#30 Why action is everything- Premal Patel on life and lessons

This episode is full of life wisdom and honest reflection. Sitting down with Prem, a highly respected coach, mentor and author, was a dream come true. His new book YANGA Unplugged is not just his own story- in many ways it is ours. Let him inspire and empower you the way only Prem can. Enjoy my loves: you are in for a treat.

Premal Patel employs authentic storytelling techniques to help leaders unlock their teams’—and their own—full potential. With Premal as your guide, you’ll confidently stride into a future of your own making. 

Bio: International business leader and acclaimed motivational storyteller Premal R. Patel has decades of valuable experience connecting people from diverse cultures and different generations. He is often known as the ‘corporate connector’.
Premal’s journey began with profound loss, when he lost his father at just 10 months old. Yet the overarching vision of YANGA Unplugged is profoundly optimistic, as Premal brings to life the wise, nurturing voices of the father-figures who shaped him.
From overseeing business growth across three continents to mentoring countless professionals, Premal has transformed significant personal adversity into universal wisdom.
www.premalpatel.co.uk

www.yangaunpluggd.com

LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com/in/premalpatel1

Instagram

@premalrpatel

@yangaunplugged 

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Transcript

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Josephine McGrail: So. Hello! Hello! Sitting down with my wonderful friend Pramel. Today I'm super excited. You are with us all the way from Dubai. Pramel is an international business leader and acclaimed motivational storyteller, and now also author. Welcome, welcome, Pramel.

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Premal Patel: Thank you, Josephine, for that lovely, warm welcome and that intro. I'm glad to be here lovely to talk to you all the time.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, my God, I feel the same. And for listeners out there, because obviously, you know, they don't know you. They don't all know everything about me. What's really exciting for me is the 1st time you and I met I was actually the one kind of on stage.

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Premal Patel: That's right. Remember, you were there doing at one of our company away days. Yeah, that's right. You came to do a bit more motivational trying to get the team motivated and engaging, did a brilliant job. The feedback was really positive there from that. So yeah, good job done. Really good job.

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Josephine McGrail: No, bless you, that's so kind. But just I think it's just so beautiful. How sometimes you know just that thing of essentially we met from the moment of me delivering something for you guys. And then, you know, here we are now, years later, and I just think just even that moment of serendipity. Just that thing

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Josephine McGrail: you never know who's going to be. I know you, and I don't speak all the time, but you know you never know who's going to be your next best friend. Do you know what I mean? Like life is mysterious and wonderful, and if you're open to it, it can be pretty magical.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, you know, Josephine, I'm a strong believer, and and you hit the nail on the head. We haven't been in touch until well, since that time, which I think was back in 2022, or something like that.

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Premal Patel: And we've got in touch this year. We hadn't spoken in the middle, right? So that human connection for me is really key. And always I always say to people.

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Premal Patel: always keep your network, you know, keep connected. Keep your network, you just, you know. And it's not just about building a big network. It's just about you never know where people come back into your world, into your universe, and where you end up impacting others as well, you know. So and it all. It's worked out really well for us. I'm sure you and I are going to be talking for many, many years, going forward right? So there you go.

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Josephine McGrail: A 100%. Oh, my God, I'm already excited is, as I always say. Prem, this is only the beginning. But anyway, that aside, let's include the listeners so lovely, Pramel, before we dive into your new book, which I'm super excited about. I just want to hear a little bit about your upbringing. So how did where did you start out in life? And what kind of family setup did you have?

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Josephine McGrail: And yeah, sort of give us a little, a little background.

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Premal Patel: I will, I will. And just a quick point, you know, Josephine, you could call me Prem, that's fine. Everybody does. Yeah. So most people call me by my full name when I'm getting told off.

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Premal Patel: It's like, Yeah, but there you go

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Premal Patel: fine. So my background, you know, it's a bit of a mix, you know. So I'm Indian origin.

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Premal Patel: you know. Family's from India in the Gujarat, but my grandfather moved to the to East Africa in Kenya, in the forties.

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Premal Patel: you know, and I was born in East Africa. I was born in Nairobi, I'd say, in 1969. So now you can work out how old I am. And we moved to the Uk in 1971. So, my, you know, that's where sort of a lot of my family's background has been in East Africa. So we're one of the East African Asians. That sort of came over to the Uk in the early seventies and settled down here. So you know my whole

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Premal Patel: education system, and everything has been done in the Uk. And you know that's really where my background was. So you know. Unfortunately, you know one of the one of the key things that happened back in Nairobi.

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Premal Patel: you know. My father passed away when I was only 10 months old out there, you know. So back in 1970,

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Premal Patel: through a tragic car accident, and unfortunately, and he was coming to the Uk later that year to start a new job.

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Premal Patel: So my grandfather, who was about to retire, and in Nairobi you retire at 55, and he turned 55 then, and then he then extended his contract with a well-known bank, got a transfer to the Uk. So he became sort of more like a father figure for me, and he continued working, and we all lived together in the Uk, as we did in A, in a sort of a 3 bedroom house. At 1 point there was 14 of us. So imagine that was

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Premal Patel: he was fun, though he was fun.

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Josephine McGrail: Wow! And oh, okay, there's so much in there. But let me just ask, sort of practically, where in the Uk. Did you come to. Did you start out in London? Did you start out in the North? Where were you.

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Premal Patel: No, so we came into London. So in fact, I think when we 1st came, my recollection is, we went to Kent, and then from Kent we went into London, South London. Wandsworth is the area that we started. We then lived in Brixton, where my mom was working, and that was convenient for her, and then we ended up in Northwest London, in Harrow, in Middlesex.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, my God! Amazing! And wow! What a story! And and that whole thing of like, I think you see, at some point you were 14 people living in a 3 bedroom house. Is that? That's what you mentioned? Right?

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Premal Patel: Absolutely right. It kind of brings me.

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Josephine McGrail: Back to when I 1st came to London. So I moved to the Uk. And London straight away when I was 16 by myself, and you know so so I thought I had moved into, which was supposed to be a 3 bedroom house, and I thought I had, you know, sort of

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Josephine McGrail: 4 or 5 other flatmates, because some of them were couples, and one day I went into you had to sort of walk through the living room, which was someone else's bedroom. But you know, when you're 16 things work, you know. And it's like, Yeah, yeah, you're allowed to go through the living slash bedroom to get to the room with the washer and the this and the day, and I walk in sort of tiptoeing, because it was very early in the morning.

