Find The Club That Wants You feat. Zarna Garg

Summary

Brutally Anna: Episode Summary – "Find The Club That Wants You" feat. Zarna Garg

Release Date: May 5, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of Brutally Anna, host Anna Kai welcomes Zarna Garg, a multi-faceted comedian, writer, and content creator known for her sharp wit and cultural insights. Zarna’s journey from practicing litigation to embracing motherhood and ultimately carving out a niche in the comedy world serves as an inspiring narrative of resilience and self-discovery.

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Zarna’s Background and Early Life

Zarna opens up about her early life, shedding light on her significant transition from a legal career to becoming a stay-at-home mother. She candidly shares her struggles with litigation, stating:

“[02:24] Zarna Garg: I tried to forget it. I was really bad at it.”

Her decision to leave law was influenced by the challenging nature of her work, particularly when she found herself unable to help her clients escape incarceration:

“[02:33] Zarna Garg: God is throwing a sign at me. Take it, girl, before I end up in jail.”

Zarna’s move to full-time motherhood in New York City, despite not being a conventional choice, highlights her commitment to her family:

“[03:06] Zarna Garg: It was not much of a decision. We were kind of stuck.”

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Transition from Law to Motherhood

Spanning 16 years, Zarna embraced the role of a stay-at-home mom, raising three children in the bustling environment of New York City. She reflects on the intense pressure of motherhood, admitting:

“[04:10] Zarna Garg: I think it's okay to say I love my kids, but I hate the job of mothering.”

This honesty underscores the often unspoken challenges of parenting, especially within the immigrant experience where cultural expectations are high.

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Realization and Embracing Motherhood Pressures

Zarna delves into the emotional toll of motherhood, sharing a pivotal moment that led her to reassess her life:

“[09:14] Anna Kai: It's gonna be me.”

“[09:16] Zarna Garg: The story of this... my husband took me in the room and said, 'you're freaking everybody out. What are you doing to yourself?'”

This conversation reveals the breaking point where Zarna acknowledges her need for personal fulfillment beyond motherhood, catalyzing her transition into comedy.

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Discovering Comedy

Encouraged by her daughter, Zarna attends her first open mic at the West Side Comedy Club in New York City in 2018. Initially hesitant, she improvises humor by addressing her mother-in-law, which receives an overwhelming positive response:

“[15:10] Zarna Garg: You know, I think this could be my thing?”

Her spontaneous entry into comedy ignited a passion she hadn't anticipated, leading her to explore a previously uncharted path as an immigrant and female comedian.

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Building a Comedy Career

Zarna discusses the unique challenges she faced in the comedy industry, especially as a woman starting later in life. She emphasizes persistence over fleeting successes:

“[10:37] Zarna Garg: You have to find your own solutions and make it happen for yourself.”

Her approach to comedy is deeply personal, drawing from her own experiences and cultural background to craft relatable and humorous narratives. Zarna's ability to turn rejection into reinvention is evident as she adapts her performances to better connect with her audience.

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Handling Rejections and Persistence

Zarna shares her strategy for overcoming setbacks in the competitive world of comedy. By minimizing distractions and focusing solely on her craft, she maintains her resilience:

“[55:29] Anna Kai: A happy page, to inspire and just.”

“[55:32] Zarna Garg: Come and have fun and feel like you can do whatever it is that I'm doing, because you really can.”

Her emphasis on consistency and adapting to the environment allows her to thrive despite facing numerous rejections, ultimately establishing a loyal fan base and successful performances in intimate venues.

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Memoir Writing

The conversation shifts to Zarna’s decision to pen a memoir, not as a profit-driven venture but as a means to inspire others facing similar struggles:

“[36:50] Zarna Garg: I really did this book as a service... Maybe it inspires people to take their own shots and fail and get up and fail again and get up.”

Her memoir encapsulates her authentic journey, offering candid insights and lessons learned, thereby serving as a blueprint for resilience and personal growth.

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Financial Independence and Women’s Empowerment

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around financial independence for women. Zarna highlights the precarious financial situations many mothers face and advocates for self-sufficiency:

“[41:24] Zarna Garg: One of the most startling statistics that I realized in the last few years was that the face of poverty in America is actually motherhood.”

She critiques societal expectations that often place the burden of financial management solely on men, stressing the importance of women taking control of their finances:

“[44:38] Anna Kai: It is just willful ignorance. And it is effectively, to me, what it feels like is that you are willing to be controlled because letting somebody else make your decisions for you is just so much easier.”

Zarna emphasizes that financial literacy and independence are crucial for women to break free from these constraints, encouraging women to educate themselves and take charge of their financial destinies.

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Closing Thoughts

As the episode concludes, Zarna imparts valuable advice on maintaining enthusiasm amidst the highs and lows of entrepreneurship:

“[51:10] Zarna Garg: Desperation. I have to be right. You remind yourself that this is a business. It's a game of persistence, not proof.”

Her pragmatic approach to business, coupled with her relentless pursuit of personal and professional goals, serves as a testament to her enduring spirit and serves as motivation for listeners to persist through their own challenges.

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Key Takeaways

• Resilience in the Face of Adversity: Zarna’s journey underscores the importance of perseverance and adaptability when navigating personal and professional transitions.

• Breaking Cultural Stereotypes: Her story challenges traditional immigrant roles, advocating for women’s independence and self-expression through unconventional paths.

• Embracing Authenticity: Zarna’s success in comedy is rooted in her genuine self-expression, highlighting the value of authenticity in connecting with audiences.

• Financial Empowerment: The discussion emphasizes the critical need for financial literacy and independence among women to mitigate vulnerability and foster self-sufficiency.

• Inspiring Others: Through her memoir and public persona, Zarna aims to empower others to take risks, embrace failures, and pursue their passions relentlessly.

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Notable Quotes

• Zarna Garg: “[04:10] I think it's okay to say I love my kids, but I hate the job of mothering.”

• Zarna Garg: “[55:32] Come and have fun and feel like you can do whatever it is that I'm doing, because you really can.”

• Zarna Garg: “[41:24] One of the most startling statistics that I realized in the last few years was that the face of poverty in America is actually motherhood.”

• Anna Kai: “[44:38] It is just willful ignorance. And it is effectively, to me, what it feels like is that you are willing to be controlled because letting somebody else make your decisions for you is just so much easier.”

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Conclusion

This episode of Brutally Anna offers an unfiltered glimpse into Zarna Garg’s transformative journey from law to motherhood to comedy. Her story is a powerful narrative of breaking free from societal expectations, embracing one’s true self, and fostering resilience in the face of adversity. Listeners are left with profound insights on the importance of authenticity, financial independence, and unwavering persistence in pursuing one’s passions.

