How to Have a Purpose-Driven Business, More Freedom + Make a Difference | EP 65

Speaker 1 All of our ideas that we do, it really stems from there's a problem, let's solve it instead of complain about it. Our Indian father always said, create, don't complain.

Speaker 1 You know, in a word of like so many complainers and sort of vaccine drivers and trolls, talk, talk, talk, and no action. Yeah, for us, it's like, okay, there's a problem, let's solve it.

Speaker 3 You guys just have such entrepreneurial mindsets to be going through your life to be like, here's an opportunity to serve and change the conversation.

Speaker 1 I just feel like we always like to solve problems that start with our problems in our own lives, and then we kind of extrapolate:

Speaker 1 is it a problem for a lot of people?

Speaker 2 It's just three questions: like, what sucks in my world? Does it suck for a lot of people? Can we be passionate about this for a really long time?

Speaker 1 One in three Americans have zero friends to confide in. This number has tripled in the last 30 years.

Speaker 1 And turns out having poor social connections is as harmful to your physical health as being an alcoholic and twice as harmful as obesity or smoking 15 cigarettes per day.

Speaker 1 So it's like loneliness is really prevalent amongst entrepreneurs, amongst, I mean, one in three Americans in general. And I think we've become more lonely as we've continued to swipe.

Speaker 3 Our guests today, Mickey and Radha Agarwal, are celebrated for their ability to disrupt traditional markets with groundbreaking products. They've launched Thanks Period Panties together.

Speaker 3 Mickey really went on to launch Tushi as well as Hero Technologies, which we talk about in the podcast. And then Radha built Daybreaker, which is a global morning dance movement.

Speaker 3 And together, they've built multiple companies that have generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue, but also given back to their communities.

Speaker 3 They truly embody a unique sense of creativity, resilience, and purpose in the world. And I'm so excited for you to dive in.
This is a fun one. Oh my gosh.
I just love you both so much.

Speaker 3 What an honor to be able to do your first podcast together here. You are badasses in business, in motherhood, individually, and together you're on a whole other level.

Speaker 1 Like, wow.

Speaker 3 And I know that the company that you guys started and sold Thinks, is more than a product.

Speaker 3 It's really a conversation about empowering women, changing the conversation around menstruation and women's bodies. I just want to know the story about what inspired Thinks to start with.

Speaker 1 Sure.

Speaker 2 So we were defending our three-legged race championship title, our family barbecue.

Speaker 1 It's called Agri-Palooza. Okay.

Speaker 2 And it was a ten-year title that we were the reigning champions of.

Speaker 1 Yeah. It's like Egg Toss and Three-Legged Race are these two kind of like tentpole events at our annual kind of aggravation.

Speaker 2 Our last name is Agrawa, so Agra-Palooza.

Speaker 1 It was, you know, competitive, everything competitive.

Speaker 2 So we were tied to each other in a three-legged race.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 so then, of course, we like, you know, ready, set, go, and then we were running together, tied to each other. And the middle of the race, Radha started her period.

Speaker 2 And then, like, she started bleeding into my sock. And then we started like sprinting through the finish line in first place, obviously.

Speaker 1 And then

Speaker 2 we kept going.

Speaker 2 We kept going up the stairs to our family room bathroom so she can change out her bathing suit bottoms and wash them out.

Speaker 2 And as she was washing out the blood from bathing suit bottoms is when we had the idea. Like, oh my God, what's the matter?

Speaker 2 So basically, it was like, whoa, you know, it would be amazing to create a pair of under that never leaked, that never stained, that supported you on every day of the month.

Speaker 2 Like the three-legged race. Then we talked to our older sister, Yuri, who's a surgeon, and she was like, we were like, all of your underwear are stained brown.
Like, why?

Speaker 2 She's like, well, in the middle of an operation, you can't be like, yo, face, while you're cut open. Let me just go and change my tampon while you're, you know, you have have to just bleed through.

Speaker 2 If you're in the middle of a soccer game, you can't be like, ref,

Speaker 1 can you stop the game?

Speaker 2 I got to go change my tampon.

Speaker 1 You know, on your way to the recital.

Speaker 1 Yeah. There's so many moments.
And so in that moment, actually, what was interesting about it was the blood came right off my bathing suit bottom.

Speaker 1 And it was like, oh, this is an interesting moment of material that the blood can actually come off. So, but it's not breathable.
Bathing suit bottoms.

Speaker 1 You can't wear them as underwear because it's not that your vagina can't breathe.

Speaker 1 And so you spent like four years.

Speaker 2 So special developing the technology. Exactly.

Speaker 3 You guys just have such entrepreneurial mindsets to be going through your life to be like, here's an opportunity to serve and change the conversation. Like, that's weird.

Speaker 1 We're both heavy bleeders, you know? And I just think that we had always, and we continue to this day. Every month, it's like, it's my first time.
I'm like, oh, shit, my period, you know?

Speaker 1 And so I just feel like we always like to solve problems that start with our problems in our own lives. And then we kind of extrapolate,

Speaker 1 is it a problem for a lot of people? And are we passionate about this topic? Yeah.

Speaker 1 Those are the three sort of starting points for any project that we start.

Speaker 3 So is it supportive of yourself? Is it support other people? It's the three questions.

Speaker 2 What sucks in my world? Does it suck for a lot of people? Can we be passionate about this for a really long time?

Speaker 3 Amazing. Yeah.
It looks like you just hit one thing after another. Like what you do works because you make it work.

Speaker 3 And I also know there's like the behind the scenes of really committing to something, to getting it off the ground.

Speaker 3 What was a challenge that you guys navigated and grew stronger together because of?

Speaker 2 Obviously, we've had multiple businesses across the board from our restaurants, you know, which are still open for almost 19 years called Wild in West in New York City to Building Super Sprouts, which is nutrition education for children, to Thinks, then Tushi, Daybreaker, and Hero.

Speaker 2 And of course, like all the

Speaker 1 Bruce and Belong Center,

Speaker 2 it's now and all the projects. You know, it's always been like, I think for each other, like the biggest cheerleaders for each other.
It's like, oh, I love that idea. Like, oh my God, 100%.
I'm going.

Speaker 2 Like, it'll be the best thing ever.

Speaker 2 You know, and I, I think it's always like a boom spiral of like an upward spiral of energy of like can-do-ness because we have like each other's wind behind each other in that way.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I mean, I think also just when I think of having a friend that's always there for you to support you and to cheerlead your ideas and challenge you and challenge you.

Speaker 1 We definitely are two type A, you know, matriarchs.

Speaker 1 And so, you know, I think it's one of those things where we, where we, you know, don't mince our words with each other. Yeah.

Speaker 1 So we're able to both be direct in our feedback and also be the ultimate cheerleaders of one another. You know, it's like her win is my win and my win is her win.

Speaker 1 And so there's no sort of like, oh, you know, you have more of a win than I. It's like sort of like, no one can tell us apart.
So it doesn't even matter.

Speaker 2 It's just like, I'm like, oh my God, daybreaker changed my life.

Speaker 1 And I'm like, great. You know, now I'm like at this point.
Exactly. People are like, Toshi, I have a hundred of them in my house, you know, all my houses.
And I'm like, yeah.

Speaker 1 My sister, but yeah, I'm an investor.

Speaker 1 Yeah, exactly. We invest in each other's companies.
Like, so I'm a lead investor in Hero Technologies, for example. Yeah.

Speaker 2 And I'm like the number one ticket purchaser at Daybreaker.

Speaker 1 Her and Erwin, the lens.

Speaker 1 Love you, Erwin. Yeah.

Speaker 2 I'm coming after you.

Speaker 1 But I feel like all of our ideas that we do, it really stems from there's a problem. Let's solve it instead of complain about it.
Our Indian father always said, create, don't complain.

