Multi-Hyphenate Mindset: Hitha Palepu- CEO, Author & Speaker

I’m sitting down with Hitha Palepu—CEO, author, speaker, and dynamic mom of 2 boys—who embodies the multi-hyphenate lifestyle. Whether you're juggling a career, personal goals, or family life, Hitha’s journey offers insights on how to thrive in multiple roles without burning out.

As the CEO of Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals and thought leader across multiple platforms, Hitha’s ability to lead, inspire, and stay true to herself makes her relatable and motivating. Join us for practical strategies to successfully find personal fulfillment in everyday life.

🔑 The Multi-Hyphenate Mindset

Hitha shares practical advice on balancing different passions and responsibilities without losing sight of personal goals.

“I had to set the stage on how to manage my time extremely efficiently and learn what was actually important versus what might be someone else's importance, not necessarily my own.”

⌛ Time Management Tips

Listen in as Hitha shares strategies to structure your day for maximum productivity and balance between work, family, and self-care.

“I have to use the forest timer to really block out and be the boundary for any deep work sessions. I also use the full focus planner because trying to write out even an ideal schedule stresses me out if it doesn't go according to plan and it forces you to pick three major tasks to work on. I think strategically about my time. It's boundaries with deleting social media off my phone, using an app like forest to lock me out of my phone. And it's also knowing I can't do everything in a single day and deep long to do list will stress me out. So focus on those big three and make sure those are accomplished by the end of the day.”

🚫 Setting Boundaries & Saying No

Learn how to set boundaries and confidently say no to protect your time and energy, while staying focused on what matters.

“You can't do it all and own all your hyphens all at the same time. I've learned over the past year, I got to flip the script and put myself first, then my family, then my job. Because when it's in that order, I have a greater sense of protecting my time, protecting my energy and being focused where I need to be focused versus choosing chaos, context, switching, jumping back and forth from task to task and maybe doing a lot, but not doing it as well as I want to or need to.”

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Sharing Responsibilities at Home

Tips for effective ways to communicate and split household duties, and maintain weekly check-ins to keep life running smoothly.

“We do a ‘how can I be a better partner to you’ kind of check in once a week. And that's really because I think in a marriage with young kids and managing a household, you can tend to take each other for granted and assume everything is okay until it's not. And there is a big sort of emotional moment that forces you to take a step back and really recalibrate and make it be proactive. Brewing issues or concerns or big feelings can be addressed head on before it balloons out and managed in a calm, caring, but also more effective manner.“

🧳 Packing Like a Pro

Hitha explains how to streamline your travel packing process with expert tips for the busy, on-the-go lifestyle.

“Write a list. It's the one thing most people forget. And now I just have a notebook in my notes app of saved packing lists. So I'm not reinventing the wheel every time. Writing lists helps me forget fewer things and it helps me stay organized when it's time to repack to come home.”

💬 Authenticity as a Thought Leader

 Hitha explains how to embrace vulnerability and authenticity to build deeper connections and establish a relatable, impactful presence as a thought leader.

“I can't talk openly about what I do because it has significant risk. So I didn't really have a choice at the beginning and I just decided to lean into culture and news and those topics because I could talk about it and because they genuinely interested in me. I really resent being shoved into a box that is built for someone else's comfort. If Elon Musk can run a number of companies and run his mouth on the internet, why can't I do it in a way that feels authentic and real to me?”

🚀 Pursuing Your Passions Relentlessly

The secrets to staying motivated and driven, by continually pursuing what fuels your personal and professional growth.

“Start really small. Let yourself have fun with being a beginner. Before I really do anything of consequence, and that includes both on the creative side and in the professional side, I do a magic 20 list. These are 20 tasks I can do to make a little bit of progress. And it gives me a nice checkpoint of, is this still what I want to do, or is it time to cut my losses and try something else?“

This episode is packed with inspiration, actionable tips, and thoughtful reflection. A perfect listen to motivate you to make room for that passion project in your busy life.

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Rather read the full interview than listen?

[00:00:00] You know, the dream of having it all a thriving career, an active social life, present time with your kids in adventures and travel, but how the F can we actually do it all? Welcome to the new modern mom podcast. I'm your host, Barbara Migdal, a former tech exec turned entrepreneur and mother of two. My superpower is creating order out of chaos, and I want to help ambitious moms feel enabled to do the same.

[00:00:27] In each episode, I'm interviewing VPs, C level executives, and founders to learn the real proven strategies they use to find work life fulfillment. Together, we're building the playbook for the new modern mom.

[00:00:41] Hi there. I'm thrilled to introduce today's guest, Hitha Palapew. Hitha is a true multi hyphenate. She's the CEO of Roshan Pharmaceuticals, a celebrated author, a speaker, and a mom to two boys.

[00:00:54] From balancing her executive responsibilities to writing books and managing a growing online [00:01:00] presence, Hitha truly embodies what it means to have a fulfilling life that's rich in more than just work or motherhood.

