The Creator Who Almost Quit: Daniel Asante on Consistency and Purpose to 10million Audience

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The period before I grew on Instagram, I was
actually about to delete mysocial media and then one of my
good friends said to me don'tdelete your social media, don't.
And about six months later,that's when I blew up.
I quit my job when I hit amillion followers, Because now
loads of brands wanted to workwith me.
I was like, okay, well, I canmake a living off of this.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
What does making a living off social media at the
time look like?

Speaker 1 (00:27):
To be able to travel time, go to bed anytime.
Can you explain to me how youpost?

Speaker 2 (00:29):
it on your social media account.
So I mean, I use an app called.
At what point did you realizethat things have got to?

Speaker 1 (00:32):
change.
Well, that's that's I like thatquestion for me.
When I was seven years old, myfather passed away.
I grew up in that environmentwhere my mom was a teenager.
She wasn't getting much andbeing at the bank in my 20s, I'm
thinking this is not.
You know me.
I knew I was meant to dosomething Because she didn't do
what she didn't do.

(00:53):
It inspired me to do what Ineed to do when it comes to my
content creation.
You've got to be hungry Ifyou're not creating someone
else's.
When I started, I was doing itfor fun, but then I was
consistent and I feelconsistency is very important.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Hello, you're welcome to Connected Minds Podcast.
My name is Derek Abaite and Ithink this conversation there's
going to be a lot of smilesbecause the person I'm about to
speak with, he smiles a lot inhis pictures and his videos.
But anyway, if you make it tothe end of this conversation,
please leave a comment and letme know that you're one of the
connected champions, right?

(01:33):
So today's conversation is withdaniel asante um.
He has amassed over 10 milliononline audience Through content
creation.
He's a fashion content creator.
He shows people how to post andthis man is making a living out
of that.
How exactly he's doing that,how he's been able to stay

(01:57):
consistent over the years, Ireally want to find out.
There is always a lot of peopleas well that look at him and
they think of where exactly he'sfrom, his nationality and all
of that.
We want to get deep into hisstory because, I tell you, of
all the stories that I've heardon this podcast, this is one
that touches me the most, butalso for the people that like

(02:20):
mindset, business and success.
This is for you, because it's areal test of consistency,
resilience and somebody thatcame from a poor background to
changing his life.
Yes, he's taking charge of hisentire life and I want you to
stick around and listen to thisconversation.
It's Derek Abaiti here.
Let's delve into it.
You're welcome to ConnectedMinds Podcast.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
I'd also like to welcome you're welcome to
connected minds podcast.
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
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 (02:52):
Yeah, it's been a while yeah, daniel, what do you
do?

Speaker 1 (02:58):
so.
So, to anyone that doesn't knowme, my my name is Daniel Asante
.
I'm a fashion content creator.
I was born and raised in London,england, and so what I do is,
you know, I've always believed Ihad a purpose, and growing up
in London, I was trying tofigure out what my God-given
gift is right.
So throughout the years, I triedseveral jobs, I tried different

(03:20):
things, just to figure out howI can give value to people,
because I've always had thatdesire, you know, from when I
was a child.
And so the reason why I'm goingthe long way of answering the
question because I think there'sa lot that goes into it it was
a thought that had been on mymind since I was probably six
years old, you know, and evenwhen I was a kid, for example,
when we used to play football at10 years old I was the type of

(03:43):
kid Once we were tired, I wouldsit the kids down that were my
age and I would talk to themabout purpose and talk to them
about life.
I mean, I was 10 years old so Ididn't know much about life,
but I always had good intentions.
That was the main thing to havegood intentions.
And so what I do is.
I'm just a man with goodintention, a man that is trying

(04:05):
to figure out his god-givenpurpose, and a man that is
figuring out his god-givenpurpose and using it to give
value to people and changingother people's lives so they
they can figure out what theirpurpose is, so they can be a
blessing unto others.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
That's it to be a blessing unto others.
You must recognize that you areblessing yourself.
Yes, um, because you can't givewhat you don't have.
Yeah, but you have such anamazing story.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
And I want you to take me back.
Yeah all the way to your firstmemories of how difficult life
was.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I grew up in a councilestate in Northwest London.
I grew up with mum and dad inthe 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 bornand raised in Ghana, so I was
the only kid.
So when I was a child I thoughtI was the only child.

(04:58):
I didn't even know I hadbrothers, right.
So as a child I grew up in acouncil state, but then, when my
mom and dad separated, my momobviously left and then we were
living in another part of Londonand, yeah, it was.
It was difficult in the sensethat, you know, we couldn't
afford much things.
We were on benefits, to behonest, um, but one thing I

(05:18):
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, youknow, 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 thinkingabout how to dress, I was just
thinking about smiling andplaying around.
So I think, being in thatenvironment and with my mum's

(05:41):
blessings.
She sort of taught me to begrateful.
You know, keep God first, don'tforget God.
That was something that my momdrilled into my head.
Like, even when I didn't wantto listen to her, even when you
go through your little rebellionstage in your life, I felt like
my mom kept me thinking aboutpurpose.
I think she probably led me tothinking about purpose

(06:01):
indirectly.
I don't think she intentionallythought oh, you know, my son is
going to want to give value toother 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'tmake the mistakes she made when

(06:24):
she was younger, and I thinkthat was very important.
So being young, you know it washard because, like I said, when
I was seven years old, my father, he passed away.
Unfortunately.
He passed away from a bacterialinfection that he could have
actually have been cured.
It wasn't something actuallyreally serious.
You know, if he had takenantibiotics he would still
probably be alive today.

