Kashi
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Jeremy: Hello and welcome to season three of the Jeremy Haselwood Show. This podcast is all about exploring a wide range of topics that spark curiosity, build community, inspire action, and deepen the understanding of the world around us. Before we get started today, make sure you subscribe now on whatever platform you are hearing this or listening to it.
By smashing, tapping that follow or subscribe button. In season three, we are shining the spotlight on women business owners, the trailblazers, innovators, and leaders who are redefining what it [00:01:00] means to build with purpose. Each episode will bring you stories, strategies, and inspiration straight from the women who are creating businesses that make an impact.
This season, we're going to celebrate and learn from the powerful voices of women in business. Now, today's guest is founder and CEO of Retazza, co-founder and CEO of Giga Bart. She serves on various boards, started several nonprofits, and my personal favorite, graced, the cover of Georgia Business Magazine. That was a, a proud colleague moment when I saw that.
Welcome to the show, Kashi Siegel.
Kashi Sehgal: so much for having me. I'm excited
Jeremy: Okay.
Kashi Sehgal: to be here.
Jeremy: we're gonna dig into your businesses in a minute, but I wanna start with this question. We're gonna take it back to childhood. When you were a teenager, what did you want to be when you grew
Kashi Sehgal: is gonna be very boring. It was not an astronaut like that. I wanted to run
Jeremy: Yeah.
Okay. That's not boring. Did you know what business you wanted to run?
I.
Kashi Sehgal: that I had a lot and so I didn't know what it was called, but I was like, I want one
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: [00:02:00] or I everything I wanna do. I didn't know that was like a
Jeremy: Wow.
Kashi Sehgal: or, you know what that was, but I
Jeremy: Right, right.
Kashi Sehgal: to
Jeremy: Well, this is like foreshadowing of what's to come in this dialogue, so this is great. When did you start your first business and why did you start it?
Kashi Sehgal: My first business was in 2005, that not everybody considers a nonprofit a business, but they certainly are. They have loss
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: have objectives. Just like any it's just. you interact with your stakeholders at the end of the day. this
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: that affected by Katrina. my brother and I
Jeremy: Nice.
Kashi Sehgal: and were not in New Orleans, but we wanted to figure out what we could do to help. So we figured out what could do and tried to help any musician affected by the storm.
Jeremy: Yeah. No, that's great. , I do a lot of work with nonprofits, so definitely understand that a nonprofit is. 100% a business. Why did you choose a nonprofit starting that [00:03:00] first off, versus a for-profit? Is it just kind of the events that were happening with Katrina that kind of sparked something inside of you?
Kashi Sehgal: there was any, to whether it it was gonna be a social enterprise or a nonprofit. We literally just wanted to raise some funds from the sources we could raise funds from, and then work with partners on the ground to deploy those funds to the people that needed them. So nonprofits seemed like the way to go. think we didn't know else. It evolved into a social enterprise
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: And so it evolved into this matchmaking helping musicians find jobs,
Jeremy: hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: different con all over the country.
Jeremy: Awesome.
Cool. And since then, you've gone on to launch several other businesses. So walk me through your entrepreneurship journey. What does that look like?
Kashi Sehgal: I in grad school and I. I grad school to take a job Accenture, I was there for several I was at Accenture, I started my [00:04:00] first for-profit company that
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: Bar that you we do phone
call, text do a lot of integrations and was really exciting to be building something of my own. Very scary to take from, we've built it I have this great job, I am leap of faith and do company that I might work, but I'm not sure. you have
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: to start your own you know, started a lot of ventures along the way. Um, I started and ran the largest technology and innovation conference in the southeast, called Supernova
I've been involved in a lot of projects. Currently I'm working on a project on a company that works in food waste and food access. also got a
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: company to. help companies be more ethical and figure out how to incorporate values into what they're doing in a very fundamental way.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: So lots of on.
Jeremy: How do you find time to [00:05:00] balance everything? Just personal time, downtime, and running these different businesses that you have your hands in?
Kashi Sehgal: think I stopped using the word balance because are never in balance
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: looking meet something that. can't achieve is just gonna constantly put you in a losing situation. reframing what
that goal looks me was the way to go.
it harmony, and a music background.
