Learn From Great People (LFGP): Business | Start ups | Agency | Corporates
By Viraj Acharya
Learn From Great People (LFGP): Business | Start ups | Agency | Corporates Oct 20, 2019
Ana Pricop: Dropping Out Of Her Masters, Raising $2.5 Million In 3 days, Meeting Richard Branson | E08
Ana Pricop is the co-founder @ Outdid.io, the B2B start-up building a world where people trust each other and are safe online. Before starting Outdid, Ana was studying at Sciences Po France's leading university in the social sciences. 🛠️ Building something cutting edge with ZK Proofs 🚀 Raised $2.5 Million dollars in 3 days 👥 Incredible co-founder relationship In Today’s Episode with Ana Pricop, We Discuss: Background - Growing up, did Ana have any entrepreneurial traits? - Growing up in Romania, what was family life like for Ana? - Does Ana think that being the oldest child in the family has played a role in creating the person she is today? - How would Ana’s teachers describe her when she was young? - Jumping forward to Ana’s master’s degree—why did she feel she had to pursue one? - What does Ana know now that she wishes she had known when she started in startups? - How did Ana convince the dean of her master’s university to let her take a gap year to try and build a startup? - What or who gave her the conviction to try? Building Outdid /Fundraising - How Ana figured out that what she was building was a viable idea? - Ana mentioned Outdid initially struggled with raising funds. Why did she find that was the case, and what did she learn from it? - What advice would Ana give to first-time founders from her experience in Denver? - How did she feel about raising $2.5 million in 3 days? - Given her role as Cofounder at Outdid, how does Ana find her own space while building such a technical product? - What does Ana know to be true about building a startup that others might consider false?
Co-Founder / Relationship • What makes a great co-founder in Ana’s view? • Ana’s partner shared some insights. How did she meet him? • What is it like for Ana to work with her partner to build a product? • Is there a fine line Ana must draw to balance personal life with work, or is it a mix of both? • What is it that Ana’s partner is great at that allows her to be awesome? • How does Ana think her partner would describe what it’s like to work with her? • If Ana were to start a new startup, would she co-found it again with her partner? The Founder Experience - Ana recently spent time with Richard Branson. How has that experience changed the way she looks at the world and what she is building? - Why does Ana find the pain of building Outdid beautiful? - What is the best piece of startup advice Ana has received? - Where does Ana want to be in 10 years? Is Outdid “it” for her, or are there other areas she wants to explore?
And of course the Quick Fire
Tom Charman: Fundraising Lessons From a 4 Time Founder & Why the US is a Better Place To Build | E07
Tom Charman is an absolute cockroach founder, having built 4 start-ups and started angel investing all in the last decade. Tom is one of the most seasoned founders I’ve had the pleasure of meeting - his calmness to the nuclear winters of AI. His Spidey sense to recognise a problem and build a solution in addition to balancing a cofounder relationship with his long-term partner. 🛠️ Building something new, in the future of modern product development and experimentation. 🚀 4x founder NAVA, RASSA +more 👼 And Angel investor Background - When did he find his love for tech and startups? - How did he develop the traits of a driven individual with a strong moral compass. - What would Tom say he is running from? - How did having a mother who was a psychologist shape Tom during his childhood? - Growing up, did Tom always know he wanted to be involved in startups? Building with your partner - How did Tom meet his partner Olivia - What is it like for Tom working with Olivia to build software businesses? - Is there a fine line Tom has to draw to balance personal life with work, or is it a mix of both? - Tom mentions that great partnerships are about complementary skill sets, what skills does Olivia possess that allow Tom to excel? - How does Tom think Olivia would describe what it's like to work with him? AI, ML & Startups - What does Tom see as the single largest difference between building a company in the US versus the UK? - How important does Tom believe it is to have early success in one's startup career? - What gave Tom the conviction to start building startups years ago? - What does Tom look for in an idea to determine its viability? - What was Tom's first startup and the top three lessons he learned from it? - From the one startup that failed, what were the key learnings from that experience? - Tom wrote an article in 2016 discussing the proximity to creating AGI, has his opinion changed ? - How does Tom stay focused on building the best product without getting distracted by market hype? - What advice would Tom give to young founders on differentiating their products? - What's the best technical advice Tom has received about building with AI? What about the best non-technical advice? - How did Tom stumble upon the idea for his current startup? - Does Tom believe that humans today are ready for the kind of products he's building? - What essential piece of advice would Tom give to founders wanting to start in building AI products? - What do other people think is false that Tom knows to be true about startups?
