Don't Get Too Comfortable

Don't get too comfortable. Welcome back to the Elevate Polk podcast. I'm your host, Chrissanne Long, and with me today, again, my copilot and my friend, Nate the Great Kendrick.

Hey guys, really excited to be here. Really excited about our guest today.

Please introduce him. This was your idea.

Yes.

Although I was definitely not too far behind. I was just like, you know, you were like, we need to get Root. Oh, I just spilled the booze. Sorry, go ahead, Nate.

Yeah, so our guest today is Root Patel. Root, happy you're here, man.

Well, I'm very glad to be here. Thank you very much, Chrissanne and Nate, for having me as a guest here.

Yeah, I just want to preface it and say I know that Chrissanne and Root go back a ways, but I originally met Root at Catapult through David Young. We, I think it was maybe like 2 or 3 months ago, we were consistently coming up to Catapult at about 4:15, 5-ish, and Root would be in there as well.

That's in the morning, right?

In the morning. Yeah. Yeah. In the morning.

Clarification.

So we were the early risers and I got to meet Root and I just love his mentality. I love his mindset. I love the way that he approaches things. And I thought it'd be really cool to bring him in and hear his full story.

Right. And the title of the episode is Don't Get Too Comfortable. And I think there's a lot of valuable lessons in the journey that you're on, Root. But I want to start, you know, I toyed around with titles like Coming to America and the American Dream, right? You know, just thinking about your story of immigration and becoming a soon-to-be American citizen and that process for you. But let's start with like your home story, like your, your, before you came to the US, what was your childhood like? You know, give us some of that, that really cool stuff that nobody knows. I want, you've been on several podcasts before, so you got to dish on things that you've never shared before.

Absolutely. Thank you. So I grew up in India. I was born in India, grew up in India, and I moved to America when I turned 19. But Life was pretty different there. It was not— it was completely different there. Um, um, I, um, I was the only kid, and so I kind of got to, um, see the world very differently than other people around me because in India almost everybody have siblings and, uh, only few people don't, like they're the only kid. So I was the only child, and growing up India, I wasn't very smart at going to school and always loved technology, loved how things work, love to open things up, trying to see how it works.

That's why you and Nate are such good friends.

Yes. I, I, that's what I did. And that was my life. I wanted to become an engineer because everybody else, my friends, everyone was engineers. So I went to engineering school for a year. I did terrible. I failed every subject for 3 semesters.

That doesn't sound like something that You would say. I can't see you failing at anything, but why would you say that you failed at it? What was the, what were the challenges?

Because there was no challenge. I wasn't just one. I just didn't want it to do it. That was the problem. Okay. And I never focused on school when I was, I had 7% attendance in college and, um, they called my parents and they made a big deal about it. They were like, we'll rusticate you and, uh, you cannot come to college anymore cuz your attendance is only 7%.

What were you doing instead of going to school?

I was, uh, uh, hanging out with people. I was riding motorcycle, you know, doing the kid stuff that they do in college. But at the same time, I was learning. Um, I love technology since I was kid, so I was learning how robots are made and how do I make robot. And I always been fascinated with things that flew, so I would pick airplane over any toy when I was a kid. So always, um, learning about airplanes, how their airflow works and how their engine works, stuff like that, just completely not related to my study, and that's what I was doing while I was in college.

Okay, so clarify something for me. You're saying college, college like university here? Is, is that where, where you were doing all of this?

No, in India. I went to India in mechanical engineering college for about a year.

How old, how old are you when you're in college in India?

18.

Okay, so this is the, the upper, the, the furthering your education?

Yes. Okay, correct.

So So when you were little, little, like grade school kind of things, you were already into airplanes and things that flew.

Yes. I loved it. I loved it. Um, I've been not only airplane, just technology in general, just technology in general. I wanted to see how computer works. We didn't have any computer in our school, in elementary school I went to. So our teacher used to draw the entire computer window on a chalkboard and explain, this is a close button, this is a start.

Oh wow.

So I remembered, I have a really good memory. I remember things since I was a kid, so I remember. And when I got to use computer for the first time when I was like in 12th grade, yeah, that's when I'm okay, started to use it and it was amazing. So it was kind of different there. We didn't have a lot of resources, so we had to figure out how to, uh, make your own resources. And I think that helped me a lot. Not having resources always forced me to think outside the box. Yeah, I'm very grateful for— we didn't have a lot of resources.

Wow. So that made you more resourceful, like trying to find solutions. I wanted to ask that the question of like where your parents were along this process of you not wanting to be what they wanted you to be. How did that, how did that go over? Oh, your, your 7% attendance. I mean, did they?

Yes.

What did—

No, my parents, they, they thought I'm gonna be failure. They still think that sometime, but they, they thought I'm gonna be complete failure. I'm not very good at studying. I was terrible. My handwritings were terrible. No, I couldn't read what I wrote, and it was a big deal for my parents. And I wasn't very good at studying. I didn't focus on studying on purpose, um, and, um, they didn't understand that. And, uh, so it wasn't very good. But they— my mom has always been supportive of me. Like, even though she was not happy what I was doing, she always supported me. She was like, okay, go ahead. And my dad was in the same way. Even though he wasn't happy, he always supported me.

That's awesome, dude. How— I don't want to jump too far ahead, but when you, you know, you were— you guys came to America and you're— you're— how old were you again when you came to America?

I was 19.

So you're 19. So it was a— so you're in that transition phase, 18, not really liking college or what you were necessarily studying, and then you come to America and you— so, so what does that look like when you, when you're first coming to America?

Sure.