Speaker 1 You know, in a world of like so many complainers and sort of vaccine drivers and trolls.

Speaker 2 Talk, talk, talk and no action. Yeah.

Speaker 1 For us, it's like, okay, there's a problem. Let's solve it.
And then let's have fun while doing it. Let's make it.
And I think for us, our biggest core value is creativity.

Speaker 1 You know, when I think of, you know, how we solve problems, it's not just sort of through spreadsheets or kind of a binary experience, like black and white.

Speaker 1 It's always like, how can we add creativity? How can we add color? How can we add story to everything we do? And I think that's what's been so fun. And it never feels like work.

Speaker 1 It always feels like play.

Speaker 3 Yeah, you guys do feel like everything you do has to have an element of creativity, of disruption, of like really bringing something innovative, but also the play.

Speaker 3 Like I feel that in everything you do.

Speaker 3 I'm also curious about, because you're female founders, has there anything been unique about being a female founder that you want to speak to that would be helpful for other female founders to hear?

Speaker 2 We've had it all from like investors like saying like, I'll give you money, but I'm in love with you to like, you know, investors squeezing my cheeks, patting me on the head, to lawyers holding me by the back of the neck and being like, you know, I'm going to make you mine your resolution, you know, or like, you know, boys, let's go outside and talk business.

Speaker 1 I know.

Speaker 1 Like, it's like, you know, a lot of just the old boys club like style. We've been around for 20 years.
I mean, we've been entrepreneurs for 20 years.

Speaker 1 And like, I would say that we were, you know, it's just in the last, what is it, 1988 that women were allowed to start their own business. Literally.
Like, that's, I just read this

Speaker 1 online that 1988 was the first time that women could open their own business and set up their own LLC and just a wild statistic to understand that just in the last 25 years, have we been able to actually fundraise, build a business and be a terrible person?

Speaker 1 The right to vote is only 100 years.

Speaker 2 I mean, it's crazy. So we're still on shaky ground.
And I think there's still, we live in such a deeply, deeply patriarchal condition system.

Speaker 2 And even women, I mean, the number of women who voted for Trump, I mean, like, you know, it's just like we, it's like the idea of a woman leading is just so weird and strange.

Speaker 2 And there's this power struggle, less and less, but there's still a power struggle that you see in the world between,

Speaker 2 you know, like, like, are there enough seats at the table for everyone? The answer is yes. Like we believe that there's enough seats for everyone at the table, but a lot of people don't.

Speaker 2 And so we've had to like,

Speaker 2 you know, to raise money, people, even after selling things, like people are like, oh, you got lucky, you know, so for Tushi, it was like, I started over as though I've never raised a dollar in my life or never built anything in my life.

Speaker 2 It was really interesting. And this here was different because, you know, after having two companies in the Belt and Plus Daybreaker, every between the two of us, like it got easier.

Speaker 3 Exponential. Yeah, but you really paved the way.

Speaker 2 It was really, it was really.

Speaker 1 No one was going to invest in an underwear company about periods.

Speaker 1 No one is going to invest in

Speaker 1 anything women's product.

Speaker 1 This is back in, I mean, 10, 12 years ago. Now there's more women starting businesses than men.
There's more women graduating college than men. So there's, you know, the tables and tides are turning.

Speaker 2 But also there had been like, you look at so many female founders who achieved success have had some level of takedown.

Speaker 2 You know, I'm so grateful that Radha hasn't, you know, but like, you know, we've, so many of us have gone through that because of the power dynamics that women experience. And like, I didn't expect.

Speaker 2 to have an experience like that. You know, I was pregnant as well.

Speaker 2 So it was sort of like, but then now coming out on the other side of it, with the world changing, with things changing as a result of the work that so many of us have done, it's really powerful to now have these stories to tell.

Speaker 2 It's actually more interesting, creates more texture. Yeah.
It doesn't, you know, it's like, oh, everything's great. It's just like, cool, you know, versus like, ugh, like we suck the merit of life.

Speaker 2 Like we,

Speaker 2 you know, the famous quote, it's like, I want to skid to death store sideways, not in a well-preserved body, loudly, thoroughly used up, loudly proclaiming, wow, what a life.

Speaker 2 You know, it's like just a used, like you've experienced everything, the highs, the lows, everything in between. It's like you really juiced life in every way.
And that's such a gift.

Speaker 3 I feel like you both are a stand for living life fully and going for your dreams and paving new ways. And you're not afraid to back down from something that somebody else hasn't done.

Speaker 3 And so I just want to thank you for that as a woman, as a friend. Like I just love and adore both of you.

Speaker 3 And your brilliance, I'm wondering, like, is there a moment where you realized you guys were different? Because

Speaker 3 you have so much aliveness and excitement for life, but you're also incredibly powerful and put action behind it.

Speaker 1 I mean, I think someone said it's like, you know, what is the, what is the ingredients to, to, you know, maybe our careers? And I think for me, it's, we trade on our enthusiasm.

Speaker 1 I think so many people are just like too cool for school or trying to be professional. I hate my job.

Speaker 2 Me too.

Speaker 1 There's a posturing that happens. And I think that for us, it's like we still feel that deep zest for life and enthusiasm.

Speaker 1 And everything, it's like, oh my God, Alyssa, wow, like your earrings are incredible. It's like every detail of life is just like, oh, wow.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 I feel like that

Speaker 1 enthusiasm mixed with...

Speaker 1 to me, like creativity and purpose, you know, when you, when you bring those two together, then

Speaker 1 magic happens, right?

Speaker 1 And I think it's like if you're, if you're just kind of focused on purpose and execution and all of that without the enthusiasm, then life life can get pretty tedious or life can get pretty stressful after a while.

Speaker 1 But if you stay and you really continue to find that enthusiasm, that joine de vivre, you know, that I think that both of us, I can continue to inspire within each other, I think that's really, to me, the best ingredients of what makes us continue to be inspired in our lives.

Speaker 2 And so I wrote a book called Disruptor, and the first

Speaker 2 book is really looking at the 13 major areas in your life, whether money,

Speaker 2 friendship, relationship,

Speaker 2 career, just all the areas in our life that people find like, this is the way it is.

Speaker 2 And it's like looking at the historical context of where these beliefs came to be and then really disrupting them one by one and finding agency in our own lives of how to do that.

Speaker 2 And the very first disruption, the very first common belief is you have to get serious as you grow up. You know, it's like, as you grow up, get serious.
Like, sit down, be Hawaii.

Speaker 2 If you want to go to college and shut up and listen. If you want to get a job, then shut up and listen.
Like, your voice isn't a part of this equation.

Speaker 2 Like, that is really the way we've been taught so often to get dead in line, just do your work.

Speaker 2 But the disruption is no, you can actually live in a childlike state of curiosity, playfulness, and awe and still be a responsible adult at the same time. Wow.

Speaker 2 You can have both. You can really have both.

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Speaker 3 We've been friends for a while and that perfectly to me embodies what you both stand for. This wonder and excitement for life and still being really powerful and making an impact in the world.

Speaker 3 And I didn't put that together until you just shared that.

Speaker 3 And I'm also thinking about masculine and feminine ways of being or being really stuck in our head that more focused spreadsheet type way, which leads to a lot of burnout. Right.

Speaker 3 And there's importance for the creativity and following the aliveness, which is a better fuel, but without any of the focus in the head in service to the heart, then it can just be watery and doesn't have any structure.

Speaker 3 Right. That's right.

Speaker 1 Exactly. It needs structure.
It needs form.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it needs operating.

Speaker 3 You guys embody both of that. And I think some of the feminine ways that I see you do that is the aliveness and the creativity, but also the collaboration.
You guys are great at collaborating.

Speaker 3 For people that are either burnt out, because I know we all kind of go through learning about that.