So to me it very well for my life. harmony
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: is everything working together cohesively? part might be playing than the other. any given point in time, but that's okay because does it still blend with the rest of what's going on? So if you're working spending
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: of your time on project that is nights and weekends and everything, but you're healthy, you're happy, your family still loves you, like everything else is going okay, or like, okay, for now, fine. Do [00:06:00] the
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: that's making you for it.
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: there are other things that are not happening in your life, then you've got to figure out how to make space and room for other priorities that are important.
Jeremy: no, that makes sense. You know, balance, I think when, we think of the word balance, it means the scales are equal but there's gonna be times when you run a business, so just in life period, where the scales aren't going to be equally weighted and at, at the end of the day, it's just really about.
Loving what you do and having that joy in what you do. And like you said, if the dogs aren't being walked in, that happiness is not there. So making sure that you're still paying attention to all these important areas of your life. That's really interesting and I, I like the way that you reframe that.
so
now, go ahead. Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: right? I mean, that, that is just the
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: life. There are or four things that are super important the same time. they're
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: they can
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: might have normal day job and your side hustle that you're trying to evolve into your day [00:07:00]
Jeremy: Right.
Kashi Sehgal: are extremely important, your boss tells you you something done, takes priority over
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: at the side hustle. always
Jeremy: Yeah. And actually to that point of the side hustle, when you started Giga Bark and you were at Accenture, whereas Giga bark up and running and you were working for Accenture, but also running Giga bark at the same time for a period of time before you went all in on Giga Bark.
Kashi Sehgal: I had no idea were actually me for this crazy idea. And so we, we launched and, you know, I had to test the pricing model and we had to test our technology
and just some co-founder and I, we were looking at each other like, is actually working and people are paying us with behind them.
Like, we should maybe think
Jeremy: yeah,
Kashi Sehgal: is next for this. definitely started And to me, that felt more comfortable because I had never run a trying to make my bills work at the same time. didn't
Jeremy: [00:08:00] Right.
Kashi Sehgal: I was doing.
Jeremy: , I'm kind of similar and I think a lot of people who start their business are similar. You have this idea, for me it was with my marketing consulting company and started that business up, but I had zero clients, so it's not like I could start it and have the luxury of just money to, sustain.
So I was working somewhere for the first few years of my company until the scales tipped. And for me what changed was I got a client. It definitely didn't replace my income, but it was enough to be like, okay, if I can build from this, I'll be okay. You know? I know if I have this as a foundation. Then I'm still really tight with money, but it gives me a little bit more freedom, and if I can put all of my energy into building and expanding the business, then this thing can work.
What was that point for you where you were like, it's time to leave the nine to five and put all my focus into this business? Do you remember what tipped those scales for you?
Kashi Sehgal: do. was helpful that I was, not loving the client work that I was doing at that very [00:09:00] moment,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: the client that
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: I
did not necessarily see an end in sight and. know, I still really enjoyed problem solving learned so much at Accenture that I have taken with me to basically everything
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: training, but some
there along the creativity spectrum that I were so much more I wanted to do in business and so many more ideas that I had.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: starting out young consultant at the very beginning of your career. really
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: time. And I was building and getting to be creative and thinking about what clients needed on this other side. With giga bark, very consultative. Um, we
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: for and. just loved every second of it and I was like, well, I'm applying what I'm
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: Accenture to and loving every second of what I'm doing.
Yeah, it's risky, but we're making
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: I'm
not
Jeremy: Yeah.[00:10:00]
Kashi Sehgal: this on night when I get home from the client site and on weekends, and we're still making money. ne necessarily enough for like a full salary, but again,
enough to a little bit more effort and time, I could do that.
And I
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: never the right time. You never feel like you're fully prepared to just take that leap and stop the. Regular paycheck that's coming. at some point you have to put some faith in yourself. And like I said before, you have to
Jeremy: Yes.
Kashi Sehgal: a little think, you know what?
I can do this. Why can't I do this?
Jeremy: Right, right.
Kashi Sehgal: try it.
Jeremy: and I tell people it's not for everybody. think if you have a, calling or something in you that's saying you should start a business, start it and try it out and see how it goes. But don't quit the day job is the advice I always give. Especially if you don't have money coming in.
know, you may find that it's not for you. You may find that. It is too overwhelming for you and you can't juggle multiple hats, you know, but if it's on your heart, on [00:11:00] your mind, then put some energy towards that.
