From Dreams to Reality: Wendy Wen on Founding Senreve and Building Antelope

Awaken* newsletter

July 25, 2024

Wendy Wen, founder and CEO of pet CPG platform Antelope and co-founder of luxury handbag brand Senreve, shares insights on the early days of building the Senreve brand with her co-founder Coral Chung, creating their first iconic Maestra bag, and overcoming the challenges of scaling a startup. She reflects on the importance of focusing on vision, strategy, and hiring the right people, as well as maintaining resilience and equanimity as a CEO. Wendy also discusses her new venture, Antelope, her excitement for its potential, and the lessons learned from her Asian upbringing and entrepreneurial journey.

HanYue: Tell us a little bit about the early days of Senreve. And then what was the biggest challenge you had to overcome?

Wendy: You know, it was really just me and my co-founder Coral sitting across from each other in an empty conference room. We were borrowing an office space from one of our investors. And a lot of it was just kind of dreaming: thinking about what the brand could be. It was actually really, really fun. And I think because it’s before you have any metrics, any real product, anything. So anything is possible. In the early days of us, we were literally just trying to figure out what’s going to be our value proposition, positioning, and how we’re gonna get started. It was super fun.

HanYue: That sounds fun. Tell us about your first “IT” bag, as you call it.

Wendy: Our first bag was the Maestra bag, which is a convertible bag that becomes a backpack. You can wear it in different ways: you can hold it over your hand on the handle, you can wear it as a crossbody, you can wear it as a shoulder bag, and then you can also wear it as a backpack. It fits a laptop, it’s water resistant, and it’s 100% made in Italy. It has all these nice compartments on the inside, so you can keep everything organized. It’s a beautiful bag that happens to be really functional, especially for the modern working woman who needs to carry a laptop.

HanYue: Tell us a little bit about how you and your team created this popular bag.

Wendy: So I loved bags. Coral loved fashion. Personally, we just wanted something that was really beautiful and also worked with my busy professional life. So it kind of stemmed from a personal need.

HanYue: Wow, that is amazing to hear. You really found a way to personally connect with the product that you’re building. Let’s switch gears a little bit, to what you’re currently building. Do you feel better prepared for a second go at entrepreneurship?

Wendy: Absolutely. Yes. There are always ups and downs in any startup journey, and I think I made a lot of mistakes with Senreve.

I think, first of all, I didn’t necessarily focus on the important things. I was always kind of doing urgent things. Graham Weaver (a lecturer at GSB and founder of Alpine Investors) talks a lot about that matrix of important, not important, urgent, not urgent. As a founder, you really want to be operating in the non-urgent, important bucket.

An example of what I didn’t focus on enough before would be our hiring culture. Instead, I was focusing on getting things done, which in retrospect, might not have been the best use of my time. For Antelope, I’m much more disciplined about how I spend my time. I really believe that the founder and CEO job should just be vision and strategy. Setting that vision, getting alignment across your team on that vision, helping your team truly understand how their work and their outcomes tie up to the grand vision, and what the dream outcome needs to look like. That’s one big rock for me.

Another one is just hiring the right people. The people who are going to be better than you, at each division, at each function. Hire the best people who will help you dream up something better than what you can dream of, and then make it into a reality. So now I am always pushing for the dream candidate. After that, it’s about developing them, keeping them motivated, and building the culture so that they can thrive.

When I was at Senreve, I was younger, more junior, and much more just about blocking and tackling and getting things done. Now I try to think more about scalability. I think the third piece that I’ve learned, and just gotten a lot better over the years, is just being resilient.

Part of being an entrepreneur and a CEO is maintaining a certain equanimity in the face of problems. I have to maintain an objective distance from the company. Because if you hold on to it too tightly, and it becomes life or death, then every problem can catch you off guard. Versus, if there’s a natural kind of distance, then you have space to treat everything as just a small problem or puzzle that you have to fix.