(06:44):
Unfortunately he didn't.
So I grew up in that environmentwith my mom raising boys, and
then the reason I say boys isbecause as I got older, my one
of my brothers came, so I wasstaying with my brother and my
mom, so we were raised in thatenvironment.
Um, and yeah, it wasn't easy,but but we were decent kids.
We were decent kids, you know.
Our moms disciplined us verywell through her various ways,

(07:08):
but you know, she kept usgrounded 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 anystruggles, when, when you find
some sort of success in whateveryou do, I don't think you'll be
as grateful for it.
So I feel like the stuff you gothrough, even if it's negative,
there's still something you canlearn, you know daniel, what's

(07:29):
your earliest memories of yourdad?
my dad was, uh, like a casanovahe was.
He was a gentleman.
He was a gentleman.
He was very calm, uh, differentfrom me in that sense I would
say he was very I'm moretalkative, I'm more sort of
energetic.
You know, I'm kind of mybrother.
My dad sorry, it was just morerelaxed, more of a relaxed man.

(07:51):
Um, he wasn't physical in termsof 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.
But, like I said, it's very hardbecause when he passed away I
was seven, so from one to aboutthree years old, you don't
really remember because you're achild.
But one thing my mum did alwaystell me is that my father, me

(08:15):
and my father had a bond, evenin those short years, even when
they had separated, because theyseparated when I was like two
years old.
But they had, they had a bondbecause my mum even told me when
my father left he couldn'tsleep at night because he was
thinking about me.
So I knew me.
I was like daddy's boy.
You know I was daddy's boy, butI thought what happened was when
my father passed away, then Isort of hooked on to my mom.

(08:35):
I latched on to her because Iwas like, wow, my dad is dead.
So then I became more of amummy's boy, but I think
originally I was actually adaddy's boy.
I I liked being around my dad.
I would follow him everywhere.
If he went to the toilet, I'mfollowing the toilet, I'm
copying everything he's doingand how's your relationship with
your brothers?
my brothers.
So, uh, my older brother is six, seven years older than me and

(08:57):
my other two brothers are 21years older than me.
So I didn't grow up with thefirst two.
The first two were like inGhana and when they were 2021.
That's when I was born.
So, to be honest, I didn'treally have much of a close
relationship with them.
I had a relationship with themin the sense that I respect them
as my brothers, but I wasn't asclose.
Uh, the brother closest to mein age I would say we are very

(09:20):
close.
You know, he introduced me tomusic, hip-hop, everything,
everything I liked.
Any movies that I watched wasreally because of him, you know.
So I'll say he influenced methe most out of my brothers.
So my today, my relationshipwith my brothers is cool.
My eldest brother unfortunatelyhe passed away as well in the
year 2020.
That was really hard for my mom.
So, you know, because it's herfirst child and, obviously, like

(09:43):
, he also went through his stuffin terms of you know, I don't
know if I've told you the storybefore, but even with him, when
he was a child, he was walkingaround, he was healthy, but, you
know, sometimes children getsick and my mom took him to the
hospital and the doctor injectedhim, you know, maybe something
to make him feel better, but thesyringe broke in his leg.

(10:05):
So then he became crippled andso that was very tough for my
mom, because my mom at the timewould have been 22 years old and
so growing up I felt like mymom, she still had that trauma.
She would still get emotional,even 25 years later, you know,
over it because it's her firstchild.
So when he died that reallytook a toll on her, you know.

(10:25):
So yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
Did you have some time to spend with him?

Speaker 1 (10:29):
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 Ghanawas 23 years ago.
So when I went in 2002, I methim and then he came to London
in 2003.
But still, I was still a kid, Iwas like 10 years old when I
met him.
So you know, he, I was just hislittle brother, really, really,
but, um, there was alwaysrespect for him.

(10:50):
He was, uh, he was a gospelsinger.
He was great at singing and Ireally admired that because he's
creative.
You know, and I like to seemyself as someone that is
creative as well.
So, yeah, I would say, in termsof creativity, me and the
firstborn, his name was george,we are similar.
I would say say, in terms ofcreativity, me and the firstborn
, his name was George, we aresimilar.
I would say that in terms ofcreativity, yeah, wow yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
You know you mentioned that you haven't been
to Ghana for 23 years.
Yes yes, why?

Speaker 1 (11:21):
That's a good question.
So, to be honest, I would sayfrom 2002 to about 2020,
something, maybe 2020, let's sayI couldn't afford to go.
You know, I didn't, like I said, I wasn't raised in an
environment where there wasmoney like that.
So if I was going to Ghana,what could I really do?
Most of my family had migratedoutside of Ghana, most of my
family in Italy, uk, canada,canada and, in some, in Ghana.

