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Speaker 2: We always talk about in our space as entrepreneurs, taking
Speaker 2: that imperfect action before you made that decision. One of
Speaker 2: the things you're contemplaying is it do I have to
Speaker 2: hit this financial globe before I do it? Or I've
Speaker 2: done enough to put myself in a position where if
Speaker 2: I want to take this leap and say this is
Speaker 2: where my values is, this is where my purpose is,
Speaker 2: I can go. What was that moment like for you
Speaker 2: as you're processing it?
Speaker 1: No, really good question. I think that moment was you know,
Speaker 1: obviously a very difficult decision, right I think everybody's telling you, man,
Speaker 1: it's the unknowns or tons of unknowns, the world's and chaos.
Speaker 1: But I had a mentor told me one time, if
Speaker 1: you have a fallback, you fall back. And I think
Speaker 1: at that moment in time, we were so purposeful and
Speaker 1: we were so passionate about the work that we were
Speaker 1: going to do, and we really felt we could change circumstances,
Speaker 1: we could change the world, and so the challenge from
Speaker 1: a decision making standpoint wasn't as overwhelming because we believed
Speaker 1: it was divine, it was our God's calling, and so
Speaker 1: from a decision making standpoint, it wasn't that hard. And
Speaker 1: we always knew I always could go back to law right,
Speaker 1: I could always be a lawyer. I could always go
Speaker 1: back to that law from environment. But I said, there's
Speaker 1: a few moments in your life that you can really
Speaker 1: take a leap and believe in yourself. And that was
Speaker 1: that moment.
Speaker 4: So let's talk about Africa. And you said, you've done
Speaker 4: a lot of work in Africa, and that's something that
Speaker 4: you know, I think a lot of people are interested in.
Speaker 4: We went to Africa, we went to Egypt, went to Nigeria,
Speaker 4: but specifically Ghana, went to gone On two times this
Speaker 4: year and we are working on some business out there.
Speaker 4: So the opportunities is endless. But a lot of people
Speaker 4: don't know where to start. So talk about can you
Speaker 4: walk us through your journey on the continent, Like where
Speaker 4: did you start, how were you able to scale, what
Speaker 4: challenges did you have, and what do you see the
Speaker 4: future of entrepreneurship?
Speaker 1: Yeah? No, So number one the power of partnership. Right,
Speaker 1: you can't do anything from a business entrepreneur standpoint without partnerships.
Speaker 1: And so I mentioned my brother was the cof of
Speaker 1: Fortune five hundred company proorst launching the Burns Brothers. That
Speaker 1: company happen to be a company called Conduit, and Conduit's
Speaker 1: the largest call center company in the world. My brother
Speaker 1: had thirty eight thousand employees across sixteen countries. But them
Speaker 1: we're in Africa, and so these are his real relationships.
Speaker 1: We got into Africa through a partner he had known
Speaker 1: and took us to South Africa about ten years ago
Speaker 1: and said, hey, I want you to meet these guys
Speaker 1: are doing great work. And the work wasn't necessarily call
Speaker 1: center per se. It was call center, but the work
Speaker 1: was providing opportunities for black people. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you all know, and those general vs. Gentlemen probably know,
Speaker 1: the unemployment rate across the kind of Africa for skilled
Speaker 1: Africans is outrageous. And these are young, talented, hard working
Speaker 1: people that just have done all the right things. They've
Speaker 1: gone to school, they got the degrees, but no opportunity
Speaker 1: comes to them. And so we thought, what could we do,
Speaker 1: not thinking of it from like a business standpoint, but
Speaker 1: from a human being standpoint, what can we do could
Speaker 1: change those circumstances. And so we became partners in that
Speaker 1: organization with the premise that we had American company relationships
Speaker 1: that we could drive business that would create jobs and opportunity.
Speaker 1: And so look at a lens of advocacy, a lens
Speaker 1: of like cultural change and impact was ultimately was the
Speaker 1: driving force. But then obviously from a business standpoint, through
Speaker 1: that we were able to build more busines, this relationships,
Speaker 1: and then through that we built war business relationships and
Speaker 1: grew the company across the continent. And visa that company,
Speaker 1: we're able to now open our membership club HQ in Nairobi,
Speaker 1: Kenya in four months. And so God is great, the
Speaker 1: blessings are abundant, but I think it's always leading with
Speaker 1: the lens of advocacy first and impact and then the
Speaker 1: entrepreneurship kind of second.