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Josephine McGrail: noticing that there were 9 people sleeping in the room. So you know, although it wasn't my own family, I was like, Oh, hands up! I have also shared a house.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, that's right. Yeah. And and it's fun, you know.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, everybody there. And I mean, I was the youngest in the house so

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Premal Patel: super spoiled, you know, surrounded by you know, mom, grandma aunties, everyone just spoiling, spoiling the kids right, spoiling me as being the youngest. So yeah, I really enjoyed that time. And I love that whole community. And you know, being together and having big dinners around the table. And yeah, imagine we had a we had a table, for I think it was 6 people.

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Premal Patel: We've got 14 people around the table to eat. Imagine, imagine that.

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Josephine McGrail: I know I love it.

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Premal Patel: I had no idea, but we did it.

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Josephine McGrail: But that's it, and I love it. And it's just, you know, it's just the pure humanness of like, you know you. You make the best of what you've got, and it's like love is not about all these other extra things that are nice. But in the end of the day, like, you know home is where the hide is, but I want to go over to this whole

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Josephine McGrail: apart. So you mentioned you were the youngest one so.

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Premal Patel: Yeah.

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Josephine McGrail: You have siblings.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, I have one sister. She's older. She's about 2 and a half years older than me, so.

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Josephine McGrail: Got you so it sounds like you grew up in a household with quite a lot of women. Am I right.

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Premal Patel: Absolutely absolutely we were.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, I don't. I don't know how it all sort of worked out, but.

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Josephine McGrail: Because.

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Premal Patel: A lot of women in the house, you know, and there was myself, and sort of my grandfather and my uncles would just come every now and again, because they're working abroad, and whatever but you know their their spouses were staying with us for a period of time. We even had, you know, at 1 point a very close friend's daughter, who was an auntie of mine, coming in and staying with us as she was building her life in the Uk, so yeah, there was a lot of women around.

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Josephine McGrail: Wonderful. I loved it. And would you say, because obviously I can sit here and analyze you day in, day out. But I want to hear from you. How would you say that impacted your relationship just in general? Because I think when you grow up with so many men around you? No, I want you to speak. How do you think? How do you think that impacted you?

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Premal Patel: You know, I think in my early days I was probably quite spoiled. It was like because

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Premal Patel: I believe they struggled to say no to me, and it was maybe just my way, and the way I influence them, and I soon found out what I could do to influence each individual. So I probably played on that at 1 point, you know, and grandma was always there. Never say no, you know, whatever, she said went, you know. So everyone had followed through. So I knew who the person I had to go for to get what I needed. So it sort of I mean for me. It was more

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Premal Patel: having more women around when it was. You know, things like, you know, school plays and the sort of things that you have where you have, you know, father, mother, and everyone coming along. But it wasn't quite the quite the same for me, you know. Sports days, whatever else it was, there was always more, you know, mother's influence, or aunties or other people around, you know. And but yeah, I think to me it probably

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Premal Patel: help me sort of.

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Premal Patel: I was a bit mischievous when I was a kid, you know. I don't know if that comes across, but you know I had a bit of a boisterous side. Very mischievous I was, you know, very curious about things, and and I think they sort of kept me

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Premal Patel: in check. Let's put it that way.

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Josephine McGrail: I love it, I love it and I but for me it's also really interesting, because, 1st of all, I don't have a lot of men on the podcast a lot of the time, and secondly, I don't know a lot of men that grew up in a sort of like many generations, household 1st and foremost, and then also with most of them being women. So that's why I was really curious about if you.

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Premal Patel: You know? Yeah.

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Josephine McGrail: I know you reflect. You know you're a reflective person. You know you have to be. Otherwise. You can't create and do what you do. Yeah.

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Premal Patel: And you're right, you know, Josephine, I think what also happened. He sort of created a bit more balance, I suppose, in my life where I was.

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Premal Patel: you know, in the old days, you know a lot of the guys, you know, they didn't step foot in the kitchen right? They didn't know how to, even, you know. Boil water, I suppose, or do anything, and they'll just ask their spouses, or whoever the woman in the household to go and do stuff, and that was how it was in Kenya. At 1 point, you know, men would eat first.st

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Josephine McGrail: And then the women would eat, and but we were all eating, eating together, having dinner together, and then it was all the domestic stuff you have to do in the house. I saw a lot of that, and I got involved.

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Premal Patel: But I think it gave me that that feel of.

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Premal Patel: you know. It's not just about men on one side, women on the other. Women are in the kitchen doing whatever, although my grandma, you know her. Her absolute

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Premal Patel: mission in life and visioning was to feed the family right. That was it. She woke up. That's what she wanted to do, and I'd get involved with her right. And you know, I learned a lot of

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Premal Patel: domestic chores and just what it takes to make that meal.

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Josephine McGrail: No.

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Premal Patel: For the family, you know, because she was cooking from like 10 o'clock in the morning till about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. But you sort of get a feel for what it really takes. The hard work that the women in the household were doing.

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Josephine McGrail: 100%. And I also think, you know, if we just kind of reflected a little and related a little bit to your life. You know later on, as you grow up, it's this thing that you essentially had the whole microcosmos presented to you in your microcosmus within your own world right like you had the politics. You had the different generations you had, you know. Then, also what was going on with, you know, in terms of coming from another country and moving to here. There was so much going on that you, as an

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Josephine McGrail: and also because you were one of the only men in the family. You know, you didn't have a lot of male role models to to see yourself in, you know. So there was, you know, I just yeah, I'm just really curious, because that I didn't notice about you.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, it's just one of those.

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Premal Patel: I mean, you know the fact that probably you know my grandfather was a lot older and he had a different. He had a view of the world, and he there was a way that he was, and he was the powerhouse, I suppose, in the household and everyone respected him, and everyone looked up to him. And you know what he said went pretty much, you know. Right down to. If you were not at the table at 6 o'clock sharp every day. Nobody could eat

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Premal Patel: would wait until the last person is sitting down, and then everybody can eat right? So it was really rules, and for me

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Premal Patel: there was sort of his influence, and he was such a kind-hearted person. He'd always do things for everybody else right, and whatever he did, he did it for everyone else, and I think part of what I suppose what happened with my father maybe softened him a little bit in terms of thinking. Life's a bit short.

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Josephine McGrail: Wow!

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Premal Patel: A parent wants to cremate, you know, in the Hindu culture we cremate, you know, people who have passed away. No parent wants to do that to their kid.

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Josephine McGrail: No.

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Premal Patel: And he had to, and he had to navigate his world really quickly to help set up a foundation and a life for us. You know we could have stayed in Kenya. We could have gone back to India, God knows where. You know what I'll be doing then. But he brought us to the Uk. For the really, my father's ambition was to educate his kids in the Uk. You know, London schools or Uk schools. And you know, my grandfather actually took that responsibility on and made it happen, you know. So that was

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Premal Patel: super proud, you know. I'm really proud of him for that. But yeah, it's for me. It was more.

