Melisa Ellis: From vision to impact
In this episode, we are privileged to host Melisa Ellis, a distinguished tech innovator and the pioneering force behind Nobellum, an organization dedicated to fostering Black excellence within the realms of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Melisa's profound insights reveal her unwavering commitment to empowering Black innovators by facilitating access to capital, mentorship, and invaluable opportunities. Throughout our conversation, she eloquently recounts her journey from a burgeoning entrepreneur to a transformative leader, illustrating the pivotal role of collaboration and community in her endeavors.
We explore the imperative of dismantling barriers within the tech industry and the necessity of nurturing diverse talent to effectuate meaningful change.
Ultimately, this episode serves as a call for aspiring leaders to harness their passions and pursue their dreams with unwavering resolve, as Melisa inspires us to envision a future where empowerment is accessible to all.
Takeaways:
- Melisa Ellis emphasizes the importance of pursuing one's passion relentlessly, embodying the spirit of empowerment.
- The establishment of Nobellum is a testament to the transformative power of innovation in the Black community.
- Nkechi Nwafor-Robinson and Melisa Ellis discuss the necessity of collaboration and partnerships in achieving success.
- The podcast highlights the significance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance to foster personal and professional growth.
- Melisa's journey illustrates the need for patience and adaptability in the face of entrepreneurial challenges.
- The conversation underscores the crucial role of economic development initiatives for Black entrepreneurs and communities.
If this episode resonates with you, then remember... SUBSCRIBE • 5-Star Rate • COMMENT • SHARE this Podcast!! 💚❤️🙌🏾🙏🏾
Listening Recommendation: learning about Ibrahim Traoré
Find Melisa Online:
Website: https://www.nobellum.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/nobellum/
LinkedIn (Personal): https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisa-ellis/
LinkedIn (Nobellum): https://www.linkedin.com/company/nobellum/
Find us online: https://linktr.ee/nkechinwaforrobinson
Transcript
Great day, amazing human.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A: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.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Welcome to the next episode of Empowered, My skin, the podcast.
Speaker A:And it is a guest episode and I'm really, really, really excited.
Speaker A:Our guest today, for those of you on you, you YouTubers, you can actually already see who it is.
Speaker A:But right now, for those of you that are listening, our guest is a tech trailblazer and the unstoppable force behind Nobel Enterprise, a powerhouse platform redefining black excellence in stem.
Speaker A:And as founder and CEO, she's turned passion into purpose, helping black innovators launch, scale and lead in global tech space.
Speaker A:From launching Canada's first Afrocentric virtuality virtual reality campus, to building the award winning tech innovator program at the U of T of Scarborough, she's unlocking access to capital, mentorship and opportunity.
Speaker A: ack Tech Community Builder of: Speaker A:So please give her a gigantic, humongous welcome to the visionary, the changemaker, and the champion of innovation, Melissa Ellis.
Speaker B:I feel like I should be clapping too.
Speaker A:We should.
Speaker A:You should clap after your bio.
Speaker B:You're so cute.
Speaker A:So as a starting question, what has been your most empowering thought of the day so far?
Speaker B:My most empowering thought of the day so far.
Speaker B:I was actually listening to a growth con and Richard Ellis ask the audience, where is the wealthiest place on earth?
Speaker B:And his answer was.
Speaker B:It was a cemetery.
Speaker A:Yes, exactly.
Speaker B:With our suitcases of hopes and dreams and ambitions that we never actually go for because we ran out of time.
Speaker B:And now if you find your purpose, if you find your passion, you owe it to yourself to live in it.
Speaker B:And so, yeah, that.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's.
Speaker A:That's very powerful.
Speaker A:I've heard that.
Speaker A:What's that?
Speaker A:What's that?
Speaker A:Pastor, he passed.
Speaker A:He was from.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:Prolific bishop.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:Anyway, him and his wife passed away in a car and a plane crash.