Kashi Sehgal: to be this glamorous um, through
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: all you of
Jeremy: Right?
Kashi Sehgal: making
It's a
Jeremy: Yeah.
Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: even many years later, I don't wanna say how many, but this many years later,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: many
businesses still stressed.
And the level of anxiety does not go away. I mean, when you
Jeremy: Hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: that you are for their livelihoods.
Jeremy: Yeah. I.
Kashi Sehgal: that you just cannot understand until you are in it. And if you can't handle it, that's that's fine. Then you know, you were built to do something else and all crazy
Jeremy: Right, Right,
Kashi Sehgal: maybe you are working with somebody. That don't have to be the person creating it, you know, so you can still be in that culture.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: right,
Jeremy: And despite the stress, the anxiety, there's still something about it for you [00:12:00] in particular where you're like, it's still worth it. So tell me the part that's worth it, despite all of that, what, what are the benefits that you, you fulfill the fulfillment that you get from being an entrepreneur?
Kashi Sehgal: I
to figure out complex. Systems making them simple and easy. love building, love getting see my ideas come to life. think one of my
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: sets having an idea, able to simplify taking it from nothing to something. I not paralyzed by what is the first step. often people
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: by that me it's like, okay, just gonna get started somewhere and then somebody's gonna tell me I'm not doing it right. And we'll pivot and we'll figure it out and until you take that first you really don't have much feedback.
Your idea is living in your head. So I
Jeremy: Mm.
Kashi Sehgal: it out in the
Jeremy: True.
Kashi Sehgal: having people interact with my idea I don't assume that I'm correct, [00:13:00] but I do
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: I have seen most people haven't. I also know that it has
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: and survive world. So feedback is
Jeremy: I.
Kashi Sehgal: important,
Jeremy: Right, right. it all ties back, in my opinion, to whatever that creative element is that got you into music, and it still permeates its way through how you move in life and how you run your businesses. Just that need to create. Let's switch it a little bit here going, because you've started multiple businesses.
For people listening who are like, okay, well this is a great idea, but where do I get money? So how have you funded the businesses that you've been a part of?
Kashi Sehgal: So if you're in the startup world, you're going to hear that you have to fundraise,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: is have not fundraised, I bootstrap. I
Jeremy: Wow. Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: started with a little bit of, of financial investment from my partner and I. We were both working full-time
Jeremy: Okay.
Kashi Sehgal: [00:14:00] bit to invest in buying servers and spaces and just you need to build a technology platform.
He's a coder, so I
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: my.
Jeremy: Right.
Kashi Sehgal: he did started with a little bit, but didn't over build. So we didn't so much into the platform and product and company before we knew that we had something. us. built
Jeremy: I,
Kashi Sehgal: grew more
in the beginning.
But you know, we also had jobs. So we weren't like looking for the hockey
stick growth We were testing
Jeremy: Right, right.
Kashi Sehgal: able to get off the ground and then things started to pick up. We were kind of in the right place at the right time in terms of text message marketing. Nobody was doing it really when we started. on the front end of that, which was great. naturally picked up and used revenue to grow. is the way you wanna do
Jeremy: Okay.
Kashi Sehgal: we lucked out.
Jeremy: Yeah, yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: about spinning out a healthcare company from [00:15:00] Giga Bark. do a lot in healthcare, and
Jeremy: Okay.
Kashi Sehgal: friend Talking to about some investment dollars in the company, and he gave me some great advice. He was like, I'm gonna write this check, and it was gonna come with two other investors this new healthcare focused company. He said, but I want you to think very seriously about what this means.
I like, what
Jeremy: Mm.
Kashi Sehgal: like,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: now means that you have three bosses you have to check in with.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: you need this money? I
Jeremy: Hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: I, I mean, I guess we could grow more solely. He's like, there's another option. have revenue coming
Jeremy: Okay.
Kashi Sehgal: don't out a business loan? And I, I had like
Jeremy: mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: about it. To like the scary
Jeremy: Yeah. right. Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: revenue coming in and. my mind about how I thought about debt and debt capital, and such a great piece of advice that I got early on. So it's not to say that, getting VC or an angel money bad.