[00:01:07] I know you're going to walk away inspired by her approach to life and with practical tips to bring into your own. Let's jump in.

[00:01:16] Welcome HIPAA. I'm incredibly excited to have you here today. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. So Hitha, today we're going to be talking about what we have to do in order to cut through the chaos of balancing motherhood and career. It is clear from how you navigate work and life that you are a total powerhouse, and I want to know how you've channeled your professional superpowers into your personal life.

[00:01:41] We've got so much to talk about today, so let's jump into it. Can you please share your elevator pitch, both personal and professional? Yeah, happy to. I'm Hitha Palapu. I am a self proclaimed multi hyphenate. My careers include running Roshan Pharmaceuticals, an [00:02:00] early stage pharma company, developing injectable aspirin for hospital use.

[00:02:04] I'm also the author of two books. We're speaking, The Life Lessons of Kamala Harris, which is now available in paperback, and How to Pack, Travel Smart for Any Trip, and I'm a public speaker. I'm the mom of two. The very rambunctious boys, a wife to a very supportive man, and romance novel enthusiast, rabid Philadelphia sports fan, and someone who consumes way too much coffee.

[00:02:29] You hold a lot of self proclaimed and professional titles, a lot. Can you set the stage for what life looks like at the present moment? Give us the good, the bad, the ugly. Life is utter chaos right now. We're in the last weeks of summer in Bucks County in our new home here for summer's weekends with my parents.

[00:02:51] And I thought they would really enjoy and savor sort of an old school. Latchkey kind of kids summer and [00:03:00] no, that has not been what I envisioned. So it's a lot of screaming. It's a lot of screaming from everybody and chaos and just trying to stay on top of work in the margins of time. I have, it is involved a lot of early mornings to get work done and late nights once the kids are settled and.

[00:03:21] It kind of reminds me of the early days of COVID a bit where I just am like doing my best but not feeling like I'm particularly successful at any one thing and I am counting down the days till the boys are back in school and we can resume some semblance of a routine. That's honestly what life is like right now.

[00:03:41] I mean, At what stage in parenthood is there not a lot of screaming, to be fair? I've been told that as a boy mom, like, once they're teenagers, they barely speak. And at first I was like, oh, that would make me so sad. And now I'm like, that doesn't sound so bad. I know, I walk out of [00:04:00] my room in the morning and I'm like, putting my hands over my ears from the screaming.

[00:04:03] Not angry screaming, just screaming from excitement. Yeah. I would love to start by talking about your household structure, and I know things are a little bit different for you right now, so if you want to kind of refer to what I would consider your normal life. In terms of living in New York City, what does a typical morning routine look like when the kids are in school?

[00:04:25] Yes, I am fantasizing about this right now. I wake up usually around five 30 first so I could take my thyroid meds and then I snooze till about six at which point my husband brings me a latte in bed, which he's the best. And I love that. And the kids are pretty settled in their rooms till about seven. So from six to seven, I am meditating.

[00:04:47] If I'm up for it, I do a quick yoga flow. I will write. Morning pages has been a practice. I've recently started back up again, and I find it just is so powerful in helping clear my mind. [00:05:00] And it's like an additional meditation first thing in the morning. I make my bed, do my skincare, brush my teeth, all that stuff.

[00:05:07] And I like to have breakfast kind of going or ready. By the time the kids come to the kitchen, they're getting themselves dressed and brushing their teeth though. I probably need to check and give them a final brush before they head off to school and then school is about a five minute walk from us, which was.

[00:05:25] Wonderful. So getting them out the door and having one of those fun, random conversations on the way to school, something I want to get back in the habit of is taking a walk. As soon as I drop them off, we're about a block away from central park. And I really miss central park right now. So I'm hoping I can kind of resume a half hour walking, listening to an audio book or a podcast before coming home, um, doing either a strength workout or.

[00:05:54] Some mobility work, get ready, and then really be at my desk and ready to go by 9 30. That [00:06:00] is a very structured morning, but I feel like you're packing in all the things. You mentioned your husband bringing you a latte. Love that. How do you think about Splitting household responsibilities with your husband, whether that's in the morning routine or evenings or weekends.

[00:06:18] Absolutely. We really have embodied fair play in very many ways, but then I've also adapted it because right now both of us work from home. We have a lot of flexibility in our days. So some of the cards I was holding because he used to be in an office from like 8am to Eight to 9 PM. We've been able to reshuffle that deck a bit, and I'm very grateful for it.

[00:06:44] A lot of our tasks sometimes intermingle, especially if I'm traveling for work or he's traveling for work and we have to kind of take it all on, but I handle making breakfast and getting that on the table. He handles snacks, water bottles, backpack prep in the morning. [00:07:00] He needs that workout time from six to seven.