I came to America on April 7th, 2015, and that day my life changed. When I was— before I came to America, we waited 18 years to come to America to get the whole visa approval and all that. Whenever I got, uh, when I actually landed in America, I thought, this is— this day everything changes here. I'm starting a new life here, and this is a land of opportunity. So I had that excitement, and— but I didn't know English that time. I didn't know anyone in America, didn't know English, didn't had money, but I just had that excitement. I, I had that feeling that when I first landed, I smell outside the plane and I'm like, oh, this feels very good. And I'm gonna do very good here.

Mm.

So backing up real quick, I wanna talk about, you just said your family waited 18 years to get the visa to come to the United States.

Yes.

So you, you were barely born or you were 1 year old and they started working on getting you to the United States.

Yes.

Wow.

How does, how does it feel growing up in a country Knowing that what you really wanna do is be in another country. I mean, how does that, how, what's the, what's the dynamic of that? Does that, does that change life? I mean, do you, do you talk about it on the, on a daily basis? Like the progress of, you know, what, what the, what the visa process is or where we are. You grew up knowing that eventually your parents were going to take you to the United States.

I, um, actually my uncle who came to America 20 years ago, uh, 26 years ago now, but, um, um, He came to America when I turned 2, and he applied for his whole family to come to America. So I was kid, I didn't know what is America. And you know, that time my life was playing cricket outside and riding bicycle. That was it. That was nothing outside of it. So I didn't even knew what was America when I was kid, but I knew my uncle flew in from America. So I knew there was some kind of thing like America. But as I grew older, my parents were telling me like, okay, we, we just waiting on visa and we kept waiting, waiting.

And, and then it finally came.

Finally came.

And then what's the process like? Okay, we have the visa. Did you sell the house? Did you, you, did you just pack and leave everything? I mean, what, what was the next step?

That was basically it. I was in college and I dropped out immediately. They were about to, they, they, they, the college already told me that we don't need you anymore, but I was just staying in the city, hanging out with the friends and that's what I was just doing. So I'm like, okay. So I came home And, uh, we just started, booked a ticket. I got visa in January and we came here in April, so we had like 2, uh, 3, 4 months to prepare. So we did, started packing, we started, um, buying all the things we think we might need in America. We didn't know what we're gonna need, but, uh, right.

And you're in Lakeland now. Was, was, is Lakeland the first place you landed when you came to the United States?

Yes, so we landed in Tampa Airport, but my uncle lived here in Lakeland, so he, um, we came to his house. We stayed there for a few months trying to figure stuff out and all.

Yeah.

So Lakeland was the first place that I saw.

So, so you're in Lakeland. What's, what's your, what's your next step? Like, you're, you're, as, as Chrissanne always says, your next, your first, first step.

There you go. First, most important next step.

So after I came to Lakeland, I wanted to start job, and my, my uncle, he told me, you need to start working, and it will be a lot good for you if you start making money right now. So I'm like, okay. So I started week in the first week, and he helped me find that Dairy Queen job. My first job was at Dairy Queen selling ice cream in Bartow. So he took me there one night, and he was like, oh, we— and he helped me get that job. He knew the owner, and they were like, okay, you can come here from tomorrow, but you have to work very hard. And, um, uh, yeah, you— so I was very happy that I had a job. So first week I, I started job, and I just go job and go to the job and not, not knowing a word of English.

Yeah, I was gonna ask, how do you start working at Dairy Queen and don't speak English? Do you unders— did you understand English at all?

I had to ask a couple times, like, what are you saying? But, um, but I was listening to a lot of music and reading lyrics at the same time, so I knew what was like a little bit, but I couldn't talk to anybody because I didn't know how to say stuff. And, and I was very, um, shy to speak in English because I thought people might judge me. But I later I realized people people in America are not like that. They always wanting to help you if you don't know the language. Yeah.

How was that? I mean, like, you're— I mean, they're truly just like immersing yourself from like being in India, not knowing English at all, to just being immersed into Dairy Queen. How was that? Like, when were you making ice cream and were you serving customers?

I wasn't— I wasn't allowed to serve customer because I didn't know how to speak English. But what I was doing was cleaning and making ice cream in the back and cleaning the bathroom, just cleaning the parking lot and just basic other stuff that involve other than selling it to the customer.

Got it, got it.

So, but I learned that and I changed that. I learned enough. First, I learned how to talk to my clients in, um, in Dairy Queen. So I, I see my co-worker, what word they use, and sometimes I write it down what they use and how they— what's the first word come out their mouth. So I started repeating themself. I started copying them. And as I start kept doing and doing, I started taking customer first in a drive-through so they don't see me. And if any— even if I mess up, other people are wearing the headset, they can fix it.

Okay.

So I started doing that, but, um, I just told my, my boss that I want to start taking customer. And my first boss, uh, um, who ran Dairy Queen, Payal, she was amazing. And she's the one who taught me all the English because she forced me. She was like, even though we both speak the same language, she told me, I'm not going to speak to you in Gujarati or Hindi or any other language. I'm gonna talk to you only in English, so you have to learn. And I I think that was the best thing that could happen to me.

Yeah. I have a similar story in Spanish. So I have, I'm fascinated with immigration stories. You know, I just, that my mom came from Cuba when she was 14. So I've all my life been, you know, raised with her stories of different things that happened along the way and how they got to the United States. But because I am Cuban, I also had to commit to learning Spanish because it was not, I was, my dad's American and my mom's Cuban. And so I had enough of a background with my family, to be able to know words, but never really felt comfortable or confident in speaking in front of people.

