WEBVTT - Shazi Visram 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.440 You've got a genius five year old, and it sounds 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:05.400 like a genior. Is he nine or ten? Now he's eleven. 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:08.160 Han's like the hair growing on his little legs. It's 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:10.760 super weird. Don't even talk about that. Combat. I keep 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:14.960 huffing Henry's neck, just trying to catch the last tiny 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:19.880 scent of babyhood, of childhood, but it's obviously absurd because 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:23.560 he's now a strapping dude. How is he he's thirteen. 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:26.400 I mean, it's very nice of him to let me 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:30.680 huff his neck. He's really like a sort of labrador, 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:32.320 just sort of I was gonna say, I do that 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:35.760 to my dog's ears. There's like a gaminess. Yeah, he 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:38.600 just wanted lives right in there. It's the right, whether 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:41.440 neck meets the back of their ear, it's exactly right. 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:43.560 And by the way, one day I'll write a paper 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:47.360 on the parallel between labradors and boys, and that having 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.559 a labrador is a really good precursor to having a 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:56.120 baby boy. Hello, I'm Mini driver. Welcome to the Mini 0:00:56.200 --> 0:01:00.880 Questions season two. I've always loved Cruce's quest Jeanette. It 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:05.160 was originally a nineteenth century parlor game where players would 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:08.480 ask each other thirty five questions aimed at revealing the 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:12.720 other player's true nature. It's just the scientific method, really. 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:16.200 In asking different people the same set of questions, you 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.560 can make observations about which truths appeared to be universal. 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:23.440 I love this discipline, and it made me wonder, what 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:26.240 if these questions were just the jumping off point, what 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:29.720 greater depths would be revealed if I asked these questions 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:34.160 as conversation starters with thought leaders and trailblazers across all 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.760 these different disciplines. So I adapted prus questionnaire and I 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:40.480 wrote my own seven questions that I personally think a 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:43.759 pertinent to a person's story. They are when and where 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.600 were you happiest? What is the quality you like least 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:51.120 about yourself? What relationship, real or fictionalized, defines love for you? 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:55.200 What question would you most like answered, What person, place, 0:01:55.400 --> 0:01:58.280 or experience has shaped you the most? What would be 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:00.920 your last meal? And can you tell me something in 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:04.600 your life that's grown out of a personal disaster? And 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:09.080 I've gathered a group of really remarkable people, ones that 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:11.680 I am honored and humbled to have had the chance 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:14.280 to engage with. You may not hear their answers to 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:17.680 all seven of these questions. We've whittled it down to 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:22.119 which questions felt closest to their experience, or the most surprising, 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:27.640 or created the most fertile ground to connect. My guest 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:33.120 today on many questions is Chassi Visiram. Chasi is an 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:38.880 extraordinary American entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, probably best known as 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:43.639 the founder of Happy Family Organics and Healthy nest To, companies, 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:46.480 which were started with the purpose of helping parents raise 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:50.519 healthier babies. Chassis work has been influenced by her own 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:54.120 parenting experiences, raising her son who is on the spectrum 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.400 of autism, and her daughter who is neurotypical. We had 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:01.280 such an interesting conversation about rinting and about life and 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:05.040 about being a woman who works. And I find her 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:09.079 incredibly inspiring because she's she's one of those people who 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:10.720 we say in the back of our mind, how do 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:14.399 they do it all? And she's vulnerable enough to let 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:17.000 you see that she can do it all, but it 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:19.920 is very, very hard. It was a great conversation. I 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:26.200 hope you enjoy it. What question would you most like answered? 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:28.839 This one's easy. You know when you like blow out 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:32.240 a candle and make your wish. My wish has been 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:36.560 for nine years now and it will always be until 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:39.920 it's answered. Is what is going to be the novel 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:43.480 therapy that heals my son of his artism, that allows 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:46.000 him to be independent. What is it going to be? 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:48.720 Because I have watched in the last year and change 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:53.760 this world come up with COVID vaccines, COVID treatments, to 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.400 a pandemic that has rocked us all. But I have 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:01.760 watched in my own life this epidem make of autism skyrocket. 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:04.640 When Sane was diagnosed, it was one in a hundred 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:07.960 and sixty eight and actually April one of last year, 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:11.600 the CDC in the US released data it's two years old. 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.640 Based on so before it was one in fifty nine 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:16.960 and now it's one in fifty four. And that happened 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:20.000 in two years, so I'm looking at one in fifty 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.320 four babies born in the United States will get a 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:25.000 not to some diagnosis. And remember it's a spectrum. But 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:28.360 in my world, the spectrum is one where I fear 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:31.560 for the worst and hope for the best, and I 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:33.320 just I want my son to be independent and be 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:35.720 able to show his gifts because he's actually the smartest 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:37.760 person in the world, but he's stuck in this body 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:40.919 that doesn't allow him to show that. You know, sometimes 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.640 a lot of times given the prevalent that like the 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:47.280 hyper prevalence, and those numbers are just shocking that you 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:51.080 just said, why do you think there isn't the research 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:54.800 and answers to those questions? When you're right, when people 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.640 get motivated and galvanized, we can come up with extraordinary stuff. 