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Premal Patel: I got quite curious. I was. I wanted to explore. I was in a new country. They were in a new country trying to settle down

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Premal Patel: community. I remember living in an area where we were the only Asian family in that area.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, my God!

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Premal Patel: You know, when we've moved into you know the Harrow where we moved. We're the 1st sort of Asian family there. My God!

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Premal Patel: You know in my school, you know, I at 1 point I was like the only Asian

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Premal Patel: kid in the school.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, my God, I can't.

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Josephine McGrail: Yeah.

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Josephine McGrail: Imagine!

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Premal Patel: Treating you a little bit differently, and you know you go through those motions of you know. Why are people looking at me? You know that type of thing. So you know all. My, I didn't actually know anything different apart from the Uk.

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Josephine McGrail: Absolutely, absolutely. I get you. I have a question as well, because now that I know that story about your father, you know, passing when you were so young? Do you think that that may have contributed to and slash? And or did you ever have a feeling of needing to almost accelerate your life because, you know, life can be short, and maybe wanting to live the life that he that was taken away from him. I'm just sitting here wondering.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, it's a you know, I mean, look 55 years on. Still, think about him, you know. I mean, let's put it this way.

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Premal Patel: I've never talked to him. I've never heard his voice never held his hands. You know we've never hugged. I've never felt him right. I've heard stories, and those stories have become quite ingrained into me about what he's like. I've seen pictures, so I sort of imagine what things are like, and it might sound a little bit crazy, but right from a young age I've had this sort of

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Premal Patel: inner voice which I always call my dad, you know and you know, his sort of initials were Rg. And everyone used to call him Rg, basically as a as a nickname. And I had this Rg. Voice in my head. And sometimes I'd sort of reach out and think, Okay, I've got a problem or a challenge, you know. Hey? What do I do? And I'm sort of

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Premal Patel: pretending to talk to him, you know, and maybe that sounds a little bit crazy. I don't know but I did it, and it helps, you know, and I sort of think I'll get this inner voice. And then I had my grandfather as the sort of physical father figure, so I'm quite lucky I had like 2 fathers, basically.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, my God, I I absolutely love it. And and because, because you know.

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Josephine McGrail: I always say, like you know, the greatest, the greatest disease on this planet is is actually not sort of, you know, like medical things we can, we can diagnose is it's a sense of loneliness. It's a sense of. We are alone with what we're experiencing. So the fact.

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Premal Patel: Absolutely.

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Josephine McGrail: The fact that you just naturally, you know

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Josephine McGrail: whether I mean from my belief he's totally around you all the time, because, you know, energy never dies. It just changes shape, but regardless that's my own beliefs. But the fact that you you heard that voice and you immediately. You know you didn't doubt it. You were like, yep, you are here, and you and I are going to chat, and you know it just meant that you were never by yourself. Even in that 14 people household at times.

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Josephine McGrail: you know, it doesn't matter. Amount. The people we're with. We can feel so alone and so alone in our experience. So the fact that you always reached out.

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Premal Patel: Yeah.

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Josephine McGrail: It's just yeah, really powerful. Okay, listen. I can talk all day with you. So let's it was, yeah.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, just to touch on that. The sort of alone piece comes as a young Asian male who's come over from Kenya Indian in a very white community, and there's nothing wrong with that but trying to find your way through that there was nobody in the household who could relate to that.

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Premal Patel: You know, some of the issues you face at school, you know, and people and some of the challenges I had to face into. There's nobody who's ever whoever went through that, so I couldn't talk to anybody.

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Premal Patel: About that. So I kept a lot of the problems or the challenges I faced. I kept them to myself

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Premal Patel: quite often. But you mentioned. Yeah, did I have to fast track? Absolutely, you know.

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Premal Patel: you know, I started doing a small job in a local market in, you know, in Wembley, at the age of 11.

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Josephine McGrail: Hmm right.

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Premal Patel: And earning 3 pounds for a morning, of which I used to give one pounds to my mom.

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Josephine McGrail: Hmm.

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Premal Patel: So just to pay for household bills because we didn't come from a, you know, a wealthy family. It was a quite humble upbringing.

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Josephine McGrail: You know

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Josephine McGrail: I love, I just I love little Prem. Oh, my God! And then I also loved I just oh, my God! But he's so cute he's so cute.

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Premal Patel: Stories, but there you go. I was always well behaved.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, my God, wow, wow! Okay, so, okay, so, so from little Prem, at the age of 11. And, by the way, was that your idea about you working in the market? Or was the family kind of like? This is what we do.

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Josephine McGrail: No.

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Premal Patel: Was a market trader, so he had a stall he was selling, you know, floor mats and carpets, and all of that kind of stuff.

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Premal Patel: and he said, You know he needed a bit of help. So, in fact, it was myself and my cousin, who was about 3, 4 years older than me. My cousin was working with him, and he said, Look, if you want, come and help me. So my cousin was earning 10 pounds, he'd give me 3 pounds out of his salary, and that's how it worked, and we did it, for I think I did it for a good year, maybe a year and a half.

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Josephine McGrail: No. And and I know, like, I know, we're taking it nice and slow here in the beginning, but I think you know, understanding one's roots and understanding one's foundation and understanding. You know the choices that you already made, you know, because that built who you are today. Right? You know the idea that was shaped within you. So, for instance, so when I was at the ripe age of

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Josephine McGrail: I'm laughing so hard I think I was 4, I was 4, and I decided I should sell my toys, because you know I should. I should, you know, good to save money and make, you know, knew my mom didn't have enough money, and so my mom had gone to work. My dad was asleep, and I was like, I'll make myself useful. So I gathered up the toys that I weren't using, and I went around to all the kids that lived locally and knocked on doors and sold my toys. I came home. My dad, of course, was very worried because I hadn't.

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Premal Patel: Cool.

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Josephine McGrail: Was asleep. I didn't tell him, you know it wasn't a good, but so my point is, I was 4 when I became aware that, you know, you know, creating one's own luck and opportunity. And yet you didn't sit around and wait, but that I could be useful, and I could be helpful, and I had something to give as well. So that's why I just, you know, that's why I wanted to hear like I was like, Oh, yeah, this, you know, reminds me of my own little story, and

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Josephine McGrail: do it was kind.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, my beginning of my entrepreneurship.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, I mean, that was just, you know. And that's brilliant. Because you're right. You you become a mini entrepreneur. Right? You're sort of like thinking. Okay, I can sell this. Bring this. And as I got through that market

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Premal Patel: work that I was doing, that's where I sort of started getting into this whole

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Premal Patel: joy of dealing with customers and dealing with people and seeing their reactions. And you know they asked for me to serve them and all of that. And there was a relationship that gets built. And that's how I suppose I really got into this whole customer relationship marketing sales. I'm a sales guy right through and through. But that's really where that passion started started for me at a very young age.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, my God! I love it! Oh, such a love! It so much! Okay, so from that. Then what was next for you? Did you did you like, since you were very little? Did you always know what direction you wanted to head in? Or were you kind of like left? Right north, east, inside, upside.