Absolutely, yeah.

I couldn't speak to my mom in Spanish 'cause she was always correcting me. So I was in college, I met my dear, dear, dear friend Ximena, and Ximena and I were in the same class together. I missed a class, so I asked her if I could get the notes from the class before, and in order to do so, we had to go to her apartment to get them. Well, that started our friendship 'cause we were walking to her apartment and having this conversation, and so we became study buddies. We had a book we were sharing. My mom had written something about in Spanish to me, and she was reading it. She's like, why is your mom writing to you in Spanish? Because everybody who knows me does not look at me and think that I'm Cuban. And I explained it to her, and she goes, oh, from that moment on, I'm not speaking to you in any English. Everything we said from that point on, our friendship was Spanish. So I have this one friend who my relationship with her is 100% Spanish.

Wow.

And it's the greatest thing. It was the greatest thing for me to be able to speak fluently because she— and she never broke the rules. Like, she never stopped.

You know, she's awesome.

Even, even this funny story I I was in Costa Rica with— she's from Costa Rica, and I was in Costa Rica and I was meeting all of her friends, all of her Costa Rican friends in, in their country. And, um, I couldn't— I would— her boyfriend at the time was asking me like, where are you from? And, you know, I'm having this conversation in Spanish and they— he was saying, oh yeah, and Ximena tells me that you, you live in a lot of naranjales. And I didn't know the word naranjal. Well, naranja is orange. I should have been able to make the, the connection. It was orange grove. But so, but I'm looking like a complete idiot with these people that I've just trying to make sense of what language it is. And then I feel like a really dumb dumb because "Naranjal" should be an easy word. So like, I can relate to that, like discomfort, that insecurity, that worry of having a conversation and making a mistake. So I'm listening to you thinking, God, yeah, I can totally relate. But you're so strong now. Like, 5 years is nothing and you've mastered the language.

Seriously.

So first, when I was— me and my parents were new in America, it was very hard for us to like— All of us didn't know English. So we didn't even, we couldn't even go to restaurant and order food because we didn't know how to order. Like we were so afraid and it was very uncomfortable thing. But, uh, and, but I'm glad I got to learn English.

Yeah.

I love you. I love that you're sharing though. You're, you're, that's why I wanted to bring him on the podcast. Ruth is so open and so real, like to, to, to say that you guys were afraid and that I think that needs to be talked about more. And, and, uh, create an environment where people can, cannot be fearful and say, like you said, you didn't know until you started coming to America and you were actually immersed in the environment. There's people that are willing to help.

Yes, absolutely.

To be there on my side.

Yes. Even though I didn't know how to order food, I, I, even though I worked at Dairy Queen, I started taking orders and all that. I was so still afraid to like go out and order on my own because I didn't know what to. So one time I wrote it down what I wanted and I'm like, I'm good, just gonna go ahead and show it to the, to the lady taking order. And, but I'm like, you know what, I should try it. I should try. And I start, I give my first order and it was good.

And you made, you got the food that you ordered.

And absolutely.

Yeah. I think that's the other thing too, getting over fear is like, what's the worst thing that can happen? You know, I'm ordering food. What's the worst thing that can happen? I get the wrong order. I have to eat something that I don't like, you know. Um, if it's my mistake, obviously, or if my communication, you know, we have to do those things to exercise the muscle, which I think it sounds like you jumped right in with two feet. You know, I'm gonna get a job, I don't speak any of the language. You had somebody who was your mentor that could help you and, and kind of prevent anything bad from happening, right?

I mean, um, I had a lot of uncomfortable situations that stopped me from learning English at that time. But like, first thing, I come to America, and in India we eat with our hands, okay? We weren't very rich, and we didn't— like, we sit on the ground and our whole family sits together and we eat with our hand. That's how we do it, traditional way. When I came to America, I didn't know how to eat with fork and knife. And my boss at that time, uh, the lady who owned Dairy Queen, she took us all out for breakfast at some breakfast place in Bartow. And first of all, I didn't know what to order because I didn't know what the things are on the menu, so I had to ask her. And when it arrived, she was— she ordered, basically ordered for me, and And I never had a pancake before, so I'm like, how do I eat it? So she taught me, but people were willing to help me. So you— I mean, but it was a comp— it was, it was a huge culture shock. It was completely different life I lived, and it was completely different. But I'm glad I was in so many uncomfortable situations. I got so comfortable being uncomfortable now.

Yeah, I appreciate that because You know, from, from, you know, my perspective, I don't even think about stuff like that because we're just so used to that. We're used to pancakes, we're used to eating with forks and knives. But I appreciate that perspective and you shining a light to that because a lot of times we forget how big of a world that we actually live in. And we were so focused in our small bubble that we don't realize that there's other people that live differently than us. And that's fine. Yes, that's completely fine.

So, so, all right. So So first job, Dairy Queen, major lessons of kind of the new culture that you're now living in. You're immersing yourself in the United States culture. People are helpful, people are kind. All right. And then what happens after that job? What was the next job or what was the next step?

Sure. So after, while I was working at Dairy Queen, I also start working at McDonald's and I also start taking classes at Polk State. Uh, so I was doing 2 jobs and, um, uh, classes at Polk State about ESL, English as a Second Language. And I did only month for that, uh, for Polk State, cause I wanted to make money and I needed money cause I was very brand new in America. I needed money to do anything. So I just started working 2 jobs. So I would open McDonald's first. And, uh, then after that, right after that, go to Dairy Queen straight and close that store and come home at night. And, um, Um, so I was doing that, but I wasn't very happy with McDonald's at that time. So I started working in a pharmacy company, McKesson Pharmacy Warehouse.

