Our Story
Our Story
Our Story
How the inner voice lead us
to a sweet spot
Once upon time, we were traders on Wall Street. Everything was going well, but there was only one problem. A sense of purpose was missing.
Without much of a plan, Alak finally gave in to her inner voice and quit her job. White boarding sessions began over a cup of steaming hot chocolate - our constant. We were passionate about doing something in wellness and food. And one aspect that kept popping up was Ayurveda.
Unlike many health trends that had emerged and vanished, Ayurveda had been around for over 5000 years! It stood the test of time. Turmeric, Ayurveda’s poster child, was walking the ramps all over, but Ayurveda was still patiently waiting for her moment.
We knew that we had to dress her up in a bar of chocolate and present it to the world.
Looking back, Ayurveda was so deeply rooted in our ecosystem growing up. However, we barely valued it. Over the last 16 years, as we grew in our meditation practice, our eating habits started to align with Ayurveda. A somewhat unvalued science that was culturally integrated in our lifestyle growing up was now gently navigating us back to our roots.
Alak got busy in the kitchen, while Kushal became the official taste tester. One day, against the resistance from every cell of her body, he signed them up for a local market in Williamsburg.
“We were sold out in the first few hours. And we knew we were up to
something.”
Elements is rooted in Ayurveda, and in our passion
for clean, functional and yummy food.
Alak Vasa & Kushal M. Choksi
Founders, ElementsMeet the Founders
Alak
Alak
Alak worked on Wall Street as an algorithmic trader during the week and worked as a chef’s assistant at a patisserie over the weekends. Prior to that she worked with Cisco systems.
Alak has a graduate degree in Computer Science from University of Southern California (USC).
Alak is a mediation and wellness instructor with Art of Living Foundation. She is passionate about teaching breathwork and meditation.
Alak calls herself an ‘approximate chef’ - as she is adept at whipping up the most well balanced yummy meals and desert on the fly. She loves to cook and bake for everyone. Her secret ingredient - love. When not in the kitchen, she is found practicing her beautiful cello.
Kushal
Kushal
Kushal worked on Wall Street as a quant, trader and portfolio manager. He played leadership roles at Goldman Sachs, Athilon and BlackRock. After a long financial career, he plunged into the world of startups. His first startup - Hubbl was acquired by Airpush.
He holds two graduate degrees - MS in Computational Finance and in Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University.
Kushal is a trainer of breath-work and meditation for the Art of Living Foundation. He serves on the board of the International Association for Human Values (IAHV), USA.
Kushal loves to play guitar and express his thoughts through doodles that he thinks are funny. He is a Penguin Randomhouse published author of On a Wing and a Prayer - Spirituality for the reluctant, the curious and the seeker.
