This week, Aashi Arora sat down with Maliya Patel—high school senior, social impact entrepreneur, and host of The Mental Playbook Podcast—to talk leadership, resilience, and redefining mental wellness through sports.From founding a mental health podcast to co-creating a social app and interning for the San Diego Padres, Maliya is rewriting the rules of what’s possible for Gen Z leaders.

In this episode, she opens up about overcoming toxic team dynamics, why she chose flag football over cheerleading, and how mental health advocacy can start as early as middle school.With dreams of launching her own all-female sports agency, Maliya is already building the bridge between mental wellness, representation, and performance—one conversation at a time.