[00:07:02] That is his sacred time. So if the kids are up and a little bit restless. I'm the one cutting short my morning time to focus on them. So he has that uninterrupted workout time and because he's caffeinated me, I'm like, I can handle it. Thank you so much. Walks to school. We split pretty evenly though. He is takes a lead a little bit more because I like the unloading of the dishwasher while I'm listening to a podcast and then either doing a workout right away or going for a walk.

[00:07:31] If I'm not the one taking the kids to school evenings. I really prefer cooking dinner. I enjoy cooking. There's something very relaxing about pouring a seltzer or spritz and putting on some music and just chopping and doing all of that. He will take the lead on dishes on the nights I do cook as a result.

[00:07:50] And dinner time. We try to sit down as a family, but the kids sometimes if they eat earlier, I'll just be like munching on something or in the kitchen with them as [00:08:00] they're eating dinner. We split bedtime pretty evenly. I mean, Ro can take a shower himself now. And if our nanny isn't there, one of us is helping give Rocky a shower.

[00:08:10] We usually, uh, Do each split bedtime. So one will be with one kid, another with another kid. He makes sure that the house is always working and I make sure the house looks good. I have a similar relationship with my husband as well. I feel like that's probably a pretty popular setup and I can tell you guys did the fair play because I feel like the way that you were like outlining your responsibilities were so clear and crisp.

[00:08:32] Thanks for sharing. A couple of things to dig into there. You had previously mentioned, I think, on your Instagram that you do weekly meetings with him on the weekends. And I would love to know how you started these and how do you structure these? What do you discuss? Yeah, so we have, and there's an Instagram feed post pinned on my account, so anyone can go check that out.

[00:08:55] It is a pretty, uh, Detailed and in some ways [00:09:00] half very tactical like a business meeting and half like a therapy session. And that's intentional because I think we used to not have either and it was chaos and what are these expenses or what do you mean you didn't tell me about these plans etc. So even though we do have a joint family calendar that we're constantly putting when one of us is traveling blocking that One of us has an evening event blocking that out, having that weekly check in to review the calendar, to review expenses and make sure the budget we're staying within budget, talk about upcoming travel plans or tactical things, a new activity, school forms, et cetera.

[00:09:41] Just a quick check in about that always helps. So it's business like, it's like a weekly standup if you're at a startup. And then we have this sort of emotional check in, which we learned from our friends, Kat and Daly. And it's a practice they started very early in their relationship. They really put in a great emotional check in [00:10:00] practice that we adopted for ourselves.

[00:10:02] They do it, I think once a month or once a quarter, we have a lighter version that we do every single week. And that's really because. I think in a marriage with young kids and managing a household, you can tend to take each other for granted and assume everything is okay until it's not. And there is a big sort of emotional moment that forces you to take a step back and really recalibrate and making it be proactive.

[00:10:30] Any. Brewing issues or concerns or big feelings can be addressed sort of head on before it balloons out and managed in a calm, caring, but also more effective manner. So having that, how can I be a better partner to you kind of check in once a week. Can also be uncomfortable when you first start, but it offers a safe space that if something is lingering or on your mind, there isn't a few days you're going to [00:11:00] discuss it versus waiting for a specific moment where you can discuss it.

[00:11:04] And I think that also helps us enjoy our date nights a lot more because it's more fun, easygoing conversations versus trying to work out a thorny emotional issue. Definitely. You mentioned cleaning and nanny. What other household types of outsourcing do you do that kind of help you throughout the week?

[00:11:25] Yeah, we don't do laundry. And that makes life a lot easier. We have a standard grocery order on FreshDirect. It's routine now, and he'll ping me to say, I'm about to place the order, go check if there's anything else you need. I'll do the meal planning and take care of it from Whole Foods. But there are also weeks when we know we're both crazy busy.

[00:11:47] I'll just order a methodology for both of us and have that kind of, don't need to worry, don't need to think, but we have healthy meals just Ready to be heated and eaten on hand at any given time. [00:12:00] I think there's more we don't do than we actually do. And I'm very grateful for the financial privilege that allows us to afford that level of help, but it helps us stay focused on our family, on each other and on our careers.

[00:12:14] So. I wish more people would be honest about the things that they don't do because it really does dispel the false narrative that women are supposed to do it all and moms are supposed to do it all. And no, that would break us. Exactly. I mean, that's the entire premise for this podcast. So I agree 100%.

[00:12:35] With so many roles that you have, I want to talk a little bit about how between calls, emails, deep work, taking care of the kids, what strategies do you have for time management that allow you to work smarter, not harder? I think ruthless prioritization is something every mom kind of swears by. It looks different for each of us.

[00:12:58] So something I [00:13:00] do is I have to use the forest timer to really block out and be the boundary for any deep work sessions. I'm the kind of person who will scroll for hours. And half a day will go by and I'll be like, I didn't get anything done. So in terms of organizing my day, I use the full focus planner, the pocket edition, because trying to write out even an ideal schedule It stresses me out if it doesn't go according to plan.

