Passion Struck with John R. Miles - Rani Puranik on 7 Letters to My Daughters, Love, and Legacy EP 297

Episode Date: May 25, 2023

In this episode of the Passion Struck Podcast, we have a special guest, Rani Puranik, who is a business leader, philanthropist, and author. Rani shares her insights and experiences from her new book, "7 Letters to My Daughters," where she explores the idea that individuals can become a new version of themselves, both internally and externally, every seven years. Rani Puranik Joins Me to Discuss Love, Leadership, and Creating a Lasting Legacy. Through the interview, Rani Puranik delves into the concept of finding purpose and transformation. Drawing from her own life journey, which includes navigating challenges like growing up in a foreign country and going through a difficult divorce, Rani offers invaluable life lessons on love, leadership, and personal growth. The interview serves as a guide for all women seeking to overcome adversity and establish their identity. Rani's story inspires listeners to embrace life's challenges, strive for personal excellence, and leave a lasting legacy for future generations. Full show notes and resources can be found here: https://passionstruck.com/rani-puranik-7-letters-to-my-daughters/  Brought to you by Fabric. Go to Apply today in just 10 minutes at https://meetfabric.com/passion. Brought to you by Hello Fresh. Use code passion16 to get 16 free meals, plus free shipping!” Brought to you by Indeed. Head to https://www.indeed.com/passionstruck, where you can receive a $75 credit to attract, interview, and hire in one place. --► For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to: https://passionstruck.com/deals/  Like this show? Please leave us a review here -- even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter or Instagram handle so we can thank you personally! --► Prefer to watch this interview: https://youtu.be/Qvr_ikKcHJ4  --► Subscribe to Our YouTube Channel Here: https://youtu.be/QYehiUuX7zs  Want to find your purpose in life? I provide my six simple steps to achieving it - passionstruck.com/5-simple-steps-to-find-your-passion-in-life/ Catch my interview with Marshall Goldsmith on How You Create an Earned Life: https://passionstruck.com/marshall-goldsmith-create-your-earned-life/  Watch the solo episode I did on the topic of Chronic Loneliness: https://youtu.be/aFDRk0kcM40  Want to hear my best interviews from 2022? Check out episode 233 on intentional greatness and episode 234 on intentional behavior change. ===== FOLLOW ON THE SOCIALS ===== * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passion_struck_podcast * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnrmiles.c0m  Learn more about John: https://johnrmiles.com/  Passion Struck is now on the AMFM247 broadcasting network every Monday and Friday from 5–6 PM. Step 1: Go to TuneIn, Apple Music (or any other app, mobile or computer) Step 2: Search for “AMFM247” Network

coming up next on Passion Struck. That fire for me is the awareness. And the awareness is the connection between who I am, me as me, the fire within me, in connection to my surroundings, which is my community, my company, my family, my environment. And then in a bigger context of the world, what's going on, not just today,

but what potential capacity does the world have even tomorrow? And therefore, what does that fire in need today look like for every decision that I've made? Welcome to PassionStruct. Hi, I'm your host, John Armiles. And on the show, we decipher the secrets, tips, and guidance of the world's most inspiring people and turn their wisdom into practical advice for you and those around you. Our mission is to help you unlock the power of intentionality so that you can become the best version of yourself. If you're new to the show, I offer advice and answer listener questions on Fridays. We have long form interviews the rest of the week with guest-ranging from astronauts

to authors, CEOs, creators, innovators, scientists, military leaders, visionaries, and athletes. Now, let's go out there and become PassionStruck. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to episode 297 of PassionStruck, right by Apple, is one of the top 20 health podcasts. And thank you to each and every one of you come back weekly to listen and learn

how to live better, be better, and impact the world. And if you wanna catch catch passion struck on radio, we are now on the AM FM 247 National Broadcast every Monday and Friday from 5 to 6 pm. Go to tune in, Apple Music, or whatever player you use, and links to the radio stations will be in the show notes. If you're new to the show, thank you so much for being here. You simply want to introduce this. For a friend or family member, we have episode starter packs, which are collections of our fans favorite episodes that we organize and convenient topics that give any new listener a great way to understand everything that we do here on the show. Either go to Spotify or passionstruck.com

slash starter packs to get started. In case you missed it, earlier in the week, I interviewed Dr. Peter Singer, dubbed the world's most influential living philosopher by the New Yorker. Peter has written, co-authored, edited, or co-edited more than 50 books in over 25 languages, including practical ethics, writings on an ethical life. The life you can save and his master piece from 1975, Animal Liberation, which is being, and we discuss the latest version called animal liberation now, and is an episode you don't want to miss. And if you like that episode or today's, we would still appreciate it if you gave us a 5-star rating and review.

It goes such a long way in bringing more people into the passion start community, or we can teach them how to live a limitless life. And I know our guests also love to hear your comments. Now let's talk about today's episode. Popular science suggests that the human body replaces every cell within a seven-year period that implies that individuals can essentially become a new version of themselves inside and out every seven years.

Moroni Brannock embraces this concept and applies it to her identity and her purpose in her new book Seven Ladders to My Daughters. For each seven-year period of life, people encounter unique experiences, gain new perspectives, and acquire valuable lessons. Her inept draws from her personal journey, including growing up in a foreign country, navigating a difficult divorce, and discovering a sense of purpose and independence despite societal norms. She shares these life lessons of love, leadership, and personal growth in her book,

which serves as a guide not only for her daughters, but also for women seeking to navigate adversity and establish their identity. Ronnie aims to inspire listeners who move forward through life's challenges and strive to become their best selves, while also creating a legacy for future generations to follow. Pervadi Purenec, also known as Ronnie, holds various leadership roles, including business leader, philanthropist, and author. She currently serves as a global CFO for Houston-based, worldwide, oil field machines, a family-owned manufacturing company that specializes in oil and gas equipment.

