Konnected Minds Podcast
Konnected Minds: Success, Wealth & Mindset. This show helps ambitious people crush limiting beliefs and build unstoppable confidence.
Created and Hosted by Derrick Abaitey
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Konnected Minds Podcast
The Creator Who Almost Quit: Daniel Asante on Consistency and Purpose to 10million Audience
The journey from obscurity to influence is rarely a straight line. For Daniel Asante, fashion content creator with over 10 million followers, that path wound through council estates in Northwest London, the loss of his father at age seven, and a banking career that never quite felt right.
"When I was seven years old, my father passed away," Daniel shares, reflecting on his childhood with a single mother who worked as a cleaner. Despite financial struggles that led to bullying, his mother instilled a profound sense of gratitude and purpose that would later become the foundation of his success. "I've always believed I had a purpose," Daniel explains, recalling how even as a ten-year-old, he would gather his peers to discuss life's deeper meanings.
What makes Daniel's story particularly powerful is his commitment to value over monetization. For three years, he posted fashion content consistently without focusing on making money, simply because he enjoyed it and wanted to help others. Creating up to twenty videos daily, he built an impressive content library through sheer determination. "I was doing it for fun, but then I was consistent, and I feel consistency is very important," he reflects. The breakthrough came only after he nearly deleted his accounts from frustration – six months after a friend convinced him to continue, his following exploded.
Daniel's philosophy centers on discipline rather than motivation: "Motivation is based on how you feel... but what about the days when you don't feel like posting?" This mindset has carried him through countless challenges, including caring for his mother who now suffers from dementia. His advice to aspiring creators is refreshingly simple: "It's already a no if you don't try." Through his journey, Daniel demonstrates that with persistence, purpose, and the courage to keep showing up when others quit, extraordinary transformation is possible.
Have you been holding back from pursuing your purpose? What might happen if you committed to consistency in your passion? Listen now to discover how one man's dedication to serving others transformed not just his life, but millions of others.
Watch the video episode of this on YouTube - https://linktr.ee/konnectedminds
The period before I grew on Instagram, I was actually about to delete my social media and then one of my good friends said to me don't delete your social media, don't. And about six months later, that's when I blew up. I quit my job when I hit a million followers, Because now loads of brands wanted to work with me. I was like, okay, well, I can make a living off of this.
Speaker 2:What does making a living off social media at the time look like?
Speaker 1:To be able to travel time, go to bed anytime. Can you explain to me how you post?
Speaker 2:it on your social media account. So I mean, I use an app called. At what point did you realize that things have got to?
Speaker 1:change. Well, that's that's I like that question for me. When I was seven years old, my father passed away. I grew up in that environment where my mom was a teenager. She wasn't getting much and being at the bank in my 20s, I'm thinking this is not. You know me. I knew I was meant to do something Because she didn't do what she didn't do. It inspired me to do what I need to do when it comes to my content creation. You've got to be hungry If you're not creating someone else's. When I started, I was doing it for fun, but then I was consistent and I feel consistency is very important.
Speaker 2:Hello, you're welcome to Connected Minds Podcast. My name is Derek Abaite and I think this conversation there's going to be a lot of smiles because the person I'm about to speak with, he smiles a lot in his pictures and his videos. But anyway, if you make it to the end of this conversation, please leave a comment and let me know that you're one of the connected champions, right? So today's conversation is with daniel asante um. He has amassed over 10 million online audience Through content creation. He's a fashion content creator. He shows people how to post and this man is making a living out of that. How exactly he's doing that, how he's been able to stay consistent over the years, I really want to find out.
Speaker 2:There is always a lot of people as well that look at him and they think of where exactly he's from, his nationality and all of that. We want to get deep into his story because, I tell you, of all the stories that I've heard on this podcast, this is one that touches me the most, but also for the people that like mindset, business and success. This is for you, because it's a real test of consistency, resilience and somebody that came from a poor background to changing his life. Yes, he's taking charge of his entire life and I want you to stick around and listen to this conversation. It's Derek Abaiti here. Let's delve into it. You're welcome to Connected Minds Podcast.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:I'd also like to welcome you're welcome to connected minds podcast. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:I I'd also like to welcome you to ghana. I'm back. Yeah, you're back. You're back. It's been a while back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been a while yeah, daniel, what do you do?
Speaker 1:so. So, to anyone that doesn't know me, my my name is Daniel Asante. I'm a fashion content creator.
Speaker 1:I was born and raised in London, england, and so what I do is, you know, I've always believed I had a purpose, and growing up in London, I was trying to figure out what my God-given gift is right.
Speaker 1:So throughout the years, I tried several jobs, I tried different things, just to figure out how I can give value to people, because I've always had that desire, you know, from when I was a child.
Speaker 1:And so the reason why I'm going the long way of answering the question because I think there's a lot that goes into it it was a thought that had been on my mind since I was probably six years old, you know, and even when I was a kid, for example, when we used to play football at 10 years old I was the type of kid Once we were tired, I would sit the kids down that were my age and I would talk to them about purpose and talk to them about life. I mean, I was 10 years old so I didn't know much about life, but I always had good intentions. That was the main thing to have good intentions. And so what I do is. I'm just a man with good intention, a man that is trying to figure out his god-given purpose, and a man that is figuring out his god-given purpose and using it to give value to people and changing other people's lives so they they can figure out what their purpose is, so they can be a blessing unto others.
Speaker 2:That's it to be a blessing unto others. You must recognize that you are blessing yourself. Yes, um, because you can't give what you don't have. Yeah, but you have such an amazing story.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I want you to take me back. Yeah all the way to your first memories of how difficult life was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I grew up in a council estate in Northwest London. I grew up with mum and dad in the beginning, but my mom and dad separated when I was a child. They separated. I've always had, I've had, three older brothers, but my three older brothers were born and raised in Ghana, so I was the only kid. So when I was a child I thought I was the only child. I didn't even know I had brothers, right. So as a child I grew up in a council state, but then, when my mom and dad separated, my mom obviously left and then we were living in another part of London and, yeah, it was.
Speaker 1:It was difficult in the sense that, you know, we couldn't afford much things. We were on benefits, to be honest, um, but one thing I would say is my mom raised us, raised me specifically, to be grateful. So even though yes, though, yes, even as a child, I was getting bullied for being poor, you know, because the way I dressed when I was a kid, I didn't care, I didn't care, I was a child, you know, I wasn't thinking about how to dress, I was just thinking about smiling and playing around. So I think, being in that environment and with my mum's blessings. She sort of taught me to be grateful. You know, keep God first, don't forget God. That was something that my mom drilled into my head. Like, even when I didn't want to listen to her, even when you go through your little rebellion stage in your life, I felt like my mom kept me thinking about purpose. I think she probably led me to thinking about purpose indirectly. I don't think she intentionally thought oh, you know, my son is going to want to give value to other people, but I think, maybe because I was the fourth child, maybe she might have made mistakes with the first three, maybe. And so with her last child, kechri, her last born, she wanted to make sure that I don't make the mistakes she made when she was younger, and I think that was very important.
Speaker 1:So being young, you know it was hard because, like I said, when I was seven years old, my father, he passed away. Unfortunately. He passed away from a bacterial infection that he could have actually have been cured. It wasn't something actually really serious. You know, if he had taken antibiotics he would still probably be alive today. Unfortunately he didn't.
Speaker 1:So I grew up in that environment with my mom raising boys, and then the reason I say boys is because as I got older, my one of my brothers came, so I was staying with my brother and my mom, so we were raised in that environment. Um, and yeah, it wasn't easy, but but we were decent kids. We were decent kids, you know. Our moms disciplined us very well through her various ways, but you know, she kept us grounded and I I'm grateful. I'm grateful because I believe, like, if you don't have, if you don't have any tests or any struggles, when, when you find some sort of success in whatever you do, I don't think you'll be as grateful for it. So I feel like the stuff you go through, even if it's negative, there's still something you can learn, you know daniel, what's your earliest memories of your dad?