Speaker 4: What are some of the challenges that you face out there,
Speaker 4: Because we were out there, we saw a tremendous opportunity,
Speaker 4: but there are challenges, like even in Ghana they lost
Speaker 4: power for two weeks, and that's something that we can't
Speaker 4: even imagine something like that happening in America. But what
Speaker 4: are some of the challenges that you've been facing as
Speaker 4: an entrepreneur in Africa?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think technologies one. Infrastructure is one for sure.
Speaker 1: I think I don't know, cans up how many people
Speaker 1: in the room of bench of the continent? Okay, so
Speaker 1: a few people. I think that's one. I think sometimes
Speaker 1: just the level of liaising across the whole New side
Speaker 1: of the world from like an employee standpoint can be
Speaker 1: challenging too. One thing that's oftentimes I thought it was
Speaker 1: going to be a challenge but it's really not is
Speaker 1: the level of understanding of American culture across the kind
Speaker 1: of Africa. It's it's unbelievable. And so that was a
Speaker 1: pleasant surprise how much they embrace American culture. And there's
Speaker 1: so knowledgeable American culture. I think too, in some parts
Speaker 1: of Africa, there are specific things that change, just like
Speaker 1: the United States, with whatever administration is in office and right.
Speaker 1: So I think that can be a challenge to making
Speaker 1: sure you navigate the political landscape. But I think those
Speaker 1: are evolving and I think those are changing for the better.
Speaker 1: And I'll say, and I've said that for years now,
Speaker 1: Africa is not the future, Africa as the present. And
Speaker 1: I think from an entrepreneurship standpoint, you think about black
Speaker 1: people in this country, if you're not focused on what
Speaker 1: that connectivity looks like from an entrepreneurship standpoint, from the
Speaker 1: outreach standpoint, with the kind of Africa, you're doing yourself
Speaker 1: a disservice and you're doing the business of the disservice.
Speaker 2: It's interesting, you know, you got the hqg See house
Speaker 2: and most of us, you know, who travel and been
Speaker 2: to places, we've seen these type of houses. We've seen
Speaker 2: solo house. So I think it's brilliant that we have
Speaker 2: one that's ours that we can call our own. From
Speaker 2: a membership side, but I want to talk about the
Speaker 2: intentionality and maybe it was done very intentional. Right, you
Speaker 2: had it in DC you could have done it in
Speaker 2: New York, maybe Miami, Houston, Chicago, but you chose Notiroby
Speaker 2: talk about that because when we think Nairobi, and most
Speaker 2: people if they've watched like The Avengers, they've seen Nairobi
Speaker 2: in a film. But the tech center that has become
Speaker 2: the hub that it's become for East Africa, what was
Speaker 2: the intentionality in choosing specifically that place.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a number of different factors went into that. So
Speaker 1: number one, as my brother mentioned, it's an economic hub
Speaker 1: brief East Africa, and it's actually the only African country
Speaker 1: that has a strategic partnership with the US. So from
Speaker 1: like a connectivity standpoint with the US, that was important, right,
Speaker 1: And we knew that trajectory of Kenya specifically and specifically Nairobi.
Speaker 1: I'm based upon just being there so much, knowing the government,
Speaker 1: knowing their focus, and I'm understand the vision of the
Speaker 1: US partnership too, and just the way that it's being
Speaker 1: kind of placed as a singapore of Africa. So from
Speaker 1: like a trade and economic hub, all that made perfect sense.
Speaker 1: And then me and my brother, we've always been focused
Speaker 1: on Africa and like we wanted to be those conveners,
Speaker 1: those conduits connecting African Americans in this country to Africans
Speaker 1: on the continent, because we believe that we can never
Speaker 1: really realize our true potential if we're not connected with
Speaker 1: all the amazing people across the continent. So those were
Speaker 1: two things, and then the third thing was we wanted
Speaker 1: to think outside the box. It's easy to go to
Speaker 1: uspace like you know, Detroit, or go to New York,
Speaker 1: or go to Atlanta. It's not easy, but it's easier,
Speaker 1: and I don't think the impact would have been as large.
Speaker 1: And I think for us, we're all about impact. And
Speaker 1: I think doing something and now creating what you brothers
Speaker 1: are doing too, you're creating opportunity and you're facilitating communities
Speaker 1: that people could never be a part of unless you
Speaker 1: were all were providing that facilitation. And so now us
Speaker 1: opening the membership club in Nairobi, not only can our
Speaker 1: members probably experience something that can never have dreamed of experiencing,
Speaker 1: but now we can introduce Nairobians to our members. And
Speaker 1: it's just a beautiful thing to be able to create
Speaker 1: a space and facilitate community that you're actually not only
Speaker 1: driving change, you're driving pure impact.
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