It makes you as a CEO think a lot more clearly, and a lot more strategically. Because at these higher levels, your main job is making decisions. It’s not fixing the problem. It’s about finding the right architecture, the right people, the right processes, and structures so that your team can fix the problem. And so having that equanimity as a muscle, to deal with the ups and downs, is a really important part of my job as CEO.

HanYue: That’s really powerful. I love your learning about equanimity. Looking forward, what is your biggest challenge right now you want to solve?

Wendy: Our biggest challenge right now is to hire a chief supply chain officer. I have a big gap in operations and supply chain. So if anybody is really good at that kind of stuff, come to me! ¹

I am also learning along the way, from 10 different colors to now 500 SKUs of pet treats, supplements, food, and dental treats with expiration dates. You have to get your planning and forecast super accurate. Every piece of the logistics needs to be precise and accurate in order to meet your demand. And it also has to be efficient from a cost perspective. We really need a C-level executive who has enough experience and lots of great attributes, so she/he can continue to learn and grow with us.

HanYue: Amazing. We hope someone in our subscriber base has this special talent! What are you most excited about next?

Wendy: So many things excite me! I think Antelope is the next P&G/Honest Company of pet products. And we’re just getting started. And there’s just so much low-hanging fruit opportunity that we haven’t yet tapped. Every channel we are in can be grown by 10x. And I think that’s super, super, super exciting. It’s exciting to continue to educate pet parents. So many pet parents are not aware of the preservatives in their existing dog food, what the right content and makeup should be in their food, and what supplements they can give their dog to prevent cancer, arthritis, and joint pain. So I am super excited by this potential.

HanYue: I think that there’s really nothing that compares to the potential as an early-stage founder. You can see this big dream just slowly unfolding in front of you. A lot of our new founders will be fundraising and thinking about working with their investors. I know you work very closely with Graham and Alpine Investors. Would love to hear a bit more about that partnership, and your advice on finding great mentors.

Wendy: The relationship I have with Alpine and Graham has been just 20 out of 10 if I had to give it an NPS score. It’s beyond my wildest expectations what great partners they are. They provide the right level of support, but then they’re really hands-off. They’re empowering and trusting. And oftentimes, honestly, I think about how Alpine is treating and managing me, and how I should train and manage my executives and my direct reports, because they’re a really unique private equity fund that truly, truly has a heart of gold and focuses on people first.

In terms of advice for how students can go out and build mentorship, and relationships with professors and people in their career. It’s simple – just talk to them. Don’t be afraid to reach out. Make sure you follow up. That’s what I did to fundraise for Senreve. And those relationships have followed me through to Antelope.

I met Graham, in an MGE (Managing Growing Enterprise) class when he was practicing to become a lecturer at GSB. He was shadowing Dave Dodson back then. And I just had a conversation with him about what I wanted to do after school. That’s the most common question he gets nowadays, right? The students always go to a professor at Stanford and ask, what should I do with my life? Should I go back to private equity? Should I do this? And I remember, I think he actually offered me a job at Alpine as a CIT (CEO in Training), but I just didn’t want to move anywhere location-wise. So I politely declined.

Graham told the story about the genie goal in his class: if you have three wishes from the genie, what would your goals be? So when I was getting started with Senreve, I called him and I said, I think I’m gonna go pursue my genie goal – to cofound this handbag company. And he angel invested. It was really nice that he was willing to do that, and I think it came from the fact that I just asked and I had that prior relationship with him and reached out.

After Senreve, when I was starting Antelope, I reached out again. So I think it’s just making sure you keep in touch with your professors. I remember going through every single person that I might have interacted with at the GSB. I was co-president of WIM (women in management), and I organized a ton of these speaker events. So I would email every one of the speakers I’d come into contact with. Many of them became mentors and some knew people in the handbag industry that could help. I was shocked that some of them remembered me. Most students don’t realize that all they need to do is a little bit of legwork and follow-up. Every time you go to a networking event, follow up. Even after a few months, send them an email, updating them on where you’re at. That’s how you build a relationship. It’s really not that hard.

