WEBVTT - Nitika Chopra: Learning to Thrive with Chronic Illness 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:04.160 Have you ever found yourself craving the insights and wisdom 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:07.200 of trailblazing female leaders who are reshaping the world as. 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:08.600 We know it? I sure do. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:14.319 Don Andrews brings you the My Good Woman podcast. Grab 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:17.520 a seat at the table and enjoy candid conversations with 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:23.120 culture shifting, glass ceiling busting, and visionary women leading enterprises 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:27.720 that are making a difference. With guests ranging from innovative CEOs, 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:32.600 to influential activists to groundbreaking artists, My Good Woman dives 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:37.120 into what makes these extraordinary women tick, how they accomplish 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:41.000 their goals, and delivers actionable strategies for you to apply 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:44.479 in your own life and career. If you're listening to 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:47.479 this show, you're likely to be inspired and motivated by 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:51.239 the conversations on My Good Woman. So go listen and 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:54.800 subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and embrace the power 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:56.279 of bold female leadership. 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:02.720 I think we're a lot of my need for doing 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:07.360 Chronicon comes from is that this is actually a fixable problem. 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:11.880 The fact that I went through so many decades of 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:16.400 tremendous physical and emotional suffering because of my health and 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:21.600 exacerbated because I felt so deeply alone. That doesn't have 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:25.480 to be that way. It is actually a solvable problem. 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.840 Welcome back to She Pivots, the podcast where we talk 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:37.440 with women who have dared to pivot out of one 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:41.720 career and into something new and explore how their personal 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:46.800 lives impacted these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:55.360 If you don't know Nitika Chopra, it's time. She's a 0:01:55.400 --> 0:01:58.560 true powerhouse and a source of light for so many. 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:02.000 Her work as a chronic illness advocate was born out 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:04.400 of her own experience seeing a gap in the chronic 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:08.120 illness community. So after nearly a decade in the lifestyle 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:12.519 and blogging space, she pivoted to create Chronicon, a conference 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:15.200 and community that elevates the visibility of more than the 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:19.800 one hundred and thirty three million Americans living with chronic illnesses, because, 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:23.239 let's be honest, this population deserves a lot more love 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:27.320 and support. I've known Nitka since about twenty ten, and 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.280 I've continued to be in awe of how much she gives. 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:35.240 Living with three chronic illnesses is something I'll never truly understand, 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:39.000 but I can see her work in motion. Her mission 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:43.040 to quote inspire radical self Love has developed into a 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:47.520 community of thousands. Every time I talk to Nitka, I 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:52.760 feel inspired, I feel motivated, and I just feel her light, 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:54.720 including in this conversation. 0:02:54.960 --> 0:03:00.560 So I hope you enjoy it too. 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:08.040 I'm Nitka Choprah and I'm the founder of Chronicon. So 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:09.080 what did little. 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:10.560 Nitka think that she was going to be when she 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:11.000 grew up? 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:15.240 I really really really wanted to be a singer, especially 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:19.000 like a musical theater singer. Little Nitteka was just like 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:21.720 belting out at the top of her lungs as often 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:24.280 as she possibly could. Yeah, I took a voice lessons 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:26.919 for like fifteen years and really really went for it. 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:29.000 But yeah, I always wanted to be a singer. 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:33.040 How did that shape your experience growing up thinking you 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:33.880 were going to be a singer? 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:36.880 Oh my gosh, Well that's a really beautiful question. I 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:40.600 think because I loved like the act of singing so much, 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:44.840 I would just be sort of loud about it and 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:47.280 like you know what I mean, Like I wouldn't really 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:50.600 think about, oh, what is someone going to think of me? 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:53.760 Or like is this okay? Or whatever. I would just 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:56.360 want to sing, So I would just do that all 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:59.960 the time. And then I think over time, I got 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:04.320 some feedback. I got some feedback, especially as like a 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.920 brown girl, you know, living in a home that was 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:09.080 filled with lots of love, but definitely also a lot 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:13.320 of rules. It was not so encouraged or people were 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:18.040 so enthusiastic about my wanting to have the I guess, 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:20.760 the center of attention in those ways, you know. And 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:23.159 so yeah, I didn't really think of it that way. 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:25.919 I just loved singing, but there was this part of 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:27.960 it where I would, yeah, go out and just kind 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.839 of be myself. And then I found that, you know, 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:33.160 life can kind of teach you to go in your 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:35.279 shell a little bit. I think over time, and I 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:37.359 think that's kind of what happened with me after a while. 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:41.080 In fact, Nittika had to learn from a young age 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.880 how to come out of her shell. She was just 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:46.680 ten when she was first diagnosed with psoriasis. 