South Asian Trailblazers

Episodios

• Karan Bhagat: How India Creates & Passes On Wealth | CEO of 360 ONE, India's Leading Wealth Manager 01.07.2026 29m

  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 a...
• Sakshi Sindwani: The Curve Model & Creator Redefining Beauty Standards in Indian Couture 17.06.2026 25m

  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 e...
• Sid Sriram: A.R. Rahman's Protégé & Coachella's 1st South Indian Artist on How We Get Our "Bad Bunny" Moment 03.06.2026 35m

  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 alon...
• Masoom Minawala: India's Original Influencer on Authenticity in the Age of AI, Motherhood & Why India Is Undervalued | South Asian Trailblazers 20.05.2026 46m

  Simi speaks with Masoom Minawala — one of India's pioneering influencers. Masoom bet her career on the internet at 17, starting her fashion blog Miss Style Fiesta in 2010, a decade before the world knew what an influencer was. She became the first Indian content creator to walk at Milan Fashion Week, a fixture on the Cannes red carpet, and has collaborated with over 500 brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Hermès. She also launched the #SupportIndianDesigners movement that generated 300...
• South Asians in Sephora — Diipa Büller-Khosla, Lisa Mattam, Nisha Phatak, Rooshy Roy (Live Panel) 07.05.2026 1h 37m

  In a first-ever live multi-founder panel from South Asian Trailblazers, Simi Shah sits with 4 South Asian beauty founders at the vanguard of South Asian-inspired beauty: Diipa Büller Khosla (indē wild), Rooshy Roy (Aavrani), Nisha Phatak (Lion Pose), and Lisa Mattam (Sahajan). The conversation was born from a single line. When Rooshy returned to Trailblazers to announce Aavrani's acquisition, Simi asked about whether the dynamics with other founders were collaborative or competitive. Her resp...
• Raj Shamani: On Building the #1 Podcast in India and Soon, the World 10.04.2026 56m

  Simi speaks with Raj Shamani — India's #1 podcaster, ranked #25 in the world — in a special live-recorded episode in New York City. Across 540+ episodes, 15 million subscribers, 400 million annual views, the Host of Figuring Out, Raj Shamani, has interviewed Bill Gates, President of France Emmanuel Macron, Aamir Khan, MS Dhoni, MrBeast, Vijay Mallya, and several other notable figures. Raj speaks primarily in English with moments of Hindi throughout — subtitles on YouTube. But here's what make...
• Revathi Advaithi: From the Factory Floor to Fortune 500 CEO of Flex 24.03.2026 1h 23m

  Simi speaks with Revathi Advaithi, CEO of Flex — a $24 billion global manufacturing company that builds the critical infrastructure behind AI, cloud, healthcare, and automotive. Flex operates in 30 countries with over 140,000 employees, and under Revathi's leadership, the stock has soared from ~$7 to over $60. Revathi started her career on a factory floor in small town Shawnee, Oklahoma. She is the youngest of five sisters and lost her father at the tender age of 15 in India. After nearly fai...
• Ananya Birla: Carving Her Own Path inside the Multi-Billion Dollar Birla Dynasty 10.03.2026 54m

  Simi sits down with Ananya Birla, business leader, artist, mental health advocate, and 7th-generation scion of one of India's oldest and most storied family businesses — the Aditya Birla Group. Ananya is building across more industries than most people will touch in a lifetime. At 17, she founded what is now India's second-largest microfinance institution. After dropping out of Oxford to pursue music, she became the first Indian artist to go platinum with an English single. A consummate multi...
• Priyanka Chopra and Anjula Acharia: The Partnership Powering Priyanka's Global Stardom from Bollywood to Hollywood 22.02.2026 30m

  Simi sits down with power duo Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Anjula Acharia — like you've NEVER seen them before. In this first-of-its-kind conversation, Priyanka and Anjula — best friends and business partners of 15 years — sit down together to tell the full story of how they built one of the most extraordinary careers in global entertainment. 15 years ago, Priyanka was searching for her next chapter in Bollywood. Anjula, a VC investor with a knack for spotting unicorns, saw something the rest o...
• AAVRANI has been Acquired: Founder Rooshy Roy on Exiting her Beauty Brand 10.02.2026 1h 9m

  AAVRANI has been acquired — and founder Rooshy Roy shares the full story for the first time on South Asian Trailblazers. Six years ago, in Season 1 (2020), Rooshy first sat down with Simi as a freshly-funded, newly-married Forbes 30 Under 30 founder building one of the first beauty brands rooted in Indian heritage. Today, she becomes the first trailblazer to ever return to the podcast — here to share the end of her nine-year journey bringing Indian Ayurveda-inspired beauty to the world. In ...
• U.S. Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi, Shri Thanedar, & Suhas Subramanyam 25.09.2025 52m