Speaker 1:my dad was, uh, like a casanova he was. He was a gentleman. He was a gentleman. He was very calm, uh, different from me in that sense I would say he was very I'm more talkative, I'm more sort of energetic. You know, I'm kind of my brother. My dad sorry, it was just more relaxed, more of a relaxed man. Um, he wasn't physical in terms of disciplining us or anything like that. Uh, he was an accountant. He supported Chelsea. I remember that. You know he was into football, so he was into football.
Speaker 1:But, like I said, it's very hard because when he passed away I was seven, so from one to about three years old, you don't really remember because you're a child. But one thing my mum did always tell me is that my father, me and my father had a bond, even in those short years, even when they had separated, because they separated when I was like two years old. But they had, they had a bond because my mum even told me when my father left he couldn't sleep at night because he was thinking about me. So I knew me. I was like daddy's boy.
Speaker 1:You know I was daddy's boy, but I thought what happened was when my father passed away, then I sort of hooked on to my mom. I latched on to her because I was like, wow, my dad is dead. So then I became more of a mummy's boy, but I think originally I was actually a daddy's boy. I I liked being around my dad. I would follow him everywhere. If he went to the toilet, I'm following the toilet, I'm copying everything he's doing and how's your relationship with your brothers?
Speaker 1:my brothers. So, uh, my older brother is six, seven years older than me and my other two brothers are 21 years older than me. So I didn't grow up with the first two. The first two were like in Ghana and when they were 2021. That's when I was born. So, to be honest, I didn't really have much of a close relationship with them. I had a relationship with them in the sense that I respect them as my brothers, but I wasn't as close. Uh, the brother closest to me in age I would say we are very close. You know, he introduced me to music, hip-hop, everything, everything I liked. Any movies that I watched was really because of him, you know. So I'll say he influenced me the most out of my brothers. So my today, my relationship with my brothers is cool. My eldest brother unfortunately he passed away as well in the year 2020.
Speaker 1:That was really hard for my mom. So, you know, because it's her first child and, obviously, like, he also went through his stuff in terms of you know, I don't know if I've told you the story before, but even with him, when he was a child, he was walking around, he was healthy, but, you know, sometimes children get sick and my mom took him to the hospital and the doctor injected him, you know, maybe something to make him feel better, but the syringe broke in his leg. So then he became crippled and so that was very tough for my mom, because my mom at the time would have been 22 years old and so growing up I felt like my mom, she still had that trauma. She would still get emotional, even 25 years later, you know, over it because it's her first child. So when he died that really took a toll on her, you know. So yeah.
Speaker 2:Did you have some time to spend with him?
Speaker 1:So I didn't, so I didn't get time to see him because I hadn't been to Ghana. So the last time I was in Ghana was 23 years ago. So when I went in 2002, I met him and then he came to London in 2003. But still, I was still a kid, I was like 10 years old when I met him. So you know, he, I was just his little brother, really, really, but, um, there was always respect for him. He was, uh, he was a gospel singer. He was great at singing and I really admired that because he's creative.
Speaker 1:You know, and I like to see myself as someone that is creative as well. So, yeah, I would say, in terms of creativity, me and the firstborn, his name was george, we are similar. I would say say, in terms of creativity, me and the firstborn, his name was George, we are similar. I would say that in terms of creativity, yeah, wow yeah.
Speaker 2:You know you mentioned that you haven't been to Ghana for 23 years. Yes yes, why?
Speaker 1:That's a good question. So, to be honest, I would say from 2002 to about 2020, something, maybe 2020, let's say I couldn't afford to go. You know, I didn't, like I said, I wasn't raised in an environment where there was money like that. So if I was going to Ghana, what could I really do? Most of my family had migrated outside of Ghana, most of my family in Italy, uk, canada, canada and, in some, in Ghana.
Speaker 1:But I wouldn't say I was closest to the ones that were still in Ghana. I was more close to the ones in Italy, so I'd go to Italy, you know, visit them from time to time, um, or they would come to London, etc. But uh, I always had it on my mind to go back to Ghana. Once I started my content creation journey, I was like I need to go back, but then I felt like I always delayed it because I, when I come to Ghana, I wanted it to be the best you know I've, because I've traveled a lot in recent months, recent years, and I was like, if I'm gonna go back to my home country, I need it to be the best. And I think I was stuck in my head because I didn't know how it'd be like because it's been 23 years, but I'm excited to be here for 23 years yeah, there were.
Speaker 1:There were no conversations with mom about coming to ghana with brothers, that there was no, no, so so there was conversations, but usually, to be honest, when my mom would go to ghana, it would be usually for a funeral. Yeah, because, like, if someone, because my mom gave birth to me when she was 42, so as the years go by a lot, she's losing a lot of people, whether it's this friend of hers and that. So even when I went to Ghana in 2002, it was actually with the purpose of celebrating my dad's life. Okay, yeah, so it was because my dad passed away in the year 2000,. But maybe there was a bit of a delay in terms of celebrating the funeral. But I remember in 2002, there was like a little mini celebration funeral thing, but it was paying tribute to my dad. So I don't, I don't know if we would have gone to Ghana, then I would have, I don't know at that time how was mom really taking care of you in terms of jobs to survive?
Speaker 1:so yeah, so my mom, my mom was a cleaner. Um, so in London, a cleaner, you're not really getting paid much. You know, it's sort of seen as the how do I put it? You know my mum always said every job is needed. That's what I liked about my mum. My mum never looked down on any job. It doesn't matter, whatever job you do, that job is needed. You know the garbage man needs to take out the garbage. If there's no garbage man needs to take out the garbage. If there's no garbage man, then all your rubbish is going to be there. So you have to appreciate everyone. But I feel like in london if, if someone said I want to be a cleaner, everyone would look at them differently. Like really, is that really ambitious? So I grew up in that environment where my mom was a cleaner. She wasn't getting much and as a child I was very hyperactive so I used to hurt myself a lot. So my mom's friends advised her to just focus on me, like erasing me, because I kept hurting myself as a kid.
Speaker 1:Um, and yeah, but not to say my mom, my mom did have ambition. My mom, you know, my mom, grew up in an environment in Kumasi where she, she was raised to be in the kitchen, you know. But my mom had goals. She wanted to start her own nursery or do something. But when she came to the UK, her friends told her you know, just look after your kids. You're, you're old, you're this, you're a woman, you're this. But I always told her you should be doing what you want to do. You know, and I learned that from her because she didn't do what she didn't do. It inspired me to do what I need to do. Because as she got older, she grew a bit bitter, because in life, I believe this if you're not doing what you're meant to do, what you know you're meant to do, because we all know what we're meant to do, in a sense, eventually it can haunt you after some time, you know, especially if you just ignore it. So yeah, so my mum was providing literally benefits.
Speaker 2:I'll be honest, yeah but how did that make you feel growing up?
Speaker 1:I mean, as as a child. You know, I feel like as a child, you're not really focused on that, you're really focused on just playing. You know, I was just playing football, uh, playing games. I guess my older brother, he, was there as well. So we're just playing games, so we never.
Speaker 1:For me, it wasn't really a major problem. I think the problem started when I was getting bullied, you know, by the people in the same environment as me. By the way, it's just that they maybe had a bit more money, like maybe their dad would give them 20 pound and my mom would give me 20p, you know. So I feel like I took it in a good way. I felt like church obviously would have helped at the time, because when you're going to church and you're praying to God, you have to be grateful. So it would be very hard for me to be complaining to my mum and then after go talk to God and tell him, you know, thank you for another day, even though I'm not being grateful for the other day. So I think that's what sort of kept me grounded in that sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah at what point did you realize that things have got to change?
Speaker 1:well, that's, that's I like that question for. For me, like I said, when I was around six years old, I was thinking I'm here for a reason. I know I'm here for a reason. I just used to think a lot. I don't know, maybe I'm over thinker, but I used to think to myself I'm here for a reason, I just know it. There's, there's, we're all here. And I used to like people watch. I used to stare at people and be like, look at how complex they are as a human. And I was like you're definitely here for a reason. We're not just here to just exist.