HanYue: That is really inspiring and empowering. The notion that a really good mentor relationship is just a few emails away is so powerful.

Wendy: Definitely. Diane Von Furstenberg came to Stanford to speak once. After that, I was like, you know what, I’m just going to send her an email. And I said, “Hey, I loved your talk. I read your book, now I’m starting a handbag company. Would you mind talking to me?” And she replied, the same day, and said: “Here’s my number. Call me tomorrow at 9 am.” And that’s Diane Von Furstenberg. I think students overestimate how often these people get reached out to. I think you are probably thinking that – oh they get so many emails and pings. But the reality is that they probably don’t get that many.

HanYue: Amazing. I want to switch gears a little bit again. If you don’t mind, we’d love to hear a little bit about your upbringing. How has being Asian impacted your entrepreneurship journey or maybe just the mentality of life?

Wendy: I am Chinese, I grew up in Southern California to immigrant parents, who wanted me to be a doctor just like every other Chinese family. I remember doing like my freshman year summer internship in medicine and just being so bored. I was stuck in a lab all day. I think I was too extroverted to follow that path. I’m really dynamic. I love meeting people. I love talking, I love pitching. I get a high from pitching – probably why I enjoy entrepreneurship. And something just clicked. I realized that that medicine path wasn’t for me.

I think what my Asian upbringing helped with though was, that my parents were really good about rewarding effort and not outcomes. They always told me, “Hey, Wendy, it’s not about the grade that you get, if you get an A-minus, but you didn’t try, we will be disappointed in you. But if you got a B plus, and you tried your absolute best, we will be extremely proud of you.” They just wanted me to maximize my potential. And I think that notion really propelled me to just give it all to everything I do. If I’m going to put my mind to doing something, I want to knock it out of the park and do it really well.

In terms of pursuing entrepreneurship, though, that is really not in my parents’ DNA, I think what happened is that they provided me with so many opportunities, by coming to the US and allowing me to have this American education, so that I just got so inspired and absorbed all these American thoughts. And I’m very American, obviously. But I still had the work ethic from my Asian upbringing. That, coupled with such family support, gave me the confidence to pursue what I really, really want to do, which is building companies.

Mark Leslie, he’s another one of my angel investors and mentors, said, there are only three reasons why people want to start a company: one, it’s to make a lot of money. Two is to make a difference in the world. And then three is to build something of lasting value. He said usually people fall within one of these three camps. And I think for me, it’s definitely the last one like I just love building things. I love building culture. I love building a team, and I like building products.

I also think being bilingual helped us expand into other regions for Senreve. We were in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. I think having multicultural blood and experiences in me, makes me more adaptable and flexible, and more resilient, potentially, because I know how to learn about a different culture. You know how to build a life somewhere else. That’s the entrepreneurial spirit.

HanYue: So to sum it up, it’s like that notion of ‘give it your best’ that coupled with a little bit of risk-taking that allowed you to find out what you want to do and really go for it. On top of that, being open-minded and flexible when it comes to like, new obstacles, different experiences, and new regions. Those are amazing takeaways. You have accomplished a lot already. Do you have a few favorite moments from the past or favorite stories that you want to share?

Wendy: There was a time at my last company retreat for Antelope when I celebrated my birthday and the team surprised me with a birthday cake, a sash, and a crown. All 80 of our employees celebrated my birthday with me. And I thought that was really special. Because our team is so talented, they’re so smart. And for them to choose to contribute their talent, to Antelope’s vision – I take it very personally, I take it as a favor they’re doing for me. Seeing everybody in that room, working towards this Antelope vision was so inspiring. Running this company is the best job I could have asked for.

HanYue: That is really heartwarming. You really build a great team and a great culture. And then you got to observe it taking on a life of its own!

Wendy: Yeah, it did take on its own form. That’s the thing. I think seeing the moments when Antelope is taking on its own life just makes me so joyful. Our social media team is amazing. Last year, I remember seeing an Instagram post pop up on Bocce’s Bakery, which is one of our brands. The post was like PupChella – it was a play on Coachella. And they had a lineup of all these artists that were like, dog-named. Like Bark Pink, and Tailvin Harris. It was so cute. It was so funny. And I was so proud of my team. This team is so creative. And I was so proud to see their creativity come to life.