[00:13:30] It forces you to pick three major tasks to work on. So the format of the planner focuses me to think really strategically about my time. Know I only have a limited amount of it. What really needs to get done? My Roshan Pharma work always takes priority. So I'm looking at our critical path every morning.

[00:13:47] I am checking what that ongoing and immediate, uh, Outstanding issues are, and I will block off time to either have the necessary check ins with my team to dive in and work on a more [00:14:00] detailed document that's under my responsibility and follow up on all my emails to make sure I didn't let anything slip.

[00:14:08] So my first task is always my key Roshan Pharma task for the day. And that usually flows into another hour or two of checking in emails. Admin or ancillary work. The second is. My content and it really is pivoting more into writing on my sub stack versus Instagram content. After taking a pretty long pause on both Instagram and in writing, it feels very good to write again.

[00:14:38] So I might work on the weekly newsletter. I might work on an essay for paid subscribers. I let myself have a little bit of fun with it, but if it's days with a lot of meetings, then it's really my key Roshan Pharma task, email management. and meetings and follow up from meetings. That is the priority for those stays.

[00:14:56] The last is something personal for myself. I have [00:15:00] to, for my own sanity, exercise most days, read most days, and make it a point to get good sleep. So if I've kind of fallen off the taking care of myself wagon, I focus on that. One sort of habit to rebuild, and I put it as a top three task to hold myself accountable on that habit and make sure I'm making it a priority.

[00:15:21] And then the lingering tasks of, Oh, I need to buy this kid a birthday present for this weekend's party, or I need to run to Whole Foods and grab something on my way to pick up so I can make dinner tonight. Little things like that go into the sort of ongoing tasks or notes section. And that helps too.

[00:15:40] It's boundaries with deleting social media off my phone, using an app like forest to lock me out of my phone. And it's also knowing I can't do everything in a single day and deep long to do list will stress me out. So focus on those big three and make sure those are accomplished by the end of the day.

[00:15:59] And on [00:16:00] the topic of making sure you're taking care of yourself, you have this concept of gentle Wednesdays. And I'd love to know more about this concept and how you structure these days. So it actually started when I was pregnant with Rocky and it was Thursdays, but I would have this sort of block in my, especially in my last trimester where I would go to therapy.

[00:16:22] Then I would go to this Thai restaurant pretty close to my therapist's office that was absolutely delicious and get some very spicy pad Thai and a crisp Coke. And then I would go to acupuncture and kind of get very Zen. And I found that blocking off either a chunk of time or deciding to really downshift midweek, help me keep going for the rest of the week.

[00:16:45] And back then I was doing a lot more writing on a Saturday and having a significant work block over the weekend. So Thursday was a logical day to do it. Now it's Wednesday because now my therapy sessions are on Wednesday and I try [00:17:00] to Put my meetings on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays as a result to keep Friday and Wednesday fairly open.

[00:17:08] I'm pretty intentional about putting in a two hour block on a Wednesday afternoon to just do me. So sometimes it means I'm actually going out and checking out an exhibit at a nearby museum in the city. It might mean I treat myself to a matinee, which I love to do. And I really want to do more of come this school year.

[00:17:29] And then sometimes it's just sitting on my couch, having glam squad come over to give me a pedicure and watching Bravo and eating Pad Thai, which is very much my comfort food. And what it does is it helps me recharge for the week. So when I'm jumping in to a technical team call on a Thursday morning, or I'm trying to write and finish a newsletter for a few hours on a Friday, that midweek reset helps me perform on a Thursday and Friday the way I [00:18:00] show up on a Monday and a Tuesday.

[00:18:02] Which is a little bit more refreshed, a little bit more recharged and ready to focus versus if I didn't prioritize gentle Wednesday, I would really lose my momentum and my ability to perform at work and perform as a parent and a wife in a way that I would feel like everyone was getting the scraps of me versus the way I want to show up in each of those roles.

[00:18:24] It's such a great idea to time block that into your calendar. I'm a huge fan of time blocking, but I always reserve it for work responsibilities. And my kind of weekly planning always includes like what's one personal investment in me. And I often find that just ends up not happening because I run out of time in my days.

[00:18:42] So that's a great lesson to take back and start using in my own calendar. So thank you for sharing. Um, I want to take a step back a little bit to a time when you were a fresh new mom. I think your son was around one or two and you decided to write your first book, how [00:19:00] to pack. I'd love to break this down for a million reasons.

[00:19:04] First, I know you've traveled the majority of your life. I think I read that you got your first passport stamp at six months old and after flying 500, 000 miles, you decided to write this book. What prompted you? Initially to get the drive to even want to write a book in the first place with a toddler at home While being a co founder of a tech platform and an active investor in a fund delusion I was very delulu, but actually to take a step back I got approached to write how to pack by my publisher clarkson potter the day I came home from the hospital with rough And I actually was like, is this a joke?