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Follow Zarna Garg:
Zarna is active across multiple platforms, including RedNote and has plans to launch on OnlyFans. Connect with her to stay updated on her latest projects and comedic endeavors.

Follow Anna Kai:
Stay inspired by following Anna Kai (@maybeboth) across social media and subscribe to Brutally Anna on your preferred podcast platform for more honest and transformative conversations.

Transcript

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[Anna Kai]

Welcome to Brutally Anna, a podcast about finding love, losing love, and all the things we think about but don't talk about enough. I'm your host, Anna Kai, AKA maybe both across social media, here to remind you that life can be beautiful even when it's freaking brutal. Our guest today is a force to be reckoned with. Comedian, writer and content creator Zarna Garg. From practicing law, being a stay at home mom, and to becoming one of Variety's 10 Comics to Watch, Zarna's journey is nothing short of one in a billion. Known for her sharp wit, cultural insights, and unapologetically honest take on life as an immigrant mother, Zarna' his voice is one that's made waves on social media, in comedy clubs, and even on the Tonight show with Jimmy Fallon. But Zarna's story is about more than just laughs. It's about resilience, navigating cultural expectations, and using comedy as a tool for personal freedom and expression. Whether she's talking about her Indian roots, her experience as a mother, or her rise to fame, Zarna brings an authenticity that's refreshing, inspiring, and, of course, hilarious. Thanks so much for being here today.

[Zarna Garg]

Thank you for having me. I love this podcast. I'm so excited to be here.

[Anna Kai]

I'm so honored to have you on. I feel like we started recording the podcast before we actually started recording, so we will get back into the nitty gritty of it.

[Zarna Garg]

But first, let's do it.

[Anna Kai]

I want to hear a little bit about your background for people who don't know about where you came from because you transitioned from practicing law. Were you a litigator? Did I get that right?

[Zarna Garg]

Yes. I was in litigation.

[Anna Kai]

Okay.

[Zarna Garg]

I tried to forget it. I was really bad at it. I was really bad at it.

[Anna Kai]

Interesting.

[Zarna Garg]

At one point, all my clients were in jail and you couldn't get them out of jail?

[Anna Kai]

No.

[Zarna Garg]

And that was a sign. I was like, God is throwing a sign at me. Take it, girl, before I end up in jail. I was like, I should exit. Exit this chat out. And that was my sign. I got out of it. And then I was like, you know what? I got married to a smart guy for a reason. I'm gonna stay home.

[Anna Kai]

Okay, so you stayed at home for 16 years.

[Zarna Garg]

16 years.

[Anna Kai]

You were a stay at home mom for 16 years. Three kids, which is. Look, that's a job unto itself. Three in the city, too. We were talking about this. You decided to plant roots and make it work full time in New York City.

[Zarna Garg]

It was not much of a decision. We were kind of stuck. But yeah. Cause his job and, you know, the whole thing and like, why should a man be inconvenienced? So I will just crush my soul and sit in a shoebox.

[Anna Kai]

Cause it would have been better for you to have a car and a garage to throw the kids into.

[Zarna Garg]

But I was all about suburban life. I wanted it so badly. In my dream scenario, I have a house in New Jersey in the parking lot of Patel Brothers. The grocery store where, like every day I go get my fresh cilantro and make my own little chutney. Like, that's the dream I had.

[Anna Kai]

But what about now? Why can't you do that now?

[Zarna Garg]

Now I have people who do it for me. Okay, now the dream changed a little bit. I was like, you know what? I can have other people do that for me.

[Anna Kai]

But the dream got better. See, this is why sometimes you have to let go of the dream you had. Because the dream gets better.

[Zarna Garg]

Yes. And I'm gonna so get canceled for saying this, but 16 years of being with my kids full time, I learned something. I'm really not into them. I think you spent a lot of.

[Anna Kai]

Time with them, at least online it looks like. For not being that into them.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah, because it's business now. You know, they're my content. I was like, why am I the only one working? Make a video. Make a video about every stupid thing you're doing. Let's make a video. The thing is that I think it's okay to say I love my kids, but I hate the job of mothering.

[Anna Kai]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Zarna Garg]

It's a crushing burden on one human being in this country. There's no support in any way. I'm not even talking about, like, federal paid leave, all that important stuff. Cause, like, God knows that's never gonna happen. But it's like, you can't Even really have any, like, family around. That's just not the lives we live. So I think we're okay to say that. I now openly say it. I love my kids. Kind of one of them for sure. My older son. But the job.

[Anna Kai]

I thought you were gonna say Zoya.

[Zarna Garg]

Oh, no, she's a good. She's a girl. There are limitations. She's fine. She's not bad. But.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah, I feel like you're gonna have to. Chris, you're gonna have to edit out all my cackling in this because I wasn't expecting her. Funny.

[Zarna Garg]

Off of the. We gotta go. We're gonna. We're in show mode.

[Anna Kai]

Okay. So I put up an ask me anything the other day on my stories. And I said, tell me your secrets. Right. And somebody wrote into me, I hate being a mother, but I love my child.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

And I don't have children right now, even though I am at an age and I've been married. We are. We're going to have one child because we've decided, you know, hey, I'm Chinese. Let's bring it back to the. But also, you know, one child is manageable. Because I had a friend of mine tell me at one point, a girlfriend of mine, she said, look, we only had one child consciously, because we both work, we both love our careers, and at two children, somebody's career takes a hit, and it's usually the mom's.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

So. But you had three because you were like, I just want to be tortured three times over.

[Zarna Garg]

I am not me until I complicate the shit out of my own life. This is a gift I have been given from God, and it's the gift that keeps on giving. Every time I do something, anything, I find a way to, like, how can I make this more work, more complicated, more unhinged? I've written a screenplay, but I learned out of YouTube how to write a screenplay. That screenplay won the top comedy award in America. And I was like, one screenplay. This should be a trilogy. And I just started writing Three at a Time. This is my life. Like, you know, I've come to embrace the insanity that's my mind.

[Anna Kai]

But that's why you're here. And here's the thing, is I wanna know, why did you decide to start standup other than the fact that you embrace chaos because you were at a point in your life where, look, most people would have been like, I've raised three beautiful, successful children. Right? Yes. We're gonna head nod.

[Zarna Garg]

Look at him. One's dating a white girl.

[Anna Kai]

And you know, this is it for me. I should feel fulfilled in life. So why did you?

[Zarna Garg]

Oh, I was dying. I really.

[Anna Kai]

All 16 years, you were dying?

