Augustine Wiah: From Refugee Camp to Silicon Valley
A profound exploration of resilience and empowerment unfolds as we engage in a compelling dialogue with Augustine Wiah, a remarkable individual who transitioned from the harrowing experiences of a refugee camp to becoming a global tech leader at YouTube.
Augustine's narrative is not merely a tale of survival; it is an inspiring testament to the power of perseverance and the indomitable human spirit. He eloquently shares his journey, illuminating how he harnessed his challenges to catalyze change and foster innovation within African communities.
Our conversation delves into the significance of self-identity and the necessity of creating environments that reflect one's true essence. As we navigate through themes of empowerment, art, and community, listeners will find themselves invigorated to redefine their own narratives in pursuit of purpose and connection.
Takeaways:
- In today's episode, we explored how personal narratives can shape one's identity and purpose, particularly through the lens of resilience and empowerment.
- Augustine shared his journey from a refugee camp in Liberia to becoming a global tech leader, emphasizing the importance of community and connection.
- The conversation highlighted the significance of surrounding oneself with uplifting and inspiring environments to foster personal growth and creativity.
- We discussed the transformative power of art and storytelling in navigating life's challenges and affirming one's identity.
- Nkechi and Augustine reflected on the role of soft skills in leadership and how they can bridge cultural gaps in the professional world.
- Ultimately, the episode served as a reminder that embracing one's authentic self is essential for empowerment and effective leadership.
If this episode resonates with you, then remember... SUBSCRIBE • 5-Star Rate • COMMENT • SHARE this Podcast!! 💚❤️🙌🏾🙏🏾
Book Recommendation: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Find August Online:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/augustine-wiah-75694446/
Find us online: https://linktr.ee/nkechinwaforrobinson
Transcript
Great day, amazing human.
Speaker A:Yes, welcome to Empowered at My Skin podcast, where our mission is to help 1 billion people in this world think in more empowering ways.
Speaker A:Empowered humans empower humans.
Speaker A:So you are in the right place to become a lead domino for empowerment today.
Speaker A:My name is Nkechi Mwaho Robinson.
Speaker A:I'm not only your host, but I am a vibrant optimist obsessed to bring you empowering content with every single episode.
Speaker A:We will bring you weekly content, alternating between longer episodes with featured guests and a shorter episode called Empowering Bites, where I will be joined by my co host, Gabby Memone.
Speaker A:So if you're ready, let the show begin.
Speaker A:Great day, amazing humans, and yes, welcome to the next episode of Empowered, My skin, the podcast.
Speaker A:So for all you youtubers I know you can see the amazing human that I'm actually looking at right now.
Speaker A:But to anyone that's listening, today's guest is truly a force of nature.
Speaker A:I had the pleasure of meeting them on the continent of Africa at Jitex Morocco.
Speaker A:Or no, Gitex Africa in Morocco that took place.
Speaker A:When was that?
Speaker A:April.
Speaker A:Anyway, they are a refugee turned global tech leader strategist at YouTube, which totally fascinated me because I was like, oh, my God, that's like the coolest job.
Speaker A:And a champion for African innovation.
Speaker A:From surviving civil war to shaping the digital future, our guest is bringing Silicon Valley and Silicon Savannah with purpose and power.
Speaker A:He leads with heart, builds with vision, and still finds time to scuba dive and rock climb.
Speaker A:And so get ready for a story that is as bold as it is brilliant.
Speaker A:Like I met.
Speaker A:I was.
Speaker A:I remember listening to him, like, I tried.
Speaker A:I think.
Speaker A:I think I closed my mouth, but I felt like my mouth was, like, open and on the floor.
Speaker A:Like, just completely captivated by his story and his.
Speaker A:Like, his just his brilliance in storytelling.
Speaker A:So really, really excited to have him on this platform.
Speaker A:So please join me in a big, gigantic, huge podcast welcome for Augustine.
Speaker A:We.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That was.
Speaker B:That was impressive.
Speaker B:I did not expect that.
Speaker B:That was impressive.
Speaker A:What did you expect?
Speaker A:You're brilliant.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I expected, you know, like, reading, but, like, the character got into was there.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:I need to meet this guy.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Isn't that how you're supposed to feel after, like, somebody reads your bio?
Speaker A:Like I usually say?
Speaker A:My God, who's that girl?
Speaker B:Who's that girl?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:I need to meet Augustine.
Speaker B:So that's.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:Let's go talk to him.
Speaker A:Let's go talk to him today.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:And so A little bit of B roll.
Speaker A:We're gonna just hash hitch over to the side.
Speaker A:We're both.
Speaker A:He has.
Speaker A:He had his Masai blanket on his chair.
Speaker A:And I was like, whoa, is that.
Speaker A:Is that custom?
Speaker A:And he said, no, it's just my blanket.
Speaker A:And I was like, but I have a blanket.
Speaker A:He's like, go and get your blanket.
Speaker A:So we're both blanketing and I'm keeping it.
Speaker B:You have.
Speaker B:You have to get the Maasai blanket when you have it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:You have to show it every day, daily.
Speaker B: yeah, for me, it was just my: Speaker B:Just like, I'm here.
Speaker B:I could be loud about it, but I'm here.
Speaker B:And you'll see this.
Speaker B:If you want to meet with me, you might ask a question about it.
Speaker B:Not tell you, but you can't help it.
Speaker B:You have to look at it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And if you don't like it, just maybe don't come to the meeting with me.
Speaker A:And I think that's what I really loved about that you shared.
Speaker A:And I just want to double click on that before I go to my first question.
Speaker A:But it's like we're so much in this virtual world.
Speaker A:And I loved and I think the.
Speaker A:The essence of what you shared, which made me actually run upstairs and go and get.
Speaker A:And by the way, these are authentic because they're both from Kenya.
Speaker A:Was that you said, like, you're going to be virtual and the space that you're in should reflect who you are as a human being.
Speaker B:And I mean, let me tell you this, tell me you can see you.
Speaker B:You can see behind me.
Speaker B:I intentionally wanted my background to be surrounded by faces of black women.
Speaker B:And so when you look at the art behind me, not only are they portraits from black photographers, but they are of black women.
Speaker B:And they are black women in beautiful, sexy state, reflective state, mothering, caring state.
Speaker B:And so the environment completely matters.
Speaker B:And I come to this office, I'm in my home, I work remote, and it can be daunting to just sit in the room and just sit here, do it all year, do it 24 hours a day.
Speaker B:But when I walk in this room, I always feel a semblance of comfort.
Speaker B:To my left, there are other two black faces, Black women.
Speaker B:Mandela is here.
Speaker B:And so you have to surround yourself with things that hopefully remind you and uplift you to do the things that you care about.
Speaker B:And sometimes you won't care about the core work.
Speaker B:Other times you come in here with emotions from outside.
Speaker B:And if the space is set up to keep you coming.
Speaker B:Then at least when you're sitting here, you can reflect, you can think, and hopefully make one step, one progress as you go.
Speaker B:So that's my thinking about it.
Speaker B:People come and say, oh, you are.
Speaker B:I'm like, yes, it was beautiful.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:Because, you know.
Speaker B:You know dope things.