[00:19:43] Is that, are the drugs still circulating through my system? And my husband looked at the email and he's, look, like you have a bunch of Potter books, like on our shelves. They're Ina Garten's publisher. And I was like, say what now? So I remember having a week old Roe in his car [00:20:00] seat, sitting in the Le Pen Cotidien, just off Central Park South.

[00:20:04] Meeting the editor who had emailed me and her telling me, yeah, you're going to have an offer coming through soon. And I was like, huh? I thought this was just a cool get to know you. Am I even the right fit for this? And it was my blog at the time, hit the on the go that put me on the radar of Potter to write this very specific book that they wanted to publish that could kind of replace a packing book that they had published.

[00:20:28] Over a decade before, make it a little bit more pretty and gifty and kind of give it an update. And I immediately reached out to my network and being like, I think I'm getting an offer letter from a publisher. I know nothing about publishing deals. I think I need an agent and a friend of mine putting me in touch with her agent who has become a very close friend and is absolutely brilliant.

[00:20:52] So when we got the offer letter, she negotiated a much better deal for me and I started writing. My first [00:21:00] draft was terrible. I scrapped the entire thing because it was just bleeding. With comments and edits and Kim, my agent actually stepped in and really helped me flush out that outline and get in a rhythm of writing a book versus writing a blog post and reminding myself, I don't need to.

[00:21:21] Write it as if I'm somebody else to write it as myself and to kind of provide a structure on how to write a book with me. So we submitted that manuscript and at the end of 2015, the book was published in 2017 and it is very different writing a book than it is marketing a book. Writing is very solitary.

[00:21:40] It is very heads down, focused, not a whole lot of social engagement. Promoting a book is a polar opposite. You're out. Everywhere you possibly can be, you're answering basically the 10 same questions at every single event. For me, with How to Pack, it was a lot of packing demonstrations and video [00:22:00] interviews and pieces like that, that I was out there a lot talking about the book, demonstrating the principles of the book, and it was draining in a completely different way.

[00:22:11] I mean, I obviously did it again with worse. Speaking and I think writing a book and promoting a book is a lot like childbirth you forget how painful it is When you decide to do it again, and then when you're in the midst of it, you're like god damn it I forgot this but it's worth it always so It was a really Interesting experience.

[00:22:35] I'm hooked. I think I will absolutely write more books in my future, but it really is also a full team sport. So when I wrote how to pack, my parents had decided to move to New York temporarily and rented an apartment across the street so they could help out with row. My husband had just started a job at a new consulting firm and he was in the office like all the time.

[00:22:59] Like [00:23:00] That 7, 8 a. m. schedule to 9 p. m. was when we kind of got settled into that, and I couldn't have done it without my parents, I couldn't have done it without my nanny, and I really couldn't have done it without my husband, who, on the weekends, would completely handle Rose, so I could focus on writing, or I could focus on doing event prep when the book was already out.

[00:23:21] As much as a book, it's really one name on the cover. It was a full team sport and I couldn't have done it without the team at my publisher and my agent and my illustrator, but also my team at home to kind of hold down the fort and take care of me and take care of things so I could do this. So I can't move on without talking specifically about the topic of the book, which is a subject near and dear to my heart as someone who has packed, I think, for over 75 trips with my family.

[00:23:54] We know that packing is a huge mental load, which typically falls. on the mother in a [00:24:00] family, definitely does in my house. It involves packing for ourselves, our kids, sometimes even our partners. What is your number one packing rule when it comes to preparing for a trip? Write a list. It's the one thing most people forget.

[00:24:14] And now I just have a notebook in my notes app of saved packing lists. So I'm not reinventing the wheel every time. There are the basics, of course, your toiletries, certain number of underwear, clothes, whatnot, but You know, we're leaving for London, for instance, on Friday, and I actually asked my husband, what do you have here that I might need to go to New York and because I'm going today to pick up some things and do an event, what do you need?

[00:24:41] He goes, I only ever have three polos. I'm like, what do you mean you only have three polos? So I did a quick Amazon order for him of some new shorts, some new polos, some nice button downs, same with the kids. They used it as an opportunity to do their back to school shopping a little early, but I was very intentional of What [00:25:00] I'm buying, what I'm packing from that buying game and what's going to just be put away for back to school.

[00:25:07] Writing lists helps me forget fewer things. And we're not doing as many of those last minute drugstore type runs when we're on site. And it helps me stay organized when it's time to repack to come home. I will say the one thing I am terrible with in the whole packing process is unpacking. And so my husband unpacks all of us.

[00:25:28] not just himself. So He's the one making sure all the laundry ends up back in the hampers. In my case, my clean clothes are just stacked on the dresser for me to put away. He's unpacking his toiletries. My toiletry bag kind of just stays pre packed in my suitcase at any given time. So I'm not having to do as much of that work, but yeah, he knows generally where my stuff goes and puts it near where it needs to be.

