This is an interview conducted by one of our writers, Triambika Dinakaran.
Women’s Strength is all about finding and recognizing women who’ve gone above and beyond to establish themselves. One such incredible woman is Roshni Patel-Vasram (IG @missroshni), the founder of Urban Asian, an online website and brand with almost 200k followers on Instagram. Urban Asian brings you the latest in Bollywood, Hollywood, fashion, tech, food, and more. We bring to you a candid conversation with Roshni about her inspiring story.
Women’s Strength: So, here's a pretty obvious question to start with: What drove you to start Urban Asian with your co-founders?
Roshni: So what drove me to start this company, which was started in October 2010, was when I got hit up by Aman Syal, he’s one of my co-founders. He hit me up and said, “Let’s do a South-Asian website.” I said yes. He asked me because I was well-connected to people in India, my father was a radio host, and I also did campaign work for Jay Sean and Raghav. I was a new media executive for South Asian artists back in the early 2000s. I’d already had a passion for media, and so that’s why I decided to come on board. Here we are, 10 years later.
WS: That sounds like the dream! Was there ever a significant moment, certain interview, someone’s recognition, or a landmark in UA’s journey that made you feel like your page was truly becoming huge?
R: That’s a tough one! You know, actually there are several. There are stories on our website [about] women who have not been accepted by their families for doing something in the arts and cultural world, and they have now been able to be recognized because their parents and relatives are seeing an accomplished article about their life. People have hit me up right after the articles have been posted with, “My family’s read the article.” We’ve had a couple where they were part of the LGBTQ community when it wasn’t as accepted before as it is accepted now. We’re still trying to fill the gaps in South Asian society, but when they see that article in a news platform they feel, “Oh wow, I’m proud. I’m able to tell my story.” and it makes me feel good. If it makes them feel good, it makes me feel good, because at the end of the day that’s what we want.
WS: It’s cool when South Asians get recognized for things that South Asians aren’t really known for doing. I have an Indian friend who’s a film student at a Cali state university, and she got interviewed by CNN for her achievements. A lot of Indians I know would say that’s a risky field to go into, but her family’s really proud of her. It's cool to see South Asians venture into the arts and media and break stereotypes.
R: And to add to that, I hosted the IIFA (International Indian Film Academy Awards) in Tampa a few years ago actually. My father, me, and a few other of my uncles were all part of the IIFA award show in Tampa. It was the first time Bollywood Oscars came to Tampa Bay, and I hosted in front of 8,000 people at the airport, introducing 400 actors in 3 days! The Tampa Bay business journal, which is one of the biggest biz journals in Florida, did a whole spreadsheet about me and my father. I think that’s when I started realizing “Wow, I’m making my father proud.” I fell into his footsteps, and I didn’t want to overshadow him, so they allowed us to do an article together, a father-daughter story. And I’m sure your parents would be proud. If the Austin Times wrote an article about you, I’m sure you’d want to share the same screen with your father, right? I think that was my best moment, but as far as writing stories for Urban Asian go, it would probably have to be entrepreneurs and men and women who haven’t been able to tell their stories because they’re so shy, but now they have a platform to tell it.
WS: That’s really, really cool. Okay, who would you say is your biggest role model? I’m gonna take a guess and say it’s your father.
R: Well, no. It’s gonna have to be- my dad will not like this answer [laughs]- but it’s going to be my maasi, my mom’s sister, and I’ll tell you why. I’ve done a few interviews already, and everyone’s asking that question and I always say my maasi. It’s also my mom, I guess, but my maasi’s the kind of person- I could just pick up the phone and call her and have a 3-hour conversation with her. She lives in San Jose, and she’s like my second mother. We talk about politics, we talk about South Asians, she even talks about how she hates gossiping with other aunties. It’s just interesting, you know. She’s older- she’s way older, in her 70s, but she’s got a young soul [and] heart, and that’s what I like. She’s able to feed all these amazing stories to me which I can take back and say, “Wow, this is how she feels at her age, I wonder how I’m gonna feel at that age.” How would you feel at that age, you know? Just a lot of old-school stories that kind of coincide with stories happening today. For example, today a lot of Indian parents are not okay with interracial dating, but now it’s become an okay thing. It's okay in America. With interracial dating, a lot of families are not okay with it, but it's going to take time. It’s not like they're a lot of families who aren’t okay with it, there are some Indian families who are fine with it and their kids are part of interracial couples, and we talk about these things. So yeah, I’d say my maasi- but also my mom [laughs].
