MK on the Mic MK on the Mic

S3 EP7

This is the final episode of season 3 of MK on the Mic with Meera Kumar. I was joined by Shona Vertue - a world renowned personal trainer and yoga instructor. She has been a huge inspiration to me, both in general life and as a woman of colour in the fitness industry, so it was a massive honour to interview her.

We talked about:

Being an elite-gymnast from the age of 4
Moving from gymnastics to dance to yoga
Quitting her university degree and getting an office job
Starting a business without social media
Managing her time
Social media giving women of colour a platform that may not have been given in traditional media
Representation in the fitness industry and whitewashing
Self rejecting because you feel that you can’t meet beauty ideals
Creating the Vertue Method and writing a book
Allostatic load and the ‘no days off’ culture
Posture - ‘the only bad posture is the one you’re in too much’
Hydration and caffeination

Meera's socials:

Insta: www.instagram.com/meerakumar
Twitter: www.twitter.com/meeerakumar

Podcast:

Insta: www.instagram.com/mkonthemic

Twitter: www.twitter.com/emkayonthemic

Shona’s socials:
Website: https://shonavertue.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw3_asTSehMF-MbF1cluGCw/videos

S3 EP6
In this penultimate episode of season 3 of MK on the Mic with Meera Kumar, I spoke to Vik Kainth. @vikkainth is a digital artist who has brought classical Indian art back with a twist, and it doesn’t get much fresher than his Japanese-Indian fusion of Ganesh (aka Japanesh).

Topics include:
The value of Art GCSE and A-Level
Studying Visual Communication at university
Anxiety at university and pressure to get a First
The benefits of going to university
Is digital art lesser than fine art?
Combining Indian culture and Japanese culture in art
Culture fusion in art and cultural appropriation
Getting art tattooed
The legal side of art and having your art copied by other people
Receiving backlash over his art
Platonic love, breakups, and personal growth
Vik’s schedule (or lack of!)
The impact of follower counts
Having his work made into huge murals in India with Delhi Street Art
Diwali and Wallace Gallery
Having Lilly Singh and Ice Cube repost his artwork

Meera's socials:

Insta: www.instagram.com/meerakumar
Twitter: www.twitter.com/meeerakumar

Podcast:

Insta: www.instagram.com/mkonthemic

Twitter: www.twitter.com/emkayonthemic

Vik's socials:
Website: https://www.vikkainthart.com/
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/vik.kainth/?hl=en

S3 EP5
On this episode of MK on the Mic with Meera Kumar, South London artist @thefirstsatchit joined me to talk about music.

We talked about:

Recording his album (a fusion between Indian music and R&B) in India
Graduating from Exeter and choosing to pursue music
Producing music on a budget
Getting a degree and then going into music, or skipping uni
Discovering English music in secondary school
South Asian artists to support
Performing at Native Sounds
Reincarnation and the increasing human population
Religion and war

Meera's socials:

Insta: www.instagram.com/meerakumar

Podcast:

Insta: www.instagram.com/mkonthemic

Twitter: www.twitter.com/emkayonthemic

Satchit's socials:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/thefirstsatchit
Website: https://www.satchitofficial.com/

S3 EP4:
In this episode of MK on the Mic with Meera Kumar, Sejal Sehmi joins me to talk about her career and experiences. We cover a range of topics:

Content warning: Sexual abuse/rape/physical abuse/murder

Being made redundant, packing up, moving abroad to make a documentary in India about marriage
Becoming the UK Editor of Brown Girl Magazine
Experiencing hate and receiving death threats on the internet
Writing an opinion piece about MJ and R. Kelly for The Independent
Domestic and sexual abuse
Sexual consent within marriage, virginity and rape
Expectations of being married by 25 and interracial relationships
Cultural appropriation or appreciation: accessories and deities

Meera's socials:

Insta: www.instagram.com/meerakumar

Podcast:

Insta: www.instagram.com/mkonthemic

Twitter: www.twitter.com/emkayonthemic

Domestic abuse charity insta: www.instagram.com/abuseneverbecomesus

Brown Girl Magazine twitter and insta: @ browngirlmag

Sejal’s insta: www.instagram.com/sejalsehmi
Sejal’s website: www.sejalsehmi.com and www.thedesireads.com

S3 EP4:
In this episode of MK on the Mic with Meera Kumar, Kim and Rachel of Food & Lycra join me to talk about their careers. You guys are going to love this episode.

Topics include:

- How Food & Lycra started
- Managing multiple business
- Food & Lycra events
- Rachel and Kim's roles within F&L
- Beating the burnout
and more!

Meera's socials:

Insta: www.instagram.com/meerakumar

Podcast:

Insta: www.instagram.com/mkonthemic

Twitter: www.twitter.com/emkayonthemic

Rachel's insta:
www.instagram.com/supernoodlerach

Kim's insta:
www.instagram.com/kimmayco

Food & Lycra:

Insta: www.instagram.com/foodandlycra
Website: https://www.foodandlycra.com/

S3 EP3:
In this episode of MK on the Mic with Meera Kumar, Nesrine Dally joins me to talk about her career and business. There’s so much in this episode, so I’ve put the timestamps of different topics below. Enjoy!


1:26 Nez’s background in sport and competition
2:50 Being a competitive athlete in school
4:32 University and Muay Thai
16:05 Going to Thailand for a fight camp and Nez’s first professional fight
17:28 The rules of Muay Thai
22:35 Thai Fit - Nez’s Muay Thai business
22:04 Raising kids and putting them into different sports and clubs. How much is too much?
29:18 Nez’s career after uni, setting up Thai Fit, and starting with Nike
35:05 Deciding to wear a hijab and being a female trainer
49:07 Improving yourself as a personal trainer


Meera's socials:

Insta: www.instagram.com/meerakumar

Podcast:

Insta: www.instagram.com/mkonthemic

Twitter: www.twitter.com/emkayonthemic

Nez:
Insta: www.instagram.com/hijabi.lifts

Thai Fit: www.instagram.com/thaifitlondon