Uh, oh, McKesson. Yeah, yeah.

Yes. On Kathleen.

Yeah.

So I was working there as a, in a warehouse. Uh, we pick up the medicine and put in a box, put on a conveyor belt, just do the whole thing, whole night. And it was a night shift. So I would open Dairy Queen and, um, finishing that job, I would go to the pharmacy job in and then come home and repeat the same thing over and over. I did that for 2 years.

Okay. So 2 years, 2 part-time jobs or basically 2 full-time jobs. Well, um, and you're, you don't have any time to network, build friendships. I mean, I'm assuming it was just work, work, work, work, work. It was just not a lot of fun time, downtime.

Absolutely not. I had, uh, I was sleeping like 5 hours, 5, 6 hours or 7 hours if I'm lucky sometime, but I didn't have enough time to sleep. But, um, and so, I didn't have any chance to network with anyone. But what happened, what changed me, one time I was driving back from, uh, from that job. But, you know, while I was, while I was working those jobs, I was still finding a time to study and try to understand language and trying to just— I was just fascinated by technology. So I was looking for time to study about technology, study about what's going on. And I always knew that I'll be doing something That's— I had no doubt about that. Even though I was working at Dairy Queen and pharmacy job, I had no, no doubt in my heart that I'm gonna be keep doing this because there is no way I came to America just to do this. So one night I'm driving home, it's like 3:30 in the morning, driving home. I'm super tired, ready to like go home and sleep. But I hear— I was listening to podcast that time and it was in English. And I hear the story of Captain Cortés. And, uh, so the story goes, uh, Captain Cortés wanted to conquer Spain, uh, or Aztec. I don't remember exactly how the story goes, but he went there with only few men. And basically when they arrived, he burned all the ships and he told his men, if we going back home, we going back in their ships, not our. So no plan B. So that time I knew what I wanted to do. And before I came to America, there was also one thing I did that I didn't tell you before. I was selected in India's top 40 for— I made a drone that time and I just collected parts over the year, ordered some parts with help of neighbor and my uncle and all that. They sent some parts from America together. I made the drone and I presented in the science fair. It was amazing. So I always had interest in technology. So when I came here, I was studying for that. That. I was, uh, learning about that on the internet. And also, in India, we didn't have internet. I mean, we did, but not where I lived. So I never got to use internet until I was in like 11th grade, and I barely use it. So I had full access to the internet when I came to America. So I was just like studying, a sponge. Yeah, I was a sponge, just, just understanding everything about technology as much as I can. So after I hear that story, it kicked I got an idea. I'm like, I need to burn my ships. So I told my— I told my boss next day that, uh, I want to stop my business. I appreciate you teaching everything. I'll give you a month and I'll work for a month. I'll hope you find someone else. I will train that person and I will take off. I did that in a month and, um, I started my job, uh, same day I quit my job. I mean, I left my job and started your business.

No, no, a new job.

No, no, no. I started the Dairy Queen job on like 10th April.

Okay.

And I stopped after exactly after 2 years on 10th April. So it felt very good. I'm like, okay, 2 years, exactly 2 years. Now I can do on my own. I had enough money saved up to start a business while working those 2 jobs. And, uh, because I didn't have any expenses, I didn't buy clothes or expensive shoes or anything like that at that time.

Not like you do now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's, he's, he's, he's, uh, he's dressed in a fresh new—

He's a fashion buff right now.

Uh, that time I was just saving all that money. So I started, uh, I started, uh, doing research. I'm like, okay, I can start, I can take pictures with the drone. So I had $10,000 saved up. Uh, we purchased, I purchased a drone for $5,000, another $5,000 to play around. And, um, that's how I started my business.

Wow.

Oh man.

Wow.

I just love it. You burned the ships, you walked away. Yeah. You started a business. No plan B.

No plan B.

And you're now I'm going to say 3 years into being an entrepreneur.

Correct.

And you're just taking off like you're, you're the airplane, you're flying. I love it.

I'm very grateful for it.

So, all right. I have a couple of technical questions. So I want to just, I want to understand the process of starting a business. You're currently not a citizen of the United States. So were there any barriers? Were there any challenges? Was it a simple like, okay, I'm just going to start my business, started my business and, and boom, we're done. Did you, what was the process? I mean, yeah.

So, um, I didn't have any problem being an immigrant, starting a business. That was no problem. I didn't, that was not even a doubt in my mind. Like, um, a lot of time what happens, people tell us what you can do, what you cannot do. I'm glad no one was there to tell me what I cannot do.

Yeah.

So there was no doubt that I was gonna be starting a business in America. So as soon as I quit my job, I start making a list. Every morning I wake up and I make a list of a, of a city. And, uh, that time I didn't have a business card or anything. So I would take pictures with the drone and print that on a very, very high quality paper from Staples and, uh, take those pictures. And I make a list of all the construction company. Uh, so for example, one day I make in Tampa, next day Sarasota, Orlando, I'll make 30 and I just go knock on their doors. Every morning I get up there, if they're expecting me or not expecting me, none of them were expecting me. I just showed up there and just start knocking on the doors, big buildings. And a lot of time they told me to get out. A lot of time they, they were surprised that I even showed up there, and a lot of time they didn't care. So, but, um, that was the process I started getting into this. I'm showing up like, okay, this is what I can do for you, this is what I can do for you.

I think this is the time for you to talk, tell the shoe story.

Yes, absolutely, absolutely.

