Personal update & new priorities

Life happens...and we pivot. Hope you will join me on my next adventure.

I hope you all are doing well. 2025 has been an unexpected year, to say the least. I wanted to take a moment to share a personal update.

Earlier this year, I lost my job. I had been working for the federal government for years and had recently accepted a promotion, one that was ultimately impacted by an executive order. It was sudden and disorienting, especially because the circumstances were unclear. There wasn’t closure like a normal layoff, which only made the situation harder to process.

This situation made me feel vulnerable. So, I hid it. I didn’t talk to many about it at the time. I think that feeling is tied to the version of masculinity many of us grow up with—the idea that we shouldn’t show “weakness,” and that when things go wrong, we hide it. But I’ve been trying to sit with the discomfort and be honest about it.

This newsletter has always been a meaningful outlet for me. The topics I’ve explored here are deeply personal and important, and I’ll always be passionate about them.

But right now, I feel called to focus more intentionally on my career. That doesn’t just include my next steps, but on advocating for the work I do. My field is health communication, and I believe strongly that people deserve access to accurate, evidence-based information. That kind of access can literally save lives.

Given what’s happened to my own career (and to many colleagues across government), I feel a strong commitment to continue my work in health communication. I believe it’s important, especially now, when misinformation and echo chambers shape so much of our public discourse.

So, I’m excited to share that I’m launching a new newsletter: Communicator’s Guide to Social Impact. It will be a space for professional insights, interviews with communicators across industries, trends and research in the field, and resources to support those who want to make a difference in their communities and beyond.

While this newsletter will be professionally focused, I encourage you all to follow it. Communication is key in many, if not all, professions that improve society. This will be the best place to follow the next chapter of my writing.

While I’m not closing the door on The Multicultural Man forever, I’ll be putting it on pause for now. I may send an occasional note every now and then and I hope to return to it more intentionally down the line, but for the moment, I want to focus my time and energy where I feel most needed.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

-Suraj