From Shock To Social Impact: Jiaru Cai’s Entrepreneurial Vision Behind Join Sangha

Leaders are not created but born. Jiaru Cai is one such woman. Building a reputation as a professional IT person in the tech industry, Jiaru Cai now runs Join Sangha - a movement that connects stressed-out and isolated tech professionals with like-minded people.

The Shocking Truth

Jiaru's foray into what made her is a bit different than the norm. The youngest of three girls, her mother always described her as an unorthodox girl. While most girls played with dolls in their early years, Jiaru spent her time at a warehouse full of batteries, thanks to her mother’s business.

Jiaru’s curious nature got the better of her one day. Playing with a battery in the warehouse, she ended up receiving an electric shock. Jiaru ran to her mother, claiming the battery “bit” her. Her mother, while surprised, was also astonished at the three year old’s ability to not only unpack a battery but connect the positive and negative poles to create a short circuit.

The curious nature and the knack to explore technology at such an early age set the stage for grander things. At three years of age, Jiaru was already walking a path engineers and technicians took at a much later stage.

With age, she explored this nature and was taking things apart to fix them. Her favorite pastime was visiting a local bike shop to repair the two-wheelers. By 19, she was already working with some of the best and the brightest at the notable Berkeley Lawrence National Lab as she worked alongside post-doctoral researchers in writing up new energy research papers.

The Silicon Valley Exposure

It was at TikTok that she realized that she was destined for something much larger. As a Chinese firm, TikTok was different. She witnessed a disconnect between the Far East and American culture firsthand. The mounting work stress left little for professionals to relax with. It didn’t help much with the fact that the US economy was facing a downturn and the tech industry was hit hard.

With a do-or-die scenario, tech professionals were overworked and had little time to relax as they met one short deadline after another. For many, this resulted in physical issues such as hypertension and sometimes even worse.

For Jiaru Cai, it was clear that neither she was going to bear the stress for long, nor were other professionals before they broke down mentally. Something needed to be done before it was too late.

Join Sangha: Making Social Impacts in the Tech Industry

After leaving TikTok, Jiaru Cai took a leave from all activities and went on a self-exploration trip. With nothing but a backpack, she roamed Europe, visiting different serene and peaceful places.

It was then that she realized that this is nearly impossible for high-stress jobs in the tech industry. With little to no time for themselves, people in the IT sector did not have enough time to go on journeys of self-discovery and peace.

Her solution was Join Sangha, a platform that connects professionals from all over the world with like-minded people. A flexible schedule and a virtual presence allows anyone to connect with yogis and harness the relaxing power of yoga. Using their own schedule, users can join other meditators, no matter if they are at home at night or just taking a coffee break in the office.

Jiaru Cai’s vision has helped hundreds of IT professionals who have built different communities, mentally supporting and helping each other to achieve a balance in their lives and combat loneliness in big cities such as San Francisco. The entrepreneur envisions Join Sangha expanding across various countries and regions in the near future.

From being an inquisitive little girl to being an industry professional, Jiaru has made an impact as a woman in her field. Out of the 25 people judging at the AI Engineer World’s Fair, she is one of only three females there. She also serves as a female mentor at the preseed investment firm Techstars.

As such, Jiaru Cai has proven that be it the tech industry or entrepreneurial one, there is always room for professional women to grow big. With Join Sangha, she and her team elevate tech professionals to a whole new level of introspection, reflection, and breathing out their stress.