Latest / Masterminds Podcast / Africa Is Not Rising, It’s Reclaiming Its Power: Sibusiso Shangase || Masterminds Podcast EP46

Transcript

Africa Is Not Rising, It’s Reclaiming Its Power: Sibusiso Shangase || Masterminds Podcast EP46 · Masterminds Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: I've been in the world of brand marketing and building brands for 20 years now.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_03: A big part of the reason why I moved to Red Bull was Listening to your journey, it it ticks so many boxes that I always tell people on how to be successful.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_03: Like first thing is make a plan, then let life throw the plan away.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_03: Of course! Today on Masterminds, we sit with Sebusisu Shangasi, the marketing strategist behind global giants like Red Bull, Adidas, Pernot Ricard, and now the NBA in Africa.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_03: For nearly two decades, he shaped culture, built brands, and helped redefine how Africa shows up in the world.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: What steps do you think someone out there should take?
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: For brand builders?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um value is all perceived.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's what you can sell and how you can sell and what you can make people believe.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_03: I believe that Africa is on a rise.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_03: And what is going to take us completely to the top is when we start seeing Africans.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_03: Before we jump into the conversation, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting and deciding to watch this episode.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_03: But now I have a favor subscribe to the channel.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_03: Subscribing to the channel helps me and the entire mastermind team to continue bringing you wonderful conversations and episodes that bring you closer to being the mastermind you deserve to be.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_03: So join the community.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: Smooth for sure.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to the Masterminds Podcast.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, big man.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate the invite.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm so glad that you honored the invites.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I was reading your profile, seeing all that you've done from working with Adidas to Pernore Card to Red Bull, you know, and now head of marketing for NBA Africa.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: That's not a small CV.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's not a small CV, but it's not a long CV either.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: I just try to keep myself busy and do things that make sense for me.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_03: I like that.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_03: I like that.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_03: I always like to start with our conversations by understanding who the young boy Sib Sisu was, how you grew up that helped you build this right mindset.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm a born and bred Joe Burg man, Joe Burg guy.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh South African, through and through.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um the typical story.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: I was born in Soweto, um, born and raised in Johannesburg.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um I've got an interesting family background.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, my my dad is um half, well, it's not half anything, it's actually full Zulu, but he grew up in KZN and then um in Johannesburg.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: My mom is half Zulu, half Sutu, full Joburg, Joburg um lady.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, fortunately, my parents were exposed to like they were ballroom dancing champions, so they have a particular view about culture and how that works.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I grew up in a world that allowed me to kind of explore things, see things, um, think differently.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I'm a fully bred Joburg guy um who's lucky enough to experience the rest of the continent in my youth, which has kind of shaped how I view the world as well.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I think born and bred here.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um watch if you ask most of the Africans, they'll tell you like I'm a private school kid.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm from the I'm I was born in the hood, moved to the suburbs, went to private school, came out something like this.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Fortunately, just fortunate to see the world, was exposed to amazing stuff.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's shaped my trajectory of how I see the world.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a big Africanist.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm a big believer in what the world's only realizing now that Africa's cool, we've always known that.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I've been for the last 20 years, just over 20 years, actually, been trying to show the world that hey, we can do dope stuff here.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: And we can bring your stuff here and we'll all make it work.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's not Wakanda, it's just Africa the way it is.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's not Wakanda, but the dream is bigger.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: 100%, 100%.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's up.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_03: So do you think because I I find something interesting that most people who have been able to achieve success think global.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_03: So they they there's this term think global, act local.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Think local.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, think local.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_03: Think local.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_03: I like that.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_03: Do you think that's part of what has attributed to you becoming you?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: 100% spot on.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think again, I said it earlier, a big part of what my benefit is in how uh I do what I do, but um is that I was exposed to the rest of the continent, the rest of the world early on um in my youth.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um my stepdad is a pilot, so I got to travel very early in my life.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um I mean in my early teens, I was around the continent, um going abroad.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I was lucky enough to be exposed to seeing what the rest of the world is like.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um you spend a lot of time in Switzerland, in Amsterdam, in the US, in Australia, and wherever.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: And you get a sense of okay, cool, the rest of the world is actually awesome.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: But then as you mature more and then you go into workspaces, um your early kind of workspaces, um, you start spending more time abroad, whether you're in London, whether in New York, whether in wherever, and you spend more time on holiday when you're actually working now, and you realize, like, listen, man, Accra's actually awesome, Johannesburg is actually awesome.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: How we live is actually incredible.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: I can't be dealing with the weather, the cost of bread, whatever, whatever.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let me show you how we get down in Africa.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because I see what you guys are saying here, but this is this is a a different beast for me.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm very lucky in that I got a spell suit to a global perspective, which kind of shaped how I viewed what I can do for Africa and what the rest of the world can can should be viewing Africa, how we should be viewing Africa.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_03: I think you've got a spot on.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_03: I I tell people this all the time, but I think you don't understand until you actually travel.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_03: When you are an African and you travel, you understand that the whole world is amazing, it's a global village, yeah.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: But Africa is the place to be.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, 100%, 100%.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like I think we're now seeing it now late in the game.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Where I say late because it's late for the rest of the world.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: We've just been knowing and we just haven't said it.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: But the South African saying that says, Oh, they found us now.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because you're seeing the rest of predominantly the the African diaspora coming back home.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, with the homecoming in in Ghana, yeah, um, the rise of kind of the the broader West Africa return.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in South Africa, we're going through this whole research of people who have found us.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: The Americans are like, yo, man, you guys have been living like this and you haven't told anyone.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: What people are discovering stuff in Kenya.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, North Africa's on the rise.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: The DRC, what's happening in Kigali and Rwanda, is incredible.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it's led primarily by the black diaspora from Europe and North America.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then you have kind of the broader Western world, just like, hey, Cape Town's dope.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Mombasa's actually dope.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I could live, I could live in Swakomund in Namibia.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I could live in Lagos in Nigeria.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and yeah, yeah, but we've been nice.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: So now you guys have found it.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: I go 100%.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: So um I think Africa's going through this incredible renaissance right now.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it resonates in particular for me because we just came out of an interesting G20 where South Africa was a host.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and there's this weird tension happening between the US and South Africa.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think the rest of the world is like, listen, yeah, we hear the US, you're the superpower, uh, but there's a shift going on where like the perceived third world is kind of flexing its might and Africa being being what it is.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: We're like, yo, we've been hearing your chats, um, but we're in a space where you don't we don't want to be disrespected anymore, we want to be seen.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think there's a grounding us coming where, and it's happening right now, where we're like we are actually certain of who we are and what our role is in the world, and that is an awesome place to be for all Africans because it allows all of us kind of entrenched ourselves in here's how we view ourselves and how we've always viewed ourselves, and we speak with confidence now.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think it's a turning point in our history, yeah.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I I think finally Africans are accepting how powerful we are, and it's making the rest of the world say, wait, wait, look at them.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_03: They are who they say they are.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 100%.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: And and and I think we've always known who we are.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: The rest of the world is now seeing when we're reacting.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: They're like, okay, cool, oh, this is for real now.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, now they they don't want to hear us talking about their gold, they don't want to hear us talking about their silver, their platinum, whatever.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: And we're like, because again, I always tell counterparts in Europe and the states, I'm like, Africa doesn't work in like increments like the US and the and and Europe work.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: We work in leaps.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: When is the technology advance?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't take us, it doesn't take us 20 years kind of get there.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's just when we move, we move.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yo, we're here, we're here now.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: What's the next thing, right?
