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Speaker 1: My career was on a roll in twenty nineteen, and

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Speaker 1: then the world shut down, and you know, in America,

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Speaker 1: everybody was debating where did the virus come from? Was

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Speaker 1: it about, was it a lab? It came from my

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Speaker 1: mother in law's kitchen. This woman was gonna do whatever

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Speaker 1: it took to take me down.

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Speaker 2: Sarnagark has sold out stages around the world, racked up

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Speaker 2: billions of views, writ in the New York Times best

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Speaker 2: selling memoir, and launched two comedy specials on Prime Video

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Speaker 2: and Hulu. How by turning her life into one of

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Speaker 2: the funniest shows on the internet.

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Speaker 1: Oh no, there's a lot of fighting, but we saved

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Speaker 1: that for the TikTok. We don't fight unless we can

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Speaker 1: monetize it anymore.

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Speaker 3: She'll unfollow me on Instagram.

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Speaker 4: She'll message my brothers, I'm never talking to your sister again.

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Speaker 3: Please let her know that I feel that way.

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Speaker 1: And she's brought along.

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Speaker 2: Her daughter, Zoya, the person who believed in her before

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Speaker 2: she believed in herself, pushing her to step on stage

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Speaker 2: at forty four.

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Speaker 1: We were just trying to make a living. We were

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Speaker 1: in such financial dire straits when my husband lost his job.

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Speaker 4: She did a open mic at the worst stand up

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Speaker 4: comedy club in the world, and there were two or

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Speaker 4: three people in the audience that had bought the five

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Speaker 4: dollars ticket, and the people in the audience were just dying.

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Speaker 3: They were falling off their chairs.

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Speaker 2: Join host Martin for King. The third Andrea Waters, King,

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Speaker 2: Mark Kilberger and Craig Kilberger were a hilarious and heartfelt

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Speaker 2: conversation about starting again, defying expectations, and what becomes possible

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Speaker 2: when family believes in you.

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Speaker 1: First you can sit there and be consumed by the

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Speaker 1: overwhelming nature of being stuffed Orseidio.

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Speaker 5: Says, welcome to my legacy. Today's guest has lived what

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Speaker 5: most people would call an impossible dream, from surviving on

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Speaker 5: her own in Mumbai at just fourteen years old to

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Speaker 5: becoming one of the most original voices in comedy right now.

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Speaker 5: Zara Gard didn't just break through, She's become a cultural phenomenon.

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Speaker 6: Zarna. In case you can't.

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Speaker 5: Tell, we are thrilled to have you with us today,

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Speaker 5: and as always on this show, our extraordinary guests bring

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Speaker 5: along someone who has been meaningful in their journey.

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Speaker 6: Zarna.

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Speaker 5: Welcome and would you do us the honor of introducing

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Speaker 5: your plus one.

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Speaker 1: First of all, thank you so much for having me.

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Speaker 1: What an honor to be in this company and in

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Speaker 1: this mix. I have brought with me my apprentice, my friend,

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Speaker 1: although she's on a waiting list for the friendship honestly,

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Speaker 1: but my daughter, my oldest child, my daughter, Zoya Gard,

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Speaker 1: who is a recent graduate of Stanford University in computer

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Speaker 1: science in case anybody was wondering.

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Speaker 4: And classics if anyone was wondering, and classics, because she

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Speaker 4: managed to sneak that in there, and her presence is

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Speaker 4: important to me in this podcast because she was the

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Speaker 4: one who helped me get started in comedy.

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Speaker 1: As you can imagine, not a single South Asian woman

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Speaker 1: on Earth is waking up thinking I hope I become

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Speaker 1: a comic. That's not a thing in our culture, like

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Speaker 1: having fun is not a thing in our culture. But

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Speaker 1: my all American kids saw it in me before I

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Speaker 1: saw it in me or anybody else did. And for

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Speaker 1: that reason, she's now part of my business. She just

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Speaker 1: graduated Stanford. She's running my business now and helping it

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Speaker 1: grow and enter a digital phase.

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Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having.

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Speaker 7: Me, Thank you for being with us. We're honored to

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Speaker 7: have you and have this conversation.

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Speaker 6: And congratulations on your recent graduation.

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Speaker 7: On this show, we like to go all the way

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Speaker 7: back to where it kind of started. Someone asked you

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Speaker 7: about a moment that was both heartbreaking and life changing.

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Speaker 7: You were just fourteen years old when your mother tragically died.

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Speaker 7: Your father told you that you had two choices, get

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Speaker 7: married by arrangement or leave home. Can you take us

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Speaker 7: back to that moment and face seeing that choice?

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Speaker 1: So this story is extremely is completely accurate, But the

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Speaker 1: truth is that I wasn't. I wasn't heartbroken then because

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Speaker 1: I thought he was kidding. I didn't believe that he

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Speaker 1: meant that. You know, he was also shocked from losing

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Speaker 1: his wife, my mother, So when he said all that,

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Speaker 1: I was like, oh, this is a moment, this is

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Speaker 1: gonna pass. Like there's no way he means this. So

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Speaker 1: it wasn't actually heartbreaking as much as it was like,

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Speaker 1: what am I supposed to do? Because we were both

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Speaker 1: grieving in our own ways. You know, I was shocked

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Speaker 1: that my mom. I didn't even know she was that

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Speaker 1: sick because they don't tell the kids anything back home.

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Speaker 1: They don't actually like, you know, how in America would

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Speaker 1: be like, who's going to talk to the kids. That's

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Speaker 1: not a thing in India. The kids are kind of

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Speaker 1: in the background. They just hear whatever's in the air.

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Speaker 1: So I didn't even know she was as sick as

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Speaker 1: she was. And then I heard one day that she's no.

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Speaker 1: So I had my own shock, and then he had

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Speaker 1: his own shocks. And I didn't leave my house like

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Speaker 1: wanting to take a big stand. But at fourteen fifteen,

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Speaker 1: if your parent tells you do this or else, you

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Speaker 1: immediately think, well, I don't have to be here. I

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Speaker 1: have so many friends I could be hanging out with.

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Speaker 1: And that's kind of how that moment erupted and grew

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Speaker 1: because I told him, no, I'm not getting married, and

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Speaker 1: he's like, if you don't get married, you can't live here.

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Speaker 1: I was a foe who wants to be here anyway?

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Speaker 1: I have so many friends And it kind of was

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Speaker 1: one of those moments that then never reverse course. As

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Speaker 1: time went by, I realized how serious he was, and

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Speaker 1: then the reality of my limited options started setting in

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Speaker 1: over time immediately after those days.

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Speaker 8: Just on that note, because I understand, and after that

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Speaker 8: you spent a year homeless and then eventually agreed to

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Speaker 8: marry somebody that your father chose in that process. Just

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Speaker 8: before the wedding, your visit to the United States came through.

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Speaker 8: So take us back to that time and what was

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Speaker 8: your first few months in America?

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Speaker 1: Like so, I it was almost two years actually a

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Speaker 1: year and a half plus of drifting of what in

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Speaker 1: America is called CouchSurfing. So it wasn't it wasn't homeless

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Speaker 1: in that traditional way that I was literally out on

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Speaker 1: the streets, but I was like trying to lob pieces

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Speaker 1: together with this person can take me in on Monday,

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Speaker 1: but if you can take me in on Thursday, then

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Speaker 1: I'm going to find like a bridge in between. You know.

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Speaker 1: My mom had a lot of goodwill with her friends,

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Speaker 1: so they there were a lot of people concerned for

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Speaker 1: my well being, but they were also very afraid of

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Speaker 1: my dad. My dad was a very powerful rich man

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Speaker 1: in that world, so they didn't want to they didn't

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Speaker 1: want to like take the daughter in permanently. But they

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Speaker 1: also couldn't just shut the door in my face. So

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Speaker 1: it was a lot of push and pull, and at

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Speaker 1: some point I gave up. I was like, I can't

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Speaker 1: you know, you wear the system wears you out, Like

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Speaker 1: at some point you exhausted, You're like, this is not happening.

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Speaker 1: So I did go back to my dad and I

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Speaker 1: was like, I actually remember saying you win. I didn't

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Speaker 1: know what else to say, so I was like, you

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Speaker 1: win whatever you want to do, you know, And he

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Speaker 1: didn't see it as a win. Just to be clear,

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Speaker 1: he was not a mean person. He was not a

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Speaker 1: horrible person. In his eyes. He was doing what was

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Speaker 1: right for his kid. Back where I come from, even today,

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Speaker 1: a lot of women get married in their teen years.

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Speaker 1: This is not an unusual thing. Certainly fourteen fifteen was

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Speaker 1: a little younger than the norm. But we were not

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Speaker 1: talking about a world where it's never been done. It's

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Speaker 1: been done all the time. So he was very very

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Speaker 1: much like, okay, now you've come to your senses. But

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Speaker 1: the day I met the guy that he had set

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Speaker 1: me up with, and he, I'm sure is a lovely

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Speaker 1: man today married to a woman my age, That's the

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Speaker 1: day I got a telegram saying my visa had been approved.