Speaker A:You know who I'm talking about.
Speaker A:Anyway, yeah, he's just, he's such a prolific.
Speaker A:I can't even believe his name has escaped me.
Speaker A:But I, I heard it first from him, like that same kind of thing.
Speaker A:Like, like, don't take your dreams with you.
Speaker A:Like, don't take your passions with you.
Speaker A:The cemetery is just a place that's filled with people who like, wish I wish I coulda, you know, didn't.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you for that.
Speaker A:So I actually want to first say that I found out in our B roll that this is Melissa's very first podcast ever episode and really, really excited that that's actually happening on the Empowered My Skin podcast.
Speaker A:And I feel like, I feel like, how's that even possible that people haven't like chomped at the bits to get you on, on air?
Speaker A:I know that you speak on stages and, and, and everywhere, but.
Speaker A:But podcasting is like such an untapped.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:What I've had is they meet with me and then they write it out.
Speaker B:So I've had that a couple of times.
Speaker B:And um, I've done on air interviews with Breakfast Television, City tv, CBC News, and also with Jamaica, but I've never actually done a video to video like recording like this podcast.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I think it's something I'll be doing a lot more in the future.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I also just haven't had the time.
Speaker A:I hear, I hear we're gonna get into a little bit of that really to understand what takes up your time.
Speaker A:Time.
Speaker A:Like, where's your, like what's driving your passion?
Speaker A:So as a first starting question, and I don't know why led to ask you on today, like, how are you doing?
Speaker A:How's Melissa doing?
Speaker B:Yeah, was so blessed last.
Speaker B: hours, I went through: Speaker B:And in that process, I unlocked I think like 2 million in potential revenue that I just, in my inbox, I was like, oh, this is gonna be fun.
Speaker A:Did you do that manually or did you use like AI to manually.
Speaker A:Manually.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:Well, not fully manually because I'm leveraging Asana's AI and I'm other tools, but I personally like did most of it, but I'm leveraging it to get it the operational things.
Speaker B:After I looked at it, 80 of it or more was not operational.
Speaker B:So I just.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So do you have zero inbox right now?
Speaker B:No, I'm at 16.
Speaker B:And I, I, I am unhappy with my 60.
Speaker B:I was having, I was like, no, I need to go through this because it just was just a blast.
Speaker B:So yeah, I feel like a new beginning.
Speaker B:That's how I felt this morning when.
Speaker A:I, it gives me hope.
Speaker A:It gives me hope that I can do the same.
Speaker A:My inbox in my, like my job that I'm paid for.
Speaker A:I need some help because it is.
Speaker A:And I can understand how if you feel clutter, you feel, you feel cluttered, you feel like you're either missing something or that you just don't have the room and the space to, to really think well, you know, and so I can appreciate that.
Speaker A:I really understand that.
Speaker A:So talk to me about, given that this is like really the first time outside of, you know, we've had some interactions in public and like we have mutual connections.
Speaker A:Can you like what birthed Nobel?
Speaker A:And like how did that, how did that, like what was the spark of your passion?
Speaker B:What birth Nobel.
Speaker B:So I was actually pregnant and I was piloting an initiative with a friend of mine who was working in Dubai and she was saying that there is so much innovation happening there, we need to bring it to Canada.
Speaker B:She, her parents are originally from Canada.
Speaker B:So we started planning out somewhat of a remix to a hackathon and we called it an inova thon.
Speaker B:And it's basically us innovating in this space.
Speaker B:Some of the best performers in the world are black people.
Speaker B:Why are we not on the stage taking home millions of dollars, right?
Speaker B:And so we thought, how do we do that?
Speaker B:And so it was kind of a project that I was just taking on while I was pregnant, waddling around.
Speaker B:We had a couple of photo shoots because we wanted to also create our own branding.
Speaker B:So all of our websites, all of our pitch decks, something that's signature to us is always our content, it's always pictures of the team and we're really intentional about that.
