3 Keys for Your Journey
Business and Community Leaders sharing key principles.
3 Keys for Your Journey
A Journey of Faith Community and Opportunity with Max Adu
Maxwell Adu shares his inspirational journey from Ghana to Oklahoma, emphasizing the importance of faith, community, and a positive mindset. Listeners learn how these three keys can transform their lives and navigate challenges more effectively.
• Discussing personal journey and background
• Exploring the significance of faith
• Understanding perspective and advantages
• Emphasizing the role of mindset in success
• Encouraging actionable steps towards dreams
• Sharing recommended resources for personal growth
Thank you for listening! YouTube - @3KeysforYourJourney -Tune in for a new episode every Sunday. Connect with us at www.ocfo.info
Are you ready to unlock your potential? Tune in to Three Keys for your Journey podcast, where business owners share invaluable insights and empowering strategies to guide you towards success. Based in Oklahoma City, our host, greg T Jones, will inspire and motivate you every week. Get ready to join our conversation as we build community together.
Greg Jones:All right, welcome to the podcast, max Adu. Did I say that correctly? Yes, and thank you so much for being here. Three keys for your journey. As mentioned, I'm your host, greg Jones, and we are sitting here at the Ralph Ellison Library this morning and I am just privileged to have you on the podcast.
Speaker 1:So, welcome.
Max Adu:Appreciate it, thank you.
Greg Jones:You know what. Thank you, Max. Just tell our listening audience a little bit about you.
Max Adu:First, I want to say thank you very much for inviting me to this project. I really, really do appreciate it. I know this is really big. This is something bigger than I ever dreamed about. Getting interviewed by you, that's like wow. Get an interview by you, that's like wow. Thank you very much. First, my name is Maxwell Adu. I go by Max Born and raised in West Africa, ghana, a small village. I got a privilege to live between city and the village in Ghana At the age of 21, moved to Israel, lived there for almost three years. From there I moved to London for just a short time and then I'm in Oklahoma.
Greg Jones:It's interesting, that is, it feels like a whirlwind. I mean not only thinking about halfway across the world, but then in Israel and then Oklahoma. Wow, tell us a little bit about your family.
Max Adu:Well, so I have two boys. I've been married since 2006. I'm a member of Baha'i Faith. That's where I met my wife in Israel. That's what we're doing.
Greg Jones:I have two great boys. They keep me up every day. Wow, yeah, that's fantastic. And tell us a little bit Now. As I understand, you have a couple of businesses.
Max Adu:You and your wife? Yes, so my wife and her partner Just started about a couple years ago. During the COVID. There was a lot of shifting in our society People that were in the big facilities, like if your grandparents were in a big facility you couldn't go and visit them Because of COVID. Those times everything is very much like really hard to do it. So my wife came to me one day and said let's go to Arizona to learn this thing that they do in Arizona Five people in the home and they have a full-time care, they cook for them, they clean and that's where they live for their last days of their life. You know, wow, yes, that's amazing.
Greg Jones:That hits home for me because my dad just turned 80. Okay, Fortunately, he's still able to live at home by himself able to live at home by himself. My wife's mother not quite 80, but she's actually been dealing with dementia has to be cared for really around the clock. So man and I just celebrated a neighbor's birthday behind me. He just turned 87. He's in the hospital now, but, man, that sounds fantastic. Yes, so y'all are doing that here in Oklahoma City.
Max Adu:Yes, we have two buildings. We're about to close on the third one that I'm going to start working on. So one thing about Nine Stars we're more than a plumbing company. We literally take projects on. We can remodel the whole house. One thing we've been doing lately is people that live in older homes and they have tub. We move in the tub, making a shower for wheelchair to get in. That's something that we've been doing to help people, because most adults will fall down at the age of 80 to 90. They're going to fall because they're taking a shower or something like that. Wow.
Greg Jones:All right. So the plumbing business itself has been around since how long? Since 2003.
