Nathaniel Peat – Multi-Award Winning Entrepreneur, International Speaker (inc TEDx), Business Coach, Engineer, Pilot & He also founded of The Safety Box - Season 5 - #211

Tune in to a compelling episode of the Us People Podcast as Savia Rocks engages in a candid conversation with Nathaniel Peat, a distinguished Multi-Award Winning Entrepreneur, International Speaker, Business Coach, Engineer, Pilot, and Founder of The Safety Box.

In this episode:

- Gain insights into Nathaniel's upbringing in a Jamaican household known for resilience and ambition.
- Embrace the can-do attitude instilled by his parents that shaped Nathaniel's outlook on life.
- Explore his journey growing up in vibrant North London.
- Discover the revelation of Nathaniel's ADHD diagnosis in adulthood and how he navigated challenges with perseverance.
- Witness his determination to overcome academic setbacks and secure a place in college through unwavering dedication.
- Hear about Nathaniel's unwavering belief in living a purpose-driven life.
- Navigate through moments of trauma, depression, and divorce, and how a strong support system guided him towards positivity and growth.

Be inspired by an episode that showcases resilience, mutual support, and an unyielding zest for life.

Website:  https://www.nathanielpeat.com/

"Your dreams are yours to nurture, your ambitions yours to chase. Never allow another's doubts to build walls around your aspirations. Let their 'no' be your fuel, propelling you forward with even greater determination and self-belief." - Savia Rocks

Transcript

Savia Rocks: 0:00

Hey guys, we made it to season five of the Us People podcast. I'm your host Savia Rocks. And in this season, we aim to empower and embrace creativity through diversity as we dive into the fascinating stories and experiences of a diverse range of individuals. Highlighting their unique perspectives and creative endeavors from artists and entrepreneurs to innovators and activists. We celebrate the power of diversity in driving creativity and fostering positive change. Join us as we engage in thought provoking conversations like. I made myself intentionally homeless. In pursuit of my purpose,

J Harris: 0:41

we're aware that a lot of people want to present and they, and they were in my position and what's worse, they weren't a white male, which is a joke. That's even still a thing. I

Mel: 0:49

think my family never, ever say you can't do something. So full of support, full of support for whatever dream. If I said tomorrow when I fly to the moon, they'll probably say, I wish you all the best mouth.

Savia Rocks: 0:59

So guys. I just want to say thank you for supporting the Us people podcast for the past five years. I really look forward to sharing another new theme song with you. Let's go. Hey guys, and welcome to another episode of the ask people show. I'm your host Savia Rocks. And today I'm excited because I have Nathaniel here with me. He's a multi award winning entrepreneur. He's also an. International speaker, a business coach, an engineer, a pilot, and he is also the founder of the Safety Box. Nathaniel, I want to thank you so much for taking your time to come on the Ask People show. How are you?

Nathaniel Peat: 2:00

It's really great to be with you this evening, Savia, man. I'll tell you what, your voice can put me to sleep. It's so calm. Listen. Amazing to be here with you this evening. Thank you for having me on the LCBN television UK network. Fantastic.

Savia Rocks: 2:16

You are more than welcome. I'm so happy to have you here. I know we've had a discussion even before we started the show, which was such an ambient discussion even before we started. So, but I'm going to get Right into it with my first question for you. So Nathaniel, could you tell me about your background where you grew up and how that influenced you to be the person who you are today, but also the structure and your mindset that you wanted to channel your energy in a constructive way to create change and reflect in your life.

Nathaniel Peat: 2:48

You know, um, I come from a Jamaican family. So, you know, Is what I'm with. And, you know, it has been such a powerful, um, you know, experience growing up in a Jamaican home because I don't know, Jamaicans are just movers and shakers. Honestly, it doesn't matter where they create a big impact, you know, whether that be a St. Paul or a Bob Marley or, you know, going to pot countries in Africa and you see that. So, you know, um, growing up in that family, I always had this can do attitude. That my parents, um, instilled into me, um, very, very, um, you know, very spiritual home in terms of, um, faith. Faith was a big part of my upbringing and, um, I grew up in an area of North London known as Tottenham, um, at a time it was a childhood in 1985 riots and you know, there's a lot of issues going on in the area at the time of racism. And, um, I went into a, a, a, a British secondary school, which, um, unfortunately didn't understand my mind at the time because I actually am an adult that has discovered I have ADHD. But, you know, I don't see it as a neurodiverse disability. I see it as a hyper focused ability.

Savia Rocks: 4:02

Yes.

Nathaniel Peat: 4:03

And, you know, so. I really went into a school and they really didn't get me. I wasn't really a bad student because my primary school education was really, really good. I was exceptional in maths at primary school, but when I went to secondary school, everything just went pear shaped because they weren't teaching me the right way. I didn't do well at school. I started to hang out with the wrong people, um, you know, and, and I didn't do too well in my, my GCSEs because of the lack of, um, I would say the, the lack of, um, inspiration, which I found in the classroom, the boredom, which I got, and I think that was an attribute to ADHD. I couldn't really hold my attention. It didn't mean I wasn't academically able. It just meant that they perhaps weren't used to teaching a Black child. Again, being in a system where there was a lot of white people that were teaching me, um, with the perception of Black people at the time that I was in Tottenham, it deemed me just like the perception that they had. And I think there was levels of racism and discrimination in my school. Um, consequently, I didn't do well in my GCSEs and I had to hustle my way into college based off of my friend's enrollment letter and I got into a college and I had to queue up in an A level physics line, um, because I wanted to always be in engineering or aviation. That was the two things that I kind of had in my mind, but I'd failed maths, I'd failed science, I'd passed English, um, I'd passed all the subjects which weren't scientific and, um, I've got four GCSEs, you need five to get into college, hence why I had to use my friend's enrolment letter to get into the college. I queued up in the queue, um, got to the front, the man said, you haven't got your grades, you're going to have to repeat your GCSEs. So I got up again, I walked around, remember what was happening on the streets at the time, a lot of crime and violence was happening, a lot of gang issues were happening in the area. And I queued up again for another hour, got to the front, the man said, you haven't got your grades, you're going to have to repeat your GCSEs. And I got up again and I walked around again, you know, and I always remembered that, you know, um, my dad saying to me, don't let anybody tell you, you can't achieve anything. And my dad being a Jamaican. My dad would say to me, Nathaniel, unless you get into college, I'm going to kick you out of the house. Get into college and I'm going to kick you out of the house. That's what my dad would say to me, right? So, I knew I had to get into college. The third time I queued up, um, the man said to me, and he looked at me as this black boy. I could see the, I could see this, just, just, just this, why are you here? You don't belong here in his eyes. Um, and he said to me, how did you get into the college? Started to create a big fuss because I didn't have the grades. The woman sitting next to him was Anita, the head of the physics department. And she said, look, I've seen you come back three times. Anyone with that level of drive and determination.