Speaker 1:And so I feel, growing up from six all the way into my adulthood, was just me trying to figure out why I'm here. You know, why am I here? What is my purpose? So I think it took a period of years and I think it's an ongoing thing, because I don't think, you know, as you reach different stages your life, things can change, but you still have a purpose. My, I guess my main purpose would be giving value to people. Now, how I get there could be through different things. You know, at some point I might be like right now it's content creation, maybe next time it'll be film. You know it could. It comes in various forms. I don't think it's.
Speaker 2:You're growing up um in an environment where there isn't a lot of money um. You'll see mom go um do night shifts here and there to make sure you guys have something to eat and then you know clothes to wear. But what I really want to understand is that when you're watching all of these things happen and then you also saw her quit her job to take care of you- yeah at what point did you really turn okay into yourself to see, okay, what is happening here and what can I do?
Speaker 1:yeah, to also support yeah, I think I think when I got a bit older, that's when I started to care about that stuff. So my mom was diagnosed with dementia in 2018. So before that, I remember when I started to care about that stuff. So my mum was diagnosed with dementia in 2018. So before that, I remember when, I think, I was in uni at the time and we got a notice from the council saying that we had 28 days to pay a certain sum or we could be evicted. And I remember at that time I was like what you know and I just remember I went with my mom to Tower Bridge area like near London Bridge Sorry, yeah, london Bridge and we went to the meeting and the man maybe the head of security or the chief director of whatever said to my mom you know, you have 28 days to pay.
Speaker 1:And I just remember when we left, I was hurt. I looked at my mom because she, she looked hurt and I was hurt for her. And I remember I she could see I was upset. She said don't worry, everything's gonna be fine. You know everything's gonna be fine, it's okay, but I was that's when I felt it. I was like, nah, this, something has to change here. You know, and even as we're walking, people were staring at us because they could see something was odd. You know, my, my mom's walking the street, her head is down, she's just like this. So that, really, but that really hurt me. So I had to get the money. I, you know, I got some friends and my friends were like look, they just chipped in. You know, they, I didn't ask them, they just naturally did that and I was very grateful for that at the time. But I think that was a catalyst. I was like I need to, I need to do something.
Speaker 1:And I think also, like I told you, when my father passed away, I think I latched onto my mom and I think as a child I was relying on my mom too much and even at some point I remember when I was a child, my mom said to me don't rely on me. You know I'm not going to always be here, and I think obviously people would say don't say that to a child. But I think that was good for me, because she was preparing me for adulthood and she was preparing me for the time when maybe there's a time she's not going to be here, and I think going through those different events made me realize she was right, you know, and even now my mom's got dementia. She's physically alive, but she's her mind is not as it used to be and now I have to take care of her, you know. And so I think about all the times she told me stop relying on me.
Speaker 1:And I think this is why, when it comes to content creation with my own work, I'm very hands-on, because I don't want to rely on someone. You know, I think it's like something psychological which can work to my benefit, because then I don't feel like I owe anyone something. You know, no one's responsible for my outcome. I'm responsible in that sense If, by me showing up, obviously God will bring people my way to be a blessing along the way and you accept the blessing. You don't take that blessing for granted. But I think being in that environment and going through that with my mom is what sort of led to me behaving in the way I behave when it comes to content creation and being consistent and being hands-on with my work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when you speak to your mom and you try to recollect some memories with her, yeah, and she can't really get it going. How does that make you feel?
Speaker 1:so, to be honest, when my mom was diagnosed with dementia, um, the doctor did speak to me back in 2018 and he did say to me look, I'm going to tell you this like because at because at the time my mom's mind was fine, she was, it was early stages and the doctor said to me I'm just going to let you know your mom's been diagnosed with dementia. So right now, everything's fine, but there will be a time where her memory just goes like that, and so I think he sort of mentally prepared me for the time. I didn't know when the time would come because of dementia. That's the scary thing about dementia it can take five years, 10 years. It can happen in weeks. That's what's scary about it. It's, you know, it's a terrible disease to have. But yeah, I feel my mom's dementia got worse when, in 2020, my brother died because the stress, and then that's when it escalated, but then I wouldn't have anticipated my brother passing away in 2020. So it went from zero to 100 real quick, yeah have you guys tried speaking about?
Speaker 1:you know beautiful memories in the past yeah, I always do that every time I visit her. So my mom's currently in the care home. Um, before I was looking after her, but it got to a point where it was hard to look after her because I was traveling a lot. And not only that, she would start running outside because of the dementia she's seeing things. So there's times where I'd be asleep and then I'd just hear someone running and I'd have to run out the house to go on the street to. Actually, this is what dementia does. So it's definitely something that I wasn't used to and so I had to get her into a care home. But I always make sure that I wasn't used to and so I had to get her into a care home. But I always make sure that I show up for her because it's my mom.
Speaker 1:You know I've always had a good relationship with my mom and my mom always cared for me, and so I make sure I check up on her every time I'm in London. We have conversations. I always focus on the positive memories and my mom has a dark sense of humor, so we like to joke a lot, but it's, it's beautiful, it's beautiful. But her having dementia. I know it's a negative thing, but I think it's also been much of a blessing in the sense of it's taught me patience, because when someone's asking you the same question over and over again because they don't remember that they asked you the same question, you have to learn patience. So, my mom, even having dementia, I'm still learning more about myself and what I need to work on, you know. So it's yeah, there's always something you can learn, even when it's negative.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when we were driving to your hotel yeah my young guy came to knock, yeah, on the window yeah, the car yeah and you were shocked, yeah yeah you asked me what does he want, and what is that? Yeah, can you tell me more about that?
Speaker 1:yeah, so no. So when, when the kid went and knocked on the door, I think I was just shocked that at such a young age he had to work and I was just thinking about how sometimes us in the western world we are actually blessed but then we take our blessing for granted. You know there's kids out here working at such a young age. My mom used to tell me when she was like five, six years old, she was cooking the family dinner and I was like what you know? So I think for me, when the when the kid knocked on the door when we were driving, I was it just reminded me of I need to be grateful. You know, we we always complain about what we don't have, but he's that little kid is hustling. That kid one day is going to become something and he's going to have a story and he'll be lord willing, he'll be able to make an impact in someone else's life. So that's why I was shocked. I was just thrown off guard.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah you keep saying your mom, you know you're taking care of your mom, helping your mom. I mean, how about the other siblings?
Speaker 1:so everyone has a different relationship with my mom. This is why I said, you know, I can't speak for them in that sense, because they were born before me. I don't know how they're raised. All I know is, out of all my brothers, my mom paid the most attention to me. That's something we all know. Like, out of all my brothers like my mom was really, but I'm assuming it's probably from all the mistakes she may have made, maybe being a young mother, so when she got to her last child at 42, she knows what to do to bring up the child. But, yeah, they're good as well. My brother, my older brother, he checks up on my mum. And my other brother, he's based in Canada. He checks up on my mum, you know. So they definitely have a good relationship with her. I even spoke to my brother the other day and he's gonna check up on her. So, yeah, it's just that I think me growing up with my mom full-on 100 is what, yeah, motivates me.
Speaker 1:When you were growing up, yeah, what were your plans for life? What did you want to become? Okay, okay, I like that. Um, I think initially I was intrigued by history. I'm definitely into history and philosophy, so I think, initially I wanted to become an archaeologist, I wanted to discover the meaning of life. I was the kid that was always asking, okay, like that's what I'm saying, how did we get here? What am I meant to be doing? But I was also like, where's the origin of man? You know? All of these different things, these are questions I kept obsessing over, which, which can be difficult, because now, let's say, if you're exploring religion, right, and you're going to church, different churches are teaching different things about the meaning of life, and so then, as a kid, I felt, like in my teens, I was very confused because I was trying to figure out what is the truth.
Speaker 2:What is the truth, truth and you know what did mom and dad tell you.