Speaker B:So moving on from there, I was working at the time.
Speaker B:My day job at the time was in, I was a senior business.
Speaker B:So I had been working in software engineering, supporting with the development of applications for private companies and as well as large companies.
Speaker B:And because I had done project management as well, I was able to quickly navigate into decision making rooms.
Speaker B:And what I kept seeing time and time again was I was the only one that looked like me.
Speaker B:And so I started to launch initiatives at work.
Speaker B:At one company, they designed massive billboards along the highway.
Speaker B:They had not one single black person working the company.
Speaker B:I hired three before I left.
Speaker B:There is two of them are still there four years later.
Speaker B:And I thought, what could I do on a larger scale than the whole George Floyd incident happened?
Speaker B:And I was like, you know what, I can help a couple of people create to get a job.
Speaker B:But what if I created jobs myself?
Speaker B:So at the time I also had multiple people asking me to be fractional CTOs on their company.
Speaker B:I was the fractional CTO of like three companies building three different apps.
Speaker B:And I was like, I can't do this anymore.
Speaker B:I don't want anyone to offer me any more sweat equity.
Speaker B:Do not offer me that.
Speaker B:In fact, I'm going to launch a program.
Speaker B:I'm going to teach you guys how to do this.
Speaker B: k owned businesses in STEM by: Speaker B:Let's just do that.
Speaker B:Five years later, our portfolio has generated $15 million in startup revenue.
Speaker B: e're not even halfway through: Speaker B:We helped the founders to raise in angel as well as in venture capital a bit under $1.5 million today.
Speaker B:And they are just getting started.
Speaker B:We are just getting started.
Speaker A:So this is, this is not easy work.
Speaker A:And it's interesting because the event that I have an event so Shameless plug.
Speaker A:Based on when this event has, based on when your podcast airs, when this goes live, it will have already happened.
Speaker A:But a lot of what the event is really it's about is about helping people really unlock the things that happen in the spaces that they don't have like great proximity to.
Speaker A:Because there's not a lot of us that like, especially like women of color that are playing in those spaces or having those kind of opportunities.
Speaker A:So what I really want to ask you is like, as you start to think about your leadership, if you start to think about like the creativity, the innovation, like the way you think, the things that you had to start to focus on to create the work that you've now manifested.
Speaker A:Can you share some like, some tips, some tactics, like what were the things that you had to let go of and really then step in and to allow yourself to step into that space to start to really create this oper, these opportunities that you, that you're now talking about.
Speaker A:So I hate to say it effortlessly, but I know it wasn't effortless to free to get, to get here.
Speaker B:It wasn't effortless, but it did feel natural.
Speaker B:I will say that is a very powerful question that you just asked.
Speaker B:There are so many layers to it.
Speaker B:I had to learn my working type because when we didn't have the revenue to just hire anybody, so we had to build partnerships.
Speaker B:I remember trying to build capacity for the project.
Speaker B:I started off by asking people who I admire to be on a steering committee.
Speaker B:From the steering committee.
Speaker B:I was like, we only need to meet once every quarter.
Speaker B:And then they would come to the meeting and they're so wowed.
Speaker B:And then next thing you know, we're meeting every two weeks.
Speaker B:They've gone on to be on my board and a couple of them became my co founders, Katherine Lawrence and Malcolm Wright.
Speaker B:And so we've then used that to kind of leverage and build capacity.
Speaker B:And I think that was a really interesting strategy.
Speaker B:I had to really let go of having control and power over my resources.
Speaker B:But having them to want to do this and having them invested themselves into this, this is way bigger than me.
Speaker B:Nobellum is way bigger than me.
Speaker B:Everybody in the business has a business themselves.
Speaker B:And all of these businesses pour into actually what we're achieving now on a global scale.
Speaker B:Because Katherine and Malcolm, Malcolm's work, he's an international education consultant.
