Event Details
Date: Friday, March 12th
Time: 11am PT / 2pm ET
Duration: 1 hr
Location on the Festival Map: 'The Founder's Summit'
Speakers: Raakhee Mirchandani, Ami Thakkar, Pat Shah
Session Detail
Podcasters Ami Thakkar and Raakhee Mirchandani host a session discussing their own experiences starting a podcast, what they have learned along the way, the podcast industry advice they wish they had known, and what to expect as a first time podcaster. They are joined by special guest, Pat Shah, Head of Content Acquisition and Development at Audible, Inc., who will talk about the business and strategy side of podcasting and help answer audience questions.
About Pat Shah
Pat Shah is the Head of Content Acquisition and Development at Audible. In his role, Shah drives Audible's content acquisition strategy, leading the company's content deal operations and talent relations teams. A seasoned industry entertainment executive with over a decade of experience building digital content products and partnerships, Shah joined Audible in September 2020 from Twitch, the world's leading live streaming platform for gamers, where he was Head of Music Strategy & Licensing. Prior to that, Shah led Spotify’s original content strategy from the licensing and business side, which yielded major initiatives like Spotify’s expansion into podcasts. He also served as VP of Digital Business Development at Universal Music Group, where he worked on complex licensing transactions with Spotify, YouTube, and Samsung, among others.
Shah is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and received an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
About Raakhee Mirchandani
Raakhee Mirchandani is an award-winning journalist and author. Raakhee is the host of Brown Mom, a new podcast that centers the voices of the South Asian diaspora. Raakhee is also a children’s book author; her new book, Hair Twins, is out this May. Raakhee serves on the board of many non-profits including the Tomorrows Children's Fund, Hoboken Public Library, Steven’s Cooperative School and the Children’s Book Council.
About Ami Thakkar
Ami Thakkar Raval is a lawyer by trade, a freelance writer by trial, a podcaster by passion and a DJ when asked. After graduating as a Longhorn, she started off her career as an Analyst at Enron. While applying to graduate schools, Ami worked on movie sets in Texas and moved to India to work in radio and media. A few years later, she graduated with a J.D. from DePaul University School of Law in Chicago.
Ami began her law career in New York City and after three years, she found herself back in India for her husband’s job where she began freelance writing for Vogue India and Conde Nast Traveler. She was also introduced to the start-up world and became the VP of Customer Service for the fashion company, Exclusively.in. Ami and her husband then moved to Dubai where she worked as VP of Marketing for the transportation network company Careem and continued her freelance writing with magazines such as OK! and Hello Middle East.
The couple moved back to the US in 2014 and landed in Dallas, where Ami focused on raising her two girls while writing with D Magazine and consulting with the Shraman Museum, a non-profit focused on building the first South Asian museum in the U.S.
Their move to Bentonville, AR in 2018 proved to be one of their favorites where Ami worked with the non-profit organization, The House of Songs, as Director of Growth. In this role, she was able to support musicians in the Ozark region.
Ami has recently launched her own podcast called Tuckered Out with Ami Thakkar, where she interviews trailblazers, experts, and prominent voices from the South Asian diaspora. They talk about growing up brown, personal and professional journeys, and all those topics South Asians tend to shy away from.
About Product of Culture
About Product of Culture
Product of Culture is a WOC founded and funded collective that amplifies brown brands and creatives with strategy, content, and experiences rooted in culture. We build opportunities for brown brands and creatives to connect and collaborate with each other and elevate their work through culture-forward spaces, stages, and stories. Our brands include The Founder’s Summit, the South Asian Film Festival of America and Product of Culture Shop.
**This event is included in the following tickets:
Live Podcast Recording
