E113: Neel Parekh knows what's great about moving to Rwanda

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In this episode, I'm speaking with Neel Parekh, the Founder and CEO of MaidThis® & MaidThis® Franchise, which helps homeowners and short-term rental hosts (Airbnb, VRBO, etc.) with their cleaner needs.

I'm usually curious about two kinds of immigrants; second-gen immigrants because I am trying to understand some of the challenges my kids might face, and immigrants who migrate from the Global West to the Global South.

Neel ticks both boxes. His parents moved from India to the United States in the early 80s. And then after seven years of backpacking and running his cleaning business remotely, Neel decided to settle down in Rwanda for a bit.

Neel and I chat about the differences between the Western “go go go” culture and Rwanda’s pace where nothing feels as urgent. We also explore:

* Falling in love with Rwanda

* Building community as an immigrant

* Growing up in an immigrant household and now understanding his parents better

* Why he’s thinking of splitting his time between East Africa and Los Angeles

Dozie’s Notes

A few things that stuck with me as I listened through this week’s conversation:

* I wish I spent more time trying to learn or at least have an idea of Canada’s communication style before I moved. Neel talks about moving from America’s low-context culture (direct, literal communication) to Rwanda's high-context culture (implied meanings, indirect answers) and the friction it came with. I suspect that a lot of the frustrations we encounter early-on in a new country are usually miscommunication issues.

* Maybe it’s time to accept that most people are never going to understand the immigrant experience until they’ve lived through it. I’m saying this because part of why I launched this publication was to also help non-immigrants sorta understand their immigrant neighbours better. But I guess experience is the best teacher in most situations, immigration included.

Official Links

✅ Connect with Neel Parekh on Twitter

✅ Chat with Neel about franchising

One Ask

If you found this story helpful, please forward or share it to one immigrant out there.

Join us as we explore the bitter-sweet world of the immigrant.

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