Haz Hubble: How We Solve The Human Connection Problem | EP06
Haz Hubble is the Founder of Pally which is solving the most complex problem in human history - how humans connect! Haz is one of the most clear-minded founders I’ve met - his focus when solving problems. He was the youngest CGMA in the world and his ability to empower not only the team at Pally but also his previous role as CFO of a 200-person company.
🛠️ Building Pally, to solve the Human connection problem
🧠 25 and wise beyond his years
🏦 Youngest CGMA in the world
Background
- When Haz described himself as an intelligent person who doesn’t know very much. Reflecting on his childhood, would he say he has always been like this?
- What would Haz say he is running from?
- Knowing Haz grew up as an avid gamer, did he display any entrepreneurial traits?
- Was there a turning point in Haz's childhood that set him on his current trajectory?
- Did Haz have a mentor who guided him in the early days, or did he navigate his path independently?
CGMA/CFO
- How does a Haz reflect on being the youngest Chartered Management Accountant in the world
- As a young Chartered Accountant, how did Haz navigate not being taken seriously or older peers trying to dictate his actions?
- How does Haz approach asking the right questions?
- Does Haz have a process for working through problems?
- What was the best lesson Haz learned about being a CFO, and who shared it with him?
Communication + Inner Drive
- What would Haz say his superpower is?
- How does Haz think about the need for a strong moral compass in the workplace?
- Where does Haz's focus and drive come from?
- What advice would Haz give to young people today who want to start building solutions to the world's problems?
Building Pally & Solving Human Connection
- Why did Haz start going by "HAZ"?
- When did Haz find his love for solving the human connection issue?
- Does Haz enjoy the size and scale of the solution to the human connection problem?
- Does Haz think we underestimate how human connection will evolve in a year and overestimate it in 10 years?
- How did Haz pitch convince friends and family to invest in his vision of the future?
- Is Haz glad he raised a seed round without unknown investors?
- As a founder, what are three things Haz focuses on every single day in the business?
Quickfire
- What makes the pain of building companies beautiful for him?
- What does a successful day in the life of Haz look like?
- If Haz could be doing anything else, what would it be?
- What was the most recent mistake Haz made?
- Is Haz happy?
- Who are the three peers Haz finds himself constantly learning from, and why?
Harjas Singh: The 3 Most Important Lessons Scaling Wealth @ Revolut | Ep05
Harjas Singh is the Chief Product Officer and co-founder of SHARES which has one goal: to empower you to become a smarter investor, so you can take charge of your financial future. Harjas is the most user-focused CPO’s I’ve ever met, a clairvoyant when it comes to the future of investing, and a wizard at building teams. 🛠️ Building SHARES.io, raised over $50m 🔮 Product Visionary (I mean just check out the app) 🚀 Scaled Revolut Wealth from 0 - 2m Users In this episode, we get into the depths of : 1 - Understanding how his childhood in India and education in the USA led him to Tech 2 - Scaling wealth at Revolut from an idea to 2m users 3 - Building Shares and the Future of retail/consumer investing 4 - How do you build a kick-ass Team
Background
When did Harjas find his love or interest for tech and finance?
What was family life like for Harjas as a child?
Considering that there are at least 21 Indian-origin CEOs of billion-dollar companies, what was it like for Harjas growing up in Delhi?
Harjas on moving to the US over India due to the education system.
