That's Total Mom Sense

Priti Tanna is a creative strategist and author of I Married a Coconut. In this interview, she shares how future generations of the South Asian diaspora can find ways to honor their age old traditions while assimilating with western cultures. She and Kanika talk about values from immigrant parents, growing up in the 80s and 90s, and encouraging children to embrace their cultural roots.

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• AMAZON: I Married a Coconut: Stories of an Indian girl growing up in America

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Neha Ruch, CEO/Founder of Mother Untitled, shares her personal journey of taking pauses in her career to discover her purpose as a parent, challenging societal expectations and building a necessary community for mothers. She references the inspiring stories of Shannon Watts and Jessica Me Rivera, who were SAHM turned activists and have driven monumental change in society. 

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Matthew “Dr. Matt” Zakreski, PsyD is a high energy, creative clinical psychologist who utilizes an eclectic approach to meet the specific needs of his neurodivergent clients. He is proud to serve the Gifted community as a consultant, a professor, an author, and a researcher. He has spoken over 300 times all over the world about supporting neurodivergent kids. Dr. Zakreski graduated from Widener University’s Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology (IGCP) in 2016. He is the co-founder of The Neurodiversity Collective.

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Are you a frenzied parent who’s craving structure, fulfillment, and harmony at home? Enter Kaitlin Soule, licensed marriage and family therapist, women’s mental health specialist and author of A Little Less of A Hot Mess. We discuss pragmatic tactics and daily routines to manage your sanity and your household.

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We all know and love M. Night Shyamalan as a world renowned director, producer and actor who was labeled “the next Spielberg” by Newsweek in 2002. His films have grossed over $3 billion globally with cult classics like The Sixth Sense which received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, Signs, The Last Airbender, and The Unbreakable Series.

We may also be fans of Saleka, his daughter who is a singer songwriter and wrote an original song for his recent release, Old, with a voice smooth as silk reminiscent of old school R&B.

But today, I’m honored to interview M. Night’s wife, Bhavna Vaswani Shyamalan, who is the silent strength of the family and is the glue who is keeping it all together.

For more than 15 years, Bhavna Shyamalan, PhD, has served in her role as co-founder and vice-president of the M. Night Shyamalan Foundation. The foundation focuses on discovering and supporting grassroots leaders around the world who are moving depressed communities out of poverty and oppression. These global leaders are empowering their communities by supporting social justice, equality, and access to basic needs such as food, water, and education.

A deep belief in human-dignity and freedom as a birthright, as well as in our joint responsibility to become participants in the fight for social equity and justice, have been Dr. Shyamalan’s driving force in creating and steering the efforts of the foundation. With an international upbringing and global perspective, Dr. Shyamalan has developed a keen awareness of the power of poverty to determine the life course of individuals, families, and communities by severely limiting opportunity and choice. The foundation leaders work to eliminate those barriers. More recently, Dr. Shyamalan has focused her foundation on helping the most disenfranchised communities; the forgotten and “disposable’ people entrapped and exploited by modern day slavery and human trafficking.

Although born in India, Bhavna was raised in Hong Kong before her family moved to the U.S. An immigrant herself, Dr. Shyamalan is keenly aware of the challenges posed to immigrants in any new country. Having travelled widely, however, her exposure to different people and cultures has not only reinforced her belief in the gift diversity brings, but also deepened her commitment to valuing each individual life.

Dr. Shyamalan oversees the foundation’s international grants, the implementation of its vision and mission, strategic growth, fundraising, and overall operations. Additionally, DR. B (as she is known in the fitness world) is co-owner at Vibe Vault Fit, a boutique fitness & wellness studio in PA, and has been teaching Dance Fitness classes since 2011.

Dr.B’s believes working out can be inspired, and should address health and fitness in all aspects, including body, mind, spirit. In addition to teaching dance fitness classes, Dr. B also manages the “mind” and “spirit” side of Vibe Vault Fit, running workshops, and talking about how to uplift our lives through the Vibe Vault Fit podcasts and blogs. Her vision for Vibe Vault Fit is to promote a warm community, that will walk together toward a healthier, more fulfilling, and extraordinary life. Dr. B sees wellness, like happiness, as a mindset. Her goal is to help you make your own wellness a priority and claim the life that is waiting for you.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Shyamalan worked as a therapist in the counseling centers of Swarthmore College and St. Joseph’s University. She earned her doctorate in Clinical Developmental Psychology from Bryn Mawr College and her B.A. in psychology from New York University.

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Martial arts is a metaphor for life. Did you ever think about that? It requires a fine balance of the body, mind, and spirit - a keen understanding of people and their intentions, skill, flexibility, wisdom, focus, anticipation, practice, and after you are hit to the ground with this challenge or that level of adversity, you muster up the courage and willpower to stand up and fight again. That is what living is all about.

Today, I am joined by a woman who lives by this philosophy more than anyone I know. She is Shannon Emery Lee.