Speaker B:And so with the work we're doing globally, there's so many ties there, as well as with Katherine's work in interiors and architecture, really honing in on our development.
Speaker B:But I guess I'm going to take a couple steps back.
Speaker B:And the reason why I answer it that way is because I wanted to show context to the fact that it wasn't just me.
Speaker B:It took a two of us and some of the things that we had to sacrifice with a lot of our ego and our time.
Speaker B:Once we were able to strip down those walls and work collaboratively, we were able to recruit and find resources to hire staff and scale.
Speaker B:Our first two years, all of our employees lived in Africa and Jamaica, actually, in fact, Nigeria specifically, and one in Ghana.
Speaker B:We had three women in Nigeria working for us as our program coordinators.
Speaker B:We hired them full time.
Speaker B:In Nigeria, I think they would make like $200 a month in conversion.
Speaker B:We were paying them $800 a month.
Speaker B:And we did that until we realized it was a cultural gap.
Speaker B:We needed staff on site because our executive team couldn't just run everything with facilitators.
Speaker B:So then we now are at a position where we have.
Speaker B:Is it seven, no, five, six full time and about nine part time.
Speaker B:And so we had to really.
Speaker B:I think that's probably the best way I could put it.
Speaker A:Now can you.
Speaker A:I just want you to double click a little because with entrepreneurs listening, there's something really, um, I think like I'm throwing you back the word like pretty profound and powerful that you said about having to strip the ego and some people may not understand what that looks like.
Speaker A:I think I, I think I have a sense but I think it's different journey for everybody.
Speaker A:But what did that look like for you?
Speaker B:What that looked like for me was there are going to be hard decisions to make.
Speaker B:We had to decide which founders to offer, which opportunities to how to recruit which investors into which programming.
Speaker B:There were a lot of really difficult decisions to make and it's very easy to just go and make ad hoc decisions and not consult your team.
Speaker B:And one thing that we established very easily from the beginning was to not take those that decision making process personal.
Speaker B:This is a sports team.
Speaker B:Sometimes you have to be benched.
Speaker B:And that's just how we had to operate.
Speaker B:We also had, we are very, we had to learn our working type in terms of our team.
Speaker B:We cannot just hire any working type.
Speaker B:We're very, a bit type A in terms of how we execute our programming.
Speaker B:We have project briefs for everything.
Speaker B:We use asana religiously like.
Speaker B:And so these were certain factors that really contributed to our success with having a lean team.
Speaker B:I don't know if I'm answering the question.
Speaker A:You know, you are, you are.
Speaker A:No, you definitely answered the, you definitely answered the ego strip and, and actually the one what you're just actually talking about.
Speaker A:You, you've mentioned working type two times in this podcast, which obviously is a very important element in, of how you've built the team or you know, been able to be successful.
Speaker A:But in the last bit that you spoke about, so how do you ensure diversity when like on the team to ensure diversity of thought?
Speaker A:Because you talked about really a type.
Speaker A:But that could be very.
Speaker A:Everyone is kind of like a type personality or a type thinking.
Speaker A:So how do you, how do you as you start to think about finding the right balance of work type.
Speaker B:I love that question.
Speaker B:So now stepping out of the program because so far we've only been talking about the program with the startups.
Speaker B:Yes, that program has ran very atype.
Speaker B:On our partnership side we have Malcolm who is totally type C.
Speaker B:We all balance each other out and then.
Speaker B:Yeah, so with partnerships and marketing, they really are the balance that allows us to have that diversity of thought.
Speaker B:And it's interesting the way it flows from the co founders.
Speaker A:And now with, you know, about five years in, what's one thing that maybe you uncovered this year that's helped you that you wish you discovered a little bit sooner?
Speaker B:Oh, that's one thing.
Speaker B:I wish I had covered a little bit sooner.
Speaker B:Don't take so long to pull the trigger.
Speaker A:Meaning that if you're going in one direction, like it's not working.
