Priya Kumar is a professional and motivational speaker, who has been awarded the Woman Leader award in India, writer’s category. She is also a corporate trainer, a columnist for The Financial Express and The Economic Times, radio jockey and author of books such as I Am Another you, License to Live, The Perfect World, Thinking Aloud and The Inspiring Journey of a Hero.
She is a turned Filmmaker and a Director who is all set to bring her stories to the silver screen with “I am Another You” as a debut feature film. She started working at the age of 13 as a French Teacher and she has taught over 1900 students over 9 years.
Below are some of the details which as a follower you should know about Priya to understand her better:
Name | Priya Kumar |
Vocation | Motivational Speaker, Corporate Trainer, Columnist, Radio Jockey and Author |
Nickname | Priya |
Date of birth | 4 March 1973 |
Age | 46 years(as in 2019) |
Birthplace | Chandigarh |
Hometown | Chandigarh |
Sun sign | Pisces |
Religion | Hinduism |
Hair colour | Black |
Eye colour | Dark Brown |
Height | 5’5’’(in feet inches) 165cm(in centimetres) 1.65m(in metres) |
Weight | 65kg(in kilograms) 132lbs(in pounds) |
Father | Not Known(Medical Representative with Anglo-French) |
Mother | Sona Kumar(Former Banker at RBI) |
Sibling | Not Known |
Schooling | Saint Kabir Public School(Chandigarh) Gyan Kendra Secondary School(Mumbai) |
Education | Mithibai College, Mumbai Smt. Mithibai Motiram Kundani College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai |
Hobbies | Painting |
Favourite food | N/A |
Smoker/Drinker | N/A |
Favourite Singer | N/A |
Favourite Song | N/A |
Favourite YouTuber | N/A |
Favourite colour | Black |
Boyfriend | N/A |
Table of Contents
Professional life
Priya Kumar was mentored under Dr.Niranjan Patel, as he would go around conducting anti-nicotine and anti-alcohol workshops, which were organised by Priya. She began her career after the sad demise of Dr Patel, by presenting him at one of the workshops that he was supposed to speak at. She then moved on by doing workshops against nicotine and alcohol to conducting workshops on motivational subjects. She believes that people cannot be changed absolutely in sudden, but they can be inspired to make the necessary changes in their lives.
Her Education
She had her Honours degree in Economics from Mumbai University and postgraduation qualification in marketing and sales from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) and a master trainer certificate in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP). She is also a firewalking instructor, trained by the Sundoor Firewalking School (a US-based educational centre). She is India’s first certified firewalk instructor.
Her Turning Point
She has switched her career from teaching field to a motivational speaker. While she was studying for her MBA she gave her everything to create a better, brighter future for herself, many people around her told her that it is not possible but she never gave up, even when she was broke she became the youngest motivational speaker in India at the age of 24.
She had a time where she lost all her savings just to start her new career. That was the time where she had nothing to lose it was just a win-win situation or a big defeat and this time she saw as a great circumstance to win, because if one has nothing to lose, then one has nothing to do but move forward in life. She did not have anything to cling to, so she moved on with her motivated spirit and her never-say-die attitude.
Her Work
She
has a training firm whose role is to offer motivation-based programs to
corporates on leadership, team building and peak performance. She specializes
in experience-based learning where she engages participants in activities and
helps them to figure out their lessons based on their personal experiences. She
says “I also believe in fun based learning, and so, I do activities
which are fun and at the same time evoke the spirit of the challenge. So, some
of the activities which I would do are walking on fire, martial arts, bending
steel rods with the neck, walking on broken pieces of glass and so on. It is an
experiential way of driving home the message that impossible is nothing”.
Her main clients are of multinational companies
around India, Europe and South-East Asia. On asking how she understands the
youth to motivate them she says, “The main struggle that I see
with the youth today is the diminishing attention span and their diluted focus.
I do not see a lack of talent or lack of initiative. But when attention and
focus go on the diminishing side, then success is an elusive concept. We live
in the age of speed. But speed demands a hundred per cent attention. You can’t take
your car at the speed of 160km/per hour and be distracted. That’s the accident
most youngsters find themselves in life. Else, the youth of today have
everything at their fingertips. They are in a better position than any other
generation has ever been on this planet”.
Awards and Titles Won
- In 2010, Ranked number 2 Women Leader in India Award, Writer’s Category, by igroup in New Delhi.
- 2011, awarded with the Citizen of the Decade honour, writers category, by Rotary International in Cochin.
- License to Live was nominated in the long list of the Vodafone Crosswords Book Award in 2010. License to Live also won one of the five honourable mentions in the spiritual category of the Eric Hoffer book award in 2012.
- In 2013, I Am Another You won the Silver Medal at Living Now Book Award.
- In 2014, I Am Another You was shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize Award.
- I Am Another You made it to the final list for the Montaigne Medal.
- I Am Another You also won the First Horizon Award.
- I Am Another You won the Eric Hoffer Award – First Runner Up – in the category ‘Non-Fiction Legacy’.
Her Bucket List
Her bucket list consists of many things like
- Getting married
- To start her own publishing house
- To branch out her company in the UK
- To publish six books this year and the most exciting of all to launch her chat show.
In an interview when she was asked which book of her is her favourite she said: “All of my stories are close to my heart, but my personal favourite is ‘The Perfect World’”. She recommends her book ‘License to Live’ to the youth of the world. Her message for her readers is “Live life on your terms. As long as your values and principles are in place the world is your playground; PLAY TO WIN”.