Speaker 1:So my dad wasn't religious. My dad wasn't religious. My dad didn't talk to me about anything to do with religion, but my mom was just more. So my mom respected One thing I liked about my mom my mom respected everyone's beliefs. You know, she wasn't someone that was like dogmatic or looking down on other people, and I think that was good for me to be in that environment, because when I'm around different people of different walks of life, I don't know your struggle, I don't know what you've been through. So I feel bad for me. Even judging, you know even my name, daniel, means God is my judge. So if God is my judge, how am I there trying to judge what you believe in? You know? So?
Speaker 1:My mom would say to me you believe in, you know so my mom would say to me just don't forget to pray, don't forget to pray. That was one thing she drummed into my head from a young child. Every time I was going to school she said we have to say a prayer. It didn't matter if I was complaining or if I was in a good mood, it didn't matter, we're praying. But I think that was good, because when you start to go through life challenges, you don't forget to pray, you know, and when you're happy you still pray. So my mom's responsible for that. I'll definitely give her that, you know and that's the lesson.
Speaker 1:So you wanted to be an archaeologist initially I'll say I wanted to be an archaeologist, and then what happened was we went to a church one day and then, uh, one of the pastors said he's going to be a doctor. So so I think the narrative changed and, you know, my family was trying to push me towards being a doctor, but I had no desire to be a doctor. It was just what he said. And so I think that was a bit of a struggle, because once I hit teenage years, I told my mom I don't want to be a doctor, and at first she was upset, but then, after she came back to me and apologized and was like no, do whatever you want to do. You know, because I think she she just wanted me to be educated, because my mom wasn't educated, she didn't grow up in that environment, so she was just trying to figure out.
Speaker 1:Okay, I want my son to be successful if he's going to be a doctor. Doctors have a good reputation, but that wasn't something that I feel I was going to do. I knew I wasn't going to do it. Um, yeah, okay, okay.
Speaker 2:And then what happened in the next path?
Speaker 1:So in my, in my twenties.
Speaker 2:Yep, yeah, so I had to become.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So then I went to university. Even in university I dropped out twice. I went to university, studied philosophy and history, because I loved history initially but I didn't enjoy it at uni, so then I left. Then I went back to uni and I studied songwriting and music production because everyone said I could, everyone said I could sing. So I went back with the intention of becoming a singer and I was like, okay, I'm gonna be an R&B singer right now. And I actually got a first. I got a high mark for songwriting. So I knew I was creative. I just wasn't good with the instruments, the other stuff.
Speaker 1:Because you need to be trained, be trained in that. You need to learn that, you need to be. But I was never trained. So then I dropped out again and then my mom said I remember at the time she said if you don't, if you don't go uni, you get kicked out. Really at the time, you know.
Speaker 1:So I went back and I studied psychology and I thought, okay, I'm going to study psychology, not because I'm looking for a job. I okay, I'm going to study psychology not because I'm looking for a job, I'm going to study psychology because it's going to be a life skill. You know the study of human behavior, and I thought psychology is something you're going to need, regardless of which sector you're in. You know when, if someone wants to be a president, psychologically they need to convince the people to vote for him. You know someone's a content creator, he needs people to follow him. He needs to give some sort of value so people will follow them right, follow her or him.
Speaker 1:And or even iPhone when we all rock an iPhone or Samsung, usually it's because psychologically they've made us believe. You know they want you to fit in. You want to fit in, so you end up buying an iPhone, but then there's plenty of other phones out there, but we usually go for what everyone else is doing. So I knew psychology, studying psychology, would be important for me in the long run, but I didn't know how I was going to use it, so I just studied it just for the sake of studying at the time let me stop it here for a minute.
Speaker 2:If you've been watching this show, I want you to subscribe and become part of the family. We are on a journey of changing the lives of people on this channel and we appreciate you for being here, but if you haven't become part of the family, connect with us. Hit the subscribe button now. Let's carry on the conversation after uni what did you do?
Speaker 1:banking, okay. So I went into personal banking. Is retail banking customer service face to face? Um, the reason why I joined the bank was because I was trying to make ends meet. Uh, I had bills to pay and so I was just trying to figure out, okay, what job? Because that's the thing with uni sometimes is you can go uni, you can get a degree, you can get high grades, but you need experience. If you don't have experience experience it's very hard to get a job. And so when I finished uni, I needed a job and I applied to the bank because I knew someone that applied to the bank and I thought, okay, let me apply to the bank. And I was in the bank for like a period of five years I'm gonna take you back and then, bring you back here again.
Speaker 2:You being raised by, you know, a single parent. For me, I was raised by both parents right on the other side, but you've turned out pretty good.
Speaker 1:Pretty decent, pretty decent, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You've done very well for yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah. But, how does?
Speaker 2:that shape your perspective about life.
Speaker 1:I think my perspective is you, you know we're not going to always be here. You know, when my father passed away at seven, when I was seven, I knew, okay, we're not going to be here forever. So then I automatically had to grow up a bit, because when you lose someone, it's missing. So what you would have got? So, for example, in your environment you would have had a dad that would have taught you about having bills to pay, how to talk to the ladies with respect and all these different things. In my environment I didn't have a dad, so my mom had to become my mom and dad in that environment. So it would have been tough for her.
Speaker 1:And so I think, because it was tough for her, me and my brother had the empathy to feel her pain, because I didn't think if my mum was coming from Ghana to the UK, she would come with intention of making her family life better. So I didn't want to take that for granted. And so while I was in school and or I was pursuing anything, I was thinking about her, not wanting to disappoint her because I can get myself into major trouble, but then that's disrespect to my mum. My mum didn't carry me in her womb for nine months, just for me to turn out to be nothing. I don't think any mother has that intention. I think every mother wants to see the best for their child.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I've seen a lot of kids that are raised by single parents and can be tough yeah it's definitely tough, you know, but that's why my mom had to give me tough love.
Speaker 1:My mom disciplined us like she wasn't she wasn't easy going all the time she had her moment, she was fun, she.
Speaker 2:She mixed up, you think she had her own pain inside and trauma yeah, yeah, my mom, like my mom had.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, my mom had pain and trauma and when I got older I would speak to her about it. I said how was life growing up for you? You know, she told me her mom was very strict on her. You know, because my mom was the oldest, the eldest child, so she, she had many siblings, um, and it was hard because she was responsible for them.
Speaker 1:So if anything happened to the younger sister or the younger brother, her mom would look at her and she couldn't even get formal education no, so I think she went to secondary school and after that, that was it, yeah you think at some point she was trying to live her life through you?
Speaker 1:I think. I think she wanted me to become the man maybe my dad wasn't okay, do you know? I mean, I think psychologically right if, if your dad left, etc. She would not want you to end up leaving someone else because of that pain. So I think she was just raising me to be responsible and raising my brother to be responsible I've had conversations here where I've asked people who lost their dads at early stages.
Speaker 2:The question was really simple. It was around you know life insurance, um, you know investment for the children, things like that. Was there anything like that in the family when dad passed?
Speaker 1:No, because you need to remember my dad also. He was with someone else at the time, so in terms of insurance, there wasn't necessarily insurance. Maybe my mom got given a certain sum of money, but I wouldn't have been aware of that because that's the age of seven. So maybe just to chip in for food and stuff like that, but I wouldn't have known exactly the amount you know.
Speaker 2:All I know is my dad was an accountant, but you think it's important that fathers do that, yeah, like invest, yeah, yeah for their children.
Speaker 1:Yeah, of course, especially as a father, you know you need to protect and provide in a sense, and be there for your children. Um, obviously, in his situation it was unfortunate that he passed away quite early. He was only at the time, he was only like 51, so you know he still had some life to live potentially at the time daniel in the lion's den if we take you back to you, okay, back on track again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to you, you know, getting a job yeah and all of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now take me through it which job though, because I've had so many?
Speaker 2:yeah, so you've had a banking job so I've had okay.