Speaker B:There have been times where sometimes when you're speaking to someone who you deem as really important, you second guess yourself.
Speaker B:You seem to have imposter syndrome.
Speaker B:And looking back at it, I wish I had just pulled the trigger earlier and got the no faster.
Speaker B:So that's a lesson that I'm learning and we continue to learn because you also don't want to be too eager.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And I think as women we struggle with that a lot.
Speaker B:I work on a lot of male dominated teams and I'm always trying to be mindful of not being too much, but then not being too little.
Speaker A:You know, my favorite saving is if I'm too much, go and get little, we're going to get left.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:What's a failure that has actually grown you the most?
Speaker B:Patience.
Speaker B:I would say.
Speaker A:Having patience or.
Speaker A:Sorry.
Speaker A:Or.
Speaker A:Or not having patience.
Speaker B:Being impatient.
Speaker A:Oh, being impatient.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Had taught me my most valuable lesson and I've just been more patient.
Speaker B:But you see, then it goes back to what did I see at the last question?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So it's a constant, I think, I think growth spectrum.
Speaker A:Well, okay, so the question that's coming up for me because female to female, the demands of, you know, running like big ventures like you do.
Speaker A:Wellness, always wellness of ourselves, how we take care of ourselves, our self care always comes into question.
Speaker A:And for a lot of us, it is not necessarily our primary or something that we prioritize and so interested to, you know, sort of pick your experience on how Melissa navigates wellness in.
Speaker A:In your life.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Navigating wellness is interesting.
Speaker B:So I remember years ago, before I actually started Nobel, I was a Zumba instructor.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I still do it.
Speaker B:I'm happy to do.
Speaker A:I need a.
Speaker A:I need a video.
Speaker A:I need a video.
Speaker B:I will send the video.
Speaker A:Give me the video.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:I was a zoom instructor for years.
Speaker B:I would go to the classes and the instructors loved me.
Speaker B:They recruited me into doing the classes.
Speaker B:So I started doing it and I still love it.
Speaker B:So that's something I want to get back into.
Speaker B:I also find that going for like really long walks help.
Speaker B:Even if it's like I think best early in the morning, get it over and done with.
Speaker B:Biggest thing that has been really hard is you wake up, you see all these emails and you just want to get to it first or you want to get to your family.
Speaker B:You want to just do Everything else except take care of yourself.
Speaker B:And it's so easy to fall into that.
Speaker B:But I remind myself I'm not being selfish.
Speaker B:I'm just trying to make sure that I live a good life.
Speaker B:So I actually have this like mantra that I tell myself in the morning when I want to go for a walk or do something, but work is pulling me or my family is pulling me.
Speaker B:So yeah, trying to go for those daily walks in the morning, I think it just does such a game changing for your mood.
Speaker B:You can take all the pills you want, you can do all the supplements, but a good old, like just walk, right.
Speaker B:It such a difference.
Speaker B:And I think overcomplicate health.
Speaker B:And I, ever since I've been walking, I'm like, my skin is glowing.
Speaker B:Like last year, my skin did not feel this way, girlfriend.
Speaker B:I did not.
Speaker B:But I'm feeling like a little bit of a difference.
Speaker B:So that's, that's helping.
Speaker B:So those are some tips that I would give to other women who are, you know, looking to balance.
Speaker B:And also the reason why I mentioned the Zumba was because of passion.
Speaker B:I love dancing.
Speaker B:So find a way to be healthy in a fun way.
Speaker B:Like, keep doing that.
Speaker B:Don't lose, like, if, you know, you have fun doing this.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's such an easier way to like stay consistent.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:And so I, and I think I've said this to you some, maybe at some point.
Speaker A:Your name carries a lot of weight, first of all.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And, and what I find so lovely, I, I have to use the word lovely about you is you have such a, like, you have such a calm demeanor, yet there's so much power oozing from your essence.