WS: Sounds like you have an interesting family. Alright, what is the most challenging part about running Urban Asian?
R: Oh, time management!
WS: I hear you.
R: [laughs] So the hardest thing is that this is a side-hustle company. Everyone has a side hustle in life. You might have a side-hustle, I have a side-hustle, my husband has a side-hustle. We all have hobbies and passions, in terms of enjoying what we wanna do versus our real jobs. Everyone wants that ideal career goal. They wanna wake up every morning and go, “Oh my god, I’m waking up at 7 A.M, ready to go to work, and I’m so excited!” No one wants to wake up and go, “Ugh, it’s 7 A.M, I have to get ready and go to work, it’s too much, I have to drive to work.” No, you wanna be ecstatic. The challenging part is that I wish I could do it full time, and hopefully in the next few years maybe I can do it full time. The most challenging part is working two full-time jobs while also managing a website. But you have to make it happen because if you love something, you gotta go for it.
WS: Here’s a follow-up on that: Do you think your passion has to coincide with your major hustle/career? R: Well, yeah, it does. I’ve been working in a healthcare career for like 15 years, probably more than that, and I’ve been doing media for 19 years because I ran a radio station with my dad. That was my first job. I was picking up phone calls and running a radio program. Uncles and aunties would call saying, “I want a Rishi Kapoor song to play” for their birthdays and this is literally what I’ve been doing for so long. I think if I had not chosen the healthcare career path then I would definitely have gotten into media. I think it was an accidental trap, and I have my partners at UA to thank for that. I probably would have started my own PR firm- that’s probably what I would’ve done, yeah.
WS: Okay, lastly, who’s your favorite Bollywood star?
R: Oh my god, that’s so hard! So my favorite actor is probably Aamir Khan, old-time Aamir Khan, and my favorite actress would have to be Sri Devi. But today, it would have to be Sara Ali Khan. For some strange reason, I just love Sara Ali Khan, Saif Ali Khan’s daughter. I just think she’s just got this good energy. She’s educated, she’s from Columbia University, she’s done so well! She knows how to say her line, she’s not super stuck up, she’s a very friendly person, and I think that’s what you need. You need to know how to be humble at the same time. As far as actors go in today’s world... Hold on, that's such a tough one. I think Kartik Aryan. Do you know who he is?
WS: Yeah, from Luka Chupi!
R: [laughs] Yeah, from Luka Chupi, that guy. So yeah, I think those two are rising stars right now.
WS: Alright, I think that’s all I’ve got for you. This is the first time interviewing someone, and I feel like I repeated the word “cool” way too many times and severely lack vocabulary [laughs].
R: Aw, no, that's alright! The reason I went into this is because- I’m epileptic, I was working a full-time job, and I was also writing UA from 2010 to 2015. I was doing all of that and also managing IIFA in between. I’ve been through a lot in life, and a lot of people have said “She’s not gonna make it,” and “Urban Asian’s gonna get shut down,” and “She’s got epilepsy, it’s not gonna work.” A lot of people have pushed me back, but you know what? You just gotta keep moving. I tell everyone, “Do not let anyone tell you the word no- that you cannot do it. You gotta just keep going.”
WS: That’s pretty solid advice. Thank you so much, Roshni!
R: Anytime!
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