WOM has over 4,000 employees and 13 locations worldwide. Ronnie's leadership skills and contributions to WOM have been recognized by the oil and gas investor and heart energy, who named her one of the top 25 most influential women in energy in 2022. Ronnie is currently transitioning to the role of CEO of WOM, where she will continue to lead the company to new heights. Thank you for choosing PassionStruck and choosing me to be your host and guide on your journey to creating an intentional life now.

Let that journey begin. I am so excited today to welcome Ronnie Puranek, to PassionStruck. Welcome, Ronnie. Thank you, John. Thank you for having me. Well, we're on here today to discuss your brand new book and been to put a copy of it right here, but it's titled Seven Letters to My Daughters, Light Lessons of Love, Leadership and Legacy. Congratulations on your brand new book.

Thank you. Well, you open up the book by describing a branch that you had with your two daughters in 2017 that led you to reflect on some of life's ups and downs. And you say that you learn to get through those ups and downs more easily because of awareness and love. Can you explain? An awareness and love. This is like a loaded question, first of all.

And second of all, typically people who sit in my seat like the incoming CEO, multinational corporation, Yadda, people don't talk about love, or wonder how is that going to go. But in honesty, it is about love. So what is love, first of all, love is energy. This is what I say, love is energy, which means, in my understanding, it just transforms from one to the next, which also means that if I view something or if I react in a certain way from love, not necessarily will that appreciation or notion come back to me from the same person, the same company or the same situation, but it'll continue its flow because energy keeps transforming from one to the next.

Eventually at some point, some shape or form from a different person, different company, whatever it is, it will come back to me, but it will come back to me exponentially. Okay. So when I talk to my daughters and say all the lessons that I have lived really taught me more and more about love, it's that expansive understanding of love. Really what is it? It goes so much way beyond lust or compassion or just a motherly protectiveness. It goes way much more beyond that sensation of what love made in the earthly worlds of it. The way I run my business also comes from empathy, but what's the core of empathy? It's love. It really is. So unconditional without any judgment of people, giving people the benefit of doubt,

keeping every person's dignity intact, being respectful. These were of course not lessons that I learned all of a sudden, let's say. It took me years. Ever since I was, let's say it took me years ever since I was let's say from my first seven-year life chapter from 0 to 6 or 7. What did it mean to be a girl? I thought I was a daughter. I was the first born of my parents and I was not just a daughter but I was really a girl because from an Indian cultural context being the first born as a girl that comes with a whole other notion of how the world looks at you, what is expected of you, and therefore what you are allowed and not allowed to do, what's acceptable and not. So again, having that notion of what, how does love play a part in that understanding,

and how do you hold on to that notion of love for yourself first, and then keep moving on? I don't know if I answered your question completely but that's a love kept showing up in my life throughout the journey and that was the answer to what I was trying to relate to my daughters at the time. Well I love that concept of love and leadership and I interviewed a friend of mine last year at Fishermaning. we were both executives at a company together, but she is now doing her own practice, and she wrote a book on heart leadership.

And that's one of the biggest things that's causing employee disengagement is that they're not feeling that heart leadership and how so many people are being led today. So I think that's a great area that you bring up. Well, thank you. and how so many people are being led today. So I think that's a great area that you bring up. Well, thank you. I understand you have a signature saying, there's always a way.

Can you tell me about how you initially developed that ideology and how you've applied it to your life and career? There's always a way. So here's a little bit of a disclaimer, okay? I have been blessed by having a very chewy disposition. I just have one. Yes, it doesn't mean that the world has been always kind and supportive, definitely not, but that notion of somehow we're gonna make it through. Somehow I'm going to see a better day has always stuck to

me. It's funny how little small things within your childhood makes such a huge impact on your life. Going back to the book, when I was just a toddler, maybe two or three years old, my mother, who had just immigrated from India, she did not know how to speak English and I was speaking more native tongue at the time, which is Marathi.

So the only source that she knew to teach me was public channel, which is channel eight and Sesame Street. So the title song of Sesame Street was Sunny Days. Okay, that's the whole title, Sunny Days, Sweeping Up Clouds Away. Sunny Days, Sweeping Up Clouds Away on my way to where the air is sweet, such simple lyrics. Those lyrics stuck to me from a two-year-old, three-year-old kid. And I was like, yeah, sunny days.

So in all honesty, the root of there's always a way came from that title song. And then, as you start to just go through life, you have those words somewhere on your radar. At least for me, I did. I just knew that somehow something's going to make its way. Did I have the answers? Go ahead, no. Not at all.

But I knew somehow if I smiled and I kept going, the other person or people that were around me, instead of frowning back at me, it's like contagious sort of the body language. If you smile, someone smiles back at you. I learned that pretty quick on. If I smile, some of people smile with me, so all right, we'll make our way. There's always a way. people smile with me, so all right, we'll make our way. There's always a way. Well, that's great. And thank you for sharing that. And another thing that you shared in the book was that everyone has a backstory and that your chapters that you write are really about human experience. And I believe we're all called to serve the person we once were. Who do you find yourself called to serve?