HanYue: Wow. That sounds phenomenal. I think that is actually all my questions. Thank you so much. Wendy!

Wendy Wen’s journey from Senreve to Antelope exemplifies the power of vision, resilience, and strategic focus in entrepreneurship. Her insights offer valuable lessons for aspiring founders on building successful and impactful companies.

Since the time of this interview, Antelope was able to hire a great Chief Supply Chain Officer. ↩︎

Stories

Lucy Liu Stars in “Rosemead,” a True Story of Immigrant Mothers Facing Fear and Mental Health Challenges

Lucy Liu is once again bringing us a powerful performance with Rosemead, a film that has been picked up by Vertical for a December theatrical release. The story follows a mother who begins to see troubling changes in her teenage son, opening the door to a deeper look at fear, love, and mental health.

Recently, the film gathered strong early interest after drawing a full audience at a special screening held at the Metreon in San Francisco. Hosted by Dave Lu, the event sparked conversations about topics often avoided in public spaces, especially within immigrant communities.

With its growing list of festival honors, positive reviews, and a narrative inspired by real events, Rosemead is already being recognized as one of Liu’s most powerful and personal performances to date.

Image Source: BBC

A Story Built on Fear and Family Pressure

At the heart of Rosemead is a mother who becomes concerned as her son’s behavior shifts in unsettling ways. What begins as quiet anxiety slowly grows into a frightening urgency as she realizes the situation may be more dangerous than she imagined.

As her fear rises, she faces the painful question of how far a parent can go to protect the child they love. The tension builds with each scene, making her inner struggle feel both real and universal.

The story takes place within a Chinese American household where cultural expectations and unspoken worries create additional layers of pressure. Lucy Liu captures these emotions with precision, while newcomer Lawrence Shou brings a raw, unpredictable intensity that deepens the film’s emotional impact.

Image Source: The Traveler’s Take

Building Momentum Through Festival Wins

Before reaching theaters, Rosemead had already made a strong impression on the festival circuit. Its premiere at Tribeca drew praise for its gripping approach to storytelling and its standout performances.

The film’s momentum continued as it won Best Narrative Feature at the Bentonville Film Festival, adding to its early recognition. It gained even more attention after earning the Prix du Public UBS audience award at the Locarno Film Festival.

During its time at Locarno, Lucy Liu also received a Career Achievement Award that highlighted her long-standing influence in the industry. Vertical’s Peter Jarowey praised her work for its emotional depth, while also recognizing director Eric Lin’s bold and confident vision in his feature debut.

Image Source: Yahoo

A Strong Screening at the San Francisco Metreon

The event at the Metreon brought together creators, film lovers, and local community members for an open discussion about the upcoming release. The gathering served as a space for people to share expectations, explore the film’s themes, and talk about the real-life issues it aims to portray.

The audience noted how the film reflects real family struggles, especially those found in immigrant households. Its grounded approach to fear and uncertainty sparked discussions about mental health and cultural expectations.

After the screening, conversations centered on Liu’s controlled yet deeply affecting performance. Lawrence Shou also drew attention for his breakout role, adding to the anticipation for the film’s one-week run in selected theaters this December.

Experience the film in theaters and see why it’s already drawing strong early interest. Rosemead is set to premiere in select theaters on December 5, 2025 in New York City; December 12, 2025 in Los Angeles, and more cities to follow on January 9, 2026.

Image Source: Nikolas Liepens

Nov 25, 2025
4 min read

Stories

The Story Behind Inspire To Create Media: How Trysen Kaneshige Uses Art to Heal and Connect Community

Born and raised in Kauaʻi, Hawaii, Trysen Kaneshige never imagined that a series of brain injuries would redirect the course of his life. Art, which had once been a hobby, became his lifeline—a way to heal, process, and reconnect with the world around him.