[Zarna Garg]

The first few years was, like, cute. You know, you play the role.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

The first few years you have the baby, it's all cute. There's blankets and pillows and, like, you know, you go for a walk with the stroller, and the stroller's new, and it's all, like. It's. It's cute. America glorifies it. You take the photos, you take the selfie, you write the book, the height, the blah, blah, whatever, and then it, like, adds up. And then you wake up one day, and you're like, 10 years of your life are just gone. 10 years? Just 10. Like, talk to any mother who has even one kid five years. Just close your eyes, and it's gone. And somehow everything you did was wrong. Like, if you breastfed, you shouldn't have, because whatever, this was wrong. If you didn't breastfeed, that was wrong. Somehow every choice you made will be like, was this the right choice? So I was dying towards 10 years into being a mom. I was like, I need to get back to work. I didn't come to America to obsess over my kids. Football and, you know, you get caught up. You get caught up in that life. And no one made me, so I'm not a victim. It's all me. I didn't just want to be a mother. I wanted to be the mother like, all of us. You know, it was like, my kid can't just run track. She's also gonna be ice skating and swimming and playing golf and playing the violin, and it was insane. But 10 years into it, I was like, you know what? This needs to stop. Like, actually, my husband had a moment with me. He's like, you have become scary and unbearable to live with. Can you imagine how bad it must be if he has to be like, somebody needs to tell her.

[Anna Kai]

It's gonna be me.

[Zarna Garg]

The story of this. What led to this was about this sock that a travel soccer game in Poughkeepsie. I took the wrong sock. And they were like, he can't play my son. At 4am we drove up, and they're like, he can't play. You didn't get the right sock. And we cried the whole way back. The whole story's in the book, people. Like, my book is like, it's all the truths out there. And I came home and I was like, nobody will ever use any socks without going through me and I started carrying a bag around and, like, yelling at everybody because I was like, don't touch that sock, don't. And my husband took me in the room and, like, not for sex. He was like, you're freaking everybody out. Like, what are you doing to yourself? What are you doing to me? Like, what is happening? And he's like, you have so much energy and you're wasting it over freaking socks. What happened to you? And I really took a step back and I was like, what happened to me? You know, you get so lost when you have a kid. You get so caught up in the hype of, like, good mothering and good parenting. And I was right there, like, fully responsible for my own insanity. I blame nobody for it but myself, but I was in it. And then I had to find my way out of it.

[Anna Kai]

But why comedy? Why do, like one of the hardest things ever, standup comedy?

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

And.

[Zarna Garg]

Well, first I didn't know it was hard.

[Anna Kai]

Okay.

[Zarna Garg]

I'm still not sure. They do a lot of standing around and whining. If you meet the comics, it's all hard. I'm like, this isn't like brain surgery. It's fine. I mean, I come from a family of doctors. You know, they're like doing lung transplants. It's not hard.

[Anna Kai]

But I think there's varying degrees of difficulty. Yes, doctors performing surgery is unequivocally harder, but there's something about standup comedy and comedy in general where you're very vulnerable. And it's, you know what, you have to put your ego on the chopping block and you have to be willing to be publicly humiliated if the jokes don't land. So. But why do that? That's really horrifying in a different way.

[Zarna Garg]

So Luckily, I have 26 years of training with the world class ego destroyer my mother in law. Like, literally, she lives for that every day. To remind me, like, she's like, my son got Lasik to marry you. You know? Yeah, yeah. It's a thing in our life. He got like, I remember back in the days, like, he. I bought him a Brooks Brothers jacket so he could meet you. So every day, imagine that life. But I wasn't thinking of comedy. What Asian woman is like, comedy is a business. My kids made me. My daughter was like, mom, I tried and failed at 17 businesses.

[Anna Kai]

Interesting. So you tried other things. It wasn't just like, I'm a mom and let me just try.

[Zarna Garg]

Travel, toothbrush, vegan chili, matchmaker. I was a matchmaker for a hot minute. The stars matched to my Three clients who paid for me back then. I'm so sorry. It was so bad. That whole job is like telling women it's not too late, but it's actually too late. But, like, the whole thing is, like, fake finessing. Like, no, no, no, no. Your guy is out there, and, like, you're like, he's not out there. But it was really, you know, it was, like, intense. But the good thing is that I recognized when the business was not going anywhere immediately.

[Anna Kai]

You knew when to quit.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah, I was very. There was. Even though I was passionate for a minute, when the first time I saw the sign that it's not gonna go anywhere, I cut the cord immediately. I was like, I cannot afford to waste any more time. I was already 40 something when I went down the road of entrepreneurship. And I was very frustrated because I had just won the top comedy feature award for my screenplay, number one award, beating out 11,000 scripts, and no one wanted to talk to me. No agent, no manager, no studio, nothing. So I was like, I don't know how to make a movie. I really thought if I wrote a great script, somebody will make it. It's not like that, by the way. The good script and how to get things made are not connected now. I know. And my daughter was like, mom, forget all this. You just need to get your voice out there. You need to just show people what you're about. And also, no one reads anymore. Even people who are paid to read don't read.

[Anna Kai]

They use ChatGPT.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah, yeah. They, like, summarize this for me, right? So she suggested comedy. And at that point, I had put my kids through 15 years of doing things they didn't want to do as a mom. So I was like, all right, I kind of owe it to them to do one thing that they think I should try. And I showed up at a comedy club that my friend recommended for the first time ever.

[Anna Kai]

Which one was it?

[Zarna Garg]

West side Comedy Club in New York City. 75th and Amsterdam.

[Anna Kai]

This was in 2018.

[Zarna Garg]

2018.

[Anna Kai]

Okay.

[Zarna Garg]

And I was like, you know what? I'll take a selfie. I'll show them that I was there. That's the end of it, that I did it. And I went there, and I was like, I didn't even know what comedy was. Like, we're Indian. I'm Asian, you're Asian. Like, who goes out to have fun? Like, if it's not an SAT prep class, I'm like, I'm not going there.

[Anna Kai]

Right?

[Zarna Garg]

So I went. And I was like, what are these people doing in all these comics, it was an open mic, which I didn't know what it was, but I was watching what was happening. And the woman who ran the club, also a mother of three, said to me, you're already here. Why don't you go up on stage and do five minutes? And I was like, five minutes of what? And she's like, just talk about whatever you think is funny. So I got on stage and I started trashing my mother in law, who doesn't think that's funny, right?

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

And they wouldn't let me stop. They were having so much fun. And I had a moment of like, could this be my thing?

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

You know what I mean?

