ABOUT
The story of Upbuild begins in a monastery
Our Beginnings
Rasanath and Hari Prasada started Upbuild in a monastery in the East Village of Manhattan in 2008 as a product of their own search for self-realization. They were intimately studying the Bhagavad-Gita and other sacred texts of the bhakti tradition in order to apply them to their own lives. It became very clear to them that the goal of life is to become one’s real self, and the greatest, ever-present obstacle to that goal is the ego. It also became clear that anyone attempting to become free from the ego must do so through selflessness – the opposite of egotism.
And so, we set out to share the wealth of what we were learning, seeing how powerful it was in transforming our own lives, and deeply desiring for others to experience the immeasurable benefits. Hence, Upbuild began as a means to help as many souls as possible become their real selves.
MEET THE TEAM
Rasanath Das
Rasanath is invested in using his knowledge of corporate systems and culture to transform the way the work world operates. Rasanath started his professional career in strategy consulting at Deloitte in 2000 and then worked as an investment banker for Bank of America from 2006 to 2008. He then spent four years in a monastery during which time he co-founded Upbuild, a leadership development company focused on building cultures of trust in organizations.
Rasanath brings a unique blend of high-intensity corporate experience and monastic inner work to his workshops and coaching. He coaches numerous leaders across multiple verticals ranging from hedge funds to tech startups. Rasanath has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN and PBS. He has a Bachelor’s in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (I.I.T.) and an MBA from Cornell.
Hari Prasada Das
Hari Prasada co-founded Upbuild during his five years as a monk in NYC. In that time, he deeply studied the self, the ego, and the mind, gaining a new level of empathy for his own struggles and the struggles of others. Steeped in the knowledge of his monastic training, he now invests his energies at Upbuild designing curriculum, teaching workshops, writing, and coaching executives.
Hari thrives off the lightbulbs his clients experience when they gain profound insights about themselves and their relationships, become committed to taking responsibility for their actions, and find the courage to make themselves vulnerable. Hari helps leaders develop strong practices of self-awareness that will continue to serve them throughout their lives and to connect more fully with others. He believes the key is a certain fearlessness to truly see ourselves, warts and all, along with a humble eagerness to work on ourselves. Hari graduated from the NYU Tisch Film and Television program, and has been a part of workplaces that span from the American Red Cross to Marvel Studios. Prior to founding Upbuild, he was a writer, director, actor, and producer of short films.
Vipin Goyal
Vipin is a Partner at Upbuild, a leadership development company that specializes in understanding the ego and building cultures of trust in organizations. Vipin uses the skills he’s learned as an entrepreneur and an executive to help other leaders realize their best selves. He draws on his wide variety of experiences to help clients leverage their strengths and manage the pitfalls of their egos, develop greater empathy, build cultures in which people feel inspired to work, and lead with intention.
Prior to Upbuild, Vipin was the Co-founder & CEO of SideTour, a marketplace of unique, hosted experiences which was acquired by Groupon in 2013. Previously he worked at McKinsey & Company as well as the international businesses of MTV Networks. He has an AB in Economics and an MBA from Harvard.
Michael Sloyer
Michael is passionate about helping his fellow humans live up to their potential and to live more loving and fulfilling lives. To help achieve these goals, he serves as a coach and leads workshops that facilitate his clients’ understanding of themselves and their communities on a deeper level. Prior to joining Upbuild, Michael was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, where he worked as an equity derivatives trader for 11 years, which included time in NYC, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Michael decided to make the move from Goldman to Upbuild so he could more properly align his true self with the work that he wakes up to everyday.
Michael harnesses his passion for photography to benefit underserved populations across Africa and Asia. He has published three photography books and hosted a number of solo exhibitions in HK and Tokyo, which have raised $1 million for these causes. Michael serves on the Board of Directors for Ghana Make a Difference. He holds an Economics degree from Duke University and is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
As a coach and consultant, Tzipi helps individuals, teams, and organizations transform through developing compassionate relationships (including with oneself), and creating psychologically safe, relationship-centered environments. Her work is based on the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of human behavior.
Before joining Upbuild, Tzipi served as a psychotherapist and consultant in hospital and clinic settings, private practice, and corporations such as Pfizer. As a tenured professor and program director at LIU, she taught the science and art of psychotherapy, healthcare, and public administration. Her pioneering studies in posttraumatic growth (PTG) have advanced the understanding of human suffering and its potential for transformation. She has been published in professional journals, books, and news sources like the Huffington Post. Tzipi received an M.Sc. in Medical Sciences (Israel’s Institute of Technology), an M.A. in Social and Organizational Psychology (Columbia), as well as a Master’s and Doctorate of Social Work (Adelphi). She is a licensed clinician and has an Integral Coach certification (NVW).
Dr. Tzipi Weiss
Mary is a force of nature when it comes to exploring the deep meaning of being human and living a life that is fully alive, aligned and purposeful. She’s coached and taught coaching skills to thousands of leaders around the world with a simple goal: to alleviate the suffering that can come to us through the simple act of going to work. Mary helps individual leaders and teams cultivate healthy, effective relationships, where everyone contributes to a sense of mutual regard and belonging while doing great work together.
Prior to joining Upbuild, Mary has been as a coach in private practice since 2001. She’s on the faculty of several coach training organizations, including Coaching for Transformation and Co-Active Training Institute (CTI). Previously she was Web Producer for the award-winning Web Production Group at Cornell University and a creativity and innovation consultant to Corning Incorporated. She’s served for ten years as a facilitator and executive coach for the Omidyar Fellows, a leadership development program through the Hawaii Leadership Forum.
Mary Kuentz
Interested in attending one of our upcoming workshops or training programs?
A letter from our co-founder
“...We all wear finely decorated but highly delicate masks made of self-image, and we are helpless to relate to others in a world of more masks. Thus the heart longs for connection not with apparel but with oneself and other real selves.”
The Inspiration Behind Our Name
Upbuild means to edify or uplift one’s consciousness via education
As Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard framed it, to upbuild is the key to maximizing human potential. He often titled his writings “Upbuilding Discourses” to indicate the necessity of being illuminated by education about one’s real self. This one word, upbuild, captures our impetus to make our lives our lab and creatively export the learnings outward. It was Kierkegaard who first inspired our founders on the path of self-realization and became a driving force behind this work, hence the name of our organization is a tribute to such a great soul.
Gratitude
As Upbuild looks at its evolution from inception, we find we have so many individuals to whom we are profoundly indebted. Without them, the formation of this organization and community would never have been possible.
The Bhakti Center has been our incubator and equipped us with the tools to go out and pursue our vision.
Premavatar was instrumental in the founding of Upbuild, helping us to strategize and develop content.
Doyal aided us in concretizing our mission and vision, handling operations, and offering the warmest hospitality to our community, readying us to bring Upbuild out of the monastery and into the world.
Vasudeva has been a constant support and inspiration with his perspectives on teaching the Bhagavad-Gita, organizing of retreats, content collaboration, and exceptional painting.
Parastou Marashi selflessly lends her amazing talents in design and illustration.
Rukmini Poddar worked with us to bring the Enneagram to life with her creativity and artistic prowess.
Dave Parke trained us to become coaches through his Center for Contextual Coaching.
Don Riso and Russ Hudson, founders of The Enneagram Institute, have given their lives to understanding the depths of the human condition and personally trained us with their profoundest wisdom and care.
Radhanath Swami and Sacinandana Swami, our gurus, have birthed this mission in our hearts, given us everything, and forever guide us, as we pray to fully capitalize on the gift of self-realization.
“The greatest hazard of all, losing the self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss – an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. – is sure to be noticed.”