In this episode, Tawhid takes us through his incredible journey—from growing up in Japan as a Bengali to moving to America and overcoming challenges, all the way to his current role as a Staff Software Engineer at IBM. Tune in, and be inspired.
Faizan Ahmed is the Co-founder and Head of Machine Learning for Headstarter, a large community of software engineers all around the Earth. The following is a conversation with Faizan, on his journey in tech, and his experience being a Desi in New York City.
Nabeel is a Senior Product Manager at Amazon, as well as being a startup mentor, and a guest lecturer at Columbia Business School. In this episode, we get to see the Bengali side of Nabeel, as well as his career journey being a product manager.
Season 5 - Episode 12: Md Jabed Uddin, came in USA at a very early stage and lives in Astoria with his family.
He is also General Secretary of MoulviBazar District Society. He is a man from Moulvibazar and actively doing his social work. Now become well known for his social activities in NYC.
As a General Secretary, Mr. Jabed Uddin is doing excellent job and trying to make AWS, a number one organizations in NYC. He does actively many community based foods distribution like halal boxes, masks, hand sanitizers in different places in NYC.
Community activists and is a very well known community friend and a people person.
Season 5 - Episode 11: I feel like in my upbringing, alongside having to study really hard in school, I feel like there's this sort of nurturing care put into having some sort of artistic ability. Be it painting or singing or playing an instrument. For me, it was playing the violin. I grew up playing the violin since I was five years old. My mom would play the harmonium, and I have an uncle who plays guitar. I was in orchestra my whole life and I used to play the violin doing solo repertoire stuff as well as group orchestra stuff for a really long time. But when I got into high school, I found it to be quite unsatisfying only because I was performing music that was already written hundreds of years ago, which I have great respect for. I have great respect for all the composers and classical musicians, but I wasn't feeling like I was just getting anything out of it at a certain age. It was then that I started writing music. I felt that in school, you would take English classes where you would learn how to read and write. You would read books and write about the books, such as analysis papers, etc, but with music, you only learn how to read and perform. We never learned how to write. I felt like that was an itch that needed to be scratched. It was just something that was in me that I needed to learn.
Listen to the entire conversation with Jai Wolf on the BoNY Podcast.
Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast.
Season 5 - Episode 10: Even though sex education is such an everyday aspect of our life because it can impact a person from the moment that they're born to their death bed. Because it's such an everyday part of our lives, I thought it was really integral to only have this information in Bangla, because it's meant for aunties, it's meant for uncles, it's meant for our parents. It's meant for people back home. I can't even begin to tell you the kinds of questions that I've received, and it makes me so sad because a lot of the questions that I received from people living in Bangladesh, it's questions and answers that kids ask here in the United States. One of the first emails I received, I had someone ask me, "I'm getting married this weekend. How do I make sex enjoyable for my wife?" That was really overwhelming because I didn't think I was going to get so many intimacy questions so quickly. I want to be respectful of the Bangladeshi culture. I'm mindful of the fact that it is somewhat conservative, and I respect that completely. So that's why I'm trying to come at it from a public health perspective. But I started getting all of these intimacy-related questions from men, women and people of all different genders, different backgrounds, and whom all look different. I had students reaching out to me about their boyfriends. I had niqabis reaching out to me about how to please their husbands. It was really eye-opening to me, and it also made me realize my own biases that might not be right because Bangladesh has a population of over 160 million. So that's a lot of sex. I think we shy away from this topic, but we're clearly doing it.
Listen to the entire conversation with Bushra Mollick on the BoNY Podcast.
Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share.
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Season 5 - Episode 9: I have basically been past five and a half, almost six years in investing in emerging markets or frontier emerging models. And a lot of that time has been spent in the south Asia region. And as part of that obviously spent time in, in Bangladesh. Now, when I spend time with Nash is primarily been with public companies, investing for one of the largest investment funds folks in the region in public companies, a fund called Kingsway where I've been for over five years now through that work, I think I obviously I've gotten to know the market pretty well.
Listen to the entire conversation with Lima Ali on the BoNY Podcast.
Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast.
Season 5 - Episode 8: The diaspora club is more of a passion project for me. I kind of started it when I was in lockdown because I was on furlough, which meant that I wasn't working. So. I need to find something to do, and I didn't want to be doing fashion-related stuff. So I started drawing ethnically, uh, I think minorities, um, weld, cultured inspired imagery.
Listen to the entire conversation with Lima Ali on the BoNY Podcast.
Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast.