At Virginia Tech, Harjas pursued his passions for coding and Bhangra. How did these interests shape his experience?- How Harjas was hired at Revolut
Revolut
While at Revolut, Harjas scaled the wealth division from zero to 2 million users across countries.
What are his biggest learnings from that experience?
When building out products, does Harjas have a secret sauce for asking questions to uncover user needs?
Does Harjas believe that simplicity is always better when it comes to product design?
How does Harjas prevent feature creep?
Why does Harjas think revoluters look at the world differently?
Was Harjas happy at Revolut?
SHARES
What was Harjas's first investment in life?
What were the thoughts that motivated Harjas to start Shares?
Knowing the challenges of fintech from his time at Revolut, why did Harjas start Shares?
How does the investing business model work at Shares?
Did Harjas have a mentor in the early days?
What was the single most important lesson he learned from them?
How did Harjas find raising the first $10 million for Shares?
How does Harjas balance user-centric product decisions with business value?
When thinking about new features in an exploration session, what does Harjas like to do?
How does AI change the actual creation of product design?
Hiring
What is the importance of an ideation sparring partner, in the early days of a start-up.
What’s Harjas’s perspective on the need to build in person?
Does Harjas know pretty quickly when someone is a good fit for his team?
If Harjas could go back to the moment he and the core team committed to building Shares, would he do it again?
What’s been Harjas’s biggest hiring mistake?
Does Harjas think it's wrong to be in it for the money?
What advice does Harjas have for the young founder who is starting to think about their first hire?
How does Harjas plan on giving back to the community?
Quickfire- What is Harjas’s biggest regret?
How does Harjas maintain an optimistic mindset, especially in the challenging space of finance?
Harjas is a fan of the ALL IN podcast.
Who is his favourite out of the four besties?- Does Harjas believe that he's built different?
Is Harjas happy?
From whom does Harjas continuously learn in his work life?
Warren Hutchinson: How do we design more career highlights for our customers | Ep04
Warren Hutchinson is the Chief Experience Officer and founder of ELSE Agency which is on a mission to become the UK’s most effective design consultancy. Working with the likes of 02, Nivea and Universal
Warren is one of the most knowledgeable people in design consultancy I've met and one of the few real people left that walks the talk:
🚀 Working in design, strategy and innovation for almost 25 years!
🔬 Deep Multi-Domain Experience
👨🏫 Repeat Guest lecturer at Brunel University
In this episode, we hit home on
1 - Understanding Warrens's Background and career into Design
2 - Fundamentals of Design and how that translates into the real work
3 - Running ELSE and why he has been invested in R&D from 2012
4 - Building a better Agency with a 4-day work week.
**Quick fire round**
- Do you have to be in America for the best innovation
- What was the biggest takeaway from ELSE and how did that shape how you think
- What has been the best experience you’ve used that you haven't built
- If you could go back and do something in your time at ELSE differently what would that be?
Daljit Singh: Your Customers Define What Your Brand Is About | Ep03
"You have to get out to be inspired by what's going on in this big huge world" Daljit Singh is one of the most incredible OG Designers I’ve met! 🚀 DIGIT Agency Founder where he designed and launched his own sausages 💰 Co-founder @Anna.Money which has a $100m Valuation 👁️ Digital Design Visionary - D&AD Black Pencil Award, Design Week Best of Show & 2 BAFTAs. In this episode, we hit home on: 1 - Growing up in East London and the importance of family. 2 - The early years of digital design on the internet and founding DIGIT. 3 - Building great design teams with creatives. 4 - The move from the agency side to the brand side.
Dan Bolland: Scaling a Series B Startup - Can I build a 48 Story Tower on these Foundations | Ep02
Dan Bolland is a man of many talents a fractional exec, accountant, start-up, financing, frontier-tech, investment, growth, and governance. Having worked inside and consulted with businesses large and small he brings unique views on tough knotty problems and a desire to make things work smoothly and scalably.