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:51.200 I remember the very moment I was wearing these like 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:55.520 jean shorts. I was living in Ohio, and I was 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:59.560 wearing this like blue and white, like checkered sleeveless shirt, 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:03.000 and my mom and I were like in the bathroom 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:04.920 and I was looking in the mirror and I saw 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:09.240 this little spot on my left arm and I was like, Mom, 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:12.600 what is that? And she had had eggzema before, and 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:15.200 my dad had two, and it had always been pretty mild, 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:16.680 like they put a little cream on it and it 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:18.280 went away, and I think they both grew out of 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:20.200 it eventually. So we kind of thought that that's what 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:21.960 it would be and it wouldn't be a big deal, 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:25.680 but gout to going to the doctor them thinking it 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.240 might be something different, and then I ended up getting 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:32.000 a biopsy to confirm it, and we found out that 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:35.920 it was a skin condition called psoriasis, and soriasis is 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:40.800 an autoimmune disease. And within probably about a year, I 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:44.000 went from having like a dime sized spot on my 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:47.080 left arm to basically being covered from the tip of 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:49.760 my foot to the tip of my head. It was awful, 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:52.920 to be honest with you. I think it's important to 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.560 be honest about it because my story is not unique. Actually, 0:05:56.680 --> 0:06:01.200 it just doesn't get told very often. So what soriasis 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:05.040 specifically is like, it's basically like having chicken pox all 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.960 the time. And what my form, because there's a few 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.640 different types of psoriasis, but what my form of psoriasis 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:15.080 is like is I basically got like thick scales of 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:20.240 skin on top of my regular skin, and they itch constantly, 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:23.560 and then if I did itch them, they would bleed 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.000 and they would flake like how dandriff flakes. But that 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.040 was happening from the tip of my foot to the 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:32.440 tip of my head. So I lived like that for 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:36.159 the better part of seventeen years of my life. I 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:39.520 ended up getting seriatic arthritis when I was nineteen as well, 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:43.080 and yeah, I mean it was Yeah, we could have 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:49.080 a whole episode of how painful it was. And I 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.039 think that's why when we started talking, I was like, 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:56.200 I feel so emotional because these conversations are so important 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.120 to me because I know I'm not the only one, 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:00.560 and there are hundreds of millions of people out there 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:03.680 who are living with a chronic illness, who are living 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:07.400 with multiple chronic illnesses, and there's so many people out 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:10.360 there who don't even know that what they are experiencing 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.400 is a chronic illness, which is something that I've just 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:16.000 I never even thought about until I started my company 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:19.200 because I had gotten my first condition so young. But 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:21.720 it's something that I hear a lot where, you know, 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:24.200 especially women will come to me and be like, oh, 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:28.360 I have PCOS. Is that a chronic illness? And I'm like, yes, 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.720 it is. The National Health Council says that anything with 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:36.240 persistent symptoms for three months or longer is considered a 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:40.760 chronic illness. And so that is that is so many things, 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:45.160 so many people, And it's not about over identifying. That's 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.360 not necessarily what I believe. But I think that there 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:53.680 is an opportunity for celebration around the amount of strength 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:58.040 and the amount of resourcefulness and the amount of emotional 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:01.440 empathy and all of these things that you really have 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:04.240 to develop when you are dealing with a chronic condition 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:06.680 that I think needs to be talked about more. 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:11.720 How do you think that played into the wanting to 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:14.480 be a singer? Did you want people to see you 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:16.720 on stage just for your voice? Do you think that 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:17.360 was part of it? 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:19.840 Now, you know the thing is with wanting to be 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:21.880 a singer, And I love that we're like talking about 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:24.560 this because I never talk about that. I think the 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:27.600 thing with that, you know, I'm very spiritual, and so 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:31.560 I always felt like I was holding God's hand when 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:33.920 I was singing, and it wasn't because I sound like 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:36.600 an angel, Like that's not. It wasn't because it was 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:40.200 like the most perfect performance or anything. It wasn't actually 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:44.000 about that. It was about the fact that I felt 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:47.360 like I didn't have to think about any of the 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:50.640 other things that were going on in my life. I 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:54.560 could just be a musician in that moment and I 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:58.920 could just connect to this, Like really, I felt really 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.520 divine part of me that was so much greater than me. 