Meet Ashna Akepati | Education Equity Advocate & Undergraduate Student

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashna Akepati and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashna, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
I believe in the power of education. My organization, Staff of Asclepius (SOA), is centered around providing high-quality, free education to high school and undergraduate students. Many students do not have access to career development opportunities and the resources to make fully informed career/schooling decisions. SOA provides students with the appropriate resources to make informed career and educational decisions for themselves. Students gain early exposure to the diverse career pathways they can take through SOA’s events. Through free, virtual, monthly career development workshops and an annual healthcare conference that SOA hosts, participants can meet and learn from healthcare professionals and scientists from esteemed universities in the United States. SOA also provides students with a series of easily accessible informational graphics, weekly, to raise awareness about various diseases, developments, and issues in healthcare.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
When I first started Staff of Asclepius, it was not actually named that. In fact, we started out as Teens for Health Care Frisco (TFHC Frisco), with a small team consisting of five others. I faced an uphill battle when establishing my organization, and struggled to gain a following and secure speakers for our events. However, I began to learn more about outreach techniques, social media marketing, etc. and regularly met with my five colleagues to work with them in organizing various projects for TFHC Frisco. Eventually, we persisted in growing our platform and amassed over 900 followers on our Instagram.

Once TFHC Frisco was well-established, I decided that I wanted my organization to account for the geographic diversity of all of our members, since we have members from throughout the United States and internationally. With the help of my five team members, I took the bold decision to rebrand TFHC Frisco to Staff of Asclepius and brought on more interns who continue to help me build SOA. Today, we have 25 interns and directors, over 1.1 K followers on our Instagram, hosted two healthcare conferences & 15+ career development workshops, and continue to take on more initiatives.

My journey in building and continuing to grow SOA taught me the importance of resilience and patience, especially when building an organization. It was really important for me to identify my weaknesses and where I lacked knowledge. Spending time on those has not only helped me better support my team members and grow SOA, but it also gave me many opportunities for self-reflection.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I absolutely love the food scene in Frisco, Texas! In my opinion, the vast variety of restaurants here are worth checking out. I am a huge fan of Braum’s ice cream, the quality of their ice cream is unbeatable, and I have many memories of stopping by Braum’s for a scoop of their ice cream after school (I would recommend the chocolate almond ice cream)! I am also a huge boba enthusiast; I love stopping by Boba Latte for a strawberry fusion tea with boba. Frisco also many wonderful Indian restaurants. When my family and I do decide to go to an Indian restaurant, many times we end up choosing Adyar Ananda Bhavan, (the masala dosa is my favorite dish).

As a huge Dallas Cowboys fan, I would say that going to The Star is a must. Not only do they have a wonderful area to relax and play sports, but they also have many restaurants as well. It’s a wonderful place to spend your evenings. Finally, Frisco Square is also a great hang-out spot. It’s a perfect spot for pictures and is a great place to spend a nice evening as well!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to give a shoutout to all 25 of Staff of Asclepius’s interns and directors! Their hard work and dedication behind the scenes make it possible for me to successfully run SOA. I would also like to give a shoutout to my parents for all the love and support they’ve shown as I developed and built SOA.

Website: https://staffofasclepiusof.wixsite.com/site

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/staffofasclepius.official/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/staff-of-asclepius