Speaker A:And I'm, I'm curious to know how you describe yourself.
Speaker A:Like, do you, like, if you take a step back and like, sort of observe yourself, what do you observe?
Speaker B:This is a really great question.
Speaker B:What do I observe?
Speaker B:It's actually a fun question.
Speaker B:There is something that I do quite often and it's.
Speaker B:I kind of had conversations with myself at 75, around the time when I started getting into entrepreneurship and I started taking bigger risks and I started feeling the feeling that entrepreneurs feel when they're afraid that they're going to fail.
Speaker B:I started imagining, okay, what's the worst thing that could happen?
Speaker B:And immediately the thought came to myself was, one day you're going to be 75 years old.
Speaker B:Actually, just take a moment and really process that one day you will not be able to walk, will not be able to do all of these things.
Speaker B:You can do now, what would you have liked to say that you did?
Speaker B:What would you have liked to have been known for doing?
Speaker B:And I think that has driven a lot of my decisions.
Speaker B:When I look around at what's happening in the world, I would say I've put my flag down where I want to push.
Speaker B:I want to push for economic development for black people, the Caribbean and Africa.
Speaker B:That's where I see myself and women, women from all nations.
Speaker B:I love the way how women can connect beyond anything.
Speaker B:And so I think that when I look at myself, to go back to your question, I guess I see someone who is going to pursue their passion relentlessly.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And you are.
Speaker A:And I think that's what I feel.
Speaker A:I think that's what a lot of us feel.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So you have.
Speaker A:There's work that you do globally, and I'd love you to really talk about that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:Like, what have you unlocked?
Speaker A:Where is it going?
Speaker A:What are your thoughts around it?
Speaker B:Yeah, we just.
Speaker B:Now that we've completed our mandates and we'll be actually having the mandate celebration later this year.
Speaker B:I hope you can come.
Speaker A:Well, give me the date, please.
Speaker B:September.
Speaker B:I will give you the date.
Speaker B:It's later on this year.
Speaker A:It's in September.
Speaker B:September.
Speaker B:Now that we've kind of done that, we've been able to, I guess, run a really big pilot and now have a lot of strategies.
Speaker B:And so we are looking to see how can we extend that.
Speaker B:So we've launched a program after, I think we've done about two delegations with the Development bank of Jamaica.
Speaker B:We were able to support around 15 entrepreneurs to come to Canada to experience collision.
Speaker B:Some of them got clients, some of them got investment opportunities, and we allowed for them to pitch at the Black Innovation Zone.
Speaker B:So they pitched.
Speaker B:And then, you know, we had other organizations bring African entrepreneurs.
Speaker B:So it was a really interesting mixture of connections and culture that took place so unintentionally at the.
Speaker B:At the time.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because I didn't even know that that delegation of African entrepreneurs were coming.
Speaker B:And it really made me realize that we have an option, we have an opportunity here, a very unique opportunity to be a window between, a pathway between these.
Speaker B:These different communities.
Speaker B:And so we put together a project to do an Innovation Exchange.
Speaker B:The Innovation Exchange allows for us to work across Africa, the Caribbean and North America to bring entrepreneurs globally for opportunities.
Speaker B:And the DBJ funded it for us to pilot in the Caribbean.
Speaker B:We have a couple of partners on board supporting us in the initiative.
Speaker B:Rolling it out.
Speaker B:We just had the large event.
Speaker B:We had the Jamaica Business Development Council do the opening remarks and really hone in on the project.
Speaker B:They just got like 9 million from EU to run a similar programming.
Speaker B:So we're looking to see how we can really leverage this initiative to hone in on that.
Speaker B:And then we're also working with the African Union.
Speaker B:They just appointed the new president for the sixth region.
Speaker B: ut a few weeks ago, but since: Speaker B:So you know how we have North, South, east, west continent.
Speaker B:The sixth region represents the diaspora, people of African descent who are not living in Africa.