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:05.080 So yeah, so I think that it was like always 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:07.120 my respite. You know. It just felt like I could 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:10.439 just tuck away and I mean I was belting show tunes, 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:14.320 but still like, you know, my version of tucking away 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:17.280 and feeling like, yeah, it was just like me and 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:17.880 my voice. 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:26.320 The world didn't give it to me, this joy. The 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:30.959 world didn't give it to me. Don't know that this joy. 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:37.480 The world didn't give it to me. Oh, the world 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:38.400 didn't give it. 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:41.000 The world can't take it over this. 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:47.400 Although it wasn't exactly what she envisioned, Nitiga still sings 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:50.959 to this day with the Resistance Revival Chorus. The group 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:53.800 has performed at the Grammys, Saturday Night Live, and the 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:58.079 forty six presidential inauguration, and has an album called This 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:01.840 Joy Her Dreams becoming a singer in some ways have 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.920 come true, but after high school it was clear that 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:08.000 her parents expected her to find a different career path. 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:12.480 The daughter of immigrants, Nitika recognized the expectations her parents 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:13.040 had for her. 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:17.000 So, you're supposed to be a doctor or a lawyer. 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:19.280 And I know so many people say that, and you know, 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:21.520 it's like such a cliche, but it's not even so 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:23.040 much that my parents were like, you have to be 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:26.599 a doctor or a lawyer, but an artist was definitely 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:30.360 not on the table. And there's something about being an 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:35.520 artist that felt almost like sacrilegious or something. It was 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:39.200 like so wrong. And then to be an artist on 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:42.800 a stage where people are looking at you almost felt 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.640 like you were flaunting your body in some sort of 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:48.760 really extreme way, which of course was not like anything 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:51.360 about I wanted to sing like Disney princess songs, you 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:53.480 know what I mean. But yeah, that was a part 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:56.800 of it. And so those shoulds were really about how 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.679 it looks to others, like making sure that you look 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:03.400 at way in society, and then obviously like a lot 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:07.480 of intensity around making sure you have a certain amount 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:10.640 of money and income coming in, and especially like being 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:14.080 first generation you know, my parents immigrated from India, Like 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:17.960 that is so understandable that they would have those concerns 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:20.560 and have that be an important part of what they 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:21.560 wanted me to focus on. 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:25.520 You married so young. What prompted you to marry so young? 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:30.720 I was genuinely, like madly in love. And you know, 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:31.080 he was a. 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:33.400 Little bit older than me, and so it wasn't like 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:35.559 I was getting married and we would have like an 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:38.400 unstable life or anything like that. You know, he was 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:42.280 pretty well established and we had like the best relationship 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:44.920 at first. You know, obviously it didn't last to be 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.720 that way, but at first, that's what it was. And yeah, 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:49.920 and I just was genuinely so in love, and I 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:53.080 was like, this is my person. There was just something 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:55.840 I really really knew he was meant to be my husband. 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:58.800 And something I talk about a lot is I think 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:02.240 that one of the hard parts of going through a divorce. 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:06.280 We got divorced about four years later, is that people, 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.959 I think often can feel really betrayed by their intuition 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:13.720 and by their gut when they have feelings like that, Right, 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.880 I knew with every fiber of my being he was 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.679 meant to be my husband. So for us to not 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:24.080 be married anymore was really devastating, obviously for so many 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:27.200 obvious reasons, but then also that part that was like 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:30.600 how could I be so wrong? Like that doesn't make 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:35.040 any spiritual sense to me, And it took me a 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.920 very long time to understand I was not wrong. He 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:42.600 was meant to be my husband. The things I learned 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:49.760 in our relationship and through that experience, both positive, negative, good, hard, 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:52.679 all of that were exactly what I was meant to do. 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:53.720 Wow. 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:55.880 But it took me a very very long time. And 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:58.680 I think, especially when we're talking about pivoting, like it 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:01.800 can really feel like you're intuition betrayed you or something. 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:05.400 That was probably the hardest part of the divorce was 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:09.520 like really relearning that when I have that gut feeling, 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:11.640 even if it doesn't lead me where I think it's 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:14.640 going to lead me, it doesn't mean that I was wrong. Wow. 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.280 I've really never thought about it that way, And I 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:19.960 think that makes so much sense that because you do 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:24.520 question yourself. I think we hear people talk about it 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:26.200 all the time when they're going through the down part 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:28.240 and they're going through the pivot, and in this in 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:31.240 your case, this wasn't even really your pivoting moment. 