(11:46):
But I wouldn't say I was closestto the ones that were still in
Ghana.
I was more close to the ones inItaly, so I'd go to Italy, you
know, visit them from time totime, um, or they would come to
London, etc.
But uh, I always had it on mymind to go back to Ghana.
Once I started my contentcreation journey, I was like I
need to go back, but then I feltlike I always delayed it
because I, when I come to Ghana,I wanted it to be the best you

(12:09):
know I've, because I've traveleda lot in recent months, recent
years, and I was like, if I'mgonna go back to my home country
, I need it to be the best.
And I think I was stuck in myhead because I didn't know how
it'd be like because it's been23 years, but I'm excited to be
here for 23 years yeah, therewere.
There were no conversations withmom about coming to ghana with
brothers, that there was no, no,so so there was conversations,

(12:33):
but usually, to be honest, whenmy 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 theyears go by a lot, she's losing
a lot of people, whether it'sthis friend of hers and that.
So even when I went to Ghana in2002, it was actually with the
purpose of celebrating my dad'slife.
Okay, yeah, so it was becausemy dad passed away in the year

(12:55):
2000,.
But maybe there was a bit of adelay in terms of celebrating
the funeral.
But I remember in 2002, therewas like a little mini
celebration funeral thing, butit was paying tribute to my dad.
So I don't, I don't know if wewould have gone to Ghana, then I
would have, I don't know atthat time how was mom really
taking care of you in terms ofjobs to survive?

(13:18):
so yeah, so my mom, my mom was acleaner.
Um, so in London, a cleaner,you're not really getting paid
much.
You know, it's sort of seen asthe how do I put it?
You know my mum always saidevery job is needed.
That's what I liked about mymum.
My mum never looked down on anyjob.
It doesn't matter, whatever jobyou do, that job is needed.

(13:39):
You know the garbage man needsto take out the garbage.
If there's no garbage man needsto take out the garbage.
If there's no garbage man, thenall your rubbish is going to be
there.
So you have to appreciateeveryone.
But I feel like in london if,if someone said I want to be a
cleaner, everyone would look atthem differently.
Like really, is that reallyambitious?
So I grew up in thatenvironment where my mom was a
cleaner.
She wasn't getting much and asa child I was very hyperactive

(13:59):
so I used to hurt myself a lot.
So my mom's friends advised herto just focus on me, like
erasing me, because I kepthurting myself as a kid.
Um, and yeah, but not to say mymom, my mom did have ambition.
My mom, you know, my mom, grewup in an environment in Kumasi
where she, she was raised to bein the kitchen, you know.
But my mom had goals.

(14:20):
She wanted to start her ownnursery 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 youshould be doing what you want to
do.
You know, and I learned thatfrom her because she didn't do
what she didn't do.
It inspired me to do what Ineed to do.

(14:41):
Because as she got older, shegrew a bit bitter, because in
life, I believe this if you'renot doing what you're meant to
do, what you know you're meantto 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 wasproviding literally benefits.

Speaker 2 (15:02):
I'll be honest, yeah but how did that make you feel
growing up?

Speaker 1 (15:07):
I mean, as as a child .
You know, I feel like as achild, you're not really focused
on that, you're really focusedon just playing.
You know, I was just playingfootball, uh, playing games.
I guess my older brother, he,was there as well.
So we're just playing games, sowe never.
For me, it wasn't really a majorproblem.
I think the problem startedwhen I was getting bullied, you
know, by the people in the sameenvironment as me.

(15:28):
By the way, it's just that theymaybe had a bit more money,
like maybe their dad would givethem 20 pound and my mom would
give me 20p, you know.
So I feel like I took it in agood way.
I felt like church obviouslywould have helped at the time,
because when you're going tochurch and you're praying to God
, you have to be grateful.
So it would be very hard for meto be complaining to my mum and

(15:51):
then after go talk to God andtell him, you know, thank you
for another day, even though I'mnot being grateful for the
other day.
So I think that's what sort ofkept me grounded in that sense.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
Yeah at what point did you realize that things have
got to change?

Speaker 1 (16:05):
well, that's, that's I like that question for.
For me, like I said, when I wasaround 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 overthinker, but I used to think to
myself I'm here for a reason, Ijust know it.
There's, there's, we're allhere.
And I used to like people watch.
I used to stare at people andbe like, look at how complex

(16:26):
they are as a human.
And I was like you'redefinitely here for a reason.
We're not just here to justexist.
And so I feel, growing up fromsix all the way into my
adulthood, was just me trying tofigure out why I'm here.
You know, why am I here?
What is my purpose?
So I think it took a period ofyears and I think it's an

(16:46):
ongoing thing, because I don'tthink, you know, as you reach
different stages your life,things can change, but you still
have a purpose.
My, I guess my main purposewould be giving value to people.
Now, how I get there could bethrough different things.
You know, at some point I mightbe like right now it's content
creation, maybe next time it'llbe film.
You know it could.
It comes in various forms.
I don't think it's.

Speaker 2 (17:05):
You're growing up um in an environment where there
isn't a lot of money um.
You'll see mom go um do nightshifts here and there to make
sure you guys have something toeat and then you know clothes to
wear.
But what I really want tounderstand is that when you're
watching all of these thingshappen and then you also saw her
quit her job to take care ofyou- yeah at what point did you

(17:28):
really turn okay into yourselfto see, okay, what is happening
here and what can I do?