Speaker 3 What would you say is some of the sweet spot or what would you help people come back to if you've discovered something yourself or you're still discovering kind of that sweet spot?

Speaker 3 There's this quote from a physicist that he says, it's not just doo-doo-doo. It's not just BBB.
It's doobie-doobie-dooby-doo.

Speaker 1 I love that. That's right.
And I think that's, you nailed it. I think it's really about embodiment.
I think it's about dancing your way through life. I think it's, to me, it's twofold.
It's one, it's

Speaker 1 get out of your head into our bodies, right? I think we're so cut off at the head and we forget that our bodies actually hold all the wisdom.

Speaker 1 So how can we actually move into a kind of a more integrated work, live, play environment and escape? But but burnout to me happens because

Speaker 1 Yeah, I think sometimes like you're just working with two pieces that are missing. One is without clear direction, right? And without kind of the support and community to

Speaker 1 help you stay

Speaker 1 kind of in the pocket, right?

Speaker 2 And I think that's what I was going to say, which was that part about, I think because we're twins, we're really good at asking for help. Excuse me, can you help me? Like, Rhoda, come help me.

Speaker 2 Can you? And we're so used to being like, you know, let's go, like, let's go, you know? And it's like, there's always a like team.

Speaker 2 Like we grew up, we were in the womb together, like from the womb to the tomb, like we have this saying. And it's like, we've always been in community, always asking for help.

Speaker 2 A lot of people are too proud to ask for help, ask for support.

Speaker 2 Like, literally, like, when we're anywhere, it's like, excuse me, can you help me put my luggage up top? Can you, can you carry the stroller down the stairs?

Speaker 2 Can you, can you, like, we have no problems asking for help. And I think when you ask for help, it gives other people purpose.

Speaker 2 And when we do it in a way that's like full of like, like, excitement, it actually enrolls people in ways, and that's authentic because it is authentic. I think that's the sweet spot:

Speaker 2 yes, there's the awe, the curiosity, the playfulness, there's the doing and like, you know, being able to like get shit done, but it requires a lot of support. It requires a lot of help.

Speaker 2 And we have all across all of my companies, our companies, we've been able to attract the best people ever because of the enthusiasm, because of the excitement, the idea itself, but then also like

Speaker 1 the feeling of like the usefulness that they all feel because they are playing integral, important roles that we're like, wow, like you do this I'm so inspired and then they're like wow you do this I'm so inspired so we have this mutual awe of each other that then creates this upward spiral of like let's fucking go yeah and I think another thing to add to that is like integrating like I think people burn out because they're heads down working hundred hour weeks and there's no integration in their lives meaning they haven't made time for community it's sort of like okay I'm gonna focus on swiping to make meet my romantic partner I'm going to heads down work 100 hour work week so focus on work and my professional career.

Speaker 1 And then community and friendship will come when I have time or, you know, like if I have, you know, a moment here and there, right?

Speaker 1 And so when you flip that and you actually focus on community first and you really prioritize your friends and your community, not only will they first introduce you to love interests and romantic partners, but they will also be there for you in all the moments of struggle in your work and in the work that we do.

Speaker 1 So I get to sort of both celebrate my wins and my victories.

Speaker 1 Like when we sold things, we took 50 friends to Columbia on an expenses paid vacation because they were there with and for us on the journey of building things and so most entrepreneurs maybe don't have even any friends to celebrate their wins with because they've been dog eat dogging or elbowing their way to get them to working so hard that they just isolated themselves right and so it's so critical to actually flip the paradigm from career and romantic partnership and then friendship second to community first romantic and career second because the the the community will actually support both of those parts of your life.

Speaker 3 This is flipping things upside down for you. That's right, which I love.
And you guys are such beautiful examples with a track record of being like, this shit works.

Speaker 1 And it's fun too. Well, it's way more important.

Speaker 2 And it's like, it's like, you know, the kind of crazy roller coaster of entrepreneurship lends itself to having high highs, but really low lows too.

Speaker 2 And I'll say this: like, when I went through my crazy low, low with the whole, you know, takedown, all this stuff like that, that was experienced.

Speaker 2 It was so powerful to see the community show up like rada and like 20 friends came with like a boom box circled me you know with music and danced around when during that time and like for a year i probably didn't have one day where i didn't have friends coming over bringing me food bringing music bringing song bringing love bringing cheer juice whatever

Speaker 2 and you know we battled like you know the big bad wolf together you know and we got to you know heal together and they got to to witness healing happen.

Speaker 2 They got to witness, like, you know, like me on my knees and like asking for help and support and love. And they, they were like here for it.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 You know, and I think imagine going through that experience alone. Yeah.

Speaker 1 When you're literally going through this type of an experience where you're running out of money in your company or you're going through a story that is really difficult.

Speaker 1 You're going through a challenge at work and you, and you've given all of yourself to the project and you have no one to confide in or turn to. And that's why

Speaker 1 one in three Americans have zero friends to confide in. This number has tripled in the last 30 years.

Speaker 1 And turns out having poor social connections is as harmful to your physical health as being an alcoholic and twice as harmful as obesity or smoking 15 cigarettes per day.

Speaker 1 So it's like loneliness is really prevalent amongst entrepreneurs, amongst, I mean, one in three Americans in general.

Speaker 1 And I think we've become more lonely as we've begun, continue to swipe post-pandemic.

Speaker 1 There's so many experiences that we're, you know, the political polarization that we're facing, of course, during these elections. You know, it's, it's, we're, we're in a really

Speaker 1 important time to come back to each other, to remember the importance of belonging and community. And that's sort of why we've dedicated so much of our life to

Speaker 1 that effort.

Speaker 3 And I'm still sitting with that being in the womb together and learning to collaborate and then how that shows up with your team.

Speaker 3 And what I'm hearing also, just I want to ground this for myself and for others, is like, it's easy for you to ask for support. And when you get the support, you celebrate.

Speaker 3 And so people feel purposeful. They feel like they're valued.

Speaker 2 Totally. A hundred percent.

Speaker 1 And we're not perfect. You know,

Speaker 2 we have, we have bad days too. And we PMS sometimes too.
And we, you know, sometimes there's so much going on that we're like barking orders sometimes.

Speaker 2 And then, but, but like, but our team feels so loved, celebrated by us.

Speaker 1 Like most, like, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 Like it's, it's a beautifully textured relationship, but ultimately it is that cheerleading. It is that, it is that, like, the passion passion that keeps all of us so motivated.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 And I just want to highlight that because I was reading a, I think it was like the happiness advantage, or just talking about what you essentially embody, which is celebrating people, seeing people, helping them feel like they belong.

Speaker 3 They're part of a bigger mission. And then they want to do their best.
They are, they're going to show up.

Speaker 3 You're enrolling them into that vision rather than micromanaging or barking orders like you're doing.

Speaker 1 Exactly. And I think

Speaker 1 there's a fine line between just being a cheerleader and holding someone also to their highest and their best.

Speaker 1 And I think actually people really value and feel more motivated when they have a manager or a team leader who's holding you accountable to sort of pushing you, hey, Alyssa, I know you could do better than that.

Speaker 1 Like I know you've got like a deeper, more magical

Speaker 1 can you go?

Speaker 1 Go further.

Speaker 1 Can you go all the way? Yeah. You know, and I think like it's not just leading from like Paula Abdul on American Idol.

Speaker 1 Like people like look at Simon Cowell, even if he's kind of an asshole, but it's like, but they respect him because he often gives really specific pointed advice everyone's like he's helpful and he's right and so i think that mixing the cheerleader with a really sort of like tough love feedback tough love feedback loving you know and so that they want to show up with their best self and there's an excitement for that you know one of my friends david yaris who's um who's working for um a company right now he's like it's the first time he feels excited to work for this company uh he's an age he has owns an agency and his client is this big um functional medicine company.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 he's just like, it's the first time I feel challenged. He's like, usually I can just coast my way through by just sort of like sharing presentations or whatever.
But like, they're pushing back.

