South Asian Trailblazers

Simi Shah | Trailblazers Media
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Diving deep into the journeys of trailblazing South Asians. To date, Host Simi Shah has interviewed Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Zarna Garg, Raj Shamani, Ananya Birla, Vas Narasimhan -- from founders to Fortune 300 CEOs, comedians to congressmen. Learn more at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com.

  1. 10h ago ·  Video

    Intel's CLO Aparna Bawa & Author Kamini Ramani: A New Playbook for Powerful Women

    How do the most powerful women in business actually rise? It's not by mimicking the men, nor by just following the advice to Lean In. In this episode, Simi Shah unlocks the new playbook for powerful, ambitious women. Simi speaks with Aparna Bawa — EVP and Chief Legal & People Officer at Intel, and the COO who saw Zoom scale from 10 million to 300 million users — alongside Kamini Ramani, Author of Lotus Leadership: A Modern Playbook of Ancient Wisdom. Together, they share fresh takes on female ambition, success, and leadership through the lens of this pioneering book. Lotus Leadership is the first book to tell the story of the surging force of Indian women (and women of color) in American business: how they got to the top and the wisdom they drew on to get there. Kamini spent a year interviewing 33 of the most powerful women in the world — PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, HubSpot CEO Yamini Rangan, investors, operators, and c-suite leaders at Amazon, Google, PayPal, and Waymo. She distills their lessons into a five-petal framework she calls "yoga for business" that any ambitious young leader can follow. Profiled in the first chapter of Lotus Leadership, Aparna Bawa embodies the Shiva-Shakti principle. She shares the deeply personal story of losing her mother in a car crash at age 11, and how it shaped her into the C-suite leader she is today. Disclosure: Kamini Ramani is a client of The Trailblazers Agency. Trailblazers only backs projects we truly believe in — this book is one of them. IN THIS EPISODE: Kamini Ramani on the inspiration behind her book Lotus LeadershipThe five principles of leadership inspired by Indian mythologyAparna Bawa's personal journey, from childhood adversity to leading Zoom through the pandemic — and what Shiva-Shakti had to do with itThe untold challenges and sacrifices behind powerful women's successHow women are redefining success beyond traditional career pathsWhat women supporting each other looks like in actionWhat makes these 33 women different in how they lead — and why they winWhy stepping back from your career doesn't mean giving up on ambitionHow to build harmonious romantic partnershipsHow cultural expectations, relationships, and family influence women's leadership journeysThe power of authenticity and wisdom in the age of AIABOUT KAMINI RAMANI — Author, Lotus Leadership Kamini Ramani is the author of Lotus Leadership: A Modern Playbook of Ancient Wisdom — a USA Today bestseller. A Silicon Valley tech executive for 40+ years, she served as CMO at Mayfield, one of the Valley's top-tier venture capital firms, and has helped narrate the stories of iconic companies including Lyft, Poshmark, HashiCorp, and Genentech. She advised Steve Jobs during his exile from Apple, and delivered the book on her 63rd birthday. FOLLOW: Website · Instagram · LinkedIn · Buy the Book ABOUT APARNA BAWA — EVP & Chief Legal & People Officer, Intel Aparna Bawa is Executive Vice President and Chief Legal and People Officer at Intel. Previously, she served as COO of Zoom through the company's COVID-era inflection, when daily users surged from 10M to 300M. Her extensive career also includes leadership roles at Magento Commerce and Nimble Storage. A Harvard Law grad, she began her career in investment banking at Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank before pivoting to tech. Raised in Nigeria, India, and the US, she lost her mother at age 11 — a story she shares for the first time in Lotus Leadership. FOLLOW: LinkedIn South Asian Trailblazers is an award-winning podcast, community, and agency dedicated to elevating leading South Asians. Join our community at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com. Subscribe to our newsletter to get new episodes and updates on our latest events in your inbox. Follow us @southasiantrailblazers on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify.