Speaker 1 (17:34):
yeah, to also support yeah, I think I think when I
got a bit older, that's when Istarted to care about that stuff
.
So my mom was diagnosed withdementia in 2018.
So before that, I remember whenI started to care about that
stuff.
So my mum was diagnosed withdementia in 2018.
So before that, I remember when, I think, I was in uni at the
time and we got a notice fromthe council saying that we had

(17:55):
28 days to pay a certain sum orwe could be evicted.
And I remember at that time Iwas like what you know and I
just remember I went with my momto Tower Bridge area like near
London Bridge Sorry, yeah,london Bridge and we went to the
meeting and the man maybe thehead of security or the chief
director of whatever said to mymom you know, you have 28 days

(18:19):
to pay.
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 seeI was upset.
She said don't worry,everything's gonna be fine.
You know everything's gonna befine, it's okay, but I was
that's when I felt it.
I was like, nah, this,something has to change here.

(18:39):
You know, and even as we'rewalking, people were staring at
us because they could seesomething was odd.
You know, my, my mom's walkingthe street, her head is down,
she's just like this.
So that, really, but thatreally hurt me.
So I had to get the money.
I, you know, I got some friendsand my friends were like look,
they just chipped in.
You know, they, I didn't askthem, they just naturally did
that and I was very grateful forthat at the time.
But I think that was a catalyst.

(19:01):
I was like I need to, I need todo something.
And I think also, like I toldyou, when my father passed away,
I think I latched onto my momand I think as a child I was
relying on my mom too much andeven at some point I remember
when I was a child, my mom saidto me don't rely on me.
You know I'm not going toalways be here, and I think
obviously people would say don'tsay that to a child.

(19:22):
But I think that was good forme, because she was preparing me
for adulthood and she waspreparing me for the time when
maybe there's a time she's notgoing to be here, and I think
going through those differentevents made me realize she was
right, you know, and even now mymom's got dementia.
She's physically alive, butshe's her mind is not as it used
to be and now I have to takecare of her, you know.

(19:44):
And so I think about all thetimes she told me stop relying
on me.
And I think this is why, when itcomes 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 likesomething psychological which
can work to my benefit, becausethen I don't feel like I owe
anyone something.
You know, no one's responsiblefor my outcome.

(20:05):
I'm responsible in that senseIf, by me showing up, obviously
God will bring people my way tobe a blessing along the way and
you accept the blessing.
You don't take that blessingfor granted.
But I think being in thatenvironment and going through
that with my mom is what sort ofled to me behaving in the way I
behave when it comes to contentcreation and being consistent
and being hands-on with my work.

Speaker 2 (20:26):
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 (20:37):
so, to be honest, when my mom was diagnosed with
dementia, um, the doctor didspeak to me back in 2018 and he
did say to me look, I'm going totell you this like because at
because at the time my mom'smind was fine, she was, it was
early stages and the doctor saidto me I'm just going to let you
know your mom's been diagnosedwith dementia.
So right now, everything's fine, but there will be a time where

(20:57):
her memory just goes like that,and so I think he sort of
mentally prepared me for thetime.
I didn't know when the timewould come because of dementia.
That's the scary thing aboutdementia 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 terribledisease to have.
But yeah, I feel my mom'sdementia got worse when, in 2020

(21:20):
, my brother died because thestress, and then that's when it
escalated, but then I wouldn'thave anticipated my brother
passing away in 2020.
So it went from zero to 100real quick, yeah have you guys
tried speaking about?
you know beautiful memories inthe past yeah, I always do that
every time I visit her.
So my mom's currently in thecare home.
Um, before I was looking afterher, but it got to a point where

(21:41):
it was hard to look after herbecause I was traveling a lot.
And not only that, she wouldstart running outside because of
the dementia she's seeingthings.
So there's times where I'd beasleep and then I'd just hear
someone running and I'd have torun out the house to go on the
street to.
Actually, this is what dementiadoes.
So it's definitely somethingthat I wasn't used to and so I

(22:02):
had to get her into a care home.
But I always make sure that Iwasn't used to and so I had to
get her into a care home.
But I always make sure that Ishow up for her because it's my
mom.
You know I've always had a goodrelationship with my mom and my
mom always cared for me, and soI make sure I check up on her
every time I'm in London.
We have conversations.
I always focus on the positivememories and my mom has a dark
sense of humor, so we like tojoke a lot, but it's, it's

(22:27):
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 ofit's taught me patience, because
when someone's asking you thesame question over and over
again because they don'tremember that they asked you the
same question, you have tolearn patience.
So, my mom, even havingdementia, I'm still learning
more about myself and what Ineed to work on, you know.
So it's yeah, there's alwayssomething you can learn, even

(22:48):
when it's negative.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
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 yeahyou asked me what does he want,
and what is that?
Yeah, can you tell me moreabout that?