Very interesting question. Who might call to serve? I'm called to serve people who want to know that there's always a way. I'm called to serve people who do not want to be judged, who know if they have potential. I want to believe in people. And I'll just believe who do not want to be judged, who note they have potential, I want to believe in people, and I'll just believe it, I want to show that I do believe in people. I believe that everyone does have a calling in the purpose and that the world is not going to understand

what's going on in every individual's mind, because the dream and the vision is in my mind, right? How in the world is anyone else going to understand it? My calling is to inspire people who want to do something in a positive way, the positively impact, let's say the world or their environment, doesn't mean that you have to run a business, but even their family, maybe a school, whatever their world may be. But my calling really is to inspire people to truly be their best, to help people make the choices and decisions that they feel are right for them where they can make a positive impact going forward. I talk about legacy all the time,

which is this that I never knew that I was creating my legacy way before I understood it. The legacy really is, if you are positively impacting somebody, you've already started your legacy. So if we're more aware of that, and if I make the choice today, or my decisions today will somehow know that it's going, that choice is going to last way beyond my lifetime. So that choice is not just a little temporary fix for now. Then I've already started my legacy. So I am trying to call or appeal to those people who are looking for purpose and reason and meaning in their life without being judged that, oh, this is not the way we do it. We all have a unique way of doing it. So honor that. Yeah, but I think that's a great answer because we are faced

today with so much chronic loneliness and hopelessness across the world that it really aligns to what I'm trying to provide on this podcast, which is to give people hope, meaning, connection, and inspiration. So, I thank you for sharing that. And I really found it was interesting how you wrote the book because you wrote it around the premise that popular science tells us that cells on our body are replenished every seven years. And you've been drawn to this idea that we can literally become a new person from the inside out

during each of these periods of renewal. What made you first consider this idea? So here's the thing. Yes, I have a background in finance for sure, but I'm also a very artistic creative person. So when I gave this promise to my daughters, that, hey, I'm going to write a book for you. It's going to be a gift from me. When I sat down, I said, okay, how is this going to make sense? And I love to organize things. That's just the way my brain works.

I like to organize things, make sure that things fall in a certain sequence, and that's how it goes, right? The funny part is I knew about this science in the back of my head. All right, our cells replenished every seven years. Okay, when I started looking at my entire lifespan and I started dividing it up going, all right, well, what were some of the lessons I learned during my early childhood phases, my mid-30s phase, Gadiata? That's when I started seeing a pattern, and I said, wait a second.

Let me go back and actually dig a little further and go back into the actual years of my life, not just phases or seasons of my life. And then when I went back and I dug further, I said, wow, this math actually applies to my life. Now, how unique is that? So I was a single child up until I was seven. All right, so I was a girl.

From seven to 14, I was a sibling. I was a sister. Then I was in from 14 to 21. Well, I was not quite a young little girl and I wasn't quite a full grown woman. I was in between, so I said, well, I'm a lady. Then after 21 to 28, people would think that I would be a wife, because I was in between, so I said, well, I'm a lady. Then after 21 to 28, people would think that I would be a wife, because I was married at 19, that my experience was not as a wife, my experience

was as a mother, because my first daughter was born when I was 21, and my second daughter was born when I was 28. So that seven-year pattern literally followed my entire life until I was 49. And my last phase of seven is when the full story comes full circle. It's I thought I was born a daughter that know my ending is as a daughter. My ending my last seven years phase when I'm 42 to 49 is literally my discovery as a human being on this planet is to be a daughter of what I consider my heavenly father. Because remember I'm a God girl. It just applied to my life and I said, well, then therefore I'm going to write one letter

from my heart for every seven year phases and there are four seven letters to my daughters. It was interesting for me to watch how your identity unfolded during each phase. And it's interesting because I recently did an interview with NYU, social psychologist, J. Van Bevel, who's an expert on identity, morality, and values. And basically, in the discussion I had with him, our identities and values really alter our perceptions and evaluations of the world around us. And I was hoping you might explain how the world around you altered your perceptions and

evaluations when you were a little girl of who you were. So, first of all, I think we as people, first of all, were copycats, right? So that's how I learned how to walk, that's how I learned how to talk, because I'm basically mimicking somebody else, or my environment, around me. Eventually that also happens emotionally, that we're mimicking what people believe we should be, what we should do, and how we should behave. So that's where we learn what's right, what's wrong, what's harmful, what's not, all of these things, and our very initial sort of development face of life. That's okay. That's okay. It's like building a scaffolding, right? So that's

kind of like the base of your scaffolding. Like, all right, I got my four corners. I got my four quadrants. Great. As long as we don't get stuck in those quadrants, it's okay, we have to keep building. So we're still building. So the next phase of my life is, oh, well, I'm not a single child anymore. I'll be setting my part of a team, which means now I've got to learn what my role is with other people.

Do I lead? Do I follow? Do I find my own characteristics and not follow anymore? Am I not making anymore? Am I not mimicking anymore? So there's this little element of self-discovery as I'm evolving as a person. Then you get into the next sort of phase where, like I said, if I'm a lady, for example, well, actually, let me just go back to this whole sibling thing.

I always say this is the best example of middle management where I'm the eldest of my two other siblings and I'm taking responsibility because I just do, right? And I'm trying to teach certain things and yada yada but I don't realize I have no authority. None. My appearance can come in anytime and basically deconstruct everything that I ever said to two young minds. That's middle management. So what tells me at that time is, oh, authority is deeply important as responsibility. Not that I was running a company at that time is, oh, authority is equally important as responsibility, not that I was running a company at that time, but somewhere again, it's registering as part of my

scaffolding, it's building up. Then all of a sudden, my world changes and I am married. I am married at the age of 19. If we want to say that there were two rock bottom phases in my life, that is one phase. As you read in the book, I was attacked, all of a sudden something happened in India. My mother thought it was the safest thing for me was to be married. And again, everyone has a backstory, right? So that's what she felt was the right thing for me to do. And I wasn't going to go and challenge her. I was all of 18 years old. So I

married at 19 into this joint family, which is very common in India, nothing wrong about it. But imagine that there's a girl who used to live in Houston, Texas with this whole environment, nuclear family, where we used to run, sing, dance, climb trees, do whatever we wanted to do. All of a sudden I married, I was expected to take on responsibilities, no cook, clean the house, take care of the family, whatever social commitments were required during the evening, show up, and just keep going on. Forget about privacy and stuff. I was there to serve. I was there to serve. I got married to understand what service looked like. So, my environment completely evolved, completely changed, but there's always a way.