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Premal Patel: I was the left, right northeast, all over the place. I actually, you know, my original ambition was to become a pilot.

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Premal Patel: and you know I loved, you know, just watching planes, and whatever and anything to do with airports and aircraft. And I ended up getting bad eyesight at a young age, you know, probably about 7. So wearing glasses, and somebody told me I can't remember who. And a few people said, Oh, because you wear glasses, you can't actually fly a plane

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Premal Patel: right? Because of your eyesight. You need to have, you know, 2020 vision. And whatever.

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Josephine McGrail: That's true.

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Premal Patel: I kept saying, No, I'm going to do this, and no, you can't. They won't let you, or whatever. And that really kills that passion completely.

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Premal Patel: So did I know I wanted to. Did I know I was gonna get into

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Premal Patel: customer loyalty, shopper activations, leadership development, you know, promotions and partnerships. Absolutely no way I fell into it. I got a passion for marketing. I've got a passion for business. I read a lot of

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Premal Patel: entrepreneurial books and people who had made it. You know all the success books, and whatever else, as you do as a teenager, I'm thinking. You know, this is where I want to be somewhere in business, somewhere in commercial, somewhere in marketing and sales. I'm dealing with people. I have to be dealing with people. That's basically what I wanted to do so I knew the people side. What that actually looked like I have no idea but what I got into. I just fell into it, and one thing led to another.

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Josephine McGrail: Right. I love that.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, I wasn't the brightest kid at school, academically at all, you know. I used to flunk a lot of exams and

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Premal Patel: and the other thing, and I really challenged. Even at that time I was quite challenging with teachers, and whatever else which actually, I probably annoyed them because they would teach you a very clear cut. You have to memorize everything. Do your exam. Get through exam. But it's all about memorization. And I was more on the other side about creative thinking

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Premal Patel: problem solving. And I'm trying to do things in a different way. And again, no curriculum says this.

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Premal Patel: and but I couldn't.

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Premal Patel: I couldn't get into that curriculum the way they did it. So I didn't really do that. Well, at school, you know, I had to work really hard to get through the exams.

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Josephine McGrail: Yeah, yeah,

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Josephine McGrail: I totally get that. And so so what kept pulling? What would you say in your in your teenage years and early into your twenties and stuff. What was kind of the dream, or the feeling, or the aspiration? Or were you running away from something? Because, you know, in life. We either run towards something. Oh, this was really good over here. I want something with humans. I want something. I'm reading a lot. I want to be part of the hustle and bustle, or were you running away from something where I am right here? That doesn't feel good. You know that kind of analogy.

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Premal Patel: You know, being brought up in a family where we were, you know, paycheck to paycheck right? You know we had to cover the bills. We had to do whatever we did, you know. I always had this passion to make sure to say, Look, I would like to get more financially secure and help the family right with that, and bring

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Premal Patel: what can I do to bring more income in to make their life easier? How can I make my grandfather's and grandmother's life easier. They've been working 60 years, whatever it's going to be right and

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Premal Patel: And yeah, yeah, in fact, my grandfather worked for the bank for 40,

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Premal Patel: about 40 to 45 years. I can't remember exactly, but that's a long time right.

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Josephine McGrail: Wow!

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Premal Patel: And and his plan was to go and retire, you know, after 30, 35 years. But he couldn't, so I wanted to make that happen. So I always saw whatever I did. I wanted to help

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Premal Patel: the family move on. Step up a little bit, you know, and I suppose that's the thing that either

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Premal Patel: drove me to do. You know, I did lots of things as a teenager in terms of trying to make money in new initiatives and all of that kind of stuff, even down to, you know, I tried some of that. You know those multi-level marketing schemes. I actually did really well out of one of them and started earning some cash, and people were wondering why. Why is this? Why these checks coming in for in the post? Because people in the organization were selling product, and that you know, I was getting checks coming in. And I was like, this is great.

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Josephine McGrail: But.

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Premal Patel: I knew it wasn't probably long term, but it was just stuff. I tried, and some things worked. Some things didn't, but that was my passion was to how do I secure a stronger foundation for the family? That was really where the drive was.

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Josephine McGrail: I absolutely love that. I think it's so beautiful. And again, even that in itself is a relationship. Right again, it's not you alone in the world. It's again that you know, really knowing what your values are and having them at the forefront of your mind and heart and making your actions

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Josephine McGrail: absolutely.

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Josephine McGrail: Yeah.

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Premal Patel: And the stories I heard were, you know, sort of the sort of tragic accident that my father went through, but how the community came together to help the family

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Premal Patel: restart and reboot because they had to. I mean, it was just a really, probably.

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Premal Patel: you know, I wasn't around to think about what it was like. I was there, and I was a baby right? What they must have gone through. No, I don't even think half the time anyone really told me deep what they went through. But the community came together. The family came together, and they all lifted each other, and that's what I believe, really got me through my younger days. We were lifting each other.

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Premal Patel: whatever happened, you know. Yeah. My grandfather was strict, you know. If I didn't get good grades. Yeah, obviously, he wasn't happy, right? And I've been through all sorts of experiences with him where I thought actually got good grade, you know, in one of my subjects, and he was saying, Well, did you get the best, the highest grade? I went well, no, and he went well, when you do come back.

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Premal Patel: and that was quite

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Premal Patel: painful, because I'll have to work really hard to get those grades. I was thinking, oh, he'll be really happy because I went from a 40% to like 70% or 80%.

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Premal Patel: And he said, Is it the highest grade in the class? Went? No. And he says, well, when you do, then come back. And I was oh, my God! I didn't want to do that. That sort of you know those sort of conversations. Really.

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Premal Patel: you know, impact you as a kid, because you think.

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Premal Patel: okay, I need a bit of encouragement, you know. But that was the way that was his way, because it was always a strict way, you know, and I get it. Now you know, about that time I was thinking, God, why doesn't he just appreciate what I've done.

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Premal Patel: of course. Oh, my gosh.

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Premal Patel: yeah, but that was tough, you know. That was tough. I was thinking, Well, I'm not doing anymore. Then, you know, then I go through a bit of a downward spiral thinking, why am I going to bother, you know, going through? But then I realized myself through my teenage years. I think when I was about 1718,

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Premal Patel: the only person who can really put me on the right path is me.