So I tried this many times. So I wanted to— so this is like much after in my career, uh, when I start business. So after I start the business, I start getting jobs because I was knocking a lot of doors, meeting a lot of people. And before I even start knocking on the door, I did something very good that changed everything, everything, uh, what I'm doing right now. If that didn't happen, I wouldn't have anything that I have.

Okay.

And it is showing up to the LBL event for the first time, for the first time. That time I would just quit my job and I was, uh, just looking on Facebook for the events, trying to meet people, trying to be uncomfortable, put myself in uncomfortable situations. So I saw, uh, LBL events. I'm like, what is that? Lakeland Business Leaders. I want to start a business. Let me go. And I show up there and the first thing I met you and Sarah, and you introduced me to everyone and you just added me to your LBL family. And it was amazing. So that was the process.

And the way you showed up was in this true root fashion, right? Like all in. I wanna know, I wanna learn, I wanna be a part of this, this fa— where am I? And what, you know, tell me, tell me about about this organization. And I remember you pulled me aside and you're like, tell me more, tell me what, what this group is and what do you do? And, and I, I immediately, we were having a conversation about young professionals inside of the conversation. I'm like, well, you just need to connect with this person. And immediately you now have these young friends that you're having this conversation with.

Yes.

And you just kept showing up. Yeah. I mean, if there was any piece of advice that I've given over the course of my career, it is that. And then you just show up and illustrate it right back for me. You know, you're like a mirror. And I thought, oh, this is great. And I'll, I'll be honest, a lot of people and they say, oh, this is great. There's a lot of energy. There's a lot of excitement. They have great plans to be a part of the community. And then you never see them again.

Mm-hmm.

But that wasn't the case with you. You showed up and you're like, when's the next event? And there you were. And then you were there again. And then you were there again.

I had no plan B, either this or go home or do something else, go back to Dairy Queen, which I did not want to do. Yeah. So, so story of a shoe. So I'm, I, uh, this is a, uh, I already have my business set up. I'm already doing the work with big companies. Uh, uh, before I had a business, what I would just only taking pictures, but then I established a company, uh, through networking. I met a lot of engineers, a lot of people. I dissolved the old company and started a new company, and I started an engineering company. So using drones to create solution that protect our planet and serve our community. So we serve in energy, agriculture, and infrastructure industry. So that time I wanted to get into energy industry. So I was looking, um, I'm like, okay, how do I connect with these people? So I, I found this this energy company that I wanted to work with. So I find who's the CEO and I'm like, okay, the CEO sounds, uh, looks very humorous. And that time I was doing a lot of research on the internet. So I found this idea. I'm like, okay. So I bought a box, an empty box, and I put a brand new shoes, just one. And I, I put my business card and I write a handwritten note. Dear Mr. CEO, I want to have the privilege to an opportunity to work with your great firm. Uh, the reason I'm sending you one shoe in the box to and I already got my one foot in the door. Meet with me so I can have another, um, and I hope you appreciate my creativity and, uh, sense of humor. And I got a call back and I ended up working with that company. It was amazing. Not only that, but, um, the reason I did that, cuz I didn't know how to write a professional email, cuz I, I can copy what you say in English, but it takes me very long time for me to write something on my own, um, because I learned English through through talking to people, interacting with them, not learning the grammar, how stuff works. I learned that later on, but— and I'm still learning. But, um, I had to— I had to think outside, outside the box because it was not like— because I didn't have any other option. I didn't know how to write professional email. I didn't know where to put comma or period or question— like, I knew basics, so I had to do that.

I think this moment's powerful because And that's, for everybody that's listening out there, I feel like that happens all the time with people that are starting businesses is I don't know how to write a professional email. So they just get stuck and they don't do anything else. But you said, okay, that's fine. I've already burned my boats. I'm going to do something different. I'm going to do something this way. And that's huge.

Well, I did that because I had no other option because I keep telling myself my older self is counting on me. I don't want to know all the, Oh, I don't want my old self to look back and say, oh yeah, you didn't know how to write professional emails, so you didn't attend that. Like, I tell that to a lot of people here I meet, like, uh, people who don't have a job and they're like, oh, why don't— what's stopping you from getting a job? They're like, oh yeah, I apply online all the time, but no one's getting back to me. Well, go knock on their doors. Everyone else is applying the job and they're not getting the callback either. So you should go knock on the door or show up or preach. Preach. Yeah. Or anything you have to do. Send a shoe in a box or whatever, showing up to there. I showed up to a lot of construction site wearing a safety hat and safety shoes and safety vest, just going up to, walking up to the site and like, okay, who's in charge here? And they're like, who's this guy randomly walking up? And a lot of time, um, they're like, okay, the guy sitting in the mobile, uh, office right there. I go walk up, I show up, you know, like it worked for me. I'm not sure if it's going to work for everybody, but you got to do something on your own. Like, um, everyone's situation is different, so one solution is not for everybody. So you have to first analyze the situation and then attack it. Like, you know, it wasn't— and, uh, I tried to call that utility company so many times, um, no one was answering me and I couldn't pass the gatekeeper, so I had to send them a shoe.

I love it.

I love it so much.

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And there's, there's, I'm not stopping until I get there because reality is flexible and you can bend it. You can bend it and shape it in the way that you want it. If you argue with it, it will, it turns into hell. But if you bargain with it, turns into greatness, the things you want to get.

Oh man, that's a gem. You say that again.

Yes, say that again, please.

You've got your notes. So say it one more time.

Argue with reality equals welcome to hell and bargain with reality equals greatness. Reality is very flexible and anyone can bend it.

Wow. Mic drop moment.

