{"id":10378,"date":"2022-02-04T13:20:50","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T07:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalindian.com\/youth\/\/?post_type=story&#038;p=10378"},"modified":"2025-08-21T11:05:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T05:35:20","slug":"tns-young-nutrition-ambassador-hasini-lakshmi-narayanan-takes-first-steps-to-spread-awareness","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/old.globalindian.com\/youth\/story\/cover-story\/tns-young-nutrition-ambassador-hasini-lakshmi-narayanan-takes-first-steps-to-spread-awareness\/","title":{"rendered":"TN\u2019s Young Nutrition Ambassador Hasini Lakshmi Narayanan takes \u2018first steps\u2019 to spread awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>(February 4, 2022)<\/strong> How many 13-year-olds are comfortable addressing large crowds and delivering motivational speeches? Or for that matter, how many of them host YouTube channels celebrating other young achievers? Chennai-based Hasini Lakshmi Narayanan does. The class eight student began her tryst with public speaking after she attended one that changed her life. Ever since, she began hosting her YouTube channel \u2013 The First Step that has so far highlighted the journeys of over 90 child achievers. She also launched the First Step organisation where she employs over 20 students to create motivational content. More recently, Hasini was appointed by the Tamil Nadu government as its young nutrition ambassador.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The girl whose father inspired her<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Born in Chennai in 2008, the Chettinad Vidyashram student grew up watching her entrepreneur father Lakshmi Narayanan travel to various schools and colleges for public speaking assignments. And that inspired TN&#8217;s young nutrition ambassador. \u201cI\u2019m following in his footsteps,\u201d smiles Hasini. She developed a passion for public speaking at age five, and found that her parents always encouraged her. \u201cI never had any stage fright, nor did I feel shy. I\u2019ve always found it easy to connect with others and my parents have been a huge support system,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10386\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10386\" class=\"wp-image-10386 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.globalindian.com\/youth\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hansni.jpg\" alt=\"Young Nutrition Ambassador | Hasini Lakshmi Narayanan\" width=\"668\" height=\"445\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 668px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 668\/445;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10386\" class=\" wp-image-10386\" src=\"https:\/\/www.globalindian.com\/youth\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hansni.jpg\" alt=\"Young Nutrition Ambassador | Hasini Lakshmi Narayanan\" width=\"668\" height=\"445\" \/><\/noscript><p id=\"caption-attachment-10386\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hasini Lakshmi Narayanan with her father.<\/p><\/div>\n<h4><strong>When the idea struck<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The turning point came when Hasini attended a talk by Sujith Kumar of Maatram Foundation. \u201cI\u2019ve always been a very hyperactive kid and usually find it hard to sit in one place. As I heard him talk about his journey, and what children can achieve, I was transfixed. That was the first time I sat through a speech. I was nine then,\u201d says the teen, who was inspired by the speech to explore public speaking. \u201cSince then, I began participating in school debates and inter school competitions,\u201d adds TN&#8217;s young nutrition ambassador.<\/p>\n<p>But then the lockdowns began, and the bubbly girl was forced to stay home, and hanker down her enthusiasm. \u201cI was bored out of my wits and wanted to use my time productively. That is when my father asked if I wanted to work on a project with him for Father\u2019s Day and interview some children,\u201d she reveals. That\u2019s how in June 2020, TN&#8217;s young nutrition ambassador began interviewing children on their achievements and journeys on YouTube.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nihal 11 YO is the Founder of Recycle My Battery  , Who has Recycled more than 35000+ batteries\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ohWa2CTHnxQ?list=PLZuMzypdcisa2M41ezFl9DLRhuE8QV9YK\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While she started out interviewing friends and cousins, she soon found achievers like Nihal Tamanna (founder Recyclemybattery), the Great Australian Spelling Bee twins Harpith and Harpitha Pandian, Kush Malpani, Manas Bam, Anya Pandit, Vinisha Umashankar (who spoke at Cop26) among others to share their journeys and achievements on the First Step, which has nearly 2,000 followers. \u201cThrough these interviews, we speak to prodigies across the world \u2013 we have so far featured children from 12 countries \u2013 on their journeys, talents and achievements,\u201d says Hasini, for whom it was a learning experience and hugely inspirational.