Beyond the Brand: Podcasting, Purpose, and India’s Para-Sport Ascent

BENGALURU, India – December 10, 2025 – When para-badminton star Palak Kohli speaks, her words carry the weight of a journey defined by relentless adaptation. "Sport gave me strength. It taught me to own who I am," she recently shared. "The tougher the challenge, the stronger I become." This sentiment, featured on the latest episode of Herbalife India's flagship podcast, Live Your Best Life, Unscripted, is more than an inspirational soundbite. It’s a window into a significant shift where corporate strategy, athlete advocacy, and the burgeoning para-sports movement in India are converging.

While on the surface it's a nutrition company promoting a podcast, the initiative reflects a sophisticated new playbook in the health and wellness sector. Companies are increasingly moving beyond product-centric advertising to become content creators and narrative builders, embedding their brands within powerful stories of human resilience. This episode, featuring a world-ranked Paralympian, is a case study in how wellness brands are leveraging digital media not just for marketing, but to strategically align themselves with social impact and the very definition of a high-performance lifestyle.

The Corporate Playbook: Content, Community, and Wellness

The decision by Herbalife India to build its marketing around a podcast series hosted by its own Managing Director, Ajay Khanna, signals a deep understanding of the modern wellness market, a global industry projected to hit $1.6 trillion by 2027. In this crowded space, brand loyalty is forged through authenticity and connection, not just transactional relationships. The podcast, launched in April 2025, is designed as a platform for holistic wellness storytelling, intentionally steering clear of overt sales pitches.

By featuring a diverse roster of guests—from high-performance sports scientist Shayamal Vallabhjee to medical experts and elite athletes—the company is building an ecosystem of credibility. The strategy is clear: associate the brand with the science and discipline of peak performance. Listeners are invited into conversations about mental fortitude, expert-backed nutritional science, and the discipline required for success. This content-first approach allows the company to frame its nutritional supplements not as standalone products, but as integral components of a larger, aspirational lifestyle. The inclusion of Palak Kohli is the pinnacle of this strategy, linking the brand to an undeniable story of grit, inclusivity, and national pride. It's a move that generates brand equity far more effectively than a traditional ad campaign, fostering a community around shared values of health and perseverance.

An Athlete's Unscripted Resilience

Palak Kohli’s journey is the powerful human engine driving this narrative. Her story transcends the typical athlete profile. Born with an underdeveloped left arm, she rose to become the youngest para-badminton player at the sport's debut in the Tokyo 2021 Paralympics. Her career has been a masterclass in adaptation. In 2022, she faced a devastating setback: emergency surgery for a bone tumor on her left ankle. The recovery forced a complete re-evaluation of her game and a transition from the SU5 category (upper limb impairment) to SL4 (lower limb impairment)—a technically demanding shift that would have ended many careers.

Yet, she returned to the international circuit with renewed determination. Her recent achievements, including six medals at the Spanish Para-Badminton International tournaments in 2025 and a career-best World No. 3 ranking, are a testament to her extraordinary mental and physical fortitude. Her story provides a compelling, real-world demonstration of the podcast's central themes: building mental resilience and overcoming adversity. By sharing her experiences with fitness, nutrition, and the psychological challenges of elite competition, Kohli offers an authentic voice that resonates far beyond the world of para-sports, embodying the "unscripted" spirit of the series.

A Shifting Landscape: Corporate Support and the Rise of Para-Sports

Herbalife's initiative does not exist in a vacuum. It is part of a broader, albeit uneven, trend of growing corporate and governmental support for para-sports in India. For decades, para-athletes faced a landscape defined by societal stigma, inaccessible infrastructure, and a stark lack of funding. Today, that landscape is changing, driven by landmark performances on the global stage—like India's 19-medal haul at the Tokyo Paralympics—and a corresponding shift in public perception.

Government initiatives like the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), which now provides elite para-athletes with world-class training and a monthly stipend, and the Khelo India Para Games, have created crucial pathways for talent development. This structural support is increasingly complemented by the private sector. Companies like Hyundai, through its 'Samarth' initiative, and organizations like the Infosys Foundation and GoSports Foundation, are providing critical funding, advanced equipment, and sports science support. Major corporations including Reliance Industries and Indian Oil Corporation are also becoming key players, viewing support for para-athletes as both a CSR mandate and a powerful branding opportunity.

However, significant challenges persist. CSR spending on sports remains a small fraction of the total, and para-athletes still contend with bureaucratic hurdles, inconsistent policy implementation, and far less media coverage than their able-bodied counterparts. The support system is growing, but it remains a fragile ecosystem where the advocacy and visibility generated by partnerships like the one between Kohli and Herbalife play an outsized role in sustaining momentum and championing the cause for greater equity.

The Science of Performance in a New Era of Sport

Ultimately, the convergence of corporate wellness and elite athletics highlights the increasingly sophisticated understanding of human performance. For any athlete, but particularly for para-athletes navigating unique physical demands, success is a holistic equation. It requires a finely tuned synthesis of physical training, strategic nutrition, and psychological resilience. Palak Kohli's ability to not only recover from major surgery but also adapt to a new competitive class underscores the critical importance of this integrated approach.

This is where companies in the health and wellness space find their most authentic entry point. By sponsoring athletes and creating platforms to discuss performance science, they are contributing to a broader ecosystem of knowledge. The conversations on nutrition, mental toughness, and recovery move from abstract concepts to tangible strategies demonstrated by real-world champions. This alignment allows wellness brands to position themselves as partners in the athletic journey, providing the nutritional tools that underpin the discipline and hard work of the athletes themselves. As sports science continues to evolve, the relationship between athletes, their support systems, and the wellness industry is set to deepen, transforming not just how sports are sponsored, but how performance potential is unlocked.