Hitha Palepu is the CEO of Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals and a woman of multitudes: a feminist, a lifelong politics enthusiast, a daughter of immigrants, and a mother raising feminist sons. These multitudes spill into her multi-hyphenated career as an entrepreneur, investor, writer, and speaker.

Her Webby-honored series #5SmartReads delivers five essential articles each day to help her community stay informed without feeling overwhelmed and her book How To Pack, was published by Clarkson Potter in 2017.

She is an early-stage investor and partner at Adama Ventures, backing innovative companies primarily founded by and focused on women (MM.LaFleur, Girls' Night In, Brightland, and Heymama among them) and is a sought-after voice on politics, investing, entrepreneurship, work-life juggle, and motherhood.

We talk about building influence without burnout, staying politically engaged without overwhelm, becoming a first time author, and leading across multiple identities without shrinking any of them.

If you want to build a multi-hyphenate career, stay informed and intentional in a noisy world, become an author, and lead like a modern CEO who refuses to fit into one box, this episode is for you.

Priya Monga is a powerhouse tech and business leader, and currently the GM and Senior Director of GTM Strategy at Instacart Business. She’s built a global career across Facebook, LinkedIn, and Unilever and has served twice as Chief of Staff to an iconic executive, operating in the rooms where real decisions get made.

She’s also a mentor and coach at Monday Girl, helping women navigate career pivots, claim leadership roles, and grow with strategy, not luck.

In this episode, we talk about making your own luck, amplifying your magic, advocating for yourself, and finding sponsors who are generous with their influence.

If you want to build a career across continents, move toward the C-suite, and surround yourself with people who amplify your potential, and think like a Chief of Staff this episode is for you.

Dr. Ellen Stofan is the Under Secretary for Science and Research at the Smithsonian Institution. She previously served as the Director of the National Air and Space Museum, becoming the first woman in that role, and as Chief Scientist at NASA (2013–2016).

She earned her PhD in Geological Sciences from Brown University and began her career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, serving as Deputy Project Scientist for the Magellan mission to Venus.

She is co-author of Planetology: Unlocking the Secrets of the Solar System and Next Earth: What Our World Can Teach Us About Other Planets, both published by National Geographic.  

Stofan serves on the National Geographic Society’s Board of Trustees, the Presidential Committee on the National Medal of Science, and as Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Space Technologies.

We talk about confidence, belonging, and what it means to be the 'solution person' in high-stakes room.

If you want to inform and inspire millions, champion audacious ideas, steward powerful institutions responsibly, and lead with the clarity of a NASA Chief Scientist, this episode is for you.

Hi, I’m Rikhi and you’re listening to The Rikhi Roy Podcast. This show is for anyone building ambitious, well-rounded lives that feel as good as they look.

Each week, I share honest conversations with leaders and builders I deeply admire, along with solo episodes on routines, mindset, and growth all designed to help you create a life that feels aligned, vibrant, and yours.

We talk ambition, reinvention, wellness, identity shifts, and what it really takes to design a life on your own terms without shrinking any part of who you are.

If you’re building something…your career, your confidence, your dream life… you’re in the right place.

Tune in every Friday wherever you get your podcasts.

Hi! My name is Rikhi and you are listening to The Leadership, Equity and Wellness pod. Thank you for tuning in to Season 2. This season shared conversations that were recorded a year after the episodes from Season 1. Since then my understanding of leadership, equity and wellness for minorities across various industries evolved so much as did my understanding of recording, editing and sharing podcast episodes with the world. I am so honored to have had your time every Friday as new episodes released and it is my hope that together we grew through each episode and pushed ourselves to renew our commitment to taking care of ourselves first.  Thank you so much for tuning in.

Paola Terrazas was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. Paola is a first-generation college graduate from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) where she obtained a Bachelor's in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics. During her college career, she completed 5 SWE internships including Disney, Facebook, Lucasfilm and Facebook. She created Lady Engineering, her blog, to share her advice, experience and learnings being a minority in tech. Her goal is to inspire, encourage and motivate gender-minorities in STEM to break barriers and achieve their career goals.

Kellie Gerardi is an aerospace and technology professional, a popular science communicator, and a payload specialist flying to space on a dedicated research mission with Virgin Galactic. Kellie is the author of Not Necessarily Rocket Science and the children’s picture book series Luna Muna. Kellie lives in Jupiter, Florida with her husband and their daughter Delta V. You can follow her on social media @kelliegerardi

Tammy is a Global Supply Chain Manager at Lucid Motors, working on electric vehicles to build a more sustainable future. She works with cross functional teams across finance, engineering, and quality to develop commodity strategies in her Supply Chain and Purchasing role. Previously, she was a Central Buyer at Ford Motors. Tammy  graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with her Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering.

In building a more sustainable future inside and outside work, Tammy enjoys participating in city task forces on their energy committees and in hackathons by using design thinking to identify and solve problems. Tammys first introduction to design thinking and problem solving was during high school robotics.

This was profoundly meaningful to her because it not only sparked her interest in STEM, but it unleashed her courage to blaze a trail for other minorities. As a first-generation low income college student, Tammy valued the mentorship she received through robotics and is deeply passionate about mentoring first generation college students, high school robotics teams, and minorities in STEM.

Antonella is a Computer Science student pursuing a Bachelor of Science, an incoming Software Engineer at Microsoft, a former illustrator and apparel designer from Argentina and a content creator. Beyond being a Computer Science student, she also works part-time as a Research Assistant studying the experiences of minorities within computer science education in order to broaden participation in computer science to all. Passionate about the impact that technology has on society, she's an advocate for diversity within STEM, and for justice-oriented design practices within technology that no longer continue to discriminate against people based on their ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or cultural background.

Hira is currently pursuing a Master of Engineering Science in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Western University’s Institute for Earth and Space Exploration. As the President and Co-Founder of the Zenith Canada Pathways Foundation, she has worked with her team to develop the Zenith Fellowship which provides internship and mentorship opportunities to students and young professionals from underrepresented groups across Canada. Hira is an alumni of the Brooke Owens Fellowship program in the US from the Class of 2020, and was the first Canadian selected for the program. She had the opportunity to intern in the Manufacturing and Test Engineering department at Planet in San Francisco, CA.

Hira strives to create inclusive opportunities for underrepresented students across Canada who are passionate about space. Hira was on the Board of Directors of SEDS-Canada from 2017-2020 in varying roles including the Events Chair and President, where she worked on increasing outreach across Canada.

Her current research focuses on machine learning applications for autonomous robotic systems on future space exploration missions. She is currently a Mitacs Intern with Mission Control Space Services where she is developing a deep learning algorithm for lunar regolith particle classification. She is also the ADCS specialist for the Western Ukpik-1 cube satellite mission which is a part of the Canadian CubeSat Project with the Canadian Space Agency.