Courage Talks

Courage Talks S12E2 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗼

From surviving a stroke at 26 and a crushed foot at 45… to becoming a 17-time HURT 100 finisher and one of the toughest race directors in the Mid-Atlantic. 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗼𝘀, Veteran Ultramarathoner, Race Director, Stay-at-Home Dad turned Trail Running Legend, and Founder of Athletic Equation & WV Trail Fest. Born into a family of refugees from the Greek and Armenian Genocides, Alex grew up as an expat kid in the Middle East. He left home at 14 for boarding school, built a career in Chemical Engineering with the Marine Corps, then made one of the bravest pivots of all, becoming a full-time stay-at-home father in 2008. 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗿𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴:   • 17-time finisher of the brutal HURT 100 (one of the highest in the world)   • Completed 60+ ultras worldwide, including Dragon’s Back Race, Hellbender 100, Mogollon Monster, and Manitou’s Revenge   • Race Director of some of the toughest events in the East: OSS/CIA 50, Mount Tammany 10, and more   • Dedicated mentor to Navy SEALs, veterans (Band of Runners), and young runners In this inspiring conversation, Alex shares powerful lessons on resilience, identity, fatherhood, career pivots, and what true courage looks like when your body breaks down but your spirit refuses to quit. If you’re navigating health challenges, life transitions, or chasing big dreams while raising a family, don't miss this episode. #CourageTalks #UltraRunning #HURT100 #Resilience #TrailRunning #RaceDirector #NeverGiveUp #StayAtHomeDad #LeadershipThroughCourage

𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗦𝟭𝟮𝗘𝟭: Mihika Wahi Gupta

Mihika is the founder of Mission Healthy with Mihika, a women-focused fitness academy, an ultra-marathon runner, and a hybrid athlete. She describes her younger self as a "jack of all sports, master of none", someone who simply loved to move. Like many women, life gradually pulled her away from fitness: marriage, children, work, and the weight of daily responsibilities. But the spark never truly faded. She returned through yoga, then running, and has since completed some of India's most demanding endurance races:   • 50 km Malnad ultra-marathon,   • 56 km trail run,   • 210 km intercity run from Gurgaon to Jaipur,   • 72 km Khardungla Challenge at 17,000 ft in Leh-Ladakh, and   • 100 km border ultra that started at noon and ended at 2 AM.   • In 2025, got the podium at the first edition of HYROX India For the past five years, she has channelled everything that fitness gave her, confidence, resilience, and the ability to face grief, into helping other women discover their own strength through her academy. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲, 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁:   • How she came back to fitness after years away and why the return was harder, and more meaningful, than the start   • What running 72 km at 17,000 ft in Ladakh taught her about the relationship between physical endurance and mental resilience   • Why she built a fitness academy specifically for women, and what she sees holding women back from prioritising their health   • How movement helped coping with personal loss and grief   • What she means when she says: "When a woman becomes stronger, she doesn't just change her own life, she inspires many others around her" 🎙️ Tune in now #CourageTalks #MissionHealthyWithMihika #WomenAndFitness #Endurance #Podcast

Courage Talks S11E6 Devi Mani

Most mental health platforms in India are built for the West and shipped here. Devi built Skooc because she believed India deserved something that understood its silences, its pressures, and its culture. With a background spanning GE, IBM, Target, and HP, she brings a rare combination of enterprise rigour and genuine clinical thinking to one of the most underfunded spaces in the country. Skooc is a full-stack behavioural intelligence and change system that works with schools, colleges, and corporates. At its core is an AI-powered system that triages every conversation in real time, deploys clinical assessments like the PHQ-9 and GAD-7, builds dynamic severity profiles for each user, and knows exactly when to bring a human clinician into the loop. Alongside this, the platform surfaces anonymised behavioural insights across cohorts, so institutions can see patterns forming and act before things escalate rather than manage crises after the fact. What makes Skooc different is that it doesn't treat mental health as a standalone problem. It works with the entire ecosystem simultaneously: students, parents, educators, faculty, and leadership teams, because behaviour doesn't change in isolation. Devi splits her time between building the platform, running (she's training for Hyrox), and writing about the things most people are too polite to say out loud.

𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗦𝟭𝟭𝗘𝟱: Gopika Kapoor

Gopika Kapoor is a bestselling author, neurodiversity advocate, autism consultant, and one of India’s most compassionate voices on parenting, inclusion, and acceptance. Gopika’s journey is deeply personal and courageous.From beginning her career as a journalist, to navigating her son Vir’s autism diagnosis in 2008, to transforming pain into purpose by supporting hundreds of families, she has turned one family’s challenge into a movement of hope and dignity. She spent over a decade at Ummeed Child Development Centre as a therapist, trainer, and mentor, working closely with 400+ families and conducting 100+ autism training sessions across India and beyond. Today, she continues to guide parents, corporates, schools, and communities, while also co-founding Buddy Up Network, a friendship platform for neurodivergent individuals and caregivers. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲, 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁: • 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 “𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘮𝘦?” 𝘵𝘰 “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵?” • 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 • 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺’𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦’𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴• 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨• 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 Gopika is the author of Beyond the Blue: Love, Life and Autism and a leading advocate for a more empathetic and inclusive India. Through her latest venture, BuddyUp Network, she has built an app that connects people with disabilities and their caregivers for friendship and love. 🎙️ Tune in now — link in comments.#CourageTalks #Leadership#Inclusion #Parenting #Neurodiversity

Courage Talks S11E4 - Pooja Sharma Goyal

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂? 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗦𝟭𝟭𝗘𝟰: Pooja Sharma Goyal, Founding CEO of The Udaiti Foundation, serial entrepreneur, and one of India's leading voices on women's economic empowerment. Pooja's journey is anything but linear. From building and shutting down a Bay Area startup during the dot-com crash, to pursuing her MBA at INSEAD as a deliberate reframe (not a reset), to returning to India in 2007, not for a job, but for family, and turning that vulnerability into Intellitots, later acquired by KLAY. She then co-founded Avishkaar, establishing 2,500+ robotics labs globally. Today, she leads Udaiti's Close the Gender Gap 30x30 initiative, working to raise women's representation in India's formal workforce from 18% to 30% by 2030. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲, 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁: • 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 "𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯" — 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘸 • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 • 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘯𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘥𝘰𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 150 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘊𝘖𝘝𝘐𝘋, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 • 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 • 𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵: 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 Pooja holds a B.Tech from IIT Delhi and an MBA from INSEAD. She is a Women Transforming India Awardee, angel investor, and founding member of Plaksha and Ashoka University. This one is about the kind of courage that shows up in the in-between moments, the pivots, the pauses, and the quiet acts of building something that didn't exist before. 🎙️ Tune in now — link in comments. #CourageTalks #WomensEmpowerment #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #GenderEquality #UdaitiFoundation #CloseTheGenderGap