Speaker B:That is what it is.
Speaker B:It's not surprising, but it was intentional to have specifically dark black women in art behind me, around me.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I'm gonna say something else, too, because right now, I changed the.
Speaker A:I changed the.
Speaker A:The configuration of my office.
Speaker A:So my desk used to be on that side.
Speaker A:And so there are two beautiful arts here and one by artist.
Speaker A:You got to check them out.
Speaker A:Benny Bing.
Speaker A:So shout outs to Benny Bing.
Speaker A:Benny.
Speaker A:But it's.
Speaker A:It's called a kandake.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:What does that mean?
Speaker A:It's a woman of countenance and strength and character.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And then I have another one called Maya.
Speaker A:And Maya meant.
Speaker A:Maya was like a quiet force.
Speaker A:Because it's funny, because her image, she's like.
Speaker A:She's facing this way, but it's like.
Speaker A:It's like you see gentleness, you see, like, quietness, maybe mistaken meekness, but don't get it twisted.
Speaker A:That face turns and it's strength, and it's right.
Speaker A:And so what I didn't realize at the time during COVID when I put the pictures up finally, because I recognized my background was blank.
Speaker A:I was struggling with self doubt.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:And so every day, I had in my vision kandake and Maya.
Speaker A:And I was getting coached one day by this amazing coach called naki.
Speaker A:So shout out, snacky.
Speaker A:And she said, go stand beside the picture behind you.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:That gives you the most amount of strength.
Speaker A:And I went to the kandake.
Speaker A:And that's when we looked it up, and I found out it was Benny Bing.
Speaker A:And it was kinda.
Speaker A:And that's where I got the.
Speaker A:The like.
Speaker A:That's when I understood what the kendake meant.
Speaker A:And when I say to you the fact that I looked at it every single day through my camera and I.
Speaker A:I promise you, six, seven, eight months down the line, just seamlessly to me, doubt went away.
Speaker A:Like the imposter syndrome.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Like there's nothing imposter about me, you.
Speaker B:Know, I mean, that's the power of art.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:And oftentimes people don't get to experience the benefit of it because we're so used to just moving about daily in our lives.
Speaker B:My house is surrounded in art.
Speaker B:I started becoming a collector Maybe three, four years.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker B:And we talk about, you know, one of the projects that I'm working on down the road.
Speaker B:But yeah, for me it was just like, okay, I like something, but I, I want it to inspire me daily.
Speaker B:And obviously, you know, art consumption can seem or can be portrayed as a thing of money, but you can find beauty in art, in any kind of art.
Speaker B:And so whether it's the trees, the plants, the guardians, you know, or just walking, getting outside, there's so much beauty in nature.
Speaker B:And just giving the way my life has shaped or was shaped.
Speaker B:I look to nature for some of those things.
Speaker B:And I remember, I don't even know where, where this came from, but I had this analogy that I would use and say, you know, the, the animals don't panic when the seasons change.
Speaker B:You know, like birds need the leaves to protect their nest, but the winter comes and they're bare and they're exposed and it's colder, but they understand these are seasons.
Speaker B:So when you're going through life, whether you're in the valley or you're lower, you have to understand, you have to look at the, you know, some people look at the circadian rhythm, but nature gives you.
Speaker B:All right, right.
Speaker B:We're in spring.
Speaker B:I live in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Speaker B:My trees are like full blown green.
Speaker B:The grass is green, but four months ago it wasn't.
Speaker B:And you have to just understand in this moment, in this time, perhaps the more aware you are, you can develop the skills and need in that moment.
Speaker B:And art gives you that.
Speaker B:Because in art, there's a static thing that never changes.
Speaker B:And it helps remind you.
Speaker B:I bought a piece from a Cameroonian artist, original piece named Ceci.
Speaker B:I went to an exhibition in San Francisco and there was this boy, like his, his kind of, his signature is big poppy eyes.
Speaker B:One big poppy eye.
Speaker B:And there was this dark skinned black boy, just with a salute and the smile that's just stuck on his face.
Speaker B:And I saw it, I loved it.
Speaker B:I didn't have the money to pay for it, but you know, I tell you one secret sauce.
Speaker B:If you know the artist, reach out to them and let them know how much you care about their art.
Speaker A:And they give you free art.
Speaker B:No, you pay for it.
Speaker B:Okay, you pay for it.
Speaker B:But you pay for it at the artist rate.
Speaker B:The thing is, if you see an art in a museum, you.
Speaker B:There's a 75 markup.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because the museum got to get it cut.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:The distributor or like the representative, everybody got to get their cut.
Speaker B: tist is probably seeing about: Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So they rather you buy directly from them.
Speaker B:Yeah, they can sell you their art direct.
Speaker B:And so that's what I've been doing with the few pieces that I have.
Speaker B:But it was just magical.
Speaker B:And I look at that piece every day.
Speaker B:You can't wipe the smile away from that young boy.
Speaker B:It's stuck in art and I get reminded about that and obviously like the emotions change when I engage with it.
Speaker B:But yes, I'm just growing in that space to love and appreciate art.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:Do me a favor, check out Benny.
Speaker A:Bingo.
Speaker B:Benny Bank.
Speaker A:B E N N Y B I N G.
Speaker A:He's actually Nigerian.
Speaker A:Yeah, check him out.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:African art is.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's not on the rise, but having a resurgence.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I'm here for it.
Speaker A:Benny.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Benny B E N N Y Bing B I N G.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Brilliant, brilliant.
Speaker A:So as a.
Speaker A:Well, I love, I love the organicness.
Speaker A:So I'm going to just ask you what is the most empowering thought that you've had of the day so far.
Speaker B:Today?
Speaker A:Yeah, this day.
Speaker B:I woke up happy.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And in part because, I mean I had like some heavy, you know, past few days just dealing with my own emotions in my head, you know.
Speaker B:But my team won last night.
Speaker B:We're 20 in the Western Conference final.
Speaker B:Oklahoma City.
Speaker B:I'm wearing the jersey, by the way.
Speaker A:I'm just gonna say this.
Speaker A:We had a previously scheduled podcast interview and I.
Speaker A:Was it the day of.
Speaker B:It was the day of.
Speaker B:I mean, to be fair, it was game seven of the Western Conference finals and I wouldn't have been in a good mood.
Speaker A:I hear you.
Speaker A:He said I would have been.
Speaker A:No, he was very honest.
Speaker A:He said I would have been distracted during the interview, I just wouldn't.
Speaker B:And so I rather just let you know and look at where we are.
Speaker B:We are in the finals.
Speaker A:We are, we are, we are two games up.
Speaker B:I'm in a great mood and I'm happy.
Speaker B:And you're asking about what thought did I have today?
Speaker B:Probably not today, but over the past couple of days.
Speaker B:My nephew graduated high school And I turned 35 two Sundays ago, I think.
Speaker A:What was that date?
Speaker B:May 4th.
Speaker A:Oh yeah, I think I told you.
Speaker A:May the 4th be with you.
Speaker A:My anniversary.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so I'm getting to that point where I'm a real uncle.
Speaker B:You know, I've always been an uncle, but you know, I'm an uncle to college going nephews, you know, and then my niece graduated from the fifth grade and so there's a lot of reflectionary moments when, you know, I have all of their pictures on my phone so I can just with a tap scroll to see when Aliyah, my favorite human in the world, was saying vanilla for a vanilla.
Speaker B:And you know, I've been around, you know, some of, some of my friends are parents and they talk about capturing and relishing those moments when a child voice or speech is different because the moment is gone.
Speaker B:You can't get it back.
Speaker B:You know, the moment she says, oh my God, you know, vanilla ice cream, and that goes away and she recognizes it's vanilla.
Speaker B:You would never hear vanilla.
Speaker B:And so I've just been in this grateful, you know, positive state.
Speaker B:Nephew going to college.
Speaker B:You know, I'm excited for that.
Speaker B:He's going to middle school.
Speaker B:And funny enough, I was watching a short Instagram video on cell phone uses with kids and my niece got grounded and her mom took away her phone.
Speaker B:And Unlike any other 10 year old, she's thriving.
Speaker B:And she actually doesn't mind her.
Speaker B:Her grounding time being longer because she's, she's reading more.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:My sister sends, sends me a picture of her meditating on the trampoline in the backyard.
Speaker B:Like, you take away the phone, you take away the toys and she just, she's making her own breakfast at 10, she's like climbing, climbing on the roof window to read and sit there and like take in like the trees around her.
Speaker A:But that takes a certain upbringing because there are a lot of kids that losing their phone would be like tantrum and life, life altering.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So I love that.
Speaker B:I love, I mean, it's, it's just been a very like, positive kind of few days and hours leading up to today.
Speaker B:And so not specifically I thought today, but I came into the day recognizing that I'm in a happy mood.
Speaker B:And so that was that.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:So I want to.
Speaker A:So what captivated me about you, and I think it's just so profound is you told your story about from refugee camp to sort of where you are now, like Silicon Valley leader.
Speaker A:And I don't want to give it any more than that.
Speaker A:I love you to tell that story the way you love to tell it the most so that we can, we can, yeah, we can get to know you better.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I'll start in Silicon Valley and then pivot back to early days.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker B:And one of the things, it was a black woman therapist.
Speaker B:One of the things that I took away from my first session, she said something that was Profound.
Speaker B:And she said, you know, the skills and tools you needed to survive, you don't need anymore.
Speaker B:And so this level of independence, this level of like, I can do all things by myself, you needed that to survive as a kid, but today you don't.
Speaker B:And so if you don't shed those skin, if you don't let those things go, you will find yourself still struggling.
Speaker B:And so I'm not saying that to say that I've shed all the skin, but it's just a really good point to think about my journey and my narrative.
Speaker B:Because when I was three years old, we had to flee the Liberian Civil War and no three year old wake up and think about fleeing.
Speaker B:And there's something about memory that really sticks with you when trauma happens.
Speaker B:And sometimes, you know, I struggle with, are there real memories or are they just made up memories?
Speaker B:Because I remember I loved school and I still do, even though I don't see myself going back to organic school.
Speaker B:But we had a good life and a demarcation of that good life.
Speaker B: My mom has a picture of us in: Speaker B:Monrovia, Liberia.
Speaker B:White picket fence, grass is all green, you can walk barefoot, big yard.
Speaker B:So life was good.
Speaker B:If you look at history and people show you archives and pictures, you can deduce from certain things how people were living at the time.
Speaker B:And so it cemented in my mind the memory I had about going to school with my dad, holding my hands.
Speaker B:So if they were made up, then it was a really good made up to match that narrative.
Speaker B:But life was good.
Speaker B:And then suddenly it wasn't.
Speaker B:You know, you start to figure out, this is not what I'm used to.
Speaker B:And so we fled the war.
Speaker B:My dad was in the government or working in some high role.
Speaker B:And so if you are in a war environment, for folks who haven't experienced it, typically the establishment is what is targeted.
Speaker B:And so anyone that has the potential to inspire or work with administrator, with administrations, to orchestrate whatever, they come after you, to dismantle that and then whatever happens next.
Speaker B:And so at an early age I was displaced in this kind of movement filled world.
Speaker B:I remember my dad also helped me with this memory.
Speaker B:We went to my grandfather's village.
Speaker B:We were there for like maybe two or three weeks and then ended up fleeing, you know, over the St.
Speaker B:Paul River.
Speaker B:That's the river connecting Ivory coast to Liberia.
Speaker B:But Ivory coast is French speaking, we are English speaking, Sierra Leone is English speaking.
Speaker B:But the war came from that Region.
Speaker B:So Ghana had a dedicated land by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR for short.
Speaker B:And so that's where we fled.
Speaker B:My mom is Ghanaian.
Speaker B:She's half Ghanian, half Liberian.
Speaker B:And so it kind of made sense, I guess, for the adults at the time to move there on the refugee camp.
Speaker B:But when I started to recognize that I was a living kid, like, you know, I was in the refugee camp, and that's where life started.
Speaker B:And so today people are able to see the lives of refugees.
Speaker B:People didn't see the lives of refugees back in the 90s.
Speaker B:And I remember there were just moments of terror like that just happened every day or like every month.
Speaker B:You know, we had this bulletin up front in the.
Speaker B:I guess, like the center of the camp.
Speaker B:And I share more about that experience with you here that I don't share in other places.
Speaker B:But almost every month or so, you see, like, a missing person will go.
Speaker B:It's like, oh, this person is missing.
Speaker B:And then two weeks later, you will see a picture of their dismembered body trying to ask people to identify if this was their, you know, family member.
Speaker B:And so I talk about how expendable you are when your civility is taken away as refugees.
Speaker B:If people need the sacrifices and they need, like, human sacrifices, who's expendable?
Speaker B:Buddha refugee in the camp, Go pick up somebody.
Speaker B:The world doesn't care about these people.
Speaker B:And so life was pretty much that.
Speaker B:There's a.
Speaker B:In a sense of being a kid, and you don't really fully understand some of the complexities and the constraints that you have as a refugee.
Speaker B:And then there was the agonizing reality of growth, because as you start growing, you start recognizing your limitations, right?
Speaker B:And for me in particular, some of those limitations came through school.
Speaker B:I've always been sort of a, I guess, nerd or something like that.
Speaker B:And so to find myself in a Silicon Valley space years later, it's not all that surprising.
Speaker B:But I love school.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:I was.
Speaker B:I got a promotion from, what, kindergarten one to first grade, and there was kindergarten two that I skipped.
Speaker B:And then when I was in the fifth grade, the teachers was like, yeah, I don't know if sixth grade is going to do you any good, so we're just going to take it to the seventh grade.
Speaker B:And I've always kind of been that kid, just excited about learning.
Speaker B:But when you're a refugee on a refugee camp, what do you do with that?
Speaker B:You know?
Speaker B:And so my mom early on, you know, identified some of my gifts, and she put Me in computer school, because I was just curious about it, and I was just like, hey, the world is changing.
Speaker B:There's this thing called typewriter and computers.
Speaker B:Remember when you used to pay for Internet cafe at an Internet cafe?
Speaker A:Yes, yes.
Speaker B:So, like, we'll get, like, some money.
Speaker B:I'll go to Internet cafe, pay my money for 60 minutes of Internet time.