Savia Rocks: 6:49

Exactly.

Nathaniel Peat: 6:51

A level in physics. She says, I'm going to put you on to an AS level on the condition you pass your AS level physics. I will allow you to go to the second year and you have to repeat your GCSE maths in college because you're going to need it for university. It was at that moment that I understood that there was a guiding light to me. I believe in God and I think that this is just telling me go, just keep going. Right. And I tell you. I realized at that point that no doesn't mean no, unless I accept it to be a no. That philosophy has stuck with me getting into college, going on, you know, I went on to university. I did engineering at university. Um, and I, and I went into, into, into, you know, my career, uh, in, in different fields, um, post post university, but I mean, all of this was based upon The understanding that my parents instilled in me, that really strong Jamaican kind of education and everything them give you. But on top of that, it was my faith and my belief in Most High as well as understanding mentally that I can do. And I'm only going to basically experience the know. If I accept it to be that, no, that's sort of kind of, you know, my coming up, it didn't mean I wasn't able, it just, again, it, you know, it just, it just meant that the people weren't teaching me in the appropriate way for me to learn at my optimum level. And because of the neurodiverse condition. I became bored. And that oftentimes happens with our black boys in schools. They become bored, you know, or you have neurodiverse conditions with, with, with children in schools and they, they misdiagnose their neurodiverse conditions. And as a result of that, they're, you know, they're put into classrooms saying that they've got behavioral issues because, you know, parents can't afford the tests or whatever it may be, you know? So, um, for me, it was, um, I think a lot of that, um, that, that, uh, struggling through. Um, to get in, um, has helped me in my, um, journey of life, you know, and, and that, you know, if there's no obstacles on your road, it means your road's not going on anywhere. And the fact that there were obstacles on my road in my early years, having to navigate, um, you know, what's happening with juvenile criminality, um, and, and, and also the issues of poverty in the area and understanding this, this, this, this high expectation of my parents to achieve.

Savia Rocks: 9:26

Yeah.

Nathaniel Peat: 9:26

Um. I think having to navigate that as a young person really has given me a lot of the skill sets that, um, you know, I've gained to, to, to attack life in the way that I've attacked it.

Savia Rocks: 9:36

See, this is what I love to hear. That's one, one thing I've noticed that it also happened to me. So when you said that to me, I resonated with it straight away because I was in the line three times just to do IT. He was,

Nathaniel Peat: 9:52

and

Savia Rocks: 9:55

I went from every, I went in every level and it was funny. I went into, cause I didn't have the grades. I went into foundation first and I spoke to the teacher and the teacher was being the same way. I went into, but I went up, I went up, I went up the chain because I said to myself, no. And I said, I'm not going to keep going in the same line. So I went to foundation and I went to intermediate and I went to advance and guess which one gave me, gave me the class. The advanced teacher said, if I let you do your GCSEs with me in the classroom. So you can take them as extra classes, you can do advance and guess you've got the highest marks in the class. You see what I mean, it's about you not letting someone put you down, take away your drive and people will do that because a lot of the time people see your potential and see your light and see how bright you shine. They want to take that away from you because their light is either been diminished by somebody else who they let. in to be able to do that. And that's why I always say to people, you only allow the emotion. If somebody says something to you, Nathaniel, you are in charge of what you let affect you emotionally. Exactly. You are. No one else can do it. That's why when you said that, I loved it because I totally resonated with it. So. Nathaniel, can you define who you are as a person, but also who do you see when you look in the mirror? But on the flip side of that question, has there ever been a time where you have looked in the mirror and not recognized the person staring back at you? How did you manage to go from a person that you wasn't necessarily happy with spiritually or mentally or physically to being the person where you're saying, you know what? This is the person who I want to be positively and have a purpose in life. Yeah.

Nathaniel Peat: 11:42

That is an absolutely power packed question that you've just thrown at me, Sabia. I mean, um, it is, it is, it has been, um, it's been a colossal journey and, um, you know, I define myself as, um, a man of faith, a man of belief, uh, and a man of purpose. Um, and that's how I define myself. Um, with regards to the second part of your question in terms of looking at yourself and not recognizing who you are, I went through an incredible trauma. and this trauma sent me into depression. Now mental health amongst amongst men, um, is a major issue. And even though I had things that I'd achieved and done, it sent me into depression because the mental health that the crisis that I went through, um, peeled away, um, my, my, my self image. And, and, you know, when you have these intense traumas, uh, you're my first, My first marriage, um, ended in divorce and it was a horrible battle through the courts, fighting for my son, fighting for my son. And you know, not many people will know that. However, uh, during that period, it really strained my mind. It strained me so much. Um, and coming through, um, a place of success, going into a place of struggling with mental health, Mm hmm. For me, looking at myself, I couldn't believe this was the same person. And it was only through the intense support network that I had, as well as the, the, I'm going to say the prayers and everything that I was doing, the meditation, the, the self affirmations, the, the building of my character back up and, and, and, and understanding that I'm loved and understanding I was capable to raise that self esteem again, that helped me to come back up. And, you know, I'm happy that I'm no longer in those phases. However, it gives me. And understanding. And I believe that a lot of the things I've experienced is so that I have the ability to help other men. It's so that I have the ability to help other people. It's so that I have lived the experience of struggling with mental health. So I can speak words of life into the person that is struggling with mental health themselves to understand it on a level that is deeper than any other level. Because when you've been through your, you have that lived experience, giving you the power and the ability to then live someone out of the darkness. So for me, I believe it was just part of my journey. It's part of my journey to go through that intense sort of childhood where I was struggling and weighing in between success with, with criminality, right? Weighing, weighing up academia, wake it up, weighing up education with, with criminality, understanding what success looked like by achieving certain things, going through an immense trauma. And, and then coming out the other side, I think that has given me such a drive for life and understanding, um, of, of where I can be. Um, another point in my life where I looked at myself and couldn't see myself was after I recovered from COVID 19, I, I almost died from COVID. I was in the ICU and I almost lost my life. My breath literally was taken away from me, you know, couldn't breathe properly. And coming through that immense. pain in my chest every time I breathe. And when I was walking, I walked like a granddad. I mean, I'm an active person. I'm, I'm, I'm used to sport. I'm going to the gym, I'm running, I'm doing all these things. And so basically getting COVID 19, I didn't recognize myself. So I'm walking like a granddad. I try and walk, I try and walk four steps and I'm feeling tired. And you know, I don't recognize myself there, but you know, again, Again, just, just faith, determination, drive, prayer, just all of those things helped me. And that's why when my breath came back to me and I was fully functional again, the first thing that I was doing was I was jumping. I played the saxophone. The first thing I did was just jump on the sax. And I started to play the saxophone because I'm grateful for life. I'm grateful for my breath, and that basically helped me to deepen, in fact, my faith because I believe that without faith, it's impossible to do things. You know, you have to have that faith in order for you to achieve. You've got to believe, you know, if you see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand. If you speak the words into existence, they can take life. And that's why it's so important that the words we speak back into ourself are filled with life. The way it was, we talked to our Children. The things we say to our Children have to be filled with life that their minds can actually step up to a higher level. And, you know, just just reaffirming that to yourself, it shows a level of self love. And when you have self love, that is when you're able to power through many situations, many scenarios. Um, and just keep a healthy mind. So a lot of the things I do now is to stop myself I'm putting the boundaries in place so I never ever end up being in a mental health crisis again. Um, I don't want to go back to that place. I've been through it and now I use that pain and turn it directly into purpose to help those who are suffering themselves.