Max Adu:Sorry, 23. 23.
Greg Jones:Okay, but experience-wise, you've had experience for some time.
Max Adu:Oh yes, so I've been doing plumbing for three different countries. I started plumbing in 1997, learning, and then I went to school as a plumber in Ghana, israel, did plumbing, and then Oklahoma. I came here. I went to school for five years, being in the plumbing union since 2011.
Greg Jones:Wow, that's fantastic man, wow, you got a wealth of of experience, and one of the things that we talk about often is we don't have enough people in the trades. And so, man, to have someone like you and, so far as listening audience, just to share with you kind of, how I met Max was at an event that was over at one of the technical schools and we were learning about some contracting opportunities, but there was some kind of a kindred kind of spirit about him, and when I had my own personal plumbing situation at my own house, I called Max and he came and he showed up and he explained what was going on and got the job done. And then, even more recently, at our church, we had some issues going on. And so, man, I just appreciate number one, your heart to help serve, and I think that kind of gets us to what this podcast is about is three keys for your journey. What are three things that you'd love to share with our listening audience?
Max Adu:My first one will be my love for God and people in the world. Anybody I come across. I really do, do really want to get to know people. I got to hear their story. It's something that interests me. My family it's not a big one my community I live in, so this is something. This is something that is staying in front of my mind every day.
Greg Jones:Talk to me a little bit about how faith drives you. You name that as almost the first one. How does that drive you?
Max Adu:You know, as a kid growing up in West Africa Ghana, I think you grew up religious, was very big, you know, and I got the opportunity to go to church and be in a Baha'i, going to the Baha'i Center, but also have friends that were Muslims. And I've always questioned that about hearing a lot about heaven and hell and I was like what happened if you're born in another part of the world that you haven't even heard one of the religion? And then so by finding out that our faith in the world is everywhere people are being born or raised, there's religion for them that to me it really makes me really, really excited saying that we can get to God with different paths by the same direction.
Greg Jones:I mean, that's so good to be able to hear different perspective, because for me I've only been in the United States, and so there's a we call it Western culture. There's a Westernization of the way I think about things, and so I really appreciate it. But that really drives you, and how do you see that playing out?
Max Adu:you know, as you think about your second key, I think that mostly most people want to be good. Everybody want to be good. The thing about it is we want to be close to some high power, but really the high power that we're going to be close to is the people that we see every day, that service that we do. You know, if you help something, it's more. You see that you're helping this person and that's what it means you being human, you being God, way you know you're helping. But we can't just say I'm praying to God, not hoping the person next to you so it's living it out.
Max Adu:There's got to be some action to it.
Greg Jones:Yes, exactly Ah okay. Wow, I love that because I use a word all the time common plus unity equals community, wow. Okay, tell us about your next key.
Max Adu:Unity equals community. Yeah, wow, okay, tell us about your next key, my next key. Pretty much to me, it's all built on the same thing, but one thing that it really always I think as a kid growing up once again is sometimes you feel like your society is like it might be like more like disadvantage, but it doesn't matter where you're born or raised. You have advantage and you have disadvantages. Your advantage might be somebody's disadvantage. You know somebody's disadvantage might be your advantage. You know some people have a lot of material wealth but they are lonely. Some people have nothing, but they are rich in love. So if you can look at that perspective, it makes you able to focus on life, what you want to do, more than saying I don't have this, I don't do this, I can't do this. So to me, that's what I really look at the world at.
Greg Jones:That's a great perspective. It's how you view things, it's your mindset. Great perspective is it's how you view things, it's your mindset, and it's taking advantage of what you can take advantage of and being content with what you have. Yes, wow, and I love that. Max, appreciate it. Okay, you got another one.