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Premal Patel: Am I expecting other people to do it for me, you know.

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Premal Patel: and it was a bit of a light bulb moment at that time.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, because after school, I just wanted to work.

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Josephine McGrail: Hmm.

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Premal Patel: Because it was again that passion to bring the income.

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Josephine McGrail: Right.

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Premal Patel: The conversation with thinking, no, your father wanted you to get to the best education, and it sort of triggered me, thinking I'm going to get a university degree, you know. I want to get there, and I'll do more. That's my driver.

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Josephine McGrail: Absolutely love it. So did you. Did you end up going to university? Where did you go.

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Premal Patel: Did.

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Premal Patel: Yeah. So I went to. So I was at Kingston University for a couple of years and did a business and finance diploma there and then. I was going to work again after that, so I didn't really do that great in my a level. So I didn't quite get into the degree courses. So I got onto the diploma, and I thought, I'm not going to go back home and say I didn't do so. Well, I'm going. So I got on the course.

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Premal Patel: did the course, and then it was only, you know, I went for an interview for a job

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Premal Patel: with a financial institution, and I got back. I got down to the final 2, and they picked the guy who had a degree.

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Premal Patel: And that really hurt. And that was, you know, painful. I thought I had that job. You know, I was really like, I mean.

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Premal Patel: yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Premal Patel: Said, I'm never going to be in that position again. So I said, right, I'm going to go back. I couldn't go back to Kingston, so I was too late. So now I went to Guildhall University in London, and finished off my degree.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, wow! Good for you! Oh, wow! Yeah, no.

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Premal Patel: But it's like these little moments where you think something's going to work for you. And then something happens where it's a slight comment. All they said is, had you had the degree you could have got the job.

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Premal Patel: I was thinking, oh, my God, really, I mean it's a piece of paper. But you know I got through all the stages, and they still said, No, you need this. I went right that I'm not going to be in that position again.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, my God, Prem, I'm just laughing so hard because this is so similar to my own life story. And I'm excited. Yeah, because because for me, I'm all about life experience. And I'm all about what qualities are you actually about? And what have you actually experienced? Because, you know.

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Josephine McGrail: I understand it. Going to university is hard work, etcetera. But but but in a lot of other instances, you know. For instance, this was me in my Yoga teacher training. So I've done. I've practiced Yoga since I was 9. It doesn't make me an expert. It does mean that I have years of experience.

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Josephine McGrail: fine

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Josephine McGrail: and at the same time I was also a ballerina, right? So I worked with my body my whole life very long story short, if anyone can sign up for Yoga teacher training. There's no pre-required. You know things. Anyone is possible, and it's so good.

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Josephine McGrail: But it means anyone can do it. You can sit down on your mat for 4 weeks you can pay a huge amount of money, and then, after 4 weeks, as long as you can do a little bit. Not everyone. But most schools will kind of give you the piece of paper, and then that opens doors in the world right? And for me I always was like.

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Josephine McGrail: well, that piece of paper doesn't really mean a lot, then, whereas if you have 30 years of experience, but anyway similar to you, then, instead of me walking around being annoyed that the system is how the system is. I had a choice, right? So this is going back many years where I was in my mid twenties, and all the yoga studios were like, Hey, Josie, you're really good at this. Can you please come and teach? And I was like, Yeah, I can come and teach. And they were like, Where is your certificate? And I was like.

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Josephine McGrail: I practiced yoga for 20 years. But okay, and they were like, we really need that certificate and and it exactly like you. I was like, no, so annoying. But at the same time, okay, you know what

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Josephine McGrail: many things in life is a game, and you have to understand the rules. And if you want to be part of that game to any extent. If one of those you know things that are required is a piece of paper, then get the piece of paper. I'm just laughing because you were like the piece of paper, and I was like.

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Premal Patel: Of engagement you just have to follow, you know, every now and again. So you know I didn't. So you know, and that's the thing. I just never wanted to be put in that position again. Right? So you go ahead and you get to the next step and the next step, and whatever else you do.

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Josephine McGrail: A 100%. And I love it. And it's also it is so funny. Because I think also, that's definitely, you know, it's part of your inner values and part of mine, that thing of like always wanting to Christian status quo, always wanting to go, hey? Can we do it a better way. So when you are that creative finger, and that's the hat you always wear, then you're never, ever going to be the sheep that just follows everyone and like, Oh, but we need to do it this way. So we do it this way, like, if you're the one who's like, you're kind of the rebel you're like, Hey, this way is no longer working. Then it.

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Premal Patel: It's.

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Josephine McGrail: It definitely feels like I mean, I feel like most things in my life where I got a diploma certificate was actually really tough for me not to do the thing, but to kind of just keep my mouth closed a little bit, and just like, Okay, let's just get on with it. Oh, now I can do me, you know.

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Premal Patel: Yeah, absolutely.

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Josephine McGrail: So I can.

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Premal Patel: Yeah.

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Josephine McGrail: Really relate to that.

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Premal Patel: Yeah. And also me not being the sort of the part of the herd, probably got me into a lot of ups and downs through my career, you know, because I used to challenge, you know, throughout my career I've challenged and probably got myself in a bit of trouble, and you know. And you know, and bosses have sort of looked at me and go. Okay, this is how we get things done here. And but we're not changing it. And I'm thinking I don't know. That doesn't sit well with me.

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Premal Patel: If you're not willing to change. This is not for me, you know, and you try, and you try, and it doesn't work. You make a choice. Do I stay or go? And quite often I decided to leave.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, my God, 100%. And can you share a little bit more about us with us, about debt? So when you chose to leave. What normally did you notice a pattern? Was there a pivotal point? Because, like you said, you said that just doesn't sit well with me. And then, when you did make the choice, okay, so you left. Did you ever sort of think back, you know, in moments of you know, where life was challenging again. And did you ever think back like

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Josephine McGrail: you know, did I not stick it out? Should I just have followed along, or was it always like. No, actually, this was the right like this felt like the right decision. Do you know what I'm saying?

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Premal Patel: Yeah. And I think so most often where I decided to move on.

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Premal Patel: We'll spend.

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Premal Patel: I felt I had really really tried hard to change something that just wasn't working. It wasn't fit for purpose anymore.

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Premal Patel: and nobody would listen. They were just wanting to keep to the status quo, because either they felt it was too hard. Or do we want to cause difficulty? Why do we want to change? Let's just carry on, you know, whatever and like, you know, and quite often, you know, in in the sort of the I joined a bank in my 1st job, and it was analysis, paralysis, right? It was like, literally, and

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Premal Patel: everything was done in a way which was very bureaucratic. The processes were broken at 1 point, and as I scaled quite quickly into the career, I took

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Premal Patel: part of. What I can do is I can see something and see a quite often. I can see a better way of doing something.