Savia Rocks: 16:47

See, this is what I love to hear because there's somebody out there who needs to hear those words. There's someone going through this right now that we don't know is going through right now and needs to hear those words, especially from a man's perspective. The reason why I say that a lot of men hide their emotions. Absolutely. And that's usually because of, you know, it could be anybody in your family or your friends. You say that men are meant to hide their emotions. You're meant to be strong. You're not meant to cry with. That's not true at all. Showing your vulnerability shows that you are humane inside and you have emotions that need to be shared and can help someone else to understand their emotions. So that's why I love the fact that you say that. So one of the questions I do want to ask you is in our lives, we all have role models, people who inspire us to be who we are. and the reason why we are the way we are. So who can I, when I ask you, who are the people who have been an inspiration and role models in your life where you can say, you know what, this person has taught me how to be this way or taught me not to be this way. Is there any role models in your life?

Nathaniel Peat: 17:53

Yeah. I mean, I've had, I've had role models. I think probably the greatest role models have been those who are closest to me. So I'm talking about my dad, my dad and my mom, both of them have been role models to me. Um, I've also had lots of, um, you know, teachers around me. So, for example, my English teacher at school was a role model. He's dead now, but, um, Mr. Henry, you know, he was a teacher that could see that the black boys in his class were struggling with the maths teacher that perhaps was racist.

Savia Rocks: 18:22

Yeah.

Nathaniel Peat: 18:23

And he taught us maths after school. He was an English teacher. teaching us maths after school,

Savia Rocks: 18:29

you

Nathaniel Peat: 18:30

know, there are other people like, you know, my, my martial arts teacher as well, who guided me when I was actually setting up a dojo in my university, you know, individuals that have suffered with mental health. Um, and they helped me too. The fact that they, they came out of it. Individuals that suffered the same thing that I suffered, you know, those types of individuals have been all role models to me. Um, and it's not, you know, surprisingly, it's not some of the big people that I've met. It's actually the people that have been closest to me because they have had the greatest impact. My, my A level physics teacher, you know, the fact that she reached out to me and got me onto that course, you know, she was actually someone that I, I thought, wow, you know, She's just such a good role model for me. So it's been people that have had the greatest impact in my life. Those are the ones which are the role models and understanding, even to talk about this mental health issue as well. You know, 77 percent of, of, of polled men have suffered with symptoms of, of, of mental health conditions, anxiety, stress, and depression, you know, and 40 percent of that have never spoken about it. So the people that helped me through that, you know, to talk. really were role models to be as well. Understanding that you can get through it. Understanding that. It doesn't matter where you start, doesn't matter where you are in the middle, it matters where you finish.

Savia Rocks: 19:57

And,

Nathaniel Peat: 19:57

you know, so, so those people are, you know, they're constant guides and, um, I picked up sort of little things from some of the very successful people that I've had, um, more recently, uh, more recently I've had, um, You're someone within the aristocrat circle that has been guiding me a little bit as well, which is good. And, and I've had a billionaire advice as well, which has been given to me through some of the people that I've met. And so, but the real role models, I would say, are, have been the ones which are closest, nearest and dearest to me that have had the greatest impact in my life. The best teachers, um, my dad, my parents, my mom, you know, my martial arts teacher and those that are close, close to me.

Savia Rocks: 20:36

Let's talk about the safety box. This is something that I was literally when I was doing my research, because I love doing research about every guest who comes on the show, because it shows me, tells me so much about them. Also, when I'm asking the questions to them, it's more, I have an understanding of exactly what you do and your purpose of what you do in the world to help other people. So I know that you, you founded the safety box, but what was it in you that triggered that light? To say I'm gonna do the safety box to help other people.

Nathaniel Peat: 21:09

Well, um, you know, I was going on my journey. Um, you know, when I went to, uh, after I finished university, I went over to the United States of America and I, I qualified as a pilot. Um, and, uh, during this aviation journey, um, I, I, you know, I achieved my dream. I always say, you should never allow your dream to become a regret. And I achieved this dream, but. I started to think about what was happening in my community. I started to think about the, the, the, the, the, the knife crime. I started to think about what was happening with my community. And I saw lots of young people that were just like me in that. If, if I didn't have, you know, parents that were really trying to keep me on path that were threatening me, you know, threatening to kick me out of the house and all of that stuff, I didn't have those people that had spoken into my life in an earlier, in my early years. If I didn't have that, if I didn't have those, those individuals like Anita, the head of the physics department, to get me into college,