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Speaker 7: Wow.

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Speaker 1: Because I had been trying for so long and my

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Speaker 1: sister living in America was trying to help me and

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Speaker 1: trying to figure out, like how the paperwork works. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's like getting a proper visa to come to America

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Speaker 1: is not easy, especially from India. So much paperwork involved,

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Speaker 1: so much proof involved.

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Speaker 8: Wow, when you were hearing and have come to understand

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Speaker 8: your mom's trials and tribulations, ups and downs, how did

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Speaker 8: that change your perspective and your relationship with her?

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Speaker 3: Well, she wouldn't tell me anything.

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Speaker 4: When you're growing up in America, you are told to

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Speaker 4: ask questions, especially about your family's history and your family's background.

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Speaker 5: And your mom is shaking her head for those of

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Speaker 5: our listeners who are listening, and your mom is shaking

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Speaker 5: her head as you're saying that, yeah, because you.

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Speaker 4: Know, you want to know where you came from. But

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Speaker 4: when I would ask her questions, she would say, yes, no,

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Speaker 4: focus on your homework.

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Speaker 3: You know, like why are you asking me these questions?

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Speaker 4: And over time I became persistent enough that I would

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Speaker 4: get fragments. You know, I would say, oh, how did

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Speaker 4: you where were you born? You know, Oh I was

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Speaker 4: born in India. Okay, how did you get to America?

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Speaker 4: Oh it's a long story. But I lived with your aunt,

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Speaker 4: and you know, I would start to pick up the

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Speaker 4: puzzle pieces. And when I was growing up, I started

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Speaker 4: to realize, well done, these puzzle pieces look very different

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Speaker 4: than a lot of my peers. There's something different in

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Speaker 4: this story. And it became so obvious when I was

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Speaker 4: kind of a teenager and she was starting to start

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Speaker 4: her own businesses that something was very different about her

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Speaker 4: resilience and the way that she thought about building things.

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Speaker 4: It was just way more fearless than anything I'd ever

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Speaker 4: seen in my life.

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Speaker 3: So to answer your question, I didn't know anything.

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Speaker 4: And it took me probably fifteen years, and then after

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Speaker 4: the book came out, I finally got the whole story

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Speaker 4: with everyone else.

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Speaker 6: Wow, And let me tell you something.

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Speaker 5: As a mom, you're gonna keep discovering more and more

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Speaker 5: things you don't know our door like every other she's like, oh,

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Speaker 5: I didn't know that about you. I didn't knowh So

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Speaker 5: you think you know there's still more to uncover.

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Speaker 1: And you can't tell these kids anything. Everything traumatizes that,

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Speaker 1: everything gives them anxiety. What am I going to tell her?

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Speaker 1: What am I gonna tell her?

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Speaker 2: That?

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Speaker 4: Like?

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Speaker 1: It was you know, my son, her little one was like,

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Speaker 1: how do I not know any of this? Because he

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Speaker 1: read the book? His classmates were reading the book, And

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Speaker 1: I was like, don't read the book because it was

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Speaker 1: not easy. But if I tell you that, like, that's

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Speaker 1: ten thousand dollars of therapy, I'll have to pay.

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Speaker 6: I have to ask this question.

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Speaker 5: You were twenty two years old when you posted a

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Speaker 5: personal ad. Some of our listeners may not know what

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Speaker 5: that is. But that's like before the dating apps, and

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Speaker 5: in the ad. I'm going to read exactly what you

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Speaker 5: wrote because I think it's.

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Speaker 6: Great to some.

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Speaker 5: I am too short or too plump, too dark, or

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Speaker 5: too argumentative, But enough about me. This is what I

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Speaker 5: need from you. Kindly include your most recent tax returns

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Speaker 5: and medical records. Now, your future husband responded, is this

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Speaker 5: ridiculous ad?

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Speaker 8: For real?

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Speaker 5: And that was over twenty five years ago and you

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Speaker 5: all are still together. What's the biggest mistake you see

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Speaker 5: young people making when they're looking for a partner.

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Speaker 1: There's this idea that you can cast a wide net,

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Speaker 1: meet everybody, and then the right one will show up.

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Speaker 1: I actually believe the opposite. I think cast a very

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Speaker 1: narrow net. Look for exactly what you want, or you

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Speaker 1: think you want, at least, because there's just no point

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Speaker 1: lying about what might or might not work. You know,

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Speaker 1: the things that you were gravitating towards that makes sense

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Speaker 1: in your world. And also, time is so limited. I

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Speaker 1: remember I was like graduating law school. I didn't feel

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Speaker 1: like at that time, I thought, oh my god, my

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Speaker 1: time is up because the world I came from twenty

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Speaker 1: two was being a spring. It was too late. So

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Speaker 1: I think the big mistake people make is trying to

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Speaker 1: be everything to everybody. You have to be something to somebody,

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Speaker 1: one person, and that's it. Now I can read the

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Speaker 1: things I needed from him, because I think it was

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Speaker 1: very specific and I and I stuck to it, and

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Speaker 1: I actually think it helped me. I mean, is it different.

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Speaker 8: Did you get the tax of turns of medical records?

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Speaker 1: Pey yet?

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Speaker 3: No?

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Speaker 1: Well he fought it, honestly. He was not happy about

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Speaker 1: it because he came from a modern America, and I

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Speaker 1: was like, oh, whatever, you own your modern America. This

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Speaker 1: is what I need from you. A husband and a partner,

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Speaker 1: somebody who's ambitious but not ruthless, confident but not arrogant,

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Speaker 1: and humble but not timid. Most of all, he is honest.

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Speaker 1: Twenty seven years later, too honest. But that's a different problem.

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Speaker 6: I understand that.

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Speaker 1: I am on a mission to build a very successful life,

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Speaker 1: and you must be ready to go with me. Only

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Speaker 1: contact me if you want to get get married. No,

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Speaker 1: friends now include your tax returns in medical records. So

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Speaker 1: that's the other thing. A lot of people in the

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Speaker 1: dating world will be like, we should be friends, Like, no,

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Speaker 1: there's not an app for friendship, Like, you know, if

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Speaker 1: some guy doesn't want to get married, like, why are

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Speaker 1: we and you want to, let's say that's what you

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Speaker 1: want for yourself. Why would you waste time? You know

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Speaker 1: what I mean? So I personally think people should be

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Speaker 1: very specific about what they want and believe and have

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Speaker 1: faith that that's out there. Yeah, and not be scared

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Speaker 1: about it.

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Speaker 6: Yes.

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Speaker 4: I don't know if the listeners can tell, but she

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Speaker 4: was glaring at me really intently as she was giving

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Speaker 4: this entire speech because she thinks that she should have

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Speaker 4: a pretty large say and who I date.

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Speaker 3: And especially who I marry.

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Speaker 4: I should basically have no criteria on my own and

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Speaker 4: should adopt hers as my only criteria. So we go

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Speaker 4: back and forth on this a lot, because I actually

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Speaker 4: think you learn a lot about yourself by dating people,

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Speaker 4: and I don't think it needs to be so black

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Speaker 4: and white, and you need to find your partner to

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Speaker 4: be married to.

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Speaker 6: Immediately, your mom is shaking her head.

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Speaker 8: I have I have two daughters, and I have to

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Speaker 8: be to agree with your mom in this one.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, Mark, thank you, thank you.

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Speaker 3: How old are your daughters?

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Speaker 1: Mark?

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Speaker 8: Oh? Sorry, thanks for asking. I've got fourteen going on

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Speaker 8: twenty eighth. My goodness, I've got eleven. That's the fact.

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Speaker 8: Oh boy, yesterday, yesterday we had this lovely conversation about

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Speaker 8: alcohol and whether it's appropriate at the age of eighteen

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Speaker 8: to drink alcohol as a quote unquote rite of passage.

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Speaker 8: So Zarna, what do you think about that one? If

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Speaker 8: I could get your advice on it.

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Speaker 1: Two of my kids are adults and they have both yogis,

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Speaker 1: and it's actually annoying. I used to think, don't drink alcohol.

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Speaker 1: Now I'm like, drink a little because this generation has

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Speaker 1: taken a whole another extreme position where it's like you

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Speaker 1: could never touch this, you can never touch that. So

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Speaker 1: if they catch me drinking, I get reprimanded. What I

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Speaker 1: think you'll see Mark, and you guys when your kids

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Speaker 1: go to college, there is a real non alcohol movement

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Speaker 1: that's very real. Like you know, our generation grew up,

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Speaker 1: we couldn't wait, that's just not the case that I

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Speaker 1: find with these kids.

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Speaker 7: So you're watching your mom and dad's relationship. One of

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Speaker 7: the biggest lessons you've learned about what makes a marriage

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Speaker 7: work that you want to carry into your relationships.

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Speaker 3: Don't talk to each other.

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Speaker 4: They are so intensely loyal to one another, and yet

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Speaker 4: I've never seen them hold hands. I've never seen them kiss,

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Speaker 4: I've never seen them go on a romantic candlelight dinner.