Speaker 1 They're pushing me to do better. They're pushing me.
They're motivating me.

Speaker 1 And I'm like sitting up till three o'clock in the morning for the first time in like 15 years and like working my ass off because I feel so challenged and excited. And I want to prove myself.

Speaker 1 And there's something exciting about a manager or a partner or a leader or a company or

Speaker 1 a coach who's going to hold you to that.

Speaker 3 Just step into what you're capable of.

Speaker 1 That's right. A coach, of course.

Speaker 2 I feel exactly. And I feel that way.

Speaker 2 Like even, you know, as we're building our new company and with Tushi, like our design teams, both, both teams, they know that like, I don't mince my words when it comes to like creativity.

Speaker 2 It's like, I think you can go further. Like, I want to create something that's iconic.
Is this iconic? It's not iconic. Oh, you know, and it's like, sort of like, you know, will other people copy us?

Speaker 2 If this is not copyable, then it's not not iconic enough. Oh, yeah.
You know, and so they're like, okay, like.

Speaker 3 When you said that, I could feel myself being like, I'll just do it. Instead of being like, I see you can do better, which is pulling that is calling them.

Speaker 1 Calling them

Speaker 3 versus my, for me, I'm just putting, imagining myself in your shoes. And I would be like, oh, it's not there.
I'll just do it versus calling them forward.

Speaker 3 And what they're like, push your creative edge. Let's keep going.

Speaker 1 I like this more than that.

Speaker 2 And a way to do it is like, okay, put three Pinterest boards together, the most iconic shit you've ever seen in these three different directions and then come back to me.

Speaker 2 And then it's like, then it crystallizes. Then it's like, okay.
And then all of a sudden they surprise themselves and produce something that they didn't think they could.

Speaker 3 I also love how specific and clear you were in that, in the directions.

Speaker 1 I'm like, yeah, tell me what to do, Mickey.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And they need three.

Speaker 2 They need enough direction to then go and be creative because you need a sandbox to play in. Because

Speaker 2 if it's just like full-on, there's like, where do you start? It's like, give me this sandbox and let me play and create as much as I can inside the sandbox.

Speaker 2 But everyone, including children, adults, like boundaries. Boundaries are really important.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And that's, and that's, and that's coaching back.
That's learning or twins.

Speaker 1 Learning boundaries. Wow.

Speaker 2 But when it comes to feedback, when it comes to, you know, like pushing the, pushing people to think bigger and think further, you know, is requires,

Speaker 2 that's the visionary piece that I think is required.

Speaker 2 But then, but then giving them enough rope to go and like create the coolest knot and the coolest ribbons and whatever they want to create with the rope.

Speaker 3 And to celebrate it when they do.

Speaker 2 And when they come back, you're like, that's it.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And I think like if you're going to be a leader, you have to love teaching, right? I really feel that.
It's like you as a coach, you as a leader, you love to teach. You know, I love teaching.

Speaker 1 Mickey loves teaching. I love my teaching my masterclass on community building.

Speaker 1 I love teaching the next generation of community builders how to do it, how to design experiences, how to build scalable communities, you know, all across the world.

Speaker 1 And when I think about just like the passion for teaching, that's in service of the other person. I think so often in this life, in this world that we live in, it's like, what do I get out of it?

Speaker 1 Me, me, me, I, I, I.

Speaker 1 And I just think that the more you can teach them, the more they'll actually not only call themselves forward, but they will also, they will become teachers themselves for their next generation.

Speaker 1 So it's like, it really becomes a trickle down.

Speaker 2 And also they'll get like a bit more like callus tens in that like right now everyone is so like, you know, like, like fragile, you know?

Speaker 2 know and so it's sort of like no when you're giving them like feedback with love and say like you've got this I believe in you like come on like you can do better like that it's like there it's a training ground for life it's not just like you're doing great fired find someone else it's like actually like let's see what you've got but like you got to dig deeper you've got to dig deeper and I think like so often like there's a fear of like, does it make me feel like a bad boss?

Speaker 2 Am I like being too like, you know, overbearing? Am I, you know, like being too critical?

Speaker 1 Am I intense?

Speaker 2 And I beat myself up a lot about like, did I come off intense?

Speaker 2 Like, cause sometimes we're moving so quickly of so many things, like, you know, then you're just like, shit, but like, but then they come back and they bring something and you're just like, okay, like, you know, it's always a calibration.

Speaker 2 It's like a game of calibration when it comes to leadership. You know, there's so much calibration that happens internally, externally, in relationship.
So like this.

Speaker 3 And the leadership that you do and that you modify shows up in obviously business, but also parenting and partnership and friendship.

Speaker 2 It's just and for me, like when I'm when there's too many things on my to-do list and I'm moving too quickly, it ends up coming out intense, barky. When I like slow down,

Speaker 2 lower my tone of voice,

Speaker 2 really, really think. There's this video that my friend showed me about this guy who is, it's just a total funny comedy about this guy who wanted to become a politician.

Speaker 2 And Nelson Mandela basically was like, you have to slow down

Speaker 1 your voice

Speaker 2 and make

Speaker 2 comments

Speaker 1 like

Speaker 1 this.

Speaker 2 And so it's like, it's like that level of like,

Speaker 2 when it's, when it's, oh my God, excitement, we can be our still,

Speaker 2 effervescent, vivacious selves. But when it comes to tough feedback,

Speaker 2 it's for me, like, it's the learning of dropping in, slowing down.

Speaker 3 I like that distinction because I think when we

Speaker 3 don't have any space and we're trying to be efficient, it actually isn't efficient because we're doing it too quick.

Speaker 1 Exactly.

Speaker 3 And so slow it down.

Speaker 1 And they have to deal with their feelings being

Speaker 1 taking 10 minutes. And then I spend time just like calculating my own self, being like, here's what's too hard.

Speaker 2 Getting myself up about like, oh, was that too intense or whatever? Versus like when it's exciting.

Speaker 1 Yay.

Speaker 2 When it's fat, it's fun.

Speaker 1 When it's feedback, feedback, slow. I love this.

Speaker 3 It's great for you. That's what we're working on.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 3 Okay, right. Obviously, you guys have done so many things.
And since then, you've done so much besides things.

Speaker 3 I'm curious, Radha, in terms of Daybreaker, you know, tell us a little bit about the creation story, what you're inspired by.

Speaker 3 I just want to share any, well, I'll shift, you share about Daybreaker, and then I'll share my love of Daybreaker.

Speaker 1 I love you.

Speaker 1 So for me, Daybreaker, really, our foundation is about belonging and belonging through the lens of joy, through the lens of the body.

Speaker 1 And, you know, I went to Burning Man, and the creation story is I went to Burning Man and I, at that time, had only been comfortable dancing if I was drunk or if I was, you know, whatever.

Speaker 1 I just didn't fully know myself.

Speaker 1 And I remember going to, you know, deep playa, throwing my bike down and just sober, getting into my body. It was like four o'clock in the morning.
And I just remember closing my eyes alone.

Speaker 1 All my, I didn't know a single person at Burning Man, except for my RV, my sister, and three friends that I went with. This is 12 years ago, before I started Daybreaker.

Speaker 1 And I remember just being anonymous in a sea of just like strangers. And so just the safety of being able to just practice being in my body.
I remember

Speaker 1 closing my eyes and just finding myself for the first time, finding my self-expression for the first time and crying and just like this, like coming home to my body because we're so cut off, right?

Speaker 1 We're in our head, we're not in our bodies, we need to medicate to be in our bodies.

Speaker 1 And so the idea was like, in that moment, it was this aha of like, oh my gosh, like, how is it that only can we find ourselves in these faraway festivals?

Speaker 1 How can we bring this type of return to self into the cities where we live?

