Lifestyle

Wildlife photographer Pranay Patel’s advice to his 5-year old self is nothing but inspiring. Read to know!

Published

5 years ago

December 22, 2020

When we talk about the extremely successful people, there’s one thing which is common among all. It is their willingness and ability to kick-off their career at an early age. At an age of playing with friends, there was one exception who discovered his passion for photography. Pranay Patel is the name who started his professional career as a wildlife photographer at the age of 13. In the year 2011, he made up his mind to become a wildlife photographer. An animal lover since childhood, the talented guy started clicking pictures of animals in his locality including that of dogs, cows and birds. Their movement and body functioning always left this guy in awe of nature’s most beautiful creatures after which he started capturing them through his lenses.

The Ahmedabad-based guy who has spent almost a decade in this field has now become a past master through self-learning in wildlife photography. However, the calling to become a wildlife photographer came when he visited Ranthambore National Park along with his family. Since then, the wildlife enthusiast started clicking pictures of wildlife and built a portfolio of nature and wildlife covering the exotic wildlife of India and other countries of the world including New Zealand, USA, Australia, Kenya, Africa among others. With having done more than 100 safari and sanctuary visits in the last five years, Pranay seems to cover the wildlife from all over the world.

His frequent visits have been to Gir, Tadoba, Ranthambhore, Kabini, Little Rann of Kutch, Blackbuck National Park Velavadar and Thol. However, due to the unfortunate coronavirus pandemic, there have been travel restrictions and Pranay is spending quality time with family at home. Getting his hands-on camera at a very tender age, Patel has learnt all the technicalities and is well-versed with wildlife photography now. He always says that he followed his passion and listened to his heart. With the main goal of representing India on a global level, the photographer through his beautiful clicks has shown the beauty of India’s nature and wildlife.

When asked a piece of advice he would give to his 5-year old self, Pranay came up with a very interesting reply. He said, “I would tell him to cherish the beginnings in photography. Always be a child and be more curious to know about the vast field of photography. Embrace that sense of amazement you have with the world. Click anything that interests you. This is the best time because you don’t worry about the world. Gladly, you still haven’t discovered ‘social media’ yet, which also means that you will be shooting for yourself with all focus on your passion. Make the best of time and have fun while doing that.” Through self-training, Pranay Patel has surely come a long way in his journey. With being an official photographer for Gujarat Tourism, this talented guy has got a lot to achieve in his life. Our best wishes are with Pranay and may he bring India’s wildlife on a global map in the years to come.

Lifestyle

Wanda Knight on Blending Culture, Style, and Leadership Through Travel

Published

13 hours ago

December 24, 2025

Michelle Langton

The best lessons in leadership do not always come from a classroom or a boardroom. Sometimes they come from a crowded market in a foreign city, a train ride through unfamiliar landscapes, or a quiet conversation with someone whose life looks very different from your own.

Wanda Knight has built her career in enterprise sales and leadership for more than three decades, working with some of the world’s largest companies and guiding teams through constant change. But ask her what shaped her most, and she will point not just to her professional milestones but to the way travel has expanded her perspective. With 38 countries visited and more on the horizon, her worldview has been formed as much by her passport as by her resume.

Travel entered her life early. Her parents valued exploration, and before she began college, she had already lived in Italy. That experience, stepping into a different culture at such a young age, left a lasting impression. It showed her that the world was much bigger than the environment she grew up in and that adaptability was not just useful, it was necessary. Those early lessons of curiosity and openness would later shape the way she led in business.

Sales, at its core, is about connection. Numbers matter, but relationships determine long-term success. Wanda’s time abroad taught her how to connect across differences. Navigating unfamiliar places and adjusting to environments that operated on different expectations gave her the patience and awareness to understand people first, and business second. That approach carried over into leadership, where she built a reputation for giving her teams the space to take ownership while standing firmly behind them when it mattered most.

The link between travel and leadership becomes even clearer in moments of challenge. Unfamiliar settings require flexibility, quick decision-making, and the ability to stay calm under pressure. The same skills are critical in enterprise sales, where strategies shift quickly and no deal is ever guaranteed. Knight learned that success comes from being willing to step into the unknown, whether that means exploring a new country or taking on a leadership role she had not originally planned to pursue.

Her travels have also influenced her eye for style and her creative pursuits. Fashion, for Wanda, is more than clothing; it is a reflection of culture, history, and identity. Experiencing how different communities express themselves, from the craftsmanship of Italian textiles to the energy of street style in cities around the world, has deepened her appreciation for aesthetics as a form of storytelling. Rather than keeping her professional and personal worlds separate, she has learned to blend them, carrying the discipline and strategy of her sales career into her creative interests and vice versa.

None of this has been about starting over. It has been about adding layers, expanding her perspective without erasing the experiences that came before. Wanda’s story is not one of leaving a career behind but of integrating all the parts of who she is: a leader shaped by high-stakes business, a traveler shaped by global culture, and a creative voice learning to merge both worlds.

What stands out most is how she continues to approach both leadership and life with the same curiosity that first took her beyond her comfort zone. Each new country is an opportunity to learn, just as each new role has been a chance to grow. For those looking at her path, the lesson is clear: leadership is not about staying in one lane; it is about collecting experiences that teach you how to see, how to adapt, and how to connect.

As she looks to the future, Wanda Knight’s compass still points outward. She will keep adding stamps to her passport, finding inspiration in new cultures, and carrying those insights back into the rooms where strategy is shaped and decisions are made. Her legacy will not be measured only by deals closed or positions held but by the perspective she brought, and the way she showed that leading with a global view can change the story for everyone around you.