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:00.560 So why do you think they haven't around this? Well, 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:04.120 I mean, I'm not a neuroscientist and I'm not a geneticist, 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:06.440 but what happens is, you know, let's say with the 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:10.039 COVID nineteen, you have a virus that you can identify. 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.400 We know what it looks like. It's very specific. With 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:16.760 the autism. Autism is the result is a set of 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:20.159 symptoms that present based on a trigger. And I think 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.480 for every unique being, the trigger can be very different, 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.400 and it's every genetic and it's a confluence of so 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:29.680 many things. So you don't think it's just environmental, like 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:32.160 there's been so many theories as to what it is. 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.080 I do think it's environmental, but there are a trillion 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.440 things in the environment that can make a difference and 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:42.000 also your specific genetic makeup makeup right that is evolving 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:45.720 based on how it's interacting with that environment. So it's 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:48.960 a moving target. And yet there are things, and I 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:51.680 can only speak from my friends who have children on 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:54.480 the spectrum, the things that I've seen firsthand that make 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:57.839 a difference, Like food can make a huge difference. I've 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:01.479 seen that one. Because that's one of the many things 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:04.080 that you could say are sort of ancillary to having 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.559 this diagnosis, is that, like I believe it's almost half 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:11.160 of children with autism have gut issues. And if the 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:13.720 tissue of the brain is the same tissue of the gut, 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:16.679 and if there is inflammation in the gut, there can 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.919 or will likely be inflammation in the brain. So removing 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:23.440 things that are a trigger from inflammation is certainly like 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:25.960 step one. I mean, that's like table stakes, you know, 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:29.159 it's like gluten and dairy uh, you know, our triggers 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:33.000 for inflammation. And I've seen it make a massive difference 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:36.719 behaviorally that one wouldn't immediately think. But there's so much more. 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:39.800 And we've done so many different therapies and some are 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:43.000 wows for us and some have zero effect, but they 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:44.840 might be a wow for a friend of mine who 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:47.240 has you know, because if they say, if you've met 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.600 one person with autism, you've met one person with autism. 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:54.320 Oh god, it's frustrating. It's frustrating that that's how it is. 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:57.120 But that's my question, and I know we can answer it. 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:00.680 I know some things that can either per event or 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:05.200 ameliorate an artism outcome. And I practiced it because we 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:08.600 have a daughter. So my daughter Asha is five. They 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:12.080 think during the pandemic, the world has shifted to talking 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:16.280 about mental health in a way that has never been 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:19.640 as open and clear. I mean, I don't even know you. 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:21.400 You and I don't know each other. I'm sharing with 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:24.880 you enough to be you know, it's like a therapy session. 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.480 And I almost do that with anybody I joined a 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.880 zoom with. Lately, I've noticed that having done this through 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:33.600 the pandemic, I think that's exactly what it is, a 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.320 wall or a membrane that it was kept us slightly 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:39.240 separate from what we're feeling in the need to process 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.560 and process quickly to accommodate what was happening circumstantially. I 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:44.600 hope it's gone for good. I mean it feels a 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:47.640 lot more raw, but it feels closer to figuring out 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:50.880 a lot of stuff. And also it becoming typicalized, you know, 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:54.200 talking about mental health, Well, it's like human and kindness. 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:58.040 And my point is, if we can now have this 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:02.760 shift to be talking about mental health and address it proactively, 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:06.200 then let's look at developmental health because to me, that's 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:10.480 the epidemic that is facing our future, far larger than 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:15.680 the pandemic that I hope becomes endemic and is temporary, 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:19.160 but the epidemic of neurological health. And if it's one 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.960 in six children in the United States, I don't know 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:24.080 what it is elsewhere, but one in six will get 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:28.000 a developmental diagnosis. It's shocking when you say it like that. 