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Speaker 4: I have seen them do what I actually think are

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Speaker 4: the important things, which are figure out how to build

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Speaker 4: a life together. Intensely loyal to one another. You know,

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Speaker 4: my on a sincere note my and we talk about

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Speaker 4: this on our family podcast too. It's a very open discussion.

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Speaker 4: But during COVID, my dad lost his very you know,

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Speaker 4: comfortable finance job, and his identity was very tied to

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Speaker 4: his ambition and to his success in this job. And

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Speaker 4: at this point, my mom's career had just started to

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Speaker 4: take off, but was nowhere close to where.

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Speaker 3: It is now.

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Speaker 4: And I think a lot of people would have taken

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Speaker 4: my dad's you know, he really had to redefine what

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Speaker 4: success looked like for him and come out from under,

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Speaker 4: you know, seeing his entire self worth tied to this job,

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Speaker 4: and for years my mom and him like, no matter

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Speaker 4: how hard it got figured out, like, how are we

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Speaker 4: gonna do this?

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Speaker 3: How are we gonna build a life for each for.

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Speaker 4: Coming out of this, like he launched his own podcast,

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Speaker 4: he launched his own business. Coming out of this, my

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Speaker 4: dad turned into a social media personality. I don't think,

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Speaker 4: like I want to explain how phenomenally interesting that is.

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Speaker 4: It's so so normal for American people to take creative

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Speaker 4: ambition because we've normalized it, and that's a good thing.

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Speaker 4: But for my dad, who went to it, which is

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Speaker 4: the most renowned science and math college in the world,

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Speaker 4: to go from like a chemical engineer to a finance

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Speaker 4: professional to now a podcast host who is helping people

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Speaker 4: learn about money, like the heroic trajectory of that.

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Speaker 3: No one in his community had ever seen that.

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Speaker 4: And that was entirely because of my mom's support and

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Speaker 4: just loyalty and in designing together.

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Speaker 3: But they've never done any.

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Speaker 4: Of the They never did any of the fluffy stuff,

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Speaker 4: you know, like there was none of the like you

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Speaker 4: know in dating culture.

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Speaker 3: Now it's like, did he comment on my Instagram?

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Speaker 6: Oh my god, your mom is rolling her ass.

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Speaker 1: He's blocked on my page. He's blocked on my page.

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Speaker 1: I don't want him to comment. Please, I don't want

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Speaker 1: to hear whatever he's thinking. No way, if we don't

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Speaker 1: even follow, this is true. Your producers can check this.

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Speaker 1: He unfollowed me, Emmy, Wow, what was his reasoning? He's like,

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Speaker 1: you post too much stuff about all this other stuff.

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Speaker 1: I can't it's too much activity on my page. And

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Speaker 1: he just unfollowed me.

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Speaker 3: He only follows Bloomberg.

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Speaker 1: He follows all these finance people.

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Speaker 8: That's so funny. Zoya, Obviously you've not only adore your mom,

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Speaker 8: but you've had a huge impact on her career. So,

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Speaker 8: if I'm not mistaken, at the age of sixteen, you,

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Speaker 8: at her birthday gave her one hundred and forty six

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Speaker 8: handwritten notes, nonetheless handwritten notes, encouraging her from her friendship

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Speaker 8: group to become a comedian. So what did you see

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Speaker 8: in her that nobody else had articulated clearly until you

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Speaker 8: by those handwritten notes.

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Speaker 4: I saw her funniness, her storytelling skills as something that

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Speaker 4: could make us money. You know, she was really a

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Speaker 4: personality from the moment I was born.

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Speaker 3: My friends would.

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Speaker 4: Always want to come to my house because we obviously

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Speaker 4: had the best food, of course obviously, but on top

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Speaker 4: of that, they wanted to get advice from Auntie Zarna.

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Speaker 4: They wanted to hear what she had to say on

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Speaker 4: every topic, on who has a crush on who, what

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Speaker 4: the mean teacher is saying. You know, she just had

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Speaker 4: this magnetism that was so obvious that, especially when I

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Speaker 4: was sixteen. She had started several businesses at this point,

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Speaker 4: Tomato sauce company, matchmaking, business, tutoring, and these businesses were

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Speaker 4: not working because the products weren't the right fit. But

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Speaker 4: what I would notice in all of these businesses that

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Speaker 4: she started was people would buy whatever she was selling

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Speaker 4: just because they wanted an extra minute with her. And

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Speaker 4: it was just such a nascent idea. And for her

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Speaker 4: birthday when I was sixteen. At this point, I had

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Speaker 4: said why don't you try stand up comedy several times,

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Speaker 4: which she would always reply, that's not a job, right

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Speaker 4: You can't get paid to make people laugh.

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Speaker 3: And I was like, we're in America, that's actually like

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Speaker 3: the coolest job in the world.

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Speaker 4: I had reached out to several of her friends and

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Speaker 4: family members, but I didn't lead the question. I just said, Hey,

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Speaker 4: I'm assembling a gift for mom. Just write anything and

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Speaker 4: I'll transcribe it. But I knew that everyone was going

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Speaker 4: to comment on her personality, her warmth, and the ability

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Speaker 4: that she had to make people feel good about themselves

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Speaker 4: and feel good about the world we were heading into.

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Speaker 3: And that's exactly what happened.

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Speaker 4: When she started picking out the notes, it was like,

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Speaker 4: one by one by one, every single message was like,

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Speaker 4: you are the funniest person that I know. And then

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Speaker 4: very shortly after, she did a open mic at the

405
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Speaker 4: worst stand up comedy club in the world. It won't

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Speaker 4: be named, because I don't even think there is a name,

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Speaker 4: and there were two or three people in the audience

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Speaker 4: that had bought the five dollars ticket, and she was

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Speaker 4: just ranting I remember about me and her mother in

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Speaker 4: law and math and how we all need to be

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Speaker 4: doing more math. And the people in the audience were

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Speaker 4: just dying. They were falling off their chairs, and I

413
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Speaker 4: remember the club manager said, how long has she been

414
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Speaker 4: doing this to me?

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Speaker 3: And I was like, whoa, we have a business here.

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Speaker 4: And then it just kept and then you know everything

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Speaker 4: else from that point onwards, I want to be really

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Speaker 4: truthful a lot of people credit me and my brothers,

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Speaker 4: but to have taken that Nason idea and turned it

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Speaker 4: into the empire that she has that was entirely from

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Speaker 4: her and her adaptability and resilience. I mean, I think

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Speaker 4: she's actually a visionary. It's so hard for me to

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Speaker 4: have an opinion now because I think she's so brilliant

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Speaker 4: that I'm like, why should I have an opinion, Like

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Speaker 4: she should just tell me what did do?

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Speaker 1: And that's why mom controls the dating decisions, because mom

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Speaker 1: can tell you what to do exactly.

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Speaker 5: But it seems like Zoia the daughter controls the professional.

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Speaker 1: No, she does. She's running my whole company now.

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Speaker 5: And think about that though, like literally, like from you know,

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Speaker 5: our age, like we were raised like we give the

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Speaker 5: children the advice. Yeah, so the fact that in this

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Speaker 5: instance your children really really were the impetus to really

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Speaker 5: give you the professional advice.

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Speaker 6: And we see how the story has ended.

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Speaker 1: Well it's ongoing. I mean, the story about her notes.

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Speaker 1: I just want to say, this is the reason she

438
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Speaker 1: didn't get a perfect score on the SAT. She was

439
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Speaker 1: too busy writing. She lost ten points. I was so

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Speaker 1: angry when I found out she was wasting time on

441
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,439
Speaker 1: these notes, but the story is still ongoing. It is

442
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:45,360
Speaker 1: unfolding because she's leading us into a digital world. That's

443
00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,600
Speaker 1: why she's living in San Francisco, because you know, you

444
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:52,119
Speaker 1: have to adapt even to that. I'm a stand up

445
00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:55,040
Speaker 1: comic and you guys are podcasting. It's like, but we

446
00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:57,040
Speaker 1: don't know what next year is going to look like,

447
00:22:57,320 --> 00:22:59,920
Speaker 1: what the next iteration of this business is gonna look

448
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:04,320
Speaker 1: So she's stasked with taking our company into the next generation.

449
00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:06,800
Speaker 1: And that's what she's doing out there.

450
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,800
Speaker 4: And one note I want to make on adaptability because

451
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,560
Speaker 4: I actually think this story is super important and we

452
00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:15,880
Speaker 4: don't talk about it enough. So early on in her career,

453
00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:18,600
Speaker 4: when she was doing open mics, she started to actually

454
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,040
Speaker 4: gain some traction at the clubs.

455
00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:21,520
Speaker 3: This was pre pandemic.

456
00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,080
Speaker 4: But then as soon as she got her biggest headlining gig,

457
00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:29,639
Speaker 4: which was at Caroline's on Broadway, the club's closed because

458
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,840
Speaker 4: the pandemic happened and comedians had no idea what to do.