[Anna Kai]

Well, because it was natural. Like, I think it's like a good relationship. The right career should be easy. Right. The work is always hard, but like, it should feel organic. And you had 26 years of your mother in law to draw from. So five minutes. Hell, you probably could have gone on for five hours.

[Zarna Garg]

Hours. I still can if you pay me enough. Yeah. I mean, I just started saying everyday stuff that she's been saying all these years and people were loving it. I couldn't believe. And I was standing there thinking, am I hearing like a click from the universe?

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

You know?

[Anna Kai]

And so was it full steam ahead after that or did it take you a while to do your next open mic?

[Zarna Garg]

So I did it the way I do everything, like a good Indian student. I really thought that I don't know comedy, but the comedians must exist. I just don't know. I was so buried in my own life that I was like, oh, this must be a thing that I just don't know about. And I started doing research, like Indian women, Indian women in comedy, mom comics, immigrant comics. And like, there's no one.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

Zero people. And I was like, that's not possible. How could that be possible? Right. But the more I dug into it, the more I was like, how can no one on earth be doing this? And that's when I was like, this is the business I've been waiting for.

[Anna Kai]

Because you found your niche. You are so. I remember when you first came across my for you page. I was like, who is this? This is so different. And I think one of your first jokes I heard was about your mother in law. And I was like, this is amazing. It was when your Amazon prime special came out. And I thought, this is absolutely incredible because there have been female comedians for a long time, but certainly none that started later in life. And I think you had a video at one point where you were like, oh, you know, people are always like, oh, you started later in life. You started later in life. And you're like, this is late in life. Like, you didn't necessarily feel like you were old, but then all of a sudden when you kind of broke out onto the scene, everybody else was like, you're old. How did you do it? How old were you, by the way.

[Zarna Garg]

When you were 44.

[Anna Kai]

44.

[Zarna Garg]

And I had no idea that I was late to anything.

[Anna Kai]

Right.

[Zarna Garg]

I was just busy living my life. And I remember I was on a CBS Morning news show with Gayle King, and she said, you know, it's so inspiring. You started later in life. And I was like, I did. You know, I had no awareness. I was just so busy living my life and, like, getting up and falling and failing and then trying something new that it never occurred to me. And I'm so grateful for it. I'm so grateful that I just never put any thought into the timing of it all. It just sequentially worked out the way it did, you know?

[Anna Kai]

But I think that's also why your comedy is so great. It's so detailed and nuanced in a way that everybody can relate to it because you've lived it. Like, I don't know if your comedy would have been the same way when you were 24.

[Zarna Garg]

Well, yeah, exactly. I don't know if I would have had the material. I mean, the young comics, God bless them, it's a lot of whining. It's a lot of whining about all the things their mom and dad didn't do. And that's just not who I am even as a person. So I don't know what I would even talk about back then. Now I have the perspective of being the parent, of being. To even be a full fledged immigrant. It doesn't really happen. It doesn't hit you until you have kids and you're raising them and you go through the trauma of raising them by yourself until you have kids. When you're an immigrant, you're basically on a study abroad program. Put your backpack on, go live where you want to live, do what you want to do. Sleep in, don't sleep in. It doesn't matter. When you have kids, it hits you that if you want to sleep in one extra hour, you got to pay somebody to watch that kid for that hour. Otherwise you can't do it.

[Anna Kai]

Right.

[Zarna Garg]

It's like, you know, yeah. So I'm glad I didn't even think about being late. Like, I don't Feel old now? I probably am.

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[Anna Kai]

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[Zarna Garg]

I was 16.

[Anna Kai]

You were 16?

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

And you lost your mother at a young age, right?

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah. How old were you at 14.

[Anna Kai]

At 14. So you came to the US two years after you lost your mother?

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

You don't talk about that a ton in your comedy, I feel like. But what was that experience like? Because I just, I found it and I was like, oh, that's really interesting that you lost somebody so pivotal in your life at such a young age. Like, you're so funny and you're so resilient and, you know, we have a. A couple mutual friends. And everything I hear about you through the grapevine is that you're so hardworking. You know, you take everything in stride. But like, I think about losing my mother right now at age 34, and I feel like I'd probably just like fall off the face of the earth for 10 years if that happened. How did you handle that as a 14 year old? And how do you find the will to go on and then create this life afterwards? Because you talk about the trauma of raising your kids, but to me that's more traumatic, losing the person who was supposed to raise you.

[Zarna Garg]

So everything in life is a gift and a curse. I lost my mother completely unexpectedly. She was 48. She got sick and then just never came back. The day after her death, my dad said, you need to get arranged. I was the youngest of four. He was like, I'm done parenting. And now as a parent myself, I kind of understand the exhaustion. I really do. I never held it against him that he said that, but I really do understand it now that I am a parent of three kids.

[Anna Kai]

But it was also cultural. I mean, arranged marriages are very much. Yeah. So it was the norm.

[Zarna Garg]

And I was at the point, at that point, I used to come and go to America a lot. My sister was living here, she was married and settled in America. So I was heavily influenced by American culture. I grew up with American pop culture. Even as a 10 year old in India, I watched all the TV shows, I read all the books, I read all the comic books. So I just like, my dad's like, you need to get married. I was like, no. And he goes, if you don't, you can't live here. I was like, I don't even wanna live here. I have so many friends, you know, a sassy 14 year old. I was like, who cares about your house? You know, I really thought my life would be one big slumber party. And I left on a whim. My house. And I just went to my best friend's house. And after two days, her mom's like, I think you need to go home. And that's when it hit me, you can't live here. Yeah, that's when it hit me. That, like, now what do I do? Cause my dad wasn't getting around, like, that's the thing that people in America don't understand. Sometimes they're, like, surprised by it. Back home in Asia, when the father says something, he means it. He's not negotiating it. This is what he expects to happen. So he was very much like, if you want to live in my house, that's how it's going to be, or figure it out. And that kind of put me on a journey of, like, how to live my. How to find that next step. And the only person who was willing to take me in to live full time was my sister who lived in America.

[Anna Kai]

So you took the option of, no, I'm going to.

[Zarna Garg]

But it took me two years to figure it out. Because, you know, getting even a visa to come to America, not easy from India.

[Anna Kai]

Right.

[Zarna Garg]

And with no parent taking you. I used to, like, circle the US embassy by myself as a 15 year old. And of course, it all got worked out. We figured it out. But, yeah, that's how I came here.

[Anna Kai]

So you avoided an arranged marriage, but then you did end up getting married. How did you meet your husband?

[Zarna Garg]

I met him online in 1997. Whoa. We are one of the original online dating stories, actually the earliest that I know of.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah. That is crazy. What website? It wasn't an app back then or what site?