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:30.320 But what's shocking on top of that is there are 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:33.480 no protocols like you have to have a mother like you, 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:36.320 or a mother like my friends, or fathers like my 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:40.440 friends with kids with developmental differences, pushing and finding and 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:44.640 asking and seeking and navigating while they're still trying to 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:47.199 make a living, keep the home the lights turned on, 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:50.280 take care of other children that we haven't got systems 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:54.079 in place societally. When numbers look like that, it feels 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:56.720 bananas and I hope that changes at the very least 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.760 to start. Was interesting. My friend who moved from America 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:02.720 to England. England, they got locked down a lot tighter, 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:04.840 and I'm sure it's because it's a smaller country and 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:08.040 because we have you know, socialized stuff isn't seen as 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:11.720 communism in England, but there's a protocol which makes you 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:13.880 feel safe, so it makes you feel stronger. I watched 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:16.520 her be empowered as a parent, as opposed to flailing 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.760 in a sea of information that was impossible to navigate 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:21.880 through when she was fearful and tired and trying to 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:24.880 take care of her kids. So maybe that's it. Maybe 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:27.640 like the basic logistics, maybe it will start there. But 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.600 I just I wonder if, like it's often. There was 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:32.559 this cartoon I loved when I was a kid where 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:35.400 aliens came and took over Earth and it was a 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:37.400 complete nightmare and the world was over and the human 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:39.360 race was going to be over and everything was done 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.480 for and then an alien got a cold and it's 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:45.720 spread through their ranks, and the cold was why the 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.680 aliens left Earth. I wonder if it's something that is 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:53.280 incredibly boring and typical and normal and to do with 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:56.320 just like a fundamental logistic which will open up the 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:58.679 whole kind of arena. Like if we start with like that, 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:01.559 just the little tiny things. Have you heard of that? 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:03.679 I mean, I'm sure you have canaries in a coal 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:07.680 mine analogy to me that that is actually the same 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:12.239 as your aliens, because that's what our children are. They're vulnerable. 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:16.439 They have one way of presenting this information. Are they 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:18.720 going to sing or are they not going to sing? 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:22.040 And you send this canary into a coal mine and 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:24.280 it will tell you whether or not it's safe. And 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:27.439 when the canaries are not well, that is the human 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:29.679 wake up call that we need to clean it all up. 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:44.720 I mean, that's my life's work. So what relationship, real 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:48.640 or fictionalized, defines love for you? I had a really 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:51.839 cool dad. I mean he was not just a great dad, 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:53.680 but he was like the coolest person I've ever met. 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:57.560 I think the way that he showed me love, which 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:00.160 is unique because he was like my best friend. He 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.400 was was older when he had me, and just super wise, 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:06.320 and he's like it's just really funny, like he would 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.480 just drop these bombs and everyone would be laughing, and 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.800 he just was just so chill and cool and smart 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:15.880 but practically illiterate. And you know, I grew up so 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:19.280 my parents were Muslim, and in that world, you know, 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:22.319 a girl is less likely than a boy to be successful. 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:25.880 And my dad's best compliment to me was like that 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:29.040 I was like ten sons. It was like not just 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.840 that he loved me, but it was that he constantly 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:35.960 reminded me that I could do anything. And I know 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.800 that it comes from being the daughter of immigrants. I 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:43.240 feel like I've always been given this duty to make 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:45.719 the world a better place because I've seen them do that, 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:48.600 and I know that that was their highest purpose in life, 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:51.400 was to help other people. I think that I have 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:54.079 superpowers to change the world, like I think I can 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:57.120 move mountains. I've been told that ever since I was 0:11:57.160 --> 0:12:00.719 a little Like my dad would say, shah Zi, you 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:04.720 are a lion, and like I just always think that way. 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:06.400 And I mean, i grew up in a motel room 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:09.720 in Alabama, but I'm still a lion. And so when 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:12.280 I think I can do something, I will just I'll 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:15.800 do it. And it's like when you love someone so 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.720 much that you want them to have not just the 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:22.240 best in life, but like you will sacrifice anything so 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:25.440 that that person can have that opportunity. That's big. And 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:28.360 I saw him do that for me for so many years. 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:32.360 So you think that sacrifices the major Korniston of love. 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:35.559 I think it's not the necessity, but it's the willingness 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:38.720 to put someone else ahead of you for their happiness 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:43.040 or their potential. There's something beautiful about that. And while 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.320 you're doing it, to be laughing and having fun, like, 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:48.280 you can't beat that, right, that's it. To be laughing 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:52.280 and having fun while you're making people feel good about themselves. 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:54.440 That would be amazing. I would like that for my 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:57.800 old age. Certainly. I had an older dad as well. 0:12:57.880 --> 0:12:59.640 I think they just they're just not going through so 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:02.160 much their own ship. I always felt like my dad 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:06.160 is like, God, you know you're staying out till thirty. 