I try to find what is it in this service that is going to keep me happy. Again, it goes back to the smile. If I was smiling, people were smiling and I said, oh, this feels good. It definitely doesn't feel heavy and weighed down and me trying to be stuck in one corner. So what is that element of service? Again, as we're talking about through the book, every seven years, I was definitely presented by different environments where I had to evolve. And the scaffolding, again, was being built one step

at a time. But here's the beauty of it as you finish the book. What has been my search? My search has been happiness and freedom. I've always wanted to be happy. I've always wanted to understand what is freedom. So I've built all these muscles and parts of my scaffolding, if you will. What I realize at the end of the book is if we are living, simply living. It's not very complex. If we're just living, experiencing the world as it is, then in all honesty, we are free. We are free because we're making a choice, we're making a decision every moment, every second whether we realize it or not, it's better if we're aware of it, but we're making those choices. If I'm fully living, then I'm actually free and at that point, all the scaffolding drops off to the side.

And then I stand as my person of purpose. I stand as me as a person who understands what my legacy is, and then I'm free to keep moving forward. Well, I love that answer because passion struck is much bigger than a show or a company I founded. I really built it to create a global movement around living intentionally. I wanted to educate people on how they can guide their conscious and unconscious choices in a way that takes them closer to their hopes and aspirations. I loved in the book that you wrote,

we are all towering flames, kindled by our most formative years, our childhoods. Every passing season, every experience, every interaction serves as firewood, which when lit becomes the fuel to our passions, desires, and relationships as our lives continue. It is this light that can drive away the darkness of self-doubt and fear.

It is also this fire that may drive away growth, love, and confidence. And given what you just talked about, I wanted to ask you, how does this fire inform the choices we make, both consciously and unconsciously? I think the fire really is to know whereness is that light that we have within. And therefore going back to the book, these are light lessons of love, leadership and legacy. The fire, it's an awareness that you're not going on either extreme of a spectrum. The fire cannot be so dim that it causes no impact. Neither can it be out of control, like a wildfire where it just sets a blaze without any concern for anyone else and just makes its way, it's about that balance. That fire for me is the awareness. And the awareness is this. The awareness is the connection between who I am, me as me, the

fire within me, in connection to my surroundings, which is my community, my company, my family, my environment. And then in a bigger context, which is the environment, the world, what's going on, not just today, but what potential capacity does the world have even tomorrow? And therefore, what does that fire in me today? It looks like every decision that I make. Well, I love that answer. and I think so much about our lives depends on the perception of how we're looking at it. And I'd like in this to looking at the Golden Gate Bridge, seeing it from the shore as

opposed to potentially flying over it in an aircraft because your perspective of the majesty of it would change. And in the book, you describe something like that by saying that our life should be viewed in a panoramic way. And I was hoping you could discuss that concept. It's again very similar to when we say when we're so deep into some subject or an adder an issue that we're deep in the forest, right? So we only are focusing on the trees. We need to take a step back and see really what is the entire forest look like.

And for me, that panoramic view is not just the environment of where I am, but what have I learned so far that I make sure that I'm not really stepping into those same traps and those same cycles and where is my vision going forward? What really does the end of my sort of story look like? So if I have those as my sort of spectrum boundaries, then how am I living and leading in between. So that's what the panorama for me looks like. And I'll be very honest, here's another part, it's not just the lessons that I've learned, but I'm very clear about one thing that there have been numerous hundreds

of lives that have lived forever I was born. And whatever the world was in those situations, people, not just my grandmother, my other great grandmother, not just my ancestry, but the whole planet as a living being. It has all lived so many more lives before I was ever born, but it brought me to here. It brought me here. There's got to be that goodness and the appreciation of that goodness. Of course, there's been imbalance, unjust and strife. Of course, there has been. I want to focus on what worked and what was good. So that's part of my panoramic view too, along with after my lifetime, I'm very aware that there will be hundreds of lives coming after me. So if this little short lifespan that I've got, and maybe 50, 70, 80 years, how can I make it most worthwhile so that all those lives coming after me,

which is part of my panoramic view, can live a little easier, a little better, a little simpler. That's part of my view. It's a great way to describe life, both the past, the current, the future, and beyond. And I'm going to now go through some of the different chapters of the book, and I'm going to start out with your first letter titled, When I Became a Girl. How did a car accident while your mom was pregnant with you teach you that events that appear

unfortunate are blessings and disguise. Blessings and disguise. So here's the thing, my parents were living in the United States even before I was born. My dad came here in 1968, what I say here in the United States, nine since the eight, I was born in 1972. So technically I should have been born in the United States, right? But my parents at the time were first generation immigrants.

They didn't have a lot of money. And it was a question for my mom, well, I'm pregnant, I'm in the United States, right? But my parents at the time were first generation immigrants. They didn't have a lot of money. And it was a question for my mom, well, I'm pregnant. I'm in the United States. I'm alone here. I wish I was with my mom, of course. I'm the first born. But they didn't have enough funds for even a plane ticket. So happens. This car accident happens. And the guy, he's very apologetic,etic gives my mother some cash and that was the cash that literally changed my destiny in which my mom was like, yeah, I've got to take it now. I can go back home and give birth to my child. That series of events definitely changed the course of my life. It's hard to realize it. We take things for granted and right police, because we don't have any other exposure.

Me being born in India gave me an Indian passport, Indian citizenship, and all the other challenges came with that through my life were because of my birthplace. Being born in the United States would have given me a lot more freedom, a lot more justice during times when I was really tested for my family, for my children's sake, which I really did not get being an Indian citizen. And it's not a problem of the country. It's just cultural. Culturally, some things are done, some things are not

done. And you just have to live through it. The blessing is I grew character. I literally was building my character. I was building my resilience. I was building so many lessons that I would not have learned that are necessary. And I will say this again, that have been critical for me to do what I do now, which is running a multinational, which is starting schools around the world, which is even writing a book with a sort of grace that you have for the differences within cultures and people. So, definitely, that was a blessing. I wouldn't change it.

