“A powerhouse show led by desi women who weren't afraid, and the response has been phenomenal.” Today’s women dreamers, Annika Sharma and Nehal Tenany, are the founders of The Woke Desi, a podcast series touching on the most pressing South Asian topics, from dating, identity, beauty standards, societal norms, and more. In this interview, they share how they came together, believe it or not, from a post in a Facebook group, to launch this podcast, the need they saw, and experiences growing up as South Asian Americans.

1) Tell us your story. What inspired you to launch the Woke Desi podcast? What is the best part of doing this podcast together?

We started The Woke Desi as a place to come together and have a chat with girlfriends about all the South Asian issues that have been whispered about, but not openly discussed in our communities. We believed conversation, honesty, and warmth would create an environment for acceptance and less stigmatization - and we were right! We've done episodes on infertility, LGBTQ+ health, body positivity, mental health, systemic racism, colorism, Indo-Caribbean identity and so many more! It's opened up our own minds, and the eyes of our listeners as well - we grow together and that's been magical. How did we start it? Believe it or not, a Facebook post! Annika posted in a giant South Asian women's group and got a ton of responses, which she whittled down to a few, including Nehal, whose sparkly personality, marketing experience and general brilliance stood out from the start. We've only met twice in person - and we're best friends now! That's what makes this so fun - we are different and exactly the same person...and we're both ambitious, driven, passionate and we hold each other accountable. But we also have 8 years between us (and during the millennial years, when the internet blew up, that's huge), different interests, and personalities that are two sides of the same coin. It takes a ton of trust to build a business with someone, and we couldn't have found better partners (along with our producer, Sridhar) to go on this journey with, and to start a company with! We LLC'd this past March, which was a huge step forward and a giant statement of trust.

2) What was the need you saw for this podcast? What was the response you have seen from the South Asian community?

The podcasting sphere, at the time, was very white. Incredibly powerful platforms like Brown Girl Magazine and Pink Ladoo Project, among others, had risen up and connected brown people globally, but the audio experience and conversational space was still sparse. Mamata Venkat, Annika's best friend (and host of The Unexpected Gurus podcast) told her she had a lot to say and should start a show...and it planted the seed for a show that was part Sex and the City, part The Real - a powerhouse show led by desi women who weren't afraid. And the response has been phenomenal - we've been featured in segments on the BBC, Times of India, Scroll.in, Brown Girl Magazine, and have been speakers at ViacomCBS. It's been an amazing ride and we're just getting started.

3) You recently did a piece on minority stress, a topic many young South Asians can relate to. Tell us more about this topic, and your experiences with it.

Nehal: The concept of Minority Stress Theory circles around the idea that minority populations (people of color, immigrants, LGBTQIA, disability, etc.) face higher amounts of stress as they become more marginalized, because they're facing higher amounts of discrimination and stereotyping. For example, a black LGBTQIA person with a disability may face significantly higher numbers of discriminatory experiences than, say, a white, straight, cis-gender man with no disabilities...which then leads to poorer health outcomes. For South Asians, specifically, this can often come from societal pressure, being a minority and seen as "brown" in a white country, being mocked for their culture or traditions, which can then lead to higher amounts of stress and thereby lead to worse health. Add in sexuality, disabilities, gender, colorism, and with every additional factor, a South Asian may face higher stress.

Annika: My experiences started young - I had moved and ended up at a very white school after previously being at a very diverse one. After being made fun of for my Indian food and the way I pronounced certain words, I began getting stomach aches from stress, which then led to lots of visits to the nurse's office and missing school, and my grades slipped a bit. There are much bigger examples on larger scales for people in the South Asian community - but it illustrates that the more a minority falls to the outside of a group, the more consequences they face and the heavier burden they carry.

4) What was a favorite episode to record? Was there a particular guest or topic you are most proud of?

This answer changes from day to day! We both loved the Indo-Caribbean identity episode - we didn't know this crucial element of Indian history, that people were taken or forced into indentured servitude and taken to the Caribbean where they were forced to give up their roots and hung on to them for dear life in secrecy...now they're ostracized from our communities but also identify as South Asian. It was eye-opening. We've also loved doing all the mental health episodes. South Asian communities don't discuss the wide spectrum of mental health enough, accept that it's an issue, or recognize their own generational trauma to keep it from passing on. It's ingrained in the immigrant, "Put your head down and work," mentality. Addressing those missing pieces is huge and we're so happy to be a part of that conversation.