There's
Jeremy: [00:16:00] Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: and place for right investor coming with advice and experience that can really help you. amazing. You want to wait and hold out for that right person. to me
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: that right person amazing advice and
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: didn't Yeah.
that I needed to grow.
Jeremy: Yeah. I'm glad you shared that story because I think a lot of people, they're really looking for the funding, but sometimes. The shortsightedness, they don't understand, like, they don't think, okay, yeah, I'll get money from this person or this group of people. And yeah, I know I have to give up some control, but you may not want to give up that control for you to be in that position where you had a friend.
'cause not all investors are gonna tell you that a lot will just see an opportunity and fund it and the paperwork is signed. I'm sorry, you know, but you had someone who. you trusted as well that gave you that advice and it changed for you, the way the money moves within your company.
So I think that's amazing. shout out to that person [00:17:00] who gave you that advice. 'cause that's amazing. And glad to be able to share it here on, on this podcast. 'cause that's gonna help so many other people who are facing that decision because there's a lot of ways to get money.
to your point, there's a lot of people that don't want to take a loan because they don't want to have that debt. But at some point you have to question, is it better to carry some debt? Especially in your case you had some predictable revenue versus getting money from a vc because there's pros and cons of both of those.
Let's dig in a little bit to your newest venture Retaz za. So tell us a little bit about that.
Kashi Sehgal: started during the pandemic. were throwing out
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: by
the record, and I was seeing this on TV and the headlines, believe it.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: life-giving food. Why aren't we literally throwing it in the
Jeremy: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: up at food banks in record numbers.
Nobody was getting out of their cars
Jeremy: Mm.
Kashi Sehgal: right? So popped, they were lined up around the block,
Jeremy: Yep.
Kashi Sehgal: to the And I couldn't believe, I was like, I must be missing [00:18:00] something. Because on one side, farmers are this food. on the other side, people could really use it.
I'm sure somebody's thought about doing this. So what is not happening that like this food isn't making it to the people who could use it. went on a deep
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: some people here who are leader in Atlanta, who are leaders in systems bill Bowling, who built the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which is one of the largest in the country. one of them. And I started talking to people to understand happened. wasn't going in with preconceived notions, it was literally just tell me what happens on a day-to-day basis
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: didn't know I was doing customer discovery at that
point. just
really wanted to understand out. turns out food gets thrown out every
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: of
Jeremy: Hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: thrown out or not 40%.
Jeremy: Wow.
Kashi Sehgal: agriculture is our biggest industry. It's an $84 billion industry. if we are [00:19:00] only selling, let's call it 50%.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: double of this industry in Georgia and think about what that would do for tax revenue, for small towns, cities, the state. we healthcare and programs that we really care about? Childcare for everybody. I mean, there's so much we could do
Jeremy: Wow.
Kashi Sehgal: just figure out how another $30 billion. $40 billion into the state's economy, and we can do that if we just stop throwing it away. me, it felt
Jeremy: Wow.
Kashi Sehgal: up with a the way to do this.
And so we built a business. We are a hyper local food distributor. What that means is we buy food from
Jeremy: Okay.
Kashi Sehgal: and
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: Anybody cooking food in their business
Jeremy: Okay.
Kashi Sehgal: hospital,
a school? caterer, anybody, all these people are buying food, so why can't they buy local food?
So we are
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: farmer
Jeremy: Right.
Kashi Sehgal: [00:20:00] team.
Jeremy: Okay.
Kashi Sehgal: revenue sell it in a lot of other ways, but because we're making revenue, we can
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: and for neighbors in neighborhoods who. have enough access to healthy foods. Healthy foods might be too expensive, and so we make it super affordable to shop at these farm stands that we run. they're called fresh markets. They're got local produce and shelf stable items, and so we're now operating on two ends. So we're B2B with businesses and B2C we like to call it D to C direct to community
Jeremy: Gotcha. the market stands, are these all throughout Georgia or where are these, where are they located?
Kashi Sehgal: we started ever was in Clinch County, which is about four hours away from Atlanta. got a
Jeremy: Wow.
Kashi Sehgal: USDA, Department of Agriculture. And we retrofitted a
sprinter van a veggie van, essentially. So [00:21:00] van.