Savia Rocks: 21:59

what

Nathaniel Peat: 22:00

would I have done? Where would I have ended up? What would I have, what would I have gotten into? You know, I may have ended up like many of my friends, some of them who died, some of them who went to prison, and so I thought there's other young people like that are struggling. And I said, I need to do something. And it was after a friend lost his son. Um, I, you know, a close family friend lost his son. And I said, you know, um, I really need to push this. a little bit more. And so I founded the safety box, which is a multi award winning social enterprise, which, um, supports young people at risk. Um, you know, it was born out of the great need to practically address all the growing concerns of antisocial behavior, violence, low self esteem, gang violence, county lines, um, issues with, you know, Child sexual exploitation, bullying, all of the ills that a young person could face. And the whole idea of it was basically everything inside the box, the interventions, the curriculum, everything that we do to support service, everything inside the boxes. designed to keep a young person safe. And so thus I had, um, the safety box, um, as, as the name of the organization, um, and, uh, the colors of blue and white, um, recognizing a connection to heaven and earth, you know, the sky and, and, uh, just to try it, just, just showing that there is the, you know, the ability for, um, Success despite where they come from, um, and to create a positive impact in, in their lives. And, and so we've achieved a lot. We've had a measured impact of working with over 25 and a half thousand young people in the UK last year, delivering over 35,000 hours worth of mental health support for young people and one to one support. You know, uh, achieve some really high levels of violence reduction in some of the most violent youth prisons in the country. Um, you know, a 95% reduction in one, one youth prison. When we partnered up with. S. O. S. And cure violence to deliver that adapted intervention as well as other interventions in our flagship program. Now the aspire higher program, which I wrote with business partner Christopher Cyrus in in developing a new curriculum in personal development, violence reduction and trauma therapy to help them to elevate and to be more successful. And that has been really supported by the London Violence Reduction Unit, who has funded our organization. As well as other, you know, um, bodies such as the Metropolitan Police or even Mopac, um, and other funders, uh, that have helped us, Hatch Enterprise, as well as, um, PwC Foundation and various other different entities that have supported the work of the Safety Box, um, to ensure that we can actually impact lives for young people, ultimately awakening their potential, awakening that potential and, and keeping them safe so that they have the ability to engage in life, uh, in employment or education.

Savia Rocks: 24:49

The one thing I do want to ask you, is there a specific story that you remember that recollects in your mind that you've either helped someone, especially the reason why I ask this, we were speaking about mental health not so long ago, and one of the things that creep up with mental health is suicide, especially at a young age, especially with young men. Is there a story that you are allowed to share? where you have helped anybody within the organization of helping within the safety box, where you've helped them with mental health or suicide. The reason why I'm asking this is because we need more stories told like this because young boys are being put down and when they are being put down, they then decide they've had enough and go into a place that is a dark place. So I think it's really important. I want to bring out the positivity of what you do to show them that there are stories where it may start within a bad place, but go into a success, a successful story where we see positivity.

Nathaniel Peat: 25:46

Well, within the work of the safety box, um, you know, we work within prisons as well, and in prisons, that's probably the lowest place for many people, um, not necessarily talking about suicide, but talking about mental health. When we do one to one work with them, it is such a great opportunity. It's so impactful because you unpick a lot of the stories. Um, when we have the therapeutic process with them, it really offloads many of the negative things. And, you know, when you ask them at the end of a program, like I did last week with an offender, um, You know, what did you get out of the program? And his response was hope. Um, and that's such a powerful, um, statement of, of, of sort of impact again around mental health. However, I have helped people that have, um, you know, wanted to commit suicide, um, outside of the framework of the safety box, but they've tapped into me as an individual to help them support them. And, uh, and that has been really, um, really Thank you. Just it's been difficult, but we've had breakthroughs with individuals, unfortunately, fortunately, the people that I have helped have not committed suicide. Suicide is a major issue. And, you know, it's to give to give people hope in a place of darkness when everything seems to be. going wrong. Um, when you have the ability to just reach down and touch them and just give them that level of, of light, um, it's such a powerful turnaround for them. So, um, there has been, um, work that I've done with individuals that have reached out to me, um, and disclosed in fact, that they feel suicidal and, um, and I've helped those, but, um, in the, in the safety box, we haven't worked with any young people that have been suicidal. However, we have worked with, um, Men in prison that have suffered from mental health, um, conditions because of the traumas of their former life and we've supported them for a therapeutic process.

Savia Rocks: 27:45

I love the way you said that because I know there are so many people in the world that will be going through something, like I said, and they need that support. in there and just having your organization being able to do this. One of the questions that I do want to ask you is how is your organization, there are different organizations that do something similar to what you do in Nathaniel. How do you believe that your organization is different from theirs?

Nathaniel Peat: 28:11

Um, you know, firstly, I want to shout out all the third sector organizations working in the space. Everybody is doing a great job in their lane. Um, we, we basically have a evidence based approach to all of our work. So what that means is that we, we utilize, um, university studies to improve and to do our work. We, we, we, we employ a public health model approach in our ability to intervene, um, which is an evidenced approach. based intervention strategy within our theory of change that we have for young people. We use credible messengers, those with lived experience. Oftentimes, you know, they are ex offenders themselves and have the ability to build a rapport very quickly with the young people we're working with. We pack that with, um, life coaching and mental health support, CBT work. Um, we also, um, where a lot of organizations do not have the mental health support for young people, Um, we have that where other organizations don't have the life coaching for it. We have that where the other organizations can't show them a practical way to defend themselves against a knife. They say, take the knife out of your hand. Like don't carry the knife. And the young person said, well, you know, if I'm like, I'm on the ends and it's still left, I need to carry a shank to protect myself in it still. Right. And for those people are watching, I understand what I said. They've got to carry a knife for protection. Yeah. Because there's gangs or whatever might be in the area. And so what we do is we train their minds with the resilience against it. And then we give them real practical self defense against knives, meaning that they don't feel the need to use a knife for protection. There's not many organizations that are doing that. equipped with, with all of these types of, um, evidenced, evidenced, um, interventions. Um, and, um, and, and that sets us, uh, in a place, um, of uniqueness in terms of, especially around the gross motor functional, um, self defense, uh, tactics that we have against weapons and knives.

Savia Rocks: 30:09

Nathaniel, the one thing I do want to ask you is you do so many things in your life. How do you find time for yourself? How do you break the barrier of work and saying, I need time for Nathaniel, I need time for family. I need time to think. Because when I read up about you. I'm thinking, where does Nathaniel find time for himself?