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and how culture and politics and economics and technology um has moved across the continent, and then millennials kind of coming into the fore of running economics and business, um, and then the rise of the gens, whether they are Z's or X's.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think the next phase of growth and confidence for Africans is getting into its next phase of yeah, okay, cool.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: We know we've been we've been educated at Harvard, we've been educated at Duke, but I also went to the University of Accra, I went to Vitz University here.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: I get the global perspective, I get how you guys at Yale University think, but I also know the get down at Virts University, and we understand that um South African law is complex the same way as Ghanaian law is complex, the same way as Kenyan law is complex, but I get Oxford, I get Eton, I get Yale, I get Wake Forest.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: I can do that better than you can.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: True.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's easier for us to be able to do what is done in the West and for the West to fully understand what is done here.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it gives us a certain mystery.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: I I I it's a mystery.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think what what what I alluded to earlier about the reverse migration where people are like, okay, we need to go see what's happening in Africa now.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: They're now like, okay, we need to go send our kids to do their postgrad courses in all those varsities exactly in wherever, wherever, wherever.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: And they'll come back and we kind of adjust and figure out what's really happening in Africa.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_03: Let's talk about you for a bit.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we've gone, we've got we've gone everywhere.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's okay.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: So you've worked with powerful brands, sure.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_03: But before they could trust in you, you need to trust in yourself.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_03: At which point did you know you had that power?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_03: At what point did you know you you were so amazing?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be honest with you.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I still have the worst case of imposter syndrome.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm dead serious.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Dead serious.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I've been in the world of brand marketing and building brands for 20 years now.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um I did not study anything to do with marketing.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: I studied law and then I fell into marketing because I used to throw parties on campus.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: Because I needed to raise money.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I love partying, right?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so a few friends of mine were like, yo, let's throw a couple of parties.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one party became three, three parties became six, six parties became 16.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Then you got Adidas back in the day, you got Red Bull back in the day, you got all these brands saying, Hey, you're doing some awesome stuff.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Can you do some stuff on the campus for us?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, let's see what happens.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, cool.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, cool.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna pay me and then I'm gonna also make money.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, yeah.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, okay, cool.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: I I can do that.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we realized uh between the three of us at the time, we're like, we're actually good at doing this.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: And we know the right people, we know all the DJs.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go, let's keep let's keep pressing on doing this.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, throughout my the entirety of my um vastly time, I I did that.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um you're like, cool, I'm gonna I'm gonna go study law.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: So sorry, I was studying law, you're like, I'm gonna become a lawyer now.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my final year of law school.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Remember the red guys from Red Bull, like, yo, you've done an awesome job.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: We've got this new role called culture marketing opening up.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Would you be down to come through?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, guys, I'm gonna become a lawyer.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna make some law, I'm gonna make some law money.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: What are you guys talking about?
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, bro, like, I'm like, cool.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: What is the actual job?
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the intersection point of culture, brand building, and business in South Africa, and then influencing what that looks like for the rest of the continent.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, okay, cool.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds awesome.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Are you gonna pay me for this?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're like, they're like, no, it's an actual job.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh, all right, cool.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I remember this conversation with my folks, and they're like, listen, we paid for law school.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: What the hell's going on?
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, but I like this though.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: I don't see myself in the books the whole time and kind of giving the the theories of Roman Dutch law and how that's gonna be like, okay, cool.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: As long as you can maintain yourself and sustain yourself, that's that's all good.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: A big part of the reason why I moved to Red Bull was I like the energy of it.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_03: It was pun intended, yeah.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Pun depth intended.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um it was it was the energy of the place.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: There was something so refreshing around what you've always been told, around what corporate should be, how brands should be built.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um I to this day, I have this mentality about men, old men in navy blue suits who are telling you, no, go buy this packet of tea or go buy this juice or whatever.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've always had that image in my head around this is how brands are built.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Red Bull completely gave me an amazing view of how we build brands, how we use utilize culture and tap into culture to build brands.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that for me was kind of my first step into corporate where you're like, okay, so I don't have to be in a suit all day and excel sheet.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: I do excel sheets on PowerPoints now, but but but but it's uh it was a completely fresh take around around how the corporate world could and should be.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm eternally grateful that my first step into corporate was that.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Red Bull has always I'm particular about that brand because it was my first foray into the corporate world and it's defined defined how I view brands and brand building.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's I'm particular about culture being at the heart of any brand essence and brand building.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um so that's kind of I think I'm I hope I answered your question because I just went down a weird journey.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: But but but that's how I fell into where I am right now.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um I used to create love parties.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: My love of parties pushed me into a brand building role.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh this brand building role defined how I view corporate, and then with that in particular, every brand that I've ever worked on Red Bull, Marlboro, Fuller Morris, um NBA, uh Perno Ricard, Champson Shivers, Martel, Moon, etc.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Red Bull in particular was the one that's like if this makes sense to you, does it make sense to you?
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: Would you as a person interact and engage with this?
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you can interact and engage with this, it makes it 10 times easier.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it resonates with who you're as a person.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, my big takeaway is like we spend more time at work than we do with our family, with our family.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's true.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: So my whole theory has always been like, if I want to spend pretty much the entirety of the real part of my day doing something, has to be something that I somewhat enjoy.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and Red Bull, those values of Red Bull for me were like, this is cool.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: This is awesome.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I could do this.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Found a purpose.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: You find a purpose, but it's also like we want to push the South African agenda, we want to push the African agenda.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you've been given scope to grow this thing and make this thing cool in your own way here.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, there's a box, but do the African thing.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see, let's see how it works and plays out.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_03: One of the most difficult things to do in financial planning is saving and investing towards a big goal.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_03: Now, let me tell you my secret that I used to overcome this challenge.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_03: I started to do small top-ups consistently on Achieve by Petra, to save and invest towards my bigger financial goal.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_03: For instance, when I decided to come and study masterminds in South Africa, I decided to top up daily, weekly, anything that I could until I raised enough to afford my tickets, my hotel, everything to bring this podcast to you from South Africa.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_03: So if you're like me and you want to overcome this challenge of saving and investing towards a big goal, use Achieve by Petra.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_03: The link is in the description.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_03: Listening to your journey, it ticks so many boxes that I always tell people on how to be successful.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_03: Like, first thing is make a plan, then let life throw the plan away.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: No, of course.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: Mike Tyson always says, yo, you always have a plan until you get punched in the face, right?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's the one.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_03: 100%.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_03: That's the one.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_03: Because if if what you had said was you are sticking to your plan, okay, I'm going to school to be a lawyer, need to be a lawyer, throw this opportunity away, you wouldn't be who you are.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think I I think we always do a plan.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I ideally, I mean, if you ask anyone I was in high school with, they always know like, I wanted to, I want to be, I want to be a lawyer, I want to be a lawyer, I want to be an actor, and I need to be a billionaire by the age of 35.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm 42 years now, nowhere near being a billionaire.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: Nowhere near being a billionaire.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm neither an actor or a lawyer.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think we're doing pretty well for ourselves and we're and we're pushing up pushing along and creating an awesome energy shift, not just within the city, not just within the the country, but across the continent as well.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_03: And you're being authentic.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, authenticity is a big one for me.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: Authenticity is the biggest one for me.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: Because the one person you need to live with throughout your life is you.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: Spot on, Richie.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's that is probably I don't remember who was having this conversation with last week.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I one of my my biggest drivers in the world is the day that you are dying.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because I've I've I've been around death, I've heard people talk about death, and people have said, you know, I've always had these regrets, whatever, whatever.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I never want the one thing that scares me the most, it's not death, it's just being at the closure and like I wish I'd done that thing.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'm so particular about not having regrets.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um I want to know that I've done for the greater part of things in terms of the heavy stuff.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: The day I leave this earth, I'm like, did I do this cool thing?