Um, and we around the county. Clinch County is most food insecure county in Georgia. an 850 square had one grocery
Jeremy: wow,
Kashi Sehgal: Yeah.
Jeremy: desert for real. That's crazy.
Kashi Sehgal: wild that they are
Jeremy: Yeah. Wow.
Kashi Sehgal: and access this
Jeremy: That's crazy
Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: to me is don't think about this, but rural hospitals act as health hubs for neighborhoods. And so people would come into the hospital to have lunch because that is where they could have a healthier meal.
Jeremy: Mm.
Kashi Sehgal: of fried that they can get from Dairy Queen, which they did have a Dairy Queen. have a Dairy Queen, but you can't get to fresh produce and you live next door to it doesn't make any sense. So
Jeremy: Right.
Kashi Sehgal: one was
Jeremy: That's amazing.
Kashi Sehgal: now we market
Jeremy: Okay.
Kashi Sehgal: So [00:22:00] stations, we're on the west side. We're in South Atlanta. So all the places that people really need help accessing fresh
Jeremy: Nice. No, that's really good. Is the goal for this company really just to focus on Georgia or is it to expand like the southeast and national, like what's the, the long-term vision?
I term vision is local supply chains all over the country. are here in Georgia and, we've been
Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: now for
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: that it feels like of a handle on what the model is and what's working,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: and do this And we are getting asked by clients to do that, which feels like a really good way to go to other places.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: trying to
Jeremy: No, that's great. It's interesting how this business and your first business. Both started in response to, in some ways, emergencies. You know, you had Katrina, it wasn't necessarily a national emergency. It certainly affected New Orleans and large part of the [00:23:00] Southeast, and then you had COVID that affected everybody.
for that to activate in you and like, Hey, there's something that needs to be done here. You know, I think it's, it's inspirational for me, and, and I would think listeners as well. Like if you see something. be curious about it and lean into it, maybe someone doesn't have the solution.
Maybe you are the person that can have a solution to it, so don't just assume that somebody else already has that. I think a big part of having a business is finding a gap, like what's being done and what's not being done, and how can I bring value to connect the two,
Kashi Sehgal: was so well said. And I think
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: have to be an entrepreneur, of the skill sets that really carries you through and it helps successful entrepreneurs be successful is that curiosity asking why drilling
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: I mean, if you that. This isn't happening or you aren't gonna be able to make this deadline, do you just say, okay. do you drill down and say, why? Let's get to the root of the issue. What's happening? I mean, that [00:24:00] curiosity up in a variety of situations. So you can't be hands off in life And
Jeremy: Yeah,
Kashi Sehgal: especially not if
Jeremy: Right. with the businesses that you've started, people glamorize, like you said, on tv, social media, entrepreneurship, and if you start your own business, you're gonna be successful. Have you started a business that quote unquote failed? And if so, what did you learn about that or about yourself?
Kashi Sehgal: and give you an example of a very public facing one. I don't know that I would call it necessarily a failure because I think you learn from everything,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: you know.
Jeremy: why I put it in quotes 'cause Yeah, that's why they say failed to me. It's like you, you learned something. 'cause I've had a quote unquote failed business also, so I'm just gonna put that out there. Go ahead, sorry.
Kashi Sehgal: ventures that never even got off the ground. Um, I wrote
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: of. business plans because I think like you should write a two to three page business plan and just like [00:25:00] outline and then be good because things change so quickly, especially at the beginning. several businesses not even make it off the paper, so that's for sure.
But the conference that I mentioned,
supernova South, had thousands of
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: over year. at some point, We're not getting support from some of the people that we needed across the city. And, um, that support was going to other things. Now, reasons
Jeremy: Mm.
Kashi Sehgal: can why any of this happened, was so tired of banging my head against the wall.
And when we started the conference, there were very, very few technology events. You know, the ecosystem we have right
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: for Atlanta is vastly different than what it looked like when I got started.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: coworking there was maybe one or two. are so much support these days, but back then, this conference,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: we were how to use LinkedIn.
Like that's how started, and when [00:26:00] we ended, I, I made the choice in 2017 that we would run our last event that year it had just run its course. You know, you have to know
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: walk
away what? We did our thing and we ended were about a hundred events happening that in that same month.