Speaker 1:So I've had a banking job. Uh, I've worked as a paper boy. When I was like 15, 16, I was doing paper rounds, riding bikes and delivering newspapers to people. I worked as a lunchtime supervisor. So when it was lunchtime, I would watch over the kids that were younger than me just to make sure that they were waiting in line, not, you know, pushing in front of each other, so basically preventing fights.
Speaker 1:There was a time where I was actually mentoring kids when I was in uni. I was mentoring kids in my old school, just going back and talking to the kids that were necessarily just misbehaved. They had potential, they weren't bad kids, they just misbehaved at times, you know, and so I would go back and just talk to them. So I knew I always had intentions to because I wasn't paid for that. That was just something. I had the desire to inspire some sort of change. You know, actually, one of them actually messaged me recently in recent years, like two weeks ago actually, and he was just like hey, I just wanted to say hello, you know. So I feel like I've always wanted to say hello, you know. So I feel like I've always wanted to mentor, in a sense, or inspire some group of people. Another job I had was I've worked in a restaurant and harvester harvester is like a restaurant I know okay yeah, I was working in the kitchen there.
Speaker 1:Uh, what else did I do? I worked as a digitizing scanning operator for the british library. I worked as an it engineer for uh bank of america. I worked in a core center for solar energy savings.
Speaker 2:I worked for a tv series app called love film, who were competing with netflix, and at what point did you start thinking wait, hold on, I want to get into content creation so the content creation, it came way later.
Speaker 1:You know, the content creation came later. I think what happened was my last job before the content creation was, um, I was working in the bank, right, and so being at the bank in my 20s, I'm thinking this is not. You know me. At six years old, I knew I was meant to do something. You know, even you know it's funny I missed out something. Uh, so when I was younger, when I was about 16, I was part of like the christian union in my, in my, in my school, in my, and then one of the kids he actually uh, said to me he was like you know, you're gonna, you're gonna, be a teacher one day and people are gonna know you for what you do. And at the time I was a bit angry because I was like I don't want to be a teacher, you know, at the time. But I just feel like when I was like I don't want to be a teacher, you know, at the time, but I just feel like when you fast forward it to now, pretty much what I'm doing is that in a sense. But yeah, working in the bank, and I was looking for purpose and I was trying to figure out. What am I meant to be doing? And I just remember thinking to myself. I read a book called the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. You know, I was watching the interview by Will Smith once and he just kept talking about this book. And I was a big fan of Will Smith so still am. I'm still a big fan and I was thinking, man, I need to read this book. But when I read this book there was a line it said follow the omens, follow the signs life give you. And so me being in the bank, frustrated, trying trying to figure out what my purpose is thinking life can be more than this I said what am I good at? What do people say I'm good at? And I just remember thinking back.
Speaker 1:When I was in the bank, people complimented me on the way I dressed. When I was in uni, people complimented me on the way I dressed. When I was in church, people were complimenting me on the way I dressed. And when I was in sixth form college, people were as a sign and I was like, maybe this is something I'm meant to be doing. So then that's when I proceeded to post on social media of me in a suit. And then that's what started everything, but in the beginning it wasn't necessarily content creation, it was just more so. Me taking a picture of me in a suit. Videos wasn't introduced yet, there was no, tiktok wasn't popping yet and um, instagram, there was no rails at the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you just posted a picture.
Speaker 1:I posted a picture, I got a good reaction from people and when I mean a good reaction from people, probably like three, four, five people. But that was enough for me to be like, yeah, this is maybe something. I just felt happy. You know, it gave me something to do when I wasn't working, to go to the studio, work with a photographer and just take some pictures in a suit. Maybe I can inspire someone for when they have like a wedding or if they're going out somewhere. That's, that was what I was thinking and when I started I just I was doing it for fun. But then I was consistent and I feel consistency is very important okay, but where did?
Speaker 2:where did the consistency came on because if you register on an app and you're just using it for fun, you don't really think of being consistent. It's just as in when a picture is worthy of posting, then you post it, but I've always seen myself as a creature of habit.
Speaker 1:I feel like with me. I'm the type of person. If I like jollof rice, I'm going to keep eating jollof rice. Yeah, until you get sick one day, yeah, but I never get sick. But I feel I'm a creature of habit and so I felt like I found something that I enjoyed, so I just kept doing it.
Speaker 2:And how often were you doing at the time?
Speaker 1:several times a week, um several times a week.
Speaker 2:So you kept spending money to go to the. Yeah, I was spending money like in the beginning, right, I had.
Speaker 1:By the way, I didn't have a lot of money. I was working the bank but we weren't paid much, right, and so I would use the money. I had to go into the shop and go to a suit shop, buy the suit, go back to the studio, take the pictures, make sure the label's on so I could return and return it. Yeah, because I couldn't afford it at the time, but I think that opened up things for me, because it's like he's he has intention. You know he's one day he's going to be able to have suits and one day people are going to pay him to wear suits. That that was how it happened, yeah.
Speaker 2:At what point did you start thinking OK, I can monetize this.
Speaker 1:So I started thinking about monetizing later on, and I think that's what helped me.
Speaker 2:How many years into?
Speaker 1:it. So I started January 2019. I wasn't thinking about money to about 2022. Why? Because I enjoyed just making the content and I would have done it for free.
Speaker 1:I'm sure you were getting emails from people saying that you know they want to collaborate, they want to do this, they want to do that, but at the time I was just doing it for free, because I think at the time I was. You know, they always say in the beginning, not all the time, not the whole time, but in the beginning. You know they say if you want a million dollars or you want a hundred million dollars, and if you would still do what you do, then you know you love it I understand, yeah, because these days, these times, you were working a day job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was working, and then you're still creating content?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it was working out for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but then you were not monetizing it, but the opportunity was there to monetize it. Yeah, there was an opportunity to monetize it, but I think at the time my focus wasn't. My focus was just, I wasn't thinking about money at the time. You know, I wasn't. Money wasn't my. I felt like if money was my motivation earlier on, I would have gotten myself into some stuff that a lot of people in my environment were getting themselves into and I was never my main focus.
Speaker 2:I just believed the money would come how many followers in before you started thinking of monetizing? I had a hundred thousand followers okay, yeah, how did you monetize the brand?
Speaker 1:so brands were reaching out, wanting to collaborate with me, and then they'll pay me a fee to wear their outfit. It could be suits, it could be watches, anything a man could wear at some point you quit your job yeah, I quit my job when I hit a million followers how did that decision come by?
Speaker 1:um, because now loads of brands wanted to work with me. So, you know, you know, I was like, okay, well, I can make a living off of this. And so I thought about it and I was like, yeah, I'm going to leave, I'm going to take the leap of faith and I'm just going to Daniel, what does making a living off social media at the time look like?
Speaker 1:To be able to travel, to be able to travel, to be able to travel, to be able to travel, to be able to wake up anytime, go to bed anytime, so like that At the time, how much were brands paying? It varies, you know it varies. There's no, there's no fixed fee when it comes to brands, but it's, it's, it's cool, it's cool. It's enough to make a living In the beginning in in the beginning, in the beginning.
Speaker 2:Right yeah, because to me make a living that's that's for me. It could be 10k a month, 20k a month, something like that. Okay, yeah, yeah, at the time I really want to understand whether people can actually take this as a as a full-time job, yes, yes, and say that this is what they want to do but I I would say this like if I was talking to people.
Speaker 1:I would say this like focus on becoming great at what you're doing. I feel like so many people are so focused on the money aspect of things. What's your desire, your why should be? You want to give value to people. You want to change people's life. The money will come. But I felt like in the beginning, because I had a lot of people that started off with me but they ended up giving up quick because their focus was just the money, so they weren't growing anymore. You know, do you know? I mean, whereas me, I just I my my value and my focus was giving the people value.
Speaker 2:That's what I cared about let's give the value and the money will come yeah, obviously.
Speaker 1:No, no, I'm not saying just lay there. Obviously you can, you can talk, reach out to brands, you can talk to brands, brands can reach out to you and stuff like that. But I, I didn't let money stress me out. I feel like some people, if you can make money stress you out, you may do start doing some illegal things, you know, and for me I didn't because, like I said, I grew up in an environment where I had nothing right, where most people would be doing the opposite needing, needing it. But I think because I was so used to not having money. I was used to it at the time, you know. So I didn't, I didn't make it my focus. I knew, I knew God would provide. Put it that way yeah, I knew God would provide and I knew that as long as I was consistent, consistent, mastering what I was doing, I'd be fine, consistent mastering what I was doing, I'd be fine.
Speaker 2:That's interesting, yeah, if I ask you the exact actions, things that people can do because somebody is at 50K and they want to monetize.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, you can. You can monetize and there's ways to monetize. You can reach out to brands. You can reach out to brands for collaborations Yep, you know, but for me at the time I feel a lot of brands wanted to work for me because they could see my page was genuine, because they're like, oh, this guy's not trying to, this guy's actually enjoying what he does, and I feel they can feel it through the personality. Do you see what I mean? I think for me that was the main thing you know. But, like I said, you can, of course, monetize. You know people monetize. I've got a friend. He's a content creator. He monetizes for his views, his focus, his views like his youtube. You know it's through the views and so that's how he monetizes. He doesn't necessarily work with a lot of brands with me. I work with a lot of brands because of I like fashion and I think brands like that, so they want to work with me in that sense.
Speaker 2:You're thinking of business within the content creation that you have, the brand that you have. You're thinking of creating your own business.
Speaker 1:No no, so I've got. So I'm I'm working on a suit brand. I've got the suit brand which I'm working on, but it's just that for me, my main thing is I'm sort of like a Mr Beast. A Mr Beast in the sense of you see, Mr Beast, he doesn't really care about money too much. When he gets the money, he just throws it back into his content. And I feel like that's what I've done I just throw it back in, Because I want to be the best at what I can be. You know.
Speaker 2:But I checked your website and then everything is out of stock.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, Because but that's putting the emails in and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:yeah yeah, but you're wearing one of them yeah, so no.
Speaker 1:So this is a brand I actually worked with. There's another brand I worked with on social media, but, um, I was wearing it yesterday, but I don't think I didn't see you, no, no it's a green suit yeah, yeah, so can people buy it yeah, yeah, they can buy it, but right now the we're collecting.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, I'm excited about that and that's why I'm working on the long form videos, so people get to know me, because I feel like even the people that I started with on social media, they got to a certain stage and then they just dipped, but I remember back then they were the ones that were focused on the money at the time when I used to meet up with them. They're up with them. Oh. So what's going on with the? And I was kind of like nah, but for me, my focus was the value and that's why I continue to expand, like, for example, even traveling. Right, the last six months, I told you, I've been to like 11 countries. I don't need to travel. I choose to travel because I want to connect with the people, I want to give more value, I want my content creation to be more colorful. That's an investment I've put into myself. I could have just stayed in london, but I chose to. You know.
Speaker 2:So, uh, yeah, but I mean you, you post a lot and your page keeps growing. Yeah, do you ever take a break?
Speaker 1:no, no do you know why? Why, because when I was a kid, when I was in my teenage, teenage years, when I was in my 20s, trying to figure out what I was going to do, I felt like I was taking a break. I wasn't doing anything. So I felt like those were the time. That was my break time.
Speaker 1:And now and I made a promise to myself because it took me three years before my account actually blew up on social media right, I made a promise to myself because I struggled. I said to myself, if I ever grow, if I ever because I was putting out videos but it wasn't doing well, at the time I was like if I ever grow, I'm not letting go, I'm not stopping because I struggled, stopping because I struggled, and so I know how it feels like to not, you know, get any attention for the hard work you're putting in or the value you're giving. So once I get that moment, when that time comes, I'm not gonna let go. And that time came and when it came, I didn't stop you know what's been a strategy to grow your social media so so what happened?
Speaker 1:so what happened? The reason why I have so much content to post is because in the beginning, because I was so excited, I was creating loads of videos. I was creating like close to 20 videos in a day in the beginning, you know, and I would be excited and I would edit it the same day. I was like, I was obsessed, yeah. So I feel like what happened is, over time, because I've had that type of energy, just the numbers I've just had so much content. That's why I'm able to post every day, and sometimes I can post old videos. Change up the tempo, change up the music, because when you post your social media, not everyone sees your post, only a certain percentage. And then, even when it goes viral, your audience is not necessarily seeing it. They're showing it to a new audience. So sometimes you can repost an old video from a few years ago. Change up the tempo a bit and the music and it'll be shown to a new audience, and then you're still growing.
Speaker 2:Let me stop it here for a minute. If you've been watching this show, I want you to subscribe and become part of the family. We are on a journey of changing the lives of people on this channel and we appreciate you for being here. But if you haven't become part of the family, connect with us, hit the subscribe button and let's carry on the conversation. That's a really good strategy yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I just I think for me what, what, but it's because I was hungry. You know I was watching. This is a bit off topic, but it's because I was hungry. You know I was watching. This is a bit off topic, but it's still to do with work rate.
Speaker 1:I was watching an interview with Chris Brown, who's one of my favorite musical artists, and they asked him how many songs do you have that you haven't released? And he said 8,000. Just think about that 8,000 songs he hasn't released. And this guy is dropping music all the time since 2005. But then it showed me why he's still relevant. It's because he keeps going.
Speaker 1:He's hungry, you know, despite all the stuff that he's been through. That's necessarily negative, right? He's hungry for success. He wants to stay on top as the guy, and that's why, even if you look in the music industry, when it comes to urban artists, he has remained top and he has remained the most consistent. You see many artists come and go, but he's remained there. But I put it down to his work rate. I don't know many artists that have 8,000 songs that they haven't released. And so, with that mentality, when it comes to my content creation, you got to be hungry. You got to create, because if you're not creating, someone else's, you know at over 10 million audience size, you're still hungry yeah, but there's six billion people to reach on this earth.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, 10 million is not a lot to me, you know. I mean I'm I'm grateful. I'm not saying there's not a lot in the sense I'm grateful. I I thank god all the time for even blessing me with that. But even with let me, let me tell you something, because I even missed out a part.
Speaker 1:So the period before I grew on Instagram, I was actually about to delete my social media because I'd given up, because it was three years in and I was like this is long, you know, this is long I'm. This is not for me. You know, maybe this is not my purpose, maybe I was just dreaming. And then one of my good friends said to me don't delete your social media, don't. Good friend said to me don't delete your social media, don't. And so I stuck at it and about six months later that's when I blew up.
Speaker 1:But even before that, there was this girl that kept commenting on my posts, some random girl from, I think, algeria. She was just commenting on my post saying she really likes my style, blah, blah, blah. But every time I would post a video, she would comment in detail. So then it made me more intrigued to know who this person is. Who's this person that keeps commenting on my posts? And so I messaged her and I said thank you so much for the compliment. But uh, who are you? Because on her profile there was no pictures. And then she said to me oh, I'm just an admirer, I'm just a fan, I'm like, okay, cool, nothing, I carry on posting. She's still commenting on my post like in-depth comments, and I'm like. So I messaged her again. I was like I need to talk, I need to see who this person is, because I didn't even know it was a guy or woman, because on their profile it the name was in Arabic and I can't read in Arabic, so I didn't know it. Maybe it was a guy, maybe it was a girl, I didn't know. So I ended up calling them through the Instagram app just to see who it.
Speaker 1:You know, because you become curious to know who's this person that is commenting on your post when a lot of people at the time, maybe, are not commenting. So you feel it, you feel you appreciate it more. And it was a young lady. And then she and I said to her wow, thank you very much. And then she said to me she said something you know every time I see you grow, I smile and you're going to reach millions of people and you're going to get millions of followers. And I remember when she said it, it's like my gut, I just felt it was true. Okay, she said this to me December 2021, january 2022, which was the next month my account started blowing up. Crazy, yeah. So for me, following the omens, following the science, she I believe she was there to keep me going. Her comments I don't know her, I never met her never met her.