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Josephine McGrail: Hmm.

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Premal Patel: Doesn't always work, and I get it doesn't always sit well with people. But I can see a way of

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Premal Patel: this is an easier way of doing something or a simpler way. So I I have a sort of knack of simplifying complex problems and complexity.

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Premal Patel: but others like complexity, because that keeps them in the job.

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Josephine McGrail: My God, 100%.

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Premal Patel: Don't have to change it, because I'm the expert on these complex issues. So don't come and rock the boat. So that's where I think I navigated my career out because there's a lot of leaders who

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Premal Patel: didn't want to listen about how you simplify, because they knew that would change their work their world, and they'd have to get behind something with the higher organization and hierarchy to convince them on something which they think you know. So I could either plow, plow on and carry on, and but I didn't, and I think part of the low confidence I had was when others around me start saying, Why did you leave that job.

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Josephine McGrail: Yeah.

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Premal Patel: Had a really good banking job. Look at your grandfather. My father was in banking, so they all kept relating back, and I said, look at their careers. Look at whatever. And

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Premal Patel: you know you're you're you're silly to actually leave a great institution. It just wasn't for me.

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Josephine McGrail: A hundred percent.

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Premal Patel: And it's my choice. You know. I make that decision. But there's so many opinions around you and around us. People will judge. People will

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Premal Patel: have opinions, but they have. They have to look at their own world 1st and say, what have they done to make a difference or change? I don't know, so most of them they haven't.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, a hundred percent. And and like you said, you know, the the only thing we're ever in charge of is is the choices we make right?

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Josephine McGrail: Yeah.

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Josephine McGrail: And the only one that will ever, ever, ever know if we are feeling fulfilled and satisfied in our life when we go to bed at night is is us, because we are the only one who knows what it's like to be us. And so I. But yeah, when you have that, you know, when you have a desire, and you know, to live life very differently compared to others. That's definitely. And that's totally my own life story as well, you know it's it's.

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Premal Patel: Yeah.

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Josephine McGrail: You know. You know.

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Premal Patel: Absolutely exactly. And you know what I saw quite early on was that sort of career, for life

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Premal Patel: was diminishing right? That 40 year career in one company, and whatever which everyone you know years and years ago, decades ago, were really super proud of right and you know where you walk away with a gold clock at the end when you retire right. And they but those days were diminishing, and I could see that. And I, you know, and I think I've had a bit of a squiggly career.

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Premal Patel: and it's been really squiggly and all over loopy everywhere, and with various companies across 3 continents, you know, doing all sorts of different jobs

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Premal Patel: that's actually stood me in good ground.

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Josephine McGrail: Hmm.

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Premal Patel: Of because of the cultures I've adapted to.

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Josephine McGrail: And.

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Premal Patel: Diverse projects and businesses I've been in being thrown in at the deep end in new countries and saying, Go ahead. Let's see if you really know what you're doing?

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Premal Patel: There you go. And I love those type of challenges, you know, and I've I've you know, and I've done sort of, you know well, out of it. But I I failed big as well, you know and

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Premal Patel: years and years ago, when failure was not accepted, I mean nowadays, I think people really embrace failure

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Premal Patel: not everywhere. But you know a lot of organizations are moving in that direction to learn from it. But you know, 30 years ago, when I was sort of doing part of my career. If you failed, you were out.

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Josephine McGrail: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Premal Patel: Well, they showed you the door.

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Josephine McGrail: Yeah, here we go.

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Premal Patel: Fear of failure and the consequences. So you really so you worked all hours to make sure nothing went wrong. Yeah. But still things did every.

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Josephine McGrail: Man.

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Premal Patel: Yeah.

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Josephine McGrail: Of course, and also otherwise, you're not growing because you're not trying anything out of your comfort zone like we. We know this. But like you actually, when you are living it, it's a very different experience, right?

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Premal Patel: And.

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Josephine McGrail: I'm going to fast forward as.

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Premal Patel: Sure.

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Josephine McGrail: You are now. So right now you're sitting here with me. You're currently in Dubai, and you are about to launch your 1st book.

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Premal Patel: It's exciting. Yes.

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Josephine McGrail: Paul, do you want to share the title? Is that okay?

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Premal Patel: The title is Yanga unplugged, and that's YANG. A. And

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Premal Patel: don't ask me how I came across this word. I was just researching, researching what I could call my book. The process started about 3 years ago, and I just wanted something a bit unique, a little bit different. And you know

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Premal Patel: where. And Yanga is an actual African word.

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Premal Patel: It's an actual word.

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Premal Patel: and what yanga is commonly used is used in African cultures, and it describes a strong sense of self-confidence, pride.

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Premal Patel: assertiveness, and it represents a bold and assertive attitude towards life.

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Josephine McGrail: Hmm, bye.

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Premal Patel: That's me, even though.

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Josephine McGrail: I'm sure.

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Premal Patel: Delve deeper, and it characterizes the display of resilience, courage, and determination.

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Premal Patel: And it is about strength, power, and resilience, and

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Premal Patel: I just loved the word. And I said, I want to do Yanga unplugged, because I'm going to now unplug what this really means to people, and how they can become more self-confident, build, more resilience, because you know my opinion right now, I think resilience is missing in many, many areas, and for many human beings right now around the world because of the pressure, the pace that everyone's working.

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Premal Patel: You know. I'm in Dubai right now, and the pace at where people are working.

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Premal Patel: You know I've seen people here working at a much faster pace than even in the Uk. Right now.

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Premal Patel: It's constant. It just doesn't stop. And usually in June people would shut down here, you know. But yeah, so that's that's the book it's called Yanga Unplugged.

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Premal Patel: But what I've turned Yanga into is your actions nourish growth, ambitions.

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Josephine McGrail: I love it.

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Premal Patel: That's what the book is about. It's all about you and your actions, and it's a sort of a mix.

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Premal Patel: I'd say it's a bit of a potent mix of how to create self-belief.

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Premal Patel: How do you create that determination and navigate daunting setbacks? You know, in your life, as you encounter those along the way. How do you get the courage and be authentic to get through it?

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Premal Patel: And I've blended personal storytelling with business impact.

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Premal Patel: And throughout the book. You'll see very personal stories coming through where real life experiences are shared. You know, in case studies where I've been very actively involved

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Premal Patel: and how that's impacted business, and how you go about making choices.

