
52:50 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan     

Fiona Kingsley Boyer (@fi_kingsley) is a Development Officer for the Scarborough Health Network Foundation (SHN, @shnfoundation) and cancer survivor.

She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss surviving Stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer, the survivor spirit of Scarborough and trying to improve its misunderstood reputation, her experience finding out she had cancer while pregnant & going through chemotherapy, being part of a team that's raised more than half of the $100 million dollar goal for the "Love Scarborough" campaign, having a greater appreciation for the value of time, and SO much more.

Follow Fiona:
- Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fi_kingsley/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Fiona
01:04 - Fiona speaks on her early upbringing and being diagnosed with cancer
03:27 - Her role as Development Officer for SHN foundation
05:39 - SHN’s campaign: "Love Scarborough"
08:03 - The impact of "Love Scarborough" so far
10:38 - Being featured on billboards and television
14:18 - How she found out she had cancer
20:01 - Managing her emotions when she was diagnosed
22:20 - Her chemotherapy treatment process; 16 4-hour sessions
27:01 - The biggest difference between Fiona pre- and post-cancer
28:25 - "My Dharma" by Ahash; how the short documentary came to be
30:44 - Explaining her cancer to her daughter
32:39 - Fiona’s plans moving forward
35:00 - Feeling super connected to the Tamil community; support she receives
37:31 - Advice she would give her 16-year-old self
38:04 - How she wants to be remembered by friends and family
39:34 - Creator Confessions
47:47 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan    

Jay Vasantharajah (@jayvasdigital) is the Founder & Managing Partner at Atlasview Equity, which buys multi-million tech-enabled businesses.

He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss the importance of saving up your first $100K, waiting on the "fat pitch" opportunities as described by Warren Buffet, transitioning from a job at Deloitte to starting his agency where he saw one client IPO for $450 million dollars and another get acquired for $2 billion dollars, Atlasview's playbook after acquiring a company to fuel growth, the importance of “escape velocity” in investing and building trust in business, being inspired by Mark Leonard who founded Constellation Software and much more.

Follow Jay:
- Twitter (https://twitter.com/jayvas)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Jay Vasantharajah
01:29 - How seeing his father build small businesses inspired Jay
05:15 - From commerce to accounting/side hustles and his own business
11:54 - How he secured customers as a consultant
12:47 - The importance of getting to your first $100,000
17:46 - Starting small and being consistent versus diving into the deep-end
19:37 - Atlastview Equity; what it is, what companies they purchase, etc.
23:59 - How many deals Jay had to look at before closing two acquisitions
27:36 - Why Jay and his company are lucky buyers
34:54 - The time Jay spends on building his business; newsletter & networking
39:11 - How Jay sources funds to purchase companies 
45:27 - Attracting the energy that you want around you & mitigating risk
49:32 - Atlasview’s playbook after acquiring a company; growth plans
57:57 - Being inspired by Mark Leonard/Constellation Software & others
01:09:25 - Where Jay sees himself in the next 3 years
01:12:09 - Advice he would give his 16-year-old self
01:14:08 - Personal legacy; how Jay wants to be remembered by friends/family
01:16:36 - Creator Confessions & Advice for owners who want to sell their business
01:28:08 - The Wrap Up 

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan      

Ara Ehamparam (@araehamparam) is the podcast host of "The Tamil Creator".  He's an entrepreneur, FIRE believer and admirer of creators.

On this momentous 100th episode of #TheTamilCreator, Ara's wife, Claudia (@claudiangele), turns the tables on our usual host to find out more about him. They explore why he started "The Tamil Creator" podcast, special messages from his best friend & guest on EP 44 of the podcast @vas_saranga [founder of @theonlineactor] as well as his favourite (& only sister) Shagana, how he got the nickname "Tamil Nelly", his various entrepreneurial ventures, his unparalleled passion for Google calendar, the value of giving more than you take, his innate desire to embody the message of Nike, and much more - you don't wanna miss this episode!

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Claudia Ehamparam
00:39 - Claudia introduces this week’s guest, Ara Ehamparam
02:17 - Ara talks about how his early childhood led him to become an entrepreneur
04:45 - Being born in Sri Lanka and moving to Canada (Montreal/Scarborough)
06:30 - A special message from Ara’s favourite (and only) sister, Shagana
07:28 - Why Ara wants to be a guest on "My First Million"
08:01 - Why Ara pursued entrepreneurship after obtaining an engineering degree
09:51 - Why Ara prioritizes ownership or time; Alfred, Mr. Money Mustache, FIRE, etc.
11:47 - Ara breaks down the FIRE movement
14:58 - The difficulty of convincing Claudia to jump onboard with FIRE
15:43 - Why “Tamil” is in so many of Ara’s ventures; his connection to the community
16:53 - The origin of Ara’s ventures; TamilCulture.com, MyTamilDate.com, "The Tamil Creator" podcast, etc.
20:21 - Meeting Kevin O’Leary along his Continyou Care journey
21:11 - How Ara balances his time between work, passion projects, and personal life
22:43 - Being unafraid of failure and sticking with his commitments; how he does it
24:15 - Valuing execution more than ideas
24:34 - Is “dad guilt” a thing and does Ara experience it?
25:58 - Ara’s greatest learning lessons in the past 3-5 years
27:01 - How Ara goes about “relationship-building” aka networking; give more, take less
28:21 - How Ara earned the nickname “Tamil Nelly”
31:28 - Advice he would give to his 16-year-old self; Tamil Nelly
32:40 - How Ara wants to be remembered by friends and family
33:32 - Why he is dedicated to showcasing Tamil talent in society
34:33 - Creator Confessions
42:57 - Ara’s vision for the future of The Tamil Creator podcast
43:40 - Guest of EP44 (aka Ara’s BFFL) calls in one last time
45:46 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan      

Shaminy Waran (@sham.waran) is the entrepreneur behind the Sham Waran Luxury Hair Collection.

She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss the impact of growing up as an introverted middle child, how she deals with "mom guilt", helping customers who have severe health conditions like alopecia, not wanting to jeopardize friendship for the sake of business, not being a big risk taker but risking $30,000 to give her business a chance to grow, being a people pleaser when she was young, and much more.

Follow Shaminy:
- Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sham.waran/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Shaminy Waran
01:45 - Did Shaminy’s childhood spark her entrepreneurial fire?
04:10 - Being introverted as a child
05:32 - Listening versus being loud; its impact on securing sales?
07:53 - How Shaminy entered the world of makeup and hair
10:30 - Doing makeup and hair less after launching her luxury brand
11:51 - What led her to launch Sham Waran Luxury Hair Collection
15:55 - What her business model looks like
17:23 - Find a vendor to source grade 10A hair (the highest quality)
19:34 - The growing demand for her rental program
20:49 - The connection between hair and confidence
24:32 - Does she have any business partners?
26:19 - Dealing with ‘mom-guilt’ and how she copes; slowing down
30:48 - Maintaining friendships with her busy schedule
32:30 - Starting her business during COVID-19; having a physical studio
34:39 - How Shaminy went about building her team
37:39 - What success looks like to her three years from now
38:34 - Plans to expand her rental program to all ethnicities/hair textures
39:31 - Doing custom and pre-orders
41:53 - One of her biggest learning lessons in the past few years
44:07 - Advice she would give her 16-year-old self; follow your gut
46:04 - The personal legacy she wants to be remembered for
47:06 - Creator Confessions
51:42 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan