Angels With Dirty Faces: Conversations About The Game Of Life (1) – Paul D. Lowe, Gary Clarke & Kristin Johnson

On this episode of the World Game-Changers podcast, Paul is joined by World Game-Changers director, Kristin Johnson to interview Paul and his friend Gary Clarke (a.k.a. Boatsy) about their childhoods growing up in Nottingham and the challenges they faced growing up.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Inner-city Nottingham was a rough, tough place growing up in the 60’s, our family was very poor, to the point where the rag and bone man used to come around and gave us a cup and saucer or a goldfish. We bathed in a tin bath in a terraced house with an outside toilet and each of you had to share the same water. They humble days but there was feeling of family togetherness and a sense of the community binding together.
• Being my grandma’s favourite caused so much resentment among my cousins that we were always fighting, even with the girls – I used to fear fighting with the girls more than the boys, because the boys were straight fighters, with the girls you never knew what they were going to do next! But it also bred resentment and jealousy with my dad and my grandad.
• I remember school in the inner-city being a happy place, but kids now have missed out of a year’s schooling because of the pandemic and so many of them have fallen behind so they’re playing catch-up and that’ll affect them massively in the long term. I was introduced to violence at the age of 8, sickening violence at the hands of my step-dad, to the point where I gave my belief system over to Nottingham Forest football club. But, my world was one of extreme violence, degradation, torture, abuse, it was horrific and set the tone for many, many, many years to follow.
• At the end of the day, getting the cain, the slipper or whatever at school or at home, it was what we were used to, it was the way things were then. It’s easy to look back and say it’s wrong, and in modern day society it is wrong, and it was probably wrong then, but we didn’t know any different. Obviously, things have changed for the good now. It’s only in recent years where I’ve been having a bit of difficulty and my dad’s illness that me, my sister and my aunt have been able to talk about it. He was under a lot of pressure at the time, so I don’t blame him entirely and I’ve been able to get over it a bit.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Speaking to kids today about growing up having an outside toilet, they think I’m from another planet!’
‘My grandma was my world, I used to spend more time at her house than at my parents house, even when we moved to a better apartment, I’d rather spend the weekend at my grandmas and being taken to the football by my grandad.’
‘I had 13 cousins, 8 from one aunt and 5 from the other. In those days we used to joke that they didn’t have a telly which is why there were so many kids! But that was the norm.’
‘I think kids take too much for granted nowadays, things come to them too easily, though that’s not their fault, we adapt as kids to make the best of what we can.’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

• Paul’s Story: Emerging From The Forest (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Emerging-Forest-Pain-Purpose-Mastering/dp/1719373272

• Paul’s Story: Emerging From The Forest (USA): https://www.amazon.com/Emerging-Forest-Pain-Purpose-Mastering/dp/1719373272

• Mastering The Game Of Life Book (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Game-Life-Paul-Lowe/dp/1782227679

• Mastering The Game Of Life Book (USA): https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Game-Life-Paul-Lowe/dp/1782227679

• Speaking From Our Hearts Books: Volumes 1-3 (Available on Amazon)
• World Game-Changers Group

ABOUT THE GUEST

Kristin Johnson is a prize-winning/ prize-finalist writer, blogger, ghost-writing/ creative writing consultant, screenwriter, and editor.

A graduate of the former Master of Professional Writing Program from the University of Southern California, she has published/ collaborated on seven books.

Her current book AIN’T “U” GOT NO MANNERS has been called ‘the Bible for social media’.

She is a member of the Desert Screenwriters Guild, Society of Children’s Books and Illustrators, and Palm Springs Women in Film and Television.

Website: www.kristinjohnson.net

ABOUT THE HOST

Paul has made a remarkable transformation from existing for many years in dark, desperate despair; to now living a really healthy, happy and fulfilling life.

From an early age, he was in the vice-like clutches of the demon drink and constantly embroiled within a dark cocktail of toxic beliefs, self-hate and destructive violence.

Along with his empathetic and dedicated team of world-class coaches and mentors, Paul’s purpose is deeply transformational:

Developing World Game-Changers…

He is extremely passionate about helping others to find their purpose, have a voice and ultimately, make a real difference.  

This has been built on a long and distinguished history of heart-centred coaching and mentoring.  He has also been responsible for raising significant amounts of funds for many charities and good causes around the world; positively impacting and inspiring thousands of children – mainly from challenging backgrounds – within the UK & worldwide.

Through this World Game-Changers podcast and books, he has been involved in – including being a best-selling co-author – Paul also helps others to get their own inspirational messages and stories out into the world; as well as offering support to many charitable organisations, in their development & fund-raising.

CONTACT METHODS

Tel: +44 (0) 7958 042 155

E-mail: [email protected]

Web: https://www.Paul-Lowe.com