Gurpreet Birk

As an Autism Therapist by day and a Rockstar musician at night, @gurpreetbirk is literally the South Asian Hannah Montana. When he is not touring with artists like Diljit Singh, Mickey Singh, and G Sidhu, among others, you can find him working to create voices for populations who seemingly don’t have one and build interventions for children with autism in hopes of having a fighting chance for integration in the community. Looking like the Punjabi Fresh Prince, rocking his dad’s vintage clothes, we sat down today to talk about Gurpreet’s roots and how his dad’s love of Hip-Hop and mom’s love of Rock n’ Roll shaped his eclectic musical tastes and positive outlook on life. We follow his journey on what is was like dealing with racism early on in life and how it shaped his drive to become an advocate for fighting social injustices. We also talked about his #HaveYouSmiledToday campaign and how through his own mental health journey was able to use his experiences to open up the conversation to a South Asian community who still considers it a taboo subject. Gurpreet also opens up about what parents can do to be more proactive in their child’s life and to support their dreams, no matter how big and unconventional. Follow Gurpreet Birk and his overwhelming positive zest for life on Instagram: @gurpreetbirk. Oh yeah, Have You Smiled Today?