[Zarna Garg]

It wasn't even much of a website. It was so new. I was a law student at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, and I was starting to feel old myself. I was like 21. And I was like, maybe my dad was right. I'm never gonna meet him. So old. Who wants, like, an old girl who can read? My whole life, my dad was like, oh, my God, please don't read. It's so bad for women. And I was an obsessive reader. Obsessive I still am. And he was like, this is the worst thing that can happen to you. And I was like, maybe being educated. Yeah, because now you have opinions and, like, nothing's gonna be easy for you in your life. So what happened is that I was in Cleveland, and, you know, Cleveland not having a lot of Indians back then, but it was the day, it was the year that AOL had just launched in America. You might even be too young to know what you're doing.

[Anna Kai]

No, I remember AOL because that was our first Internet, right?

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah, exactly. And their hoardings, their ads back then, that was a good sound effect.

[Anna Kai]

AOL should be. If you're Gen Z, you have no idea what But I'm like, that was. That was the og that was the. Actually was a beautiful sound because you knew your Internet was working and, like.

[Zarna Garg]

You waited like, you were so excited to hear it. But AOL's hoardings back then were like, open up your world. 1995, if you bought an AOL account, you opened up your world. I was like, all right, we need to open up my world.

[Anna Kai]

From Cleveland.

[Zarna Garg]

From Cleveland. And I bought that account. And I was like, what is this, even? And I remember goofing around and I saw a matrimonial site, Indian matchmaking site. Like, HTML, like characters, nothing, no photos, nothing. And I was like, what is this? Because I had seen my dad go the arranged route with three of my siblings. I knew that world really well. Most people on those sites were, like, writing ads like they were writing for newspaper. But now on the Internet, my son is 28 and a doctor and a whatever, and he earns this much. Cause Indians, you know, this much in dollars converted into rupee, like, the whole thing. And I'm, like, watching with fascination. And I'm like, you know what? Maybe I should put my own ad. Cause I had nobody. Like, I didn't have parents who were watching out for me. I couldn't put that on my sister. So in one inspired moment, I wrote a batshit crazy ad for myself. I was like, I'm short, I'm fat, but I'm looking for a life partner. Please don't be a friend. Don't text me. If you're a friend, you should be ambitious. Please don't be dumb. I wrote all kinds of things. I mean, in a moment. And I was like, sure, if somebody responds, maybe something there. I got hundreds of responses. I'm not kidding. You know why? Because back in 1997, I was the only woman speaking for myself on that platform.

[Anna Kai]

And there was something attractive about that.

[Zarna Garg]

I think the men were just excited to not having to go through somebody's mother and sister, right? All the other women were being spoken for, right? The men were speaking for themselves, but the women were like, my sister or my daughter, in my case. I was just out there. I was like, bring your tax returns if you wanna meet me. So unhinged.

[Anna Kai]

You are brilliant.

[Zarna Garg]

But I give that advice to date girls. I'm like, cast a narrow net. People make that mistake. You need one. Yeah, you don't have time. Who wants to go on 20 dates?

[Anna Kai]

You know, every time I hear the thing, you need one. I have PTSD from all the people in my comments who are like, but I'm polyamorous. I'm like, bitch, I am not speaking to you.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah, that's a whole different show.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah, I'm like, I'm talking to the monogamous who want one life partner. Because even one life partner. I'm like, where is he today? You know, it's a lot. Yeah. Okay, so cast a narrow net. You were very specific about what you wanted.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah. And not apologetic. Not intentionally. I honestly was too stupid to know it's wrong. I came from a world of arranged marriages where my dad would open. In hardcore arranged marriages, people openly asked, how much does she weigh?

[Anna Kai]

But that's also a cultural thing, like. Cause I'm Chinese. And very similarly, like, you know, if you've gained a couple pounds and you go see your Chinese auntie, she's gonna be like, oh, you look fatter.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

But it's not like a. You know, oh, my God. It's just like, you gained weight.

[Zarna Garg]

What's going on?

[Anna Kai]

Yeah, and fix it.

[Zarna Garg]

How can you fix it?

[Anna Kai]

And then, you know, people tell you. Before Zillow and Redfin, when everybody's houses were public knowledge in Chinese culture, I remember my parents, you know, when they had their friends over and I was a little kid, they would routinely talk about how much they paid for their houses, how much they negotiated off. You know, Asian people never brag about how much they spent on an item. They always brag about how much they saved. Of course, they're like, by the end, they're paying me to buy the item. Right. But then, you know, my parents would say they were like, chinese people and Indian people can never negotiate because they can never come to a meeting of the minds. Cause nobody wants to pay anything. Nobody wants to give anything, and everybody.

[Zarna Garg]

Wants that good deal.

[Anna Kai]

Everybody wants a deal, right?

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Anna Kai]

So, yeah. Okay. So your husband was one of hundreds of people that reached out to you?

[Zarna Garg]

No, he actually reached out to me to make fun of me. He wasn't actually responding to my ad. He was in Switzerland goofing around with his friends. They were like, just. The Internet was so new. We were all curious. So all these guys who were like, engineers working in Switzerland in these big fancy banks at night would be like, what is this? And they came upon my ad, my husband, and he emailed me. He's like, are you for real? What is this? And I was like, is this very real? And I'm on a mission. My ad actually said, I'm on a mission to build a successful life. You must be ready to join me. So I was like, did you read my ad?

[Anna Kai]

You sound like an ad for a cult. I know.

[Zarna Garg]

I was like, I was crazy. And I'm like, I own it. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. I was on my own. I had no idea. I'd never dated American style.

[Anna Kai]

Right.

[Zarna Garg]

I had watched Friends, and I was horrified. I thought Friends was a horror show. Everybody was dating everybody. Nobody ever got married. There was no real commitment. And then they were all living in one apartment. It sounded so bad to me that I was like, you know, please don't be afraid.

[Anna Kai]

You're, like, the opposite of whatever, the opposite of friendship.

[Zarna Garg]

But he really did respond to, like, be like, you're not. You can't be real. And, you know, he is a student of the most elite university in India, so grew up being told, he's amazing. He's amazing. So complete opposite experience of my life. So he was very taken aback by this woman who's like, who are you even? And you're not even in America. Why are you wasting my time? Because I was like, I'm here now. I'm gonna meet somebody here and make my life here. He was in Europe, but he was very curious and very like, I would love to meet you. I'm like, did you. Again, if one refers to my ad, I don't just meet people. I'm meeting to get married. I was very clear, I want to get married. That's another thing I do tell people now, if you want to get married, just say that. That's your intention.

[Anna Kai]

Yes. Okay, wait.