459
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,160
Speaker 4: I mean, this was their life's work to perform in clubs,

460
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,879
Speaker 4: especially at her stage. We had had all these recordings

461
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:43,800
Speaker 4: of her jokes and my brother Bridge, who was you know,

462
00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:45,840
Speaker 4: he was fourteen at the time, and at this point

463
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,120
Speaker 4: he was addicted to TikTok. He was like, I think

464
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,480
Speaker 4: we should cut these jokes up and upload them on TikTok.

465
00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:57,199
Speaker 3: And this point in time that was foreign because for

466
00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:58,000
Speaker 3: comedians the.

467
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,399
Speaker 4: Idea was to save all your material so that you

468
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:01,760
Speaker 4: could sell tickets to your show.

469
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:04,880
Speaker 3: Comedians would never post their stand up online.

470
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,000
Speaker 4: Why would you do that. You're giving away the goods

471
00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 4: for free. And my brother was insistent. He was like,

472
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:12,600
Speaker 4: if we are the first.

473
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:16,040
Speaker 3: Ones to put comedy online, mom might.

474
00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,359
Speaker 4: Skyrocket and people might just see her as like the

475
00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:22,680
Speaker 4: funniest comedian ever. And so he uploaded her first ever

476
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:24,960
Speaker 4: I've never said I Love you to my husband joke

477
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:28,880
Speaker 4: on TikTok. This was two weeks into the pandemic, and

478
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,639
Speaker 4: I remember he uploaded it and it was like one

479
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,000
Speaker 4: hundred thousand views, two hundred thousand views, a million views,

480
00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:38,400
Speaker 4: ten million views, and we kept seeing the number refresh and.

481
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 3: We were like, is this the lottery? Did we just

482
00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:42,960
Speaker 3: win something? Like what's going on? Is this a scam?

483
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:45,400
Speaker 4: And it wasn't a scam, Like the joke was being

484
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,400
Speaker 4: shared by millions of people around the world, and she

485
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:51,760
Speaker 4: is the she was the one who started that movement.

486
00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:54,280
Speaker 4: Now every comedian posts their jokes online, but if she

487
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:56,960
Speaker 4: had not adapted in that moment, that was one of

488
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:58,320
Speaker 4: the critical moments in the business.

489
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:00,000
Speaker 3: I don't even know if I would have a job

490
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,800
Speaker 3: right now if that hadn't worked out and she hadn't

491
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:04,760
Speaker 3: made that leap of faith.

492
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:08,000
Speaker 6: And that came from your brother, Yeah, but.

493
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:10,400
Speaker 4: It came from my brother and her also being so

494
00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:13,560
Speaker 4: fearless and seeing like, if we don't roll the dice,

495
00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:16,720
Speaker 4: we will not move forward. We can't do the same

496
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,120
Speaker 4: thing as everyone else because we're too late into this game,

497
00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:20,400
Speaker 4: and that's not gonna work for us.

498
00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:24,000
Speaker 8: I think we're all dying. Why have you never told

499
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:24,520
Speaker 8: your husband?

500
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,960
Speaker 1: Why you Well, I would never do that. It's only

501
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:34,440
Speaker 1: been twenty seven years. There's no rush, no no oh.

502
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:37,080
Speaker 1: So it's just not something we do. It's just not

503
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,400
Speaker 1: I can't even you know. I was on a TV show,

504
00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:41,560
Speaker 1: like a news show, and they're like, do you want

505
00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 1: to see it? Do you want to say it? I

506
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,200
Speaker 1: was like, no, I have no desire. We're good, We're

507
00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:49,680
Speaker 1: really good. If she said it to me, they offered

508
00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:51,560
Speaker 1: to call him so I could say it. I said,

509
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:53,760
Speaker 1: if I called him and said it now over the phone.

510
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:55,919
Speaker 1: He's gonna think I'm in a car accident and I'm

511
00:25:55,960 --> 00:26:00,080
Speaker 1: about to pass. That's not chock it please you.

512
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,400
Speaker 6: You're just saving it for a really good time.

513
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,120
Speaker 4: Like she said, I love you to an Amazon customer

514
00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:11,240
Speaker 4: service rap. By the way, that's the only person he

515
00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:13,199
Speaker 4: found a missing package like you.

516
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:17,119
Speaker 1: If you order a lot, you know that's what's.

517
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:20,600
Speaker 7: Your mom has talked about the wait list for Friendship.

518
00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,160
Speaker 7: You're on the list, but your brother Bridge is always

519
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:24,760
Speaker 7: number one.

520
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:32,000
Speaker 1: You complain a lot. That's not helping you.

521
00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,479
Speaker 5: But Zara, when you started comedy listen, there were no

522
00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:39,680
Speaker 5: female Indian comedians doing what you're doing. Yeah, and then

523
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,760
Speaker 5: you also wear bendi on stage. You joke about mother

524
00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:46,119
Speaker 5: in law's arranged marriages, all the things that Indian women

525
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:47,560
Speaker 5: typically don't.

526
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:48,240
Speaker 6: Discuss in public.

527
00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,800
Speaker 5: What was the initial reaction from the Indian community And

528
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,840
Speaker 5: I'm very curious and also did that change over time?

529
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,439
Speaker 1: My community has been most supportive since day one, but

530
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,159
Speaker 1: they didn't know what it was. We are not a

531
00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:05,320
Speaker 1: people who go to clubs for fun, to drink, to

532
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,399
Speaker 1: hang out. That's not our world. It's not a word.

533
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:10,919
Speaker 1: We are comfortable and I had never stepped foot in

534
00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:13,320
Speaker 1: a comedy club until the day I did the open mic.

535
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:16,320
Speaker 1: I didn't know what this thing was where people just

536
00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:19,240
Speaker 1: sit around and tell jokes and pay money for it.

537
00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,000
Speaker 1: But also, remember when I tried comedy, I had already

538
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:27,320
Speaker 1: failed at so many things. My community was fed up

539
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:31,199
Speaker 1: of announcements from me. The match making was such a

540
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,440
Speaker 1: big I made this big grand I'm a matchmakers, and

541
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:36,840
Speaker 1: all your kids to me. And then it was the

542
00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,080
Speaker 1: most traumatic experience for my community because I was telling

543
00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:42,520
Speaker 1: everybody it was too late. They needed to lose weight.

544
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:46,200
Speaker 1: This guy is never gonna find anybody. Oh my god.

545
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:48,680
Speaker 1: By the time I got to comedy, people were like,

546
00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:51,640
Speaker 1: whatever she wants to do, it's great, you have our blessings,

547
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,520
Speaker 1: go do it. It started making sense when actually it

548
00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:58,000
Speaker 1: was not the Indian community, but it was all the

549
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:02,200
Speaker 1: other Americans started coming out and being like, oh my god,

550
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,399
Speaker 1: this is so funny because making mother in law jokes

551
00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,960
Speaker 1: is not a new thing. It has existed in culture,

552
00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,399
Speaker 1: just not in our culture. So we had a lot

553
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:13,719
Speaker 1: of non Indians who would come out and be like,

554
00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:16,960
Speaker 1: oh my god, Like I'm telling you, the black community

555
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,439
Speaker 1: often tells me that they have an auntie just like

556
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:21,200
Speaker 1: me who's got a big mouth.

557
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:23,440
Speaker 6: Absolutely right.

558
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:27,960
Speaker 1: So it's like this was not new to a lot

559
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,040
Speaker 1: of community. The Jewish community is always telling me that, like,

560
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:35,439
Speaker 1: I sound like a Jewish mom. So it kind of

561
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,840
Speaker 1: started turning. And then more and more Indians started coming

562
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,120
Speaker 1: out with the idea that, oh, we're just gonna like

563
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,360
Speaker 1: sit and have fun on a Saturday night. Like I've

564
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,000
Speaker 1: joked about this with Tina and Amy. I opened for

565
00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:49,960
Speaker 1: Tina Fae and Amy Polar for two years and I

566
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 1: told him, I said, Indians don't watch Saturday Night Live

567
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:56,480
Speaker 1: because we think Saturday night is for that extra Sat class.

568
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:02,680
Speaker 1: We would never waste a Saturday night on like having fun.

569
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,160
Speaker 1: But now more and more they come out, and they

570
00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:09,000
Speaker 1: come out in families. They bring their own mother in law.

571
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:11,440
Speaker 1: Oh my god, so many people bring their mother in

572
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:14,120
Speaker 1: law to my show because they're like give her a message,

573
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:18,200
Speaker 1: Like they want to pay me extra to deliver messages

574
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:20,360
Speaker 1: to their Like they'll they bring their kids and be

575
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:22,040
Speaker 1: like tell him not to do history.

576
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 8: You know, what do we need to know about mother

577
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,120
Speaker 8: in laws? This is really important? Oh my god, what

578
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:30,040
Speaker 8: just just give us a quick schooling.