In Today’s Episode with Dan Bolland, We Discuss:
1.) Dan's Background
2.) Reality of work at a Start-up and Series B
3.) When to focus on users vs Revenue
4) Quickfire round
Ahana Banerjee: Lessons from Raising Money in YC - Women are Under-represented in Startups | Ep01
Ahana Banerjee is the Founder of Clear a beauty tech startup that lets users track and share their skincare routines and buy products. Valued at $15 million, Clear has partnered with more than 2,000 brands, has 9,000 users on the app and about $1 million in VC funding. Clear also the 2022 L'Oréal Beauty Tech for Good winners, selected by Beiersdorf for the Beauty Tech Innovation Summit 2023, and were featured under "Best New Apps and Updates" on the iOS App Store in 2023.
In Today’s Episode with Ahana Banerjee, We Discuss:
1.) Ahana Background
2.) Yc experience | Pitching + Fundraising | Founders
3.) Female founders ecosystem
4) Quickfire round
The Journal: Being an Entrepreneur, Dating/ Relationships, Reflections on a day in the life
I think the name for this series is right now.
The Journal - a collection of thoughts and feelings about the experiences I am going through as I build out this business. Today I talk about the positive growth in sales calls, what it's like being an entrepreneur, and how I'm dating/ building personal relationships as someone who is building a business.
The Journal - The struggle of WFH, Family disruptions & Not doing enough.
A situation I've been struggling with is how you navigate the family dynamic while living at home and working from home.
Realised I wasn't the only one going through it and wanted to share some thoughts.
The Journal: Sacrifice, Work / Life Balance, Patience
My weekly round-up of thoughts and feelings on: the sacrifice, I feel that I have to make daily, the lack of a work-life balance and why I feel that is. The need to be patient, and why I can strike when I see an opportunity.
The Journal: Successes of the Week, Time, Concept of work
My weekly round-up of thoughts and feelings on the sheer amount of free calendar time I experienced when starting this venture and battling with my concept of work what I used to benchmark success and now how I'm dealing with it.
The Last Year
Almost 1 year into starting a business, and it's been a chaotic one. When things go wrong they really go wrong. I want to use this to see if I'm actually making any progress but also try to bring the fun back to making something. Stick around
#52 - Ocean Bellamy: The Baháʼí Faith, Hypnotherapy & Mental health
On this episode of The Extraordinary Experience, I dive into a conversation with Ocean, (IG: @oceanstherapy). Viraj picks her brain on what the Baháʼí Faith is, and we have a candid discussion about religion; changing gears slightly to talk about Ocean's profession that is hypnotherapy and life coaching, while also touching on managing mental health.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 01:15 - Growing up in the Ba Hai Faith & explaining how it's structured, with a short discussion around god. 18:47 - How Ocean's Therapy came about, why she decided to do an IG Live every single day! 26:00 - The thought process behind Viraj starting the extraordinary experience, how depression opened my eyes to the world I wanted to live in and why I simply do my 9-5 to sustain my other businesses. 35:57 - Ocean explains the Life coaching and Hypnotherapy side of her business 50:34 - How he manages her mental health as a therapist & we have a chat about being honest with our emotions. 1:02:30 - Ocean explains why bringing children into the world for her at this moment in time wouldn't be right. 1:06:35 - Outro
#51 - Tina Sharma - Whats its really like being an actress, The fine balance of Hustle culture and inspiring others
On this episode of The Extraordinary Experience, I dive into a conversation with Tina Sharma, (IG: @iamtinasharma). We have a candid chat about all the pies she has her fingers in, what the world of acting is really like. We touch on Hustle culture and how she stays so motivated and why inspiring others brings her so much joy.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
02:51 - An inside look into the world of Acting and producing
20:55 - Hustle culture, Karma
35:00 - Inspiring others and Growth mindset
52:19 - Legacy, the bigger picture and advice on getting into a similar position to Tina
1:00:15 - Outro
#50 - Teresa: The Self, The impact of the ordinary person & Ego
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, Viraj dives into a conversation with Teresa, (IG: @teresa.ag). It's a fireside chat about a range of topics, they both discuss the impact of EGO, maintaining relationships in a covid world; and the concept of self.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
00:42 - Why Teresa is nervous about coming on a podcast, and how she feels about being on one!