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:07.960 When I told you to be home at town, it 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:09.679 was low on the list of his this is going 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:12.360 to totally funk up your life. What I loved was 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:14.720 that he'd sort of lived through the Second World War 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:19.240 and through PTSD and through rebuilding his body and his 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:21.960 life and his everything to come to this point where 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:24.320 he had a little daughter when he was fifty, and 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:27.360 he was kind of like Wow, you're amazing, you know, 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:31.679 and europain in my ass didn't take everything quite so 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:34.400 seriously is the wrong word, I don't know what the 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:37.680 word is. But he never made me sweat stuff that 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:40.440 he was still working through himself. Yeah, a little bit. 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:43.720 My dad was a truck driver. He drove like a 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:47.160 semi truck in the Mount kilman Jaro region of Africa. 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:50.280 He grew up with dirt floors under his feet. And 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.600 I met people at his funeral that met him one 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:55.880 time on the side of the road in Africa, that 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:59.360 came to his funeral in Alabama. Wow, Like it was 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:02.480 like one of the people that just left you better 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:06.560 after one conversation. That wisdom and that I don't know, 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:09.320 it was like it was just like super charming and 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:11.160 to be so grounded and be able to be that 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:14.600 charming and after having had like a lot of hardship. 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:17.480 And yeah, he didn't sweat the small stuff because it 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.680 literally was like a gnat. It's like nothing. When you've 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:24.160 seen those things, it's amazing how they continue to be 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.600 fuel for you, you know, our parents, or they continue 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.200 to be fuel even after they've gone. That's also the 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:33.080 selfless gift in a way, like it carries on even 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:36.880 after they die, the good ones, there's some thing so 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:38.720 we don't want to carry on. That's one thing I 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:42.400 learned more recently is that I didn't do this when 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:46.000 I had either of my children. But now I'm like 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:48.960 a really big proponent of sitting down with your partner 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:50.880 or however you're going to bring new life into the 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:53.360 world and saying, like, what what is my mission statement 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:56.640 for this new relationship? Like what kind of person do 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:58.240 we want to raise? And how are we going to 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:01.680 be as we do it? And what are the things 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:05.200 from our family lives that were so good that we 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:09.480 want to bring into this next version of ourselves that's 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:11.560 their own person, And what are the things we want 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:14.360 to leave behind that didn't serve us? Yeah, because I 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:17.440 definitely had. It's not like everything was sunshine and rainbows, 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:20.360 you know, right. I like that corporate approach. I like 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:22.520 a mission statement with a human I think that's a 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:25.600 really it's a pretty cool idea. I like that it's 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:33.480 like a family mission statement. Where and when were you happiest? 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:37.880 Hands down, it's not even a competition. The first time 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:40.800 I held my son in my arms, happiest moment of 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:43.800 my life. Sounds cliche. No, no, no, I don't think 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:47.240 well cliches a cliches because there's sort of repeated truths now. 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:51.520 But what for you was that moment? I mean, yes, 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:54.600 the joy of meeting this person that you've quite literally 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:58.400 made inside you. But was it the fulmination of other things? 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:02.040 I think for me, because I'm idealistic and I'm in 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:04.040 my head a lot, and I always wanted to be 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:07.560 an artist and paint pictures, and I thought being creative 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:11.320 was my life's study. And then I ended up not 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:15.440 pursuing painting, and I pursued business as my expression of 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.360 creativity because I realized that that can be creative too, 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:22.119 and that was going well. It's a roller coaster, interesting 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:25.800 and somewhat self defining. But then having the baby in 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:29.080 my arms, like hands down, there's nothing more creative than 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:34.160 creating new life. It's just the fulfillment of my body's 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:39.880 ability to make something so special and beyond anything one 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:42.120 could ever imagine. Because you don't know the future, you're 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.680 not in control, it's the most beautiful moment. There's a 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:47.920 lot of people who don't want to have babies nowadays, 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:50.560 and I can understand why. It's a crazy world to 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:54.520 bring a child into. But it's the coolest, most empowering, 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:57.640 most creative thing in the world to make a human being. 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.680 I couldn't agree with you more. It's astonishing. I think 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.200 it's why man is so scared of us. Well, it's 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:06.679 pretty powerful. Yeah, it really is super when you were painting, 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:09.159 when you're making even that they can't really be an 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:12.480 equivalency of maybe making some are and like that creation 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:14.520 of a human But was there that feeling of the 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.439 satisfaction of making something and the freedom of that and 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:21.439 the uniqueness of making art. It was the ability to 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:25.840 have the expression and control it, but with lacking the 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:30.399 technical skill of the masters. Yeah, I could like replicate 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:34.120 not like Malcolm Gladwell style blink, replicate like a Van 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:36.439 got But I could do a starring night, just not 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:38.960 the same. You know, it's like having a vision in 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.640 your head and being able to try to bring it out. 