Yeah, seriously, you're dropping gems, man. I think that's huge because again, like what Chrissanne is saying, a lot of times, especially when you're starting off, you, you I, I see it all the time. You put— and I, I'm, I've done that too— you put mental blocks in your head and you say, oh, well, I've tried reaching out to this person so many different times, so many different ways, and they're just not responding.

But we try to tell that to ourselves, but deep inside we know that's not the case. Everyone knows that's not the case. Like, even, like, even though, like, are you gonna do the same thing when you're, like, in a, in a desert and there is no water? Are you just gonna sit there and, like, wait that— oh yeah, I'm just gonna Hey, cause there is no water on me.

No, you're going to look, going to go find it and do whatever it takes.

But if you have water in your backpack, then you're not going to do that. That's a plan B. But if you don't have plan B, then you have to go do stuff that makes you very uncomfortable. And, um, yeah.

So, so wait, so, so you, you say all of this as if it's just common sense, like, okay. And I get it. Cause for you it is, I mean, you're, you're wondering why the heck everybody Everybody else doesn't have the same program, right? But we're talking about being uncomfortable. So there is discomfort in these steps. There is an awareness of, I don't know how to write a professional email. They're going to reject me. They're going to judge me. They're, you know, I'm not going to, you know, whatever. So what is fear in Root Patel's mind? Like, what is, what, when something makes you uncomfortable, what's the, what's the, what's the context? What do you talk? What's the conversation in your had the conversation in my head.

I was— I'll tell you, I was very afraid of everything before. Right now I'm afraid of nothing, but 2 years ago, 3 years ago, 5 years ago when I came to America, I was so afraid. I couldn't even talk to anybody. Like, I was afraid to walking, walking up to a person and saying hello because I didn't know how to say hello in American accent, and I was thinking that they might judge me for my accent that I have. So I was very afraid of everything. I didn't know how to order food, so I wouldn't go to restaurant because I didn't know how to order food. So I was very afraid, but I had to tell myself, put myself in a very uncomfortable situation like quitting those job. I don't have any other options. So when you're in doubt, when you're having this, do completely something bold. Like any mistake you make with boldness, you can solve that mistake by more boldness. Any, you know, just be like, I try to— I show up to your company. If you don't— I mean, I'm just trying to give you an example. Like, fear in my mind, like, what I'm gonna be thinking of myself, that's the fear. That's the fear for me. Like, you know, letting yourself down, letting your future self down, letting my future self— because my future self is counting on me right now. Like, like, just like how I'm counting on my past self right now. Like, you know, I'm glad that time I didn't go to college and had 7% and attendance, but at the same time, I didn't waste any time. I was studying technology. I was understanding how that worked, you know, but that time it didn't make sense. So a lot of time it won't make sense. People call you stupid for doing stuff like that, but your future self's gonna appreciate you for that. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? And I already do appreciate my past self cuz what I have done helped me got here. I'm glad I put myself in a very uncomfortable situation after listening to a podcast and tell my, uh, my boss next day that I'm quitting a job. I put myself in very uncomfortable situation because you have to, 'cause look at me now. I mean, I'm, I'm glad I did those things.

Yeah.

So now I know that. So now I'm even taking even more risks.

I think that's huge because I mean, someone can look at you and say, wow, you know, he's, he's, he's so young. He's only been in business for the past, how, how long have you been in business now?

Officially?

3 years.

3 years.

I'm 25 when I was I was 22 when I started my business.

And people are like, man, how, like, look how far he's come. But then if you hear the full story and think about the mental muscle he's been building over time to get over that fear of stepping outside of the comfort zone, because I mean, think about the, the, the mental challenge of saying, man, I'm, I'm afraid of being judged because of my lack of American accent. People are like, oh, you're a foreigner, whatever, whatever. Whatever, can't order food, can't talk to people, but just consistently putting yourself out there, consistently putting yourself out there to where you had the mental capacity.

Yeah.

When you were saying, oh, I'm gonna burn my, my bridge, if you wouldn't have had that experience, I don't think you would have been able to, to get to that. And then it just continued to build and build and build and build and build to the person that's sitting here today having this conversation. And I think that's a lot of times where people miss it, is they, they see Root now, but they didn't see Root 5 years ago. And they're like, I want to be able to do that. But they have to understand that it's a process.

Well, and then you also have to put in the work.

Yes, absolutely.

I mean, it doesn't just happen. So you're hustling, you're busting your butt, you're doing— you're working 2 jobs. And in the back of your mind, you're like, this isn't all there is. This isn't why I came to the United States. And then you're listening and you're the sponge. You're in that mindset and you're just— you're picking up things Gary Vaynerchuk is putting out and you're listening to this podcast and that podcast and all these other people, and you're saying, okay, what is there for me? I mean, I'm just seeing this unfold, and you're pouring ice cream and you're going, no, this isn't it. What's next?

Yeah.

And you're ready to move. Like, you're not— you seem like you're in a hurry, you know? Like, you're not wasting any time. You're just like, as soon as I can get to the next step, I'm going to the next step. You're not waiting around, and I love that.

And he's consistently stepping outside of his comfort zone, even though he's gotten to this point. He's like, nope, You, like you said, you readjusted your business, you switched it up, took that next place to where you were trying to reach out to the electric company. You did the shoe idea. Of course, like a person could think, ah, this is corny. Like no one's going to pay attention to this. This makes absolutely no sense. But you're like, no, I'm going to try it. What's there to lose?

You have such a good sense of self, like a good sense of humor.

Yeah.