She’s famously known as Bruce Lee’s daughter but she is SO much more than that and is carving her path and place in this world in such an authentic way. Across the globe, billions revere her father who made his mark as an incredibly talented martial artist, filmmaker, actor, and philosopher. But to her, he was simply Dad. To say she had big shoes to fill is an understatement, and to think her father’s shoes were never worn again when he died at the age of 32 and little Shannon was just 4 years old.

Shannon has been a keen martial artist throughout life in her own way. She’s also an American singer, actress, producer and entrepreneur. After her father’s death, her mother Linda Lee Cadwell left Hong Kong and raised her in California along with her brother Brandon Lee, who also died far too young during an accident while shooting for a film.

People tried to tell her that acting was not good for the family but Shannon decided to maintain the legacy of her father and learned martial arts from his students. She then made her debut into film and TV with movies like Enter the Eagles and Martial Law. She endeavours to preserve and promote her father’s legacy as the president of the Bruce Lee Foundation and Bruce Lee Enterprises.

Her book Be Water, My Friend pays homage to her father’s life and teachings, and her most important role is being a dedicated mother to her daughter Wren.

Welcome to the show, Shannon!

Let’s bow in ceremoniously to this interview so that we are both aware and present.

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• INSTAGRAM: @therealshannonlee

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Isn’t it ironic and kind of sad that having kids can wreak havoc on a marriage and your sex life? Today, get ready to get your mojo back and rekindle the spark with your spouse thanks to renowned licensed psychotherapist and nationally recognized sex counselor Ian Kerner.

Ian Kerner, who is a PhD and LMFT specializes in sex therapy, couples therapy and working with individuals on a range of relational issues that often lead to distress.

Ian is regularly quoted as an expert in across all media outlets. He’s a regular on the Today Show and in CNN HealthThe Atlantic, The New York Times, The Economist and NPR. He gives lectures on sex and relationships, with recent presentations at NYU, Yale, Princeton, the Ackerman Institute and TED 2021. Ian is the New York Times best-selling author of She Comes First (Harper Collins) which has been translated into over a dozen languages.

His new book, So Tell Me About the Last Time You Had Sex was recently published by Hachette. Ian lives in New York with his wife, two sons and two dogs. He maintains a private practice in NYC dedicated to honoring the centrality of sexuality in his patients’ lives.

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Mom Haul:

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Have you ever thought about going plant based? Could you do it? Do you have the interest and willpower to revamp your refrigerator, your skincare essentials, your clothing, and essentially your philosophy in life. Today, I’m joined by a celebrity who has made this choice as a serial entrepreneur, and is also famous as an actress, influencer, and mom - Daniella Monet.

LA native, sitcom actress Daniella Monet, has appeared on numerous television series from CBS' Listen Up alongside Jason Alexander to Nickelodeon’s comedy hit Victorious, and she went on to host 3 seasons of Paradise Run which was filmed in Hawaii. Daniella is a full time ethical entrepreneur having invested in several conscious companies that help make living a plant-based lifestyle more accessible.

With millions of engaged followers on Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, Daniella organically curates content that is fun & relatable. She shared her pregnancy journey on Youtube and is loving being a mom to her babies Gio + Ivry.

The actress is vegan and has been plantbased for over 20 years, is an animal advocate from day one and fur-mom to rescued pitbull Jake. Along with her longtime love Andrew, she enjoys quality time at home with their family, often times with a cup of Drew coffee in hand.

This ethical entrepreneur has navigated through multiple successful endeavors, which she co-founded herself @Kinderbeautybox. And she’s a fellow podcaster. She and her friend Evanna Lynch, best known for her role as Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter franchise, have launched their very own podcast called A Little Kinder.

Let’s dive in to it all now!

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Mom Haul:

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Dr. Simran Sethi, MD, MBA, internal medicine physician and founder of skin by Dr. Simran Sethi & RenewMD Spas, joins me to discuss how BIPOC can best take of their skin with the right ingredients in products and ongoing procedures like chemical peels and microneedling to combat acne scarring, hyperpigmentation, and melasma, and increase luminosity, elasticity, and cell turnover. We also discuss the biggest beauty myths, ayurvedic remedies, and foods that help create healthy skin, hair, and nails.

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Press

• REFINERY29: What Is ‘Melanin Safe’ Skincare — & Is It Really Necessary?

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On this episode, we are featuring a live event in New York City hosted by the esteemed Asia Society led by Neelam Chowdhary and The Culture Tree, founded by Anu Sehgal. In honor of AAPI Heritage Month, I was asked to moderate a panel with extraordinary South Asian women who have made a lasting impact in their industries and communities - Anu Aiyengar (JP Morgan Chase & Co), Snigdha Sur (The Juggernaut), and psychiatrist Dr. Sue Varma. Together, we celebrate their trailblazing journeys, offering listeners and attendees invaluable insights and inspiration.

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