[00:25:52] If not in a direct drawer, while he's unpacking for himself, because he's that person, the second we get home, he has to unpack. [00:26:00] And I will let my suitcase sit there until my next trip. So that has actually worked really well for us and it makes it feel less of that packing and travel and preparation burden Falls on me.

[00:26:10] It's actually really nice to be able to at the end of the day Have our room be super tidy and organized and he having taken the lead on that I think another benefit of having a tried and true list is If you have the luxury of having child care, a nanny, or in my case, an au pair, I know that list is exactly what I need, so I'm able to hand it off and actually outsource some of the packing, and I know that what is going to be put in there is exactly what I need to have on that trip, so totally agree with your list, and I'm going to throw my husband that idea about unpacking to share in that card.

[00:26:45] So going back to the writing of a book. You mentioned you also had HIPAA on the go. These are two very creative endeavors that are very unrelated to your quote business career. So I'd love to go into what [00:27:00] you called yourself being a multi hyphenate and really understand what that means. why you've coined and embodied this term.

[00:27:08] In your eyes, what is a multihyphenate? I think all of us are multihyphenate. Very few of us just choose to define ourselves that way. Working in pharma is a very much Long delayed gratification type of role. I needed something that was a little bit more immediate gratification that also satisfied my very creative itch.

[00:27:31] And so it started as a blog because that was a hobby I could do from wherever when I was traveling all the time. And I started writing about packing and travel because that was my existence. And, It really was the most incredible creative endeavor that also let me learn how to run a different kind of business than a pharmaceutical company.

[00:27:52] And I think that experience has helped me in my professional life. It's also helped me with my personal life because [00:28:00] having that type of time management of when you have another big career and this creative endeavor that really fulfills you, but starting to become its own business. set the stage on how to manage my time extremely efficiently and learn what was actually important versus what might be someone else's importance, not necessarily my own.

[00:28:20] That prepared me for motherhood in a way I would have figured it out in motherhood, but it was nice to have a good, solid foundation of prioritizing and time management before welcoming my kids. What do you think The role of motherhood played in you deciding to continue to explore other creative pursuits.

[00:28:42] I mean, it's very hard for me to separate what I learned in motherhood and how that's influenced work and what I've learned in my career and how that's influenced my motherhood. It really is a beautiful chaos where everything has informed one another, and it's hard for me to [00:29:00] discern which threats come from the motherhood side and which thread come from the professional side.

[00:29:05] I will say what I've learned in motherhood. Is how little I'm actually in control of anything that I think pre kids, I lived in the fantasy of, I was actually far more in control than anyone is of their life. And motherhood got me very comfortable with uncertainty. It got me very comfortable with the sense of chaos and acceptance of what little control I do have.

[00:29:32] Similarly, I see the value of routine and clearly explaining things. Although with kids, you're explaining yourself. A bazillion times over the course of a day. That clear communication and clear boundaries and like how we treat each other is really important. The things I learned about building a good culture at work, I try to bring in to motherhood as proactively as possible, but also let's be honest, [00:30:00] parenting is super, super emotional, the hard in a way it's not quite at that intensity at work and.

[00:30:11] I think letting myself be human. Is something I can do with greater ease or with greater comfort in motherhood than I can at work. When you think about all of your different creative ideas, how did you validate? I mean, it sounds like the book, you had external validation coming to you, but with your sub stack or even just diving more into Instagram, how did you validate with yourself that it was worth pursuing?

[00:30:41] I jumped in with really no sense of needing validation, but because it made me happy. And then as it became profitable, I certainly looked at validation in terms of my numbers and see what content was performing well. But [00:31:00] even that got to a point that the fun and the joy of creating was lost. And I was running a business that.

[00:31:08] I couldn't see a sustainable path forward and I had lost my own personal passion in it. So taking that pause and in stepping away from sponsored content for the foreseeable future and now I can say with a decent amount of certainty I think for good and closing the chapter on creating in that sort of business model same with Substack.

[00:31:33] I Was really letting unsubscribed numbers or lower engagement posts or what not getting earning enough affiliate income affect me and take away the joy from writing. So it took me a while to find that joy. Again, and what helps now is in taking away the sort of business validation of it. I let myself have fun and the numbers don't bother me nearly as much.

[00:31:59] I [00:32:00] am not protective over the aesthetic of my grid on Instagram. I'm writing these sort of meandering. Realistic essays and peeks into my life that feel very authentic to me. And yeah, protecting myself a bit by keeping it at a paid tier and behind a paywall, because it's for the people who genuinely enjoy it.

[00:32:23] And it protects me a little bit. It can be really scary hitting publish on a personal essay to tens of thousands of people to hundreds. Feels a little safer. So finding the joy in creating again and creating for my own sake, not for a bottom line has really helped. And I think part of being a multi hyphenate also means knowing when to close chapters.