Nathaniel Peat: 30:32

So, firstly, is that all of these things have not been done at once. They've been done over a period of time. So, one accomplishment, another accomplishment, another accomplishment. Um, priority, prioritizing myself is, is, is, is, is, is critical. So, even right now, I'm going to be going to bed before 10 o'clock that is to ensure I've got proper sleep in the morning. I will wake up probably about four 30. That is my time for spiritual devotion, prayer, and my spiritual time that I have in the quietness of the, of the, of the morning. Um, then I basically might do a little bit of exercise, a bit of stretching. That's very important for me because, you know, I do my shots as well. And, you know, to keep my body supple, um, I ensure that I don't do any work on a Friday. Um, from from about probably four o'clock. I start winding down. I don't do anything on on a Saturday. I completely off on a Saturday. I don't do anything. I don't go to events. That is my time. That's family time. That's that's that's our time. That is a sanctified time. That is a that is a unrestricted priority on my time. I don't do it. I don't anything on that during that time. That is my time. Um, there's other things which I do. Um, which is, which I find, you know, really, really good for myself, which is my hobbies. Like I do martial arts, I play music. Um, and oftentimes I will, I will go for my walks. Um, the walks are really important because it clears my head. And oftentimes I, you know, Go on a walk because I live in, I live in countries and I don't live in London anymore. So I've been a country and so I have the ability to go and walk in in nature. And that is one of the most calming experiences you can have. Um, you know, you, you have the ability to connect with nature. You have the ability to listen to the birds. birds. You actually noticed that your head, you know, your, your, your, your, your head is more clear because you're getting that nice oxygen, which is fuel to your brain. You know, it is, it's just so, it is just so peaceful. Um, and, and the walking is really great for your health as well. So these are the things which I do to ensure that, um, I stay up. Um, and, and, and sometimes when I do feel low, Um, because that does happen, you know, because of circumstantial situations, what I do is I then speak back into myself. I will write down gratitude messages to myself. I said, I'm grateful for this. I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for this. So great. And you know, very quickly, my mood's picking back up and that's the hormone known as dopamine, understanding emotional regulation with the hormones and understanding visualization as well, where you close your eyes and you literally imagine that you're in a different place, a different environment that helps your brain function. brain to be still sleeping with my phone outside of the room when I go to bed as well. These are, these are lots of things that, you know, I've implemented in my life. A lot of them have come. post COVID 19. Um, because I haven't always been this disciplined. Uh, but you know, this discipline is something which I've taken from my COVID 19 experience of almost dying and implementing this into my life. You know, other ways, you know, I, I use salad master pots, titanium pots. So I'm, you know, I'm keeping all the goodness of the food, you know, you know, you know, yeah, I'm a vegetarian stroke vegan, you know, uh, So there's, you know, I do have these treats now and again, like, you know, today I had a chocolate cake, for example. Anyway, but, um, you know, it's like, um, there's things which there's things which I do that, um, that for the betterment of myself, the betterment of my body before, like, if going to an event means I'm going to, I'm going to miss sleep, I'm not going to go to the event. Because I'm prioritizing me. And that basically meant I could have the ability to choose what I go to and choose what I plug into. And that is

Savia Rocks: 34:18

then good for

Nathaniel Peat: 34:19

my body. So even if it involves a drive, if the drive is going to be long, whereas before I might do a drive up and a drive back down, it is booking a hotel to ensure I have ample rest and then driving back when I'm rested. So, you know, all of these strategies, um, I put into my life. Um, I was pretty disciplined before, but I'm more disciplined now.

Savia Rocks: 34:42

Let's talk about entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is, and success are defined in so many different ways. You know, people could define success as waking up in the morning, as you say, you know, dealing with cancer every day, you know, um, you know, listening to your favorite song, just waking up in the morning and seeing a brand new day. So when I talk about entrepreneurship, can you give me your definition of what entrepreneurship, but also another part of the question is, how do you feel like you were an. You are a advocate for people who are unrepresented, especially in different ethical groups, you know, on cultures, so to show them that they can aspire to be what they want to be as entrepreneurs in any industry.

Nathaniel Peat: 35:22

Yeah. So, um, you know, for me, Um, entrepreneurship is the ability to create is the ability to create something and own it and run it successfully as a business. Um, it's to make money. Um, it is to have profits with purpose because I'm a social entrepreneur. And so it's not just about creating profit. It's about creating impact with the money. Um, and so when you're making that profit, it has to have a purpose. To it. And so entrepreneurship is, is, is that ability to, to, to, to have an idea and, and allow the idea to manifest into something that is, can be successful as a business, um, that's making money and, uh, and it's profitable. Uh, but on top of that, you know, that makes an impact. Um, I, I really, I really like to get involved in, uh, in ways to support, um, entrepreneurs. Um, I, you know, I've been part of this global entrepreneurship alliance since the G20 summit. I was invited to as a young entrepreneur. Um, and, um, Entrepreneurship and getting people to do business when they want a career change is something that I've supported a number of business mentees on a lot of them have been, you know, from, from, um, you know, the global majority of black and brown people. Um, you know, these individuals have managed to. Get their businesses working. And, um, you know, that has been through one to one coaching that I've given them around business. Um, I'm involved in a lot of other sort of schemes. So I helped the EY foundation. I was a trustee of the EY foundation, one of the co founded trustees. I'm now a patron. And they support young people around the United Kingdom that come from marginalized communities with homes that have less than 21, 000 income a year, with young people that access free school meals, and they support them into work, and they're doing that in 18 locations around the UK. A number of them come from diverse communities, and they are Um, would be deemed as being underrepresented. Um, in addition to that, I am an advisory board member to Lloyds Banking Group, which has literally disrupted over the last three years. I mean, it's led by a very good friend of mine, Claudine Reid, MBE, and a power team of black successful entrepreneurs that are supporting Lloyds Banking Group to provide products and things for black entrepreneurs to ensure that they have Equity in everything that they do to ensure they have that support framework around around banking to ensure that they get those loans to ensure that they have the the incubation through things like founder vine, which is run by another good friend and and also an advisory member. Advisory board member, uh, advisable members rather off of off of the actual noise bank, uh, you know, black advisory board. And this has all been to support black entrepreneurs. I would encourage. Every single black person to sign up with Lloyd's bank. I'm serious. I've listened, sign up with Lloyd's bank because if you're a black entrepreneur, I understand that they're going to help you. All right. We are putting in a race. We're helping them with a race action plan. There's been so much that's come out of that relationship. And, you know, even when we're talking about the recent campaign on channel four, if you've seen any of those black entrepreneurs with Judy love, that has been as a result of Lloyd's bank, partnering up with channel four to do that, the amount of entrepreneurs that have been through the incubation and accelerates with the founder vine, the amount that I've plugged in via the, the, uh, the black business network, which is a shari that runs that. She's also advisable member. There's just so much. Opportunities there, and we're really disrupting that space in the financial sector. Um, you know, other areas I've been involved in, in sort of assisting, uh, the Metropolitan Police, um, with, with, um, stuff around, uh, equitable, um, Equitable. Uh, let's say policing. You know, that is an absolute beast. However, I've seen the greatest level of, um, investment into the learning and development department of the Metropolitan Police whereby a number of community facilitators, um, ranging from ex offenders to those who have been domestically abused to individuals coming from marginalized communities, um, you know, black people, Asian people. You know, people that have, um, you know, uh, different, uh, different, uh, persuasions in terms of, you know, their sexuality, et cetera. And all of this has been utilized as a way to train new officers. So they come with a much more human approach, much more respectful approach to the community. And this is a, as a huge effort to try to help. to build trust, um, in the community with police. So I've been involved in some of that work as well, uh, too. And I, and I chaired the, uh, Brunel, um, advisory board, uh, for the business school. Um, and that again is looking at, um, creating equitable opportunities for the black business students that are there, um, and also part of their MBA program in supporting them there. Um, and another area has been really to be an advocate for the Jamaican diaspora living in the United Kingdom, as I'm the elected member of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council. And as a representative for the South United Kingdom, meaning that I can help out with various different diaspora issues. Um, I'm a consultative advisor to the ministry of foreign affairs and foreign trade in Jamaica and helping and supporting them in diaspora related Connections, investments, um, wealth generation in the communities and supporting those, um, that have a Jamaican heritage. Uh, those being 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th generation Jamaicans living in the United Kingdom, um, to, to assist them in, in, in most of their things that they have and problems that they might encounter with Jamaica also. And to just create those pathways, um, so that, that, um, heritage and identity, um, can, uh, you know, have some level of. of influence over there, over them, because oftentimes you find people that are Black living in England, um, oftentimes they will say they're from their host country, even though they're born in that country. When they go to their host country, the host country says, you're British. That's so true.