05:47 - We discuss how people in the media & the ordinary individual impact our lives.
13:58 - Teresa's experience solo travelling and couch surfing.
24:29 - Dry DM's and feeling alone with people around us.
29:00 - What is the concept of self and our thoughts on it.
35:13 - Fashion & Self + Identity (Opting out of fashion)
43:16 - Maintaining relationships in a COVID world
52:46 - The impact of Ego & seeking out new perspectives.
1:06:10 - Outro & who Teresa thinks should feature on the ordinary experience
#49 - The Note Cook: Living with an auto immune condition, High end home cooking & Cultivating a strong mind
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, Viraj dives into a conversation with Sasha, (IG: @thenotecook_). It's an amazing conversation about being diagnosed with an auto immune condition and what life has been like living with it. She also explains how this has resulted in her cultivate an incredibly strong mental drive/mindset and we of course talk about the notecook, what Viraj describes as high-end home cooking.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro.
02:05 - Explaining IBD, when Sasha was diagnosed & Living with the condition.
07:29 - Sasha's experience at an ayurvedic retreat in India.
16:50- Discussing what it's like to be in solitude.
22:50 - The origins of the Notecook and what it stands for.
32:36 - How Sasha's mum essentially saved her life, & a mother's love.
38:44 - How IBD has shaped Sasha as a person.
50:06 - We discuss affirmations & social media.
1:12:37 - Outro & who Sasha thinks should share their story.
#48 - Kunal Makwana: Fitness, Transformations & Athlete inspiration
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a conversation with Kunal, (IG: @kmakfitness). It's a super relaxed conversation about his fitness journey from his father passing at a young age, the spirituality of fitness, to starting his own transformation company; How athletes, businessmen & sport are intertwined with his drive.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
00:59 - Kobe, & his trip in the USA
08:40 - How Lebron is Pass first in life as well as an athlete
12:45 - Rich Paul messaging him back, and how he inspired him to go solo.
15:00 - Kunal's fitness origins
20:20 - Kunal's Journey to the GYM, why dumbells hold a place in his heart & his first client
23:00 - The moment the gym and fitness became spiritual for him.
24:00 - How Kunal got his first shot in a fitness training role.
25:40 - Online training vs 1-2-1 training.
27:30 - Did Kunal ever have doubt in his decision to go solo?
35:40 - More on the spirituality lens of the fitness
42:40 - Is Kunal new school or old school & why.
45:50 - Viraj's fitness experience with dirty bulking and becoming a yoga teacher
50:30 - What was it like for Kunal not having South Asian fitness people to aspire to.
59:53 - We discuss why there aren't more south Asian athletes.
1:02:00 - How sport is the closest thing to war, & how you literally watch greatness.
1:05:20 - The different types of music we listen to at the gym.
1:07:29 - Why Jay-Z is Kunal's fav artist of all time and how music inspires him.
1:14:10 - We digress slightly onto street smarts vs book smarts and the learning from the drug game.
1:18:30 - The British Identity in music, & business.
1:20:30 - Our thoughts on the last dance.
1:29:50 - Outro
#47 - Tanvi Jain: Success, Perspective & Self Work
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a conversation with Tanvi Jain, (IG: @_tanviji_). It's a deep, conversation about some of the more difficult topics we navigate in our lives, we discuss how we are putting in our self work for our mental health; perspective of thought and image; as well as chatting about how success is currently portrayed online.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro.
03:40 - Tanvi explaining where the idea Creative Consultancy business & how her degree didn't actually help her in any way.
