In this episode, we're joined by Nitisha Patel and Rosie Ginday MBE, who speak about our love for and relationship with food. This episode delves into the inspirations behind cooking and the cultural influences it has to play not just on what we eat but also on what we think.

Nitisha Patel is a Chef, Food Consultant and Author who discusses the story behind recipes and the familial connection that food plays in her life. Nitisha delves into the importance of food history, and she celebrates the differences in South Asian communities, which impacts spices, recipes and flavour.

Rosie Ginday MBE is the CEO and Founder of Miss Macroon who also mentors young people with multiple and complex needs. Rosie touches upon how her faith and culture have taught her about the community of food and why she hopes that older generations will pass down their culinary recipe secrets to not lose to the past. She has a real passion for food and delves into the power of change that food brings about in society.

In this episode, we're joined by Dr Lalitaa Suglani and Nazia Khatun to discuss mental health and how the South Asian community is working to break down cultural barriers around discussing mental health.

Dr Lalitaa helps clients with a range of issues such as anxiety, exam stress, depression, low self-esteem, family and relationship issues. She discusses the importance and meaning of self-love and understanding the roots of anxiety and ways to help overcome it.

Nazia Khatun is an award-winning fitness specialist and fitness coach who uses her boxing and athletic background to help others build the right mindset around health and wellbeing. She discusses struggling with an eating disorder that robbed her of happiness, self-worth and self-confidence.  As a former boxer, Nazia talks about what helped her build an unshakeable mindset as she slowly recovered from her eating disorder.

This episode has a strong focus on self-love and mental wellbeing whilst focusing on the ways in which we can all implement small steps to help us in our daily lives.

Trigger Warning: Divorce / Suicide / Depression

In this episode, we're joined by Mani Hayre and Bhavna Vhagji to discuss the impact of divorce and its stigma within the South Asian community.

Mani Hayre, a blogger and content creator and Bhavna Vhagii share their personal journeys from marriage and life during and after divorce.

Topics discussed in this episode include overcoming adversity, interracial relationships, marrying outside of your community, choosing yourself and happiness over everything, shunning societal expectations, attitudes towards dating, and the obstacles and opportunities after going through a divorce.

Trigger Warning: domestic abuse / domestic violence

In this episode, Shaista Gohir OBE and Polly Harrar talk about the detrimental impact of domestic abuse within the South Asian community, discuss the meaning of domestic abuse and why survivors are breaking their silence to help others who feel like they are alone.

Shaista Gohir OBE is a leading Muslim women's rights activist and Co-Chair of The Muslim Women’s Network. She uses Muslim women's voices and their diverse experiences to promote social justice.

Polly Harrar is a British women's rights activist who assists women who have been the victims of forced marriage and honour crimes. She is the founder of the Sharan Project, a member of the Forced Marriage Unit Partnership Board, and a partner of Comic Relief's Our Girl campaign.

Trigger Warning: domestic abuse / domestic violence

In this episode, we're joined by Bishamber Das and Joti Gata-Aura sharing their body positivity journeys.

Topics discussed in this episode include body shaming and body image, beauty perceptions and skin trends, how to respond to negative comments from everyone, from aunties to trolls and how we can change attitudes towards diversity in all its forms

Bishamber was Britain's First Asian Plus-Size Model and the youngest Asian magistrate in the UK. Joti is British-Asian Presenter and Online Advocate, with a skin condition known as Vitiligo.

In the first episode of the Asian Woman Festival Podcast, we meet our founder Shani Dhanda and learn how Asian Woman Festival was born. As a South Asian woman who experiences disability, Shani discusses what helped on her own journey of self-discovery and acceptance. She also shares her motivations behind her intersectional activism, making the world more inclusive.

Topics discussed in this episode include how Shani started Asian Woman Festival, the multiple barriers and bias Shani has faced due to her identity, resilience and courage, disability and intersectionality.

Shani is a multi-award-winning disability specialist and entrepreneur listed as one of the UK's most influential disabled people and BBC’s 100 Women 2020 List. 

As a keynote speaker and practitioner for inclusion across business, government, non-profit and wider society, Shani helps organisations break barriers and integrate inclusion into their business frameworks.

As an influential woman in leadership, Shani has taken change into her own hands and founded numerous organisations to improve representation and challenge social inequality globally - Diversability, Asian Woman Festival, and Asian Disability Network.