[Zarna Garg]

Right.

[Anna Kai]

I have never been a casual dater. Even when I was 20 years old, I remember thinking, freshman year of NYU, I went to NYU for college, and I met this guy, like, orientation. I think I was 19 at the time. And I was like, if he's my husband, great. We can check that off of the box.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

You know, I'm like, it's great, but I think especially in my early 20s, and I don't know if you felt this, but there was a lot of pressure, especially if you're like a feminist, to be like, we're just having fun. I can do this. We can be casual. And I just realized I never wanted to be casual. It seemed pointless to me because I wanted to do something with my life, even though I was going about it in a very unconventional way. And just having casual relationships just seemed like a waste of time to me. I got no fulfillment out of it. But it's very uncool to say that. It's very Uncool to be like, I just want to find a husband.

[Zarna Garg]

Right.

[Anna Kai]

I was like, I don't even care about a fucking boyfriend at this point. Like, let's just work.

[Zarna Garg]

Because I think people assume husband means you want somebody to take care of you. And that's not what it ever meant to me. And I don't think to you. No, I think it meant more like, I want a partner to build something with.

[Anna Kai]

Yes.

[Zarna Garg]

And I don't think there's any shame in that.

[Anna Kai]

Well, you know, practical people win, which is. You coined that. I always thought about that because that's how I was raised. Like my parents and like Asian culture, immigrants, they come here and they have to stay together. Like, you know, Asian families, like, half of them, it's like, it is a business. It's a family business. The family is the business. Right?

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Anna Kai]

And so there was none of this kind of, oh, traditional male, female roles. Everybody just did what was necessary to survive. Like my parents, there was no, like, well, you know, I'm the man. I do this. You're the woman. It's like, whatever. We need to. We need to find money. The kid needs to get fed. Whoever can do it.

[Zarna Garg]

And the kid can run the office today.

[Anna Kai]

Exactly.

[Zarna Garg]

Like, you have Sundays off. Let's go.

[Anna Kai]

Well, I used to go. My mom, her first job in the States was she was a nanny and a house cleaner. I used to go with her to every job. And I started staying home alone when I was like, eight at a very young age because she had to go to work. And I just got. Got to a point where I was like, I don't want to go with you. And they're like, well, we're not paying for a babysitter.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

Because mom is the babysitter. So you'll just figure it out. I was like, I'm pretty sure that's illegal now, but whatever, it's fine. It is. It's.

[Zarna Garg]

It's a reality for a lot of kids.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

Even today.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

I mean, we can call it whatever it is, but that is the reality.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

Where are the women supposed to get help from? This is when it hits you. I'm sure it hit your mom one day.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah. Well, she had no family.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah. And she's all alone and she has to work.

[Anna Kai]

Right. And she's got to figure out how to do it. All right, Zarna's back from the bathroom after how many glasses of water and cups of coffee. We've got a little beverage station over here.

[Zarna Garg]

Depends if you need a spokesperson. I'M available for my very reasonable high price.

[Anna Kai]

Get in touch with her agents. Tell me about this book. What is like, first of all, why did you want to write a memoir at this stage? Because to me, people write memoirs when they're like 10, 15 years into their careers. You are like, you're on fire and you're just getting started. Why not write a memoir? Well, you'll write a memoir in 10 years, too. But why now?

[Zarna Garg]

Because I wanted to answer the questions that everybody asked me everywhere I go. How do I get started? How do I get into it? When they're asking me, I see curiosity in their eyes for themselves. I feel like they're not asking me to know my journey. They're asking because they have questions for their own lives. Like they all want to do something but don't know how to get started. Somehow I've become the inspiration for that. Unintentionally, I didn't think that I was doing anything inspiring, inspiration worthy. God knows I've failed so much, but that same question has come up so much. I really did this book as a service, which I'm completely against. As an Indian. Usually I only do for profit. Like, people, you know, reach out. They're like, I have a charity. I'm like, I'm for profit because I've got too many responsibilities to get into it with everybody. But I truly wrote this book thinking if I can put all my entire journey and the whole authenticity of it, everything is true. Everything happened the way it says. Maybe it inspires people to take their own shots and fail and get up and fail again and get up. In addition to all my losses during the pandemic, my husband lost his job. So my comedy went from like, I'm a lady who lunches and does open mics. I went from that to like, oh, my God, like, we need money.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

You know, we live in Manhattan. We're a family of five. It goes fast. When there's no income coming in, it goes so fast. We lost everything during the pandemic. Everything. Our 401k, everything. The amount of pressure that we were under. And my poor husband for 22, 23 years had been running this life by himself. I really felt like it's not fair that it's time for me to step up and I can. I did it as a challenge to myself.

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[Zarna Garg]

And I rounded my kids up and I was like, we're gonna do this together, and everybody's gonna be part of it with me. And they were like, what are we gonna do? I said, I'm gonna be famous for a living.

[Anna Kai]

That's amazing, because somehow fame gets you paid.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah. And I was like, all right, if that's how we get paid, that's what we're gonna do.

[Anna Kai]

Well, and I love, again, your brutal honesty is so refreshing. Because as we were, you know, during the break, I was talking to Haley over here behind the camera about how you say the things that truly everyone is thinking, but people are too scared to say, like, one of my favorite videos of yours that you made. Actually, it might not have been a video. It might have been a carousel post. This was a year ago. And you said, I was in a meeting. You were in a meeting with some executive, and he was asking you what your purpose was for doing all of this. You know, why you work so hard. And you were like, money. And then he goes, okay, but beyond that, what is your purpose?

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

And you were like, money. And then he asked, and it's like, I think your point was especially women, like men are allowed to be driven purely by dollars and cents, but women, for some reason, when we get into interviews, we have to have some higher charitable cause. Bitch, I wanna buy nice things. Yeah, okay.

[Zarna Garg]

Or just pay off my mortgage.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

I have to remind other moms my age.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

That those kisses from your kids are not going to pay off your mortgage.

[Anna Kai]

Right.