What began as a personal form of therapy soon turned into a mission: to use creativity not only for his own recovery but to uplift his community and share stories that mattered.

As he experimented with murals, branding, and design, Trysen discovered that each project could bridge culture, healing, and connection in ways he had never anticipated. Through perseverance and collaboration, he began working with brands like Volcom, Olukai, and Soulection Radio, while also leading projects for schools, nonprofits, and community organizations across Hawaii.

From these experiences, Trysen founded Inspire To Create Media, a healing-centered creative agency that blends streetwear aesthetics, cultural storytelling, and design to create work that resonates far beyond the islands.

Finding Inspiration in Adversity

Trysen’s path to entrepreneurship was shaped by necessity and resilience. “I wasn’t able to work a regular job since I would have a lot of migraines or dealt with depression etc. It’s been challenging but I’ve learned to be resilient and not give up. What also inspired me was to create something for my community and for the next generation that is after me,” he recalls. The setbacks could have ended his creative ambitions, but Trysen chose to focus on what he could control: his art and his recovery.

Instead of succumbing to frustration, he saw opportunity in every challenge. He began creating small pieces, testing ideas, and using art as a method to regain focus, confidence, and purpose. These early efforts helped him realize that healing and creativity could coexist and even amplify one another.

What started as a personal journey of recovery soon became a mission to uplift others. Trysen wanted to leave something meaningful for his community and for the next generation, showing that creativity could transform not only individual lives but also the cultural landscape of Kauaʻi.

Overcoming Challenges Without a Safety Net

The road to building a creative business was far from smooth. Trysen faced difficult challenges that he considered walking away from everything, grappling with both the physical and emotional toll of head injuries. Each day was a battle between self-doubt, pain, and the desire to keep moving forward.

Beyond personal health struggles, he had no investors, no team, and no corporate backing. Every decision, every financial risk, and every project came solely from his determination and willingness to learn through trial and error. “If I had someone that saw what I was creating in the beginning, it would’ve been easier,” he admits.

Gratitude and persistence became his anchors. By embracing the lessons from failures and small victories alike, Trysen built a foundation that was resilient, flexible, and authentic. This mindset allowed him to continue pursuing his vision even when support was scarce and the path ahead was uncertain.

Turning Achievements Into Community Impact

Despite obstacles, Trysen’s journey is marked by achievements that combine personal growth with community recognition. He takes pride in consistently showing up, even on days when recovery felt impossible, and in taking creative risks that shaped the identity of his agency.

Inspire To Create Media has earned acknowledgment on multiple levels—from Proclamations by Mayor Derek Kawakami highlighting community murals and workshops to features in local newspapers chronicling his evolving projects. These recognitions validate his belief that creativity paired with purpose resonates far beyond personal satisfaction.

For Trysen, the real measure of success is impact. Each mural, logo, or art initiative tells a story and strengthens the connection between people and place, leaving a lasting mark on Kauaʻi’s cultural and creative landscape.

Building a Healing-Centered Creative Vision

At the heart of Inspire To Create Media is a philosophy that creativity can heal, connect, and inspire simultaneously. From large-scale murals to branding and apparel, every project is designed with intention, reflecting local culture while appealing to a global audience.

Trysen explains, “Art became my way to rebuild, reconnect, and serve. What began as personal recovery grew into a mission: to use art as a tool for transformation for myself, for my community, and for the next generation of island creatives.”

Today, Inspire To Create Media continues to expand its reach, bridging art, healing, and business. Trysen’s story proves that even the toughest setbacks can spark the most powerful creativity—turning personal recovery into a force that inspires communities, cultivates connection, and demonstrates that a small island studio can have a big global impact.

Follow Trysen’s journey:

📍 @trys.creates | @inspiretocreate.media

Nov 14, 2025
4 min read

Stories

Building Meraki: How Vivian Kwan Turned Passion into Purpose

The first time Vivian Kwan realized she could build something on her own terms was during her college years in the U.S. — a time that completely shifted her perspective on what a career could be.