So I would say what I love most about you, other than all of the things that you're, you know, you're these gems and these jewels and these great messages that you're sharing with everyone, but you always have a smile on your face, and you always are comfortable telling jokes. Like, you're— even if you're the butt of the joke, even if you're, you're kind of making fun of yourself along the way, you set everyone else— you make everyone else feel comfortable. Like, you might be the most uncomfortable person in the room walking into that LBL event at, um, you know, Allen Company 3 years ago, and you're, you're like, I don't know anybody, but you were so at ease. Like, you did not make it seem to me at all like you were uncomfortable.

I cannot show you that I'm uncomfortable. Why? Because if I show you I'm uncomfortable, you judge me. Oh, you judge me. No one wants to be friends with people who are uncomfortable. No one wants to be friends with people who— so even if you are scared of everything inside, don't show it on your face. Don't show it. It's so hard to— it's so hard to not show it on the face. So do you know what I do? I drive around with open window and listen to music and let the air hit my face, put the smile on my face, then I walk in. That's what I do.

I love it. I love it.

And also, I, I, I follow this: being in the arena is greater than outside of the arena. Getting criticized in arena is still greater than criticizing those in arena. Courage is a lot greater than fear. And history, history books only favor those in arena. So get in the game. The future 75-year-old version of you is counting on you.

Oh, history favors the ones in the arena. Y'all, did you get that?

Yeah, get in the game.

Yeah, send the shoes and knock on the doors. Show up. Um, while you do it, do it with style. Put a suit on, you know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's, you know, I want to say this real quick. When I, when I first met Ruda, I asked him, I said, dude, man, I said, bro, you're always dressed from head to toe. He said, you gotta dress the part. You have to look the part. So when I walk into these rooms of individual, so he's saying all these things, but he's so strategic. Like you said, Chrissanne, self-awareness. So you're not just showing up in the room looking like anybody else. You're showing up in the room to where it's like, wait a second, this guy might not even have an appointment. He's talking to the gatekeeper, but the gatekeeper thinks like he has an appointment because he's showing up as if he has an appointment.

He has no idea who I am. He has no idea who I am. So it's up to my, and first First impression is the last impression. First impression matters the most. So if you're going to walk into the door, you better walk into in a suit. Like if you don't have a, like, you know, a lot starting out, I didn't have a lot of money to spend on a suit. I still did. I still did. And it helped me a lot.

Talking about investing in yourself.

Yeah, absolutely.

It's, it's an incredible conversation that I, I feel like we've only just touched the tip of the iceberg, you know, because it's like, walk, I would, I would love to shadow you, you know, to just be in the car with you as you're prepping to walk into a room or a, you know, a job site or whatever. As you're walking on, and what I, I want to be in your head. I want to know what you're saying because this confidence is self-created, right? You created this. Somebody else didn't come over you and say, "Root," and, and have this, you know, mantra in your head. "Root, you're going to succeed. Root, you're going to be great. Root." Oh no, no, this all is internal dialogue. You know, you are bootstraps and you're going to make it work. And I just love how you've done that in spite of the, and I say air quotes, odds of this brand new person to this country coming in, knowing no one, not knowing the language, not having the skills, not having the education, not having all, but just having a thirst, a thirst and a hunger for success. And that's it. That's all you walked into this country with. And look at you. Like, you are creating the story of success that you are. You're mapping it out and you're, you're like, I know what I want to tell myself when I'm 75 years old. I want to tell myself that I did everything that I could and I left it all on the field. I didn't wait for somebody to give me a hand up. I, I pulled myself up.

Yeah. When I was, when I was first started, uh, Dairy Queen job, I called my friend back in India and my first, I, I got paid $8 an hour and I called my friends and I'm like, do you know how much I'm getting you paid? They're like, no, how much? I'm like, I'm getting— I'm making $8 an hour. You have no idea how rich I am right now. I can— I— you— what are you guys doing with your life? I'm making $8 an hour. And, uh, I mean, you know, I mean, that time— but I just didn't want it to keep making that. I knew that. I, I knew that one thing for sure. I did not want it to do this. And making money in America, it's very easy. So at that time, I was thinking like, okay, wait, say Making money in America is extremely easy because at that time I was making ice cream and I was thinking, I'm like, this is crazy. I'm just making ice cream and I'm making $8 an hour. Like, really? That's a lot of money for making that time. I was thinking different. Okay. I was 19 and now I know it's not a lot of money, but, um, no, but from your perspective, from where you came from, that's huge. It was huge. And I'm like, okay, so I'm making a lot of money. So I got to save up money. And if I don't save my money and I'm gonna be continuously working in this. So I saved money. I knew always that I wanted to do some kind of business. Did not knew what kind of business, some, some kind of business. So I was just like saving for imaginary business that I'm gonna have.

Well, now we're, now I, I wanna let you have a chance to talk people through what business is for you today. So what is the business? Who is your audience? What are you creating? What's, What solutions are you— do you have? What problems are you solving in your business? Sure.