[Zarna Garg]

Wake up. One of the. One of the most startling statistics that I realized in the last few years was that the face of poverty in America is actually motherhood. If you're a mother and by some force of life, you end up being single, the odds are actually very high that you're going to end up in really dire financial circumstances. It woke me up, too. And I'm like, in a happy ish marriage. Okay. I mean, like, happy ish, depending on the day. No, we're good. My husband and I were good. He works. He works a lot. I work a lot. But women just feel like, oh, but I'm married and I'm married. Well, or my dad or whatever. No, you gotta do this for you. And I'm very like, I just don't have the time or the energy to bullshit. I honestly don't. I do too many things. And like my daughter, I had. I had forced her to be part of a Teen Miss Teen New York competition. This is a whole another story. But I made her do it because she's five feet tall. And all our lives, her life and my life, we always thought that to be beautiful, you had to be tall. But we're both short girls. And I was like, you know what? I don't think she should have to live with the burden of that. I grew up in a different world, so on a whim, I signed her up for Miss Teen New York. And they. And she made all kinds of rounds. And she was like, what am I doing? I'm not a pageant girl. I was like, just do it, you know, See what it's like. Let's figure out what this world is like. It'll be an interesting thing we'll do. But one of the things I learned, you know, when they. They prep you for the Q and A, when you're in the finalist, like the final 20 or whatever, that they might ask you this, they might ask you that, and you need answers. Ready to go. One of the things they prep you for is if you win, what will you do with the winnings, with the money? And my daughter, being the daughter of me, was like, I'll start a business because that's what she wants to do. And they're like, no, no, you have to have a charitable cause. Like, what? I was like, these girls are teenagers. Why aren't they allowed to have their own ambitions? Like, it's one thing to say to a grown woman who's lived her life, like, what's your charitable aim? These girls are just getting started. Why are we Already, like, burdening them.

[Anna Kai]

With taking care of everybody else.

[Zarna Garg]

Would you ever say that to a boy?

[Anna Kai]

No.

[Zarna Garg]

Would you ever say to a boy, like, but what is your charity? Like, what. And it became, like, another moment of reality for her. For me, like, the world is not set up to help us or even to help us refine our ambitions. We're gonna have to do it ourselves.

[Anna Kai]

But I think, and even in this day and age, and I find this too, amongst some of my peers, it's like, if you married well, quote, unquote, there is almost glory in never looking at a bill, in never having to think about how your money is invested. You know, I've been around groups of women where they're like, oh, I don't understand anything about the money that comes in or the money that goes out. You know, my husband handles all of that. And every time I hear that, I don't know what it is, it just, like, infuriates me. Because it's weaponized incompetence.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

Because it is just willful ignorance. And it is effectively, to me, what it feels like is that you are willing to be controlled because letting somebody else make your decisions for you is just so much easier than choosing to live your own life. It's hard. Okay. It's hard making your own decisions. I. I mean, I grew up the daughter of Chinese immigrants. I didn't know what a 401k was. I didn't know what the S&P 500 was. When I was in college, I dated a guy, and I had no idea at that time what an investment account was. The stock market scared me.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

Because I just thought I was. I was 18 when 2008 happened. So to me, I was like, you know, I was a cognizant, like, being. I was, like, in college, I was like, this is. This could make your money go away. Why would anybody invest in the stock market? I don't understand, like, this. Don't touch it. You know, I didn't understand inflation either. And I remember my ex in college just being like, oh, you know, you need to read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. That was the book of the century. And he would quote it like he was some Goldman Sachs financial advisor. And I always thought, oh, my gosh, like, he's a man, he's white. He grew up wealthy. Like, I need somebody like this to teach me because my parents sure as hell didn't know. And over time, I realized, like, rich dad, poor dad, we gotta move past that. Yeah. But also, you know, what was so boss in My family. My mother taught herself how to trade and how to invest and. Cause my father was too busy working. He had no idea. Like, he's like, I can't look into this. So she was like, you know what? She had finally, they'd gotten to a point where she could stop cleaning houses. Right. And babysitting.

[Zarna Garg]

That's a journey.

[Anna Kai]

That is a journey. And she was like, I am going to teach myself how the stock market works. And she taught me, I don't know anything, but I know enough to be like, this is where I'm gonna put my money. It's actually quite simple. You put your money in the s and P500 if you don't wanna pick your own stocks and you just don't take it out. And I couldn't believe I thought I needed a man for that, you know? But I think that's what it is. We don't teach young girls. Why did I learn calculus in high school? And not how the stock market works. Right. But we don't teach young girls that it's honorable, that it's cool to handle your own money. We teach them that it's cool to have a husband who handles it for you.

[Zarna Garg]

Oh, my God. But we've all. I mean, I've lived that blissfully ignorant life, and I, like, I can't even imagine now, because now that I am an entrepreneur running my own business, I'm so much better at it than any man I can see around me. It's actually not that hard. To all the women who are watching this, it is not that hard. Like, I'm not kidding. I listen to men speak and I'm like, you need to sit down, chipmunk. You don't know what you're talking about. Let me handle this. Because we get involved and we fix it. I see a problem and I like. The pathway to fixing it is so clear in my head. Whereas some guys. Not all, but many, many guys, I don't know, that's a lot. Like, you know, we're content creators, you and I.

[Anna Kai]

Right.

[Zarna Garg]

Do you know how many people will be like, how did you do it? And we tell them. I tell them it's not that deep. Make a video every day.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

Oh, that's a lot of work.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah. But the time will pass anyway.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

So you can either make.

[Zarna Garg]

Like, I don't know what to say to you. There's no way to do it without doing it.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah.

[Zarna Garg]

So. But now that I'm running a business, I'm telling you, I'm so good and I know so many phenomenal female entrepreneurs. Our instincts are actually designed to win at this game. We just haven't been channeling them. We've been channeling them on, like, what will my husband like to eat? It needs to be redirected. You know what I mean?

[Anna Kai]

But I think in general, women are just. We're better multitaskers. I think that's been proven time and time again. I'll never forget my mother in law said this amazing thing one time over the phone in just a moment. She was like, cause she's been married to my father in law for like 40 some years and they're a great team together. But she said, because in a moment, like, he couldn't figure out how to turn the gas off, I think on the stove. She was like, honestly, if I ever get hit by a bus, you need to get remarried the next day because you cannot do this life without me. And I think the statistics show that when, like, a woman passes away, her husband is much more likely to pass away very quickly after because they just don't want to figure out how to do life without them. Like, I haven't been married that long. Okay. I've been with my husband for almost seven years. I've been married for two. But the other day he walked past me and asked me what our zip code was.

[Zarna Garg]

Oh.

[Anna Kai]

And I was like, what do you mean? What is our zip code? He was like, oh, my credit card company is asking what is our zip code?

[Zarna Garg]

Oh, well, now look, there's a reason to know what your zip code is.

[Anna Kai]

Yeah. So. And then I say to him, I was like, okay, fair. He was like, look, we haven't lived there that long. We just moved a month ago. We've been in the house for a month. I was like, all right, fair. I was like, do you know our old zip code? The place where we lived in for three years? And he said a zip code. That was incorrect. And I was like, and this is why women, it's just not that hard. Our brains are wired to handle this information.