Speaker B:It's actually kind of wild, like, thinking about it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:The ubiquity of Internet today is so crazy from when I was seven.
Speaker A:But there's still pockets of that when you think about it.
Speaker A:You pay for it on the plane.
Speaker B:There is, yeah.
Speaker B:But I think there are even actual places where people are still doing that.
Speaker A:Yes, yes.
Speaker B:But that was transformational for me because I could communicate, I could look up things.
Speaker B:I could Google stuff.
Speaker B:Maybe not Google at the time.
Speaker B:And all of that really kind of resonated, and it kind of picked my interest.
Speaker B:And I was always going.
Speaker B:And I think some guy told my mom, like, hey, Charity.
Speaker B:That's my mom's name.
Speaker B:You should get this boy into, you know, like, typing school.
Speaker B:Because, like, typing is the thing.
Speaker B:So she got me enrolling.
Speaker A:And where would you have been at this point?
Speaker B:Buddha Broom refugee camp.
Speaker A:Okay, still.
Speaker B:Okay, still in the camp.
Speaker B: to: Speaker B:So 13 years of my life was spent in the refugee camp.
Speaker B:I grew up, like, I came into adolescence or adolescence, as some to call it.
Speaker B:And so to make a long story short.
Speaker B:Short, my mom leaned into that because she trusted that if I liked it, and it was about education in school, like, I would do well.
Speaker B:So she put me into a typing.
Speaker B:Typing school, and then I graduated from that.
Speaker B:And the teacher said, you should get him into computer typing because that's the future.
Speaker B:And I remember computer typing.
Speaker B:What's the future?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, not on the typewriter.
Speaker B:And so I remember there was a program called Mavis Beacon, and I'm sure many people who started typing on the computer use that.
Speaker B:And it had a thing.
Speaker B:It's almost like the quick brown fox jump.
Speaker A:Yeah, I remember that.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:But in.
Speaker B:In Mavis Bacon, they had a thing that became a life's mantra till today.
Speaker B:They tell you to type accurate.
Speaker B:Accuracy is better than speed.
Speaker B:So when you're typing, usually, like when you Once you kind of like, pick up on.
Speaker B:On some things, you try to type too fast.
Speaker B:But the literal words that you were typing was accuracy is better than speed.
Speaker B:And what it was doing in a literal and metaphorical sense is if you slow down and do things the right way.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Eventually you will become the best at it.
Speaker B:And because it's so familiar, you end up doing it faster than the average person who is now putting.
Speaker B:I mean, like there's all these metaphors that, you know, you know, correlate Kobe, talk about you not shooting in the gym with me or like the 10,000 hours.
Speaker B:It was the same thing happening.
Speaker B:And so from there, my mom put me into computer school.
Speaker B:When I was 11, I would go from Buddha Buram refugee camp to Accra.
Speaker B:I don't know, the miles, maybe like 34 kilometers, something.
Speaker B:As a kid, 11 years old.
Speaker B:So putting my life at risk.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:In pursuit of education and in hope that someday this education would pan into something.
Speaker B:On top of all of that, my dad is missing.
Speaker B: Like he left us in, in the: Speaker B:So there's this entire world on the compounding impact of insecurity.
Speaker B:Like literally being insecure not internally, but also internally.
Speaker B:Because as a kid I stuttered.
Speaker B:So this, what we're doing here was not.
Speaker A:Was not.
Speaker B:This is, this is a miracle.
Speaker A:Okay, okay.
Speaker B:If you see my 11 year old self, this is a miracle.
Speaker B:I couldn't speak, I couldn't say things.
Speaker A:If I, if I can just pause for a second.
Speaker A:There are some incredible orders in this world, like Maya Angelou, silent for how many years?
Speaker A:And stuttered TD Jakes apparently stuttered.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, I think like, those are magnificent stories.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And, and I still do, you know, but it's now like, oh, the guy at Google and he's like thinking about what he's trying to say.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:But as a kid who doesn't have a father around, growing up and watching your friends go missing every day, going dumpster to like pick up tin cans, to build cars, playing in dirt, swimming in like dirt ponds, just being a kid.
Speaker B:And then when you needed money, what do you do?
Speaker B:You're a boy, you gotta go work, you go sell kerosene, you go sell ice blocks, you sell Kool Aid, you sell like food in the market, you push wheelbarrows, you do all these things.
Speaker B:And it's normal that because that's life.
Speaker B:Everyone else around you is going through the same thing.
Speaker B:So it was just.
Speaker B:You don't realize until you step away from it that, wow, you know, Kanye has a song.
Speaker B:I know he's a controversial, you know, topic, but it talk about, I'm full five seconds from wild and I got three more days to Friday, I.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm pretty sure we were about six to eight months from just accepting the realities of this is where our lives is going to end and be here.
Speaker B:And so very fortunate that was able to immigrate to the United States as an immigration, as a refugee, you know, trying to reclaim asylum here and yeah, the US for all of its, you know, complexities, breathe new life into this brain of a child that read Napoleon Hill when he was 11.
Speaker B:Part of what kept me, I think, sane as a kid was I was curious about the world around me.
Speaker B:So I would read often and it would expand my imagination into what was possible.
Speaker B:I read the stories of, you know, Carnegie and S.B.
Speaker B:fuller, those guys that were selling newspapers, and then turn that into, you know, empires, or the stories about your talisman, choosing pma positive mental attitude and negative mental attitude and how both of those can work in your favor or like the reinforcement policies or like how you can leverage your situations as reinforcements for you to do well and you can pull that from positive, positive reinforcement.
Speaker B:So, like, as a kid, 11, 12, these are the things that I'm learning, ingested into myself because, mind you, I've been told that I would be the president one day.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Who told you that?
Speaker B:Everybody, you know, so I'm like, I have to live up to this.
Speaker B:Like, if I'm going to be the president, I have to be smart, I have to be educated, I have to be well spoken and I have to know things.
Speaker B:So you have to figure it out innately.
Speaker B:Behind me, I think people was just encouraging a smart young kid to keep going.
Speaker B:But I was also excited about it because when I learned something new, it excite, it excited me, right?
Speaker B:Even to today.
Speaker B: You know, I just bought a: Speaker B:And I just got fascinated with like fixing the cooling system.
Speaker B:And I took it, I took it, you know, to AAA and then like $600, I'm like, bruh, I'm gonna do this myself.
Speaker B:Guess What?
Speaker B:I went YouTube, figured out cars running smooth as day.
Speaker B:And it's one of the most exciting things I've done in the past month.
Speaker B:Fixing the car with my hand that I sit in, if you're comfortable driving.
Speaker B:So anyways.
Speaker B:But yeah, so that's how life started, right?
Speaker B:Just kind of arching back disruption at a very early age and then this kind of pocket of time where a lot of things are in there, right?
Speaker B:Abuse, you know, fascinating growth experiences, engagement with, you know, religion in a way that, you know, cause separation or Just finding confidence in self, in a world where you're skinny, stuttering kid, without structure, without father, without the support that other people have, and then moving to America, this vast place of opportunity, yet realizing that you are at the bottom of the totem pole again.