We went from three events when we first started. about a hundred. to me it feels like we had some kind of success and really laid the
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: for
a lot came. So I feel good about that.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: what I had a vision for it to be for Atlanta, of course. Um, But I also knew
that we were to plateau and it was getting really hard, hard, um, for the amount of effort and impact. it was time to just call it
Jeremy: Yeah.
I didn't,
it
was a good conference. I remember Yeah, well, well, I, as an attendee of Supernova South, I always enjoyed it and I didn't realize you had a a hundred [00:27:00] different events by the time, you know, it was at its peak. Like, I don't even know, I can't even wrap my brain how to manage that much.
I mean, there's so many moving pieces just to one singular event, much less a hundred pieces related to that event. yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: so like we were one of three. days,
Jeremy: yeah. Yep.
Kashi Sehgal: a
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: 300 You know, when you live and breathe this, Mm-hmm. all the stats,
Jeremy: right.
right.
Kashi Sehgal: ago,
it's yesterday. So yeah, four evening events,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: There was so much going on was US Venture Atlanta and um, A three C happening. Within like a two
Jeremy: Oh, yeah, I remember that.
Kashi Sehgal: at the beginning of Yeah.
There was
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: but
now it is, think they call it innovate, TL Innovate. TL it
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah. Yep.
Kashi Sehgal: and [00:28:00] there are hundreds of
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: all over It's amazing. I ran one of the very first Atlanta Startup weeks,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: now So feel like we really helped birth a lot of that. We were the event that
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: everybody and now. There's so much going on. It's amazing, but it didn't feel like we needed to exist and we were experiencing a lot of that weren't helpful, just made wish we still
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: to do and a lot like I, I felt like I didn't get to do and left undone,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: some to make that hard decision. It was not easy,
Jeremy: Yeah. I, I can only imagine, like with something like Supernova South, it's kind of like your baby and having to like, let it go, and you have to mourn it.
You have to grieve it a little bit and then pick yourself up and move on, you know?
Kashi Sehgal: the [00:29:00] hard I had to do it very publicly. It's not like it was some
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: little thing like I was working on day in and day out. It was like such a public
Jeremy: Silently.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: this And suddenly
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: it the next and yeah,
Jeremy: Well, people
probably, oh, when is it this year? And you're like, well, we're not doing it this year. It's like, what?
Kashi Sehgal: people were Yeah.
she just couldn't do yeah, you're right. You know what? I couldn't Yeah.
the next It's always gonna be
hard.
I mean, was younger and. am human, so it didn't feel great, you know, thinking about what everybody was saying and everything. The other thing I've learned the years is that people pay less attention to you than you think they do.
Jeremy: Yes. Yes, a hundred percent.
Kashi Sehgal: So you can imagine.
All of what you talking about. Maybe they said something, but they said Mm-hmm.
and then they forgot
Jeremy: exactly. I'm [00:30:00] glad you brought that up because that's something that I've actually talked with several people about within the past two weeks. You know, because we're in our head, because something is so big and important and it's everything in our life to us. And so you're thinking that people are judging or talking about you, and like you said, maybe they had a comment.
But they've got their own stuff that they're dealing with every day. They've got their job, their family, their whatever's happening. They're not thinking about you at 10 o'clock at night. You're thinking about you and what you wish would've happened, but you're not even on their radar.
So for us, it's like, just have grace for yourself. Did you do the best that you could do for you with Supernova South? it was a great event, and it's really just like honoring what you did. Like you pulled off something amazing that nobody else did at the time. You know, people are doing it now.
You've, you really set the blueprint for that. But you did it and you did it multiple times. You didn't just do it once, like you did it again and you did it again. So for you to just look back and, and just be proud of what you created, [00:31:00] and it was just time to move on. Like, it's hard to let things go. Like I've had to let.
Things go within my business that were really important to me. And it was kind of this moment where I had to grieve it as well and like, all right, I know it's kind of holding me back 'cause I'm stuck here, but I need to let it go so that I can move forward and do something bigger. So just honor that, that what you did, what you brought to the city, zero regrets.
Be proud of what you've done look at where you are now and the work that you're doing now. I also look at if you were doing that, who knows where you'd be now, you may not be helping to fight food insecurity in Georgia. it all worked out how it was supposed to. let, let's shift a little bit.
when you're not running your businesses what do you enjoy doing?