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: And what did I miss out on?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, as much as I as I can, I try to take on the opportunities, take the risk, yeah, where I have the capacity to.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm not trying to be break myself a child to do to look after, but but I I'm very pedantic in particular about like take the risk.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you have the capacity to kind of bounce back, you'll be fine.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you never want to miss opportunity.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, 100%.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like everything in your life should be skewed towards taking opportunities that feel authentic.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: 100% 100%.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 100% spot on.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_03: One thing so many people are suffering with right now, especially in this age of you know, social media and internet, is uh building a brand, especially their personal brand.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_03: Now, as someone who's managed to marry culture and brand so successfully, yeah, what steps do you think someone out there should take?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: For brand builders?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's a complex and heavy question, but I think the simple answer, because I mean, I've done I've done I had some of the questions asked to me at um marketing conferences.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: The most recent ones was I was speaking at um, I'm not sure if you heard of AAA in Vega, these are like uh brand the big brand marketing colleges that we have in South Africa.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and there's no actual linear step, there's stuff I can they can put in a whiteboard and say, hey, yeah, here are the steps on how to build a brand, whatever, whatever.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: But as it's what you you were alluding to earlier around authenticity.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you are let's say you are a young man or woman in let's use Ghana again, and you're like, cool, I want to sort of create, I want to be an entrepreneur for my old brand, my own brand, whatever, whatever.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: You don't mean people you're up against.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: You are up against everybody else, right?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: You're up against everybody else, and everyone else tries to do the generic stuff.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let's use a fashion, a fashion brand.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: I want to create my own fashion line, fashion brand, whatever.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know me, people are like into tech fits, into kind of the new African zeitgeist shift, whatever stuff.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: I always tell people, whatever it is that you want to do, however you want what you want to build a brand, does it make sense to you first?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then if it makes sense to you first, cool, build the basic framework of what that looks like.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then as a business person, are there do I know other like-minded people who at least if there's five things that make sense to me about this thing, are there other people who three of these things can make sense to?
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, how do I resonate and close a loop with them?
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: How do I bring these things closer to them?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Build a community 100%.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: 100%, right?
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I love sneakers, I'm a sneaker guy.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, um I'm in particular, I'm an Air Max guy.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I know where I can find the rare Air Maxes because there's a community of people who are very pedantic about these things, right?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: Find the people who well, is there a base of what you like?
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's all good and well to be this amazing, I've got this dope brand.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um but if no one else vibes with it, it's just you and African Prince.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like, okay, cool.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Cool, that's your thing.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: But brand building is all about do I understand this thing?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Does it doesn't make sense to me?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I may it may not necessarily even make be a something I'm I'm particular about, but I need to have a some level of passion for it.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um there are that that's on the entrepreneurial side.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: On the on the corporate side, if you want to be a corporate brand builder, and and no no pun no dis to people who sell bread, tea, whatever, that is important stuff.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: But but but I I I think there has to be a level of so I'm I'm not just here for a check.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I get why I'm doing this.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: The reason and I realize I'm butting around, but the the reason I am where I'm at is because I've been so particular about every brand that I've ever worked on being tasked to build in some shape or form has to make sense to who I am as a person.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: Once that makes sense, I know that I can speak to Richie, I can speak to Kwame, I can speak to Jabu, I can speak to Michael and Maureen and say, hey guys, you guys all the same vibes.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think this will make sense to you.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think that a brown liquid in a silver and purple tin makes sense to you.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the rest of the world is telling us that it gives us energy, whatever, whatever, whatever.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: But hey, let's tie it back to Afrobeats.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's tie it back to Gueto, piano, SA hip hop, whatever, whatever.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: But here's how we do it in our own way.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that guy in Europe who owns the thing is like, oh, I actually wanted us to do like German techno, but this makes sense.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: I get this.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: Are we moving it?
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, cool.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't have to make sense to him, but as long as he's making his bank and he sees that the needle's moving, we're like, okay, cool, we're shift, we're shifting the stuff.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: But for me as specific, I'm like, this makes sense for me.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: I I know how to move the needle.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the same way that you can move, go from there to a Philip Morris, right?
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: I've never a smoker, but I'm like, cool, I get the Marlboro parties, I get the Marlboro brand, I get how this works.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Let me get into the mix of how this, how I how I can move this.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: I know people who are smokers, I know what the energy is.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: I can attach the brand to this.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's how you build the brand.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: You move from Philip Morris, you move to Pono Ricard.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: They're like, cool, here's a here's a keys to the green rolls race.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: We need a refresh on Jamison, figure it out.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, okay.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: What makes what makes sense here?
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: We know people love going to the nightclub.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: We know people love being together.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we know people love a good drink, but they don't want anything that's too heavy, but they they they also just want to chill.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Cool, we create a whole solution that makes sense for them.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: I get this because I love doing all those things.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: You do all that, you do it well, you spend 10 years kind of building various brands, you do it for people you know in South Africa, people you know across the continent, and you start getting a sense of okay, we're actually all the same.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's a subset of us who know how to do all these things.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: I know that I vibe with these people, and these people have got the six degrees of separation thing.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: There are people who they know who can fit into all these boxes.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let's work with them.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: You move to something like an NBA, big passion of my group.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: Contrary to my heights, I love playing basketball.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: I was actually pretty good at basketball.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: That gives me hope.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: You and I will be fine, my brother.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you're like, cool, this makes sense.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: How do we scale the brand across the region?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: We know there are a lot of people who grew up loving Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, blah, blah, etc., but had never had tangible exposure to what this brand does and can do for them.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well, like, cool.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, cool, I know that I'm a I'm a basketball guy.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: I know what I wanted in my youth and how I want to experience the brand.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do it across the region, from Kigali to uh Côte d'Ivoire to DRC to wherever, let's be on the ground and engage with these people in the way that we know how to engage with them.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's my perspective.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's a long window way of saying have a level of passion, have a level of thing of authenticity to things that make sense to you.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: But also takes me back to the the the bread guys, the tea guys, the whatever guys.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: It can't just be for the chick, right?
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you are about to be pushing whatever potatoes, whatever bread for you to sell to because our job as brand builders is to find the audience and make sure we're selling to their needs, whatever that need is.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: A need uh can be as basic as I I need to eat because I'm hungry, but it's also the want is I want to show up in a particular way and I I want to be viewed like this because as humans, and our most our most basic is the want to kind of live, but the rise of communism is is is pretty much a sense of so it's not communism, it's it's not communism, commercialism, sorry, commercialism.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's I want to show up in a particular way, also.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_03: So, how do you marry those two?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I think that's a problem most people face when they're building brands.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_03: Like, this is me, I want to be authentic, yeah, versus this is what my audience needs.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_03: You know, how let let's let's say, for instance, how you mentioned the person selling bread.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, and I always love very sweetened sugary bread, for instance.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's not true, but let's just imagine.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas everybody else around me seems to want plain bread so they can do their thing with how do I marry being authentic to what I love versus what my audience wants?
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: You as the brand builder, yes, you have to find the compromise, right?
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, like for me, it's it was culture.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm particular about brands that I'm particular about working in brands that that influence culture.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to uh disrespect anyone that works in traditional FMCG Fox Moving Consumer Goods.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: I am particular about every single brand that I've ever worked on.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, has a touch point of something that is true to me, authentic to me.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: It is in the culture space in some shape or form.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's interacting with people at a space of energy or of shifting something within the cultural sphere.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: Bread, potatoes, bread tea is not in my ecosystem.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I can I know that if we utilize, we push Martel, we will lean into African Afro beats and hip hop as the face of what this looks like.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: I know that because I'm like, this is me, I get this.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I know what levers to pull.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: Again, respectfully, because I love bread, shout out to all the bread people.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: I don't see that with bread, I can take bread and utilize a ma piano and close a gap to Richie who loves him some sweeter bread.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but my primary audience is the normal kind of I need a loaf of brown bread, whole wheat.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I'm not that person.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: There are people who are far more skilled than me who get who get a sense of I just there are people who just want bread.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: I don't need to make it sexy, I just need to let them know here are the offerings.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: It comes in whole wheat, sourdough, plain white, slightly sweeter.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: Go buy it at the store.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_03: So that means you still need to prioritize authenticity and what you're good at over.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, yeah.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be doing, I'll be doing, I mean, I hope I don't shoot myself in the foot for this.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'd I'll be doing actually probably myself a disservice and likely a small disservice to the bread guys.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm like, cool, let me go work for the bread guys.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: But please do hire me.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_03: He's still a bread guy.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but my my core strength is not that.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: My core strength as a brand builder, the authentic side of me is I'm I'm a culture tuned in and tapped in guy.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my strength where I am I'm not an entertainer.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: I am not a musician, I am not an artist, whatever.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: I am, there's a running job between a few of us.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a curator for the culture.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: It is my job to open up parts, find ways to deliver things that I can bring in the entertainers, the artists or whatever.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: I can bring in the brands, and I can say, cool, here's our part here.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: Let's figure out how we interact and where we meet.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's not just for here, the rest of the continent is also alive with possibilities.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: Let's that my job is that I'm a culture curator, um, and I utilize brands to do that.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's where my strength is lies.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_03: I think so many people suffer with that.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_03: I've seen a lot of people in different fields trying to fit in to what the audience wants, and then what happens is they either don't succeed because it's not authentic to them, so they are not good at it, or they succeed and they're unhappy.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_03: Especially, let's say, in my core field, which is music, yeah.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_03: I've seen so many artists.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe this artist is an I'm a piano artist, but everybody's doing RB now.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_03: So it says, okay, I'm going to do RB.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_03: Either nobody really likes the music because it doesn't feel authentic, or they become the biggest RB artist, but now every time they're performing, they just feel so down because they are not being true to themselves.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: Authenticity is a thing, right?
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's it's worked for some people, it hasn't worked for others, right?
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh again, I I and especially if when I deal with a lot of I deal with a lot of people within the music and broad entertainment space, um, I think authenticity is a big one for me.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there are a lot of people.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm a again, I put us after I'm a piano guys, I'm an old school hip-hop head.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I love hip hop.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: I too like that's my I was listening to my little Spotify or Apple um replay, yeah replay.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, you're still a hip-hop head.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, cool.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: I love this.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I am very as a South African, and then as an African, I am very particular about the growth of all the music genres from West Africa to Southern Africa to my piano, Afrobeats, blah blah.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: We're sh we're literally shaping and shifting what's happening in the world.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: But I've seen a lot of people who were traditional RB guys or hip-hop guys, like, no, I must go do some Afrobeats, some my piano.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, but you're a hip-hop guy, this doesn't this doesn't make sense.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, and then when you land, they like either you get frustrated because nothing's working, you're like, no, I've tried some Afrobeats joints, nothing's working, or you try some other piano things.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, but you're a hip-hop guy.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Why are you doing this?
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's not working, or they create one fire track and it's and it's flying, and they're frustrated now, yeah, because they've lost who they were, right?
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's like me now suddenly going to back to law, I'll be so frustrated.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, I'm sure I could make a lot of money.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like the million, the millionaire, that number that I was chasing.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, cool, I can I can make that, but I know I'd be so unhappy with myself.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_05: True.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'll just be like, what am I doing here?
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: I am not this guy.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I hate waking up every day and every morning.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I I tell everyone the day you wake up and you hate the fact that you have to go do something that makes you money, and it should be a again, it goes back to the amount of time you spend at a job.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's the day you should leave.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: Because you've lost who you are as a person.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: So stay true to what whatever it is that you want to do, right?
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a hip-hop guy, man, be the change you want to see in the resurgence of hip-hop.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, even Drake is like, yo, man, I need to I need to see what's going on right now.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: I need to figure out how I change this, right?
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, or find something that is authentic to you still and figure out what that means.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: Jay-Z is still a hip-hop guy, but he's like, yo, I'm gonna go do the sports thing.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, hip-hop, I'm gonna take a little bit of a hiatus from hip-hop.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you'll catch me at a Louis Vuitton show every now and then and I drop some rhymes, but I like the fashion joint as well.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I like the sports joint, that's the authenticity who I am.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna go do the American version of my piano now.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: No, because you're like, you're Jay-Z, you can do that if you want to.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: You could, but he's like, no, no, no.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go, let's go, let's go do our thing.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think that there's a version of authenticity of authenticity you have to keep to yourself.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, otherwise, you're just gonna end up hating yourself down the line.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've I think you've probably seen it more than I have.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: People who've tried to pivot from what their core was, and sometimes it makes sense, uh, but sometimes it doesn't.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've heard more stories of doesn't make sense for me than I've heard of.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: This was actually dope.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm glad I did this.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_03: And you see, what you said in there, it reminds me of people say a lot that money can buy happiness.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_03: And whenever you hear that, you're thinking, uh, it can buy a lot of happiness.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_03: But the truth is, I think what is being said in that sentence is never put money over authenticity.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_03: 100%.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_03: You need to make a lot of money.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody should make a lot of money, yeah, but you should make it being authentic.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, again, I feel like we're slandering the bread guys today.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, we love bread, okay?
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: I love bread.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: But but there are guys who are selling potatoes, bread, tea, who are having a time because they're like, yo, this makes sense to me.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: And they're making the money.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: And like, I go to work, I don't have to stress about what those guys in basketball, liquor, tobacco, energy drinks, they have to be in the nightclubs later on.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm I've sold my potatoes, my my toothpaste, my pasta, and got my bonus, made my money, we're out.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_03: One of my favorite things to see is when you are buying something from someone, yeah, and you can tell they really love it.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like 100%.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_03: Let's go back to bread again.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so you get to a bakery, yeah, and there are five different types of bread, and you ask, which one should I buy?
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you know, when the person is passing and say, See, the banana bread has this.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_03: You can see their eyes light up versus uh you pick whichever you want, and like, oh god.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: That for me is like ultimately boils down to authenticity of what we're trying to learn, right?
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like, like some guys just love a sourdough versus a cedared roll, and you're like, Yeah, I hear you.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna take this, I'm gonna take the sourdough, right?
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that is authenticity for me.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_00: That is understanding that I don't need to be in the flash all the time.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like, for me, if you ask me today, what would you prefer?
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_00: The fame or the fortune, I'll take the happiness with the fortune.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't need the fame.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no one needs to know who I am.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: I really I really don't get I know who I am.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: My daughter's school fees are paid, my house is paid up.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's fine, just chilling.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: Accra, just hang out, you know.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_03: You need to move to Accra.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, brother.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: Me, I'm a I'm an African.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: I I live, I live on the continent, so whatever, whatever happens, yeah.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, let's talk about something else that a lot of people struggle with, which is how to build value.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_03: So so many people here, you know, one one of the most popular phrases right now is build value.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but most people don't understand what that actually means for me.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh value is perceived, man.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's all it's it's it's tangible because someone has gotten a whole lot of people to believe that this is what it should be.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right?
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: Currency, let's use currencies.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: Currencies, the dollar is the global trading standard that we have right now, surely because it had an amazing PR machine that literally aka Hollywood.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: An amazing PR machine that made everyone believe, like, okay, cool, this green bag has got an American prison on it.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this can buy me anything from Butte, Montana, to Miami, to Soweto, Johannesburg, to Shenzheng in China, to Hong Kong.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: This thing will be accepted everywhere, yeah, and its value is X amount versus a Kwanzaa, in a golden Kwanzaa, South African rand, a shekel, whatever.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: And you're like, yeah, this American president is worth more than this African president.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, but why?
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: We have all the stuff though.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: In theory, like practically, if you apply like real stuff, this African currency is actually worth more value.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: We have the Naval resources beneath us here.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's all here.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's all here, right?
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: But value is all perceived.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's what you sell and how you can sell and what you can make people believe in terms of what you can deliver out of it.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: So this American dollar is worth more than this thing that's got Nasamanila's face on it.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: The stuff the thing that's got Nasamangela's face on it has got the actual real backing.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: But this one, we were sold all the stuff on it, right?
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: So value again, it's all perceived.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's it's what you sell.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: And if I take away from the currency, let me use actual practical brand stuff.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um let's use the world of whiskey.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's something I know I know about.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: In reality, Scottish, Irish, again, please, I still want to work in liquor.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_00: Don't I'm just talking to the man here.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in reality, we all sell brown liquids.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's been sitting for less than three years, five years, ten years, fifteen, twenty-one, etc.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_00: etc.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_00: etc.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: If I were to put a blind taste to most, you know, people, you're like, cool, maybe it's a whiskey.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's it tastes like this, right?
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: But the reason why I can slap a logo and put it in a green bottle, or slap a logo and put it in a clear bottle, or slap a logo and put it into a gold bottle, is because I've told your story and I've thrown money at it, and I've got enough people to buy into my hype, yeah, and I've created value.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: And you know that there's no real as an as a same person, you're like it's all brown, it's all brown liquid.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but I've told you this brown liquid that would cost three dollars is actually worse than the brown liquid that costs a hundred dollars.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, it all tastes weird to me.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: But okay, cool.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: I have to believe what you said, right?
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah it's all about perception, it's all about who can sell the story the best and how can carry carry on that story, whether it's it's how it sounds, how it tastes, how it looks, um, whose whose hand is it in?
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I can put a bottle of three dollar whiskey in Richie's hand because Richie is such a cultural mover and shaker.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: People will be like, all right, cool.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_00: Richie's drinking it.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: Must be legit.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_00: So that value creation is literally up to you and your creativity and your ability to influence and shape narratives.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I don't want to say this is how you create value.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_00: I can the best I can do is is demonstrate by my um thinking why and how value is created.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_00: And without giving away some of my secrets, I'm like, cool, here's some levers that I think no no no no pay with my consulting fee.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_00: I will send it to you all after this.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think there are there are various levers that you can pull, but what I what I talked about is the general kind of stuff that of how I perceive value.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there are levers that can be pulled in terms of the very easy, very complex levers that can be pulled in terms of how you drive value and use value perception to kind of grow brands moving forward.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_03: I like that.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_03: It's so from what you're saying, I get it that value is more of storytelling.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_00: One off, a big part of, a big part of it.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I have an example for the alcohol thing you were saying.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, years ago, I think like 15 years ago or so, we're throwing a party.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so we got to the liquor shop, and we're going to a lot of the ladies who were coming always wanted Irish cream.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_03: So I got there and I was going to buy Bailey's.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_03: And then they had another bottle next to the Bailey's, which I'd never seen before.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_03: And it was called Fiennie's.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I asked them, What's that?
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_03: Then the tenant told me the truth is it tastes identical to the Bailey's, yeah, but it doesn't have Bailey's brand.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_03: So I said, let me put this to the test.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_03: So what I did was I had some old Bailey's bottles in the house.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_03: So when I went back, I poured Phinees into Bailey's.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_03: So there were like 10 bottles.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_03: So five were Bailey's, five were Finish, but they were all in Bailey's bottles.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_03: Then I just mixed them up and I said, let me wait.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_03: I want to see if any of the ladies who are coming who always drink Bailey's will be able to see that there's a difference.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_03: Not a single person.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_00: And and that is the whole thing of it's not the whole thing, but a big part of value creation, value perception is that I've been told.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_00: And as long as the 80% of the packaging, whether it's being verbal, whether it's being physical, matches what I've been told, you can put whatever in there.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'll buy it.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's all good.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's all good, right?
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_03: So it's it seems more like we make our decisions on what is valuable, what is stronger, what is better, based on the story we have told ourselves about it.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, somebody was even giving us an example of customer service.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_03: Then they said, Imagine maybe you need you're missing a flight because you're feeling you're sick.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_03: And you call the airline and say, Can you put me on another flight or like delay my flight or something for free?
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_03: And they say, No, I'm sorry, you can't.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_03: We can't.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_03: Versus you call and they say, Oh, let me try for you one second.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_03: Then you get they're typing, typing, typing.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_03: They say, Um, I'm trying, it's looking like there's no flight available, but let me talk to my manager and see what's possible.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_03: Then two minutes they come back to you, madam.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_03: I've tried my best, but it looks like there's nothing available.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_03: Can I possibly reschedule you to two days later?
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_03: You have to pay a small fee.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_03: That second one is the same result as the first.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_00: Value perception.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_03: But you feel better.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_00: Value perception.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: Value perception, right?
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: I've sold you.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: I've sold you something.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: The reality is I'm going to say no either way.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_00: Listen, like, and and and that's actually an incredible example because I'm not called if I say no, sorry, I can't do anything for you.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: Cool bye.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hang up.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, damn these guys.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's weird.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna fly this airline again.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: Versus another five more minutes of I'm sorry, Mr.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: Minister.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I apologize.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry that you're feeling this way.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: Let me see what I can try to do.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_00: All I can do is just put the phone here and just tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: So it's 30 more seconds on screen for my manager.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: Put the phone in, talk to someone else.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_00: I've you assuming that this is happening, you're like, oh my god, they've gone through so much for me.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I'm sorry.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_00: You actually have to pay maybe a thousand rand more.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we we have a flight tomorrow, though.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: I've tried everything.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh, thank you so much for trying to be able to do that.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_00: You feel appreciated.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_00: I've done nothing, I've just wasted my time, but but sure, you believe I've done I've done the I've shifted all the stuff for you.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's literally value perception across everything.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_00: The rollout of that is the cre value creation, the perception is what you're getting.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I guess then value is about how you make people feel.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_03: 100%.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_03: The story you make them tell themselves.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_00: The the entirety of what we do as brand bulls and as marketers is premised on to your point, which you said earlier.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's ultimately storytelling, but it is value propositions, which ultimately leads to value perceptions.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_00: What are you selling me?
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like brown, brown liquid in bottles.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you a story.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is how it's gonna make you feel.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is how you're gonna look.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this is the benefit of it.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I feel so awesome.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_00: This is now this is how I'm feeling right now in these spaces.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm with Richie and the boys.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_00: We're out in club, wherever.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_00: I I can get down with this.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_00: This suits my particular lifestyle.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_03: Because I don't think I can tell the difference between 12-year whiskey and whiskey.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_03: Not many people can.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: Not many people can.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_03: But I know that 18-year whiskey is more valuable because it's been through the mill.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_03: It's you know, like when you're watching an advert and they're showing you the way it was made, and you see the stress that went, you suddenly appreciate it more.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like that's why handmade feels more valuable than something that was made in the factory.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_03: Because you can imagine an expert taking their time to craft this just for you.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_03: You know, customize.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: No, of course.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: But sure, that that's that's what we tell you.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_00: So let me not take this away.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_00: There is a reality in terms of makers of things, which I have the highest appreciation for makers because I've been inside distilleries, I've been inside cigarette factories, I've been inside cigar cigar making factories.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've been to where they make uh the basketballs, leather barn basketballs, and you realize the amount of work that people put into things in terms of creators and makers, uh, the same as musicians and producers, as artists, etc.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_00: I think we can never take that away.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a fundamental difference between why someone like Nelson Magama or a uh Pablo Picasso or a whatever their stuff sells so well because it's a one of one.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right?
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe if he says cool, I made four of these things, there's subtle differences.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_00: We're like, okay, cool, but this this was made.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_00: But there's some stuff if we look at most generic brands.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm sorry, say say generic brands, let's let's use whiskey again.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_00: To your point, I've done this, I've been in that space for a very long time.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_00: I can tell the difference subtly between an original and a 12-year-old.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, yeah, this was this was three to five years.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_00: This has been sitting there for a while.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_00: I can do that because I've been in distillery, I've had a muscle distiller say to me, taste, yeah, from from the barrel.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, cool.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_00: Most other people, the bulk of the people who are buying this stuff, yeah, bro.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me a story, tell me how much it costs, tell me the benefit of it.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, will I look dope in the club?