579
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,920
Speaker 1: Mother and I'm telling you my career was on a

580
00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:37,320
Speaker 1: roll in twenty nineteen. I had just sold out Carolines

581
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:39,800
Speaker 1: on Broadway, which was a big deal, and then the

582
00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:42,520
Speaker 1: world shut down, and you know, in America, everybody was

583
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:46,160
Speaker 1: debating where did the virus come from? Was it a bat,

584
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:48,720
Speaker 1: was it a lab? It came from my mother in

585
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:53,640
Speaker 1: law's kitchen. This woman was gonna do whatever it took

586
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:57,080
Speaker 1: to take me down. And that is that is what

587
00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,960
Speaker 1: a mother in law is. Right now, Wow, she's actively.

588
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:04,960
Speaker 1: I have more than thirteen thousand amazing reviews for my book.

589
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:09,200
Speaker 1: The handful of one star reviews have all come from

590
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:15,440
Speaker 1: the same region in India as suspiciously close to where

591
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:17,400
Speaker 1: she lives. Is it a coincidence?

592
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 6: I cannot wait until your mother in law.

593
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:26,800
Speaker 1: Oh I'm gonna be horrible. The level I'm gonna be horrible.

594
00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:29,360
Speaker 1: I can already see it because everybody my kids bring

595
00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:30,440
Speaker 1: home is no good.

596
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:34,280
Speaker 5: No, no, no, it's good. Now you said that you

597
00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,600
Speaker 5: open for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on their tour. Now,

598
00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:41,560
Speaker 5: these are two of the most successful iconic women in comedy.

599
00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,840
Speaker 5: Getting to watch them perform night after night and seeing

600
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,440
Speaker 5: how they work up close and personal what's the one

601
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:51,200
Speaker 5: thing that you took away that stayed with you.

602
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,360
Speaker 1: You can mix business and pleasure. I grew up in

603
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:58,120
Speaker 1: a generation that said, don't mix business and pleasure, because

604
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:00,680
Speaker 1: the men went to work, the women stay home. That's

605
00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:03,040
Speaker 1: the way I grew up. That's what I grew up seeing.

606
00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 1: Then now I saw these two women best friends who

607
00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:11,600
Speaker 1: built individually huge empires themselves. But a big reason they've

608
00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:13,680
Speaker 1: been able to build it is because they have each

609
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:17,600
Speaker 1: other even to lean on through the tough times, sometimes

610
00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:20,960
Speaker 1: to make that extra call for the other person. I

611
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:24,680
Speaker 1: really learned the in fact, they inspired me to have

612
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,360
Speaker 1: the courage to say to my daughter, turned down every

613
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:30,480
Speaker 1: big tech job and come work with me. I don't

614
00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:33,280
Speaker 1: know if I had not seen them up close, if

615
00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:36,760
Speaker 1: I would have had the courage to make that big

616
00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:38,640
Speaker 1: move for my daughter. Do you know what I mean?

617
00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:40,640
Speaker 6: Yeah, the power of women in community too.

618
00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:45,080
Speaker 1: And I think women and friends building together is a

619
00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:47,880
Speaker 1: very real thing. And I mean I saw them hang

620
00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:51,680
Speaker 1: out with all their SNL friends, you know, backstage, and

621
00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:54,520
Speaker 1: they're all individually building their own things. But I think

622
00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:57,840
Speaker 1: that they are so successful in part because they have

623
00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,520
Speaker 1: each other yea, And that is the opposite of what

624
00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:02,680
Speaker 1: I believe most of my life growing up.

625
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:07,040
Speaker 5: Yeah, women we build webs and men build ladders, so

626
00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:10,520
Speaker 5: we act write webs and connections and so yeah.

627
00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:14,160
Speaker 1: Exactly, And I really saw it, and then it changed

628
00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:16,640
Speaker 1: how I decided to build my business.

629
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:23,440
Speaker 8: Yeah, speaking about your business, Zoya, obviously you've helped to

630
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:25,800
Speaker 8: build your mom's business. What's been the hardest part about

631
00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:29,160
Speaker 8: being both her of course the daughter of your mother

632
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:30,479
Speaker 8: and her business partner.

633
00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:38,280
Speaker 4: We could really use an HR department, No, I think

634
00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:42,440
Speaker 4: actually the hardest part for me has been learning how

635
00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,920
Speaker 4: to define my own narrative because so many people see

636
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:47,280
Speaker 4: what I'm doing with my mom.

637
00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:49,280
Speaker 3: As the most unusual thing.

638
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:51,720
Speaker 4: They can't even wrap their heads around the fact that

639
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:54,200
Speaker 4: I love working with my mom so much and I

640
00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:56,560
Speaker 4: learned so much from her every day that it is

641
00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,920
Speaker 4: the best possible thing for me right now. I think

642
00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:02,760
Speaker 4: I have had the experience where I've gotten minimized to oh,

643
00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:06,240
Speaker 4: she's a NEPO baby, and it's like, whoa, we didn't

644
00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:10,000
Speaker 4: even have anything until a few years ago. Yeah, And

645
00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,240
Speaker 4: so to be honest, that was that's been a real

646
00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:16,240
Speaker 4: challenge for me, is like staying the course and knowing

647
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:20,040
Speaker 4: that what we're building together is so important and focusing

648
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:24,040
Speaker 4: especially on exactly the community she's talking about at our shows.

649
00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:27,120
Speaker 3: For six months after I graduated Stanford.

650
00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:28,560
Speaker 4: I went on tour and I was at every tour

651
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:31,800
Speaker 4: stop learning about who is enjoying our products, like who

652
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:34,920
Speaker 4: is bought into our world. And the most fascinating thing

653
00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:37,959
Speaker 4: I learned is so many people who came to that

654
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:41,640
Speaker 4: show were it was their first ever comedy show. And

655
00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:45,560
Speaker 4: to think that this art form is being introduced to

656
00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:47,960
Speaker 4: so many people for the very first time that has

657
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:50,880
Speaker 4: like historically, not to be a classicist about it, like

658
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:54,680
Speaker 4: that is how people have like overcome really really hard

659
00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:58,400
Speaker 4: moments is through laughter together. And then the second I

660
00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:02,400
Speaker 4: did study computer science, so I get traditional technology software

661
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:05,080
Speaker 4: options that looked really sexy at the time to be honest,

662
00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:09,640
Speaker 4: like really great paychecks in San Francisco, build the future right,

663
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:14,160
Speaker 4: like it's just really cool. But it was November and

664
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,760
Speaker 4: my mom's memoir, she had just finished writing her memoir.

665
00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:20,480
Speaker 4: In order to have a book land successfully, there's a

666
00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:23,799
Speaker 4: very long pre order process that leads up to that

667
00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:27,480
Speaker 4: book's publication, and that pre order, if it's handled correctly,

668
00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:28,960
Speaker 4: is what determines.

669
00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:31,160
Speaker 3: The success of the book. Based on the pre orders,

670
00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:33,160
Speaker 3: bookstores will stop the book.

671
00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:35,400
Speaker 4: They will, you know, put it on all sorts of

672
00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:38,839
Speaker 4: really amazing lists that helped us sell the book in perpetuity.

673
00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:41,840
Speaker 4: My mom was looking to hire somebody for this job,

674
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:43,759
Speaker 4: and she said, I think you should take this job,

675
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:45,400
Speaker 4: and I think you should try working with me.

676
00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:47,719
Speaker 3: And I was like, what, you want me to sell

677
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:48,960
Speaker 3: a pre order? What's that?

678
00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:50,960
Speaker 4: I didn't even know what a pre order was, Like,

679
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:53,440
Speaker 4: what is the concept of a pre order of a book?

680
00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:56,439
Speaker 4: You're gonna sell something that doesn't even exist yet.

681
00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,120
Speaker 3: That's wild, right, And she was like, no, I think

682
00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:01,560
Speaker 3: you should take this job and learn how to sell.

683
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:05,000
Speaker 4: That's a skill that will be part of your life

684
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:07,760
Speaker 4: for the rest of your life. And so my senior

685
00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:09,960
Speaker 4: year of Stanford I set a goal to sell ten

686
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,680
Speaker 4: thousand pre orders of her book. I flew all across

687
00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:14,879
Speaker 4: the country doing pop ups in every city. I think

688
00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:17,919
Speaker 4: we did four or five live streams every single week.

689
00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:21,279
Speaker 4: We collaborated and designed all sorts of viral moments with

690
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,560
Speaker 4: famous comedians. We used every AI tool in the book.

691
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:26,759
Speaker 4: There have been several write ups about that and how

692
00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:30,879
Speaker 4: we designed that process and instantly when the book came

693
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:34,400
Speaker 4: out in April. It made every single bestseller list instantly,

694
00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:37,239
Speaker 4: and now authors around the world reach out to me

695
00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:38,160
Speaker 4: and they're like, so, how.

696
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:39,120
Speaker 3: Did you do it for your mom?