08:00 - We discuss the foundations of Tanvi's Mental health.
12:00 - How Tanvi is dealing with her self work.
15:21 - Tanvi talks to me about a close loss she experienced and we chat about death.
22:12 - I ask Tanvi who she thinks she is in her head.
24:36 - Our thoughts on Success.
28:00 - Journalling and our experiences with it.
32:32 - Tanvi speaking truths on Perspectives and understanding ourselves.
42:53 - We discuss how we try to align ourselves with our families.
51:15 - A realisation Tanvi's had about her constant need to prove herself to others.
1:03:37 - Discussing self, perspectives and ultimately how we are navigating life.
1:29:40 - Wrapping up.
#46 - Uncle Pri: Fulfilment, Coaching & Balding
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a conversation with Priyesh Patel, (IG: @unclepri_). It's an easy-going conversation about why & he became a fulfilment coach; His experience with NLP & we chat about if we're gonna find partners if/ & when we bald. Of course, there are other bits in-between.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps 00:00 - Intro
00:19 - Why did he do Jay Shetty's fulfilment course.
13:00 - How he manages the differing aspect of being Uncle Pri the coach, Pri the friend and Priyesh Patel
16:28 - Does the Jay Shetty qualification hinder you in any way.
19:00 - How he is dealing/ dealt with his limiting beliefs.
22:37 - How NLP changed his outlook on life.
29:02 - How Pri navigates understanding his clients & cutting through the rubbish.
31:48 - Our thoughts on accountability.
37:27 - How he and I going to maintain the life life balance in this newfound freedom.
48:15 - He discusses a personal touching moment with his sister.
51:49 - The ramification of balding, the how, why & its perception when finding a partner. Is a bald person visually appealing?
1:05:00 - Pri on Managing priorities.
1:10:05 - Wrapping up
#45 - Muhsin Yesilada: Life changing experiences, BLM & MISINFORMATION
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a "super resonating" conversation with Muhsin Yesilada, (IG: @muhsin_yesilada). It's a super laid back chat about all sorts of things. He asks about my life-changing experience in India; We discuss the faults in my past; Muhsin gives us a rundown of how important Misinformation really is and he gives us some thoughts on life.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro.
01:00 - Viraj's Experience in India.
11:00 - Black lives Matter & Racism.
19:00 - How Viraj understand his friends
22:30 - Image consolidation & How the world is a stag.
27:30 - How do you get people to care more.
34:30 - The education system needs a revamp.
39:18 - We need to be taught how to use social media.
45:01 - Misinformation with Muhsin.
1:00:54 -The thing most of us will be successful for doesn't exist yet.
1:10:41 - How Muhsin's dad paid for his university education.
1:19:04 - Are you still here?
#44 - Shivani Pau: Benefits of Confrontation, Self-development & A Millennial Mind
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a conversation with Shivani Pau, (IG: @shivani.pau). It's both a funny and serious conversation regarding the backstory of her podcast 'The Millennial Mind' and how she navigates the difficult conversations on it; How she is changing the narrative of women in her household in what I describe a brutalist manner but she talks me through why there are benefits to confrontation; in addition to telling me about her ongoing self-development journey & why she is so content!
#43 - Dominic Streete-Bharath: Hustler, The Founder Experience & Giving back
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a conversation with an old school friend of mine Dominic Streete-Bharath, (IG:@blak_zilla). It's an easy-going conversation about the platform he is building @cocoonva; His thoughts & experiences of having a mentor; how he turned his schooling career around & why we feel the education system has failed us in financial literacy.
#42 - Shivani Somaiya: Strong Independent Woman
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a conversation with Shivani Somaiya, (IG: @shivanisomaiya). It's an easy, candid chat about her weight loss journey from 90+kgs to her current weight with insights into the mental aspect as well; what it was and growing up in Tanzania, studying in the UK and now living in NYC; as well as what Feminism means to her.
Stay tuned for the end where she drops some absolute truth!