So, um, I started this Voyager, Voyager Industry in 2019. I formed that company in 2019, and before that I had a different company, but doing similar kind of work. So Voyager provides engineering solutions to energy, agriculture, and infrastructure industry companies. Uh, we use drones and artificial intelligence to Collect the data, analyze the data, and after analyzing the data, we tell our customer what's wrong with their assets and how they can fix it. And if they fix it, how much more money they can save or the time. So, uh, in energy companies, we inspect all their assets, look at, um, create, collect all the data, uh, check every nut and bolt using drones, and we process the data with artificial intelligence We have engineers that signs on the report and then goes to the client so they don't have to send out a man on a bucket truck to see what's wrong with their tower. And while it usually takes hour and a half to do one inspection, we do it in 20 minutes. So we save— well, we save 110 minutes per asset. And that's a huge thing because usually big companies have like 90,000 assets, 100,000 assets, 50,000 assets, you know, all very different depending on the company. Do similar work, use We're using the same technology in agriculture. So telling farmers exactly where they need to spray the fertilizer instead of spraying the fertilizer all over the farm. Imagine if you have 1,000 acres and you're spraying fertilizer all over 1,000 acres. But if you knew exactly where and how much and why you need to spray fertilizer in that particular area, we can help you with that data. So it saves you thousands of dollars each year. Doing similar work in infrastructure. Infrastructure, helping Department of Transportation, helping roofing company, construction company to do the inspection of their asset. We do a lot of roof inspection. Recently, I had a very interesting work that I got to do and be part of it, which was analyzing traffic near the school to reduce pedestrian-related accidents. So each year, 6,700 pedestrians die in America and It's a big thing and it's a big problem and it needs to be solved. So I use drones and AI to kind of fly over the intersection, around the outside the intersection, go way far and trying to see all the roads leading up to the intersection and trying to understand how people drive there. How was their average speed? How often they brake? How often they use their turn signal? How often they accelerate? Like how do they accelerate? Accelerate using all that kind of data to understand how traffic moves. And if you know how traffic moves, we can make adjustments into our infrastructure or timing of a light. And all you can make, all sorts of different changes to eventually save lives, pedestrian lives.

So walk me through, because I'm not very— I'm, I'm not artificially intelligent. So you send the So you fly the drone up, you capture the images, the video of that particular moment in time that you're capturing.

Yes.

You take that footage and you plug it into some artificial intelligence software or— No. So that's what used to be done, but now it's all happening at the same time.

It happening in a real time. So, uh, with the help of an engineer, I created this computer that goes on the drone. We fly big drones. So this, this little computer goes on the drone. To the drone camera. So while the drone camera's capturing all data, it, the, the computer is processing the data in real time. So my, oh wow. My engineer in Texas under getting that data. So the, when the drone lands, uh, we have the report ready, the engineer verified, signed it, and then goes to the client.

Oh wow.

Real time, super fast.

It's like you're, you're live streaming in a whole new way. Absolutely.

Yeah.

Well, intelligently.

Yeah.

Because it's analyzing data in real time and saving lives along the way. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

So I've, I've, I've worn one of those.

One quick question before we wrap up here. I wanted to ask you, what would the Root of today tell a 16 or 17-year-old Root that was back in India? What would you say to that Root?

What I would tell myself, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Because that time I was very afraid of everything. And so I would tell myself, just keep doing what you're doing. I wouldn't change anything because I'm glad whatever I did, I'm glad. I wouldn't tell myself to not to make those mistakes because I'm glad I made those mistakes because now I realize that how much that mis— those mistake cost me. Mm-hmm. So I wouldn't tell anything to my 16-year-old. Just keep doing what you're doing. Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

So I have one last question. You know, it, it's funny because you were supposed to be an engineer. Your parents wanted you to be an engineer.

Yes.

And then now you're all into this. So it's like full circle, right? The thing you weren't gonna do.

I own an engineering company, but I'm not an engineer. I employ engineers.

Even better.

And, and what a great way to wrap this story up, it's because, you know, that wasn't your calling, right? And you weren't being led to go become and study to be an engineer, but your passion to help others and your passion to overcome being uncomfortable allows so much more opportunity to happen. So for those who are kind of bucking the system, if you will, and saying, you know, well, this isn't what I want to do, this isn't what I want to be, follow the path that Root has taken and learn how become, you know, immersed in the technology, immersed in the other part of it, and start a business and then hire the people that you would be if you studied all those years.

Exactly.

Instead of that, you know, you're the guy that's hiring them. What a cool, cool way to wrap the story up. I want you to say anything to the audience. How do you want people to remember you? What is one key little— I mean, you've dropped so many gems and so many nuggets already, but you've got your notebook. And is there something on your heart that you want to wrap us up with and take us home, land our, land our drone.

Absolutely. So I just want to tell our audience and tell everybody that remember, the reality is flexible, and you, every one of you, has the power to bend it. And not only that, don't be afraid of breaking rules, because if you don't, if you're not gonna break rules, no one's gonna remember you. No one's is remembered by following all the rules. Even the rules, like, I'm not talking about the rules that, uh, drive having double the speed limit on purpose, not that kind of rules. A lot of time we set rules that were for ourselves that we think we not, we're not supposed to break it. Break those rules right now, you know. That's what I would tell our audience.

And if somebody wants to get in touch with you, because I have a feeling there's going to be people calling you and saying, I need you to come speak at my school, I need you to come talk to our— you need to— could you be a mentor? So how can our audience get in touch with you?

Uh, audience can get in touch with me with Email, it's rootpatel@yahoo.com, R-U-T-P-A-T-E-L@yahoo.com, or give me a call anytime, 863-409-1837, or follow me on social media. It's Root Patel, R-U-T Patel.

And you're on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, everywhere, everywhere. Clubhouse, clubhouse, all of the places. I love it. Well, thank you, Root, so much. And Nate, thanks for hooking this up and getting him in today. I know that, um, this was just a great conversation that needed to happen.

Absolutely.

And you're going to come back. I know we're going to have you coming back at, at some point in time to talk about something else. But thanks for coming, Ruth.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Chrissanne Long. Thank you, Nate.

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