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Premal Patel: creating your own self-belief and confidence, how you take a bit more control. But it's all about the action, and

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Premal Patel: I'm all about action. Throughout my life. It's always I've tried things.

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Premal Patel: You take action.

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Premal Patel: Don't be scared of it, you know, and many people don't act.

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Josephine McGrail: Hmm.

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Premal Patel: And even when you push they don't act because they're afraid to make the decision right or make a choice. They want somebody else to do that, or they fear taking the action. What is the consequence? Will I get fired? Will somebody challenge my thinking? Will they laugh at me? Will they judge me. All of those things come out. So then it prevents people from taking action.

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Premal Patel: you know, and I'm a big believer. I think that a lot of the majority of the world probably regret their inaction more than their action.

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Josephine McGrail: A 100%. I mean, you know, I love this so much because it's you know. I think you know this. I'm a coach as well, and it's always the 1st thing when I talk to friends, family clients, it's always that thing of like, whatever whatever change you're desiring, we have to start. And we're starting now, like we have to write down one action. And we start today because, you know, we start anything by starting. You cannot build a house if you are not already.

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Premal Patel: Agreed.

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Josephine McGrail: You know you write down the plan, you go out, you start getting the materials. You put things together, and even if you end up, putting the wrong materials together. Well, now we know that then we are one step closer, and you.

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Premal Patel: Yes.

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Josephine McGrail: We cannot theorize our way. And also we cannot think our way through. We have to lift the question. We have to physically lift it. So I am. Yeah, I.

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Premal Patel: Yeah. And you're you're, you know. You've just. You've nailed it right? Because right now, if you think about the pace at where people are going. No one has time to think

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Premal Patel: right. They can't think about the problems. They can't think about the decisions. But you have to think on your feet

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Premal Patel: and take action. And that's really scary for a lot of people, you know. I've been through it.

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Premal Patel: and I've done it for a few years, and you know, it takes time to really think about how you can think on your feet and make quick decisions and go with your gut

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Premal Patel: quite often. Your gut is the right way to go, but people overthink.

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Premal Patel: and they overanalyze, and then they waste time. And you said it. Time time's a precious commodity. You're never going to get that back. So thinking about what happened, you know, 2 years ago, 5 years ago, bringing up those type of case studies. What's the point. What are you going to do with that thinking about what's happening in 3 years time? How do you know? Nobody can predict the future.

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Premal Patel: and most often what you worry about

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Premal Patel: thinking ahead, 90% of it never happens.

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Premal Patel: But you, you worry yourself sick right over it. So think in the moment, in the present. What can you do right now to make that positive difference to yourself and then to others?

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Josephine McGrail: Absolutely 100. And then I want to ask you, Prem. In the present I want to ask you so, Yanga, why, now.

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Premal Patel: Why, now.

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Premal Patel: Well, it was supposed to be 3 years ago. Let's put it that way.

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Premal Patel: I think the universe wasn't with me. I wasn't aligned at that time. I thought I had a you know. Strong story to tell. I had. I've always had a passion.

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Premal Patel: I love writing, I love jotting. I journal, I do all that kind of stuff right? And but

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Premal Patel: and and years ago it was something I wanted to do.

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Premal Patel: and, to be honest. I amaze every excuse that I'm writing about in the book that you shouldn't. I made every excuse under the sun myself which taught me out of doing the book.

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Premal Patel: I listen to other people. I listened to the judgments, their opinions. I then said I was too busy at work, too busy family, too busy with everybody. Don't have time.

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Premal Patel: Although the weekends I spent sometimes Binge watching Netflix or whatever I was doing right. So I had time.

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Premal Patel: Suddenly what happened last year was, I met a couple of individuals who

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Premal Patel: asked me to share what I had done, you know, and what I'd written. So I did, and

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Premal Patel: their encouragement was just off the chart, you know, and they said, Look.

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Premal Patel: and this is the publishers that I'm working with.

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Premal Patel: And they looked at it. They came back to me after a few weeks, and said, We want to publish with you. Let's do it. And I said, Is this a joke? Honestly? At that point I was thinking, are you joking? I'm not sure this is most encouraged. I've heard most encouragement I've heard around this, and then.

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Josephine McGrail: Excuse me.

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Premal Patel: We went through, and they said, But finish it.

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Premal Patel: So I spent. So I left my corporate world in December.

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Premal Patel: and this all happened around November, December with these guys. And and they said, But you have to finish it.

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Premal Patel: And I said, The only way I'm really going to finish it is, if I just have my time. So I left, set up my own business in January, and then spent 3 months finishing off the book, you know, and the support and the help that they've provided me has been unbelievable. They really kept me on so right now.

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Premal Patel: I think, bringing the last 3 years of experience into the book. There was somebody saying to me

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Premal Patel: 3 years ago was too early.

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Josephine McGrail: Wow!

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Premal Patel: Now I've got some really interesting, quite insightful case studies and experiences I've shared in a book that happened over the last 3 years which actually helped navigate some of the context and narrative in the book.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, my God! I love it! I love it so much, and and you know just again to listeners that thing to to make it relatable.

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Josephine McGrail: We talked about it earlier today, and you're now just magnetizing it right now, like timing is everything.

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Josephine McGrail: And so sometimes we may have an idea. And also we may feel like, now is the right time. And whether that's about, you know, starting a new business, or you build a new home, or you're like, I am so ready for a new relationship. Whatever it is right. We have this, we have the desire. We have the idea, we have the action plan. And then we're like, Okay, God, you can step aside. I'm in the arena. We're acting it out. And then all of a sudden something happens, and whether the world

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Josephine McGrail: isn't ready or we aren't quite ready, or you know, I think between the 2, like everything, everything matures when it's time to mature like, you know, the last thing to to develop on the fruit tree is, the truth is, the fruit right? The avocado isn't ripe until it's ripe, and so I think.

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Premal Patel: Absolutely.

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Josephine McGrail: That, you know, we can have lots of ideas, and it's great to take action. And then sometimes.

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Josephine McGrail: even if our actions, you know, and of course there'll be challenges and stuff. But if our action, if we continue with our actions, and it starts to feel like one thing, is hard work, but that's still joyful, but it's hard work that feels unsupported. It feels like we're just

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Josephine McGrail: they're kind of swimming against the stream. That might just be that the type like it doesn't mean that the project isn't right or the relationship isn't right, or the book isn't for you, or whatever it might just not be right. Now.

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Premal Patel: Agreed, agreed, and I think it goes back to what we said right at the beginning.

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Premal Patel: Your world, the universe navigates its way around where you want it to be. You know how you think about things, and you know in in Yang unplugged. I really do talk about how you reframe your thinking, and you can do it very fast. You don't have to wait for months to change your thinking. You can do it on the day right, and I've got some techniques in there about within.

