Whenever I order something from Starbucks I tell the Starbucks partner my name is "Girish, as in Gee Irish." Most Starbucks partners find this amusing and either chuckle or comment how brilliant my name breakdown is. The only place in the world where I don't have to breakdown the spelling of my name? India. In India all I have to do is manage to say my name the "right" way: [Gir-ish]. Just in case this and my picture haven't made it clear -- ethnically, I am Indian. But I have some noteworthy twists.

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I was born and brought up on the smallest nation in the world that is peacefully divided by two larger countries: France and The Netherlands. While the French side is a part of France, the Dutch side is an independent country within The Kingdom of the Netherlands. What's more? It's an island in the Caribbean -- which means its features are bound to take your breath away. The French side of the island is "Saint Martin" and the Dutch side is "Sint Maarten."

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After graduating from the Learning Unlimited Preparatory School in Sint Maarten, I headed a little more than 3,700 miles northwest from my 37-square mile paradise-home to pursue my undergraduate education at the University of California, Berkeley. For the first two and half years of college, owing to my love for animals and science, I was a dedicated pre-veterinary medicine student. Then while pursuing research (at UC Berkeley you are reminded time and again that it is in your best interest as an undergraduate student to take advantage of the university's strong research program), I discovered what public health is and felt it was a field that existed at the intersection of many of my professional interests. Towards the end of my third year of college I then decided I would apply for Master of Public Health programs.

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Once I received my Bachelor of Science in Molecular Environmental Biology from UC Berkeley, I headed east to the charming campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. During my masters program I balanced being a dedicated student with research work and teaching jobs. And in May 2016 I graduated with a Master of Public Health in Health Policy, Management, and Global Health.

 

While I enjoyed experiencing four complete seasons by being on the East Coast of the United States, I couldn't help but remember how much I enjoyed being in Northern California. And so I focused a lot of my job search efforts towards San Francisco and the Bay Area. A few months later I began working as a program manager at the Center for Global Surgical Studies at the University of California, San Francisco. Led by practicing trauma surgeons, the Center's mission is to improve access to quality surgical care in low-resource settings through research and education. My job had many aspects, but to summarize, I was responsible for (1) coordinating, supporting, and mentoring several research projects that students and residents were conducting; (2) fundraising; and (3) public relations. Amongst my exciting outcomes from this job are thirteen (and counting) peer-reviewed scientific publications on which I am a co-author (look me up on Google Scholar) and the awarding of two National Institutes of Health research grants.

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After approximately two and a half years of being in San Francisco, I missed being in Sint Maarten and around my family too much and so I decided to move back home in the summer of 2019. Because it would likely mean me having to put a pause to my endeavors within the healthcare industry, I knew moving back home would be bittersweet. There was no obvious place in Sint Maarten where my education and training would be needed; that was the bitter part of me wanting to move back home. On the other hand, the prospect of becoming a part of my family's jewelry business was very exciting to me. Going back to my home – to be closer to my family and the jewelry business – was what would make the move sweet. At the same time, I serendipitously found myself being presented with opportunities to get back to doing work in the health industry. One thing led to another, and I eventually found myself spending lot of my time in Sint Maarten developing and exploring my entrepreneurial interests in the healthcare industry through the company I founded, One Health Consulting.

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When I decided to join my family's jewelry business, other than learning the business as it was, my calling was always to bring my creative interests to the business. Beginning in the summer of 2023, I decided to focus on my creative, entrepreneurial visions. I formally started on this journey by getting training in jewelry design, computer-aided design and manufacturing, and diamonds at the Gemological Institute of America in New York City. My approach to designing jewelry combines my education and experience in science and the love I have for my beautiful Caribbean home.

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