Speaker B:And so the journey to where life is obviously today looks easy.
Speaker B:And it looks like, well, of course you were destined to be there, given how you show up today.
Speaker B:And in a way, that's true, because without the obstructions in my way, maybe I'm in a better state or maybe I'm not.
Speaker B:But I do know that where I am today in a large part, had everything to do with the level of adversity in the way that I've navigated the adversities in my life.
Speaker B:And so we talked earlier about recognizing dopeness, recognizing energies, recognizing these things.
Speaker B:I move with a level of confidence that sometimes intimidate people because you haven't been what I've been.
Speaker B:And I'm not saying that to, like, wish you to experience the things I've experienced, but, you know, against all odds, I believe that I've risen from a place where many people, even my family members, right.
Speaker B:We all experience the same environment in different ways.
Speaker B:And the way that thing affected us, the way we responded to it has been different.
Speaker B:And so.
Speaker A:And I love that.
Speaker A:I think that that is so testament, like, if I.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:And sometimes you can't even put a hand, like a name on it or an understanding around it.
Speaker A:But there's.
Speaker A:There's a.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:I'm gonna just not use the word confidence.
Speaker A:But there's a way that people who.
Speaker A:I'm gonna say move.
Speaker A:I don't know how else to describe at the spiritual.
Speaker A:It's a spiritual plane.
Speaker A:Like, it's a plane in life where it's like, you just know that your life has a purpose and a meaning behind it, irrespective of whatever the world around you is happening, that you walk this earth differently.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I think that that's.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker B:I believe that's true.
Speaker B:And sometimes you run away from that because it feels scary.
Speaker B:It feels too.
Speaker B:Too burdensome.
Speaker B:And other times you embrace it.
Speaker B:You know, that's why everybody doesn't become MVP in the basketball league.
Speaker B:Everybody doesn't win the most valu in, like, the Champions League, the person that rise to the moment.
Speaker B:And I'm not saying that I'm an MVP in that light, but what I'm saying is the characteristics that you need to succeed in life, it's molded in.
Speaker B:In the Daily kind of navigation of the struggles that's before you.
Speaker B:And to be fully transparent, I'm navigating challenges today that in many ways are huge because they're all mental now.
Speaker B:They're not like okay, they're not like, they're not like, they're not physical, they're not in front of you.
Speaker B:And so but I'm leaning into the fact that you know a lot of what I've experienced though the environment was constrained was all mental, you know because I look at kids today navigating challenges and the way they respond to it, it, it's not necessarily how I responded to my challenges.
Speaker B:I wanted to like crush it.
Speaker B:I wanted to like go after it.
Speaker B:Like you wanna, you wanna argue with me in spelling, bro?
Speaker B:Do you know who I am?
Speaker B:Like I would walk around and spell stuff with my finger in the air.
Speaker B:Like what do you mean?
Speaker B:You know how to spell photosynthesis, you know, spell chlorophyll.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like you know, like doing all these things.
Speaker B:But I would come at you mentally and then today I'm struggling with this fatigue and you know, part of being in the space for nine years and I'm like okay, I need a break.
Speaker B:But then always been a hard worker.
Speaker B:I've always, you know like plow through and so there are different challenges and nuances to how you respond to things but in most cases rising to the occasion takes a lot of mental fortitude.
Speaker B:Not occasion.
Speaker B:You know, could be a graduation or it could be just recognizing that you need rest.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So a lot of times I say you are someone who I think is the epitomizes I've taken more out of adversity and adversity has taken out of me and so would love to but what did I say earlier?
Speaker A:I said typically I like to wind down.
Speaker B:Let's keep going.
Speaker A:You get a point.
Speaker A:We're going to keep going.
Speaker A:So I want to start.
Speaker A:I would love to double click now on what sort of the adversity because that was the next thing that really fascinated about me to you and I think also what brought you a bit on the jitech stage, you know is, is how you've.
Speaker A:What you're unlocking from.
Speaker A:From I'm gonna say connecting purpose to the journey that you've had to or still navigating in life and, and maybe you could talk about some of the things that are unlocking that are now benefiting others.
Speaker A:I think it's like get ready world.
Speaker A:Listen to this.
Speaker B:You know I.
Speaker B:For the longest I've been running away from, from a few things in life, we try to like, beef up our weaknesses.
Speaker B:I think people tell you that, like, oh, if you're weak in this thing, go get better at it.
Speaker B:And oftentimes those are really good advice for young people and so to be more well rounded.
Speaker B:And I found that I've been trying to beef up my weaknesses, that my strengths are also just like, bro, like come back to me, you know, and throughout this entire experience of mine, it's just been connecting with people.
Speaker B:You know, the kid that couldn't talk, you know, was a huge connector then, you know, and the kid that can speak freely is a huge connector now.
Speaker B:But I thought, or society told me that if I'm not that strong in these other areas, then I'm not good enough.
Speaker B:So I need to beef up the technical.
Speaker B:I need to beef up the understanding of this and that.
Speaker B:And it all comes down to the same thing.
Speaker B:The reason I've been successful in all the spaces that I've been in is because I was able to connect and articulate myself.
Speaker B:Yeah, go figure, right?
Speaker B:Articulating myself.
Speaker B:And so recognizing that over the past couple of years to kind of pull me back into, eliminate the, the weakness build, like there's too many people in this world that if I'm not good at something, somebody is going to be really good at it.
Speaker B:You know, I'm not going to tell you I need to beef up my ability to understand, you know, quantum theory.
Speaker B:Like, I don't need to know that.
Speaker B:And I would run away from it because there's somebody who is just as passionate about that or more passionate that if I asked them a question here, they were like, excitedly tell me, so what I've been trying to do is just how do I leverage this currency of mine, which is my connective tissue, to not only build, but connect communities and connect people.
Speaker B:And so internally at Google, when I got to Google, very excited to be there, I got thrust into this leadership role to lead the Africans at Google community, which is a community of Africans working at Google, and just like, okay, like y' all want me to do that.
Speaker B:And it just became this thing where over the years, people just gravitate towards me or like I gravitate towards, you know, people and really create spaces where people can not only feel comfortable, but see themselves.
Speaker B:You know, I started this Jollof cook off in San Francisco where only the guys would cook and would Talk Trash and 200 people come out and people like, like 200 black people in San Francisco.
Speaker B:Something must be going on.
Speaker B:It's good food, good energy, but all of those things, I thought it was soft skills that weren't as important because everybody tell you to, like, beef up the hard skills.
Speaker B:And then it turns out we're in this very technical world where people are like, where are the soft skills?
Speaker B:Who knows how to navigate ambiguity, who can articulate visions, who can talk about things in a way that the average person can understand?
Speaker B:Yes, I need you to know how to do the technical stuff, but we got somebody who can do that really well.
Speaker B:And so I've just really leaned into this stuff and try to understand where I can add value, recognizing that I'm no longer running away from this connective tissue that I have as a person.
Speaker B:And so in my natural form, after about seven years at Google, I thought I needed to diversify my identity and not just be the guy that works at Google.
Speaker B:And so I found venture capital as a space that blended all of the things that I cared about.
Speaker B:My entry into Google was as a recruiter, and as a recruiter, at the highest level, you're going to find a needle in the haystack.