Speaker 2:Maybe she was the fatima from the book of alchemist no, but.
Speaker 1:But I believe some people come your way to be a blessing. I think she came to add more fuel. It's kind of like a you know, when you watch formula one and then the cars driving, they come back to change up the tires and add more petrol just to keep it going. I think she was, because I don't. I I've never met her, I don't know her you thought, that gave you.
Speaker 1:I just thought, the energy, the energy of wow, belief. You know someone believing in you. When someone's saying they're happy with your content and they're happy and they're hoping that you and they know that you're going to reach millions, you're like wow. You know, even my friend, the person that said to me don't delete your account, keep going. That that is a blessing, because he I could have had a friend that told me no, because you remember my mom's experience. She had friends that told her don't pursue your goals because you're old or you're this and that. So I feel surrounding yourself with the right type of people can be of benefit to you what did your mom think of the whole social media stuff?
Speaker 1:so, to be honest, my mom's dementia kicked in around around then. So my mom okay, put it this way my mom, my mom knows of it, because my mom has dreams. So my mom will have a dream and say I had a dream, you know, like a billboard or like paparazzi were chasing you and stuff like that, and so she was getting worried. So when I'll see her in the girl, she'll be like you okay is everything. Okay, you know I'm, I'm fine and I think in the care home because a lot of the staff follow me on social media, I think they've been telling her oh, you know, your son is, you know, but my mom's not really familiar with it. But for me, what I pride myself in is just my mom being proud that I didn't take anything from granted from her. You know anything? She brought me up on the fact that she came to London, are you?
Speaker 2:able to provide for mom. Yeah, yeah, does that make you proud?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it makes me proud, but I do believe there's more I can do. You know there's more I can do and I think it starts with, like you said, it starts with mom, but I think even worldwide, to travel and connect with the world. Because, even my positive words, because I think a lot of people think of just financial aspect of things you can still give money to someone that doesn't have money, that is poor, but even if you give them money, you can still lose the money if they, if they're not educated, you know. So I don't think it's necessarily just about giving money. I think sometimes even words of affirmation, you know, just letting someone know that. You know, like, even when I saw your work, I've seen your work I was, I really liked it. I've watched it on youtube, you know, several times and it's really good.
Speaker 1:But you hearing that, you've heard that a lot from other people, but that will still add fuel to you. That would be like, okay, he said it, there's another 10 million people that are going to say that. So you're going to reach more people. It's going to put more in your tank. So I think it's very important what we say to each other and to inspire and give value. You know, because, like I said before, I believe we all have gifts and talents. All of us, we all have gifts and talents and your purpose in life is to figure that out. Figure that out. Maybe some will figure it out early, some others later, but as long as you keep trying through trial and error, I believe you can make a real positive impact in people's lives all right, you've just shot a video and you needed to post it right now.
Speaker 2:Can you vividly explain to me how you post it on your social media account?
Speaker 1:okay tips and tricks that you so I mean, I, I use an app called in shot. So if I'm you know if, if I've shot a pose video, um, my photographer would have edited the photo and then he just sent me the footage and then I just put it together in shot and basically I sort of know what works with my audience in terms of, like, going viral. Right, because because I've posted so many times, I know how the algorithm works. You know, the algorithm is up and down. It's like life, it's full of ups and downs.
Speaker 1:You stick around, you're gonna catch the highs, you will catch the lows and it will feel bad when your account is not growing for time, but when it goes up, you're going to go up because you've shown up every day. You know the world is going like this, right, you're like this, you're on a path and you're going like this, but the world is going like this, up and down, because you kept going. So you're going to get your moment, but most people, the world is going like this, but these people going up down, I'm gonna post now I'm not, you know, and this is why the discipline is very important so what do you do before you hit post?
Speaker 1:um, well, the caption will probably be like free poses or something like that. It's fairly simple, nothing, nothing extreme like there's. It's not like I have to prep myself like majorly. I'm so used to posting. I sort of know I'll just add a song that is trending, you know, um, or a song that works with my account, and then I'll just post it. You know I use in shop and then post it.
Speaker 2:That's it, very simple caption on the video, as well as caption in the description um, so yeah, caption in the video.
Speaker 1:So I use in shot to put the caption on the video, right yeah, yeah so that's what I mean by like putting it together. When I mean putting it together, I'm talking about the transitions between each pose and the caption and then the caption. I'll just have it in my notes, you know and I just copy it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, simple, very simple. What's one lesson you've learned on social media?
Speaker 1:um, I feel like social media can be a blessing, but it can also be a distraction, and so you can either use social media to consume or you can use social media to produce. I choose to produce because I feel like if you're just on social media, just just there, just watching every single person, it can be a distraction, especially if the people are not giving you value, because social media is mixed. Some people are giving value, some people have good intentions, but, uh, most of the time it's not necessarily like that, and I feel you can be distracted by looking at other people's lives and comparing yourselves, looking at other people's relationships and comparing yourselves, and I think it can be dangerous because you need to always remember people click edit before they post, so it's not necessarily fully factual, you know. So you gotta be weary with that. So I'll say that's the lesson I've learned with social media, and so I use it. Of course, I get entertained. People have funny videos. I find it funny, I do like to listen to podcasts, like yourself on youtube, etc. But I feel like you need to be careful of what you're watching because you can be distracted.
Speaker 1:Social media, especially with me. There's been times I'm laying in bed and I'm just watching videos and then hours have gone by and I'm like, what have I done? You know, fortunately for me, because I produce content it's like, okay, I, I balance it out. I'm like, okay, I've you know, I've contributed in a sense, but, um, I would say that's the lesson, I've balance it out. I'm like, okay, I've, you know, I've contributed in a sense, but, um, I would say that's the lesson I've learned. I've also learned in social media if you give value to people, you eventually find a breakthrough. I feel like the algorithm which is usually to do with audience anyways, algorithms to do the audience. I think people like it when people create content to give to other people rather than making content focusing on themselves, you know. So I feel like giving value to people on social media through whatever you're good at.
Speaker 1:You might be good at gardening. There's an audience for that. You might be a barber. There's an audience for that. You might love fashion. There's an audience for that. You might like even something specific within your religion, within christianity there's a there's a audience for that. You might like traveling around the world and showing about different countries. There's an audience for that. You might like traveling around the world and showing about different countries. There's an audience for that. So I feel like there's an audience for whatever you want to do. It's just about figuring out what you want to do, and once you figure it out, you commit to what you want to do.
Speaker 2:Wow. There are people like Fatma right, who would give you the boost right. There's also people who would hate on the content that you post, I mean what are some of the nasty comments that you've seen on your post?
Speaker 1:I think in the beginning, when I was growing so fast, I think what used to annoy me was when people said it was fake. That used to get to me. They used to be, oh, your followers are fake, or whatever. That used to get to me. And the reason why it used to get to me is because I worked hard for what I got. It didn't. It didn't come quick. They just saw the fast growth, but they didn't see the three years but before that of me grinding, no one caring, and so that used to get to me.
Speaker 1:But then I noticed they do it to anyone that's doing well. You know, um, that's what comes of success. Uh, when you're doing well, when you're pursuing something, there's always going to be people that maybe you make you remind them of what they're meant to be doing, and so they could hate on that, because you remind them of themselves, where they could have been, and so they have to downplay it so then they don't feel bad about themselves. So I some I don't really take it too personal. You know, I've had people comment racial slurs in my videos. Yeah, but I don't. I just don't respond. I don't respond to negative.
Speaker 2:Do you get that face to face? Do you travel around and then nah face to face, people are pretty respectful.
Speaker 1:I've nah, nah, nah, I'll be honest with you face to face. When I've traveled the world, people have been nice to me. You know, um, I haven't had a bad encounter that I can think of. Usually most people are keyboard warriors, right, most people will say stuff online, but in person is different, um, so no, I haven't. I haven't experienced it in person, in person. I've had great experiences and I've met some amazing people, you know, living out different lives in different countries, and I love that. I really love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah this is beautiful. Is there anything we could have spoken about that we haven't?