Savia Rocks: 41:41

You're English. Yeah.

Nathaniel Peat: 41:43

It's a great identity. Problem that exists amongst, um, second and third and fourth generations. And so it's really to give them the identity, you know, Jamaica loves this diaspora and they're calling the Jamaicans home. In fact, we have a conference coming up. So any Jamaicans that are watching this June is the dates. All right. June 16th to 19th, we're going to be having the Jamaica diaspora conference and I'm inviting all of those people to plug into it. Definitely plug into Jamaica. If you want to have, if you want to find out about health, well, you know, if you want to, if you want to get involved in investment and trade, if you want to set up a business there, if you want to connect with government there, if you want to do things, the diaspora conference is the place for you to be. Um, and so connect with me. Um, I'll be there on my website, um, Nathanielpeat. com and you can find the Global Jamaica Diaspora tab and you'll be able to then connect with me there. Looking for sector specialists as well. Um, so if you, if you've got, uh, any interest in sort of education or, uh, or, or health or crime and violence or, or, uh, or investments in trade, anything like that, then I'll be interested to hear from you. So yeah, I'm quite an impact in, in, in, in all of these places around, um, you know, ethnicity and trying to ensure that there's, it's equitable for, for, for, for people.

Savia Rocks: 43:02

I love the fact that you're doing that. There is, there's so much more to be done, but there is so much more that we are doing, which shows because past generations have been through so much. It's nice to make it easier pathway for the generations that are coming in. So I love to hear that. One of the things that you were talking about to me, Nathaniel. is music. And that's one of the things I love. That's one of the things I do. So my question for you is, if there was one song that was the soundtrack of your life. Oh my goodness, that's a hard question. And why would you choose that? You can't ask that question. I so can. You can't ask that question. You've got enough energy for

Nathaniel Peat: 43:39

it. No man, listen. Oh my goodness, that is, um, that's a hard question. I mean, the track for my life, that's no, that's too difficult because I love music too much.

Savia Rocks: 43:51

I love

Nathaniel Peat: 43:51

music too much. You know, it's, it's a very, very tough, tough question. I'm not able to answer that because there's a few songs. I think that, you know, um, would, um, define. Um, you know, me, it's, it is very DI can't answer that question. I, I don't have an answer for you. I'm so sorry. I love music. I love music. I love music. I cannot answer that question. That is, there's not one song you, you cannot do that. I have many songs, which, you know, um, I can relate to many, many. And, um, I, I'm a musician, it, I play the saxophone. So, um, a lot of music really, uh, resonates with me, and it is, I cannot. ever put it down to one thing. Um, you know, it's, it'd be very difficult, very difficult. I can't answer that question. So,

Savia Rocks: 44:47

okay. I'm going to tally the second half of the question. Okay. So the second, the second, when did you realize or learn language had power and presence in what you do and how you do it?

Nathaniel Peat: 45:02

Um, when I, when I, the first time I was told to tell my, my life story, what happened, I was talking to, you know, and I realized that my life story actually helps somebody to feel inspired. I was like, what? Wait a sec. Something's happening here. And then what happened was I began to just talk. I began to just share my experience. And as I began to share my experience, the words became life. Understanding this word that is written, the power of life and death is in your tongue. And whoever loves it is going to eat its fruit. So if I'm speaking words of life, I want the fruit to come out of power and life and understanding that, you know, that, that, that turned me into a motivational speaker because I realized that I had a story to tell, you know, and I realized that my, my life had a purpose, that my voice was important, that my dreams counted, everything was there, that I had purpose in my life, which was to inspire other people. And so I became a motivational speaker. And that, that was one thing that. Um, I kind of just fell into just from someone asked me about, you know, my life and they were inspired by what I said, and I thought to myself, Wow, you know, my life's inspiring. Okay. All right. You know, and I began to just say it even more. And then, you know, that's led me to that's led me to do various different motivational talks on, um, Uh, on, on being leaders, how to be an effective leader to, you know, how to, how to speak professionally, you know, things about unlocking your self esteem and, and, and unlocking confidence and helping individuals basically to break a negative mindset, people, helping people to transition in, in, in, in careers, you know, with one to one type of coaching, it's helped me and, and I understand the power of my voice. I was in a prison, in fact, um, talking, um, Uh, up in Cambridge, uh, HMP High Point and one of the offenders there after listening to, you know, my speech, he said to me that, um, well, he started to cry and, um, he actually went back to his cell and he said, he's no longer going to take this drug, which is spice. He's made up his mind and it was, it was, and, and, and all of this is an understanding of what the power of your voice can do. Um, and everybody has got a story, you know, an offender said to me once, um, I've been through too much to turn out ordinary and many people have been through too much to turn out ordinary. We need more people to share their story to provide inspiration to younger people. to show youth that it doesn't matter where you start, and that's where you finish to show them that they're limitless in their potential to give them this, this attitude that they can actually succeed that they are eagles, not chickens. And if they're associated with chickens, they're never going to fly with the eagles. It is to understand that they, their life has this divine purpose and, um, and that they unique and that they have their own story. That is extraordinary.

Savia Rocks: 48:03

See, and keep, keep doing what you're doing because I can see you are living within your purpose. A hundred percent. Well, so my next one for you is, a lot of the time we get judged constantly. How we look, how we speak, our presence, who we are. If I said to you to take the word judgment out, Of the dictionary or wherever it was, or I just took it out of the world completely. What would you do differently knowing that nobody was judging you because we are so used to getting judged? What would you do differently if judgment was not in the world?