697
00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:42,920
Speaker 4: And the reason I'm mentioning that is, especially with family businesses,

698
00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:46,120
Speaker 4: it was incredibly important to see if we actually could

699
00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:50,239
Speaker 4: work together. Wasn't like I just decided to take the job,

700
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:52,040
Speaker 4: like I actually had to really earn the job. And

701
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,920
Speaker 4: there were moments during that pre order process that I

702
00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:57,280
Speaker 4: was not doing a good job and I wasn't selling

703
00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:58,879
Speaker 4: the books, and she was like, I'm going to give

704
00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:00,799
Speaker 4: this job to someone else if you can't figure it out.

705
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:04,439
Speaker 4: So it wasn't you know, it was a build up process.

706
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:09,879
Speaker 7: Wow, amazing, amazing, as Erna, you've said that everywhere you go,

707
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:14,680
Speaker 7: daughters from immigrant families reach out to Zoya and tell her.

708
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:18,160
Speaker 7: Because of what your mom said on stage, I was

709
00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:21,480
Speaker 7: able to have a conversation with my parents that I

710
00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:25,600
Speaker 7: couldn't have before. So I want to ask you both,

711
00:36:26,239 --> 00:36:29,920
Speaker 7: what has been the most meaningful message you've received.

712
00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:34,440
Speaker 1: I mean, I know that when I do private events,

713
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,200
Speaker 1: and I do very few now, but I do do

714
00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:41,960
Speaker 1: them weddings and things, often there are elderly Indian people

715
00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:46,200
Speaker 1: lined up to meet me, and sometimes they start crying

716
00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:49,040
Speaker 1: and they you know, they'll tell me. They'll be like,

717
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:52,839
Speaker 1: you know, we've lived in America sixty seventy years and

718
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:56,480
Speaker 1: we've laughed at jokes we don't understand for sixty seventy years,

719
00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:00,640
Speaker 1: and you know, for the first time, we laughing at

720
00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:04,840
Speaker 1: something that feels like our story. And it really changed

721
00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:08,920
Speaker 1: how I saw myself in the business. So, you know,

722
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:12,040
Speaker 1: for my people, it's been a big thing. For our people,

723
00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:14,239
Speaker 1: like Indian people, we don't talk to our kids in

724
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:17,439
Speaker 1: that way. Like here in America, there is a lot

725
00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:19,719
Speaker 1: of like how will what do the kids think? And

726
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:21,600
Speaker 1: how you know, how are you going to take care

727
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:23,960
Speaker 1: of them? In India, they just grow. They kind of

728
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:28,120
Speaker 1: just background plants. They parted and they grow. Nobody ever

729
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:31,560
Speaker 1: thinks about it. We have a family podcast and the

730
00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:34,160
Speaker 1: first topic we choose chose was what do you know

731
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:37,719
Speaker 1: about sex? And we five of us talked about it

732
00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:40,680
Speaker 1: and I was like, it's we had never done, you know.

733
00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:44,640
Speaker 1: I started the podcast on a whim. I just took

734
00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:46,719
Speaker 1: I just booked a studio in New York and I said,

735
00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:50,240
Speaker 1: let's just go and see what happens. My husband was shocked,

736
00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:53,120
Speaker 1: like if you watched that first episode, He's like, I

737
00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,400
Speaker 1: thought we're going to talk about like the valley or

738
00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:58,640
Speaker 1: New Year or Christmas or something. What is this topic?

739
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:00,640
Speaker 1: And I was saying, no, let's just find out what

740
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:02,680
Speaker 1: the kids know. We don't even know what our own

741
00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:07,440
Speaker 1: kids know. And the fact that people are opening up

742
00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:10,000
Speaker 1: these discussions. I mean, I worked in a gay rom

743
00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:13,280
Speaker 1: com two years ago. I'm the mother in that movie.

744
00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:17,200
Speaker 1: It's an Indian, it's an American production. That movie has

745
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:23,120
Speaker 1: helped countless Indian gay kids come out of the closet.

746
00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:26,520
Speaker 1: The fact that these things are all happening because of

747
00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:30,719
Speaker 1: the work that we are doing. We were just trying

748
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:32,920
Speaker 1: to make a living. I'm being honest. We were not

749
00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:36,319
Speaker 1: trying to launch a movement or anything. We were in

750
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:39,759
Speaker 1: such financial dire straits when my husband lost his job.

751
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,839
Speaker 1: You know, we thought we had savings, but when you

752
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:46,520
Speaker 1: don't have income, the savings go so fast you don't

753
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,680
Speaker 1: realize it. It just it bleeds like Niagara falls. I

754
00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:52,200
Speaker 1: remember waking up and like our four oh one k

755
00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:56,600
Speaker 1: was down. Everything felt like our real estate market crashed

756
00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:00,319
Speaker 1: around us. We couldn't even move all we would trying

757
00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,920
Speaker 1: to do is make an honest living with integrity. But

758
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:07,239
Speaker 1: we kind of entered the space and now we're in

759
00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:09,200
Speaker 1: a place where all we want to do is serve

760
00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:13,600
Speaker 1: our audience because it has been so underserved. Like as

761
00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:15,759
Speaker 1: soon as Zoya came on board, I said, Zoya, what's

762
00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:18,720
Speaker 1: a digital thing you can create to serve our audience.

763
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:23,520
Speaker 1: And we realized that our audience loves word games. They

764
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:27,360
Speaker 1: even in their free time, want to do spelling beats.

765
00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:29,680
Speaker 1: So we launched a word game right away.

766
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:32,839
Speaker 4: And it got like ten thousand plays and like one night,

767
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:35,040
Speaker 4: I remember we launched it and it was like everyone

768
00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:37,680
Speaker 4: was competing to get the egg grade on the Zornaguarde

769
00:39:37,719 --> 00:39:41,440
Speaker 4: word game. And it was people were writing in messages

770
00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:44,280
Speaker 4: like because some of the letters could spell a different

771
00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:47,040
Speaker 4: word and they had missed a few seconds that they

772
00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:49,239
Speaker 4: could have gotten if that word had been accepted. I

773
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:53,120
Speaker 4: was getting angry messages from wives of husbands who hadn't

774
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:55,920
Speaker 4: gotten their correct ranking, and I was like, Wow, our

775
00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:58,040
Speaker 4: community is the best. I mean, this is a little

776
00:39:58,040 --> 00:39:59,800
Speaker 4: bit of a hetache, it's a little bit of a heartache,

777
00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:01,440
Speaker 4: but I I think all of you will appreciate it.

778
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:03,880
Speaker 4: I think that we're too soft on American kids.

779
00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:05,799
Speaker 3: Now, I think we are.

780
00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:08,239
Speaker 4: I think that's one of the things that's really not

781
00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,080
Speaker 4: a good thing about I don't know why it's the case.

782
00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:13,160
Speaker 3: My mom has always.

783
00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:16,279
Speaker 4: Been extremely hard on me, and I'm so grateful that

784
00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:18,760
Speaker 4: she set such a high standard. Like can you imagine

785
00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:20,360
Speaker 4: this woman in my senior year of college is like

786
00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:21,680
Speaker 4: sell ten thousand pre orders?

787
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:24,239
Speaker 3: Like that is an absurd people, all these parents are like,

788
00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:26,160
Speaker 3: how could you just expect your kid to do that

789
00:40:26,239 --> 00:40:26,480
Speaker 3: for you?

790
00:40:26,840 --> 00:40:27,960
Speaker 1: But it was so obvious.

791
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:29,799
Speaker 4: I was like, oh yeah, totally, Like we're gonna do

792
00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:31,760
Speaker 4: that now, okay, Like that makes sense.

793
00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:35,959
Speaker 7: We're building something real here, one episode at a time.

794
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:39,359
Speaker 7: If you want to be part of its, subscribe, it's free,

795
00:40:39,719 --> 00:40:42,560
Speaker 7: it matters, and we're just getting started.

796
00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:44,400
Speaker 8: Well, So I love the fact that you and your

797
00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:47,440
Speaker 8: mom have such a loving and very close relationship.

798
00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:50,160
Speaker 1: They also there's a lot of fighting, Like there's a

799
00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:52,759
Speaker 1: lot of oh my god, but we save that for

800
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:54,880
Speaker 1: the tick dok. We we save it. You know, we

801
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:57,560
Speaker 1: don't fight unless we can monetize it anymore.

802
00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:00,799
Speaker 5: No, So like no, but like behind the scenes, if

803
00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:04,000
Speaker 5: you're getting ready to have a heated discussion is it

804
00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:06,120
Speaker 5: like a part of you is like, wait a minute,

805
00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:08,799
Speaker 5: let's save it. Let's save it for the let's save it.

806
00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:09,880
Speaker 5: This is really good.

807
00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:13,640
Speaker 1: No, No, every part of me. It's not a small part.

808
00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:16,240
Speaker 1: It's a big part. It's like, put turn that camera

809
00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:17,120
Speaker 1: on right now.

810
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:19,640
Speaker 3: I am the mature one in our fights.