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:44.359 I'm like super critical, you know, just the act of 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:47.520 the expression. That's sort of like that's like running or 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:50.000 taking a bath or drinking a glass of wine, Like 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:53.080 that's a way to just get out your emotional I 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:56.159 don't know that pent up emotion. But what I also 0:17:56.240 --> 0:17:58.679 wanted was to have the expression and then have the 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:01.720 end result be super beautiful and reflective of what I 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:03.520 had in my head. And I think that somewhere there 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:06.080 was a disconnect and I let that go. Do you 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:09.440 think that's why you could have your life's work evolve 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:12.040 into business because maybe there was a sense of like 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:14.399 never being able to reach the place that you wanted 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:15.920 to with your art, or do you think that it 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:18.000 just one grew out of the other. I think that 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:21.920 the business, the beauty of the business being my sense 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:25.160 of creative expression is that it becomes a living, breathing 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:29.160 work of art that evolves and affects people, and that 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:32.320 you can shape a business in a way to affect 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:36.399 people truly for good, truly for changing the world. Whereas 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:39.639 the work of art, at some point it's static. You 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:41.760 hope it might move someone in one way or another. 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:44.879 You hope it might have like gotten your you know, 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:47.560 yah yah's out or whatever by making it. But the 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:50.960 business is like alive, but it's still not as alive 0:18:51.000 --> 0:19:04.800 as of human It's not what would be your last meal, 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:08.679 My last meal would be I mean, without a doubt, 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:11.200 Number one has to be with my dad, because it'll 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:15.520 taste better, but it was our favorite food to eat together. 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.440 My mom makes these samosas, which is an Indian thing, 0:19:20.040 --> 0:19:23.159 but my dad was from Tanzania, so they had the 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:26.840 East African Indian version of the samosa is a little different, 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:29.520 so you can't just get it in a restaurant. Anything 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:31.960 in a restaurant or any Indian food for me that 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:34.920 I buy somewhere, it's not the same. But she makes 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:37.840 these incredible samosa as my mom, and you take a 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:40.000 bite and you sweeze some lemon and it's like this 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:44.439 perfect philo dough around this like heavily spiced ginger and 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:47.920 garlic meat filling. And then my dad had this chi 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:50.600 his chi. I know how to make his chi. That 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:52.520 would be my last meal. I would eat that every 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.160 day if I could. I like that idea of like, yeah, 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:56.960 it would not just be my last meal, it would 0:19:56.960 --> 0:19:59.919 be my every single day meal. Maybe she can teach us. 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:01.359 I had to make it, but I don't have the 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:04.040 patience to learn from her. You know that sounds like 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:07.480 a very good granny granddaughter. Past time for an afternoon? 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:13.800 Can you tell me about something that has grown out 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:16.760 of a personal disaster? Well, may I have two answers, 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:18.920 so I don't want to one is silly, you can 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:22.600 answer both. I don't mind silly and serious. We had 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:25.399 this dog named Willie, and Willie was like, you know, 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:29.240 like the love of your life. He came into our 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:31.800 lives before we had autism, and he was just this 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:36.679 like perfect esthetically perfect being and so intuitive, you know, 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:39.440 like when my dad passed away, he wouldn't even let 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:41.760 me go to the bathroom alone, like he just stayed 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:45.080 with me. And then I mean, when Zane was diagnosed 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:47.840 with autism, he wouldn't leave me. And there were times 0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:50.480 like we moved from this tiny little apartment in Jersey 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:53.600 City to this weird Connecticut house, and there are times 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:56.040 where I'd be putting Zane down and he'd be flailing 0:20:56.040 --> 0:20:58.400 around and I don't know, he accidentally hit me one 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:00.800 time and it wasn't on purpose, but it made me 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:04.000 cry because I just it's just every once in a while, 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:06.480 it just something makes you cry and you need to 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:10.840 and I just hear this, like this dog would come 0:21:11.400 --> 0:21:13.760 and he's just like paw opened the door and he 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:16.600 would jump on the bed and he wrapped himself around 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:20.199 your neck and licks the tears off, and that was 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:24.840 like my Willie. He was incredible, and uh he ended 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:28.000 up getting diagnosed with cancer and we went all in 0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:30.360 and we yield him. Actually he was fine. He ended 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:34.359 up passing away afterwards after conquering cancer with an accident. 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:37.679 But before that, we took a biopsy and I found 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:41.360 a place to clone him. Oh my god, are your 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:44.360 dog well? So what happened was because Willie was so 0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:47.159