Well, I happen to have gone to India many times. I started traveling there over 20 years ago and did a lot of outsourcing through my time in corporate America. So, I've had an introduction to Indian culture, but I know one thing about different cultures around the world is in some it's really desired by the parents to have a son to be born before a daughter. And I know for you, as you were growing up, your father shared some disappointment

in your gender that impacted you. And I wanted to ask you to describe, how did that make you feel then and how did you overcome that feeling? For sure. The first let me also give credit to my father that he has come a long way. So what he was, let's say 50, 51 years ago, a very cultural context, he had just come from India. That's how he was raised, well you're supposed to have the firstborn son. He was the

first born son, right? So that's all he knew. But again, coming through just the phase and you'll read it in my book as well, he's got foundations that he started in his mom's name. He understands me as the incoming CEO and supports everything that I do. So he's come a long way just to make sure that the readers or the listeners understand that everyone evolves and we need to give that kind of grace. Now as a child, as a toddler, did I know this or was he different? No.

Did I have to go through that emotion of, gosh, I'm not good enough. Gosh, I'm a disappointment. Of course, that stuck to me. And what happened then is I became a people pleaser. I wanted so badly to please my dad. And I thought that was making me happy. So I ran after that. Whatever that meant. It showed up even in my mid 30s, even in my young 40s. It still showed up. I wanted to please. And I thought pleasing meant

happy. I literally thought pleasing meant happy. And I had to redefine all of that and really go back and say, wait a second, you're really not a disappointment. It was just a cultural thing. But that gave me the understanding to not ever judge anybody. Now, we talk about India not just being favorable for, first forming a sun, but India, even at that time, when I was growing up, was huge about the caste system. I was like, well, are you in this castry?

People longed that cast, whatever, now it's diluted. It's still part of a political fabric around the country, whether people openly say it or not, it's still around. But even just those basic notions of culture, you grow up with that. But for me, when I was this sort of quote unquote disappointment, it gave me that it literally became my firewood. That was a huge piece of my firewood that has dictated how I treat people my entire life. I will not judge. I don't care what cast you're from. I don't care what gender you are.

I don't care what religious beliefs you come from. You are a human being and you have emotions. So for me what's very critical is that even when I write the book is sure my roles that took place were very gender-based. Like I said, I was a girl than a sister. But the lessons are human. The lessons are human. John, joy is joy.

Pain is pain. Frustration is the same no matter who you are. The ways you overcome things, determination, will power, discipline, motivation, all of that is a human context. It's a human element. So again, I would not change anything. What happened to me or the way I felt my first six years, seven years of my life truly

shaped me to be a human first, and then everything else. That's a great answer. And I'm going to use that as a segue into the next phase when you were seven to 14 titled when I became a sister. And interestingly enough, my kids are six years of part-nage. And this is the same gap that you found yourself and your sister. And I wanted to ask, how did you find that your sister became an interloper? Well, just imagine, for the first six years of my life, it's just me, my brain, my creativity,

right? It's me, I created my own world of assessing the street of my own songs, of my own dance, of my own games. And all of a sudden, there's this little thing that's cute. And your mom or your dad wants you to take care of them and you're like, how? So there's an interference. There's an interference in your sort of secular world that you built and made and you were happy in. That's an adjustment.

That was an adjustment. Did I know that I loved her? Absolutely. Like 100% I loved her. She was just this cute little thing, but unknowing. Unknowing as a six-year-old, as a seven-year-old, I didn't want anybody being, like, coming in between my happiness. So, adjusting to that, the only way that I knew to adjust to that was to share what I had. And when I shared what I had, so what did I have at that time?

We were just a six-year-old. I had a lot of songs in my heart. I used to sing at the top of my lungs every day, every second, every moment. That's my first passion always has been. So I would sing to her. I would sing to her on the swings. I would swing to her in the playground. And then she would start humming along with me

and we became friends. We became friends. And that was my first connector to friends. And that was my first connector to her. And that was like the first parts of the bridge, if you will, where then I just started doing things that I knew that you're okay. You're going to be part of my life. You had a brother that was born two years later and when he was born, you sensed an adoration for him from your parents. That was entirely different level of admiration than

what you saw both with you and your sister what changed? What changed? There was just so much more forgiveness in the house. Oh my gosh, it's like, he's a boy, everything is fine. He's supposed to do this. Even if he's naughty and a little mischievous, well, that's how it's supposed to be. Whereas, of course, if I had the same sort of behaviors, it may not have gone over so smoothly. But at the same time, my parents had grown too. They were eight years into their parenting. They had read a few things,

been exposed to different things. So even their reaction to my sister, even though she was born six years after me, was different. And then, of course, the sun just culturally again, which is joy in a different dimension, but the maturity also is changing too. But then again, I'm only all of between six and eight years old. How am I supposed to know that they're maturing? How am I supposed to know that, oh, actually, they get it now. I'm still sitting in that little, you know, please pity me,

bucket your age to six years, and I'm still this person that little, you know, please pity me bucket year to six years. And I'm still this person trying to please what's going on trying to fix things. But I definitely noticed that I change and I could only wonder what was so special about that. So. Well, over time, your dad's business grew and at the same time, your mom's work, volunteer and social commitments also got larger, which created this void where you had to become a caretaker for your brother and sister. And I wanted to ask that period of being a caretaker, how is that influenced? Maybe how you parented or the leadership style that you have today? That's a great question.

So a little bit into the story, after I got married, again, I had an arranged marriage right in 19. So my first daughter was born when I was 21, and my youngest sister was four at the time when my first daughter was born. And my youngest sister was two when I was married. So she's two years old when I got married,

and she used to live with us and the joint family. Everyone thought that she was my daughter. So the point that I'm trying to make is even with my own siblings, I guess I took on this motherly role, even though I was not another and when I had my first daughter, I realized there was a difference. There was a difference, but at the same time it felt like, oh, she's another sibling of mine. Like my older daughter, literally, I felt like, oh, she's another sibling, even though she was my own child. But the parenting style was this. I wanted to be your friend.

