Today, we’d like to introduce you to Meera Agarwalla.
Hi Meera, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Sure – my background is pretty unconventional and nonlinear. I went to law school, experimented with international human rights law, and loved it, but unfortunately, I couldn’t support the cost of living in an urban area.
My husband encouraged me to transition out of law and into tech, where I could connect with people, which I love doing. I worked for Visa for seven years and took a break to stay home with my girls, write more, and figure out how to add value while doing something I love.
My husband runs an app called HPY, which is a consumer and therapy-based tool that empowers you to take more control of contentment habits, so we run our businesses collaboratively.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not smooth, full of ups and downs, backwards and forwards. As a person who craves stability, it’s hard to not know what’s going to happen or what’s going to hit you from behind in the entrepreneur world. However, a lot of the struggles have become learning lessons – each one, a reminder of what we learned and how we’re going to do better next time.
There have been struggles ranging from being exploited by personal friends to no health insurance to learning on the go to managing all of this with family, home, and kid responsibilities and ensuring we maintain our own balance of happiness along the way.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. What can you tell our readers who might not be as familiar with your work?
It’s uncharacteristic to hear someone under 40 say they specialize in wisdom, but I think that best describes what I aim to do. I believe I have a natural tendency to live in accordance with my values and principles, optimizing for a life full of intentionality, authenticity, compassion, and no regrets.
I do this mainly through podcast interviews or my writing, where I write about everyday events or moments that inspire me or empower me to think differently. I try to use that to connect and relate to people in similar life circumstances in hopes of inspiring others to live true to themselves without getting distracted by societal pressures and norms.
I’m proud of the family life I have built. My girls and husband adore me and I adore them. While I am still learning, I love teaching them values to motivate them to be kind humans who will inspire others. I offer a very direct and matter of fact approach while combining traditional and modern aspects of the world we live in.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Arthur Brooks, Rangan Chatterjee, Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat. And truly – my friends and family are a huge source of inspiration.
They provide thought-provoking conversation starters, and I love that we question norms together. We never know where the conversation will lead, which always opens us up to thinking about perspective differently.
Pricing:
- $13/month for my newsletter.
- $99/month for hpyPRO subscription.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thinkhpy.substack.com/publish/home
- Instagram: @patelwalla
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meera-agarwalla-94b55614/
- Other: https://www.thinkhpy.com