Kashi Sehgal: is such a hard question for me because I feel like I'm always working on something, whether it's a
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: a
project or helping somebody else, done what
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: get done. It love it.
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: have. Two Yeah. and [00:32:00] much.
Jeremy: Okay.
Kashi Sehgal: lot of time with them. Um, One is right here,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: to my feet. know, just
Jeremy: Nice.
Kashi Sehgal: of You know, when you
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: point in so little time, I mean, I definitely choose what
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: my time. lack of time is choice. But
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: for my family and my friends who I consider
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: need something from me, have to ask twice.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: see my every day. I carve out time. My
Jeremy: Nice.
Kashi Sehgal: I carve four 30 and six to have tea, try with them every day.
Jeremy: Nice.
Kashi Sehgal: it's
was at corporate and I've dabbled back into corporate over the course of my career too,
And last I said, you know what? I am never gonna miss. time ever again because I enjoy it too much. So that's one thing. Um, I have not mentioned my
Jeremy: [00:33:00] That's awesome.
Kashi Sehgal: as well and we go out and You're like, oh yeah, hit this guy.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: you know, supportive and we go to dinners and plays
and Atlanta.
I love of what Atlanta
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: to offer. I'm a Atlanta cheerleader, so we are always out.
Jeremy: Nice.
Jeremy: Yeah.
I have to ask, what are your favorite bands or
Kashi Sehgal: Oh man. going deep right now.
Jeremy: We're going deep. Yeah.
I,
Kashi Sehgal: I have really gotten into Khurangbin. I know like everybody
Jeremy: mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: into them but, think because listen to it while I'm working and it's like helpful that there aren't words.
Jeremy: Right, right. Yep.
Kashi Sehgal: Los, Hermanos Guitterez
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: and that
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: vibe. I'm right now,
Jeremy: Yeah, Well, you know I, I'm not sure when this will air, but, Mino
Gut, they're coming,
Kashi Sehgal: do
Jeremy: I think in [00:34:00] September. Yeah, you probably have tickets. I'll be out of town that weekend, otherwise I would see you there,
Kashi Sehgal: I am a huge live show
nut, I, I have been going to live shows since I could get to live shows when I was in middle school.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: it makes Yeah.
and I love live
Jeremy: Well,
last question here, if you could instill hope in another woman who's considering starting her own thing, what would you say to her?
Kashi Sehgal: would
say don't wait for that first step. perfection impedes progress. So don't wait for your idea to be approved by somebody perfected by you. Just take that first step and do it and count on yourself because you know you and you know what you're capable of. let anybody influence what you are capable of doing.
Jeremy: great advice. And now we'll dig into the clarity cards and your card is how do you handle stress and pressure?
Kashi Sehgal: do I [00:35:00] handle stress and pressure? I hope I handle it. Okay. I like to run and work out,
Jeremy: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: like just of scenery. I just need a breath. And I allow myself to
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: If I am really stressed out by something, a crier. I cry when I'm stressed, I cry when I'm happy, I, I cry, you know,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Kashi Sehgal: it out,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Kashi Sehgal: not embarrassed
Jeremy: Yep.
Kashi Sehgal: So you've
out
Jeremy: Yeah,
Kashi Sehgal: for you, how you out that emotion, then how you pick
Jeremy: that's great.
Kashi Sehgal: move forward. feel what you feel.
Jeremy: Yeah, yeah. No, that's great. Well, thank you for that vulnerability, [00:36:00] if people wanted to reach out to you, what's the best way they can get ahold of you?
Kashi Sehgal: best way is to just find me on LinkedIn. I am the only Kashi Sehgal there. I will reply to you, so just reach out. But tell me why you're reaching out.
Jeremy: Yeah, don't just send like the blind,
request. And
Kashi Sehgal: Hey, I really
Jeremy: Right, right.
Kashi Sehgal: podcast. amazing. You said a things.
Jeremy: Stop it.
Kashi Sehgal: then, I know I really wanna chat and uh, I will definitely connect with you.
Jeremy: Well, thank you for your time today, and to the listener, thank you for tuning into the Jeremy Haywood show. Again, if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to follow or subscribe, so you're always up to date when new episodes drop. And until next time, keep following your dreams to find your purpose.