Speaker 1 And so, Daybreaker was really born from that kind of a social experiment, art project, where my co-founder, Matt Breimer, and I, he and I, you know, got together and we just said, let's try to bring that experience of a sober dance party.

Speaker 1 Oh, and then actually, one thing I missed out was as I was dancing, my eyes closed, crying, coming with my body. I then blinked my eyes open and the sun was rising.

Speaker 1 And you know how what happens the sun is rising and you're just like seeing and all of a sudden the whole just the desert just lights up.

Speaker 1 And I just remember being in the most incredible awe and realizing, oh my gosh, like we just don't dance enough in the daytime. We're always dancing at night.

Speaker 1 And so the idea was like, okay, let's replace the, you know, let's replace all the negatives of nightlife with the positives of daylife. So let's make the dance party book.
Let's call it Daybreaker.

Speaker 1 We'll break the day with energy, intention, and life, and do it in cities where we live.

Speaker 1 So we started in New York and then it grew very quickly to san francisco and la and london and paris and chicago and now we're in you know 45 cities around the world where can we have a million people and just people i think are just tired of going to bed.

Speaker 1 I think there's a wellness movement, right, that happened and people realize like we need sleep.

Speaker 1 Yeah, we want sleep. We want to, we want to get like sleep is such an important part of mental health.

Speaker 1 And so let's still find a place to dance and connect with the light, with the circadian rhythms, drink green juice instead of alcohol, and do it in, you know, where you can get to know yourself, come home to yourself rather than escape yourself, which so much of festival culture can be, right?

Speaker 1 And so that's. That's incredible.

Speaker 3 For anyone that has not gone to Daybreaker yet, highly recommend. It just reminds you of the magic of being human and alive.

Speaker 2 It's the greatest, like you can't, like, it's, it's, it's very difficult to go to any other party after going to Daybreaker because the vibration is so high.

Speaker 2 Like every time I leave, the frequency of my body, I'm vibrating at the highest level. It's truly next.

Speaker 1 Well, we're in our 11th season. And so it's, it's it's wild.
You know, when you think of a dance party, you know, they typically come and go.

Speaker 1 And I think that the reason why the thread of this is here to stay is that, you know, we're only a million, you know, it's a lot, but we're only a million community members strong.

Speaker 1 There's seven billion, eight billion people on the planet.

Speaker 1 And it's like, if everyone just woke up and started their day with a dance party in costume with a friend or two or just outside in the sun with the vitamin D on your face, like think about how different the world would be.

Speaker 1 So I think we still have a lot of work to do in this space and just in terms of proliferating around the world, but just really excited.

Speaker 2 And I'll also say, like, one thing about Daybreaker is that it's like

Speaker 2 you, you rarely see a community of people like so behind something and just like, oh my God, the Daybreaker Cup. It's like, it's like the band that's like coming to town, you know?

Speaker 2 And it just, it creates such a space of like belonging. Like it's such a place where people can like feel like they can go and know how they're going to feel when they leave.

Speaker 2 They're going to feel so good. Yeah.
And so it's like, why wouldn't you want, that's why it's been 11 years old.

Speaker 2 That's why it keeps going because it's not like a, okay, this club's done because I've done enough cocaine or whatever.

Speaker 2 And I'm like, kind of like, this place reminds me of like the down that I feel after, you know, versus like when you, whenever, whenever I think about Daybreaker, I feel my body's frequency rise.

Speaker 2 And so why wouldn't you want to go do that for yourself over and over again with people that you meet, fall in love with, build community with? It's just the greatest.

Speaker 3 Fully expressed in the morning.

Speaker 3 Like, wow, what a way to start the day. And you could go on your own or you can meet people there.
It's such an inclusive community.

Speaker 3 And I know that both of you are phenomenal at building businesses with purpose. And so with some of the, you talked about belonging.
Can you share a bit more about the purpose?

Speaker 3 Because you talk about like inclusion is not just what you put on your policy. It's really creating spaces where you make people feel like they belong.
I know that you are a stand for that.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I mean, well, we also just launched our nonprofit this year, Belong Center, to end loneliness.

Speaker 1 But I think really, you know, that's our biggest pandemic pandemic of our time is that we are a lonely population.

Speaker 1 We, you know, the foundations of our society are pushing us to be in our, you know, alone homes and our alone cities and our alone offices and our work-at-home alone spaces.

Speaker 1 And, and, you know, we're, we are, we are less and less sort of meeting in social spaces.

Speaker 1 And so to me, these third spaces like Daybreaker, you know, where you get to go and you get to just like dress up and meet people all ages.

Speaker 1 We've had Jane Goodall come to Daybreaker, Daybreaker, you know, studying a new type of human or chance, you know, down to, you know, lots of pregnant women or little toddlers in their, in their, you know,

Speaker 1 in their carriers. And it's just, it's an intergenerational community.

Speaker 1 And I really believe that, you know, when we silo, the reason why people don't belong is I think we often silo, you know, people based on age groups.

Speaker 1 You're millennials, you're Gen Zs, you're, you know, Gen X, you're a boomer.

Speaker 1 It's when you actually mix all the groups and the humans together, when you have, you know, all these generations learning and supporting and modeling and sort of teaching each other in that way.

Speaker 1 It just makes for just a much more cohesive, rich,

Speaker 1 community experience.

Speaker 3 Learning from each other. That's how it was in the beginning.
Like, we've been doing this. We're just going back to our roots.

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 2 It was for, and, and just kind of like off that, it's when I think about the way we built things versus the way we built tushi is a very, very stark difference where things, it was like all, you know, young white women, you know, mostly.

Speaker 2 And while, you know, it was obviously a period product, so it was, you know, a certain way, but it did create a bit of a siloed experience and expression versus when you know Toshi was built, we made a very, very clear point to make it age diverse, race diverse, gender diverse, like just super, super diverse across all three race, gender, and age.

Speaker 2 And the level of cohesiveness, the ideation, the camaraderie, the respect, it's just a different,

Speaker 2 much more beautiful thing. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And so when things are homogeneous, when things are one, one way homogeneous, like it's harder to feel a sense of belonging because there's going to be competition, there's going to be jealousy.

Speaker 1 You know, if everyone's the same age, threatening.

Speaker 1 That's right.

Speaker 1 If everyone's the same age, they look the same, they dress the same, then eventually you're going to be like, I, you know, someone's going to, oh, her eyelashes are longer than my eyelashes.

Speaker 1 She got a promotion, I didn't, or she says, or whatever, he whatever versus like there's a much more rich cohesive you bring this perspective that perspective there's you know a wizard a wisdom from the age or there's like new wisdom for the youth like and they it's a learning from each other constantly and you know like as we build all the next future things it's like age age there is something about diversity of inclusion like there is actually there's a reason it works yeah and it's not because it's like check the box it actually works makes for a more rich a better creative collaborative experience yeah more belonging yeah more belonging and you know i wrote a book called belong yeah you know and and really i just think that we we we we know why belonging is so important we but we don't know how how do you belong like what is you know what are the best ways you know to belong and and to me it's like the the moments that are the happiest in our lives are when weddings, you know, parties, like birthdays, like all these moments.

Speaker 1 We get to dance, we get to dress up, we get to celebrate life. And so that sort of, you know, to me, Daybreaker is sort of that wedding birthday, you know, kind of gathering.

Speaker 1 We get to dress up and have fun with the sun and tuck you in by 10 p.m.

Speaker 1 I love it.

Speaker 3 And for people that want to learn more about the Belong Center, just to share.

Speaker 1 Yeah, so Belong Center, you know, it's our, it's a national nonprofit where we launched a program across all 50 states already in the just in the last year alone.