5) As #Dreamcatchers, we have to ask, what is your next big dream?

To keep expanding, growing, and learning, to go on a world tour, to partner with amazing South Asian brands, to create platforms that are meaningful and powerful, and on personal notes, Annika is an agented and published author and wants to be a bestseller, while Nehal is a successful blogger who would love to host a talk show (on television!).

Thank You Ladies for Sharing Your Exciting Journey with Us! We are excited to have you in our global women’s network!

WHO WE ARE

WOMEN WHO WIN IS THE GLOBAL ONLINE MEDIA PLATFORM AND NETWORKING GROUP FOR WOMEN, WHERE WE SHARE THE DREAMS OF DYNAMIC WOMEN ACROSS THE WORLD, AND THE INSPIRATIONAL SECRETS BEHIND THEIR SUCCESS.

CO-FOUNDED BY DR. MANJU SHETH, A PHYSICIAN, COMMUNITY LEADER, AND WELL-KNOWN MEDIA PERSONALITY IN BOSTON. SHE IS THE CREATOR OF THE CHAI WITH MANJU INTERVIEW SERIES, AND PRESTIGIOUS NEW ENGLAND CHOICE AWARDS.

CO-FOUNDED BY DR. DEEPA JHAVERI, AN EXPERIENCED PODIATRIST AND LEADER OF THE PRESTIGIOUS INDIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION IN BOSTON.

AND CO-FOUNDED BY SHALEEN SHETH, A RECENT GRADUATE OF BABSON COLLEGE. SHE WORKS FOR WAYFAIR IN E-COMMERCE PROGRAM. SHE IS A FINANCE MAJOR INTERESTED IN FIN-TECH, AND HAS WORKED SEVERAL DIGITAL MARKETING ROLES DURING HER COLLEGE YEARS.

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Bios: Annika's bio: Born a Delhi girl and raised in central Pennsylvania, Annika Sharma followed her Penn State-loving heart to college in Happy Valley. There, she graduated with two Bachelor's degrees in Biobehavioral Health and Neuro-Psychology. After two years of working in early education, she paused for a summer before embarking on her graduate school career, and wrote her first novel, The Rearranged Life, during her time off. Shortly after earning her Master's degree in Early Childhood Special Education, she was signed to Donaghy Literary Agency--a move that landed her a book deal for The Rearranged Life with Curiosity Quills press. The novel was released in 2015. In March of 2017, her three-book series about an Indian-American group of friends, each with their own unique and challenging cultural love stories, was picked up by Sourcebooks. The first of the three books, Love, Chai, & Other Four-Letter Words, will be published in 2021. 

Annika has gone on to earn her MPH from GWU, begin freelance writing and earn a certificate in Brand Management. She currently lives in New York City, working as a health communications manager by day and running a career as an author at night. A Gryffindor and Scorpio, she is a lover of endless conversations, college football, traveling, books, all things related to England, dancing, superhero movies and coffee. 
Nehal's bio: Nehal is an innovative, creative entrepreneur, social media and digital marketing professional established in San Francisco, CA. Highlights of her career include building and executing marketing strategies for paid, display, social, events, print and video in a timely manner and on-budget. She also manages various creative agencies to get her vision across on all platforms and to ensure branding and messaging is consistent on all forms of media.  When she’s not stuck in the world of social media, content creation and analytics, Nehal enjoys blogging about her international travels, style, dating advice and marketing tips for the modern consumer at www.nehaltenany.com. She’s also an editor for Brown Girl Magazine. In her free time, Nehal loves binge-watching the Kardashians, trying new restaurants, spending time with her friends and family, and buying plane tickets - where is Nehal off to next?

Nehal graduated from the University of Arizona in 2016 and currently works as the Sr. Digital Marketing Specialist at BMC Software. Her other weekly hobbies include volunteering for Make-A-Wish Foundation (she loves kids!) and serving on the executive board of Rajasthanis Abroad Youth Samaj (RAYS), a cultural group for Rajasthanis in North America.