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 gallivanting the globe connecting people along the way!

A part-time Wife/ Mother and a full-time start-up entrepreneur, she lives with her husband & daughter in Manhattan, New York!

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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 failure by stressing over this perfectionism mindset and are we even equipped to handle failure anymore? And more!

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Deepa Pillai is an Actor, Bharatanatyam Dancer, Choreographer and a Hatta Yoga Practitioner, based out of Planet Earth . An Engineer turned Performing Artiste, she holds a degree from New York University’ Tisch school of Arts as the most recent one. Her interest in life is to decode the magical bond between storytelling and Life and how the former's modalities become root to the latter's existence.

Follow us on Instagram (@chaibreakpodcast), on Facebook (@chaibreak podcast) and on Apple & Spotify.

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After her successful stint as a corporate executive for many years, Nameeta felt disconnected from her true purpose in life. In 2020, as the world shut down, she embarked on a journey of looking inward and discovered years of generational trauma that needed healing and darkness that needed to be filled with light. While on that path, she also discovered her true purpose: to boldly tell her story and give others the courage to live a life of authenticity.

Today she is a Jay Shetty Certified Coach and serves as a leadership and executive coach at her company, guiding colleagues and peers to discover their unique gifts, reignite their passion and engage with purpose.

Nameeta calls New York home, where she lives with her husband DJ Suhel and 3 wonderful children, Shiv, Om & Devi.

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We are excited to kick off Season 2 and bringing to you a roster of incredible, every day South Asian women from across the globe who are making a difference in their communities.

Our first guest today is Dancer, Choreographer and Founder of Aalokam Dance Company, Bharathi Penneswaran.

We talk to Bharathi about her early days growing up in India, what led her to the world of dance and how she traversed from Delhi to New York City and the challenges she faced along the way.

This episode is releasing on the heels of her maiden full-length production AVAL(SHE/HER), that is premiering in New York City at Dixon Place this May 15th . Listen to the episode to learn more about this!

To our listeners, you can buy your tickets to the show here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/we-r-dancing-tickets-313838157377

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November is celebrated as the month of thankfulness and gratitude here in the United States. Rema and Shwetha each share what they're grateful for and collectively express how thankful they are for an engaged audience like "YOU" - yes, each and every one of you, without whom this podcast wouldn't be what it is!

Here's wishing all of you a very happy and joyous Thanksgiving, surrounded by family, food and lots of fun.

Until season 2, bye!

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In our concluding conversation on sustainability we talk about the history of thrifting and the concept of conscious thrifting. Then we delve into brands that walk the talk on sustainability.

Please note: This episode is NOT sponsored by any of the brands mentioned. Each brand is a small, women of color, South-Asian brand who's vision we @ Chai Break believe in.

Do check out our Instagram post for links to all the brands in our latest post.

This episode of Chai Break we talk about Sustainable Fashion something that is very near and dear to our host Shwetha Ravishankar, who after years of working in the retail spaces and becoming a shopaholic as a side effect, started to educate herself about the industry and it's practices. Today, she strives towards sustainable fashion practices and is an Advocate of the NYC Fair Trade Coalition.

Ever before we had even heard of the word "sustainability" we look back at our life growing up in India and reflect on how "sustainable living" was simply a way of living. We were raised in homes where "wastage" of any kind was not encouraged. We up-cycled, re-used, conserved and recycled everything and anything.

Lastly we talk about how we're trying to incorporate some of those age old ways into our busy, urban lives today.

https://chaibreakpodcast.com/

Desi moms in South Asian culture all have a few famous lines in common, which have been used as a weapon in parenting for eons. Rema and I look back at our own experiences and some of the most frequently used lines. We also reflect on how they do have an impact in shaping us as adults, cue the show "Never Have I Ever" - we talk about Nalini Vishwakumar and Devi's relationship, which is much like our own.

https://chaibreakpodcast.com/2021/11/23/are-we-our-moms/