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Premal Patel: you know, spending 12 min a day. You can navigate your thinking. 12 min a day, 30 seconds an hour.

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Premal Patel: You can do it. Everyone can do it right. But

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Premal Patel: my world navigated to meet a couple of individuals who I hadn't seen for 20 years. At the end of 2024, who then became my supporters.

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Josephine McGrail: A 100%, and also the universe presented. But you said yes, you were in a headspace, for whatever reasons. Maybe you had felt enough seen enough, experienced enough whatever took place. You were ripe enough sorry for comparing you to an avocado. You were ripe enough to accept these individuals when they finally took center stage in your life. Right? Because so often

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Josephine McGrail: we are, you know, in the end of the day, like we can look around our experience in life, and we can see anything as an invitation, everything as an opportunity, or we can see everything as the opposite right. But we have to be in that headspace, in that ripeness of our own souls. Journey where we go. Yes.

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Premal Patel: And you know, Josephine, it's just. If I hadn't taken that phone call

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Premal Patel: I would not have been. I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be doing this, but I wouldn't be doing the book.

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Premal Patel: It's just me picking, taking the phone call and having that conversation, and just ask that. You know, why have I put this away?

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Premal Patel: Why am I not doing this? I really asked the deep questions around myself. You know what stopped me, and I really wrote a whole page on all the blockers. That sort of had stopped me progressing. I said, right, I'm taking. I'm moving away from all those I'd say energy drainers, and I'm going to move them to energy boosters. And what do I need to boost my energy to get this done? And

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Premal Patel: you know we've got it done. You know we've we've signed off the manuscript. We're about to sign off the book cover. It's an exciting one when you see the cover design, you think, oh, my God, this is real! This is real, you know, and and the codes that you need, you know, to put onto Amazon and all the other stuff. It's just

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Premal Patel: yeah. It's really coming together. And you think, God, it took one phone call to trigger this.

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Premal Patel: And that's what happens. It takes one thing, one moment of positivity that can.

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Premal Patel: I hate, you know. I don't want to suddenly say it can change your life.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, a hundred percent.

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Premal Patel: And it really did for me, you know. And I'm writing about it. Yeah, I've written about my experience of not help not finishing off the book in my book

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Premal Patel: and the things I went through, you know. And and it's it's 1 of those things I know. There's a lot of people out there who are probably

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Premal Patel: not supported with their ambitions, not supported with their dreams, you know, and and

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Premal Patel: you know, having a dream and not following through with your ambition. You know, it's just. I think there's a lot of people who are there because they get into life. Life happens, and then it's don't have time too late. I'm too old. Whatever got family got friends, got people, and then everything gets forgot. You forget about your own dreams and your own ambitions.

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Josephine McGrail: A 100%.

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Premal Patel: All the things you have to bring out.

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Premal Patel: front and foremost, because that helps you energize yourself, and you can help support, and, you know, energize everyone else.

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, my God! Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes, so excited. I cannot wait to see the book because of time. I'm going to quickly forward us over into. I know you've already given us lots of golden nudget lots of words of wisdom. But now, to the gorgeous question I always ask if there was just one or 2 messages for humanity a soul message

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Josephine McGrail: that in the wisdom that you sit in today in your beautiful white chair in Dubai, with gorgeous little flowers on top of your head, like a Greek god. You are.

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Premal Patel: Good.

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Josephine McGrail: What soul messes for humanity, and it can also be what you've already shared.

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Josephine McGrail: One or 2 messages.

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Premal Patel: I've got 3 things that just sort of stand out for me. One.

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Premal Patel: Put yourself 1st because it is about you.

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Premal Patel: and putting yourself 1st is probably the most unselfish thing you can do. So put yourself first, st

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Premal Patel: celebrate your journey.

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Premal Patel: Whatever that journey is celebrating, small things are equally as important as as big wins. I think even more important as the small things are, you know, and you've got to celebrate what you do, because whatever day goes by. You're never going to get that back

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Premal Patel: every day.

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Premal Patel: You should have love and laughter in your world, so reshape your own destiny.

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Premal Patel: and the only person who could reshape it is yourself.

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Premal Patel: Don't expect anyone else to do it, because it ain't gonna happen.

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Josephine McGrail: Hallelujah! Amen! Namaste!

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Josephine McGrail: Oh, my God! I love it! Thank you.

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Premal Patel: Thank you.

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Josephine McGrail: Thank you. Thank you. Prem. Absolute pleasure and.

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Premal Patel: No, thank you for having me.

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Josephine McGrail: Honestly, Prem, I'm sitting here on the other side of the screen, right? I'm sitting on the other side of the screen, but I feel like I feel your energy in your genuineness. I don't know if you can say that in English, but you.

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Premal Patel: Right.

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Josephine McGrail: Such a genuine desire to help other help themselves like you have such a genuine energy of seriously, genuinely wanting to inspire others around you, and it's what you've always done is what you continue to do. And now you're also doing it through the written word, and I cannot wait to read it. I'll put all of the notes about your amazing book, and you as well in the show notes, of course, but what I wanted to share is. I'm sitting here and prem, it's like

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Josephine McGrail: it's been so beautiful spending this time with you now. But part of me is like

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Josephine McGrail: I feel so connected to you. It's it's actually a little bit unreal. Part of me is kind of like I feel like we extended family. I know I'm Danish. I know you're Indian.

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Premal Patel: You won't.

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Premal Patel: I know we were brought up everywhere, but it's

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Premal Patel: family. Family is not just people in blood. It's people you connect with, the wider. You know people who you suddenly have that connection. And you know, Josephine, as it goes back to. We hadn't spoken for a while.

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Premal Patel: You know we're speaking now on a more regular basis. And you know, I think obviously me sharing some. Yeah, I'm not good at sharing stuff. Honestly, for years in my entire life. I've always been suppressed to say, Don't share emotions. Don't share your story. Don't share this. Don't share that right, because it was the upbringing, but I've started to doing doing that. I'm getting a bit better. And I think by sharing

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Premal Patel: hopefully, I brought you into a bit of my world, and you know. And that's how we connect. Right? That's how we that's how people connect. You know, people connect with people, you know. And I like connecting with people. I'm really, you know, I want to meet more people. I want to connect with more people. And you know, and you know, as I say earlier. You know you and I are going to be family for a long time now.

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Josephine McGrail: A 100% soul, family forever and ever.

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Josephine McGrail: Thank you so so much. I'm going to stop the recording. So to the listeners. Thank you so much have an amazing day, and to prem, I'll see you in one second.

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Premal Patel: Thank you.