💡 In this episode, we talk about: Rashmi's journey pre-Arun Revolution and what led her to leave the corporate world to build a climate solution rooted in equity What most menstrual pads are really made of—and why that’s harmful The science behind Aruna’s compostable pads and ethical supply chain Period cups vs. pads: Pros, cons, and finding what works for you How Aruna Revolution is scaling across Canada and beyond The surprising challenges (and joys) of innovating in taboo spaces Plus, don’t ...
Jun 30, 2025•35 min•Season 4Ep. 9
In this episode of Chai Break , we dive into the world of regenerative fashion with Aishwarya Lahariya , textile scientist and founder of Jiwya , a 100% plant-based clothing brand based in India. Aishwarya shares how her background in chemistry, sustainability research, and passion for ethical design led her to create a fashion label rooted in zero-waste living , artisan empowerment , and soil-to-soil systems . If you're curious about the real impact of your clothes—from water usage to labor eth...
May 15, 2025•51 min•Season 4Ep. 8
In this inspiring episode of the Chai Break Podcast , I'm joined by Shivani Ramesh —a Strategy & Implementation Analyst at ENGIE Impact , environmental engineer, and passionate sustainability advocate. Shivani takes us on a journey from her roots in India to her career in global decarbonization, offering practical wisdom for anyone grappling with climate anxiety and wondering, “What can I do?” We explore the power of bite-sized climate action —small, intentional steps we can take in our home...
Apr 09, 2025•40 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Deepti Kharbanda’s Journey to Sustainable Living In this engaging episode of the Chai Break Podcast,I Shwetha Ravishanakr reconnects with longtime college friend Deepti Kharbanda, Chief Sales Officer at Bare Necessities, as she shares her inspiring journey toward a zero-waste lifestyle and sustainable living. From her early days in Bangalore to becoming a passionate sustainability advocate, Deepti reveals how everyday habits—like carrying a reusable water bottle and composting—can make a big imp...
Mar 04, 2025•38 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Samudra, Seaweed, and a Sustainable Future with Joyeeta Das 🌊🌱 Hello, hello! Welcome back to the Chai Break Podcast, where we sip chai and spill the tea on the world’s most pressing issues. And today, we’re diving deep—literally—into the future of sustainability. We all know climate change isn’t a far-off crisis; it’s here, now. But what if the key to reversing its effects wasn’t just on land but in the ocean ? Enter Joyeeta Das , a powerhouse in deep tech, AI, and climate solutions , and the ...
Jan 31, 2025•50 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Breaking Barriers with Sukanya Punthambekar, Co-Founder of Breaking In this episode of The Chai Break Podcast , we dive into one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time: plastic pollution. Did you know that humanity has produced over 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic since the 1950s? Only about 9% of that has been recycled, with millions of tons ending up in our oceans each year. On a mission to combat this crisis is today’s guest: Sukanya Punthambekar, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO o...
Jan 10, 2025•24 min•Season 4Ep. 4
In this episode of the Chai Break Podcast , we dive into the transformative power of education with Sumana Shetty , co-founder of Commit2Change . Sumana shares her inspiring journey from her early days in Bangalore to leading a nonprofit focused on empowering underprivileged girls in India and South Asia. Through innovative programs and a custom curriculum, Commit2Change is creating sustainable change, one girl at a time. Key Highlights: Sumana’s journey from Bangalore to the United States and h...
Dec 11, 2024•26 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Welcome to Season 4 of the Chai Break Podcast. In this episode of the Chai Break Podcast , we dive into the world of climate-conscious gifting with Prateeksha Chandraghatgi , founder of Greenr Gifts . With a tech background at industry giants like Yahoo and Microsoft, Prateeksha shifted her path to build a business rooted in sustainability and meaningful impact. Greenr Gifts enables climate-positive gifting by partnering with reforestation organizations worldwide, allowing individuals and busine...
Nov 15, 2024•32 min•Season 4Ep. 1
We're in #chaiversation with Ektha Aggarwal, a licensed clinical health worker, Ektha is a distinguished mental health leader, pioneering holistic therapies at Shakti Therapy and Healing Services , and addressing the unique needs of the South Asian community as the Founder of Jiva Mental Health . She combines ancient Eastern practices with modern science to deeply heal and transform lives, focusing on sustainable mental wellness rather than temporary solutions. We talk to her about her "holistic...