Speaker 1 (23:04):
yeah, so no.
So when, when the kid went andknocked on the door, I think I
was just shocked that at such ayoung age he had to work and I
was just thinking about howsometimes us in the western
world we are actually blessedbut then we take our blessing
for granted.
You know there's kids out hereworking at such a young age.
My mom used to tell me when shewas like five, six years old,

(23:26):
she was cooking the familydinner and I was like what you
know?
So I think for me, when thewhen the kid knocked on the door
when we were driving, I was itjust reminded me of I need to be
grateful.
You know, we we always complainabout what we don't have, but
he's that little kid is hustling.
That kid one day is going tobecome something and he's going
to have a story and he'll belord willing, he'll be able to

(23:47):
make an impact in someone else'slife.
So that's why I was shocked.
I was just thrown off guard.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah, yeah you keep saying your mom, you know you're
taking care of your mom,helping your mom.
I mean, how about the othersiblings?

Speaker 1 (24:02):
so everyone has a different relationship with my
mom.
This is why I said, you know, Ican't speak for them in that
sense, because they were bornbefore me.
I don't know how they're raised.
All I know is, out of all mybrothers, my mom paid the most
attention to me.
That's something we all know.
Like, out of all my brotherslike my mom was really, but I'm
assuming it's probably from allthe mistakes she may have made,

(24:22):
maybe being a young mother, sowhen she got to her last child
at 42, she knows what to do tobring 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'sbased in Canada.
He checks up on my mum, youknow.
So they definitely have a goodrelationship with her.
I even spoke to my brother theother day and he's gonna check
up on her.
So, yeah, it's just that Ithink me growing up with my mom

(24:46):
full-on 100 is what, yeah,motivates me.
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 wasintrigued by history.
I'm definitely into history andphilosophy, so I think,

(25:09):
initially I wanted to become anarchaeologist, I wanted to
discover the meaning of life.
I was the kid that was alwaysasking, 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'sthe origin of man?
You know?
All of these different things,these are questions I kept
obsessing over, which, which canbe difficult, because now,
let's say, if you're exploringreligion, right, and you're

(25:31):
going to church, differentchurches are teaching different
things about the meaning of life, and so then, as a kid, I felt,
like in my teens, I was veryconfused because I was trying to
figure out what is the truth.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
What is the truth, truth and you know what did mom
and dad tell you.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
So my dad wasn't religious.
My dad wasn't religious.
My dad didn't talk to me aboutanything to do with religion,
but my mom was just more.
So my mom respected One thing Iliked about my mom my mom
respected everyone's beliefs.
You know, she wasn't someonethat 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 differentwalks of life, I don't know your

(26:08):
struggle, I don't know whatyou've been through.
So I feel bad for me.
Even judging, you know even myname, daniel, means God is my
judge.
So if God is my judge, how am Ithere trying to judge what you
believe in?
You know?
So?
My mom would say to me youbelieve in, you know so my mom
would say to me just don'tforget to pray, don't forget to
pray.
That was one thing she drummedinto my head from a young child.

(26:29):
Every time I was going toschool she said we have to say a
prayer.
It didn't matter if I wascomplaining 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, youdon't forget to pray, you know,
and when you're happy you stillpray.
So my mom's responsible forthat.
I'll definitely give her that,you know and that's the lesson.

(26:49):
So you wanted to be anarchaeologist initially I'll say
I wanted to be an archaeologist, and then what happened was we
went to a church one day andthen, uh, one of the pastors
said he's going to be a doctor.
So so I think the narrativechanged and, you know, my family
was trying to push me towardsbeing a doctor, but I had no
desire to be a doctor.
It was just what he said.

(27:10):
And so I think that was a bitof a struggle, because once I
hit teenage years, I told my momI don't want to be a doctor,
and at first she was upset, butthen, after she came back to me
and apologized and was like no,do whatever you want to do.
You know, because I think sheshe just wanted me to be
educated, because my mom wasn'teducated, she didn't grow up in
that environment, so she wasjust trying to figure out.

(27:30):
Okay, I want my son to besuccessful 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 (27:43):
And then what happened in the next path?

Speaker 1 (27:46):
So in my, in my twenties.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
Yep, yeah, so I had to become.

Speaker 1 (27:49):
Yeah, yeah.
So then I went to university.
Even in university I droppedout twice.
I went to university, studiedphilosophy and history, because
I loved history initially but Ididn't enjoy it at uni, so then
I left.
Then I went back to uni and Istudied songwriting and music
production because everyone saidI could, everyone said I could
sing.
So I went back with theintention of becoming a singer

(28:11):
and I was like, okay, I'm gonnabe an R&B singer right now.
And I actually got a first.
I got a high mark forsongwriting.
So I knew I was creative.
I just wasn't good with theinstruments, the other stuff.
Because you need to be trained,be trained in that.
You need to learn that, youneed to be.
But I was never trained.
So then I dropped out again andthen my mom said I remember at
the time she said if you don't,if you don't go uni, you get

(28:33):
kicked out.
Really at the time, you know.
So I went back and I studiedpsychology and I thought, okay,
I'm going to study psychology,not because I'm looking for a
job.
I okay, I'm going to studypsychology not because I'm
looking for a job, I'm going tostudy psychology because it's
going to be a life skill.
You know the study of humanbehavior, and I thought
psychology is something you'regoing to need, regardless of
which sector you're in.

