Meet Mithalee Rawat. She grew up in Pune (India) unil the age of fifteen and then moved to Canada. Both her parents are excellent cooks and many in her family are professional chefs… which is the reason why she now has ridiculously high standards for where she eats! Mithalee is a trained chef and has worked professionally in various food industries for over ten years. She launched her business Shorba Bone Broth approximately four years ago in Vancouver, BC. Shorba offers gut-friendly bone broths rooted in Ayurvedic principles.
I was a chef in health-food oriented spaces for over a decade, and noticed many nutrition fads (raw-vegan diets, juice cleanses, non-prescriptive Keto lifestyles etc) come and go. When bone broth started becoming trendy, it made me happy because I know ancient medicine traditions regard it as a medicinal food. However, I noticed every brand was producing it in a Euro-centric way of making soup stock which, although great for flavour, didn’t address gut health needs which is what bone broth is usually sought for. This is when I was inspired to create representation for bone broths crafted with the knowledge from Ayurveda, the master science of gut health.
Starting out in a brand new city with zero connections or intergenerational financial help has been the hardest challenge. Dealing with feelings of inadequacy was challenging, especially in the beginning. I have since learned that nearly all the business owners I was comparing myself to have had a jump start due to various privileges which I didn’t have. There is a lot of gatekeeping in regards to resources, at least in my industry. Thanks to my scrappy personality and the generosity of fellow women entrepreneurs I have been able to become more savvy and tackle those barriers.
Try to channel the audacity of mediocre white men! I am not even joking. I think as South Asian women, a lot of us have been conditioned to not feel empowered and thus being confident in decision-making has been a daily struggle for me, whereas I notice my male counterparts accept the mistakes they make without much trouble at all. As South Asian women we have unique qualities that can really flourish once we work on not letting perfectionist tendencies rule our willingness to take risks. This is very much a reminder to myself as well.
It’s important to find strength and support from people who share many of your experiences. I have felt firsthand the power of this when women have been generous with their networks and knowledge to help my success, and in turn me doing the same for others. In my personal and professional life I prioritize doing my best to support South Asian and all women of colour with any resources available to me.
Live with integrity
Community organising, feeding people, dancing at raves, traditional yoga.
Drinking fancy cocktails, my yoga studio, community events, travelling for good food
Very poorly – I am terrible at resting. I am working at regaining balance after my first four years as an entrepreneur. My birth and chosen family are very important to me and I hope to make more space in my life for them
Mithalee recently launched a gut Reset Program based on detoxing gently but effectively. It is based on an ayurvedic mono-diet cleanse and her broths. People who have experienced it say they feel clearer, more energetic, and have improved digestion!
Website: shorbabrothbar.com
Instagram: @shorbabonebroth