    Intel's CLO Aparna Bawa & Author Kamini Ramani: A New Playbook for Powerful Women

  2. Oct 22 ·  Video

    Neerja Birla: The Matriarch Building India's Mental Health Movement

    Simi Shah speaks with Neerja Birla, matriarch of the storied Birla family, about how she's taking on India's most taboo topic: mental health. Content Warning: Mrs. Birla briefly references her work with victims of sexual violence. The reference is contextual and non-graphic. Mrs. Neerja Birla is the Founder & Chairperson of the Aditya Birla Education Trust, the force behind her organization, Mpower. Founded in 2016, Mpower is a full-stack mental health care and advocacy organization serving individuals, schools, corporates, and government across India. One decade later, Mpower has impacted over 180 million lives and delivered more than 300,000 clinical sessions. Today, Mrs. Birla is a global voice on mental health, serving as Global Chair for Mental Health at G100 (Group of 100 Global Women Leaders) and the first Indian representative on Headspace's advisory board. Married at 18 to Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, Mrs. Neerja Birla has spent 37 years at the center of one of India's most storied families. Her most personal work, though, has been building alongside her daughters: Mpower, the mental health organization she co-founded with Ananya Birla, and Ujaas, the menstrual health venture Advaitesha Birla started at 17. She dives into how she approaches leadership, legacy, and the thesis the entire movement rests on: mental health does not discriminate — not by age, gender, geography, nor how much a person has in their bank account. Catch up on our conversation with her daughter: business leader, artist, mental health advocate, Ananya Birla, from March 2026. IN THIS EPISODE: Why Mrs. Birla chose mental health advocacy over every other cause she could have taken onBuilding Mpower and challenging India's deep mental health stigmaWhy wealth and privilege do not protect against mental health strugglesParenting across generations and raising independent daughters at the center of a dynastic familyThe opportunities and risks of AI in mental healthcare, from first-layer ChatGPT counselors to the loneliness pandemicExpanding mental health access across the Global SouthMarriage, personal growth, leadership, and the meaning of legacyShe also opens up about being a social entrepreneur, mother, wife, and matriarch from one of India's foremost industrial families; the role of language and culture in mental health care; the loneliness pandemic in the age of AI; and her ambition to build mental health infrastructure in the Global South. ABOUT NEERJA BIRLA — Educationist, Mental Health Advocate & Philanthropist Mrs. Neerja Birla is an Indian educationist, mental health advocate, and philanthropist. Beyond her landmark work in mental health through Mpower — a pioneering initiative under the Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET) — she leads premium educational institutions, including schools designed specifically for children with special needs. She is a powerful voice for empathy, education, and holistic societal change. FOLLOW: Instagram · LinkedIn · Mpower South Asian Trailblazers is an award-winning podcast, community, and agency dedicated to elevating leading South Asians. Join our community at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com. Subscribe to our newsletter to get new episodes and updates on our latest events in your inbox. Follow us @southasiantrailblazers on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify.

    Neerja Birla: The Matriarch Building India's Mental Health Movement

  3. Oct 7 ·  Video

    Founder Garima Shah: How She Scaled a $10M FinTech in 5 Years

    Simi speaks with Garima Shah, Co-founder & President of Biller Genie, on scaling a fintech to $10M+ in revenue. Biller Genie tackles a simple key problem: helping small businesses (SMBs) get paid faster. The company has doubled every year since 2022, and takes the average small business from 47 days to get paid down to 8. In an era where the glorification of venture capital has convinced a generation of founders that revenue is optional, Garima Shah wants to set the record straight on building strong, sustainable businesses...sometimes solving unsexy problems.  From starting her career in door-to-door sales at 19 to entering fintech, Garima shares how those early experiences shaped her approach to entrepreneurship, leadership, and business. Garima also opens up about being a founder, mother, and wife, the importance of communication and soft skills in the age of AI, and her non-profit Brown Girls on a Mission. KEY TOPICS: Why door-to-door sales at 19 was the single most important early-career trainingScaling Biller Genie to $10M+ without raising massive VC roundsWhy the glorification of fundraising is hurting young founders Taking small businesses from 47 days to get paid down to 8 Why human connection and soft skills matter in the age of AI Balancing entrepreneurship, motherhood, and Brown Girls on a MissionABOUT GARIMA SHAH  Co-Founder & President, Biller Genie Born in the UK, raised across the US (Detroit, Chicago, Missouri, Florida), Garima Shah graduated from Boston University at 19 and holds an MBA from Rollins. Before co-founding Biller Genie, she led sales at Bell South, built and sold her own outsourced sales firm, and ran sales for Payment Alliance. Garima is the founder of Brown Girls on a Mission — a giving circle for minority women that has donated over $80,000 and 1,600 volunteer hours in its first year.  FOLLOW GARIMA: Instagram · LinkedIn South Asian Trailblazers is an award-winning podcast, community, and agency dedicated to elevating leading South Asians. Join our community at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com. Subscribe to our newsletter to get new episodes and updates on our latest events in your inbox. Follow us @southasiantrailblazers on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify.