She found herself surrounded by students who were running side hustles, freelancing, and starting companies before graduation. It was a stark contrast to her upbringing in Hong Kong.

“Back home in Hong Kong, the path was pretty clear: study hard, land a stable job, and climb the corporate ladder,” she recalls. “But in the U.S., I met people who were building something entirely their own. That inspired me to think differently.”

Curious and driven, Vivian began experimenting — running a small photography business and creating content for fun. That experiment grew into Meraki Group, a boutique talent management agency representing a diverse roster of lifestyle creators — and now a 7-figure business built entirely from the ground up.

Redefining Success as a First-Generation Founder

When Vivian launched Meraki Group in 2021, she had no network, no outside funding, and no PR machine behind her, just the belief that creators deserved better representation.

As a first-generation Asian immigrant, Vivian was raised to stay quiet and keep her head down. “But entrepreneurship requires something different,” she says. “I had to learn to advocate for myself and my talents loudly and unapologetically.”

Without big teams or resources, she leaned into what she could control: being hands-on, transparent, and relationship-driven. That boutique approach became Meraki’s unique selling point: brands and creators know they can reach Vivian directly, and that trust has allowed Meraki to thrive against the odds. Today, Meraki has closed 300+ brand campaigns with brand partners like HOKA, REI, Shark, Columbia Sportswear, Libman, Google, and UGG.

The Challenge of Balance

Motherhood has always run parallel to Vivian’s entrepreneurial journey — two worlds that demand her heart in equal measure. In the early years of Meraki, she often found herself caught between deadlines and bedtime stories, client calls and school drop-offs. The guilt was relentless: every hour spent growing the business felt like time borrowed from her children.

But over time, her perspective shifted. She began to see that showing her kids what fulfillment looked like was one of the greatest gifts she could give them. Building Meraki wasn’t just about proving something to the industry — it was about showing her children what resilience, purpose, and self-belief looked like in real life.

“My kids deserve a mother who’s confident and happy,” she says simply. “That thought keeps me grounded when things get hard.”

A Year of Growth and Gratitude

In October, the Meraki community came to life in a way that no Zoom call ever could. Vivian and her team hosted their annual NYC dinner — an intimate gathering of creators, brand partners, and friends who had helped shape the agency’s journey. The room buzzed with laughter, warm reunions, and stories that stretched back to Meraki’s earliest days.

For Vivian, it was a full-circle moment. Many of the guests were creators she had signed during the uncertainty of the pandemic — people she had championed from afar before ever shaking their hands in person. Watching them share a table, swapping stories and ideas, felt like witnessing the agency’s spirit materialise in real life.

It wasn’t a night of flashy sponsors or curated photo ops, but of genuine connection — the kind that has quietly fueled Meraki’s success from day one. “What I’m most proud of isn’t the growth,” Vivian reflects. “It’s loyalty. Many of my creators have been with me for three or four years. In an industry where talent often comes and goes, that kind of long-term commitment means everything.”

What Comes Next

As Meraki continues to grow, Vivian is laying the groundwork for a new chapter — one that strengthens the agency’s foundation while amplifying its impact. She’s focused on expanding her team and refining systems to preserve Meraki’s signature boutique quality, even as it scales.

“I’m being intentional with this next chapter,” she says. “Before stepping deeper into consulting and mentorship, I want to make sure the agency continues to run with the same care and creative integrity it was built on.”

With that foundation in place, Vivian plans to open limited consulting slots and launch educational programs for creators and emerging talent managers. Her goal is to nurture the next generation of creative leaders — empowering them to build with heart, purpose, and the courage to redefine what success can look like.

Follow Vivian’s journey:
📍 LinkedIn | Instagram

Nov 7, 2025
4 min read

Stories

The Founders Behind Anise Health: How Two Women Are Reimagining Mental Health for the Asian Community

When Nisha Desai and Alice Zhang met at Harvard Business School, neither of them expected that a casual conversation about their frustrations with therapy would spark the idea for something much bigger.