#41 - Preeti Kaur: Trust the process (Podcasting & Bhangra)
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I chat with Preeti Kaur: (IG: @preetipersonal). It's an amazing conversation about the origins & process of podcasting, (she drops some great tips) & what it's like to be a Bhangra athlete/ dancer.
It's a small number of topics today but we go quite in-depth.
Thanks for coming on Preeti, I had an absolutely awesome time!
#40 - Katie Taylor: The Uni Experience, Depression & PTSD, Social Media
#39 - Kajol Patel: Management, Youtube & being South Asian. Just keep on swimming.
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a conversation with Kajol Patel, (IG: @management.consultant). It's an amazing conversation about why she decided to transition out of a physics degree into Management, where her itch to start Youtube came from, what it means to be South Asian and how she just keeps on swimming.
#38 - Faraaz Kaskar: Changing the world, Social entrepreneurship & Nuggets of wisdom
#37 - Nishma Acharya: The adventures of a stay-at-home-mum
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a conversation with Nishma Acharya (My mum). It's an amazing conversation about the adventures of a stay-at-home-mum, talking about her experiences around giving up her career as a nurse to look after her own children and her nieces and nephew, dealing with death, & what it was like to find out there was something wrong with her children.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
00:54 - Her past life job as a nurse
05:46 - Making THE DECISION to not return to work
11:55 - Complications with her 2nd child and Sod's law
16:17 - Returning to work
24:49 - Filling her void after losing another family member
31:37 - Shift in the family dynamic and maintain family cohesion between 2 countries & Telling her oldest son in anger, that she couldn't wait for him to leave.
42:31 - How she felt finding out that her son wanted to take his own life, whilst in a depressive episode
47:50 - Outro
#36 - Sunil Acharya : Raising a Single income Family, Leaving us all behind & Doing what needs to be done
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a candid conversation with Sunil Acharya, my dad. It's an amazing conversation about how he bought our family up on a single income, what its like it move to a different country to work leaving us all behind and most of all doing what needs to be done.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
00:37 - Being set up for success
01:18 - His background
04:12 - His first job
10:46 - The importance of a good team
13:35 - Saving to buy a house
22:39 - Falling into roles within the household
24:19 - Doing what needs to be done
29:03 - Not being prepared to buy a half a £million house & how a peer helped him
32:47 - Peak earnings
34:23 - How does he know what he needs
36:49 - Moving to Malaga and living the life his parents used to talk about
42:09 - How his kids ended up going in a non-classical direction
43:47 - What does coasting mean to him
46:39 - Creating culture at Unilever
47:38 - Dealing with Innovation at work and in the home
53:32 - Would he change anything?
#35 - REAL TALK with V ep2
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I continue on with my new series REAL TALK with V. I focus the conversation around the doubt I've been having in my life regarding Content Creation in short wondering whether its time to hang my hat up. I also discuss a new hobby I've decided to pick up and why finding a hobby that doesn't suit your typical personality is an asset for you.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
00:13 - Doubt
11:13 - Hobbies
#34 - REAL TALK with V
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I start a new series continuing on from where the Podcast started a year ago. In it, I chat about what my new job is like and how I'm feeling. I also discuss what the grind life of a having a full time 9-5 and pursuing a career as a creator in parallel is like.
