Preetam Kaushik

PIONEER | SEEMA How Ginni Saraswati Found Her Voice... ..And is using it to amplify that of others PREETAM KAUSHIK G inni Saraswati likes to go for walks along the East River, and marvel at the Empire State building, not because she’s new to the city but because it’s a reminder of the beautiful unpredictability of life. The daughter of Sri Lankan immigrants, who grew up in Australia, Ginni never thought she would be living in New York City. Now, as a popular podcaster, founder of Ginni Media and co-founder of two other businesses, she has a lot on her plate but she makes time for these little moments. It’s important for her to keep the gratitude she has for how her life turned out. Ginni was born in Sri Lanka, but when she was two, her family moved to Australia. Her new home opened 14 | SEEMA.COM | JUNE 2022 up a whole world of opportunities but her mother made sure Ginni never forgot her family’s values – to be kind, thoughtful and grateful for everything that comes your way. Still, growing up, she was painfully shy, shrinking from the spotlight, wishing she could disappear into the background. But what she did have was a natural entrepreneurial spirit. When she was 6 years old, she put up art shows with her own paintings on the wall and a sign outside that said “Entry for $2.” She laughed when she recalled the reaction: “Nobody came (to the show), but it was my kind of venture of leaning into my entrepreneurial abilities.” Ginni started her career in radio when she saw an ad Ginni Saraswati, entrepreneur and podcaster JUNE 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 15 PIONEER | SEEMA “I WOULD LOVE TO SEE A POST-COMINGOUT WORLD WHERE NONE OF US HAVE TO REALLY SIT SOMEONE DOWN AND BE LIKE “YOU KNOW WHAT, I’M GAY,” LIKE HETEROSEXUALS DON’T HAVE TO DO IT. I KNOW COMING OUT IS A PROCESS IN THE STAGE OF PRIDE, BUT I’D LOVE TO SEE A WORLD WHERE WE CAN JUST LOVE AND THAT’S IT” 16 | SEEMA.COM | JUNE 2022 for a trainee scheme at Joy 94.9 FM. She had applied for a behind-the-scenes position but one month later, she was in front of the mic. “I love talking as a vehicle, because I think it allows us to actually connect, understand and relate to each other more” she explained. “I think every human being on this planet... That’s all we want to do. We want to be seen, we want to be heard, we want to be known to some one degree or another.” She went on to host two primetime shows on Joy – “The Hump Day Crew” and “Rise Up Radio.” Working at Joy, an independent Australian LGBTIQA+ media organization, helped Ginni connect with the wider queer community. “It really helped being in a media organization where I felt seen. I didn’t feel weird for liking Angelina Jolie, whereas, before, I would’ve. I could talk freely without being judged. When we had radio shows, we got to connect with other members of the community, you know, people who had been on prominent TV shows and what really helped with podcasting is it gave me access to a bigger community. Speaking about her own experience of being a queer person growing up in a South Asian family, she opens up about the struggle between being yourself and who others expect you to be. “I know my coming out was not easy for my family, but for me the important thing was just being myself,” Ginni said. “I think I felt a sense of pressure when I was coming out in being myself because I felt I had to be better than I would have if I was heterosexual. By then, I felt like I had to represent this whole community and this whole identity, which I was still figuring out.” Eventually, Ginni found some support from her family. “Some cousins in my family had my back – because we all grew up in Australia,” she said. “They’re a little bit more liberal. And I think my uncles and aunties are warming up to it in their way. They have stopped asking me when I’m gonna meet my husband. So I think that’s their way of saying it.” Ginni’s optimistic about the future. In her ideal version, she said, “I would love to see a postcoming-out world where none of us have to really sit someone down and be like “you know what, I’m gay,” like heterosexuals don’t have to do it. I know coming out is a process in the stage of pride, but I’d love to see a world where we can just love and that’s it.” While Ginni’s professional career was taking off, something exciting was happening in the media space. Podcasts were suddenly a thing, and Ginni realized that “attention was moving towards podcasting. It just opened up a whole world of audiences worldwide that you could connect with.” In 2017, she launched The Ginni Show, which went on to win multiple awards. The same year, she also founded Ginni Media, to motivate new, diverse voices in podcasting. Since then, Ginni Media has spread over 16 countries, with a diverse set of people supporting and fostering different and diverse voices, helping them reach out to a vast audience through podcasts. “I think it’s really important to foster values like patience, kindness, thoughtfulness – the values my mother instilled in me – and bring those to the organization,” Ginni said. “A lot of entrepreneurs nowadays are trained on hard skills. Like, you’ve gotta have productivity and timelines. Yes, those things are needed but you also need skills like kindness, empathy, gratitude.. Those skills… have changed the trajectory of my business.” With podcasts becoming more accessible to everyone, her advice for new podcasters is, “Just talk about things that you are passionate about, because that authenticity will always come through. You’ll never run out of things to talk about. So you’ll be consistent and there will be people out there who find that interesting as well. Even with the Ginny Show, I talk about travel because I love moving and traveling. So I can keep it going.” With a radio and podcast career spanning almost 15 years, Ginni knows what makes a show or podcast tick. “I think, with my audiences, what I’ve noticed is that they like three things with the content,” she said. “They like to be informed. They like to be entertained. Or they like to escape into the story.” Asked if she had any message for her listeners for the upcoming Pride Month, Ginni said, “Pride Month is always exciting because it’s a celebration of culture, of diversity. There’s so much color and music, but there’s a message I would like to give to my listeners: Just take a moment and listen attentively, which is very hard to do nowadays with our attention spans at 10 seconds. But that’s one of the things that I think we’re really missing out on in this world where we’re pumped with information. We missed that time to pause, to listen, connect and celebrate diversity. Because time goes by so fast.” Ginni has not forgotten her roots – whether it be cultural or professional. So, while she calls radio the “grandmother” of podcasting, she will always work towards amplifying voices that deserve to be heard around the world. With a sprinkle of kindness and gratitude, she aims to help others find their voice – just as she did as a little girl. JUNE 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 17