Anish Shroff is taking the next step in the American dream with his new role in Carolina

“Mom was one of the most influential people in my life, who believed I could do this before I knew I could,” Shroff said. “She passed down a ton, her love of reading and knowledge and creativity, and so much of who I am as a broadcaster comes from her.

“When I got the ESPN job, I thought of her a lot. It was different being older and having this opportunity, where there’s just more of a reflection, more of a gratitude, more of an appreciation for the journey and where you came from and how you got there and the people who helped you along the way.”

Similarly, his father knew what it was like to be free to choose. He studied accounting in India, a reputable career path that would have provided a stable and prosperous life for his family.

But Hitesh Shroff was an artist at heart. So when his father Kishorchandra bought him his first camera, it sparked a love that continues to this day. Hitesh stays busy now with grandfather business, but enjoyed a long career as a photographer, building a small business and shooting weddings until his retirement.

“I never thought I’d actually be able to be a photographer,” Hitesh said. “But my father bought me a camera, and allowed me to study more. To eventually get to a point where, with my parents’ help, I would get pictures exhibited in an art school, was incredible for me. And to be able to do it as a job was something I wasn’t sure I would be able to do.

“But if you really like something from the heart, you can love it the rest of your life. Sure, you can go to accounting school, or become a doctor and make more money, but if it’s boring to you, what does it mean?”

So Hitesh and Nikita encouraged their boys, without putting limits on them.

“Whatever you do, give it your best,” Hitesh said of his advice to his sons. “Never think you have learned enough; you can always do better.”

Being pushed to succeed, while having the ability to follow a dream, could sometimes be a confusing place.

And as Anish went on to the prestigious Newhouse School at Syracuse University to study broadcasting, it often left him confused about whether he was truly supported beyond his own family.

He’s done something now that sets him apart, but he hasn’t always felt affirmed as he broke barriers along the way, leaving him with what he calls a “complicated” relationship with his own heritage. He’s entering a club of NFL radio play-by-play voices where the other 31 members are all white males, so he stands out. But there were people around him who thought he was wasting his time watching ball games, and would have been better off studying medicine or finance or technology.

“I look at South Asian representation in media, it’s a small number, there are some of us. The part that’s not often told is our biggest obstacle to entry has often been our own people and our own community because this is not a profession you go into,” Shroff said. “It was complicated to see myself as a trailblazer, because my first line of resistance came from my own community. So it felt different. You’re telling me I can’t do this because of stereotypes you want to fit me into. And you get to a certain point, you get to ESPN, and now you represent? When I was younger, it took a little while before I grasped that. It’s like, where’s the community support at the start of the race or at mile marker 13, not at mile 26?

“But over time, I have seen, others look up to you. And having someone with a similar background or looks like you, maybe that empowers a young South Asian boy or girl that I can do this, that I can pursue a job in media or sports or play-by-play or whatever it might be. I’ve embraced that more as I’ve grown up, and now I do feel a responsibility.”

Shroff did a Ted Talk about the dynamic once, explaining the tension between what he felt he ought to do at times versus what he was passionate about, and the cultural undercurrents that were pulling him in different directions.