811
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:23,360
Speaker 4: Though, She'll she'll unshare her find my location with me,

812
00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:27,640
Speaker 4: she'll unfollow me on Instagram, she'll message my brothers.

813
00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:29,760
Speaker 3: By the way, I'm never.

814
00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:32,440
Speaker 4: Talking to your sister again. Please like let her know

815
00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:37,000
Speaker 4: that I feel that way wild, this type of fighting

816
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:37,800
Speaker 4: style as wild.

817
00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:40,160
Speaker 1: And I tell them I'm like, choose a side and

818
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:42,040
Speaker 1: publicly announced wich side you're on.

819
00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:45,839
Speaker 4: Publicly tell people on Instagram whose side you're on?

820
00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:48,279
Speaker 8: Was It wasn't it until you went to Stanford, three

821
00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:51,439
Speaker 8: thousand miles away from your mom that you realize that

822
00:41:51,719 --> 00:41:54,799
Speaker 8: not every child has the same relationship with their mother

823
00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:58,280
Speaker 8: as you do with your mother. Of course, in that case,

824
00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:01,520
Speaker 8: obviously a lot of kids were made decisions without consulting

825
00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:05,719
Speaker 8: their mother first. So what's some of the best advice

826
00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:06,719
Speaker 8: that your mom's given you.

827
00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:09,200
Speaker 4: The best piece of advice my mom gave me was

828
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:12,840
Speaker 4: to start working full time as quickly as possible and

829
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:16,279
Speaker 4: treat college as almost this social club opportunity.

830
00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:18,279
Speaker 3: You know, Like I this is also a bit of

831
00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:21,080
Speaker 3: a hot take. But I you know, in my senior year,

832
00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:22,040
Speaker 3: when I was running.

833
00:42:21,760 --> 00:42:24,440
Speaker 4: This pre order process, I got really bad grades. My

834
00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:27,480
Speaker 4: teachers loved me because I loved school so much. Like

835
00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:29,759
Speaker 4: I would always be like, can I submit my essay

836
00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:32,200
Speaker 4: four weeks in advance? Or can I take the exam

837
00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:34,719
Speaker 4: on this day? And I was constantly missing class because

838
00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:36,839
Speaker 4: I was, you know, flying all over the world. But

839
00:42:37,200 --> 00:42:39,719
Speaker 4: she she was like, I think that you'll learn more

840
00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:42,319
Speaker 4: by working full time, and you should treat college as

841
00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:45,959
Speaker 4: an opportunity to like meet amazing people and to create

842
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:49,920
Speaker 4: great relationships with your professors and nurture your education. But

843
00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:53,120
Speaker 4: you're not here to get like perfect grades. You're here

844
00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:56,520
Speaker 4: to like complete your degree and find out how to

845
00:42:56,960 --> 00:43:01,440
Speaker 4: like graduate and start being useful in the workforce.

846
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:04,280
Speaker 3: You know, learning how to be useful now is really hard.

847
00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:07,040
Speaker 4: It used to be that you could be useful by

848
00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:09,080
Speaker 4: just like you know, getting a law degree, and then

849
00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:11,040
Speaker 4: you'd be useful in law or like becoming a doctor.

850
00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:13,279
Speaker 4: Then you'd be useful there. But like, now, how do

851
00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:15,840
Speaker 4: you even be useful and productive. This is like a

852
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:17,799
Speaker 4: big top of mine question, and so she was like,

853
00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:20,000
Speaker 4: you need to figure this out as soon as possible.

854
00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:23,880
Speaker 4: So I'm glad she pushed me to work full time

855
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:26,120
Speaker 4: sooner rather than later.

856
00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:31,000
Speaker 7: Well, Zoia, I want to talk about the family podcast

857
00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:35,200
Speaker 7: that you both referenced with your mom, your dad, your

858
00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:35,880
Speaker 7: two brothers.

859
00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:37,040
Speaker 8: On the show.

860
00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:41,239
Speaker 7: Your mom has talked about the wait list for friendship.

861
00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:44,319
Speaker 7: You are on the list, but your brother Bridge is

862
00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:51,399
Speaker 7: always number one. Yes, now you are the CEO right

863
00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:55,160
Speaker 7: of her company and yes, ran her best just told

864
00:43:55,239 --> 00:43:58,160
Speaker 7: us you ran her best selling book campaign. You're building

865
00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:02,000
Speaker 7: an empire with her. What would it take to make

866
00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:03,399
Speaker 7: it to be number one?

867
00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:08,440
Speaker 4: I will never beat the eldest son. There's no chance.

868
00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:11,000
Speaker 4: He can just sit there and look pretty and that's

869
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:11,319
Speaker 4: all he.

870
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:11,759
Speaker 1: Has to do.

871
00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:15,400
Speaker 4: I mean, he's actually the most wonderful human being. And

872
00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:18,000
Speaker 4: I think we all cherish Bridge for his fearlessness and

873
00:44:18,040 --> 00:44:20,480
Speaker 4: all sorts of qualities that I wish I had in myself.

874
00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:23,919
Speaker 4: But he has been above me on this best friend

875
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:27,080
Speaker 4: waiting list for years and I don't know what it

876
00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:27,440
Speaker 4: will take.

877
00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:28,719
Speaker 3: I mean, Mom, what will it take?

878
00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:29,080
Speaker 1: Tell me?

879
00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:29,879
Speaker 3: I will do it.

880
00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:34,160
Speaker 1: You cannot disclose the terms. This is ever. We review

881
00:44:34,239 --> 00:44:37,319
Speaker 1: it every year. It's under review. You getting there, You're

882
00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:43,640
Speaker 1: getting there? You you complain a lot that's not helping you.

883
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:47,440
Speaker 8: Is there a topic starter that comes up on the

884
00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:50,240
Speaker 8: podcast as the one argument that will never be settled?

885
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:51,160
Speaker 3: Oh?

886
00:44:51,360 --> 00:44:55,040
Speaker 1: So many. My husband had a Wall Street job. He

887
00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:59,040
Speaker 1: was he was dying when he found out that I

888
00:44:59,160 --> 00:45:02,840
Speaker 1: was advising Zoe not to take a corporate job. I

889
00:45:02,880 --> 00:45:06,240
Speaker 1: thought he was gonna pass out from the stress because

890
00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:08,920
Speaker 1: he's like, what do you mean She's getting the best

891
00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:11,720
Speaker 1: jobs out of why would she not take those jobs?

892
00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:15,759
Speaker 1: And I take a very different position. I'm extremely entrepreneurial,

893
00:45:15,840 --> 00:45:19,440
Speaker 1: even through all my failures, I never once thought I

894
00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:21,960
Speaker 1: should go and work for somebody else. It's just never

895
00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:23,239
Speaker 1: made sense to me.

896
00:45:23,719 --> 00:45:26,600
Speaker 5: Sarna, you said that you wrote your memoir This American

897
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:29,839
Speaker 5: Woman for the women who feel stuck, for the stay

898
00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:33,680
Speaker 5: at home moms who feel like they don't know where

899
00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:36,279
Speaker 5: to turn, for the daughters who feel like where is

900
00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:38,160
Speaker 5: their road map in life?

901
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:40,080
Speaker 6: What do you want other women to.

902
00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:43,440
Speaker 5: Know about starting over, particularly if they feel like they've

903
00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:44,440
Speaker 5: missed their window.

904
00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:47,480
Speaker 1: I really did write the book for those women and

905
00:45:47,600 --> 00:45:49,719
Speaker 1: men A lot of men now have approached me and

906
00:45:49,719 --> 00:45:55,040
Speaker 1: said they also feel stuck. You can start over any time.

907
00:45:55,280 --> 00:45:59,600
Speaker 1: There's never been a better time to start because social media,

908
00:46:00,120 --> 00:46:05,200
Speaker 1: Internet has made it possible for even moms like I.

909
00:46:05,280 --> 00:46:08,560
Speaker 1: You know, I'm of the generations as the rest of

910
00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:10,719
Speaker 1: us are, except for ZOA and this group where it's

911
00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:14,799
Speaker 1: like remote work was not a thing. It was just

912
00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:17,600
Speaker 1: not like my first law job. I remember, if I

913
00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:21,280
Speaker 1: wasn't forced on the desk, I panicked, like every morning

914
00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:22,959
Speaker 1: you had to put the suit on and the high

915
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:25,360
Speaker 1: heels and run to work and be the first in

916
00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:28,160
Speaker 1: the door and last out. That's all gone and for

917
00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:31,120
Speaker 1: the better. Today you can have a little baby and

918
00:46:31,160 --> 00:46:33,239
Speaker 1: you can start a business in the other room while

919
00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:36,640
Speaker 1: the baby is sleeping. It's extremely viable. This is not

920
00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:40,440
Speaker 1: just you know, ideas in the air anymore. This is

921
00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:44,759
Speaker 1: being done every day by people. I mean, if God

922
00:46:44,840 --> 00:46:48,160
Speaker 1: forbid someday my stand up comedy career was to be

923
00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:51,800
Speaker 1: affected in some way, I foresee myself running an entirely

924
00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:56,839
Speaker 1: digital business. It's very possible today. And I wrote this

925
00:46:56,920 --> 00:46:58,920
Speaker 1: book to give people hope. I mean, look at me,

926
00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:02,840
Speaker 1: there's nothing per about me. I have an accent. I

927
00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:07,360
Speaker 1: started at forty four forty five, I wear a bindi.