Jul 24, 2024•30 min•Season 3Ep. 10
4 women, 4 unique experiences - this episode is unlike anything we've done in the past. To begin, Shwetha hadn't even heard of peri-menopause until Rema, who's actively in the throws of it, mentioned it to her. It was then that it occurred to us that this is yet another swept-under-the-rug, rarely talked-about phenomenon and that we need to hear from more women. In this episode, we feature: The lovely founders of the very popular NRI Woman Podcast, Bettina Tauro & Ninorah Fernandes Brookshir...
May 22, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 3Ep. 9
We're in #chaiversation with Seema of the Mindful Parent and Child Journals. Seema shares with us why she started this venture, her self-publishing journey, and how the journal can benefit you, your child, and the overall harmony of your home and family dynamics. You can find The Mindful Parent and Child On Instagram On Etsy Chaiversations.org...
Apr 24, 2024•29 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Meet, Mrinal Gokhale, an Indian-American writer who began her career as a freelance journalist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the most segregated city in the United States. She reported on Mental Health Awareness Month events for Hispanic and African-American publications as part of her work. She realized that these conversations were lacking in Asian and South Asian representation. To increase education and acceptance of mental health among South Asian generations, while also showing non-South Asians...
Mar 28, 2024•32 min•Season 3Ep. 7
So far in this season, we have been talking about normalizing conversations around mental health and we’ve also talked about the fact that seeking professional help isn’t always tied to big life events. In this episode, we talk to Shruthi Bharath about one of the biggest life-changing times in a woman’s life - motherhood. We delve into those vulnerable, often loney moments of early motherhood and the challenges it presents. Here are some of the topics we discuss Early motherhood challenges and h...
Mar 07, 2024•35 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Dr. Monica Shah is a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist based in Manhattan. She specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT).
Feb 15, 2024•36 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Chapter 1: What is Good Girl Syndrome? How the phrase "good girl" is ingrained in the vocabulary of our Indian culture and where it stems from? Shwetha & Rema share anecdotes from their personal experiences. Chapter 2: The personality and mental health implications of "good girl syndrome" Chapter 3: Shwetha & Rema answer a series of questions to find out if they have Good Girl Syndrome and you can play along too. chaiversations.org...
Jan 24, 2024•33 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Our guest today is Kareena Mehta , a mental health professional with a B.A. in Psychology from Bryn Mawr College and further education from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she earned an Ed.M. in Mental Health Counseling and an M.A. in Psychological Counseling. Kareena brings with her a plethora of cross-cultural experiences, both from her own personal life growing up in Belgium, moving to India and then the USA; as well as professionally, wherein her clients are spread throughout th...
Nov 29, 2023•44 min•Season 3Ep. 3
We discuss the barriers we faced whilst trying to access mental health services in the US, and South Asian organizations that are doing the groundwork in creating databases of a network of therapists and services, Plus, Rema shares a few ground-breaking mental health books that were a huge part of her journey. We hope you enjoy this episode! You can check out our website chaiversations.org and Subscribe to our monthly Substack Newsletter chaibreakpodcast.substack.com...
Nov 15, 2023•22 min•Season 3Ep. 2
We, Shwetha & Rema, address the elephant in the room - mental health and well-being by sharing our own personal journey of how/why/what got us to seek professional help. It's raw, it's real and it's just the beginning of a power-packed season of personal stories, chaiversations with expert guests, and continuing the chaiversation online via Instagram and the launch of our Substack Newsletter.Sign up for our newsletter via our website chaiversations.org or at chaibreakpodcast.substack.com for...
Oct 10, 2023•33 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Jashima Wadehra is the co-founder and CEO of Ode, a brand strategy, talent management and business development firm catering predominantly to children of immigrant brands, businesses and artists. While companies rely on third-party metrics, Jashima specializes in taking a “lived experience meets data” approach to representing talent and brands. Specifically from communities whose consumption patterns and preferences are often not aggregated by general marketing data firms or cultural nuances tha...
Feb 09, 2023•48 min•Season 2Ep. 15
With a background in behavioral psychology, Chandani wears many hats. From co-founding a marketing tech agency to more recently becoming an angel investor and venture capitalist, she is here to talk to us about the world of finance and importance of financial wellness in the South Asian space. In our chaiversation, we talk to her about the journey to entering a largely man's world AKA the world of finance. She gives listeners handy tips on investing, and how to navigate a world that is somewhat ...