Nathaniel Peat: 48:38

Nothing.

Savia Rocks: 48:42

I like

Nathaniel Peat: 48:42

nothing. Nothing. I'm unapologetically Nathaniel Pete. Do you know what that means? You know what that means? Yeah. It means I'm going to lose the bands of wickedness. It means I'm going to take the yoke of heaviness off the shoulders of individuals. It means I'm going to speak out for the voiceless that don't have a voice to speak. It means that I'm going to say something that is wrong if it is wrong.

Savia Rocks: 49:07

Yes.

Nathaniel Peat: 49:08

And, you know, these are the things that make you an individual to be unapologetic about who you are. And so, um, you know, I wouldn't do anything different. I'm living, I'm trying to, I'm trying to shake off all of the negative things on me. Um, you know, and the things that potentially could be judged, you know, but, um, you know, I am. You know, I'm just living, I'm just living, I'm just living my life and I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, every day I'm trying to go on a journey of, of personal development and, um, and self improvement.

Savia Rocks: 49:42

Which you are doing. I can see that even when you were saying, even when you was answering that question, I can see you went off into thought. Yeah. And for me, that always says to me, a person showing their emotional and vulnerability within the question, which is why I love asking so many questions to people. So my next one for you is when was the last time that you felt totally at peace with yourself?

Nathaniel Peat: 50:07

This morning,

Savia Rocks: 50:10

I often, um,

Nathaniel Peat: 50:11

yeah, every morning, um, you know, the stillness of the quietness of the morning, like the optimum time to sleep is between 10 and 2 a. m. That is when the neural pathways in the brain are going to be, you know, firing off your brain is going to be resting the best during those time periods. Yes. So when you wake up at four o'clock or four 30 a. m. in the morning. After going to bed, I'm coming up to bedtime soon. I've got to start winding down soon, but you know, when you set your timeframe of when you go to bed and waking up in the morning, in the stillness of the morning, this is where the peace comes. And this comes because I, I, I'm engaged in this, in my spiritual sort of, um, devotional time of, uh, of, of connecting, you know, on that level. Outside of the noise of the digital space. I had something which I was walking in the, um, in, in, in, uh, in, in the, um, like there's a, there's a nature kind of walk that we could go on where I live. And, and, um, you know, I was, I was walking there in the morning, one morning and. What dropped into my spirit was, um, silence, the noise of silence. And I did, I, you know, I was, what is, what does that mean? Silence, the noise of silence. And then, do you know what I realized it was? It was the phone. Because people are like this. It's wrong.

Savia Rocks: 51:43

Silence.

Nathaniel Peat: 51:44

Silence. But the noise is here. The noise is here. And so silencing the noise of silence meant get your phone out of the room. When you wake up in the morning, do not check your phone. Oh, listen, gold dust. I would never ever abandon my morning meditation. I was down my morning. Listen, that though, that is a sacred time. It's still. And when you study, in fact, a lot of billionaires, many of them wake up at 4am. Five, four 30, a lot of successful people do that in the morning. And you'd be surprised the amount of clarity that you get. I'm a pretty intense person. Like I'm quite deep. Um, and, um, you know, what it does is it allows me, um, the ability to have a clearer thought process.

Savia Rocks: 52:40

Yes. I understand it completely. I wake up five o'clock every morning and meditate for an hour. And that gets me on my way for me to be able to do anything I want. And anything that. I don't like, or I feel is a negative, like you say, it bounces off, but I send it back to the person with love and ambience so that they understand that I am not on the same pathway as them, but I will understand what they are going through from a different perspective.

Nathaniel Peat: 53:07

That's right. That's

Savia Rocks: 53:08

right.

Nathaniel Peat: 53:10

That's it. You know, some people are just hurt, you know, and they're pushing their hurt towards you. The key thing is to not bark back, you know, that's it. You know, it's, uh, if someone, someone's. doing this at you, keeps on doing this to you, you know, and, and, and they say, bark, dog, bark, and you go, woof, you know, that, that person is, that person is getting control over you. You know, and it's for you to basically maintain yourself and me, me as an executive that has discovered that I have ADHD, some of those strategies to help my brain to be stiller is because of the ADHD as well. And these I'm putting these things in place is as a result to manage the hyperactive brain that I have, um, in, in, in my ADHD.

Savia Rocks: 53:56

See, it's funny because I've worked with a few people who have ADHD. I also teach children who are autistic with creative writing, which I think is a beautiful thing to be able to do to let them know that they're different in the world, but it's a beautiful difference that they are in the world. So even you, you've worked with people like Richard Branson, he has dyslexia. I have dyslexia. So I understand that the difference of being able to be different in the world, but still have something that is special. In the world, which is so important to have. So if I was to say to you, what is. The most proudest moment in your life today. I know there are many, but is there anything that stands out for you, stands out for you where you can say, I am proud to stand for this as a person. I am proud because this is who I am as a person.

Nathaniel Peat: 54:48

I'm proud to be a dad.

Savia Rocks: 54:50

And he's going to say that I'm

Nathaniel Peat: 54:51

proud to be a dad, uh, you know, um, incredibly happy time was, uh, when I got married, uh, incredible happy time. Um, you know, I'm proud to be, um, a family man, proud to be a family man. I'm proud. Um, yeah, I'm proud. I'm a proud dad. I really am. You know, and, um, yeah,

Savia Rocks: 55:19

I can just see that energy. I am a dad and I love it. What is the best advice you have ever received from someone? And how has it helped you throughout your life?

Nathaniel Peat: 55:30

Say what you're saying, but don't say what you know, unless it's necessary.

Savia Rocks: 55:35

I like that. It's good enough.

Nathaniel Peat: 55:39

Yeah, that was told me by a very accomplished person. A lot older than me also. Say what you're saying, but don't say what you know, unless it's absolutely necessary. And I've taken that through. Absolutely. And it's navigated me in some very, um, yeah, it's navigated me in some, some, some circles.

Savia Rocks: 55:57

And situations. I'm very sure. I know that if I was to put you on a desert island for 24 hours and I said Nathaniel, you're allowed to take three people with you, one being an activist, one being a president and one being a musician. Who would you bring in that island to have a conversation with?

Nathaniel Peat: 56:15

Wow. What? Uh, Nelson Mandela, if you're still alive. Um, you know, um, Bob Marley.

Savia Rocks: 56:26

Mm hmm. Oh, interesting. Okay.

Nathaniel Peat: 56:29

Um, Malcolm X.