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yes, let's go.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, let's go, right?
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that and I I it sounds it almost sounds malicious when I say that, but it's not it's not the intention.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the ultimate goal of what we do is storytelling to be a specific narrative and a specific want and need.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_00: All marketers do that, and I think that's humans from the bread guy back to the bread guy to the guy who makes the high-end bags and whatever.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's our job.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_03: So we've talked about you as being the superpower based on their storytelling.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_03: So do you think as Africa is finding a footing in an amazing way now, do you think what Africa needs to do better is how we tell our stories?
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_03: Or or to actually tell our stories?
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_03: Because do we even tell our stories?
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think we tell our stories incredibly.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, right?
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think there was a big historically, there's been a big disconnect um around who we're telling our stories to with a more globalized world, um more people like Caucasian, European, whatever, whatever, whatever are realizing like we don't have to be stuck in what's happening in North America or in Europe or whatever.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's something dope that's been happening.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_00: They've been saying these guys in Africa, these Africans have been saying something dope happening there.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh, that there's something dope happening now, right?
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_00: And we didn't we never had I I love and hate and despise social media.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_00: I love social media, but I despise social media because I think for the first time you have you can have Africans tell their stories without filtering to the world.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, sometimes I just get thrown by how we get so absorbed by by weird stuff.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_00: But I think the rise of social media is probably one of the greatest things that's happened for this continent in that I don't need a European or North American broadcaster to come here and put a microphone in my in some one place that they've chosen.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you ask, I've got a number of um African American or Black American friends who will come and say, bro, we've always been told about or seen these images of these flies and whatever, whatever, whatever.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_00: Flies on kick on kids' face, whatever.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_00: People come here, they're like, bro, how are you living?
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_00: What's happening?
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it happened to me once.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_00: How are you guys living?
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, I've got an apartment in like uptown in Harlem, and even that's up for me.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and like, dude, your house is incredible.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_00: I go, but I'm I'm middle class.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_00: What are you talking about?
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, we thought we were middle class, but you guys got swimming pools, you guys are driving the Jeeps, you drive.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm like, uh what are we expecting?
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_00: Do you mean live living in a hut somewhere?
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's what we're being sold.
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's the story that's been told for so long.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I had I had um I had somebody come to Ghana, so they came to Ghana for uh it was a UN thing.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_03: So they were going to take them to the village, you know, a faraway village.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_03: So they my sister was also part of the trip.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_03: So when they came, they stayed over at her house, yeah, and then they went to the village, yeah.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_03: And then they came back to the house before she traveled back, and before traveling back, she told me that I'm a hypocrite.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_03: Why?
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_03: Because of how I live.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_03: No, why?
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_03: Because the Africa that she expected was that one village where they were really suffering.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_03: 100%.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so like they chose a one village where they didn't have access to water, the Africa story.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_03: That's the Africa story.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_00: Boom, boom, boom, dramatic.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_03: No, I'm I'm actually middle class.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_03: Like my life is is nowhere near some of the people that I know.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_03: 100%.
• 51:57
  SPEAKER_03: But we don't we haven't been telling those stories in the past.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I agree with you on social media, yeah.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_03: It's given us the power now to let people know, yeah.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, yeah.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I mean, and and you know, with the good side of being able to tell our stories, we'll say tell the bad side of the stories, right?
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so the storytelling is is is something we've always been able to do.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_00: We just have the platforms now.
• 52:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, but with the hey, hey, here's the real Africa, there's also weird narratives that start forming out, right?
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like as a South African with lots of Nigerian friends, we and I we always have this conversation about why does the world and why do we always seem to pit each other against sorry, why do we always put our pit ourselves against each other against each other?
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and like we're actually very cool.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like South Africans and Nigerians were very cool, yeah, but there's this weird narrative that kind of starts spilling out, right?
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_00: So stuff like stuff like that kind of spills out.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what has always been banter between Ghana, Senegal, and Nigeria about the Jolof wars spirals into weird stuff, and you're like, wait, it's just banter.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's not real, it's not that deep.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_00: What's going on?
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sitting next to a Nigerian, and we're both online listening together about Jolof.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_03: We're sitting right here.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that's some of my frustrations with social media, but but I really love the fact that we are able to tell our own stories now.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like I'm sitting here with Richie as a South African and we're sitting next to Ghanaian, and we can have these conversations.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_00: I can pretty much pick your mind around telling about the entertainment industry in Ghana or broader West Africa, right?
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_00: And you can say, cool, tell me about brand building in Southern Africa, but I'm also very certain that Richie can tell you about entertainment across the continent because we're not in our little bubble.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we are able to, I can carry a story from here to colleagues and friends who are in Cairo in Egypt.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_00: The same way I can go from Nairobi to Accra.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because we have learned to understand each other.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_00: We've learned what makes us the same, what makes us different as well.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_00: And no one else is telling that story.
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're not relying on Mark and the guys at CNN to say, hey, we took our microphone to Africa and we found some remote village outside wherever, wherever.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what they're saying in Africa.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_03: We can say it ourselves.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_00: We can say it ourselves.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, my brother, I'm sitting in the royal blue Aston Martin in the middle of Santin, yeah, have having some whatever.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because this is how we're living.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_00: We're not all down there.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, there are there are there are differences and heaviness and things that we need to fix.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_00: But even the guys who are struggling and kind of making their way through, because I fundamentally believe South Africa is the most unequal kind of uh country in the world right now.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there is a growing middle class which kind of holds the country together.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm also conscious that because we are the transition point, we've seen hardship and we've moved into this middle class phase now, and maybe my daughter and her niece and her cousins become the next wave of, we are able to kind of carry storylines.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_00: We're like, cool, I've seen the shift.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I've seen the shift.
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I can speak for someone who is in a rural village in just outside of Durban or just outside of the uh the Trans Sky or wherever.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_00: I know what experience is because as much as people live in Johannesburg over Christmas time, this the festive period right now, they're like, cool, I'm going back home.
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to whatever village that I come from.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_00: I might be Miller Cross in Johannesburg, but I come from these humble beginnings and I can tell these stories.
• 55:36
  SPEAKER_00: So we have a view of storylines from whatever the bottom is all the way to the top.
• 55:42
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 55:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_03: And that gives you more hope.
• 55:44
  SPEAKER_03: 100%.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_03: When you've seen all layers of it, you're hopeful that there's even more layers of it.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, yeah.
• 55:51
  SPEAKER_03: One hope I have, one belief I have.
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_03: Like the reason I'm here in South Africa doing this podcast right now is I believe in one Africa.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_03: I believe that Africa is on a rise.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_03: And what is going to take us completely to the top is when we start seeing Africans as one.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_03: Like with everything that we're doing, whether it's a podcast, whether it's a product, whether you're a photograph or what whatever you do, you don't think Ghana or SA or Nigeria or Senegal.
• 56:20
  SPEAKER_03: You think Africa.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_00: No, of course.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, right?
• 56:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I think I I fully buy into that.
• 56:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I'm a big believer in a borderless Africa, but I'm also a big believer in what makes us unique is those elements of Ashanti Gold, um, Yoruba culture, um, the Zulus, the Sutus, whatever.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_00: Even the Afrikaans guys who uh there's a whole weird narrative being thrown about them.
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but I'm like, yo, they are white guys from Africa.
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_00: Deal with you'll be fine, you'll be okay.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_00: There are black guys from France, black guys from the US.
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_00: They can be white guys from Africa, they can be people of Indian descent from Africa, of Asian descent from Africa.
• 57:04
  SPEAKER_00: Be okay with that, right?
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_00: Let Africa just be one.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_00: Let Africa do its thing.