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Going beyond interviews <\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>By July 2020, Hasini had established The First Step organisation which currently has 20 youngsters working with her to create motivational content targeted at youth empowerment. \u201cOur brainstorming sessions are fun. All of us bring our ideas to the table and decide the theme for each month. We also have over 100 youth ambassadors,\u201d says TN&#8217;s young nutrition ambassador, who also frequently contributes articles to <em>The Hindu <\/em>school edition.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10387 aligncenter lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.globalindian.com\/youth\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/20211120_165401.jpg\" alt=\"Young Nutrition Ambassador | Hasini Lakshmi Narayanan\" width=\"603\" height=\"271\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 603px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 603\/271;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10387 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.globalindian.com\/youth\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/20211120_165401.jpg\" alt=\"Young Nutrition Ambassador | Hasini Lakshmi Narayanan\" width=\"603\" height=\"271\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>Hasini was also invited to deliver her maiden TEDx talk in April 2021 where she spoke about &#8211; <em>The First Step to Conquer<\/em>. In January 2022, she gave her second TED talk on climate change. \u201cBecoming a TEDx speaker was a dream come true. I\u2019d always watch TED videos and dreamt of becoming one myself. So, when I got the opportunity, I was thrilled,\u201d says the teen, who hopes to follow in her father\u2019s footsteps as an entrepreneur and public speaker.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"I Can Change Climate Change | Hasini Lakshminarayanan | TEDxChennaiInstituteOfTechnology\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bzIdZ9-_cHM?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Appointed by the TN government as its young nutrition ambassador in December 2021, she is thrilled. \u201cIt is my responsibility to create awareness about the importance of nutrition in adolescent girls. I do this through video clips and events, and have even tied up with Dr Koushalya Nathan, a leading nutritionist in Chennai,\u201d adds the teen, who is also an avid painter and holds two graduations from Global Art by SIC Academy.<\/p>\n<p>While she has a lot going on to keep her on her toes, TN&#8217;s young nutrition ambassador admits sheepishly that she is not the most organised. \u201cMy father helps me organise myself so I give academics my first priority. Everything goes on parallelly. What I try to do to ease the process is to schedule my interviews for the last week of the month, and then work on transcribing them,\u201d she smiles, adding, \u201cI try to stick to my to-do lists without burdening myself with deadlines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Follow Hasini Lakshmi Narayanan on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/hasinilakshminarayanan?originalSubdomain=in\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(February 4, 2022) How many 13-year-olds are comfortable addressing large crowds and delivering motivational speeches? Or for that matter, how many of them host YouTube channels celebrating other young achievers? Chennai-based Hasini Lakshmi Narayanan does. The class eight student began her tryst with public speaking after she attended one that changed her life. Ever since, she began hosting her YouTube channel \u2013 The First Step that has so far highlighted the journeys of over 90 child achievers. She also launched the First Step organisation where she employs over 20 students to create motivational content. More recently, Hasini was appointed by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":10384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","story-category":[215,2438,2252,2413],"story-tag":[2645,2638,2643,2646,2644,2640,2641,2647,2089,2639,2642,2265,2648,963],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Young Nutrition Ambassador | Hasini Lakshmi Narayanan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As Young Nutrition Ambassador and teen entrepreneur Hasini Lakshmi Narayanan&#039;s YouTube channel the First Step is popular.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/old.globalindian.com\/youth\/story\/cover-story\/tns-young-nutrition-ambassador-hasini-lakshmi-narayanan-takes-first-steps-to-spread-awareness\/\" \/>\n<meta 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