Some founders build companies. Others build worlds.
Anuja is doing both.
The force behind UFF!, a South Asian, sobriety-forward beverage brand, Anuja’s story is anything but linear — a collage of reinvention, vulnerability, sharp humor, chronic illness, seven months of solo travel, and a commitment to living life at full emotional volume.
What makes her work magnetic is not just the product she’s building, but the ethos behind it: that being a brown woman, being sober, being tender, being loud, being in transition — all of it is inherently messy, sacred, and worth celebrating. UFF! is her love letter to that truth.
Below, Anuja shares the magic and mayhem that shaped her path, the flavors that ground her, and why tamarind deserves the spotlight.
1. “The messy energy of being brown, sober, and alive” — what does that actually look like for you?
For me, it looks like building a life that makes perfect emotional sense but absolutely zero linear sense on a résumé.
I followed the path laid out for me — worked at an MBB firm for two years, did everything “right.” And still ended up burned out, diagnosed with a chronic neurological condition (I recently had brain surgery for it). I stopped drinking alcohol at the worst of my illness, for health reasons, and stayed sober because life genuinely felt better that way.
About a year into sobriety and two yearsinto consulting, I totally crashed. I hit a low and then did what any normal person does (lol): booked a one-way ticket out of the country with no plan and solo-traveled for seven months. My parents cycled through the full Desi emotional spectrum: confused, terrified, supportive.
Somewhere in that chaos, I realized being a brown woman is inherently messy. We’re always balancing “too much” and “not enough,” honoring our parents while trying to build lives they never imagined for us.
That’s what I try to show online: the “okay I’m starting over again… wait again… okay AGAIN” moments. I’m a daughter of immigrants so of course that carries weight. UFF! is my way of honoring them, my culture, and all the versions of me that never fit neatly anywhere.
UFF! is a love letter to anyone bold enough to want things loudly.
The mission behind UFF! is simple: make sobriety desirable and fun while bringing our South Asian flavors to the front of the beverage aisle. It’s hard, but I’m having the time of my life. The messiness is the magic.
2. From Bain to building a drink rooted in tamarind — what pushed you to pivot?
Consulting gave me structure and skills I’ll always be grateful for, but when my physical and mental health started deteriorating, I had no choice but to strip my life down.
When everything was taken — my routine, my identity — I had to ask: What actually wants to stay?
I didn’t know the answer, so I left. I traveled mainly alone for seven months and spent more time with myself than I ever had. The scariest part was being alone with my thoughts. My Spotify Wrapped was 130k minutes last year… I tend to always drown out my own mind.
Travel forced me to be present. And when I came back, I knew I wanted to build something that felt like my story, not something that sounded impressive.
Do I have it all figured out? No. But I know the mission. That’s my north star.
I’m intentionally slow with UFF!. If I’m putting my heritage in a can, it cannot be half-hearted. Care is the only way.
3. Why root UFF! in South Asian ingredients and memory?
Our flavors deserve main-character energy. They shouldn’t be shoved into the sad fluorescent “ethnic aisle.”
Tamarind, black salt, mango are emotional ingredients. They’re tied to our kitchens, our mothers, our loud families, our childhoods.
In the non-alc world, the conversation was happening around South Asians, not with us. The flavors felt infantilized or sanitized.
So I asked myself:
“If I’m going to be sober, why can’t the drink in my hand taste like my childhood and my future at the same time?”
That question guides everything.
UFF! is culture-forward but not culture-exclusive. Nostalgic, but not stuck in nostalgia.
4. How have your travels shaped your creative process?
I am a firm believer that travel is the best thing a human can do. Solo travel especially — it’s like therapy but with better weather and no one telling you you can’t have dessert for every meal or spend an entire day with kangaroos.
You’re constantly meeting new people, being humbled, learning. I had no agenda. I just did whatever I wanted each day. That freedom made me more comfortable with myself.
Travel made me softer and sharper at the same time. It taught me that creativity is attention. When you slow down and notice life, everything becomes inspiration.
UFF! carries all those moments in it.
5. What does celebration look like in this new era for diaspora communities?
Celebration feels more intentional. People want real community. And so many people in the diaspora are sober or sober-curious. They deserve a drink that actually feels like celebration.
We want connection without depletion. Joy without aftermath.
UFF! fits into that world because it’s not trying to mimic alcohol. It’s its own category.
Most of the time, celebration is just a table full of people you love, a moment you want to remember, and a drink in your hand that tastes really good.
6. What does it mean to design a drink that feels emotional?
Emotion in beverages comes from depth such as acidity, spice, brightness, sourness. Tamarind is emotional by nature. Sweet, dramatic. Mango too. That’s why UFF! had to start there. These ingredients carry stories.
7. As a South Asian woman founder, has translating authenticity been challenging?
Honestly, yes. Building a culturally rooted brand means unlearning the instinct to dilute myself — to make things vague so they appeal to everyone.
people don’t want vague. They want specificity. They want point of view.
UFF! is culturally rooted but not culturally limited. It’s for anyone who appreciates flavor, depth, and a story with heart. We bring perspective, but we don’t dilute ourselves to appeal to a certain eye.
8. What does success look like for you right now?
Success, right now, is making choices that honor my culture, my health, my sobriety, and my story.
I want to redefine sobriety as something desirable, fun, sexy, cool.
We’re prelaunch, and every detail matters such as every ingredient, every color on the can, every conversation. This brand is built with a lot of love.
People might judge me — the girl who left a high paying job, stopped drinking alcohol, solo traveled for seven months, moved back home with her parents, posts stuff on the Internet a, and decided to start a beverage brand with zero experience. I’ve learned to let them.
If UFF! makes even one brown girl, one sober person, or one person in transition feel seen — that’s success to me.
