Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals

Nov 18, 2021

If you’re a fan of books, or of reading in general, you’ve probably heard of Hitha Palepu. You might even subscribe to her wildly popular newsletter, #5SmartReads, which keeps her community informed without overwhelming them. Palepu just published her second book, We’re Speaking: The Life Lessons of Kamala Harris . I spoke to her about how her own family has shaped her path from her upbringing to working alongside her father as CEO of the pharmaceutical company he started, to the Kamala Harris life lessons she’s trying to impart on her sons. Palepu’s intention behind the new book, and through the many roles she plays (CEO, parent, writer and more,) is to encourage everyone to find their own “north star” and celebrate their multitudes. Hitha Palepu Amy Shoenthal: Where did you get the idea to write this book? Hitha Palepu: In a way, I had been writing this book for a long time. I’ve been a big admirer of Kamala Harris since she was the attorney general of California. I studied what she did during the mortgage crisis, walking away from the negotiation table and working with Beau Biden and the AG of Nevada to put together a more comprehensive package. I had a weird obsession with the mortgage foreclosure crisis so seeing it resolved by a woman who looked like me and sounded like me was really powerful. It showed me that I could be myself in rooms that were not built for women like me. For nine years I had been cultivating this virtual notebook of “Kamala-isms,” from phrases she used, effective speeches she made and how she asked questions. I always wondered, how can I apply what she does to my own life? She gave me a blueprint. What started as a little handbook for myself is something I have now brought out into the world. Shoenthal: Is that why you were able to write the book in only two months? Palepu: This book really did flow. The virtual notebook provided the chapters and outlines, but the structure just came to me. I wanted to highlight a specific experience in Vice President Harris's life to introduce each lesson. Then if I had a story to tell, I included it, but if someone else had a story to tell, I wanted to share theirs, which is why I conclude each chapter with an essay written by other women. It was very natural for me to figure out who to ask to write the essay for each chapter. Mandana Dayani for me is the queen of “do something about it” and “don't do it half-assed” (two of the life lessons outlined in the book.) Getting her on board was such a huge thrill. Susan McPherson is a master connector and when I was writing about how to stay in touch and build relationships, she was a no brainer. I'm really lucky that all these incredible women agreed to take part. MORE FOR YOU Shoenthal: Let’s talk about that advice, which actually came from the vice president’s mother, who famously said, “don't do anything half assed” and “do something about it." How can people really put this wisdom into practice? Palepu: A coach once recommended something called a “Magic 20 exercise.” You start with 20 action items you can take to start making an idea a reality. It's something I've done for any project I've undertaken. I had a Magic 20 for this book. I had a Magic 20 for my company. I've had Magic 20 lists for # 5SmartReads . If you're going to take the time to do something, make sure you've screened it through the filter of, “Is this in service of what I am meant to do on this planet?”  I also think we've gotten a little fearful of failure. To me, if you tried something and it didn’t work out, that's not failure. Failure is failing to progress or advance in any meaningful way. I care about progress and growth. Outcomes are wonderful. But if you're only focused on the outcome, and too afraid to take action on any of your big ambitious dreams, then that's failure. Shoenthal: You’ve talked openly about your first startup and how heartbreaking it was to close it down when it didn’t initially succeed. Do you see that as a failure? Palepu: Of course there are many things I would do differently, but I learned a lot. I got to work with my best friend, and our friendship has only become closer because of that experience. Oftentimes, startups with friends or family members are very binary — it either works out very well or doesn't work out at all. That experience made me ready to step into Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals and work with my dad to help take his company across the finish line. Shoenthal: Was your dad’s original plan for his daughter to run his pharmaceutical company with him? Palepu: Injectable aspirin was something my dad had been thinking about since the late 1970s. This is something that he set his mind to when he was still a PhD student. His advisor told him that whoever develops injectable aspirin deserves a Nobel Prize. From a chemistry perspective, it's very complex and nearly impossible. But it could do a lot of good for patients suspected of a heart attack or stroke to get something that works in a minute instead of 