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:33.040 It was just part of the journey. 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:35.440 Yeah. And the thing I want to point to what 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:37.200 you just said too, is I think a lot of 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:40.960 people talk about it as it relates to like toxic 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:44.840 positivity a lot, you know, which is like everything happens 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:48.760 for a reason, and you know, like whatever all the 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:51.120 other things that people say that make you want to 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:54.360 like throw something at them, and I just that's not 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:56.200 what I mean, right, And so I want to be 0:13:56.280 --> 0:14:01.600 really clear, like there was tremendous pain and suffering and 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:05.360 heartbreak and disappointment in what I went through. And that's 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:07.960 happened many times in my life, you know, especially through 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:10.640 my health and so many things that I've been through. 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:15.000 But with my marriage, I think, for one, it really 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.959 did teach me a lot about my value. To be honest, 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:21.840 my ex husband was a wonderful is a wonderful man, 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:26.240 and he really saw me in a way that was 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:30.400 incredibly healing for me. I was very different than everyone 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:32.800 in my family growing up, and so that was really hard, 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:34.960 even though there was a lot of love in my 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:38.520 household and my ex husband when we started dating, he 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:41.000 was sort of the first person that saw like the 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:44.640 woman that you see today. He saw her when I 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:49.160 was like nineteen, and I had no idea that she existed. 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:51.360 I didn't know where to look for her. I didn't 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:54.840 have any clue about her. And so like seeing yourself 0:14:54.880 --> 0:14:59.520 through someone's eyes in that way is such a kind, loving, 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:04.400 bet beautiful thing. It's it's incredibly healing, and I know 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:07.239 that him being in my life in that moment allowed 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:11.280 me to sort of keep moving forward. It also happened 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.040 to be one of the most devastating times in my 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:15.960 life for my health. It was when I was the 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.400 sickest I had ever been while we were married, and 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:20.960 so there was a big part of me that could 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:25.040 have just sort of, I guess like left it there, 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:29.960 just been like I'm sick, that's it. And he never 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:33.440 saw me that way. He never ever did. And so 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:38.040 to have that teacher in your life who loves you 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:42.640 so purely and in like your truest essence and for 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:45.360 the best parts of you, and of course also loves 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:48.200 you through the hardest moments as well, that is so 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:52.520 healing and so beautiful. And so I think now you know, 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:56.840 in looking for another partner, I really know, like when 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.440 I fall in love again, it will have to be 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:02.960 someone who who honors me at that level, and we'll 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:05.040 also have like a much healthier relationship and a lot 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:07.960 of other ways. You know. It obviously didn't work for reasons, 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:11.640 but that piece is so pure and so beautiful, and 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:14.080 it did teach me a lot about my value, which 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:16.400 I hadn't learned as a kid. 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:21.000 Having just graduated college and newly divorced, Nitka saw an 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:23.120 opportunity to dive into her calling. 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:26.680 Once I got divorced and you know, found a treatment 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.000 that worked in all these different things, I kind of 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:33.720 felt like I wanted to take my experience with my 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:36.200 health and figure out a way how to help people. 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:39.120 That was always my thing, So I decided to start 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:42.920 my own online magazine. I basically built my online magazine 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:45.600 to be like someone one day we'll see all the 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:48.120 elements of the website and like, want to make it 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:51.320 a show, And that's essentially what happened. I ended up 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:54.640 meeting the founder of the skincare company Fresh Love, Glasman, 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:58.960 and we became good friends. And yeah, we were literally 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:01.440 like out one night and he was talking about going 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.080 to QBC and just like his hectic schedule, and I 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:05.640 was like, you should just hire me to do it, 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.719 and he was like, well, that's a great idea. It 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:11.800 was really a beautiful marriage of talking about my skin 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:15.800 journey and also like how skincare can be a really 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:19.479 beautiful access point to self love. And I had always 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:22.520 felt really left out of the skincare conversation because it 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:24.760 was always just like a means to an end for me. 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:28.639 It wasn't like a very nurturing experience while I was 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:30.760 dealing with my skin. So yeah, I just felt like 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:32.120 a really natural progression. 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:36.280 I guess what we were. 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:37.280 Talking before about. 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:39.560 Right when twenty five thirty hit, we. 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:44.320 Were like, where is dating that they can feel truly loved? Today? 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:48.320 Love is in the air because this is our wedding show. 