[00:32:48] And I've closed a number of chapters over the past five, six years from going and being a very active angel investor to really being happy that I had that experience. I had that [00:33:00] chapter. It's helped me as an entrepreneur. It's helped me as a person putting money where my values are aligned, but that it is not viable for me at this stage of my life.

[00:33:10] Am I reopen that chapter? It might be closed for good, but I'm not putting too much pressure of myself on that. Same with very recently closing that influencer as a job type chapter and just having fun creating again. And I think that's an important thing. You can't do it all and own all your hyphens all at the same time.

[00:33:29] I can only at any given time. Really focus on one job, my family and myself. And I've learned over the past year, I got to flip the script and put myself first, then my family, then my job. Because when it's in that order, I have a greater sense of. Protecting my time, protecting my energy and being focused where I need to be focused versus choosing chaos, context, switching, jumping back and forth from task to [00:34:00] task and maybe doing a lot, but not doing it as well as I want to or need to.

[00:34:06] So well said. So I also similarly started New Modern Mom as just a very creative passion project. And I'm often asked how I started while I was still working. And so many of our listeners I think are very interested in leaning into some creative passion. So I'm curious, now that you have done this a few times, what is the playbook to get started?

[00:34:31] How do you actually make the first move? Find the time when there is It's negative time in your day. Start really small. And I think it started for me writing for myself before I ever hit publish on any hit on the go post, or I even named this blog, bought a URL and set up a WordPress. Even if it's just five minutes, is there five minutes that you really can block off those [00:35:00] distractions?

[00:35:01] If it's getting back into dance, for instance, just play your favorite song and let it loose in your room. Or maybe watch a choreography video on YouTube and over the course of five minute increments over a week or two weeks, learn a dance routine to one of your favorite songs. I think that's a little easy way to do it.

[00:35:21] For writing, just start writing. And those first words can be the scariest. Those first steps can be the scariest. The first time you talk into a microphone will be terrifying, except that it's going to be scary, except that it's not going to be good, except that you're probably going to suck at the beginning and know that when you pick up a book, that was not the first word someone wrote.

[00:35:49] When you see an incredible piece of choreography or hear a song, no, that was never the first version. When you read something that moves you so [00:36:00] deeply, no, that wasn't the immediate first words that came through. And we, yeah, remember that you're watching someone's finished product that's taken a long period of time.

[00:36:13] And. And even years of effort and practice before to get to that point and let yourself have fun with being a beginner. I also say play around, don't be so set and set a goal at the beginning of your play journey or creative journey and hold yourself to it if it's, especially if it doesn't feel good. So before I really do anything.

[00:36:36] Of consequence. And that includes both on the creative side and in the professional side, I do a magic 20 list. So I forced myself, this is the goal. These are 20 tasks I can do to make a little bit of progress. And it gives me a nice checkpoint of, is this still what I want to do, or is it time to cut my losses and try something else, and I can do each of those 20 things I [00:37:00] write down.

[00:37:00] One task can be done in about five minutes. So it's a very low stakes way of stepping in and setting a goal and coming closer to a goal and let yourself see if it's aligned and you have your off ramp at any point, if you decide it's no longer aligned and then you get to try something else, but I think having just a beginner's mindset, kind of going at it as if you were a kid, kids don't.

[00:37:23] care about doing something perfectly the first time, they're just jumping into play to have fun. And we have to remind ourselves to do the same because there's so much to be gained in just playing and trying. A magic 20 list. Love that. That is something anybody can start to do. And it really just breaks down like this big, elusive idea into something very tangible.

[00:37:45] So thank you for sharing that. I do want to touch on social media, which you just brought up. I think as a C level executive, it's almost expected, right? That you have some strong thought leadership presence online these days. And I think what's interesting about you, [00:38:00] Is instead of being a thought leader in the pharmaceuticals industry or topic specific to sea level strategies, you've really decided to focus on culture, business and newsworthy events.

[00:38:11] And you've also opened up right, pretty personal with an open view into your life. And so I'm curious how you came to that decision and what your reasoning has been for being so open. So much of what I do at work is very secretive. Like when you're in an active drug development, you really can't divulge too many details.

[00:38:32] If your partner's a publicly traded company, it always has to go through their legal review, but then also anything you talk about. In your product could be viewed as pre approval marketing, which could ding and put your product approval at risk once you're filed with the agency. So very early on, a lot of what I do at work was off limits.

[00:38:51] I can't talk openly about what I do because. It has significant risk. So I didn't really have a choice at the [00:39:00] beginning. And I just decided to lean into culture and news and those topics because I could talk about it and because they genuinely interested in me. And to go back to this sort of multi hyphenate moniker, I really resent being shoved into a box that is built for someone else's comfort.