20 minutes. There’s a South Asian saying, “log kya kahenge,” which means “what will they think?” I'm very glad I have parents who never cared about that. And they’re very proud to have a daughter who works hard to do the things she cares deeply and passionately about. It has been an incredible gift to work with my father. It's an honor to learn from him. Shoenthal: One of the most compelling quotes from the book was, "performance and delivery have trumped the truth but Kamala shows the math." Can you explain what that means and how people can "show the math" when trying to make a point? Palepu: As someone who has both a history and chemistry degree, I'm very big on going deep, understanding the nitty gritty details and fleshing out a perspective from there. I've been trained to suss out what is factual and what can be backed up. I think it's important that we seek out perspectives that aren’t necessarily the ones we gravitate towards. That's what makes us more critical thinkers. I also find it very important to listen more than you talk. That's when you're really going to understand where someone is coming from. If a VC fund tells you no, ask why. Sometimes I get some very helpful feedback, and sometimes I get feedback that proves we were never aligned in the first place. This is one of those adages that my parents certainly raised me with - if I asked for something they would probe into why. My mother is a dragon mother, and I say that with all the affection in the world. She's a very strong woman who was intent on raising a strong woman knowing that society would try to put her into boxes that did not fit her true self. It wasn’t until I was reading and researching this book that I realized this was also something Kamala was both raised with and cultivated in her career as an early prosecutor. Shoenthal: Let’s talk about that, actually. I’m so glad you dove into her record as a prosecutor and how it comes up in every critique made about her. I didn’t fully understand the nuances behind it until I read your book, and it made me wonder, do you wish people took more time to read more books or long form stories so they could gain a better understanding of the world around them? Palepu: I think reading helps us learn how to think more critically. The word critical has gotten such a bad reputation lately. Being a critical thinker just means purposefully exposing yourself to a number of perspectives, not just taking one as the absolute truth. It means seeking out other perspectives with intention and informing your own opinion. Frankly, I wish this was something we pursued a lot more in how we teach and how we learn. As a parent it's something I'm trying to do with my boys. There is so much we don’t know, and I wish we embraced that more. How awesome is it that we can learn about so many new things that we previously didn't know about? It certainly beats being fixed in our own opinions to the point where we can't accept anything else. Shoenthal: It’s clear that you have so much respect and admiration for the Vice President. Is there anything she has done or said throughout her career that you disagree with? Palepu: I’m sure there’s been a vote on a bill I didn’t agree with. She was a little slower to be a modern progressive on criminal justice reform. I also consider what being a progressive prosecutor meant in the ‘90’s and early 2000’s. We can all Monday morning quarterback some of her decisions, but remember, she was already one of the only women of color who was both a district attorney and then an attorney general in the state of California. You can look at anything in a silo and turn it into something favorable or unfavorable but truth always lies somewhere in between. Shoenthal: You talk about how the vice president "owns her multitudes," and you are someone who is exceptional at that. You're an author, a social media influencer, the CEO of a pharmaceuticals company, an angel investor, parent, wife, friend. How do you manage all those roles? Palepu: The most important thing to remember is that you don't do all of them at the exact same time. I will be the first to tell you that this has not been my best mothering year. It certainly was a year where career got prioritized. Being an author and pharma CEO were my top priorities. If you're going to own your multitudes, what you have to realize is you can't be 100% at every single one at the same time. Each day is like a pie where some pieces will be bigger and some will be a tiny sliver. Every day is an opportunity to carve up that pie in a different way. I wish we as a society embraced all of our multitudes a lot more instead of trying to put people in boxes. That is the big narrative I want to shatter. In every piece you've written you aim to shine a light on every woman's multitudes and not reduce her into a tiny narrative or a caricature of herself, but really ask, who is this person? I think that's incredibly important. I want people to get more comfortable saying, “I'm going to own all of these facets of me because that's what makes me me.” I'm excited for that.