[Zarna Garg]

It can be done. I mean, we should get in it. It's a game. Now that you treat entrepreneurship like a game, like a business, it's actually fun.

[Anna Kai]

I think it is very fun. And I think it's very exhausting. And here's the thing is, like, the highs are very high and the lows are very low. But to me, it's better than being bored. It's better than the day in and day out of the monotony of just everything sort of at an even keel. Something you said to me when I came in, though. Cause I was commenting on, you've had this massive wave of success, at least what it appears to me as a follower. And you have. So I want to give credit to that. But you also said, you know what? I take so many hits every day that I don't post about.

[Zarna Garg]

No.

[Anna Kai]

How do you maintain your sense of enthusiasm? How do you push past all of that? Because for so many people, it's so hard to look at the successes and look at the failures and not give more weight to the failures. I know. I do that all the time. You know, I'm like, oh, my God, is my career ending? My husband's like, but all of this good stuff happened this week, and you're focused on the one video that didn't perform the way you thought it would. How do you stay grounded?

[Zarna Garg]

Desperation. I have to be right. You know, you remind yourself that this is a business. Like, I like to remind myself that winning in business is a game of persistence, not proof everybody can do it once, twice, five times, ten times. It's the people who can do it over and over again, consistently through life's ups and downs that will win the long game. So it just becomes a pathway of, how do you hang in there through the downs? And I have a lot of tricks to, like, help me ride out the downs. I get rejected every day from things. I take random crazy shots that you can't even believe. I will have my agent call, like, the biggest name on earth and be like, I should open for you. And of course they're gonna be like, no, but I don't take it personally anymore. And I've learned as a woman. And this is gonna sound so bratty, but I'm just gonna say it. One thing that has helped me greatly is removing all the friction from my life that I can. Like, I take car service everywhere because I sit in the backseat and I work. I focus all my energy on propelling myself so that I don't have time to, like, absorb the hits. I don't dwell on it. Like, if somebody says, no, I'm right. Now in 2025, after having two comedy specials out, there are clubs in New York City that don't want me. And that's okay. I'm like, you know what? You don't want me. You don't want me. We move on. We find the club that wants me, and we move on. I've built a bigger business in a modest club on the Upper west side than most clubs in the rest of New York City. Because once I realized that these clubs are playing stupid games and they're in it for stupid prizes, I just went and built my own thing and a tiny club and made it my thing. I now do shows at this tiny club that people fly in from all over the world to watch. You won't believe it, because a lot of comics, for example, conventional wisdom will be like, touring, touring, money. I can't afford it. I have three kids, a lot of responsibilities, and I'm working on very major projects that require me to be grounded. I lose time sitting in an airplane where I can't zoom and continue my business. So I've kind of reversed it to a large extent where people reach out to me, when are you coming here? When are you coming there? I'll be like, you know what? Why don't you come to New York? Support my city. I will give you the show of your life. People come with their kids, their husbands, families in laws. So many women come with their mother in laws, and they had the best night of their life at my show. And I feel kind of good about it because I'm bringing business to my city and I'm removing all the friction that I can. Now, of course, I don't get the big touring money that people get from flying all over the place, but what it does is it grounds me in one place and I can focus on other projects that I want to be doing because I'm not losing time flying all over. So you have to find your own solutions and make it happen for yourself. And I pride myself on being a woman who understands what other women want in a show. Because I do live shows. I feel like, for example, men love to do big venues. The traditional path, big, bigger. Like you did Beacon. Now do Madison Square Garden. Me, as a woman, I don't like going to Madison Square Garden. I like the smaller venues where it's full service, they bring you your food and drink. That's my ideal night out. So I do a lot of thinking about, like, what works. And because I'm so consumed with serving my audience, I just don't have time to talk about my losses. And I don't want to post my losses. Not because I want to lie to my audience. My fan base is actually very motivated and loyal like yours. I've seen your fans. I don't want to put the burden on them to make them feel bad and make me feel good every day. I know what my fan base will do if I post a rejection letter. I know exactly how they will activate. They'll be like, they didn't mean it. They'll go after the people who did that. You know what I mean? They're very passionate, but I don't want to put that burden on them. I want my page to largely be.

[Anna Kai]

A happy page, to inspire and just.

[Zarna Garg]

Come and have fun and feel like you can do whatever it is that I'm doing, because you really can. There's nothing I tell people that the most extraordinary thing about me is that I'm completely ordinary. There's nothing extraordinary about me, like, and everybody can do what I'm doing.

[Anna Kai]

That is the most amazing inspirational. How long? Five minutes ever. I need to clip all of that and save it. Thank you so much for being here. I cannot think of a better way to end. You wrote your own comedy special on this podcast. I cannot wait to dive into this book. Do I get to keep this?

[Zarna Garg]

Yes.

[Anna Kai]

Everybody go buy this book. This is amazing. You're incredible. I cannot wait to see you take off even further than you have. And I'm going to use that persistence over proof.

[Zarna Garg]

Yeah. That's the game.

[Anna Kai]

That is the game.

[Zarna Garg]

The people who hang in there. So through the down times, make the downtimes comfortable. Get that two hour massage. Get whatever you need to get to take that break to recalibrate and get back in the game. What people do is when they get hit, they quit. You can't quit. You just have to understand this is a temporary valley you're going through. And how are you gonna, like, put that Gucci shawl on and make that ride smoother? Whatever that version of it is for you, for some people, it's like, have this opulent takeout. For some people, it's for me, it's all of it. I'm so bad.

[Anna Kai]

Spend all the money.

[Zarna Garg]

Spend it all. But not because it's dumb. It's an investment. It's an investment in building. Like the downs are gonna come.

[Anna Kai]

Well, your joy is an investment, you know?

[Zarna Garg]

Well, I mean, joy, like, we don't like that word as Asians.

[Anna Kai]

I knew you. It's not about joy.

[Zarna Garg]

It's not about joy, but it is an investment. And I have learned, like, you know, and I teach my daughter, my sons the same thing. You know, they take hits every day, too. I'm like, I don't. Don't dwell on it. Don't give it energy. Move it along.

[Anna Kai]

I feel like you're my Indian auntie giving me advice. Thank you so much, Zarna. Where can everyone find you?

[Zarna Garg]

Thank you, thank you for having me. Arnagarg everywhere on pretty much all platforms. Even RedNote and OnlyFans coming soon. Yeah, because why not the feet? Come on.

[Anna Kai]

I know the feet could pay off.

[Zarna Garg]

We can make some jokes about that. Yeah.

[Anna Kai]

Thank you so much.

[Zarna Garg]

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

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