A Thank You and Bye from Our Pepper Founder
Rohan shares his thoughts as he moves to DC
Dear Pepper Community,
My name is Rohan, I started Pepper almost 5 years ago as a meet-up group for digital health in NYC. It's grown from 10 people in a park to over one thousand meeting up regularly across 15+ sub-groups, plus a Board of 8 orchestrating it all. I couldn't be more proud of all of us :)
I'm writing this note because I'm moving from NYC to DC in June (along with my wife and son), and I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to this community for being such a beautiful part of my life. You all have added so much to my career, my perspective and frankly my sense of belonging in a city where that's hard to find.
Pepper has run on its own (without me being day-to-day) for almost 1.5 years, and it will continue to do so! The Pepper Board, Chaired by Rachel Silverman is running the show, and it's maturing. We brought on our first official community wide partner sponsor (shout-out to Pearl Talent) with more to come soon. If you want to get involved in next year's Board (coming in June), be a Sub-Group captain, or sponsor, reach out to peppernyc1@gmail.com.
Communities are a labor of love, and I have to give a tremendous shoutout to all those who run, sponsor and regularly attend meetups across healthcare in NYC. You are the connective tissue that makes NYC Healthcare "go". There's no award for that nor big pay bump at work ... but its a warm feeling you get making connections with and for others. Thank you all for taking a chance on Pepper and making it what it is today.
The name Pepper originated from the tradition in which we would begin each meetup going around the room and saying one "hot take". The hot take mentality is fundamental to the ethos of Pepper and it's been great to see it thrive as we've grown. We foster a culture where folks can speak their mind and explore ideas together.
In today's chaotic world, communities are a key part of what grounds us. By 2030, it will be normal to pay a subscription for several communities, the way its normal to pay for more than one streaming service today. Building the muscle of making commitments, getting out of your apt., and taking a chance on people will only increasingly serve you.
Stay Spicy, Rohan