Speaker 1 And we're a brand new nonprofit, but we've been all, you know, I think press and media love us because, again,

Speaker 1 everyone talks about why ending loneliness is important, but no one is actually boots on the ground building centers, creating the programs, doing the work to actually end loneliness.

Speaker 1 And so we've launched programs, including Belong Circle.

Speaker 1 So it's a curriculum-based facilitator-led belong circle where it's a 75-minute circle where you meet, you know, once a month in whatever city or state that you're in.

Speaker 1 And in that, you know, 75-minute circle, you're getting to know one another.

Speaker 1 You're meeting each other.

Speaker 1 You're working on different sort of different strategies on how to make friends, how to connect with one another.

Speaker 1 You're bonding with each other. You're doing somatic practices.
And by the end of it,

Speaker 1 you walk out of a belonged circle and you're like, I don't feel lonely. I feel more connected.
I feel more hopeful. I feel like I can actually go out and learn.
I know how to make new friends now.

Speaker 1 I know exactly what to do.

Speaker 1 I'm going to throw my first dinner party. I'm going to create an event and experience to go and do that in my little community where I live.

Speaker 1 And so I'm just really excited about this nonprofit because we get to teach people

Speaker 1 in so many ways. Like, you know, there's not one silver bullet to ending loneliness.
There's so many ways that we need to approach this topic, but it's, we have the Circles program.

Speaker 1 We have a, we have a block party challenge that we're launching next year. We're inviting America to, you know, revitalize a block party.
I love the block party. Right.

Speaker 1 Block party in your neighborhood with

Speaker 1 your

Speaker 1 neighbors. So we're building a whole block party challenge next year.

Speaker 1 We have a belonged bench, these yellow circular benches, you know, where you see just benches that are straight and you're linearly sponsored. I sponsored one in Austin.

Speaker 1 Mickey's a sponsor of one of these benches.

Speaker 1 But imagine like when you sit on a bench at a park, you're just sitting straight, looking forward, not looking at each other. So we built these yellow benches that are circular.

Speaker 1 So you're sort of forced to sit in a circle and see each other, look each other in the eye. And so we're putting these benches all over America.

Speaker 1 right now.

Speaker 1 And then the last thing we're doing just in our first year kind of temple projects is a study with UC Berkeley and the Greater Good Science Center on the science of collective dance, collective awe, so that doctors can begin prescribing social dance experiences that are sober to their patients as an antidote for loneliness, depression, isolation, and anxiety.

Speaker 1 And, you know, I don't know if you know this, but like 75% of depression cases are from, you can guess, loneliness. Yeah.
Right.

Speaker 1 So, but, but, you know, we medicate depression and anxiety, but really the way to actually support it or solve it is solving loneliness. Yeah.

Speaker 3 I mean, it's a core human need too. Exactly.
And there's after the pandemic, everything just got, there's even more need for what you're doing.

Speaker 1 That's right. And you have to belong to yourself first.
And so I have this whole compass of belonging, which is sort of a directional map that you can sort of like do for yourself.

Speaker 1 So whenever you're feeling lonely, you can just sort of ground in and you can say, okay, Alyssa, you know,

Speaker 1 in this moment, I'm feeling out of belonging. Let me just get into my compass.
The north is the spiritual realm. The south is the planetary realm.

Speaker 1 The west is your lineage, where you came from, and the east is your service.

Speaker 1 And as soon as you actually sit in those maps and you're like, you're touching another realm, which is sort of greater than you, and so you feel that relaxed, you're, the, your, your, your, you're actually, your brain begins to relax and you're like, ah, there's something greater than, than me.

Speaker 1 And then you recognize when you go down in the south and you realize, oh, I'm part of a node of the planet. You know, there isn't a word for separate in Indigenous cultures.

Speaker 1 There isn't a word for lonely in Indigenous cultures because we are all one with the planet. So as soon as you ground into this, the energetics of the planet, you don't feel lonely.

Speaker 1 And then when you look behind you and you realize, oh my gosh, I am the product of all this lineage, you know, behind you, your parents and your four-grandparents, your eight-great-grandparents, your 16-great-great-grandparents.

Speaker 1 You know, within 10 generations, it's 2,064 people that it took to get to you. And so you all of a sudden realize like you get to carry the legacy of thousands of people in just 10 generations.

Speaker 1 What a gift. And you feel less alone, right? You feel less unmoored when you have that type of map that you get to to go with.

Speaker 1 And finally, of course, service in the East, what faces forward, it's like, as soon as you ground into, it's not about me, but how can I actually serve my community?

Speaker 1 And as you know, there's lots of research around this. When you serve your community, you feel so much happier, so much more, you know, purposeful.
And of course, less lonely.

Speaker 3 I love this map. It feels so holistic and the belonging to yourself and then also giving back.
This is just beautiful.

Speaker 3 I know and love you guys and I keep diving more into each of you and opening more magical boxes that you carry and codes that you carry. So thank you.

Speaker 3 And Mickey, I also know that you, with all the different companies, like it seems like you're

Speaker 3 really attracted to the bathroom between like between Thinks Period Panties

Speaker 3 with

Speaker 3 Tushi and the bidet and then Hero with the diapers. Like, I know that you're about disruption and really challenging cultural norms and really bold innovation.

Speaker 3 I know you stand for that, but talk to us about hero technologies, what it is, what's some of the deeper mission behind it.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean,

Speaker 2 when you look across the board between Thinks, Tushi, and Hero, there really are about my core mission, my core values, which is to elevate people on the planet.

Speaker 2 And ultimately, Thinks was meant to elevate

Speaker 2 the shamer on women's periods and through a solution through our period-proof underwear. But then we've helped divert billions of tampons and plaids outside of landfills, which is huge.

Speaker 2 They take hundreds of years to decompose. With Tushi, our modern bidet, you know,

Speaker 2 washes your butt clean after you poop.

Speaker 2 It,

Speaker 2 you know we've helped save over 10 million trees from getting flushed on the toilet you know we've served we have you know four million really happy people um who love our product and it's because it serves them it it makes you feel cleaner but it also serves the planet so there's this like purpose this self-purpose but then there's this external purpose and i think hero we've created the world's first myco-digestible diaper which is um that can be digested by fungi so mycodigestible means digested by fungi so actually harnessing plastic-eating fungi to help solve the global plastic crisis.

Speaker 3 Brilliant.

Speaker 2 Really exciting.

Speaker 1 Insane. It's going to change the world.

Speaker 2 The whole concept is when the baby poops into the diaper, the baby poop fertilizes the dormant fungi to grow, eat the diaper, and then when you throw it in a landfill, the goal is for it to eat plastics and landfills too.

Speaker 2 So, as this like double solution is like the mission behind what we're creating. But when I think about just the

Speaker 2 vein that sort of ties all of it through is this lens of elevating people in the planet. I think with Hero, it's really about

Speaker 2 the agency that parents can feel for their babies and say, like, we can, my baby's poop can literally help, you know, solve this plastic problem. Like, it's now beyond me.

Speaker 2 I have to take care of my next generation and the planet. It's no longer just me creating a bunch of waste and just not, you know, like worrying about it because I'm going to be dead.

Speaker 2 But now you have a kid and now you're leaving. What are you leaving behind? What legacy are you leaving behind?

Speaker 2 So I think the reason, one of the reasons why we're, you know, approaching the diaper category first, beyond it being the number one household plastic waste item in the household, and number three waste item in a landfill, diapers are they take 400 years to decompose.

Speaker 2 A single baby goes through 6,000 diapers in their lifetime. And the very first disposable diaper is still somewhere in a landfill today.

Speaker 2 And so it's a there's crazy stats. And so

Speaker 2 to be able to wake up people and say, hey, like, we have been in collaboration with nature for billions of years and we've just lost touch. When we've built cities, we've made everything concrete.

Speaker 2 And like, that's why I'm so excited about the Blanc Center and turning everything back to this harmony between people, you know, each other and the plant self, each other and the planet.