#33 - Madina Zaynudinova: Style, University & Mental health
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a conversation with Madina Zaynudinova, or as her friends call her Mads (IG: @mad.s_). It's an amazing conversation about her sense of style and where she draws her inspiration from; what it's like going to university during Covid-19 and she opens up about her continuous battle with mental health.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
01:21 - Her Styling Ethos & Inspiration
13:59 - Her University Experience at Royal Holloway
16:40 - First Impressions of each other
21:00 - Making friends at University
24:05 - Dealing with Mental Health
26:20 - Her experiences with Bipolar, Mania, Depression
32:04 - Exams during Covid -19 with her Mental Health
34:30 - Explaining mental health to people who might have never experienced it
36:50 - Her experience with wanting to take her own life
39:55 - Meditation & Yoga & Ballet
49:07 - Books vs Online copies
51:35 - Why I use the word Interesting a-lot
53:15 - Wrapping up
#32 - Khadija Faye & Muhsin Yesilada: Her past, IG Dm's, Strawberries, The origins of language
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a conversation with Khadija Faye (IG: @khadijaafaye) with a feature from Muhsin Yesilada (IG: @muhsin_yesilada). In all honesty, it's a fun one, we chat about a load of topics with it starting formalish and ending in JRE vibes
#31 - Niam Patel: The Covid-19 schooling experience, Embracing his past & Growing up in a single parent family.
On this episode of The Ordinary Experience, I dive into a raw conversation with Niam Patel (IG: @niampatel.99). We chat about the Covid-19 schooling experience, embracing his past & growing up in a single-parent family amongst other interesting personal topics.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
00:46 - Transition into COVID schooling
02:50 - How we met
03:51 - What it's like to go to a boarding school
07:50 - Maintaining friendships/relationships in school
10:35 - His take on being the 'different' year
11:21 - Being the naughty kid & his mental shift
20:29 - Becoming Head-boy & Embracing his past
36:30 - Embracing the role of a leader
41:45 - The boarding school bubble
47:49 - Taking on an independent role in the home
52:57 - What single-parent family life is like & the learnings
1:02:59 - Would he change anything?
1:07:26 - Wrapping up
#30 - KUMA : The creative process, the rap industry and making the world a better place.
007 - A university reflection
Building on the previous episode. A self reflection and conversation.
006 - University Year 3
#29 - Peter Udida: Growing up, Life at University, Relationships & being in his worst slump
#28 - Muhsin Yesilada: TikTok, PhD, Family
On this episode of I Will Name This Podcast Later I sit down with my good friend, the self-proclaimed Triple OG, Muhsin Yesliada (@muhsin_yesilada). Who happens to be a stand-up comedian, alongside undertaking a Psychology PhD. We dive into his experience on TikTok as a creator, how ignorance got him his PhD and his family background amongst other topics.
All the key topics will be timestamped in the description so feel free to jump around.
Timestamps
1:17 - Experiences as a TikTok Creator / Youtube creator space
12.24 - Tiktok
15.01 - Getting into standup comedy
17.01 - His first show and joke
20.41 - The biggest surprise of being on stage
21.21 - Things he does on stage
23.50 - How ignorance got him his PhD
31.40 - Khadija Enters the room
33.04 - Comparing Heirlooms
35.15 - Hunting in the Masi Mara
36.22 - Muhsin thinking he's not an Interesting person & random tangents
38.12 - What he hates most that professionals use & the different characters we all play in our lives &
42.49 - His observations on how I little brother my brother
47.24 - Why I did Economics as a degree
49.29 - Being more interested than interesting
52.35 - Muhsin's family background
58.48 - Not knowing what it's like to having nothing
1:04:16 - His take on playing games
#27 - Samu Acharya, the first guest!
We got our first guest on the podcast, my younger brother Samir Acharya!! To be honest, it was the first time we sat down and had a proper conversation in the longest time, chatting about growing up, school, lifestyle changes, work and if he enjoys having me as a brother.
#26 - Easing into quarantine, Thought, Hinge
#25 - An interesting week but not too interesting
#24 - Reflections on ‘Falling Apart’
#23 - Falling apart
This past week for me has been my worst since coming back to the UK and it feels like I'm in a downward spiral, falling out of love with the world and not seeing any joy in it amongst other things.
#22 - Learnings from a year in solitude
A conversation with myself on my learnings from my time away. It had its ups and downs but in the end, it was one of the most liberating experiences of my life, something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
021 | I'm Back!
I'm Back!
Having returned from India and now firmly back in the UK for the foreseeable future I wanted to revive the podcast and keep it going on a weekly basis.