As they juggled graduate school and their own mental health, they often felt therapy wasn’t built for people like them – they spent more time explaining their background to their therapists than actually healing.

They realized it wasn’t just them – there’s a gap in mental healthcare that left many in the Asian and multicultural community feeling unseen and misunderstood.

That shared realization became the seed for Anise Health: a platform built to make therapy culturally attuned, accessible, and truly effective for the AAPI community.

A Problem They Both Knew Too Well

Before their paths crossed, both founders had already seen the same issue from different directions.

Nisha, who grew up in Florida in a family of healthcare entrepreneurs, had always been drawn to questions of access and equity in care. After studying finance and marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and earning her MBA from Harvard, she worked in healthcare investing and later in digital product management at Humana. It was there, while helping build a mental health app, that she started hearing a troubling pattern from thousands of users – the same barriers she had personally faced.

Nisha recalls that people weren’t saying therapy didn’t work. They were saying it didn’t fit, that they didn’t feel understood.

Alice, meanwhile, came to the same conclusion through her own deeply personal experiences. Born in China, raised across Japan and Canada, and now based in New York, she calls herself a “third culture kid.” Her multicultural background gave her adaptability, but also a sense of never fully belonging anywhere.

That feeling resurfaced when she sought therapy during business school. Despite being fluent in English, she found herself translating her own emotions for her therapist – explaining why criticism from parents felt like love, or why pursuing excellence felt non-negotiable.

Alice remembers feeling exhausted after each session, explaining her background again and again, and leaving each time feeling unseen.

Alice Zhang (left) and Nisha Desai (right)

Building a Culturally Grounded Model of Care

After that pivotal conversation at Harvard, the two women began mapping out what culturally attuned mental health care could look like. They spoke to clinicians, patients, payors and community leaders, testing how cultural nuance could be integrated into evidence-based therapy and coaching.

They envisioned a new kind of care model: one that didn’t require clients to educate their therapists or set aside their cultural identity at the door. Instead, therapy would start from a place of understanding.

“Alice and I really built Anise to be what we believe our community has needed during our upbringing. What we kind of wished for ourselves through our own personal journeys with therapy.”

But building what didn’t yet exist came with challenges. They had to prove — to investors, clinicians, and even the broader healthcare system — that cultural context wasn’t just a “nice to have,” but essential to effective care. Many mental health professionals hadn’t been trained to deliver culturally adaptive therapy, so Anise Health had to design that framework from the ground up: provider training programs, accurate diagnostic tools, tailored care plans, curated resources and a scalable model for personalized, culturally attuned care.

Their persistence paid off. What started as late-night brainstorming sessions between classes evolved into a fully fledged mental health platform that blends clinical rigor with cultural empathy.

Growing the Movement

Since its founding, Anise Health has facilitated over 10,000 paid appointments and built a network of 60+ licensed providers across multiple states. The company is now expanding through insurance partnerships that make culturally attuned care more affordable and accessible.

Behind the scenes, Nisha leads operations and product design, while Alice drives partnerships and provider training.

Their complementary strengths, coupled with a shared sense of purpose, have helped Anise Health raise $6.4 million in funding and gain recognition as one of the top 10 most innovative Asian Pacific-led companies to watch by NYSE, Y Combinator, and Gold House.

Redefining the Future of Mental Health for Asian Communities

For both founders, Anise Health’s success goes beyond numbers. It’s about shifting how mental health is understood and delivered, starting with a community that has long been underserved and stigmatized.

“Our goal isn’t just to make care available,” Nisha says. “It’s to make it effective, culturally relevant, and sustainable within the healthcare system.”

By creating a new gold standard of culturally attuned care, Nisha and Alice aren’t just helping Asian Americans access therapy that finally feels like it speaks their language – they’re reimagining what inclusive mental health care can look like for everyone.

Learn more about Anise Health at anisehealth.co

Nov 4, 2025
5 min read