Max Adu:My third one is mindset. Everything we do is about how our mind works, and so I told you about family, friends, community, my faith. All these lean to our mindset. The way you see yourself is how people see you. If you think small on yourself, people see you small. If you feel confident, people see you. You are confident. So taking time out to work on your mind will solve a lot of your daily problems you have. All the things you need to do is be better today than you were yesterday.
Greg Jones:To one step at a time. That's it, and I have to. I only have to imagine that's probably what you're trying to teach your boys. I only have to imagine that's probably what you're trying to teach your boys. It's one step at a time. Wow, man, that's whew. Those are three keys and I really appreciate um you taking time to share that. Hopefully, if you're listening today, what Max is talking about, what he's sharing, is encouraging to you. Um, that to know that, um, you know your faith, your community and mindset are three things that you need. Anything else you want to share with us today, max.
Max Adu:Well, one thing I really want to share is, as we human beings, we're going to have struggles, but there's a lot of people. You meet them every day. They're like I want to do this, I want to do that business-wise. And that was me. I'm always like. I'll do it if the kids are seven, if the kids are 14. I think I'm not better today than I was two years ago. I'm still figuring it out and I think the more not better today than I was two years ago, I'm still figuring it out. And I think the more you get close to even people that they have established business big one, the more you really get to know them. They took action and so we dream, we take action, we pray with a faith we take, and you just clarified that you just have to jump in there and you want to make calculated risk if you can minimize.
Greg Jones:You know your risk, but you got to just do it because you're saying if I wait two years, I might be two years too late and I'm no better than I was two years ago, so why don't I just jump in?
Greg Jones:It's a phrase I use oftentimes when I'm talking to business owners is it's like standing at the edge of a building and you're going to have to jump and know that there's a parachute, even though you don't have a parachute on. Sometimes it's taking a risk like that and it looks like you've done that. I mean, most of you can't see what I see, but Max has got this big smile on his face, so it feels like also, you don't live with regret. No, so it feels like also, you don't live with regret. No, you keep moving right along each and every day. Yeah, wow, well, thanks for sharing that. Now, max, if somebody out there listening is like I need to I don't know whether it's plumbing business or this other business you have in terms of taking care of loved ones, but how can people get in contact with you, learn more about what you're doing? You know how do people do that.
Max Adu:We're on Facebook, Nine Star Plumbing Service. You can search us up on Google, you can. Our number is 405-513-0148. You can call us for all your plumbing needs or even if you have your home and you feel like you want to have a little update to it. You know we do from taking the whole renovation out of the homeowner's hands so that they can sit Dealing with me as one person and I deal with the drywall, the shower and everything, so that the homeowner can go to work knowing that Max will be there taking care of everything else for them. So not just plumbing that we do. We do a lot of things, Everything concerned about construction where I am, so you can be a project manager to help somebody with the process of their remodel and make sure that their needs are taken care of.
Greg Jones:Yes, Wow, man. So again, if you didn't get his website or phone number, don't worry about that. We're going to put that in the comments for the podcast. Max man, thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate it.
Max Adu:Thank you very much, greg. I really appreciate you inviting me over. This is great. This is like bigger than from anybody who is listening right now. For any kids listening today, if I can be here, get an interview by this gentleman right here sitting in front of me, sky's the limit. Take your dream and just focus. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. The three books I want to recommend to every business people before I walk out of here. My first, number one, is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. That's my first book, Great book. My second book is who Moved my Cheese. It's the changes that goes around us in our business, our industry. You need to be ready for that. And then my third book is where all of us, we fell from a childhood and everything is three feet from gold. You got to read those three books and after that take your business action. It's gonna work wow, well, max.
Greg Jones:Thank you, man, so much. And again, those three books that he just mentioned. We'll make sure that we put those in the comments as well. I think those are three golden nuggets, and so it makes me want to reread them, because I've actually read them but I need to reread them. But thank you so much for sharing that as well.
Max Adu:Thank you, Greg. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Thanks for joining Three Keys for your Journey. Tune in next time for another episode.
