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Down to Brown
Down to Brown episodes
- Shop Kynah Kyndah crushing the South Asian fashion game (Aisha Rawji, Shop Kynah)
Aisha Rawji, CEO & founder of Shop Kynah, had a vision to redefine the way women customize, shop and wear Indian attire. 4 years later, she’s building a strong brand that offers a personalized experience that empowers women through South Asian (SA) fashion. Lahari and her talk about the increasing mainstream popularity of SA wear, cultural appropriate vs. appreciation, entrepreneurship, and FaceTiming the Duke of Hastings himself.
Follow us on @downtobrown_ on IG for more.
1 hr 1 min - How much does my South Asian-American experience influence my love life? A lot, actually. (Sabrina Lakhani)
Sabrina Lakhani is a behavioral scientist who went through a tumultuous marriage and divorce with her best friend before the age of 30. She rigorously deconstructed her belief system and transformed her insecure attachment pattern. Now, she's on a mission to help clients fast-track their healing journey, especially with the lesser known and researched patterns that apply to South Asians and other collectivist cultures. On Down to Brown, we talk about what about the South Asian - American experience uniquely interacts with our attachment formation, and how our parents/families can model both positive and negative patterns.
Follow us on @downtobrown_ on IG for more.
1 hr 10 min - Shop Kishmish's making scents of communities, friendship, and candles (Fatima Aslam & Zareen Abbasi)
Down to Brown's Lahari talks to Fatima Aslam and Zareen Abbasi, co-founders of Shop Kishmish. Fatima and Zareen are an infectious duo, who shine their love for community in their products that inspire nostalgia and connection to South Asian moments. We cover what it's like going into business with your best friend, breaking into underrepresented spaces while also understanding competition, and the dynamics of being Pakistani-American entrepreneurs in the South Asian space. You won't want to miss this one!
1 min - What does the identity search look like for brown women? (Natasha Khawja)
Lahari Rao of Down to Brown talks to Natasha Khawja, founder of 'Purpose and Chai.' Lahari & Natasha hone in on the 4 factors that define self identity, and how they experienced them as brown women. They cover the purpose of shame and pain, how the outlets of repression in brown society, and the nuance of "divorcing" family. Natasha also shares with us her journey with her now-husband, coming from different backgrounds. Follow us at @downtobrown_
1 hr 9 min - Riding Solo: Lahari vs. Intergenerational Trauma (Lahari Rao)
Lahari Rao, host of Down to Brown, tries something new: a solo episode. After her parents' visit from India, she talks about a breakthrough with her dad on generational trauma. She also talks about why we need to normalize the conversation to function better as humans, especially as look at balancing multiple identities.
28 min - The Secret Life of Bollywood (Shabnum Gulati, Cultured or Nah)
Shabnum Gulati, host of Cultured or Nah, and Lahari continue their conversation in a new direction: Shabnum's year in Mumbai auditioning for Bollywood. They cover the experience she had living her childhood dream, approaching research and networking, acting/speaking in Hindi, body dysmorphia, and more. We ask the question...how does a brown, American-Indian gal make it in Bollywood?
1 hr 9 min - Meera Beauty Co: How to Build a Radically Inclusive Brand (Harsh)
Down to Brown host Lahari talks to Meera Beauty Co founder, Harsh. Together, Lahari and Harsh talk inclusive beauty and ask big questions. How does Meera Beauty Co tackle diversity in a world where there’s always a point of view we might miss? Can we ever truly represent all experiences? What is the relationship between the beauty industry and the LGBTQIA+ community? How can we challenge some of our “age old” ways of thinking? Listen for answers!
Follow us on IG on @downtobrown_
1 hr 23 min - The genuine and intentional influencer, Simply Sabrina (Sabrina Molu, Hey Simply)
Finale of Down to Brown, Part 1 of 2021. Sabrina Molu, editor-in-chief of Hey Simply, might've just created one of the few corners in the internet that remain positive and sincere. Sabrina talks to Lahari Rao, host of Down to Brown, about her identity as both Pakistani and Indian, why she founded herself creating her own brand and publication, and how she approaches her work.
Learn more at www.downtobrown.com
58 min - Pooja dreams of ice creams (Pooja Bavishi, Malai)
Pooja Bavishi of Malai ice cream in Brooklyn, NY, talks to Lahari about how her personal journey of being a Desi immigrant shaped the stories she wanted to tell about her identity and culture. She turned to a creative outlet to tell this story - ice cream. We cover the joy of giving joy to others, finding a place you feel understood, and loads of facts about ice cream! Listen to this episode curious and hungry.
Follow the podcast on https://www.instagram.com/downtobrown_/
1 hr 5 min - So, what did you think of season 2 NHIE? (Shikha Kaiwar)
Shikha Kaiwar is a writer, pastry chef, and tech gal living in London. She visits Down to Brown to review season 2 of Netflix's 'Never Have I Ever' with Lahari, where they chat about how a show with strong diversity and South Asian representation challenged them to see friendships, family, love, the diaspora, and themselves, differently. You won't want to miss this short and fun review. Learn more about Shikha Kaiwar on her website, www.shikhalamode.com
44 min
About Down to Brown
From the publisher's feed
Lahari Rao is a quirky, opinionated, & curious gal who vowed on her 18th birthday, that her Indian-American confusion would be fixed in her adulthood if she pretended she was a brown Carrie…
Bradshaw. Instead, Lahari found herself in the following situations: negotiating with her dad the number of years she could date on her own before he put her profile in a Telugu marriage bureau site; being the only South Asian person in a 700-person cereal factory in rural Georgia; and frantically pulling beach towels to cover her body to avoid getting ‘even darker' while her friends embraced the sun. When she wanted to talk about being South Asian socially, she was met with a lot of enthusiasm about butter chicken, arranged marriage, and Slumdog Millionaire (“Jai Ho!”) At 30, she decided enough was enough—she would awaken from her denial, embrace her identity, and dive deeper in its psychology, and how to heal oneself to show up better for sister communities. Now, on this podcast, Lahari talks with every day, badass brown women and allies, about topics that were often avoided. Here is a community obsessed with the question: What would life look like if we freed ourselves from the pressures of pressures and stigmas, to be our best, truest selves?