Jan 13, 2023•31 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Amrita Doshi, is the co-founder and Executive Director of South Asian SOAR, a national organization dedicated to ending gender-based violence in the US, within the South Asian diaspora. She is deeply committed to advancing healing and justice for South Asian survivors and communities. Amrita comes to this work with her own experiences of survivorship as well as several years of work across public health, technology, and art. chaiversations.org
Dec 29, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Today’s episode is all about how one woman’s mission to share the truth turned into a 40 thousand strong following. From gender inclusivity, fighting the patriarchy, breaking stigma, supporting marginalized voices and curating South Asian content beyond the ordinary, Divya Soneji, Founder of South Asian Nation, has made it her life mantra to use her platform and voice for the greater good.
Dec 15, 2022•36 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Mental health in the South Asian community has always been taboo. Although we've made great strides, we still have ways to go in normalizing conversations around going to therapy/seeking professional help, not just when you experience a life changing event, but on a regular basis, it's like taking your vitamins! Our chaiversation this week is with Ragini Jha, a trained counselor, based in the UK, she specializes in the area of cultural-relations and cognitive behavioral therapy, focused in the S...
Dec 02, 2022•36 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Niha Elety is a sustainable fashion advocate and designer/founder of Tega Collective. She uses fashion, art and heritage to bring awareness about sustainability and its importance. When joining the sustainability space full of advocates and leaders, Niha noticed that there weren't many discussions about culture and ancestral knowledge. Since then her goal has been to bring inclusivity and a variety of perspectives from BIPOC creators (the original sustainability leaders) to the environmental mov...
Oct 20, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 10
In this episode, we chat with Indian-American actress Anjali Bhimani , so much talent packed in one person, its astounding! Her "why not me" attitude helped her pave a unique path in a world where she did not see representation, so she decided to lead the way and not be bogged down by rejections! From the world of TV, theatre, film, virtual gaming world, voice over — you name and she has delved deep into each of these mediums and excelled in it, no less! And today, she adds yet another feather t...
Sep 26, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 9
As a chalk carver and Arthropod curator, Anjali has spent over a decade carefully weaving her interests around the natural world. Along with practicing ways of permaculture, she intends to inherit her values from the balancing forces of Gaia and other elements. She is on a quest to bridge the loopholes in the community using her interdisciplinary art skills to narrate diverse thought-provoking subjects. Her research on eco-socialism with the tribal communities has helped her understand the impor...
Sep 08, 2022•40 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Born and raised in Vijayawada, India, Shravya moved to Brooklyn in 2015 and graduated from the School of Visual Arts with an MPS in Photography. Captivated by oral histories and how they can shape a culture, her work is an exploration of home, identity and personal space largely focuses on the intimate and interpersonal stories of people of color and of queer people. In this chai-versation, we talk about her journey to America and how she created a niche for herself and her tales of trials and t...
Aug 25, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Shilpa Bhim is the founder of Glowreel, a media startup dedicated to celebrating the achievements and amplifying the stories of BIPOC, Black, Indigenous, and people of color women. Through Glowreel, Shilpa's aim is to ensure current and future generations of BIPOC women feel represented, empowered and inspired to blaze their own trail! We talk to Shilpa about how it was like growing up brown in Kiwi land, her career in Social reform and policy and what led to her eventually starting Glowreel and...
Aug 03, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 6
An Architect/ Airport-Designer by training she turned social entrepreneur when she founded Eight Thousand Miles - a sustainable ethically handmade line of children's & adults lifestyle collection, that places social impact at the core of its business model, in 2014, in Mumbai, India. Convinced that life is led best between both her antipodal homes, Mumbai and New York, she is often found shuttling the very miles that inspired the name of her company. When not in either city, she loves galliv...
Jul 20, 2022•48 min•Season 2Ep. 5
The word “perfect” has somehow become the ideal that we’re all constantly striving for. The perfect vacation, the perfect dress, the perfectly behaved children and the list goes on. I know we’ve all been guilty of that at some point! Honestly, the word “perfect” can be quite exhausting. It makes life itself feel like a race to reach an ideal that is almost impossible! In this episode, we discuss both ends of the scale. What is perfectionism? And are we as a generation setting ourselves up for fa...
Jun 22, 2022•37 min•Season 2Ep. 4