For me, I wanted to be your friend, and now I was also so young when I was taking care of my siblings, as well as when I was a mother for my first daughter. For me, it was about being playful, about being a friend, and again, I wanted to give them things that I did not get, which I was very aware of I did not get, which was freedom, which was love, which was appreciation. I wanted to make sure that anyone who was part of my sort of love circle got that. And honestly, I maintain the same sort of philosophy even in the business, or even when I was running my dance school for kids, for girls in India. I want people to know that they're loved and they're seen.

And I think that's such an important message for people because oftentimes like you did in your early childhood, people feel alone, people feel like they're overlooked by the situations that they're in and it's important to feel seen and heard and I think for you in some ways it appeared as if your grandmother was the first one who started to make you see that you could be strong in mind and body. Very true so funny story is I've always got a whole bunch of energy. People still say that I'm like the energizer of money. But when I was a kid, the distance between sort of our bedrooms and the kitchen, we had a little living room in between. At that time, it felt like a mile long, of course it wasn't. But I would just do cartwheels from bedroom all the way to the kitchen. It may have been maybe 30 feet, maybe 25 feet, whatever that was. And Chumul was encouraged that.

Now, that was crazy. So my name is Ronnie. And Marathi Ronnie means queen. She called me very specifically Rana. Rana means king. And then she added another word, Rana Pratap, which is actually he's a Rajput leader, the back of historic days of India, very victorious, very courageous leader. And also,

leader now that I go back and think about it, Rana Pratap was known for his virtues and his principles of how he treated his sort of kingdom, if you will. So she always called me Rana Pratap, which is victorious king, and that definitely stuck to me going, huh, I guess I am the king. I can be a victorious king, and I can be a king of principles. I don't have to compromise on that. So definitely that was on my radar. Well, one of the principles that you set was to take on challenges

and I'm gonna go back to the period before you were married. You were living in the United States, asked your mom when you were in eighth grade if you could come back to Indian, when you came back to India, you're given the choice of either attending a Catholic school or a Hindu school. Well, the ironic thing here is that you didn't speak Hindi. So the logical choice would have been to go to the Catholic school. However, you made the opposite choice. And I think it's an interesting view into you because you took the more challenging path. You're right. And I have also realized that I don't do easy. I don't do easy.

And sometimes if things come easy, I question it going, where's the struggle? Where's the challenge? Where's the fight? So yeah, and be it great, I did definitely ask my mom, I was like, you're teaching me all these things about the Indian culture, living in Houston. When I go to school, no one talks about it, no one cares about it. So I need to experience it. So the ninth grade, I am an India for one year and I did choose the Hindi school. What was important for me is I went there to learn and I had no problems with facing fear. I had no problems being uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable in the United States anyways.

I'm like, all right, I'll be uncomfortable here too. So I kind of like, all right, so what? Let's just face this and move on. So that was a challenge for me. And as you very rightly said, when I was there, I was still the outsider. I wasn't quite Indian because I looked I guess American or when I spoke English I was with the very American accent and that's why I wasn't Indian neither was I and American again a misfit again. So the first I would say six weeks maybe first semester actually sat at the back of the bench no one really wanted to talk to me. She was, I was like the spoiled rich kid or the spoiled American kid.

Okay, because I guess all Americans are spoiled or whatever their notion was at the time. Then we had a challenge where we had a field trip. And during that field trip, it was really in the middle of nowhere in a village. And one really cool thing about that school, and and again how purpose always comes to you, that school was meant for service leadership and no idea what that meant. All I knew was I wasn't going to go to a Catholic school, I was going to do something which meant leadership and service. But I was always attracted to that, didn't know what it meant. So we're in the middle of this village,

basically trying to spread the awareness of how domestic abuse had gone a little overboard in that village, and it was caused by just moonshine, just local alcohol breweries that were being built, because there was some money in that village thanks to some industries being built and people were being employed. So when our school went there to spread this awareness, again, didn't know what was really going on, but as we started marching towards this camp, if you will, trying to ask the people to tear it down, this distillery is not good for the village, you're causing domestic abuse, children are not cross-bring, women are being hurt, yada. Even at that time, for me, it was about how do I get these women involved? I didn't want to do it on my own. So the challenge, even at that point, for me, it was about how do I get these women involved?

I didn't want to do it on my own. So the challenge, even at that point, was how do I make this better, happier, easier? These villagers, they come from an untouchable community, you're not supposed to touch them, you're not supposed to hug them. And for me, I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah little hip and keep walking. So the people that were like the elders around there, they saw what they would call a bottom-quote leadership. For me, I was just trying to make everyone happy, I guess. The other part was there's a well-water story, which I think was really funny when I look back at it. So there's a well about a hundred feet away from our camp. We were given six buckets and we were 40 girls. Our instructor was like, all right, go fill water from the well into the storage tank.

So that we've got water for our camp. Great done. I'm thinking here, six buckets, 40 girls, one will 100 feet. And I don't know about this. The girls, they're not thinking they're just mindlessly, okay, I'll take one, go to the well, chug along, go to the storage, whatever. I'm like, this is gonna change. This has got to change. So for me, I'm about efficiency. How do I, what I call one step things?

How do I bring things into fruition where people's lives are easier, better, and efficient? So that story was a challenge for me. How do I get that water from here to there with the resources that we have? So eventually I have this idea, well, why don't we form a human chain? And that time, the girls were like, well, you might do that we have. So eventually I have this idea, well why don't we form a human chain? And that time the girls were like, well you might do that in America, we don't do it here.

