We’re looking forward to introducing you to Sunny Tripathy. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Sunny, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: Who are you learning from right now?
I’m lucky to have some incredible teachers right now.
Very grateful for my Rise mentor Dana Fox who wrote some of my favorite movies from Cruella to Wicked. She sets the bar not only as a writer but also as a kind and generous human being. Also shouting out Jessica Sharzer, Prakash Janakiraman, Amy Powell, Tyler Barth, Bobby Singh, Avani Patel, and a few others who I admire and sometimes call for advice.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a writer/filmmaker by day, and an entrepreneur by night.
On the Film/TV side, I struggled for many years before my first original feature sold in a notable sale with Ivan Reitman to Sony Tristar. It opened doors and got me opportunities writing and developing at places like Netflix, Titmouse, and Sony Animation.
I later sold a TV series with Will Arnett’s Electric Ave and Sony to Amazon after a highly competitive bidding war, and got jobs writing for Disney, as well as Dreamworks Animation where I just wrapped a feature film with David Hoberman producing. David was also just a dream to work with!
In 2025, I was 1 of 15 filmmakers chosen for Dan Lin’s Rideback Rise Fellowship as part of an initiative to identify the next generation of writer/directors. There, I got to write, direct, and produce a short called “The Boyfriend” which also accompanies the feature I have in development by the same name.
On the entrepreneurial side, I’m the lesser half to my incredible wife’s superfood business — Mamas. As her co-founder, I’m doing my best to help her use her background as a scientist from UPenn to disrupt the butter category with her take on a modern remedy streaming from ancient tradition, also known as clarified butter or “ghee”. The goal is to bring the world’s most popular butter alternative to the masses, and, despite bootstrapping, we beat out 5000 brands to get into Target’s Accelerator, became an Amazon #1 New Release, and recently got highlighted as a brand to watch by Buzzfeed.
You can find more about me at www.sunnytripathy.com and more about our food business at www.trustmamas.com
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who taught you the most about work?
My parents were both incredibly important to shaping who I am. My mom, on my creative, culinary, and personality side. My dad on a values, work, and leadership side. I’m enormously grateful to both of them and in awe of what they accomplished in their lives, especially from where they started.
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
The business can have a funny way of bringing people into your life, especially on the heels of success.
But, for me, the greatest teacher was the way in which people both left –and showed up– in my greatest failures.
When I was younger, I was easily convinced that my heat was a reflection of my worth. But heat comes and goes. In the darker times, I found my true friends and allies, including my family, closest friends, and wife. And we built and rebuilt together. The success that came thereafter became something we get to share more intimately, and, while not best for everyone, we found a bigger and more exciting life, by not necessarily sharing all of it publicly.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
Absolutely. Sometimes to a fault. But I’m grateful I don’t have anything to hide and I never have to pretend to be something I’m not.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
I’ve had a few brushes with mortality which really set things into perspective for me. I’m proud of my work and success professionally. But I’m most proud of the lives and communities my wife and I have affected around the world. https://www.trustmamas.com/impact
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sunnytripathy.com
- Instagram: @sunny_tripathy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnytripathy/
- Other: https://www.trustmamas.com
Image Credits
Josh Ortiz & Rideback Rise