Season 5 - Episode 7: "I think the story of Bangladesh is still an uprising trend. If you look at the country specifically from a startup or a technology lens, if you look at countries like Singapore and other countries surrounding Bangladesh, what you notice is all the countries are on the same trajectory because of the younger population, digitization, and constant use of the internet. All of these countries are on the same trajectory but at different points. Bangladesh is on a very nice upward trajectory that gives us hope. I think once the infrastructure is in place, and once the people are more and more connected, then I think the rest will automatically take shape on stone. The nature and the forces of the Bangladeshi people will automatically define the growth."
Listen to the entire conversation with Sajid Rahman on the BoNY Podcast.
Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast.
Season 5 - Episode 6: It was January of this year that I just realized, wow, she's reading on her own. So it just kind of surprised us and I think every child is different when they're gonna learn, how to read, but we were lucky that it was a fun surprise. Even if it's just for 10 minutes, even if you just dedicate time every day, even when the baby is still in the womb until. When they're zero years old and all the way until reading together can really foster that habit and culture of reading and make smarter, happier kids, because they can learn about themselves. Lena's been listening to podcasts for a long time, since she was 2. It was a little bit a mix because I'm frugal, uh, and not wanting to buy audio books. And then also practical because if I can't read to them because I do work and if my husband's working, at least they're listening to something and using their imagination just a little bit, instead of watching. So Lena's involved in the podcast. When we interview or talk to the publisher, we ask them what they would want in the show notes, how somebody could actually purchase that book. And then we read the story together and then Lena helps pick out the music. So she listens to the story and listens to what would be a good sound effect, like maybe a door closing. Should I hire her Lena, I'm going to hire you to do our podcast. We're not even that far. We don't do sound effects. Do you want to help me with the, do you want to help me with my podcast?
Season 5 - Episode 5: I have never been in real estate. My background is in engineering, and I had managed very large multinationals industrial companies. A lot of my time was spent on building materials. However, very interestingly, through a friend, I was introduced to our founder-CEO, whose name is Aaron Levy. He lives in Austin, Texas, and he's an architect-designer. He's always had this idea of coming up with something for what's known as a middle market. It's basically people who are renting today, but not ready to buy a house. However, they want some independent living, such as a little bit of a yard and patio, and do not want to be attached to somebody else top or bottom. This is considered a middle housing concept and he's always been interested in it. I think during COVID we saw the level of depression and loneliness going up because a lot of people living in buildings had no community connections. And that's what kind of drove us.
Listen to the entire conversation with Zain Mahmood on the BoNY Podcast.
Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast."
Season 5 - Episode 4: Raad on startups, life, and philosophy. I think there's a common theme in my life where I just don't like being told what to do. And, I'm kind of a little bit of like a free thinker. Maybe that's sort of seeded the plants of like, not really ever being able to hold a steady job. I just, wasn't very good at showing up at one place at a specific time and doing the same thing over and over again. I'm just not a very big morning person. So whenever I had to sort of just forcefully wake up, that would just dampen my mood right then. I'm just like a curious person. So if I'm like told to do something and I don't really understand the why behind it, I'm just not going to be naturally into it. At Lawtrades, we hire people that really have to be sort of like self-starters and self managers, and just be generally curious. I’m good with like, sort of setting the stage and setting the vision and giving them why, letting them know why this work is important and the impact they could have, on the greater society, if we succeed. I use a simple approach found the different companies that I built. There needs to be some sort of cycle that it goes through, which one thing leads to another. for example, a platform like Uber, the more Uber drivers on the road equals faster transport and a more successful product. So, I think that about a lot of things in life and in business that it's helpful to just look at it as a high level framework to know that over the next 10 years, if you do this thing, there's going to be some sort of compounding effect to that. Listen to the entire conversation with Raad Ahmed, Founder of Lawtrades, on the BoNY Podcast. Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast.
Season 5 - Episode 3: Aysha Allow is an attorney who specializes in business law. She was inspired to open her own practice during the pandemic when she saw small businesses struggling, and also saw an uptick in new businesses opening. After some reflection she wanted to be of service to the people. She launched her business in January 2021, after practicing law for a few years in various sectors. She is one of metro Detroit’s Bangladeshi Women Entrepreneurs.
Season 5 - Episode 2: Muntaha Qureshi is an event decorator in metro Detroit. She opened her business Bridal Insignia in 2014, first in Virginia and then later moving it to Michigan. Muntaha studied fashion design, and later worked in corporate offices in supply chain. Now her business combines both aspects of her professional experiences to serve couples who are looking for decoration services for their special occasions. Bridal Insignia has decorated 3-4 events a year when it first started. In 2019 they decorated about 120 events. She is one of metro Detroit’s Bangladeshi Women Entrepreneurs.