• 57:09
  SPEAKER_00: What makes us so dope is that and so unique is that we are so different.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we have this the way we move, the way we talk, whatever, whatever.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_00: That is us.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_00: Don't don't overthink it, don't make it overly complex, it's just what we are, right?
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and to your point, all this stuff about one Africa, it's actually happening now.
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_00: These conversations like this, this is what's driving it forward, right?
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think we just kind of get caught up in the rest of the world's drama that we forget to focus on ourselves as Africans.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_00: And again, we would try to.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_00: I love Black Panther, by the way, but we're they would try to position us in this Wakanda type thing.
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, cool, awesome.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_00: I actually love it.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_00: But here's some real stuff that's going on, and we're actually going there.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but like let us figure it out in our own way.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_00: We've always been cool.
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_00: They told you we're cool, but yeah, we've always been cool.
• 58:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, now that you know, come walk the journey with us.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_03: 100%.
• 58:14
  SPEAKER_03: What do we do about the Africans out there who need to find a way to be more confident in their identity?
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_00: What do we do about them?
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_03: Or um what advice can we give that person, that that young boy watching right now, who has so much greatness because he was born in Africa, yeah, but he doesn't believe it.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_00: I I I I think I've I've I've repeated it enough times, right?
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_00: I I think we've always known we're cool.
• 58:44
  SPEAKER_00: We've always you ask most Africans, most, I mean that I mean the what we're dressing to we're dressing right now is the ones who don't think so.
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_00: We've always known we're cool.
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_00: But I've I've walked in Port Harcourt and Lagos, and you look at my my Nigerian brothers and sisters, and they're like, yo, we're cool, we're dope, bro.
• 59:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're actually nice.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you you walk in Rapat, Morocco, you walk in Mombasa, you walk in Luanda, Kigali, we're all like, yo, man, we're cool.
• 59:12
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're chilled East African, you're high energy, West African, the craziness of South Africa, we're like, yo, we know what's up with us.
• 59:21
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_00: The rest of the world is only realizing now, like, oh, they've been nice.
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's up to us as Africans to continually reinforce to our kids, to ourselves, next generation afterwards.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_00: We've always been nice guys.
• 59:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I think the job actually becomes easier.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_00: I the it becomes easier because especially if we look at like look at what's happened this year, and I use the G20 thing in particular, right?
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_00: We had the biggest superpower.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_00: So it was like, no, we're not coming to you guys, getting to respect us, whatever, whatever.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like, my brother, this is Africa.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_00: We are here, we're not going anywhere.
• 1:00:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the others see us.
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_00: We're nice, cool.
• 1:00:05
  SPEAKER_00: We don't need you, and you're seeing the shift right now, right?
• 1:00:08
  SPEAKER_00: From Burkina Faso to Niger to Mali to Namibia to every.
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone's like, actually, we're actually nice.
• 1:00:17
  SPEAKER_00: We don't need you guys.
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_00: We don't need you guys.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_03: That's the position.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we actually don't need you guys, and and and I'm a big believer in multinationalism, so I think everyone needs everyone.
• 1:00:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:00:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's now getting to a point of equal footing.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_00: We're like, no, we can be confident and say it's to be partners, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's work together.
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, let's work together, but we're actually nice, also.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_00: You guys need us also because if we say we shut down everything underneath us, it's tricky for everyone.
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, tricky for the whole world.
• 1:00:49
  SPEAKER_00: We're all in hell right now because we can shut this down now.
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's weird, right?
• 1:00:55
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's understanding our place in the world and what that really means and how that has to resonate.
• 1:01:04
  SPEAKER_00: And once you get a grounding of what that means and how we are able to shift opinions, not just on this continent, but across the world, I think the confidence grounding kind of lands.
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_00: It it's I I said to you right at the beginning, I I still suffer from a very bad case of imposter syndrome.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_00: Mine is I'm an early millennial, so for it was always strange for me being in boardrooms across the world where you're the only person of color.
• 1:01:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:01:30
  SPEAKER_00: And you're like, yo, Africa, tell us what's happening there.
• 1:01:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, 54 countries?
• 1:01:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna tell you for everyone.
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_00: Me, yeah, okay, right?
• 1:01:39
  SPEAKER_00: But then you keep going down the route, and the next year it's like, yo, Africa, you guys did some dope stuff.
• 1:01:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm like, still 54 countries.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_00: I did something cool, like three of them, but cool.
• 1:01:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's the next year, it's like, my brother, you and the three other guys that you hired for north, west, east, yeah, can you guys come together, show us how you did that?
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, yeah, yeah.
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_00: So we only represent like 12 countries out of 54, but here's what we get better.
• 1:02:05
  SPEAKER_00: It gets better and better and better every year, right?
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_00: It goes like that.
• 1:02:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and again, it's it goes.
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_00: I touch on the imposter system thing because you sit in these rooms, you're like, How am I even here?
• 1:02:17
  SPEAKER_00: This guy built this thing, this guy built this thing.
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm from Africa.
• 1:02:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was the confidence thing.
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_00: And and maybe it takes it takes people like me to be like, I don't know how anyone believes me, but they've believed me and I made it work.
• 1:02:32
  SPEAKER_00: For the next person to be on some, yo, he did it.
• 1:02:34
  SPEAKER_00: Richie did it.
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_00: Work nice.
• 1:02:37
  SPEAKER_00: We can't impossible.
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, not even possible.
• 1:02:39
  SPEAKER_00: We we know we can do it.
• 1:02:41
  SPEAKER_00: Let's just figure out how we do it, right?
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_00: For the next guy to be on some, no, we we can do this with our eyes closed.
• 1:02:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like we didn't have to think about it.
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 1:02:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's how the belief gets instilled for me.
• 1:02:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's always in South Africa, probably more so than most other African countries, because we had our democracy and independence kind of latish in the game.
• 1:03:01
  SPEAKER_00: We still have a slight hangover of the first black to do this.
• 1:03:06
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 1:03:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're getting to the point of that's no longer the real thing.
• 1:03:09
  SPEAKER_00: We we've been we've been doing we've been doing this, right?
• 1:03:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's taken us 30 years to own our voices and be confident.
• 1:03:18
  SPEAKER_00: I can walk into any boardroom now and tell most people like, yeah, you're actually trash.
• 1:03:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually, I'm actually the guy.
• 1:03:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually in my head, I'm like, well, okay.
• 1:03:27
  SPEAKER_00: But but but the confidence is there, yeah.
• 1:03:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:03:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's okay to have to have a little imposter syndrome every now and then because it keeps you on your toes.
• 1:03:36
  SPEAKER_00: It keeps you on your toes, and in most instances, you're like, this is newish, but okay, cool, let's figure it out.
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_00: It it gives you a push, it gives you to that point, like uh it keeps it keeps you on your toes.
• 1:03:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because I still believe that you can't always be very comfortable.
• 1:03:49
  SPEAKER_00: You need to be like, oh okay, anything can happen.
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_00: But let me stay nimble.
• 1:03:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:03:54
  SPEAKER_03: Somebody said um, every successful person has extreme confidence in themselves, but also really doubts themselves, which is what makes them keep growing.
• 1:04:06
  SPEAKER_00: That is spot on.
• 1:04:07
  SPEAKER_03: It's a weird combination.
• 1:04:08
  SPEAKER_03: That is spot on.
• 1:04:09
  SPEAKER_03: It's like I know I'm that guy, yeah.
• 1:04:11
  SPEAKER_03: But I could also be that guy if I tried a little harder.
• 1:04:14
  SPEAKER_03: No, of course.
• 1:04:15
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 1:04:16
  SPEAKER_00: We all have someone that we aspire to, yeah.
• 1:04:18
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 1:04:18
  SPEAKER_00: And even Elon Musk's or someone that he wants to be like, I'll tell you that much.
