asma khan and the art of knowing your worth

Asma Khan is a powerhouse, and a joy to listen to.

Khan sat down with Trevor and Eugene for a rich conversation on the what now? podcast about her upbringing, her restaurant, her success, and everything in between. She reflects on moving to England and how feeling homesick became the inspiration behind her culinary genius.

She talks openly about turning pain and rejection into her superpower.

There is plenty of hardship in Khan’s story, but there is just as much joy. I love the lightness that Khan approaches the hardest parts of life with. She laughs, turns difficult experiences into stories, and keeps moving forward.

She keeps building.

When the conversation turns to the Michelin, Khan shares her thoughts about what that distinction means. Michelin represents one version of what excellence in fine dining could look like, but Khan wasn’t interested in building within the bounds of someone else’s definition.

Khan has long questioned why Indian cuisine is treated as casual despite its immense complexity and centuries of culinary tradition. She’d heard the argument firsthand that customers wouldn’t pay a premium for her biryani because Indian food wasn’t valuable enough.

Khan disagreed. Rather than argue the point, she tested it.

Her biryani sold out within minutes.

She didn’t need to make it more familiar to the world of fine dining, nor did she need to borrow legitimacy from an institution before it could command a high pricing tier.

It was valuable on its own terms. Inherently.

The thing about building something of your own is that you have to learn to hear past the noise and trust what you know to be true, no matter what.

And you have to believe in yourself. Khan talks about the importance of having that inner conviction, but she also speaks about the power of having someone else believe in you. Her sister’s support played an important role in shaping the woman she would become.

Building anything requires some combination of confidence, conviction, and delusion. Having someone in your corner who can see what you are becoming before you can fully see it yourself can mean everything.

But eventually, you have to believe it, too. That part is yours.

Go build your own category, bb. And if you’re lucky enough to be the person someone trusts with their loftiest dreams, believe in them loudly. You never know how much it could change their world. ✨

Cheering you on, loudly, always. 💗