Speaker B:And so that same approach was layered with your ability to connect with people.
Speaker B:And so venture, early stage venture capital is purely relationships.
Speaker B:It's purely connection.
Speaker B:So I'm finding that all the things that I've already been good at all these times is something that is truly needed in spaces where I can connect cultures, people and opportunities.
Speaker B:And so that's what led me into venture.
Speaker B:And today I lead the deal team for the Black Angel Group.
Speaker B:It's one of the largest black investment syndicates in the world.
Speaker B:We have about 350 professionals from the biggest tech companies in the world.
Speaker B:And we invest intellectual and financial capital into startups.
Speaker B:Black founders, Asian founders, white founders.
Speaker B:We look for amazing opportunities.
Speaker B:And then Africa unlocked for me two years ago because I've always wanted to go back home.
Speaker B:I've always wanted to reconnect and try to redefine the narrative that was once a captive narrative to now a narrative of freedom and choice.
Speaker B:And so I took a solo trip to Jamaica about three years ago.
Speaker B:And people like, why are you going to Jamaica by yourself?
Speaker B:This is crazy.
Speaker B:I'm like, well, I'm crazy.
Speaker B:So I'm gonna go to Jamaica by myself and drive around the island for 14 days and see if I come back, I'm back.
Speaker B:That means.
Speaker B:That means it's successful.
Speaker B:But in the experience, in the experience, I found that it's the same thing.
Speaker B:It's people, it's community.
Speaker B:And one experience Stood out for me that unlocked Africa.
Speaker B:I'm in St.
Speaker B:Elizabeth, Black river, to be specific.
Speaker B:I'm at the Pelican Bar.
Speaker B:It's the bar on the water where people go to his Instagram and all that stuff.
Speaker B:Met this Canadian Jamaican lady.
Speaker B:You're Canadian?
Speaker B:And we just kicked it off and she.
Speaker B:We're talking and I'm like, hey, can I come visit your house?
Speaker B:Because I want to see how you're living.
Speaker B:She's, you know, she talked about she's growing her food at home and, you know, raising, you know, livestock.
Speaker B:And those are things that I cared about and in the future I want to do.
Speaker B:So I went there, saw her, saw her husband, the rabbits, the goats.
Speaker B:It was fascinating.
Speaker B:And I asked her, hey, can you please take me to the store so I can get some spices?
Speaker B:Because I love to cook, and I cook really well, if I do say so myself, you know.
Speaker B:And she took me to this spot, and as we were getting stuff, there was an older lady, 80 plus years old, and she called her to come to me, and she said, look, he's one of us.
Speaker B:And this lady is shorter than me.
Speaker B:I looked at her and she.
Speaker B:She, like, squeezed my cheeks and she said, oh, look at you.
Speaker B:You're one of us.
Speaker B:Welcome home.
Speaker B:And in that moment, it dawned on me that this idea that I should go everywhere else and spend my dollars or, like, experience culture.
Speaker B:And having not done that to Liberia in Africa, it just.
Speaker B:It just became clear that I needed to go back home.
Speaker B: And so going home in: Speaker B:This kid who was once told to be the president, who don't want to do that anymore because I want to live longer and I want to keep scuba diving.
Speaker B:It just really ignited this passion of mine to really find ways to connect.
Speaker B:And on my trip to Liberia, for the first time in 30 years, I organized a conference with some friends to bring 200 Liberians together, government, tech, agriculture, to talk at the intersection of innovation for the country.
Speaker B:The following year, I went back to Africa.
Speaker B:I was in Kenya, launched a venture summit called Silicon Exchange.
Speaker B:And the goal was to kind of close funding gaps for Silicon Savannah founders and bridge them to the valley in California.
Speaker B:Today I'm advocating immensely for African founders and trying to find pathways that we can not only bridge the technology gap, but bridge the education gap, bridge the funding gap, and breach the mentor gap.
Speaker B:Because everybody tells you Africa is the future.
Speaker B:It's so somewhat kind of creepy when you hear people talk about Africa in the ways that's so capitalistic.
Speaker B:But there are a lot of opportunities for kids like me who are selling water on the street that could turn out to be a better version of me.
Speaker B:And so how do we unlock opportunities within these creative minds to then create opportunities for others?
Speaker B:So leveraging this thing that I've always tried to like, run away from like the guy, you know, all you have is social skills and soft skills to now be one of my biggest superpowers.
Speaker B:And I feel so confident about where we are headed in the future.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So that's how I've been trying to connect purpose with opportunity.
Speaker B:And it's fueling me because I'm getting really excited talking about this.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, you're excited me as well because I am on a little bit of a similar pathway.
Speaker A:And, and the trip to Morocco really started to unlock that.
Speaker A:And, and very shortly I'm going like in a couple weeks heading to Jamaica with.
Speaker A:For a trade mission.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, and that just unlocked organically after coming back from Morocco.
Speaker A:I didn't, I didn't seek it, I didn't ask it.
Speaker A:And so I'm like, okay, there's something God is telling me here and what happens if I put a little bit more intention and purpose on this?
Speaker A:And so thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you for sharing that.
Speaker A:And there's something I actually wanted to, I wanted you to finish.
Speaker A:But there's something that you, when you started sort of that, that piece about strengths and weaknesses, I just want to invite something.
Speaker A:It's a concept.
Speaker A:It's not, it's not mine.
Speaker A:It's actually from Simon Sinek.
Speaker A:But I thought, I think it would resonate with you where he says, like, do away with strengths and weaknesses.
Speaker A:The truth is characteristics and attributes.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because when you know your characteristics and attributes, then what you should be doing is seeking those spaces where those characteristics and attributes are strengths or amplified.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Amplified.
Speaker A:Because the same characteristics and attributes you have in the wrong environment will be seen as a weakness.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Look, and when I let me just double, what's happened is really quick.
Speaker B:And it was, it's a funny analogy, but.
Speaker B:But I grew up in Oklahoma City.
Speaker B:When I came to the us I went to an all black high school and some of the spaces we share wasn't the safest.
Speaker B:But what you learn as a high school kid is you learn to observe in those environments and you know what's about to pop off.
Speaker B:You know, for folks outside of America, when something's about to pop off, it's like some commotion is about to happen.
Speaker B:But you Just know that by paying attention.
Speaker B:You know, when, when John walks in the room, when day, day looks that way, when somebody twitched this way, you know what's about to happen.
Speaker B:You know the funny thing about all of that, which in that environment is a survival or like, oh my God, wrong environment in the corporate space in venture, these are quality skill sets that if you lean into somebody trying to tell you about their idea, you can look at how they're presenting you.
Speaker B:When you engaging with someone, you can see how they are carrying themselves.
Speaker B:You know, when somebody is like twitching and you can.
Speaker B:It helps you make decisions in a different environment that amplifies growth and all these different things, or like decision making for the betterment of your, your goals.
Speaker B:Whereas in another environment it's like, oh man, something about to pop up.
Speaker B:It's about to be crazy.
Speaker B:So, you know, attributes and characteristics in the right environment, in the wrong environment is, is something that's profound.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:So first of all, you are such a delight to interview because all I do is ask you like one question.