• 1:04:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we sorry, I say aspire to, there's someone that's always keeping us on our toes.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the day you fall into complacency, or like I've hit and done everything, is a day where you're like, okay, just go sit down there, go re go rebuild, go regroup, you'll be fine because you haven't done everything yet.
• 1:04:41
  SPEAKER_00: Just calm down, right?
• 1:04:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I I still struggle with it's not a struggle.
• 1:04:47
  SPEAKER_00: I I deal with imposter syndrome, but I've learned to like harness it and say, cool, we've done this.
• 1:04:52
  SPEAKER_00: This is actually dope.
• 1:04:53
  SPEAKER_00: We're the guy.
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_00: And you're like, no, no, no, no.
• 1:04:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's always more to do, right?
• 1:04:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that more to do for me.
• 1:05:00
  SPEAKER_00: The first kind of benchmark I proved myself is can anyone on the continent really appreciate this?
• 1:05:07
  SPEAKER_00: Can they do this?
• 1:05:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, have we shifted the needle and made it fully easy for anyone from this continent to be able to sell this idea to anyone in Europe, China, South America, North America?
• 1:05:18
  SPEAKER_00: And they walk into that room with respect.
• 1:05:20
  SPEAKER_00: Until that day, when it really happens, I'm like, we haven't done it just yet.
• 1:05:25
  SPEAKER_03: There's still some.
• 1:05:26
  SPEAKER_03: It's always stout.
• 1:05:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:05:27
  SPEAKER_00: Richie, you can walk into any entertainment company in the US right now.
• 1:05:32
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna hear Richie Mensa from Ghana, and then we say, Okay.
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 1:05:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:05:38
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's Google, let's Google him first.
• 1:05:41
  SPEAKER_00: Let's Google him first, right?
• 1:05:43
  SPEAKER_00: Versus Steve Stout from New York.
• 1:05:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh, Steve is here.
• 1:05:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh damn, should have said something, like I should have dressed up.
• 1:05:51
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_00: I want Africans to walk into most rooms, all rooms, without yo, Richie Mensa's here.
• 1:05:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, really tricky.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_00: Mess up.
• 1:06:01
  SPEAKER_00: Bring the good biscuits out.
• 1:06:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:06:02
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 1:06:05
  SPEAKER_03: 100%.
• 1:06:06
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 1:06:06
  SPEAKER_00: That that's I I still don't think that happens to this day.
• 1:06:10
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 1:06:10
  SPEAKER_00: Across any sector or industry.
• 1:06:13
  SPEAKER_00: Our job, it's not even just my job, it's your job.
• 1:06:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's everyone's job here.
• 1:06:16
  SPEAKER_00: Our job is to ensure we're continually laying the groundwork to ensure that that African kid who has confidence issues sees you, me, and most of us walk into a boardroom in Chicago, LA, London, Barcelona, Beijing, wherever, and people on some riches here.
• 1:06:38
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 1:06:39
  SPEAKER_00: This is what's going on, right?
• 1:06:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because they see that with American executives who walk into a room.
• 1:06:46
  SPEAKER_00: Even we, as people who work in those industries who are based here, we're like, yo, okay, tidy everything up, make sure we'll clean up whatever, whoever, whoever's here.
• 1:06:55
  SPEAKER_00: You throw it the other way around.
• 1:06:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, no, no, don't worry.
• 1:06:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's just smooth and richie.
• 1:07:00
  SPEAKER_00: Don't worry.
• 1:07:02
  SPEAKER_00: They'll be okay.
• 1:07:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's how we build the confidence.
• 1:07:05
  SPEAKER_03: But I think we're laying that foundation.
• 1:07:07
  SPEAKER_03: 100%.
• 1:07:08
  SPEAKER_03: I think you know, the people before us lay the foundation for us to also build to where we are now.
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_03: And we're also laying the foundation.
• 1:07:15
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm excited for the next generation of Africans.
• 1:07:18
  SPEAKER_00: You and I both.
• 1:07:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because now I know some rooms globally that when you mention my name, they'll bring out 12-year whiskey.
• 1:07:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, 18.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_03: So because of that, maybe the next person who follows me will get the 18-year whiskey.
• 1:07:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:07:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:07:33
  SPEAKER_00: But you see, I think I my utopia is for us to get to the point of the Africans coming.
• 1:07:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:07:40
  SPEAKER_00: Let's figure it out quickly.
• 1:07:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:07:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's doesn't have to be rich.
• 1:07:43
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be richie, doesn't have to be whatever, whatever.
• 1:07:46
  SPEAKER_00: We're like the Africans are coming.
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right right now, bro.
• 1:07:49
  SPEAKER_00: There can be a contingent of like dudes from China, business guys from China.
• 1:07:55
  SPEAKER_00: We meet them downstairs.
• 1:07:56
  SPEAKER_00: We're like, we're not buying anything below a 15-year-old.
• 1:08:01
  SPEAKER_00: We're not doing that.
• 1:08:02
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 1:08:03
  SPEAKER_00: We're trying to close this deal.
• 1:08:05
  SPEAKER_00: We respect these people.
• 1:08:06
  SPEAKER_00: Let's figure that out.
• 1:08:07
  SPEAKER_00: The rest of the world needs to start seeing us like that right now.
• 1:08:09
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it's going to happen.
• 1:08:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's possible.
• 1:08:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:08:13
  SPEAKER_00: In our lifetime, even it will.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_00: It will.
• 1:08:16
  SPEAKER_03: 18-year whiskey.
• 1:08:18
  SPEAKER_00: And bread.
• 1:08:19
  SPEAKER_00: And bread.
• 1:08:20
  SPEAKER_00: And bread.
• 1:08:21
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Banana.
• 1:08:22
  SPEAKER_03: Brianna bread for me.
• 1:08:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:08:25
  SPEAKER_03: Boo, do something for me, right?
• 1:08:26
  SPEAKER_03: I want you to look in your camera.
• 1:08:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:08:28
  SPEAKER_03: And imagine you could stretch your hand and drop one mindset shift into the person watching that will take them a step closer to being a mastermind and being successful.
• 1:08:39
  SPEAKER_03: What would that be?
• 1:08:40
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a saying that I live by.
• 1:08:50
  SPEAKER_00: I always say that.
• 1:08:51
  SPEAKER_00: So everyone wants to be a lion until it's time to do lion stuff.
• 1:08:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think we have as Africans these audacious ideas of how we should we should be seen by the world and how the world should see us.
• 1:09:08
  SPEAKER_00: Our time is now.
• 1:09:10
  SPEAKER_00: And a great man who is a very good friend of mine will probably be on Richie's show at some point, Kojo Buffwe, always reminds me we are greater than the box we've been put in.
• 1:09:21
  SPEAKER_00: And we need if we want to do all the audacious stuff and be seen as audacious people, we need to do lion stuff.
• 1:09:27
  SPEAKER_00: We are Africans like the lion.
• 1:09:29
  SPEAKER_00: Grab life by the throat.
• 1:09:31
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be hamstrung by what the world puts a mirror as in front of you.
• 1:09:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's our time to break the mirrors and redefine how the world sees us.
• 1:09:40
  SPEAKER_00: So do lion shit.
• 1:09:43
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 1:09:44
  SPEAKER_03: Do lion shit.
• 1:09:46
  SPEAKER_03: Simpusisu, it's been an honor having you here.
• 1:09:49
  SPEAKER_03: You're so intelligent, and I can confidently say you are a mastermind.
• 1:09:53
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, my brother, and thank you for having me on the show.
• 1:09:56
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 1:09:58
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for watching this episode.
• 1:10:00
  SPEAKER_03: Now the Mastermind's dream is about building a community of people who have the right mindset and are ready to take their success into their own hands.
• 1:10:10
  SPEAKER_03: So do me this wonderful favor subscribe and share with anybody out there who you believe you want to see have the right mindset to succeed.
• 1:10:19
  SPEAKER_03: So that together we can all become the masterminds we deserve to be.