Mr. Rishad Tobaccowala (Masala Chat Project)

Description

Rishad Tobaccowala, 57, is an advertising executive and pioneering member of the Chicago Indo-American community. The interview includes detailed discussion of his successful career at the Leo Burnett Advertising Company, which was the largest advertising agency in the world at that time. He led the firm into the digital advertising industry and understood the power of new media in ways that distinguished him from the rest of his cohort. Throughout the interview, he reveals himself to be thoughtfully philosophical about how to live a good life, giving advice freely. Rishad is also Chairman of his family foundation, which does most of its charitable work in India but also helps students with tuition at the University of Chicago, where he and his father attended school. Other topics discussed include: acculturation to American society, comparing and contrasting the philosophies of the US and India, American pop culture, "model minority" status, and having a family.