Season 5 - Episode 1: Introducing Sisters Humayra Bobby owner of Boubí Skin, Jahura Hobby owner of JHobby Makeup Studio, Tahura Holly owner of Festive Essentials, and Shakira Khanam
Humayra Bobby, Jahura Hobby, and Tahura Holly are sisters who created their own businesses: skincare, professional makeup services and jewelry to provide community-based needs. Their sister Shakira Khanam helps all the businesses. Their father Rezaul Karim is an entrepreneur who opened his own stores in the early 2000s. Humayra, Jahura, Tahura and Shakira say they were inspired by their own needs, and the chance to give back to a community they grew up in. They are metro Detroit's Bangladeshi Women Entrepreneurs. Humayra Bobby launched Boubí Skin in 2019, Jahura Hobby is the owner of JHobby Makeup Studio who started freelancing makeup services a decade ago, and Tahura Holly is the owner of Festive Essentials. Holly opened her business in 2018, handpicking jewelry from India where she lives, and selling it in Hamtramck, and other cities across the U.S.
Listen to the entire conversation with Sisters Humayra Bobby, Jahura Hobby, Tahura Holly, and Shakira Khanam on the BoNY Podcast.
Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast.
Season 4 - Episode 25: "When I started this service, it was actually the beginning of the pandemic. By the time I actually started work on my startup was around September. That's when I officially launched the app. The reason I started this form of service is that I originally really want to deliver halal groceries to people's houses, especially in our South Asian community. This halal-based delivery was basically inspired by what I hear from a lot of Bengali moms and uncles. They're like, 'oh, I wish there was a grocery delivery service, so I could get some halal meat, some fish, like, etc.' I thought, 'wow, that's some opportunity out there. Let me try it out.'
Listen to the entire conversation with Tawfique Reja on the BoNY Podcast.
Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast."
Season 4 - Episode 24: "It was an unexpected part of my life. At the time, I was working as a freelance journalist, and I was doing a lot of reporting for Vice. I happened to be in Bangladesh just for a couple of months, and I was living with my parents in Dhaka for Eid. Suddenly, the crisis just happened all of a sudden in August 2017. I started to see a lot of news stories about the crisis, and my dad just said, 'why don't you go down to Cox's Bazar and see what's going on? You should probably go report on it since you're right here in Bangladesh.' So that's what I did, and I had never done any conflict reporting before. I had only been reporting on refugees in the US. It's a very different context reporting on refugees, the settlements, problems that they face, and integrating into American society than refugees in Bangladesh. Nothing would have prepared me for what I saw in Cox's Bazar.
Listen to the entire conversation with Shahirah Majumdar on the BoNY Podcast.
Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast."
Season 4 - Episode 23: Samia Rahman co-founded the business Pantried, an online platform to shop from local businesses in metro Detroit in 2017 with a group of friends. The business features many immigrant-owned mom-and-pop shops, creating equitable access to shopping local. Samia says many local businesses cater to specific items and foods which are inaccessible, or more readily available in stores. Pantried brings those items to the customers via an online platform similar to Instacart, having groceries shopped by a personal shopper preparing for curbside pickup or delivery services. Now the rebranded company will begin with a beta launch of 5-6 stores in 2021. Samia says she hopes to give back to the community she grew up in. She is one of metro Detroit’s Bangladeshi Women Entrepreneurs.
Listen to the entire conversation with Samia Rahman on the BoNY Podcast.
Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast."
Season 4 - Episode 22: I got into barbering during the summer of 2018. I was just stressed out at work, and when I came home, I didn't want to do anything. Nothing. I didn't want to commit to anything or go out at all. So I would just be on Instagram or on YouTube often. On Instagram, I'd see these barbers doing these amazing hair cuts and it was very therapeutic for me. A barber I watched often would post on Instagram but he would also post more of his work on his YouTube page. As a result, I then went on YouTube more often and started watching barbering tutorials. After watching all these tutorials, eventually, I thought to myself, "I think I can do this." That's how it all started.
Listen to the entire conversation with Rashel Ali on the BoNY Podcast.
Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast."
Season 4 - Episode 21: So back in 2014, when we wanted to start the brand, it started as a poster company. So me and my friend Rafeh, started a poster company where we sold posters online, and we wanted to have a unique name. We were trying to figure something out and then Rafeh suggested "Gorur Ghash", which was his Instagram handle at the time. It doesn't make any sense and he just came up with it. So Ali Sakhi, Fahim Islam and I figured might as well name our company "Gorur Ghash". The main reason behind keeping that name is it intrigues people all the time. It makes people ask questions and they continue to remember the name. People just never seemed to forget the name "Gorur Ghash" as a brand since then.
Listen to the entire conversation with Nahiyan Naser on the BoNY Podcast.
Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast."
