The Root & Seed Podcast

What does it look and feel like to build a world where there is deep connection between generations in mind? Where we can learn from the wisdom of younger generations with the same respect and reverence we do the older ones? Just ask Mohan Sivaloganathan an acclaimed TED speaker, founder of Harmonious Leadership, who builds systems of change every single day in the work that he has committed his life to. In part 1 of this two part ...

What happens if you don’t have all the answers from your family heritage and/or if your past was filled with trauma and turbulent role models in your upbringing? Bobbie Breckenridge, an innovative social worker and mind-body coach is living proof that healing can take place and that inviting in courage and compassion, often starting with yourself, can lead to healthy connection with others. Bobbie and Anika discuss how recalling an...

How can one design solutions for one of biggest growing demographics in a way that is unique to its proclivities but sensitive to its diversity? By listening to the experts. One such expert, Dr. Samantha Sandassie from AgeWell, a federally funded network for technology and aging, joins host Anika Chabra in this episode. Together they discuss tangible ways in which innovators can adopt a mindset and techniques to better solution and...

Sounds like a dream, right?

No matter what stage of your career, aligning your personal and professional values feels like the path to a fulfilling, long standing relationship with your workplace.  For our more visual and strategic listeners, this feels like a giant Venn diagram, with a juicy middle in service of what’s best for employer and employee. Host Anika Chabra explores the topic of congruence with a guest who is living thi...

Know yourself, and then sell better.

When guest Peter Ahn advises tech founders he encourages them to weave their personal story through their pitches and presentations, building empathy and trust with the audience.  In this interview, Peter and Anika dispel the historical stereotype of the salesperson, forging a new narrative and path for effective selling - a life and professional skill they both value.  As a Korean American tech...

What a way to launch a season! In this interview, host Anika Chabra draws a relationship between childhood experience, identity and the professional self.  Guest Michelle Bazargan, a technology executive advisor, conscious leadership coach and author encourages listeners to go inwards, uncover their stories and really get to know oneself in order to show up at work as your true self.  Michelle shares the early experiences that shap...

Season 7 of the Root & Seed podcast is launching on September 19th.  Over the past 3 years we have brought you stories to inspire discovery and celebration of family and cultural backgrounds. You have responded by listening, by giving us feedback and used our physical and digital tools to capture, collect and connect with others in your life. In some ways it feels natural to go where we are going next and we definitely have you...

What happens when Root & Seed co-founders Jenn and Anika get together with mics on to interview each other? Lots of storytelling, advice shared, and reflecting on their Root & Seed journey. For our season 6 finale, on the theme of relationships, they couldn’t help but provide a peek behind the curtain and answer the most asked questions from the Root & Seed community. Everything from how their relationship with the busi...

Is “almost" anything good enough? It sure is for this episode’s guest Brittany Muddamalle, the voice behind The Almost Indian Wife.  As a Caucasian/Romani woman married to an East Indian and now raising multiracial kids in America she is building a life that works for her and her family and in doing so is inspiring others to “meet in the middle” to honour all family tradition, culture and norms. All the while leaving the unnec...

What does it mean to truly represent your culture in a way that is innate, intimate and unique?  Eric Hernandez is a Native American hoop dancer whose love for expressing his culture comes through movement and by telling his story, shedding a light on the diversity within the Native American and Indigenous communities. In this episode Eric reveals his choice to follow life’s whispers and nudges and how the teachings of his ancestor...

Exploring the role that tradition plays in one’s life feels pretty core to the Root & Seed community.  But what role does it play when you have lost a loved one?  And at an age when you just starting to "adult"? We explore this and more with Francesca Saraco, someone who is navigating the world after losing both her parents in her 20s. How food can be a great connector to those who have come before us, transporting us...

It appears there are no conversations with Darius Bashar that stay on the surface and this is definitely one of them. Darius is a creator, yes, and someone who is helping to connect with others in a way that defies media and mode.  From dance to meditation, from photography to facilitator, he is on a mission to connect more intimately, evidenced by one of his many projects "No Strangers". In order to do so, Darius has nee...

We first discovered Mita Mallick on LinkedIn and we're enamoured with her content about making the workplace truly inclusive and inviting for all. How as leaders, it is in fact our experiences at home, our upbringing, our backgrounds that help inform, influence, and inspire how we show up at work. How when a sense of belonging and truly feeling part of a team is fostered, that it actually makes good business sense - something w...

Season 6 is upon us! 

After almost 40 episodes of reflecting on our cultural discovery, appreciation, and preservation journeys, we wanted to remain reflective, but allow a bit more fluidity into our guests' stories. And this season we have some unbelievable guests. They are introspective, empathetic, heart-centered, and creative. Yes, all of them. But in different ways... and yet the common thread in all of those traits is how...

What a way to end a season on identity! Charlene SanJenko's “official” journey to uncover her Indigenous roots started eight years ago.  However, we learn that in order to truly live into herself, she had to dig deeper into earlier experiences to inform how she wanted to move forward now, as a proud Indigenous woman.  As leader for a platform called reGEN Media she is helping to reimagine the system of creative storytelling for...

There’s something about Samanta Krishnapillai’s story that is familiar yet unique, destined yet delightful, average yet special.  As the founder of On Canada Project, Samanta and her team are distilling information and dispelling myths so that Canadians can truly comprehend societal issues and happenings.  Where does she get this drive?  A mystery perhaps, or is this the result of her upbringing, early experience as a brown girl in...

They say we remember moments not days. In part two of our interview with Dr. Jenny T. Wang, Dr. Wang crystallizes a moment between her and her mom, that feels relatable for all immigrants and their descendants, showing them that their hard work and sacrifices were ultimately worth it. Listen to that and more, including thoughts on resolving the role of our generation and how we can invite in tradition in a healthy way. And the way ...

Just in time for Mental Health Awareness Month and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Heritage month, we bring you part one of this two part series with clinical psychologist, Dr. Jenny T. Wang. In one of our most heart-felt, honest discussions to date we discuss about what it means to be descendants of immigrants, compassion and empathy for our parents' generation, and our role jostling between aging elders and the next gen...

Daniel Mazzone grew up surrounded by familial influences in creativity, so it's no surprise that he became an artist. However, his upbringing and lived experiences didn't initially lead to success. Spending much of his youth on the streets of Toronto and pursuing a career that wasn't for him, Daniel eventually tapped into his early influences and a desire for more, leading him to pursue his passion for a life filled wit...