928
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:10,880
Speaker 1: I wear my weird clothes everywhere I go. But I

929
00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:14,719
Speaker 1: found that little spot in the world that feels like

930
00:47:14,760 --> 00:47:18,400
Speaker 1: they're being seen through me, and then that became my business.

931
00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:20,920
Speaker 1: And I think that that is true for every single

932
00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:24,839
Speaker 1: one of us has something that we represent, that we

933
00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:27,040
Speaker 1: can do, we can be of service to, and we

934
00:47:27,080 --> 00:47:29,560
Speaker 1: can charge money for it. I mean, you know, the

935
00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:32,759
Speaker 1: cliche is it's never too late, but it really is not,

936
00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:35,960
Speaker 1: because if you win the day you die, you still won.

937
00:47:36,200 --> 00:47:40,080
Speaker 1: I mean, there's no endgame here, there's no flag you're

938
00:47:40,080 --> 00:47:43,279
Speaker 1: gonna cross, there's no finish line. The finish line is death,

939
00:47:43,360 --> 00:47:46,560
Speaker 1: but that can come whenever, you know. But things are

940
00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:49,320
Speaker 1: figure out able. That's the point. And like with the

941
00:47:49,520 --> 00:47:52,239
Speaker 1: rare exception, yes you although this one.

942
00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:52,719
Speaker 3: You know.

943
00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:55,600
Speaker 1: Now, with the airline industry in America, I was gonna

944
00:47:55,640 --> 00:47:59,480
Speaker 1: say flying an airplane not figure outable, But lately I've

945
00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:02,080
Speaker 1: had so many delays. I started youtubing how to fly

946
00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:06,200
Speaker 1: an airplane. I'm like, somebody has gotta figure this out,

947
00:48:06,239 --> 00:48:09,239
Speaker 1: Like I cannot keep getting bumped around like this. But

948
00:48:09,520 --> 00:48:12,360
Speaker 1: nine out of ten things are figure out aable and

949
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:15,759
Speaker 1: It's like you can sit there and be consumed by

950
00:48:15,800 --> 00:48:19,520
Speaker 1: the overwhelming nature of being stuck, or say to yourself,

951
00:48:19,640 --> 00:48:24,880
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take that one tiny step, the smallest tiny step,

952
00:48:25,560 --> 00:48:29,600
Speaker 1: every day, and then those tiny steps, before you know

953
00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:34,160
Speaker 1: it will come pound like they will. They will lead

954
00:48:34,239 --> 00:48:36,279
Speaker 1: to the next thing and the next thing, and like

955
00:48:36,320 --> 00:48:40,239
Speaker 1: a whole future that might open up for you. And

956
00:48:40,320 --> 00:48:43,160
Speaker 1: my book is written, the entire book is written from

957
00:48:43,200 --> 00:48:46,759
Speaker 1: that perspective. I didn't have any desire to share my

958
00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:50,320
Speaker 1: life story otherwise, like I don't really I'm not running

959
00:48:50,320 --> 00:48:52,399
Speaker 1: for office or anything, right, Like what do I care

960
00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:55,800
Speaker 1: if anybody knows my story or not? But I wrote

961
00:48:55,880 --> 00:48:58,600
Speaker 1: it from the perspective of this is how I got

962
00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:03,880
Speaker 1: unstuck in all these various situations, and hopefully this helps

963
00:49:04,360 --> 00:49:05,200
Speaker 1: the people who read it.

964
00:49:06,160 --> 00:49:08,200
Speaker 8: Or before we wrap it, just want to ask you

965
00:49:08,239 --> 00:49:11,680
Speaker 8: a final question, and it's very important. Yes, So, what

966
00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:15,239
Speaker 8: would happen, truly happen if your mother in law came

967
00:49:15,239 --> 00:49:15,600
Speaker 8: to visit.

968
00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:19,440
Speaker 1: It would be so bad. It would be First of all,

969
00:49:19,480 --> 00:49:22,839
Speaker 1: if I had advanced warning, which now she tends not

970
00:49:22,880 --> 00:49:28,320
Speaker 1: to give me much, I would plan my own business trip. Yeah,

971
00:49:28,440 --> 00:49:31,959
Speaker 1: you know, twenty five years my husband. She would visit,

972
00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:35,840
Speaker 1: and he would be away on business a lot suspiciously

973
00:49:35,920 --> 00:49:39,080
Speaker 1: while she was in America with me. Now, I would

974
00:49:39,160 --> 00:49:40,799
Speaker 1: reverse it and be like, you know what, you have

975
00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:43,960
Speaker 1: fun with your mother. Let me plan some shows. Let

976
00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:46,600
Speaker 1: me go to Bismarck, North Dakota. I hadn't been there,

977
00:49:49,800 --> 00:49:54,320
Speaker 1: but I think if she came to visit, she's actually

978
00:49:54,320 --> 00:49:57,520
Speaker 1: a very very smart woman. If I put the jokes aside,

979
00:49:57,600 --> 00:50:01,160
Speaker 1: she's a very very smart. But she raised two boys

980
00:50:00,920 --> 00:50:04,600
Speaker 1: in poverty in India and grew them through education and

981
00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:08,440
Speaker 1: all of it to where they are today. I think

982
00:50:09,000 --> 00:50:11,279
Speaker 1: we have a great camaraderie, my mother in law and I.

983
00:50:11,360 --> 00:50:14,279
Speaker 1: Before I release my first comedy special, it has some

984
00:50:14,360 --> 00:50:17,799
Speaker 1: hard jokes about her. I did take her blessings. I

985
00:50:17,800 --> 00:50:21,000
Speaker 1: would never blindside anybody like that in my life. I

986
00:50:21,040 --> 00:50:23,120
Speaker 1: have too much love for everybody in my life to

987
00:50:23,200 --> 00:50:26,080
Speaker 1: do that. So I think in the end it would

988
00:50:26,080 --> 00:50:28,480
Speaker 1: be a good thing. I think the problems she would

989
00:50:28,480 --> 00:50:31,680
Speaker 1: have now would be with my kids, because she's very

990
00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:35,959
Speaker 1: openly biased towards my older son and these American kids,

991
00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:38,120
Speaker 1: they don't just take it like in India other kids

992
00:50:38,160 --> 00:50:41,320
Speaker 1: just take it. They're like, that's grandma hear the kids

993
00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:43,239
Speaker 1: fight back, you know, it's like why did you do that?

994
00:50:43,400 --> 00:50:45,040
Speaker 1: And what did you mean? And like I would leave

995
00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:46,600
Speaker 1: her to deal with it with them.

996
00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:50,960
Speaker 8: Caz Aara Zoya. Thank you for this joyful, honest, and

997
00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:55,239
Speaker 8: deeply inspiring conversation during your journey, Prouse, that is never

998
00:50:55,320 --> 00:50:58,440
Speaker 8: too late to take a leap of faith, especially with

999
00:50:58,480 --> 00:51:01,239
Speaker 8: your own voice, and of course start again. And in

1000
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:04,640
Speaker 8: doing so, you're giving daughters of immigrant families all around

1001
00:51:04,640 --> 00:51:09,200
Speaker 8: the world permission to speak more openly and to dream

1002
00:51:09,360 --> 00:51:13,280
Speaker 8: more freely with their parents. Zoria, We've loved having you.

1003
00:51:13,280 --> 00:51:15,839
Speaker 8: Your belief in your mom, seeing her not just as

1004
00:51:15,880 --> 00:51:18,560
Speaker 8: a parent, but also as a person whose dreams are

1005
00:51:18,600 --> 00:51:22,200
Speaker 8: worth fighting for, has been deeply inspirational to us. Together,

1006
00:51:22,239 --> 00:51:25,480
Speaker 8: you've shown that legacy is built through courage, laughter, and

1007
00:51:25,640 --> 00:51:28,879
Speaker 8: choosing to grow side by side. Thank you for living

1008
00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:29,480
Speaker 8: your legacy.

1009
00:51:29,880 --> 00:51:32,759
Speaker 1: Thank you, and thank you so much for having us.

1010
00:51:32,800 --> 00:51:35,719
Speaker 1: This is such a wonderful podcast. We love it and

1011
00:51:35,760 --> 00:51:37,480
Speaker 1: we're so honored to be a part of it.

1012
00:51:37,520 --> 00:51:41,160
Speaker 6: Thank you so much, guys, Thank you, thank you for

1013
00:51:41,280 --> 00:51:44,920
Speaker 6: joining us. New episodes drop every Tuesday. Don't forget to

1014
00:51:44,960 --> 00:51:46,760
Speaker 6: subscribe so you never miss a moment.