Talk Time: Not Sorry for Sari
Patti Tripathi was one of the first anchors of South Asian origin on network television and worked for years with CNN before she branched off to pursue other ventures. Her personal and professional experiences have shaped her nonprofit venture, Saris to Suits, a calendar filled with women role models. Sales benefit nonprofits devoted to South Asian women’s causes. Khabar talked to Tripathi about the venture.
When did you launch Saris to Suits and what motivated
you to do so?
I was inspired to do so at a very challenging
time while plagued with enormous health and other
personal problems. I needed to raise awareness about
the legal barriers women face that keep them locked
into bad situations, so truly this was to help myself. I
thought by putting the spotlight on other South Asian
women who have succeeded, despite barriers, in
achieving their American dream, the calendar would
inspire women and girls to get educated and to stand
on their own feet. My aim was to raise awareness
about the unique nuances of our culture, to empower,
protect, and inspire women and girls.
When I had the rug pulled out from beneath me, this was a way to put my energies, frustration, and focus on doing something positive. The inaugural 2014 calendar received a lot of publicity because of CNN. To my surprise, many women wrote to me to share their stories. Indo-American women deserve a platform to speak up.
What kinds of reactions have you had to the endeavor?
Girls love the calendar. Pakistani-American Atlantan
Dr. Kulsoom Abdullah, who challenged the
rules of weightlifting to compete wearing her hijab,
wrote a blog post saying that being in the calendar
was the highlight of her year—it gave her a
renewed sense to promote athletics for not only
Muslim women and girls, but all girls. I loved
seeing the photos of girls who have endured the
most horrific tragedies smiling, holding up the
month of their favorite role model. There are so
many great stories.
How was your decision to take up journalism received
at home?
My mother cheered me on to accomplish my
American dream. It was a strange concept and neither my parents nor I could understand my resolve to
want to be like Connie Chung or Oprah Winfrey. My
physicist father thought I could always go back to
graduate or medical school and there was the backup
option of marrying one of the highly educated
men he had introduced me to.
The name Saris to Suits seems to imply that one
has to drop one’s cultural baggage to be successful.
Are you able to elaborate?
Saris to Suits is really how most of us live and
travel—one foot in both cultures. I wear my beautiful
Indian clothing to events and then wore a suit to
anchor the news. Skeptics and people have said it
should be “Saris and Suits.” To me the name “Saris to
Suits” has a certain symmetrical ring to it—like “East
to West” and even the U.N.'s “He for She” campaign.
What made you move from CNN to launch TriPath
Media? When did you make the change? What does
TriPath Media do now?
I was one of twelve—and the only woman—accepted
to an Entrepreneur Mentorship Fellows
program at the University of Maryland business
school with a requirement of launching a business.
As it turns out, 2015 was a great year of closures
and new beginnings, with a fantastic trip to India. In
2016, we launched TriPath Cyber Incident Communications.
Cyber-breaches and the fear of how the
media would respond is keeping many executives
up at night. We reorganized TriPath Media with a
team of media insiders and cybersecurity experts
to help companies preserve brand trust and reputation—the risks beyond technology that erode
shareholder equity.
Poornima Apte is a Boston-area freelance writer and editor. Learn more at WordCumulus.WordPress.com.
Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.