    Founder Garima Shah: How She Scaled a $10M FinTech in 5 Years

  4. Sep 25 ·  Video

    Actor Ankur Rathee: From Princeton to Bollywood and Hollywood, the Road to Best of the Best

    Growing up, Ankur Rathee only saw South Asians on screen playing age-old tropes. This week, he plays Ronak in Netflix's Best of the Best, a South Asian leading man written as a true hero, something Hollywood has rarely put on screen. Simi sits down with Ankur to trace his unconventional journey to acting. It runs from a family of farmers in Haryana, to a California childhood spent reenacting Bollywood dance numbers, to Princeton, where he couldn't stay off the stage.  From there, it's ten years building a career in Bollywood (Four More Shots Please!, Made in Heaven), and now a lead role in a Hollywood studio film with an entirely South Asian cast. IN THIS EPISODE:  Why Ankur has to fight "tooth and nail" to protect his optimism in an industry built on rejection Bollywood vs. Hollywood sets: hierarchy, crew size, jugaad, and red tapeHow we get more South Asian-centric films greenlit His wife, actor Anuja Joshi, and how she's shaped his career Why he calls fame a currency, and what "making it" means to him His advice for college students torn between a corporate career and the arts The two words he wants to define his legacy: spiritual warriorABOUT ANKUR RATHEE Ankur Rathee is an Indian-American actor known for Prime Video's Four More Shots Please!, Zoya Akhtar's Made in Heaven, and Netflix's Best of the Best, where he plays the male lead, Ronak. He was born in India, raised in California and educated at Princeton, and spent a decade working in Bollywood before returning to Hollywood. He is married to actress Anuja Joshi, a fourth-generation artist whose aunt is National Award-winning actress Pallavi Joshi. ABOUT BEST OF THE BEST Netflix. Released September 18, 2026. Directed by Lena Khan. Written by Prashanth Venkataramanujam and Hasan Minhaj. Starring Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Priyanka Kedia, Ankur Rathee, Janina Gavankar, Chaneil Kular, Becky Alex, Shreya Navile, and Hasan Minhaj.  WATCH OUR EPISODE THE CREATORS of BEST OF THE BEST: Hasan Minhaj, Prashanth Venkataramanujam, and Lena Khan. South Asian Trailblazers is an award-winning podcast, community, and agency dedicated to elevating leading South Asians. Join our community at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com. Subscribe to our newsletter to get new episodes and updates on our latest events in your inbox. Follow us @southasiantrailblazers on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify.

    Actor Ankur Rathee: From Princeton to Bollywood and Hollywood, the Road to Best of the Best

  5. Sep 16 ·  Video

    Hasan Minhaj, Lena Khan & Prashanth Venkataramanujam: Inside the Making of Netflix’s Best of the Best — Bringing Bollywood to Hollywood

    Six years ago, Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam asked a question: How has a movie about the South Asian college dance team experience not been made? Together, they made Best of the Best — a coming-of-age comedy about two best friends — played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia — who join their college’s competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team — out Friday, September 18 on Netflix.  Simi speaks with Hasan Minhaj (comedian, producer, actor), Prashanth Venkataramanujam (producer, writer), and director Lena Khan about the journey to bringing Best of the Best — the first movie about the American collegiate Bollywood competitive dance scene — to the big screen. Ultimately, they answer: Can South Asian stories be commercially viable in Hollywood? What does it take to make a story that feels authentic to the community, while still reaching mainstream audiences?  KEY TOPICS: Building an all-Brown ensemble castHow they pushed this movie through the show business ecosystemWhy Maitreyi Ramakrishnan said this film was a first for herHasan Minhaj on collegiate Bollywood dance being "an American art form"The moment Lena Khan knew the community had arrivedWhat Hasan learned from Dev Patel about chasing bold, audacious risksABOUT HASAN MINHAJ — Comedian, Writer, and Actor Best known as the creator and host of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj and his OG special Homecoming King, He’s a former Daily Show correspondent and toured with shows: The King’s Jester, Off With His Head, and Hasan Hates Ronny. Through his production company, 186K Films, he wrote Best of the Best with longtime collaborator Prashanth and stars in the film as Professor Hamza Latif.  He is an investor in Kolkata Chai Co — whose founders we had on the podcast last season! FOLLOW: Instagram  ABOUT LENA KHAN — Director Known for films like Tiger Hunter, Flora & Ulysses, and directing episodes of Never Have I Ever, which featured Best of the Best star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, she is the director of Best of the Best. FOLLOW: Instagram ABOUT PRASHANTH VENKATARAMANUJAM — Writer and Producer Prashanth has been Hasan’s creative collaborator for over 15 years. He co-created Patriot Act, The King’s Jester, Off With His Head, and Hasan Hates Ronny. And he co-wrote and produced Best of the Best alongside Hasan under 186K Films. His credits include Billy Nye Saves the World and BAIT. FOLLOW: Instagram South Asian Trailblazers is an award-winning podcast, community, and agency dedicated to elevating leading South Asians. Join our community at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com. Subscribe to our newsletter to get new episodes and updates on our latest events in your inbox. Follow us @southasiantrailblazers on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify.

