Grief shouldn't be taboo - Zamiha Desai, RecommendAsian Founder (EP9)
Zamiha Desai refers to herself as an "accidental entrepreneur".
In April 2016, Zamiha started a Facebook Group, RecommendAsian, as a place to share ideas, tips and recommendations on Asian lifestyle with her friends.
The group launched with 219 Asian women members. Today the online community has grown to over 70,000 members, and the sister group, ProfessionalAsian (for both women and men), has over 80,000 members.
Both groups are focused on Asian lifestyles and are affectionately referred to as “the Asian Google” where you can find everything Asian-related – from advice to gifts to products and services.
In this episode of Start Being Visible, Mildred and Zamiha discuss her incredible achievements building her online communities, but also, on a more personal level, Zamiha’s experience of dealing with loss and grief in the public eye after losing her husband to illness earlier this year.
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Episode Highlights
20:02 - [On starting ProfessionalAsian to also include men] People felt comfortable talking about menstruating and, you know, sex - girly topics they wouldn't want guys to see. I don't think men communicate in the same way as women. I didn’t think I'd be able to bring that out in men to have these conversations that are kind of deep.
46:52 - [On embracing herself] If I didn't go that extra mile and go check out all the red lipsticks in Debenhams, I wouldn't be me. It's made me more comfortable being me and proud of things that I wished were different before.
42:44 - [On grief and loss] The time on this earth is relatively short and you have to just enjoy what you do and where you go.
50:40 - [On the impact of losing her husband] I knew I'd done it before and I could do it again. So I probably didn't have a lot of fears around things that maybe other people that have been with their partners their whole lives have, because they've never been alone.
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