Speaker B:And they recently just became validated and recognized officially by the United nations, creating them as their own political entity.
Speaker B:Now they have representation now at the highest level.
Speaker B:The sixth, the African Union.
Speaker B:We actually invited their Secretary General to do the opening remarks this Thursday at UST for our demo day for the founders because we need them to know this.
Speaker B: fight has been going on since: Speaker B: As of February this year,: Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:We can really rally behind this because for so long the diaspora has been so lost, kind of rolling around.
Speaker B:I don't really feel like the Diaspora realizes that they have a shared and common experience that if unified could do so much right.
Speaker B:And so we are now working with them.
Speaker B:They are looking to.
Speaker B:They've asked us to take on this project with them to support 50,000 youth and entrepreneurs in the next year to be trained and developed.
Speaker B:And I think over the next five years it's close to, I think 500,000.
Speaker B:So it's a pretty big scale project because it's with the African Union and they're now expanding.
Speaker B:So really excited about what's happening on the Caribbean front with C.
Speaker B:Jamaica and then now on the African friends.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Well, you sit in the sphere of inspiration, which I love it and must feel good.
Speaker A:So wow, you are a phenomenon and so thank you for sharing that because I didn't know, you know, I'm going to do a little bit more research myself and.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, we'll have a little bit of B roll after this.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So I'm going to take you through rapid thrivers.
Speaker A:When you think of someone who inspires you, who comes first to mind.
Speaker B:My mom.
Speaker A:She lives here with you?
Speaker B:She lives in Canada.
Speaker B:Yeah, we came.
Speaker B:I was really young.
Speaker A:Nice, nice.
Speaker A:What is a daily activity that helps you with your thrive?
Speaker A:I think you kind of mentioned it earlier, but.
Speaker B:Either stretching in the morning or Going for a walk or going to the gym.
Speaker A:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:Which gym do you go to?
Speaker A:Just curious.
Speaker A:Fit for Less.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I'm just wondering if we can get a workout together at some point.
Speaker A:What is the book?
Speaker A:I Go to Good Life.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Which is kind of.
Speaker A:I think it's Fit for Life.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:What's a book that's helped you with your thrive?
Speaker B:A book, to be completely honest with you.
Speaker A:You said what?
Speaker A:Say that again.
Speaker B:I have not been reading books lately.
Speaker A:Podcast.
Speaker A:Interview.
Speaker A:It could be a podcast, could be interview, could be a movie.
Speaker A:You just.
Speaker A:You listened to something at the beginning of that you mentioned just before you joined.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, the growth con.
Speaker B:I'm trying to think of something.
Speaker A:And by the way, the name just came to me.
Speaker A:Miles Monroe.
Speaker B:Miles Monroe.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:No, I've never heard of him.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Can you ask me the question again?
Speaker A:Yeah, just.
Speaker A:Well, now, a book.
Speaker A:It could be a book, an article, something that you've read that really inspired you or.
Speaker A:Or really helped help propel some.
Speaker A:Maybe some new thoughts or ways of being.
Speaker A:I always like to click that for my listeners.
Speaker A:And if you don't have one, we can move on.
Speaker B:There's just so many.
Speaker B:I don't even know where to start.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker A:Nothing.
Speaker A:Nothing comes to mind.
Speaker A:Straight.
Speaker B:I mean, other than the growth con that I watch.
Speaker A:We can go with the growth con.
Speaker B:Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I have something.
Speaker B:Because I had to really think, what would I do if I hung up his phone right now?
Speaker B:What would I go and do?
Speaker B:I would go and listen to Ibrahim Tror.
Speaker B:That's what I would probably go.
Speaker A:Okay, okay.
Speaker B:Ibrahim Abraham Tror.
Speaker B:He's the president of Burkina Faso.
Speaker B:They keep trying to assassinate him, but he just keeps.