Speaker A:No, no, no, don't do that.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I'm giving you that sorry back.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I'm giving you that sorry back because I, I was as fascinated, I was as fascinated with you today as I was sitting, I remember sitting at Jitex Africa in the investor lounge, leaning back and just.
Speaker A:I felt like a kid at a campfire just listening to an incredible, amazing story that inspires and uplifts and so thank you for doing that again.
Speaker A:I am gonna, I am gonna get control of this interview now though.
Speaker A:But let me step back into the scene of interviewer.
Speaker A:I am going to take you through what I call our rapid thriver.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And so when you think of someone who inspires you, who comes first to.
Speaker B:Mind, my mother and I know.
Speaker A:So this one, this is another podcast episode.
Speaker B:And I'm happy to talk about her because I think my mother, everybody says this about their mom, which everyone is entitled to, but to bear six children, be abandoned with them on the refugee camp and not run and made sure that every one of us had the most important thing, life, staying alive.
Speaker B:If you meet my mother, you will be very surprised because the things she's endured, I have not comprehend.
Speaker B:Another human that I've met.
Speaker B:And yet her joy is on wavering and so she's stubborn and that's just what it is like.
Speaker A:I love the pictures you shared of her.
Speaker B:We love, get annoyed, you know, but you know, when you sit back and you think about the things she's had to endure and how she's still strong and showing up for herself.
Speaker B:Yeah, I just.
Speaker B:I just can't be more inspired than any other.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:What is a daily activity that helps you with your thrive.
Speaker B:Workout?
Speaker A:Okay, we talked about that earlier.
Speaker A:Squat, pull, push.
Speaker A:What is a book?
Speaker A:A memorable book that has helped you with your thrive.
Speaker B:I'd say the Water Dancer by Ta Nehisi Goats.
Speaker A:Never heard.
Speaker B:I've been listening to a lot of books recently, but Ta Nehisi Coates, Water Dancer.
Speaker B:It's a fictional book on the enslaved, and it really opened my eyes to the word enslaved versus lace, because enslaved personalized the individual.
Speaker B:And the book talks about the experience of enslaved Africans from the perspective of a daily person like you, a woman lives in Toronto.
Speaker B:You have a life, you have emotions, you care about people, you get sad.
Speaker B:And when you hear about the stories about enslaved Africans, nobody humanizes them.
Speaker B:Nobody talked about, you know, Joanne probably, you know, had a crush on that boy down the street.
Speaker B:And, you know, they had these fights, but he gave them superpowers, and so they were able to liberate themselves.
Speaker B:And I found that to be the best written fictional book that I've read.
Speaker B:And I've read it twice.
Speaker B:And yeah, that always, always.
Speaker A:I love it that.
Speaker A:I love it that it's a new book.
Speaker A:And for this.
Speaker A:300.
Speaker A:And I think you're.
Speaker A:330.
Speaker A:30.
Speaker A:I think that's the episode.
Speaker A:So, first one.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:What is an app that helps you through thrive?
Speaker B:I hate apps, but YouTube.
Speaker B:Yes, but I hate apps because I just get sucked into that.
Speaker B:But YouTube.
Speaker B:I say YouTube because it's my favorite app.
Speaker A:It's one of my favorite apps.
Speaker A:You know what my favorite app is?
Speaker B:YouTube.
Speaker B:No, what?
Speaker A:The period app.
Speaker B:Oh, the one that reminds you that you're not.
Speaker B:You're not going back.
Speaker A:The period.
Speaker A:It tells you, like, you put everything in there, like a whole bunch of stuff.
Speaker A:And actually, yeah, I love it.
Speaker B:It's like a calendar for your life.
Speaker B:And it's so personalized.
Speaker A:Very personalized.
Speaker A:But anyway, go on.
Speaker A:I digress.
Speaker A:Go ahead.
Speaker B:No YouTube, I'd say, because I check YouTube for just.
Speaker B:I'm a sports buff, like Oklahoma City Thunder.
Speaker B:And like, I know it's boring and it's like cliche, but consuming content about the things that makes me happy.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Keeps me happy.
Speaker B:And so.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I work at YouTube, so it's also like.
Speaker A:Yeah, makes sense.
Speaker A:You should like the product you work for.
Speaker A:And as you move through life, what is one misconception that people have of you as they see you.
Speaker B:I think today people think I'm arrogant.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:We kind of covered that earlier as to why.
Speaker B:Yeah, people think I'm arrogant or, like, they think I think too much of myself.
Speaker B:And I say, yes, you're right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because I do think too much of myself in a way that I won't, you know, allow myself to go into spaces where I'm devalued.
Speaker B:I won't allow myself to be in environments where you don't recognize the.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The additive nature of my humanity.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And, you know, just truly choosing self.
Speaker B:You know, I went through a patch where I lost some strong friendships, and I had to ask myself, am I doing something wrong to lose these friendships?
Speaker B:Or, like, people did things to me that caused me to end the friendships?
Speaker B:And I was like, what is it about me that people feel the need to, like, come at me this way?
Speaker B:And it dawned on me.
Speaker B:I don't think it's me.
Speaker B:I think sometimes in spaces where you show up confidently, people's insecurity is louder, and it causes them to react and project.
Speaker B:And sometimes their projection comes out to be, like, physical or, like, through, you know, through words, and they try to make you feel small.
Speaker B:And, you know, my entire life, people have tried to make me feel small, whether it's intentionally using words to me or the spaces that I couldn't have access to.
Speaker B:And so, yeah, I.
Speaker B:I walk with my head very high.
Speaker B:And if you.
Speaker B:If you're bothered by that, you should ask yourself why.
Speaker B:Or maybe ask me why.
Speaker A:Yeah, I.
Speaker A:I have to share something in this moment because I actually feel a lot of motions coming up right now.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:So, first of all, tomorrow.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So to everyone on the podcast, you know, I batch my episode.
Speaker A:So tomorrow, May 24th, we're recording this.
Speaker A:On May 23rd, I'm hosting a lead.
Speaker A:A.
Speaker A:A leadership summit.
Speaker A:It's called Lead L, E a D.
Speaker A:And lead stands for learn, elevate, activate, and disrupt.
Speaker A:And the.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:The tagline has been, because real leadership doesn't follow the rules.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It rewrites them.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And what you just said about, like.
Speaker A:And even just your retort.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, you think a lot about yourself, and I think that that's, like, the most powerful thing I've, like, heard in a while.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, in response.
Speaker A:Yeah, I do.
Speaker A:And when you said that, like, it felt so, like, I want everyone.
Speaker A:I want myself to be able to say that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I actually.
Speaker A:I actually do, because that's the only way I can lead is because I'm learning about myself.
Speaker A:I'm understanding myself.
Speaker A:I'm being willing to push myself and.
Speaker A:And pressure myself.
Speaker A:And what you just talked about, right, like, is.
Speaker A:And allow myself in the space.
Speaker A:Spaces that I occupy to.
Speaker A:To be expressing myself at the highest.
Speaker A:At the highest possible level that I can for myself, because it contributes to the space in a way that nobody else can, because they're not me.
Speaker A:Like, there was so much about what you just said there that really just resonate with me that I just had to.