  U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Representative Shri Thanedar (MI-13), and Representative Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10) join South Asian Trailblazers Host Simi Shah for a timely and wide-ranging conversation live from the Impact Summit 2025 in Washington, D.C. WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE. On this special panel concluding Season 8, we dive into: 💬 How increased political violence is shaping their leadership 💬 The urgent need for immigration reform and protections for our community 💬 Comb...
• Ani and Ayan Sanyal, Founders of Kolkata Chai Co. 09.09.2025 1h 2m

  Brothers Ani and Ayan Sanyal, Co-founders of Kolkata Chai Co., join Host Simi Shah ahead of National Chai Day for a conversation around building one of the most iconic South Asian brands in America. WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE. What started as a side hustle in 2018 is now an 8-figure empire spanning viral NYC cafés, a booming e-commerce arm, and a cult following. The Bengali-American brothers have build a fast-growing food & beverage brand bringing authentic masala chai to the Western world, winn...
• Karishma Mehta, Founder of Humans of Bombay 18.08.2025 42m

  All the way from Mumbai 🇮🇳✈️ our latest LIVE ✨podcast features Karishma Mehta: Founder & CEO of Humans of Bombay, India’s largest storytelling platform. This memorable live conversation from June 2024 is finally here. WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE. Born and raised in Mumbai, Karishma launched Humans of Bombay at just 21. Over the past decade, she has grown it into India’s largest storytelling platform — spanning a photo blog, YouTube series, podcasts, books, and an agency — sharing thousands ...
• Ali Sethi, Musician 05.08.2025 1h 10m

  Globally-acclaimed Singer, Songwriter, and Author ‪Ali Sethi sits down with South Asian Trailblazers Host Simi Shah for a deeply personal podcast conversation on the heels of his debut solo album #LoveLanguage. WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE. Born in Lahore, educated at Harvard University and currently based in New York, he studied under acclaimed mentors across musical genres before rising to international acclaim with his viral hit “Pasoori,” which has surpassed a billion streams. From ghazals to regg...
• Vir Das, Comedian & Actor 20.07.2025 1h 5m

  On the night his new Netflix special Full Volume hits screens, global comedy icon Vir Das sits down with South Asian Trailblazers Host Simi Shah for an unforgettable podcast live-recorded at the ‪Asia Society of New York. WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE. 🎧 This is Vir Das off-script — raw, real, and as per always, hilarious. Born in Dehradun, raised in Lagos, and educated everywhere from Delhi to Knox College in Illinois, Vir Das is definitionally global. He has traversed Hindi cinema and inspired ...
• Sandeep Acharya, Founder and CEO of Octave Health 01.04.2025 42m

  On today’s episode, I’m joined by Sandeep Acharya — Founder and CEO of Octave, a company that’s quietly but powerfully transforming how we experience mental health care in America. WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE. Under his leadership, Octave has partnered with major insurers to make high-quality, affordable therapy accessible across 23 states. It’s been named a LinkedIn Top Startup and one of the best places to work in the country. Before founding Octave, Sandeep wore many hats: investor at Bain Capit...
• Dilawar Syed, U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Deputy Administrator 21.03.2025 52m

  On the nostalgic grounds of their shared alma mater, Wharton, Simi speaks with Dilawar Syed, the Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). A role he was nominated into by President Biden, Administrator Syed was the highest-ranking Muslim official in the U.S. Government at the time of this recording. WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE. Syed came to the SBA from the State Department where he served as Special Representative for Commercial & Business Affairs. As the State Depart...
• South Asian Trailblazers at The Oscars: Mindy Kaling, Charithra Chandran, Manish Dayal, Deli Boys 03.03.2025 25m

  South Asian Trailblazers at the Oscars 🏆 WATCH this episode HERE. Founder & Host, Simi Shah, takes us inside a celebration of South Asian excellence at the 2025 Academy Awards. She speaks with trailblazers across generations and genres about their journeys to the hallowed halls of Hollywood. Join us for interviews with and speeches from this Oscars Pre-Party! Interviews Charithra Chandran, Actor | Bridgerton, One PieceSaagar Shaikh, Actor | Deli Boys, Ms. MarvelManish Dayal, Actor | The ...
• SPECIAL LIVE: Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement 17.12.2024 1h 21m

  In this special edition of South Asian Trailblazers, Simi Shah hosts a LIVE podcast with Gurbir S. Grewal — the Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement and former Attorney General of New Jersey — at the law offices of Morrison Foerster in New York City. WATCH this episode on YouTube. This event was proudly hosted in partnership with global law firm, Morrison Foerster and The South Asian Bar Association of New York (SABANY). SABANY is an organization devoted to the needs, concerns...
• SPECIAL LIVE: Jay Sean, Multi-platinum Artist, Entrepreneur, & Record Label Executive 03.12.2024 1h 22m

  In this special, LIVE-recorded edition of South Asian Trailblazers, Host Simi Shah kicks off Season 8 with Jay Sean — multi-platinum artist, entrepreneur, and record label executive. WATCH this and EVERY FUTURE episode on YouTube. South Asian Trailblazers is an award-winning media platform, community, and agency dedicated to elevating leading South Asians. Join our community at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com. This special live episode was proudly hosted in partnership with Boston Consulting G...