Speaker A:Yes, I've heard.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I heard is someone else has mentioned him being pretty prolific.
Speaker B:What he's doing right now is probably.
Speaker A:For them, for the country.
Speaker B:Not just for the country, for all black people.
Speaker B:What he is doing right now, all black people should be paying attention because he is doing what Gaddafi tried to do and what Sankofa tried to do, which is unite the African dollar and use the gold standard and actually own their own lives.
Speaker B:Like, why is it so ridiculous that we want to own our own minds?
Speaker B:So that's all he's fighting for.
Speaker B:He made education free for his citizens.
Speaker B:They have a problem with that.
Speaker B:Free, like education.
Speaker B:And he made healthcare free for his citizens.
Speaker B:They have a problem with that.
Speaker B:So we as black people, we all should be paying attention.
Speaker B:So he's the one who is really inspiring me because he's he put up two tomato factories who actually create.
Speaker B:He put up cement factories.
Speaker B:Like he's actually moving things forward in his time.
Speaker A:I have to thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you for the nugget.
Speaker A:See, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker A:Maybe it was the nugget for me.
Speaker A:So thank you.
Speaker A:I'm going to double down on that.
Speaker A:What is a app that helps you with your thrive?
Speaker A:Help supports you?
Speaker A:I think you mentioned it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, there's this app that I do the yoga with.
Speaker B:It's called Organic Fit.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:Do you know it?
Speaker A:Nope.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's called Organic Fit.
Speaker B:Oh, here it is.
Speaker B:It's this.
Speaker B:It's this.
Speaker B:I don't know if you can see there.
Speaker A:Right there.
Speaker A:Organic Fit.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Now they are.
Speaker B:They have these really cool.
Speaker B:Like their workouts are so seamless.
Speaker B:It's so seamless.
Speaker B:It's so easy to do.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Organic Fit.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And what is one misconception that people have of you as they see you sort of leading the bellum and.
Speaker A:And just continue to grow.
Speaker A:Grow sort of its mandate?
Speaker B:Oh, man.
Speaker B:One misconception was people really thought I knew what I was doing.
Speaker B:I was just figuring it out as I went.
Speaker B:There was no playbook.
Speaker A:Yeah, you just been figuring out.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:So where do we find more of you online?
Speaker B:You can find more of me@nobellum.com Same thing for Nobellum and LinkedIn.
Speaker B:My name is Melissa Alice on LinkedIn.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:We'll put all your.
Speaker A:We'll put all the links in the show notes and as a parting question, this podcast is called Empowered in My Skin and would love to know what that means to you.
Speaker B:Empowered in my skin.
Speaker B:It sounds like.
Speaker B:It sounds like a movement more than anything else.
Speaker B:When I hear.
Speaker A:Is start as a movement became a mission.
Speaker A:I appreciate it.
Speaker A:I appreciate it.
Speaker A:I appreciate you.
Speaker A:I'm happy that we connected.
Speaker A:I think we have a lot more.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I just feel work in the future.
Speaker A:I have so much to learn from you and I thank you for sharing what you have today.
Speaker A:You've imparted a lot of.
Speaker A:Of knowledge and insights and thank you so much and.
Speaker A:And it's just has been a delight.
Speaker A:I'm really happy our paths have crossed.
Speaker B:That's me too.
Speaker B:It's such a pleasure meeting you.
Speaker B:This has been a really be fun you ask some questions.
Speaker B:I'm gonna go and think about later on today.
Speaker A:Get ready for part two.
Speaker A:I'll bring them back to get you answering them more in part two so to everyone that's you said what I.
Speaker B:Said anytime you need me.
Speaker A:Thank you, love.
Speaker A:So to anyone that's listening, this is Sally, where we have to say we're out.
Speaker A: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 Empowered in 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, feel free to leave us a review over at itunes and follow us on social media.
Speaker A:MA Power to My Skin.
Speaker A:Finally, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode.