What does that have to do with where I come from? But anyways, again, it's an idea that I have in my mind. I cannot expect people to know what's in my mind, so I've got to demonstrate it. Lead by example is something that I was taught big time during that scene. So lead by example, all right, let me show you how it's done. So I took a bucket, gave it to a girl, said just walk five feet from here to there, I'll take it from here. Sort of example, this whole thing. Finally, one thing led to the next and we eventually built this human chain.

The challenge was resistance, the challenge was, well, we don't do it that way. The challenge was, well, who do you think you are? All of these things. By giving people grace and not snapping, not being impatient, understanding that, look, we can find a method to move forward. And all of you are going to benefit from this. Lead by example, grace. All of that had to come into play, which was a challenge for me.

I didn't even know what that meant. I definitely took on challenges and leadership skills started to be developed from there. Well, that phase, it really seemed like you were defined by service kindness and seeking out genuine interactions with others. And I found it interesting if I have the timeline correct that at about that time, your mom decided that her life's mission was also changing and that she had a desire to educate the poor and to serve children. And so she ended up starting which is now the starting which is now the perinec foundation. And I was hoping you could talk about that.

And how that is impacted your desire to further give service to others. Absolutely. Just restored before I was married in India. When I was 17 years old and I just graduated from high school in Houston, I went to India and again, singing with my first passion, was singing all day long, went to college and I had like two our window in the evening. I started teaching slum kids.

Slum kids are very poverty-stricken kids. Two kids ended up being 60 kids in my parents vacation house. And my mom came from Houston to just check in on me and she saw this. She loved what I was doing, but the same time I was scared what I was doing, just in terms of security,

and the rest of the story you'll read in the book. But she also saw her love for what I was doing at that time. Now, I had to stop all of what I was doing because life took its sort of course. That sort of seed, and I'm not giving myself credit, really, it's not, that's not the reason, but I'm trying to build a story where she and I have been giving myself credit. Really, that's not the reason, but I'm trying to build a story

where she and I have been living this purpose simultaneously together. So there was a point, as you rightly said in her life, where she's like, my calling is to educate kids. And she walks these mountains all by herself, finds this land, says, this is what my calling is. I'm going to build a school here. And I'm like, yet mom, you do it.

I've been helping my mom since day one trying to build it and this happened about 20 years ago. It was completely bare on land and today if you go there, it's like an oasis. It is an oasis, trees, 80% of it is used on sustainable energy. Now we have 250 kids that reside with us on campus. I really should not say with us. My mom resides on campus. I'm mostly here in the United States or traveling different locations. But yes, it has definitely been a success. Our first graduating class was in 2016 where we had our first six kids graduate. And here's the beauty of this cool thing. When they graduate, and we don't just leave them after they graduate, and they all graduated with honors, by the way. That's our track record from 2016, 16, 16 up until now. All of our kids graduate at the highest level,

all with honors. So that's just incredible as it is. But these kids, one went to software, one went to and nursing another girl, again, life, had to go back to her village and get married. Now, just part of a nursing, another girl, again, life had to go back to her village and get married. Now, just part of the family, we knew that was going to happen. Her name is Lakshmi. What happened to her is, though, she said, I'm going to start a school in my village,

which she did. So the story is not just about my mom's passion and what she's doing, but it's that legacy that she is helping other people to build. So she is really driving this notion of service, of leadership, even I am, I'm doing it with her for sure. But again, it goes into that legacy piece. It's now Lakshmi, she started her own school and she's doing really well with it. And then how you create this whole passion going forward, so going forward. This foundation is now three generational, started with my mom. I'm involved in it, and now both of my daughters are involved in it. So my oldest daughter, Bakshi, she's a managing director. She does

all the outreach programs for US. My youngest daughter has now started her own program, called C3, which is connecting communication clearly, which is basically targeted for 20 plus young professionals, being able to join them and being able to communicate on any social issue around the globe. It's kind of like a mock UN. So when you take a look at this generational involvement, you can see how robust not just that one idea is, but the impact on how not just for us three generations, but for so many generations going forward. So if I'm answering the question, the calling is way beyond just me and my mom.

Yeah, it's a great example of paying it forward. So I love it. Well, I'm gonna go back to the book and for the listener, you're 10 plus years in your marriage and you say you felt tired in your body and your mind and in your soul and you found yourself emotionally and energetically hollow.

You write that no one leaves a place to situation or an identity all at once. We exit in parts and pieces. Can you discuss how this process of leaving begins within? Yes. And it's definitely a heavy subject. It's a sensitive topic for sure, and I did wanna address it cause I'm sure people to go through it.

When we make hard choices to separate, it does not happen overnight, it doesn't. When I say we leave in pieces, it's the small things that we have encountered. We didn't quite want or we didn't wanna support. the small things that we have encountered, we didn't quite want or we didn't want to support, but we live with it because we're adjusting, we're compromising, we don't mind sacrificing in the best interest of everyone else.

Because as a person, I wanted to, or people want to retain harmony, I just keep it going But it doesn't mean that parts of us is Being left behind parts of us is being left behind because we're compromising We're tearing a little piece of us at a time out there, but we're okay with it We somehow build that muscle to say think I'm okay. I'm fine. If everyone else is happy. I'm happy too So eventually for me I came to a stage where I'm fine. If everyone else is happy, I'm happy too.

So eventually, for me, I came to a stage where I was preaching literally to the world, find your space, be who you are, stand up for who you are. What I realized is that I was too scared to face who I had become. I had a notion of who I wanted to be, but I wasn't that. And I realized when I looked back, as that little parts of me was left behind. The singer in me was left behind. The person who laughed out loud was left behind. The person who really wanted to support her mom and her dad's company was left behind. The girl who wanted to go to Rice University, who had learning, engineering in her mind, was left behind. The girl who wanted to go to Rice University who had learning, engineering in her mind was left behind. All of these little pieces of who I

believed I was and I was built for was left behind. And then I look back and of course there's always that little pivotal point which is what we call the strong and camel's back but just breaks. But that's not the one reason why we decide to go in a different direction. All of it is a buildup of years. That's at least how it was for me. Well, I'm gonna take the listener just through a couple of things that end up happening.