(28:53):
You know when, if someone wantsto be a president,
psychologically they need toconvince the people to vote for
him.
You know someone's a contentcreator, he needs people to
follow him.
He needs to give some sort ofvalue so people will follow them
right, follow her or him.
And or even iPhone when we allrock an iPhone or Samsung,
usually it's becausepsychologically they've made us
believe.
You know they want you to fitin.

(29:15):
You want to fit in, so you endup buying an iPhone, but then
there's plenty of other phonesout there, but we usually go for
what everyone else is doing.
So I knew psychology, studyingpsychology, would be important
for me in the long run, but Ididn't know how I was going to
use it, so I just studied itjust for the sake of studying at
the time let me stop it herefor a minute.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
If you've been watching this show, I want you
to subscribe and become part ofthe family.
We are on a journey of changingthe lives of people on this
channel and we appreciate youfor being here, but if you
haven't become part of thefamily, connect with us.
Hit the subscribe button now.
Let's carry on the conversationafter uni what did you do?

Speaker 1 (29:56):
banking, okay.
So I went into personal banking.
Is retail banking customerservice face to face?
Um, the reason why I joined thebank was because I was trying
to make ends meet.
Uh, I had bills to pay and so Iwas just trying to figure out,
okay, what job?
Because that's the thing withuni sometimes is you can go uni,
you can get a degree, you canget high grades, but you need

(30:18):
experience.
If you don't have experienceexperience it's very hard to get
a job.
And so when I finished uni, Ineeded a job and I applied to
the bank because I knew someonethat applied to the bank and I
thought, okay, let me apply tothe bank.
And I was in the bank for likea period of five years I'm gonna
take you back and then, bringyou back here again.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
You being raised by, you know, a single parent.
For me, I was raised by bothparents right on the other side,
but you've turned out prettygood.

Speaker 1 (30:51):
Pretty decent, pretty decent, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (30:53):
You've done very well for yourself.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
Yeah.
But, how does?

Speaker 2 (30:56):
that shape your perspective about life.

Speaker 1 (31:01):
I think my perspective is you, you know
we're not going to always behere.
You know, when my father passedaway at seven, when I was seven
, I knew, okay, we're not goingto be here forever.
So then I automatically had togrow up a bit, because when you
lose someone, it's missing.
So what you would have got?
So, for example, in yourenvironment you would have had a
dad that would have taught youabout having bills to pay, how

(31:22):
to talk to the ladies withrespect and all these different
things.
In my environment I didn't havea dad, so my mom had to become
my mom and dad in thatenvironment.
So it would have been tough forher.
And so I think, because it wastough for her, me and my brother
had the empathy to feel herpain, because I didn't think if
my mum was coming from Ghana tothe UK, she would come with

(31:42):
intention of making her familylife better.
So I didn't want to take thatfor granted.
And so while I was in schooland or I was pursuing anything,
I was thinking about her, notwanting to disappoint her
because I can get myself intomajor trouble, but then that's
disrespect to my mum.
My mum didn't carry me in herwomb for nine months, just for
me to turn out to be nothing.
I don't think any mother hasthat intention.

(32:03):
I think every mother wants tosee the best for their child.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
Yeah, yeah, I've seen a lot of kids that are raised
by single parents and can betough yeah it's definitely tough
, you know, but that's why mymom had to give me tough love.

Speaker 1 (32:21):
My mom disciplined us like she wasn't she wasn't easy
going all the time she had hermoment, she was fun, she.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
She mixed up, you think she had her own pain
inside and trauma yeah, yeah, mymom, like my mom had.

Speaker 1 (32:32):
Yeah, yeah, my mom had pain and trauma and when I
got older I would speak to herabout it.
I said how was life growing upfor you?
You know, she told me her momwas very strict on her.
You know, because my mom wasthe oldest, the eldest child, so
she, she had many siblings, um,and it was hard because she was
responsible for them.
So if anything happened to theyounger sister or the younger
brother, her mom would look ather and she couldn't even get

(32:53):
formal education no, so I thinkshe went to secondary school and
after that, that was it, yeahyou think at some point she was
trying to live her life throughyou?
I think.
I think she wanted me to becomethe man maybe my dad wasn't
okay, do you know?
I mean, I think psychologicallyright if, if your dad left, etc

(33:14):
.
She would not want you to endup leaving someone else because
of that pain.
So I think she was just raisingme to be responsible and
raising my brother to beresponsible I've had
conversations here where I'veasked people who lost their dads
at early stages.

Speaker 2 (33:31):
The question was really simple.
It was around you know lifeinsurance, um, you know
investment for the children,things like that.
Was there anything like that inthe family when dad passed?

Speaker 1 (33:43):
No, because you need to remember my dad also.
He was with someone else at thetime, so in terms of insurance,
there wasn't necessarilyinsurance.
Maybe my mom got given acertain sum of money, but I
wouldn't have been aware of thatbecause that's the age of seven
.
So maybe just to chip in forfood and stuff like that, but I
wouldn't have known exactly theamount you know.

Speaker 2 (34:04):
All I know is my dad was an accountant, but you think
it's important that fathers dothat, yeah, like invest, yeah,
yeah for their children.