    Hasan Minhaj, Lena Khan & Prashanth Venkataramanujam: Inside the Making of Netflix’s Best of the Best — Bringing Bollywood to Hollywood

  6. Jul 1

    Karan Bhagat: How India Creates & Passes On Wealth | CEO of 360 ONE, India's Leading Wealth Manager

    Simi speaks with Karan Bhagat, Founder and CEO of 360 ONE — one of India's largest wealth and asset management firms, advising nearly 9,000 of the country's top families with almost $80 billion in assets under management, including industrialists, tech founders, Bollywood stars, cricketers, and some of India's most prominent public figures. Recorded at the India Conference at Harvard, this conversation traces Karan Bhagat's extraordinary journey from cold-calling Delhi's wealthiest families at age 25 to building a firm that just partnered with UBS. Karan Bhagat shares how he built 360 ONE with $3 million in seed capital during the 2008 financial crisis, why adversity became his greatest advantage, and his conviction that true wealth is created only by building your own business. He explains why global banks like Goldman Sachs and UBS have struggled to crack India's wealth management market, opens up about generational wealth in India, and walks through the P-multiple formula that reframed his understanding of success in entrepreneurship. KEY TOPICS: How 360 ONE came to advise 9,000 of India's top families — including industrialists, Bollywood stars, and cricketers — with trust at scaleBuilding India's largest wealth management firm from $3M in seed capital to $80B in assetsThe real difference between wealth creation and wealth optimizationWhy global banks like UBS and Goldman Sachs have struggled in IndiaGenerational wealth transfer and the "third generation" myth in Indian familiesHard work, hustle, and the "special sauce" that separates the top 50 from 2,000What does Karan Bhagat believe about wealth creation — and why does he say you can only build wealth through your own business?What the P-multiple is and how it impacts Karan Bhagat's view on entrepreneurshipABOUT KARAN BHAGAT: Karan Bhagat is the Founder, Managing Director, and CEO of 360 ONE WAM, one of India's largest wealth and asset management firms. Under his leadership, 360 ONE has grown to manage approximately $80 billion in assets across nearly 9,000 families. Karan Bhagat began his career at Kotak Securities in 2001 and co-founded IIFL Wealth Management in 2008, which rebranded to 360 ONE in 2023. He forged a strategic collaboration with UBS in 2025. A Fortune India 40 Under 40 honoree and EY Entrepreneur of the Year (Services, 2025), Karan Bhagat holds an MBA from IIM Bangalore. FOLLOW: KARAN BHAGAT Instagram |  X | LinkedIn 360 ONE Website | Instagram | X | YouTube | LinkedIn South Asian Trailblazers is an award-winning podcast, community, and agency dedicated to elevating leading South Asians. Join our community at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com. Subscribe to our newsletter to get new episodes and updates on our latest events in your inbox. Follow us @southasiantrailblazers on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify.

    Karan Bhagat: How India Creates & Passes On Wealth | CEO of 360 ONE, India's Leading Wealth Manager

  7. Jun 17

    Sakshi Sindwani: The Curve Model & Creator Redefining Beauty Standards in Indian Couture