Speaker 2 I really believe in that too, because, you know, we've lost touch with nature. And because of that lost touch, we just think we can just trash it and then just and then just say whatever.

Speaker 2 But because we now have our lineage forward-looking service, like really thinking about what's coming next, especially as a new parent, I think that's the right people to go after first because, you know, they're just going to care more.

Speaker 1 P.S. Mickey just won, her team just won yesterday first place at a competition.

Speaker 2 Yeah, most innovative companies of the year at the hygienics conference, which is like 150 companies went up for it and they came first place.

Speaker 1 Wow. It's epic.

Speaker 3 It is so innovative and brilliant. And I mean, there's just a win-win-win.
You know, the parents want to make a difference.

Speaker 3 It's for the earth, like with the poop and the mushrooms being the fertilizer. Like, it just,

Speaker 3 it's brilliant.

Speaker 1 It's genius.

Speaker 2 And what's really, really exciting and promising is that the industry that's been like the non-woven space that makes the diapers, the pads, the adult diapers, dock, all the products that are plastic and ending up in landfills, these materials companies, these fabrics companies, these fiber technology, the fibers companies who make the fibers to make this non-woven products are very interested in working with us.

Speaker 2 So they're not seeing us as a threat. They're seeing us as a collaborator, as an ally, because they understand their end-of-life.

Speaker 2 challenges that they're creating that that that you know that the world is noticing too and it's making them feel like bad guys and they feel that they feel it too and so for them to say wow like we can still continue to make the products that we're making and also have an end-of-life life solution for it, which is plastic eating fungi.

Speaker 2 Like we, we mean, we had the most number of people at our booth. Like it was like, it was like a science fair project.
I felt so like we won the science fair.

Speaker 1 It was like so cute.

Speaker 2 But it was just also to be received by these like multi-generational, like incumbent, textile, textile people in the world of non-wovens. It was like a huge nod of like validity.

Speaker 1 Damn, Kimberly Clark, they were all at their booth. just like learning learning and trying to understand like, oh, you know, how can we collaborate? How can we, it's cool.

Speaker 3 And I think it's smart that you focused on diapers first, not only because it's the biggest issue, but also just to have focus and traction, and then you can open it up. Exactly.

Speaker 1 100%. But also, like, poop is the best fertilizer.
It's mother's milk. It's like pure.
Yeah. You know?

Speaker 2 Versus, like, right now we're using cow poop. pig poop.

Speaker 2 We're using all the poop of like all the other animals and yet baby poop, we're just throwing it, wrapping in plastic and throwing the trash and harnessing this potent, pure mother's breast milk-led like fertilizer.

Speaker 2 So now we can harness billions of pounds of these to help solve the global plastic crisis. Why not?

Speaker 3 You just elevated because nobody wanted to use the cloth, right? Right.

Speaker 1 So you just elevated what was, you disrupted another industry, as you guys do.

Speaker 1 I mean, to me, what's really cool, it's like a, it's a sanitation company disguised as a consumer product.

Speaker 2 It's a biotech company disguised, yes.

Speaker 3 And environmentally. completely so helpful for the long term of our health of our environment.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah.
It's cool.

Speaker 3 So building businesses, I know,

Speaker 3 like, just like having a baby, it transforms you. Building companies transforms you.
How has growing all these incredible communities and projects and companies transformed you as a human?

Speaker 3 Because every time I'm hearing the iteration of some of the learnings on the outside, but internally, what are some of the things that you're like just changed by, different now?

Speaker 2 I mean, I think becoming moms.

Speaker 2 was like the biggest change ever for us to like slow down, remember what matters, think about like what we really care about, like actually like doubling down on on community, doubling down on the planet, doubling down on what matters for ourselves, family time.

Speaker 2 You know, I think that's been such a huge gifer for us as well.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and I think, I mean, to further kind of go into what's changed inside of me, you know, I actually feel like...

Speaker 1 you know when you build a business as a ceo your job is to criticize is to be critical is to like look at what's wrong and not what's right Right.

Speaker 1 Your job is to point and look at all the little mistakes and not celebrate as much the magic and the juice. Right.

Speaker 1 So I think that for me, the biggest learning that I've had is to really let that critical side of, or my CEO kind of like looking for what's wrong to make small improvements, let that stay at the office.

Speaker 1 So that.

Speaker 1 So when I come home, I can really be in just pure celebration, you know, of my family, of my children, of my friends without that sort of, you know, trained critical eye that can often be judgmental or can often be self-critical in so many ways.

Speaker 1 And so to me, that's been a big work in progress. That's a great awareness.
You know, of just like, you know, yeah, that we've been trained to be killer.

Speaker 1 You know, we're trained to, we're trained to look at what's wrong and we bring that to our relationship, to our love interests.

Speaker 1 Like we look at everything that's wrong with our partners rather than all the magic that that's going well with them because that's how we've been, you know, obviously that's how we've gotten to where we are.

Speaker 1 And so I think it's really about

Speaker 1 training ourselves to let that go at home so that we can just be in pure support, love, and joy for

Speaker 1 our families and our relationships at home. I love that.

Speaker 2 My word for 2024 is soft power.

Speaker 2 And, you know, I think for me, the most, I think we're both of us,

Speaker 2 that is the greatest challenge is that like when we're in our soft, dewy, feminine selves, like it's, oh, it's so, it feels so good and things flow, creativity flows.

Speaker 2 And it's not discounting the strong, powerful, structured masculine side of ourselves too. We have feminine masculine in all of us.
But I'm really challenging myself to find a way to find my breath

Speaker 2 to be able to

Speaker 2 stay in my soft power, even at work, because I feel like there's this like, kind of like when it comes to like money or or like business or having people rely on me, count on me, need me,

Speaker 2 there is a bit of a contract, like a tightening that happens to like want to perform and want to get it right and not mess up.

Speaker 2 But when I'm in my soft power and when I'm breathing and I'm gentle, I'm actually performing better. I'm actually a better leader.
I'm actually more creative.

Speaker 2 I actually get shit done even more smoother. It's more lyrical versus like structured and tight.

Speaker 2 And so for me, it's like the retuning myself to relax when when it comes to like financial conversations, when it comes to the harder conversations that historically have made me tighten up and to just remember to like, okay, I can feel my, you know, myself getting activated, just breathe slower and take a second.

Speaker 2 And,

Speaker 2 you know, there's even...

Speaker 2 My new friend is like, you know, shared with me, it's like, I can sense that,

Speaker 2 you know, it's, it's, your breath changes, your Your breathing pattern changes when you're in different versions of you.

Speaker 2 And I wonder like what you can do to like keep your breath slow. You know, obviously when you're excited, it's great.
But like when you're, you know, it's like, how do you maintain a slow breath?

Speaker 2 Because then when you're, that's when your soft power can be consistent, is when you're just tuning in without losing the energy, the jet, the jet, the, the, but that, but that's great.

Speaker 2 Like, you know, my coach Lauren, she's just like, keep all that.

Speaker 2 It's just when you're in the triggered state, all the negative is when you have to look at your, look at that, look at all the parts of yourselves, which is really.

Speaker 3 I mean, I think that's the inner work that then shows a different, more feminine way of leading so that it feels more imbalanced instead of just looking at the patriarchy of what we've been had as models so that we really do.

Speaker 3 tune into our intuition, have the downloads, know that the efficient conversations aren't really that efficient because of the repair and all of that.

Speaker 2 Right. The efficient by speeding is not efficient.
No, yeah.

Speaker 1 Actually, the slower, slow is fast.

Speaker 3 If you want to go faster, slow down.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and I mean, your battles. I mean, like, we just got off a 40-city tour, you know, to get out the vote.

Speaker 1 And it was just like every day we were in a new city, producing events for a thousand people in different cities, new markets we've never been to.