Speaker A:I had to share, and it's not.
Speaker A:And the reason I shared tomorrow's event is because it is a it.
Speaker A:How it came about was very divine.
Speaker A:You canceled me on Sunday.
Speaker A:No, it's true.
Speaker A:You canceled me on Sunday.
Speaker A:But we had this conversation on the eve of my event, and I feel like I needed to hear that because I think I'm taking your words to share at that event because I.
Speaker A:I almost feel like I should clip this and share it.
Speaker B:And I'm.
Speaker B:And I'm in a happier state to probably deliver.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker B:Would have been a Sunday when my heart was in my hands.
Speaker B:Like, just close it out.
Speaker B:Close out the game, please.
Speaker A:So I.
Speaker A:I actually.
Speaker A:I'm going to see if I can do this, a little bit of a production and actually clip this.
Speaker A:And if I do, I will share it with you because I think what you just said there is really powerful.
Speaker A:So thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you, thank you.
Speaker A:And so now where do we find more of you online?
Speaker B:I'm on LinkedIn.
Speaker B:I'm in and out of Instagram.
Speaker B:I'm on LinkedIn.
Speaker B:Augustine Weah.
Speaker B:I think I'm probably the only one with the name.
Speaker A:Yeah, I believe so.
Speaker A:I believe so.
Speaker B:Unless.
Speaker B:Unless my dad is on, you know.
Speaker A:Are you an Augustine Junior?
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm an Augustine Junior.
Speaker B:It's a funny story, right?
Speaker B:My dad, I have three other brothers.
Speaker B:And, you know, the.
Speaker B:The typical thing is the older son.
Speaker A:The first one gets the name.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it's a funny story.
Speaker B:Apparently, you know, my dad and his shenanigans.
Speaker B:You know, he had a junior, and my mom's like, no, we're not gonna do that.
Speaker B:Because my dad had a son, and that was not with my mom.
Speaker B:And they had two other boys since, and they decided to not name a junior.
Speaker B: me, you know, I met my dad in: Speaker B:And so there was a lot of conversations about all the things.
Speaker B:And I asked him about this.
Speaker B:I'm like, why Am I a junior, bro?
Speaker B:Like, what do you mean?
Speaker B:Like, I'm the youngest boy.
Speaker B:He's like, you know, my dad is 3x.
Speaker B:What you think I am?
Speaker B:Like, he's so charismatic.
Speaker B:Like he would like take you to the moon and back and probably why he was such a polarizing human, you know?
Speaker B:And it's like, yeah, I just knew from the day you were born, like your mannerisms, I knew you would be a junior.
Speaker B:And then I asked my mom for her version.
Speaker B:She's like, I couldn't.
Speaker B:I wanted my son to be the junior, so I took the name.
Speaker B:I tell you, my mother, you don't play with her.
Speaker B:That's gangster, bro.
Speaker B:She was like, I took the name.
Speaker B:You were my junior.
Speaker B:No, like, I was like, okay, no, seriously, my older brother name is now Augustus.
Speaker A:Okay, now.
Speaker A:Or it was.
Speaker B:Well, ever since I've been knowing him, his name is Augustus.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And he's like maybe 10 years older than me.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So at some point they changed his name.
Speaker B:He didn't have a choice.
Speaker A:So, yes, I love it.
Speaker B:But no, you can find me on LinkedIn.
Speaker B:Augustine Weah.
Speaker B:I'm on Instagram, underscore St.
Speaker B:I know I'm the dark matter.
Speaker B:I have a space on Facebook, but I'm not really there.
Speaker B:I will say something about.
Speaker B:We were talking earlier about art and things that I'm passionate about.
Speaker B:I'm working on this project that's futuristic building a world class art residency in Monrovia, Liberia with a, with a friend of mine who's an artist who I'm a collector for.
Speaker B:And it's one of the more, more, more, more exciting things that I've been involved with with just getting started.
Speaker B:Found an art, found an architect out of Mexico City.
Speaker B:I mean, this guy is phenomenal.
Speaker B:So more, more to come.
Speaker B:There's not like a recent date on this.
Speaker B:You see yourself going to this small country called Liberia to go and visit the Bridge residency.
Speaker B:You would know that you heard it here and it came to fruition.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:So as a final parting question, finish this sentence for us.
Speaker A:I am empowered in my skin when.
Speaker B:When I feel like myself, anytime I show up as myself, I think I'm a best self.
Speaker B:And I try to maintain that consistency because I recognize people look to me for things and, and I need to be who I am first for myself, first for my, you know, for my, my family, for my loved ones.
Speaker B:And whenever I show up as myself, it's validated and it gives me that empowerment to keep going and keep going and doing the Things that I love to do.
Speaker B:So I try hard actually to maintain, like who I am.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because if you lose it, you just go down a windy path.
Speaker B:You know, I remember it's hard to remember the many versions of yourself.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:If you show up differently.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it's very easy to just show up as the one version of yourself that you know.
Speaker B:And I found that to be true.
Speaker B:Because if you meet a two year old that knows me or you meet the CEO of Google, they'll both say the same thing.
Speaker B:They'll tell you, like, yeah, Augustine.
Speaker B:That's Augustine.
Speaker B:Like the.
Speaker B:The hoop wearing African face that shows up with energy all the time.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:And I love you and I appreciate you and I'm so blessed that I came into your vortex and thank God for Jitex Africa.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker B:Because I'm still connecting with people from Jitex and we're like, it is.
Speaker A:I feel like that's an unlocked life in a way.
Speaker A:Like, I didn't think possible or imagine.
Speaker A:Like, anyway, so much tentacles.
Speaker B:I mean, when.
Speaker B:When would you have a chance to meet a cool ass black woman on a Friday morning that lives in Toronto, you know, with an amazing gap.
Speaker B:Nigerian with the hair poppy.
Speaker B:Where would you get a chance to do that if not meeting?
Speaker A:I think I was the only person with this hair color in the whole venue.
Speaker B:Your crew came, you guys came, right?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:You know, as an audience member.
Speaker A:To.
Speaker B:Your show, it's like, okay, I love it.
Speaker B:The women of fire.
Speaker B:Firewood, right?
Speaker B:Firehood.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:The fire hood came and this saw.
Speaker B:And there I say conquered.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you so much.
Speaker A:And thank you, honestly, for this very edifying experience with you and sharing energy with me.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:And to everyone that's listening, I trust you're like, no, don't finish.
Speaker A:But we got to.
Speaker A:Everything's got to come to an end.
Speaker A:But this is where we say, we're out.
Speaker B:Bye.
Speaker A:Bye.
Speaker B:Bye bye.
Speaker A:There you have it.
Speaker A:I trust that you are feeling more empowered in your skin.
Speaker A:As the late Dr.
Speaker A:Maya Angelou said, when you get, you give.
Speaker A:When you learn, you teach.
Speaker A:So it would mean so much for us at Empower to My Skin, Inc.
Speaker A:If you share this episode and tag us or teach an insight that you took from today's episode on your social and tag us.
Speaker A:Feel free to leave us a review over at itunes and follow us on social media.
Speaker A:Power to my skin.
Speaker A:Finally, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode.