So you end up getting divorced and coming out of that divorce, you end up moving back to the United States. You at this point join your father's firm, Worldwide, Oilfield machine, and you make a huge life pivot, go back and get your MBA from Rice. And through this process, you discover a new identity, not only as your father's daughter, but as the daughter of your Heavenly Father. And I thought this was a great topic for you to discuss, but more so, you're currently the global CFO and soon to be the CEO of the company.

Where do you see this next chapter of your life opening up your identity to do even more. Good questions because my identity is now very firmly connected to my heavenly father. That doesn't change. I really do know who I am. Does that mean I won't evolve? I'll continue evolving, but at the essence of the core I know who I am. I'm not searching and seeking for that anymore. Knowing who I am, I'm just trying to give my best, trying to offer my best. So what that looks like going forward is to really live in that freedom and to not let anyone else encroach on that freedom, they can question it all day long, but for me, to not be impacted by any of the doubts or the questions of who I am and my identity, my connection to

what I call my relationship with my spiritual father. Everything that I do now is based off of that understanding that I'm here to be that light. If I can serve with that light, I will. If it's time for me to surrender and sit back, then I will. If it's time to move forward with full focus, I always say my first job is to be obedient to the voice inside me. Not to the voices around me to the voice inside me. And if I can be obedient to that, I'm showing up as my authentic self. Authenticity is a really big component of who I am. And I'll say to say, I climbed Mount Everest last year in May. And when I did, we were at about 5,000 feet. And let's give you the story real quick to wrap it up.

and let's give you the story real quick to wrap it up. I'm standing at the edge of this sort of ridge and I look up majestic, majestic Himalayan, just feel like they're just miles high. You know, just edges, rough edges, what just awe-inspiring depth of these mountains, snow-capped, the clouds and the light are kind of doing its magic on it. And the first word that comes to me, wow, this is so powerful, so powerful. And I look down, and when I look down, literally it feels like another few miles down there, because I'm at the ridge.

White water, white water, gushing its way, cutting through the edges of this mountain, just making its way in these curves and twisted bends. And I'm like, wow, that's powerful. And I ask myself this question, well, what is power? Again, as a corporate person, we go into a board room and we hear this all day long. That's a powerful person. What's power?

What does power for mean? That's a powerful company. Don't mess with them. Okay, what does that word even mean? I don't have the answers, right? So over the course of the next eight days, every time we stop at a lodge and get rest or whatever, I am a talkative person, I'm talking to people, hey, what does power mean to you? And that strikes all these conversations with powers, this, that, and the other. I'll tell you the top three real quick, the top three that that stuck to my mind out of 35 answers that I got over the course of eight days. Number one, power is the ability to positively impact

something or someone. Second was power is energy. The third one, power is to know your potential, but also to know that you have not achieved it yet. Those are the top three that stuck to my heart, okay? Then on the last day, we woke up at 3 a. Those are the top two that stuck to my heart, okay? Then on the last day, we woke up at 3 a.m. because we had to get to base camp and all that. I'm still cuddling on this word, power. What does it mean? And then all of a sudden it hit me in one word. And that word I come back to is authenticity. You just show up. You show up, not out of fear, not out of guilt or shame or doubt, not to compete. You show up. You show up, not out of fear, not out of guilt, per shame, or doubt, not to compete. You show up.

The mountains have no idea that they are powerful. They're just a bunch of rock and dust and dirt, but they are powerful. The water has no idea that it's cutting ridges and providing nutrients for life. It just shows up in its own authentic, unique way. So going back to where I'm going to live my life going forward in my authenticity. Who I am, just as I am. If that helps someone, I hope it does. And I just keep moving forward. I think that's a great way to end our discussion and I just wanted to ask if the listener wanted to learn more about you, where's the best place for them to do that? On the social media handles Ronnie Peronik and I'll spell it out, R-A-N-I-P-U-R-A-N-I-K.

So Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, you can also go to RonniePuronic.com. And we can find some articles, blogs, and just some of the stuff that I'm up to. Ronnie, thank you so much for giving us the honor of bearing here today and sharing your incredible story and journey over the past seven letters. Let's just say of your life. Thank you. I appreciate it, John. I thoroughly enjoyed that interview with Ronnie Baronek. And I wanted to thank Ronnie Morgan James Publishers and Zilker Media for the privilege and honor of interviewing her. Links to all things Ronnie will be in the show notes

at passionstruck.com. Please use our website links if you purchase any of the books from the guests that we feature on the show. All proceeds go to supporting passionstruck. Videos are on YouTube at both John R. Miles as well as passionstruck clips. And as I mentioned at the show, all proceeds go to supporting passion struck. The videos are on YouTube at both John Armiles as well as passion struck clips. And as I mentioned at the beginning, we are also on the AM FM 247 National broadcast every Monday and Friday from 5 to 6 PM, go catch it on tune in Apple music or whatever

player you use to listen to music. Advertiser deals and discount codes are in one community place at passionstruck.com slash deals. You can catch me on LinkedIn where you can sign up for my newsletter and you can also find me at John Armiles on both Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. You're about to hear a preview of the PassionStruck podcast interview I did with Seth Goden, who's a repeat number one New York Times bestselling author. Seth and I discuss his brand new book which releases next week of Significance, which is a manifesto for teams. Important businesses, profitable businesses, growing businesses, we make choices, we make a change happen.

But you cannot make a change happen and always be perfect. That mistakes are the way forward, that communication, taking responsibility, sharing what didn't work, not hoarding information, doing the reading, these are all choices. We need to shift completely the way we think about what we do around here. Because if we don't, we're gonna be trapped

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