Speaker 1 And it was the most grueling three months of my career, I would really just say. And this just, we just ended it, obviously, on the election day.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 when you're going so fast and you're also sleepless, and you're also just like,

Speaker 1 you know,

Speaker 1 we talked about this yesterday, actually, just this idea of like, you just have to be okay with 80% being correct.

Speaker 1 And I think like the best kind of leadership is just for you to really let go of the reins and to really regain your own sort of autonomy in your own life is to not expect 100% of exactly your vision.

Speaker 1 That if you get to 80% of your vision, that's great. We're happy.
We're stoked because that gives us freedom.

Speaker 1 That gives us time to breathe ourselves we don't have to overextend when we know when we do we're stressed and more contracted like so 80 is better than 100

Speaker 2 and they say take it like like treat your business like your second child it's like your first child you're like is it breathing

Speaker 2 every five's like okay sleep time it's you know second child you're like just you fall down just rip yeah

Speaker 1 a little bit more mature yeah yeah you're just like you're just like just

Speaker 2 you're fine you're fine you know like yeah and so it's like this this level of like relax you're just you you know a little bit more.

Speaker 2 Obviously, experience helps, but like you're just, you're just, you're not tight. You're just relaxed.

Speaker 3 And I also love that you're both introspective. You're doing the work.

Speaker 3 You're working with coaches or therapists and really shifting on the inside so that it can externally pave a new way of leadership.

Speaker 1 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's a book, Becoming Nobody by Ram Das that I really love because I think, again, in a high-octane, like, look at me, society.
I need to be somebody.

Speaker 1 I need to, I need to leave a mark. I need to, you know, I want to be the cover of this mag.
I want to be, you know, it's like

Speaker 1 everybody is like in this, like, wanting to become somebody and the somebody-ness makes your ego show up in different ways.

Speaker 1 And just remembering that we're all going to die, that we, you know, that we all came from the same place, the planet and a mother's womb. I don't know.

Speaker 1 It's like that particular book has been just so impactful for me in this moment

Speaker 1 from that place of just

Speaker 1 the exhale, the soft power that comes from like not needing to be somebody, but to be, to be nobody, to be, to just be in service of.

Speaker 3 And I think that's the key is that being in service. When we're less focused on ourselves, we're more focused on how we can give, not what we can get.
That's right.

Speaker 3 And then there's a softening and actually feels way more abundant to come from that place anyway. It's like, oh, I didn't actually need all of that.
I just wanted to give.

Speaker 3 And in that giving, that service, it feels rewarding and purposeful.

Speaker 1 That's right. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Okay. I know there's so much more I could dive into, but just in closing, I would love to hear, Radha,

Speaker 1 what is one thing that you admire most about Mickey and how has she embodied that in her entrepreneurial journey I mean oh she's the most creative person I know and I know it's gonna just cry I was this morning she showed me a video of a campaign that she's working on for Hero just launching the company and just like it's a Kickstarter campaign that she's sharing with the world and I just

Speaker 1 it's just like it's epic it's magic it's creative it's it's exciting and it's like everything that this woman touches is is filled with excitement and service and just one of oneness and

Speaker 1 Yeah, and I'm just I I don't know there's nobody I admire more in the world than this

Speaker 1 Yeah,

Speaker 1 yeah

Speaker 2 I was gonna say the same thing, but like my biggest inspiration and that's it like watching the Daybreaker 10-year video was like like the pride and like the joy and like the wow and the creativity and like the inspiration that I feel every time.

Speaker 2 Like watching everything she did for this 40 city tour was like the coolest, like important,

Speaker 2 beautiful servant leader work that was so fun and full of joy. And like.

Speaker 2 The amount of joy you've brought into the world is just next level.

Speaker 2 And it's like, yeah, like, thank God that we get to take baths together all the time and like be twins and like be besties and like really be real, real with each other.

Speaker 2 And, you know, always rupture, repair, and come back to be.

Speaker 1 Yeah, from the womb to the tomb is our, is our motto as twins. And yeah, it just, it's really cool to be around someone that inspires me so much.

Speaker 1 And whenever I get off a call with her after she's like sharing about a new idea, I have 10 more ideas for Daybreaker and I have 10 more ideas for Belong Center. I have 10 more ideas for my projects.

Speaker 1 So whenever we talk, I'm so generative. Yeah, it's so exciting.

Speaker 2 And I think that's honestly like one of the biggest

Speaker 2 secrets of how we've been able to achieve, I think, is because of the like the level of enthusiasm I receive from my sister.

Speaker 2 Like, or, you know, it's like every time I create something, I'm like, I send it to her, like, do you think? And she gives me critical feedback, or vice versa.

Speaker 2 I'm like, well, what do you, you know, and it's like, it's so, it's just generative. And I think that's like

Speaker 2 generative keeps you young, it keeps you vibrant, keeps you excited. It's like, it feels honest.
It feels authentic. It feels real.

Speaker 2 And so I think because we keep each other honest, that authenticity just spreads out into what we're building, what we're creating.

Speaker 2 And it only creates more like, like, oh, like, thank you for the authenticity. Then we can be more authentic.
And then we, and then it just creates this beautiful.

Speaker 2 ripple effect as well because you know because if she's acting like too cool for school i'm like you're being too cool for school and call herself

Speaker 2 each other out and just keep each other honest And that's like also the authenticity. It's like that's the juice.
And I feel like she holds that. You know, we hold that for each other.

Speaker 1 Beautiful.

Speaker 3 And like a ground of respect, no matter what. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 3 And, and I just love your love. And just by being around you, I get lit up and just fall more in love with you guys.
And you do that in the community. You do that in our community.

Speaker 3 Your love just expands and includes everybody else in it. And I'm listening to you guys and thinking of like, how can I create that with my team? I want more of that with my team.

Speaker 3 And so thank you for being an example thank you for being a model thank you for being my friends i love that deeply you inspire me and thank you for being women paving the way making it easier for other female founders and i know people are going to want to stay connected where do they stay connected with what you guys are up to

Speaker 1 They can find me at love.rod on Instagram or at Daybreaker, a D-Y-B-R-K-R, and at Belong Center. So these are three Instagram channels.
And then Daybreaker.com to find us on the dance floor somewhere.

Speaker 3 Yes, go to Daybreaker.

Speaker 2 It's the greatest website of all time. My kidding.

Speaker 1 It is.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and RodAgarwal.com, which is all of my projects that I'm working on. Beautiful.

Speaker 2 And then for me, I would go to hellotoshi.com for being as washer butt.

Speaker 1 You're welcome.

Speaker 2 God's work.

Speaker 1 I can't poop anywhere else now. Don't go to toshi.com.

Speaker 2 It's a very graphic anal porn site. Go to hellotoshi.com.
And then it's at Mickey Agrawal on Instagram and

Speaker 2 at Hero Technologies,

Speaker 2 which is the newest, newest project, H-I-R-O Technologies, and MickeyAgrol.com for all my projects as well. Yeah.

Speaker 3 And we'll put it all in the show notes below. I love you guys.

Speaker 1 Let's see.

Speaker 1 Thank you.

Speaker 3 Thank you so much for doing this work that changes the world, starting with yourself. It truly does make a difference.

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Speaker 3 Just head over to Apple Podcast or Spotify and leave a review now. You can take a screenshot before hitting submit and then go to alissinobriga.com forward slash podcast to upload it.

Speaker 3 And make sure to have your automatic downloads turned on wherever you listen so you don't miss any of the upcoming episodes. I have so much magic.
I can't wait to share with you.

Speaker 3 And you can find all this information in the show notes below. But lastly, if you're on Instagram, I love connecting and hearing from you.
So come on over and say hello. I'm at Alyssa Nobriga.

Speaker 3 Thank you again for being here. I cannot wait to share more with you.