Medha Nicky Rishi is the Founder and CEO of MissPoppins, a modern digital village app transforming the parenting journey through real time coaching, AI-powered personalization, and expert-driven support.
Based out of Palo Alto, California, Rishi is a seasoned global HR executive, having most recently served as Head of HR at Square, and previously led multinational teams with Mercer, Aon and Woodruff-Sawyer across 63 countries.
Hands on
Rishi admits that she has always been a builder. “I was the tomboy who wanted to get my hands dirty, changing tires with my dad, captaining my tennis and track teams, and learning early that leadership is as much about grit as it is about talent. When my family moved from India to the U.S. at age 12, it reset my identity. I had to learn how to be myself in a brand-new world, and tennis became my pathway out of my shell, my outlet for emotion, discipline, and confidence,” she recollects. That same ‘builder spirit’ followed her into college. She found her leadership again in biochemistry lab groups and economics forums. Looking back she admits that this was her earliest version of entrepreneurship – curiosity plus execution.
Career cues
Early in her career, Rishi kept gravitating toward international work. “I didn’t want to lose my multicultural spirit—I wanted to expand it. I started in human capital and HR strategy at Aons and Mercers of the world, and quickly found myself advising multinational organizations such as Gallagher, Square/Block as they scaled globally. The most cherished part of that chapter was working across 63 countries, starting mornings with Europe and ending nights with Asia. It taught me how to listen across cultures, build trust with leaders, and design systems that work for real humans, not just spreadsheets,” she adds.
Her philanthropic focus has consistently been at the intersection of women’s empowerment and early childhood outcomes, especially in India. That is why she chose to be on boards of organizations aligned with literacy, health, and opportunity, including Pratham, the American India Foundation, and Brighter Children. “With MissPoppins, our ‘social good’ lens continues, particularly around maternal health and mental health. We’re focused on measuring real outcomes: improving access to prenatal and postpartum support, reducing isolation, and addressing challenges like postpartum anxiety and depression through earlier, expert-backed interventions,” she says.
The persona
She has also been a host on TEDx which she says was a masterclass in storytelling, how to take a life experience and translate it into an idea worth spreading. It also deepened her respect for courage: the courage to be seen, to be imperfect, and to speak from truth. “TEDx reinforced a principle I now carry into leadership and entrepreneurship: when you tell the truth with clarity, it gives other people permission to do the same—and that’s how communities evolve,” she says. Rishi says she never had one idol and spent years searching for ‘the’ role model, until she realized the more powerful path is collecting mentors and champions along the way. “I have been fortunate to learn from leaders who pushed me to think bigger and from friends who reminded me to stay human. What inspires me most today is the idea of building a ‘renaissance life’, a life where success and purpose aren’t trade-offs. Where ambition is aligned with service. Where the goal isn’t just achievement, but impact,” she adds.
Parenting right
Her AI-driven, expert-backed platform is transforming parenting support in its own way. Parenting is real-time, and the old model of support is not. “MissPoppins is built as a modern digital village: a two-way marketplace connecting parents with vetted experts and coaches who can help in the moment, sleep regressions, feeding, behavior, postpartum mental health, returning to work, and more. AI helps personalize the journey so families don’t have to start from scratch every time; experts ensure the support stays grounded in human care and lived experience,” she says. In a world where parents often feel isolated, MissPoppins brings back what previous generations had: a village reimagined for today’s pace and pressures.
The hardest chapter in her life was becoming a new twin mom during peak COVID isolation and at the same moment she had finally reached my long-held corporate goal as a C-suite executive. The collision of those realities was brutal: two babies who needed everything, and a career that demanded everything. :I made the hardest decision of my life: to let go of a title I had worked for so I could choose family-first. And that ‘ending’ became the beginning of a new era. Motherhood didn’t just change my life; it redefined my mission. MissPoppins was born from that rebirth: a fempreneur chapter dedicated to solving the very parenting challenges that nearly broke me,” she admits.
Balancing act
Rishi she does not celebrate multitasking, believing it is not a superpower and often the engine behind mental load, anxiety, and burnout, especially for mothers. “Instead, I compartmentalize priorities and use the 80/20 rule: identify the few actions that create the most meaningful outcomes and execute with focus. My practical advice: decide what matters most this week (not everything), protect deep work blocks, and give yourself permission to do fewer things exceptionally well. Productivity isn’t doing more, it’s doing what matters, consistently,” she opines. Fortunate to have family support, she says that she has what Okinawans call a ‘Moai’ or a true village. “My husband is my moral compass and partner in every sense. My five-year-old twin boys are my greatest inspiration and my greatest teachers. And having my parents nearby as involved grandparents is one of the most underrated luxuries in modern life. This is my village,” she adds.
Outside work, she loves golfing with her husband, and is slowly finding her way back to tennis after burnout. In the long-term, she sees her life forming a full circle, bringing together her international interests, philanthropic work, and for-profit building. “One future chapter I’m deeply drawn to involves diplomacy and cross-border impact and potentially working alongside institutions like the United Nations to advance women, families, and community resilience globally. I suggest building your Ikigai or your reason for being and then pace yourself with intention and community so you can sustain it for decades, not just seasons,” she signs off.