Speaker 1:is there anything we've spoken about that we haven't? Um, maybe we can discuss, you know, like what I'm working on now, like what, what my next year is looking like in terms of the content, because I feel like most people see me as people. People know my face, but sometimes they don't know how I am as a person, because a lot of the content I've posted is short form. So my focus in the last six months has been traveling the world and creating long-form content where people get to hear me talk, people get to see my sense of humor, people get to see me interact with people, and I think I'm excited for that. I'm really, really excited for that and you know I can't wait to start putting out the content that I've been working on. But yeah, so my focus now is more long form content, because I would love to build community.
Speaker 1:I think community is very important and it's not just about I think before I was more fixated on just growing, right, just growing the numbers, because you sort of get obsessed with it. Especially when you're growing, you start to think, oh, this is fun, I'm just going to keep posting, I'm going to keep growing, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you have millions of followers or if you have a thousand. Do you appreciate what you have? When someone comments on your post when you have the time, do you at least try to respond to it, or is it just an ego boost for you? So I think sometimes you got to think about these things, because how I see it is how can you expect god to add more blessings to your life when you don't even appreciate what he's already given you? You know, how you get to the next stage is by appreciating the little you have, also the little you think you have, because it's not really little. Even if you have a thousand followers, that's a thousand people that have chosen to follow you. Yeah, that's that's positive. You stick at it, you give more value and eventually it's going to grow. It's going to go to 10 000 and then 100 000 and then whatever. So I think this is the mentality we should have.
Speaker 1:But, like I said, my focus for the next year two years, three years, four years, five years, because it's all about consistency is long form content, and I'm really and it's it's not easy. Long form content is not easy. I'm going to put that out there. Anyone that's thinking it's easy. It's not easy because you need to show up for yourself, you need to make mistakes. But when you make the mistakes, that's beautiful because you're learning, you're going to get better and it's all a good thing. You know, some people are scared to take on the challenge. People are afraid of, you know, trying one video and it doesn't work and they just give up. But if it was easy, everyone would do it right. So in that sense, keep going.
Speaker 2:Keep going, Keep going and remember it's a ready or no.
Speaker 1:If you don't try, so do it, just try. Yes, it's going to be hard, it's okay. It's going to be hard, but you're going to get better.
Speaker 2:Do you ever have low moments in your?
Speaker 1:life. Yes, yes, sir. Yes, I have low moments all the time, you know, not all the time, but I have my moments. Right? But I think, because I've surrounded myself with positive people, and I surround myself for the most part with positive information, even when I have a low moment, your mind, through auto-suggestion, starts telling you oh, everything's gonna be okay because you surrounded yourself with that, you know you have people to speak to you?
Speaker 1:yeah, yes, I have friends, I have good friends, but they're positive people. So when I talk to them, if I'm having a low moment let's say if I was struggling with growing and I said, oh, I open out these videos, you know it's not going viral. If you have good friends, they're going to tell you no, just keep going. It's okay, just keep going. That's surrounding yourself, so they add fuel to you tank. So I think it's very important to.
Speaker 2:That's why I say surround yourself, yeah I've always wondered how the next 50 to 60 years is going to look for young content creators, right? There was a time I was having a shower and I was thinking about this. Yeah, so when we planned this interview, I was like hold on when this guy gets the age of 60? Yeah, he's gonna be doing the same thing. I mean, is there a bigger plan, well beyond that, or?
Speaker 1:you're just moving. No, so the biggest plan is, like I said, is inspiring people. That's, I mean, that's the biggest thing you can do, like it's changing people's lives right through what? Through the blessings god has given you At 60? No, from your work beforehand. Right, right, right. My focus is not on 60. My focus is on right now. What am I going to do now that's going to even get me to 60? Because 60 is still a while away, right?
Speaker 1:So I think a lot of people, sometimes they can be so fixated on the future which the future is important, but what you do right now is important. You might have a dream body that you want in the future. Maybe at this age you want to look like this. But I didn't think, if you're not going to the gym today, brother, sister, it might not happen, but if you go to the gym today, you've taken one step towards that goal. So I think you know I was watching an interview by a guy called Myron Golden and he said having goals is good, but having objectives is better, and I actually agree with that, because that's a different perspective.
Speaker 1:Instead of me saying I want to have five million subscribers on youtube, why don't you make the commitment and say I'm going to post every week for the next five years, because when you make that commitment you're going to make improvements each time. You very likely might get to the five million. But if you're so fixated on getting to five million, you're forgetting the steps to get you to the five million, the objectives. So focus on the objectives. You know, what am I going to eat today that's going to get me, uh, the dream body I want. Or what can I do today? Let's say you want to date a girl, right, what? What are you going to do today if you see a lady that you like? Are you going to go approach her and talk to her, or you're waiting for her to come knock on your door?
Speaker 1:motivation or discipline discipline, discipline, um, I've said this many times motivation is based on how you feel. For the most part, you know, I could feel motivated to uh, get up and go to the gym or to, oh, today I feel like posting. But what about the days when you don't feel like posting? That means you're relying on motivation goes, you know, and that's not good, whereas when your discipline is more to do with your responsibility, I've made this commitment and I'm going to do it, regardless of how I feel, and I feel like I always say this the person that goes by how they feel will never outdo the person that does it because it's their responsibility. And so, with me, I would pick discipline over motivation.
Speaker 1:What's the best advice you've ever received? It's a ready or no. If you don't try. I think for me, for for me in my life, I think that was because and I think for a lot of people that's that's like my motto you know it's a ready or no. If you don't try, don't doubt yourself before you've even started. Try it. Know it's a ready or no. If you don't try it, don't doubt yourself before you even started. Try it. Then, if it's a no, at least you knew and you could sleep better because you tried. But imagine finding out that you could have become something, but you, you didn't even have the courage to even try it in the first place. Imagine knowing that that girl, that lady, actually was attracted to you, but you didn't have the courage to go talk to her. And then one day you come across her years later. She's like I was actually interested in you. How would you feel? Not you, I'm married.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, he's married but you get, you get the principle behind it.
Speaker 1:You know it's already a no if you don't try, so just try it, yeah amazing.
Speaker 2:Can you recommend a book for us?
Speaker 1:yes, so in this interview I already uh mentioned palo cuelo palo.
Speaker 1:Cuelo the alchemist is one of the best books I've read. It's a it's not a long book, so I definitely recommend that book. For starters. It's a fable about chasing your dreams and I feel it's good because on santiago's journey right, he goes through ups and downs, he goes through people robbing him and I feel like on your journey, you're going to go through times where you might feel robbed or you might feel, even when you're posting content, maybe the algorithm's not on your side, but you've put your heart, sweat and tears into it and it doesn't work out, but you keep going. You know Santiago kept going and he figured it out in the end. So I would definitely recommend that. Um, I'd also recommend a book called the 10x rule by Grant Cardone. Uh, it's a book I read recently and it's just more so about 10x in your efforts.
Speaker 1:You know a lot of people you can't be like, look, I know a lot of people. You say obsession is not good, but I don't think you can be obsession. You know the reason why Ronaldo is Ronaldo is because he's obsessed about his football. He'll, he'll be at the pitch for everyone and he's leaving after everyone. So I think it's very important to put in the groundwork. Yeah, thank you very much, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2:And I hope you enjoy your time in Ghana as well. You meet some amazing people and good luck with your content creation and everything that you're going to do.
Speaker 1:Appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Hopefully you know we get to connect a few more times before you leave.
Speaker 1:Thank you, sir.
Speaker 2:If you made it to the end, you are definitely connected champion, so can you comment on YouTube, spotify, apple? Let me know that you made it to the end and thank you so much for being part of this family. If you haven't subscribed, please do subscribe like share and then comment. I've enjoyed this conversation very much and hopefully I get to have more conversations like this. You know my name is derek abayite and stay connected and I'll see you on the next episode. Bye.