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:51.960 From Flaala's hair and makeup tips to the perfect gown 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:55.520 and di y decor that won't break the bank, We've 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.680 got everything you need for the most beautiful wedding day, 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:03.199 naturally beautiful. It all starts right now. I was on 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:06.800 a South Asian television network called Sea Living. For those 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:08.680 out there who are listening, were brown. It's like z 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:11.480 TV is always on the background, in the background, It's 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:14.359 just always on, Like in my grandparents' place, my parents' place. 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:17.240 It was a show called Naturally Beautiful, and yeah it 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:20.480 was great. The day that I auditioned for the show, 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:22.960 I was going to a really bad flare, so my 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:26.680 psoriasis was all over And this is a show called 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:31.399 naturally Beautiful, okay, And I'm coming in there with like 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:36.400 flaky as flaky skin, red spots everywhere, and I'm just like, Hi, guys, yeah, 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:39.239 don't worry about it. It's gonna be fine, like just 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:42.879 trying to not even trying, just really committed to like 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:45.080 I was born for the show and you're going to 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:47.760 hire me like that kind of energy. I ended up 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:49.200 getting the job because I was right for the job, 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:51.840 even though I had all this stuff happening with my skin, 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:54.119 and I ended up trying a new treatment that helped 0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:56.240 me so that I could get clearer skin by the 0:18:56.280 --> 0:19:00.359 time we started filming. But it was actually I'm super 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:02.960 proud of the fact that, like, even though I had 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:04.800 all that going on with my health, that they still 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:06.960 saw that I was the right person for it, you know. 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:08.719 And I think it's just like good to remember that, 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:10.959 like when you're meant for something, it'll happen. 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:15.439 You were like an influencer before there were influencers. 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:18.520 I guess, So how did you navigate this space? 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:22.080 I mean, I kind of cringe at the word influencer 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:24.120 because I just feel like it's it has a lot 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:28.200 of you know, negative connotations now. But I would say 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:31.600 when I first was starting, you know, my company and 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:33.720 doing the KBC thing, and I would do a lot 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:36.040 of events that was like always something that I did. 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:39.680 I guess that was like my version of influencing because 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:42.639 I would have a bunch of brands that would come 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:45.120 on board. I would have a bunch of speakers who 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:47.520 like are amazing people that I thought were awesome and 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:49.960 I thought people needed to know. And I would do 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:52.440 these events, you know in New York City, and oh 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:54.800 my god, I would hustle, Okay, I would try to 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:56.760 get as much stuff as I could for free. I 0:19:56.800 --> 0:20:00.720 would like barter partner, like doing so so many things 0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:03.720 brick by brick. This was never ever anything that's been 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:06.919 like funded in some fancy way or like any of that. 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:09.679 And yeah, I guess that was my version of influencing 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:11.480 where I felt like, you know, you should come to 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:13.199 this thing that I'm doing because I'm going to introduce 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:15.399 you to all these really amazing people and brands, and 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:19.280 that was like really pure. It wasn't about like some hierarchy. 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:21.960 It was really about this is like from my heart 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:24.000 and this is what I love. And if you like 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:26.720 want to get connected to that, great, If you want 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:29.000 to just come and like enjoy yourself, that's great too, 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:32.960 you know. But now it's become this like competition. How 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:36.600 many whatevers can you get? And you're not good enough 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:38.600 if you don't get a certain amount and all these 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:41.399 things that I'm sure people are aware of, and it 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:43.000 just doesn't feel pure to me. 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:47.200 For nearly ten years, Nittiga had been expanding her network 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:50.520 and working in the lifestyle and blog space, but still 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:53.800 it was a constant, uphill battle. When you started to 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:57.359 think about pivoting and launching Chronicon, it was a combination 0:20:57.480 --> 0:20:58.760 of passion and need. 0:20:59.680 --> 0:21:02.639 Okay, so professionally I was not in a great place. 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:05.080 I mean, we talked about, you know, oh god, I 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:08.800 have this talk show. I was like, GBC, everything's going great. Yeah, Well, 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:12.520 let me just tell you twenty sixteen and twenty seventeen, 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:16.080 and even like the beginning of twenty eighteen was just 0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:21.240 not not It was just really hard. I think what 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:23.919 had happened Now looking back, I can see this, but 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:25.639 I didn't know this at the time. It was just 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:28.840 like very dark. I had spent the first part of 0:21:28.880 --> 0:21:32.159 my career doing these conversations around beauty and lifestyle, and 0:21:32.200 --> 0:21:35.359 I really genuinely loved the conversations I was having, but 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:39.119 I wasn't talking to the person that I was born 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:43.040 to talk to, right And I didn't even know that 0:21:43.080 --> 0:21:45.520 I could talk to that person. There were so many 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:50.000 things I didn't understand, and so I feel like the universe, God, 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:53.800