Speaker 1 (34:08):
Yeah, of course, especially as a father, you know
you need to protect and providein a sense, and be there for
your children.
Um, obviously, in his situationit was unfortunate that he
passed away quite early.
He was only at the time, he wasonly like 51, so you know he
still had some life to livepotentially at the time daniel
in the lion's den if we take youback to you, okay, back on

(34:33):
track again.

Speaker 2 (34:34):
Yeah, to you, you know, getting a job yeah and all
of that.

Speaker 1 (34:37):
Yeah, now take me through it which job though,
because I've had so many?

Speaker 2 (34:41):
yeah, so you've had a banking job so I've had okay.

Speaker 1 (34:43):
So I've had a banking job.
Uh, I've worked as a paper boy.
When I was like 15, 16, I wasdoing paper rounds, riding bikes
and delivering newspapers topeople.
I worked as a lunchtimesupervisor.
So when it was lunchtime, Iwould watch over the kids that
were younger than me just tomake sure that they were waiting
in line, not, you know, pushingin front of each other, so
basically preventing fights.

(35:05):
There was a time where I wasactually mentoring kids when I
was in uni.
I was mentoring kids in my oldschool, just going back and
talking to the kids that werenecessarily just misbehaved.
They had potential, theyweren'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 hadintentions to because I wasn't
paid for that.
That was just something.
I had the desire to inspiresome sort of change.

(35:29):
You know, actually, one of themactually messaged me recently
in recent years, like two weeksago actually, and he was just
like hey, I just wanted to sayhello, you know.
So I feel like I've alwayswanted to say hello, you know.
So I feel like I've alwayswanted to mentor, in a sense, or
inspire some group of people.
Another job I had was I'veworked in a restaurant and
harvester harvester is like arestaurant I know okay yeah, I

(35:50):
was working in the kitchen there.
Uh, what else did I do?
I worked as a digitizingscanning operator for the
british library.
I worked as an it engineer foruh bank of america.
I worked in a core center forsolar energy savings.

Speaker 2 (36:06):
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 wantto get into content creation so
the content creation, it cameway later.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
You know, the content creation came later.
I think what happened was mylast job before the content
creation was, um, I was workingin the bank, right, and so being
at the bank in my 20s, I'mthinking this is not.
You know me.
At six years old, I knew I wasmeant to do something.
You know, even you know it'sfunny I missed out something.
Uh, so when I was younger, whenI was about 16, I was part of

(36:42):
like the christian union in my,in my, in my school, in my, and
then one of the kids he actuallyuh, 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 forwhat you do.
And at the time I was a bitangry because I was like I don't
want to be a teacher, you know,at the time.
But I just feel like when I waslike I don't want to be a
teacher, you know, at the time,but I just feel like when you

(37:02):
fast forward it to now, prettymuch 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 tomyself.
I read a book called theAlchemist by Paulo Coelho.
You know, I was watching theinterview by Will Smith once and
he just kept talking about thisbook.
And I was a big fan of WillSmith so still am.

(37:24):
I'm still a big fan and I wasthinking, man, I need to read
this book.
But when I read this book therewas a line it said follow the
omens, follow the signs lifegive you.
And so me being in the bank,frustrated, trying trying to
figure out what my purpose isthinking 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 thinkingback.

(37:44):
When I was in the bank, peoplecomplimented me on the way I
dressed.
When I was in uni, peoplecomplimented me on the way I
dressed.
When I was in church, peoplewere complimenting me on the way
I dressed.
And when I was in sixth formcollege, people were as a sign
and I was like, maybe this issomething I'm meant to be doing.
So then that's when I proceededto post on social media of me
in a suit.
And then that's what startedeverything, but in the beginning

(38:07):
it wasn't necessarily contentcreation, it was just more so.
Me taking a picture of me in asuit.
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 (38:18):
Yeah, so you just posted a picture.

Speaker 1 (38:20):
I posted a picture, I got a good reaction from people
and when I mean a good reactionfrom people, probably like
three, four, five people.
But that was enough for me tobe like, yeah, this is maybe
something.
I just felt happy.
You know, it gave me somethingto do when I wasn't working, to
go to the studio, work with aphotographer and just take some
pictures in a suit.
Maybe I can inspire someone forwhen they have like a wedding

(38:42):
or if they're going outsomewhere.
That's, that was what I wasthinking and when I started I
just I was doing it for fun.
But then I was consistent and Ifeel consistency is very
important okay, but where did?

Speaker 2 (38:54):
where did the consistency came on because if
you register on an app andyou're just using it for fun,
you don't really think of beingconsistent.
It's just as in when a pictureis worthy of posting, then you
post it, but I've always seenmyself as a creature of habit.

Speaker 1 (39:10):
I feel like with me.
I'm the type of person.
If I like jollof rice, I'mgoing to keep eating jollof rice
.
Yeah, until you get sick oneday, yeah, but I never get sick.
But I feel I'm a creature ofhabit and so I felt like I found
something that I enjoyed, so Ijust kept doing it.

Speaker 2 (39:25):
And how often were you doing at the time?

Speaker 1 (39:28):
several times a week, um several times a week.