Savia Rocks: 56:33

That would be an awesome evening.

Nathaniel Peat: 56:37

Yeah.

Savia Rocks: 56:39

Wow. I mean,

Nathaniel Peat: 56:40

it could be, it could be Malcolm X. It could be, uh, You know, um, others as well, you know, um, yeah, there's, there's quite a few people, but, um, yeah, yeah, those, those are my, those are the ones which came up in my mind straight away.

Savia Rocks: 56:59

That would be a, I'm just thinking of it right now. That would be an awesome 24 hours and the conversation would be epic. Definitely. So. In our lives, we do so much, but one thing we often don't necessarily talk about as much is our legacy. If I was to say to you Nathaniel, if you've done everything in your life and you decided only when you decide that you are going to stop. And just relax and live your life ambiently in your way. What would you like your legacy to be in the world when you decide that you are going to stop doing what you're doing and just watch life and just let it be? What would you like your legacy to be?

Nathaniel Peat: 57:43

Yeah, I managed to impact people's lives for the better. I managed to, you know, impact, um, you know, um, many lives, whether it be for the work with Gen X, my solo company that has done work in Africa. Um, whether it be. Uh, you know, the young people that we've worked in schools and colleges and crews, it would be the prisoners that we've worked with, you know, those who have been in probation or prison. It's so that I created an impact in their lives. Um, and to be remembered through that reducing violence and, you know, you know, saving people's lives, whether they be young people on county lines where we supported them, um, you know, just, um, or families or parents that, you know, giving them hope that they can actually go on and achieve, you know, that's, um, you know, and, and, and, and, and, and, and creating. Creating something that will, um, that will change society, something that will change society. Um, you know, um, you know, I can say that I've contributed to, um, the training that the police officers are getting now, you know, with the Met. You know, I can say that I've got a footprint in, in helping the EY Foundation, I've got a footprint in, in helping Lloyd's Banking Group and, you know, so these are all sort of things which contribute to some form of legacy, but yeah, definitely through my, through my work at the Safety Box, um, and GenX, um, that is, um, you know, that is that legacy of, um, of creating impact in, in their lives, absolutely, yeah, to show them that they, you know, they have hope.

Savia Rocks: 59:27

And this is what I love. My last one for you is Nathaniel, I would love for everyone to be able to find you. I know you spoke about the conference. I know you said your website or where you are, but I would love for everyone to be able to find you, contact you if they want more information to know about you. Where can everyone find you?

Nathaniel Peat: 59:45

Um, you know, people can go to my website, www. nathanielpeat. com. Um, you know, I'm on most of the social media platforms of, I'm taking a break from Instagram at the moment. I'm going to be probably coming back on Instagram in April. So March has been my reset because I take, I take the spring as my new year. You know, the back, back in the day, you know, the financial systems didn't change when everyone else wanted to change it in January, they kept it as being the new financial year being April. So now the spring is a nice time. And I think I'm coming to the end of, um, the nature's, um, cycle of, um, Uh, you know, coming out of the slumber into the newness. And so, um, I've just removed myself a little bit from Instagram, um, and, and, and, and Facebook. I've kept my LinkedIn kind of active a little bit on my Twitter, but oh x as they call it now. But, um, I, I, I, it is really for me to this recenter myself as I, I literally am gonna, I'm following the sort of the, you know, the cycle of how it is meant is it is in society in all of the trees start to. Come, you know, like the spring starts to come in, spring starts to happen. So for me, this is my new season. And so, um, I'm shedding off the old skin and shedding off and trying to get into the new, the newness of, of, of tomorrow. So yeah, you can reach out to me on social media at Nat Pete on Instagram. Um, Nathaniel Pete on LinkedIn, Nathaniel Pete on, on, on, on X. Um, And, um, my website at www. nathanielpeat. com.

Savia Rocks: 1:01:22

Nathaniel, this is where I want to say thank you so much for taking your time to come on the Ask People show for sharing your vulnerability, your kindness, your charisma, your personality, but most of all, letting people know who you really are and sharing your story in your way. Thank you so much.

Nathaniel Peat: 1:01:39

Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

Savia Rocks: 1:01:42

It's been good.

Nathaniel Peat: 1:01:43

It's been good. Great stuff. Blessings, people. Have a really good night, everyone.

Savia Rocks: 1:01:48

Thank you so much. And guys, I want to thank you so much for watching and listening to the Us People show. Please remember you can connect with us on Apple TV, Fire TV, Freeview Channel, 271, YouTube, LCBN. You can also listen to this again on Wednesday on Heart Songs Live at 9pm UK time. You can also listen to the Us people podcast, which is out every Tuesday. And you can also join us and ask me any questions or just connect on Savya rocks or the us people podcast guys. Thank you so much for listening. Stay happy, stay positive. And as always, please. Continue to be kind to one another. Take care.

Nathaniel Peat: 1:03:00

I've got four GCSEs, you need five to get into college, and I had to use my friend's enrolment letter to get into the college. I queued up in the queue, um, but to the front, the man said, you haven't got your grades, you're going to have to repeat your GCSEs. So I got up again, I walked around, remember what was happening on the streets at the time, a lot of crime and violence was happening. A lot of gang issues were happening in the area and I queued up again for another hour, got to the front of the man to be, I'm going to get your grades. You're going to have to beat your sissies and I got up again and I walked around again, you know, and I always remembered that, you know, um, my dad saying to me, don't let anybody tell you, you can't achieve anything. And my dad being a Jamaican, My dad would say to me, Nathaniel, unless you get into college, I'm going to kick you out of the house. Get into college and I'm going to kick you out of the house. That's what my dad said to me, right? So I knew I had to get into college. The third time I queued up, um, the man said to me, and he looked at me as this black boy. I could see the, I could see this, just, just, just this, why are you here? You don't belong here in his eyes. And he said to me, how did you get into the college? Started to create a big fuss because I didn't have the grades. The woman sitting next to him was Anita, the head of the physics department, and she said, look, I've seen you come back three times. Anyone with that level of drive and determination

Savia Rocks: 1:04:08

exactly

Nathaniel Peat: 1:04:09

for a level of physics. She says, I'm gonna put you onto a as level on a condition you pass your As. Um, level physics, I will allow you to go to the second year and you have to repeat your GCSE maths in college because you're going to need it for university.

Savia Rocks: 1:04:23

Exactly.

Nathaniel Peat: 1:04:24

It was at that moment that I understood that there was a guiding light to me. I believe in God and I think that this is just telling me go, just keep going, right? And I tell you, I realized at that point that no doesn't mean no, unless I accept it to be a no.