[00:39:20] Uh, being able to label me in a certain way, and it's something I categorically reject. And I think if Elon Musk can run a number of companies and run his mouth on the internet, why can't I do it in a way that feels authentic and real to me? And so. Cool. I have been a longtime newsreader, been reading the paper every single day since I was in high school, and that would be something my dad and I would discuss throughout the day and help me with speech and debate competitions when I was in high school.

[00:39:50] I've been an avid fiction reader my whole life, so talking about what I'm reading is something I'm doing in my day to day conversations. Why wouldn't I want to share that at a [00:40:00] wider audience? I think You have to be able to sustain whatever it is you start talking about openly. For me, if I was to talk about the state of the healthcare industry or life sciences in general, it keeps me in work mode so much that I would not feel I'd be an interesting person if that's all I was talking about and that's all I was doing.

[00:40:22] So to actively. veer away from that work online and share my other interests helps me be consistent in my thought leadership and in sharing online. That's really how Five Smart Reads got started. I was looking for something I could do that I was excited to share that was different on the platform. And that didn't require me to desperately talk into a camera.

[00:40:48] So five smart reads began as like a daily Instagram stories share every single weekday of here are five articles I read that I think are interesting and a bit of my commentary. And that grew [00:41:00] into its own impactful newsletter and. I stepped away when I said, this is no longer bringing me joy. And this is actually bringing me a lot more stress and is stepping away from sponsorships.

[00:41:13] I don't have the economics to support doing this purely as a passion project. And I didn't want to come up. With a monetization strategy. And so in closing that chapter, it helped me focus. What do I want to keep talking about? And I said, for me, I have a lot to offer in healthcare analysis. So if there's new stories that I see, they're almost always like healthcare focused or reproductive healthcare access focused.

[00:41:38] That's a big passion of mine, both as a patient and as someone who's on the board of a reproductive healthcare access nonprofit. And it's where I can add meaningfully to the conversation versus focused on noise. Certainly right now, it's about Kamala Harris, having written a book about her. I have a perspective on her, having researched her life in [00:42:00] exhaustive detail, both on her career and personally, and being really excited about this moment to be able to share how to talk about her achievements and what kind of leader she could be.

[00:42:11] Yeah, it's what you can be consistent with, but also what lights you up and keeps you excited, not just what quote unquote performs well. I think that's such a fresh perspective, especially for so many of our listeners that have large career aspirations and know they need to invest in growing themselves as thought leaders on LinkedIn or on other social platforms.

[00:42:33] They just don't know where to get started and how to stay committed. It's really making sure that you're writing about. Transcribed by https: otter. ai You are passionate about that. You can continue to talk about over and over again. So I hope that inspires some listeners to think a little bit outside the box that's really brought in their horizons.

[00:42:51] I would love to end our conversation today asking you my favorite question. What are your professional [00:43:00] superpowers and how have you seen that show up in your personal and family life? My personal superpower is negotiation. It is what I cultivated as a kid. Because there were a lot of things I wanted and my mother wasn't just gonna hand them over to me in a silver platter.

[00:43:20] So negotiating on how can I earn it? What can I do to get the things I wanted? I think that's something my mom taught me at a very young age is it's never going to be exactly how you want it. You got to think about the other person on the other side and what their goals and what their needs are as well.

[00:43:38] And negotiation has been really honed by my children. Like I am told no, at least 50 times before 8 AM and you have to negotiate and get these little irrational humans to do what you need them to do in a very short timeframe to get out the door and get to school on time. I'm really good with rejection.[00:44:00] [00:44:00] I'm really good at finding a middle ground because I have no choice as a mother. And I truly think moms should be running everything because we know how to do the most with the fewest resources and do it peacefully and calmly in a way that we focus on everyone winning. So negotiation, conflict resolution, all of that is both a professional and a personal superpower.

[00:44:27] Excellent skill to have, I agree, in both worlds. Hitha, how can listeners connect with you beyond this episode? Thank you. Follow me on Instagram at hithapalapoo. It's very vibes only right now of random things I share on stories. You can follow me on my Substack. It's hitha at substack. com. And that's really just fun essays and personal reflections as well as sort of a weekly smart digest of what I'm reading, what I'm recommending, and what I'm sharing.

[00:44:58] Thank you for joining. I loved our [00:45:00] chat.

[00:45:00] Thanks for listening to this episode of the new modern mom podcast. I hope you can use the story shared today to simplify the chaos of career and motherhood. If you like what you heard, don't forget to subscribe to this podcast. Give us a five star rating and leave a review. Please connect with me on LinkedIn and follow new modern mom on Instagram.

[00:45:19] I know you're busy and I so appreciate your support for my mission to help more moms find work life fulfillment. And I have good news. The playbook doesn't end here. To get bonus strategies, tools, and takeaways from this guest, sign up for my newsletter at NewModernMom. com backslash subscribe. I promise you'll be filing this under a must read.

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