    Sakshi Sindwani is one of India's most prominent curve models, content creators, and body-positivity advocates who has built a community of 700,000 women. In 2021, she became the first curve model to appear in a Manish Malhotra bridal couture campaign, and in 2026, the first Indian creator to walk the Grammys red carpet.  Recorded at the India Conference at Harvard, Simi's conversation traces Sakshi's path from growing up hearing "You're fat, you're never going to be worthy of love" to embodying self-love and normalizing representation among India's biggest fashion houses. Sakshi shares the behind-the-scenes hustle most people never see: cold-calling designers to put herself on the runway at Dubai Fashion Week and why she believes inclusivity still needs to transcend surface-level representation. She opens up about the mother-daughter encounter that changed how she measures success, why she dropped her famous handle to reclaim her real name in 2026, and the message she has for every young woman: the quirks people criticize will become the strengths that carry you far and forward. KEY TOPICS: Making history as the first Indian creator at the Grammys in custom Manish Malhotra coutureFighting tokenism and normalizing inclusivity in Indian and global fashionBuilding a 700K female community through authenticity vs. viralityThe hustle behind Dubai Fashion Week, Forbes, and global platformsSelf-love, identity, and the message young South Asian women need to hearABOUT SAKSHI SINDWANI: Sakshi is a curve model & creator redefining beauty standards in Indian couture. She has walked for fashion houses including Manish Malhotra, Gaurav Gupta, and Papa Don't Preach, and partnered with brands like L'Oréal, Johnnie Walker, H&M, and Swarovski. She has walked red carpets at the Grammys, the Cannes Film Festival, and Paris Fashion Week. She is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, has walked Lakme Fashion Week and three shows at Dubai Fashion Week, and commands a powerful community of women as a creator. Originally from Delhi, Sakshi launched her channel in 2015 and broke out during COVID under the handle @StyleMeUpWithSakshi before rebranding to her given name in 2026. Follow Sakshi: Instagram | YouTubeSouth Asian Trailblazers is an award-winning podcast, community, and agency dedicated to elevating leading South Asians. Join our community at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com. Subscribe to our newsletter to get new episodes and updates on our latest events in your inbox. Follow us @southasiantrailblazers on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify.

    Sakshi Sindwani: The Curve Model & Creator Redefining Beauty Standards in Indian Couture

  8. Jun 3

    Sid Sriram: A.R. Rahman's Protégé & Coachella's 1st South Indian Artist on How We Get Our "Bad Bunny" Moment

    Simi Shah sits down with Sid Sriram — one of the most distinct voices in global music — for a live-recorded conversation at Harvard. Born in Chennai, raised in Fremont, trained at Berklee, mentored by A.R. Rahman, Sid Sriram has spent 15+ years alchemizing Carnatic and R&B music and putting Eastern and Western music "in conversation with each other." He was the first South Indian artist to perform at Coachella and took NPR's Tiny Desk by storm. With over 3.8 billion+ Spotify streams alone, Sid Sriram opens up about his journey through three worlds of music — Carnatic, playback singing, and original — as well as the highs and profound lows that shaped his trajectory: from his first collaboration with the legendary A.R. Rahman to the profound ego death he faced in Covid. Inside Sid reveals speaks to AI in music; the levitating sensation he first felt singing for the first time; how he's surmounted the classic traps around celebrity; and the path for South Asian artists to break through globally. He also teases a very special, unreleased song. KEY TOPICS: How cold emailing A.R. Rahman from his college dorm set him on a journey to 3.8 billion streamsHis career across three worlds of music: Carnatic, playback singing, and his original soundWhy AI is the first thing that's made Sid Sriram feel like an "old head"The buzzing, levitating sensation that's been Sid Sriram's north star since age sixThe Bad Bunny Super Bowl moment — and what it's actually going to take for South Asian artists to get thereABOUT SID SRIRAM: Sid Sriram is a singer, songwriter, and producer whose work bridges Carnatic music, R&B, and soul. Born in Chennai and raised in Fremont, California, he trained at Berklee College of Music and got his start as a playback singer in 2012 when A.R. Rahman called him to record "Adiye" for the Tamil film Kadal. He has since become one of India's most-streamed artists with 3.8 billion+ Spotify plays. Sid Sriram's original work — including the recent single "Soul" and a forthcoming album — represents what he calls the "kaleidoscope" of all his influences finally existing within each other. He is widely credited with helping shape the modern wave of Indian creators putting their roots in conversation with global sound. Follow: @sidsriram Recorded live at the India Conference at Harvard. South Asian Trailblazers is an award-winning podcast, community, and agency dedicated to elevating leading South Asians. Join our community at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com. Subscribe to our newsletter to get new episodes and updates on our latest events in your inbox. Follow us @southasiantrailblazers on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify.

    Sid Sriram: A.R. Rahman's Protégé & Coachella's 1st South Indian Artist on How We Get Our "Bad Bunny" Moment
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Diving deep into the journeys of trailblazing South Asians. To date, Host Simi Shah has interviewed Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Zarna Garg, Raj Shamani, Ananya Birla, Vas Narasimhan -- from founders to Fortune 300 CEOs, comedians to congressmen. Learn more at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com.

Information

  • Creator
    Simi Shah | Trailblazers Media
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    97
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 South Asian Trailblazers
  • Show Website
    South Asian Trailblazers

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