Speaker 2 (39:31):
So you kept spending money to go to the.
Yeah, I was spending money likein the beginning, right, I had.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
By the way, I didn't have a lot of money.
I was working the bank but weweren't paid much, right, and so
I would use the money.
I had to go into the shop andgo to a suit shop, buy the suit,
go back to the studio, take thepictures, make sure the label's
on so I could return and returnit.
Yeah, because I couldn't affordit at the time, but I think

(39:57):
that opened up things for me,because it's like he's he has
intention.
You know he's one day he'sgoing to be able to have suits
and one day people are going topay him to wear suits.
That that was how it happened,yeah.

Speaker 2 (40:12):
At what point did you start thinking OK, I can
monetize this.

Speaker 1 (40:15):
So I started thinking about monetizing later on, and
I think that's what helped me.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
How many years into?

Speaker 1 (40:21):
it.
So I started January 2019.
I wasn't thinking about moneyto about 2022.
Why?
Because I enjoyed just makingthe content and I would have
done it for free.
I'm sure you were getting emailsfrom people saying that you
know they want to collaborate,they want to do this, they want
to do that, but at the time Iwas just doing it for free,
because I think at the time Iwas.

(40:42):
You know, they always say inthe beginning, not all the time,
not the whole time, but in thebeginning.
You know they say if you want amillion dollars or you want a
hundred million dollars, and ifyou would still do what you do,
then you know you love it Iunderstand, yeah, because these
days, these times, you wereworking a day job.
Yeah, I was working, and thenyou're still creating content?

Speaker 2 (41:03):
Yeah, and it was working out for you.

Speaker 1 (41:05):
Yeah, but then you were not monetizing it, but the
opportunity was there tomonetize it.
Yeah, there was an opportunityto monetize it, but I think at
the time my focus wasn't.
My focus was just, I wasn'tthinking about money at the time
.
You know, I wasn't.
Money wasn't my.
I felt like if money was mymotivation earlier on, I would

(41:26):
have gotten myself into somestuff that a lot of people in my
environment were gettingthemselves into and I was never
my main focus.

Speaker 2 (41:31):
I just believed the money would come how many
followers in before you startedthinking of monetizing?
I had a hundred thousandfollowers okay, yeah, how did
you monetize the brand?

Speaker 1 (41:42):
so brands were reaching out, wanting to
collaborate with me, and thenthey'll pay me a fee to wear
their outfit.
It could be suits, it could bewatches, anything a man could
wear at some point you quit yourjob yeah, I quit my job when I
hit a million followers how didthat decision come by?
um, because now loads of brandswanted to work with me.
So, you know, you know, I waslike, okay, well, I can make a

(42:02):
living off of this.
And so I thought about it and Iwas like, yeah, I'm going to
leave, I'm going to take theleap of faith and I'm just going
to Daniel, what does making aliving off social media at the
time look like?
To be able to travel, to be ableto travel, to be able to travel
, to be able to travel, to beable to wake up anytime, go to
bed anytime, so like that At thetime, how much were brands

(42:26):
paying?
It varies, you know it varies.
There's no, there's no fixedfee when it comes to brands, but
it's, it's, it's cool, it'scool.
It's enough to make a living Inthe beginning in in the
beginning, in the beginning.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
Right yeah, because to me make a living that's
that's for me.
It could be 10k a month, 20k amonth, something like that.
Okay, yeah, yeah, at the time Ireally want to understand
whether people can actually takethis as a as a full-time job,
yes, yes, and say that this iswhat they want to do but I I
would say this like if I wastalking to people.

Speaker 1 (43:00):
I would say this like focus on becoming great at what
you're doing.
I feel like so many people areso focused on the money aspect
of things.
What's your desire, your whyshould be?
You want to give value topeople.
You want to change people'slife.
The money will come.
But I felt like in thebeginning, because I had a lot

(43:25):
of people that started off withme but they ended up giving up
quick because their focus wasjust the money, so they weren't
growing anymore.
You know, do you know?
I mean, whereas me, I just I mymy value and my focus was
giving the people value.

Speaker 2 (43:31):
That's what I cared about let's give the value and
the money will come yeah,obviously.

Speaker 1 (43:35):
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 reachout to you and stuff like that.
But I, I didn't let moneystress me out.
I feel like some people, if youcan make money stress you out,
you may do start doing someillegal things, you know, and
for me I didn't because, like Isaid, I grew up in an
environment where I had nothingright, where most people would

(43:57):
be doing the opposite needing,needing it.
But I think because I was soused to not having money.
I was used to it at the time,you know.
So I didn't, I didn't make itmy focus.
I knew, I knew God wouldprovide.
Put it that way yeah, I knewGod would provide and I knew
that as long as I was consistent, consistent, mastering what I

(44:18):
was doing, I'd be fine,consistent mastering what I was
doing, I'd be fine.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
That's interesting, yeah, if I ask you the exact
actions, things that people cando because somebody is at 50K
and they want to monetize.

Speaker 1 (44:32):
Yeah, no, you can.
You can monetize and there'sways to monetize.
You can reach out to brands.
You can reach out to brands forcollaborations Yep, you know,
but for me at the time I feel alot of brands wanted to work for
me because they could see mypage was genuine, because
they're like, oh, this guy's nottrying to, this guy's actually
enjoying what he does, and Ifeel they can feel it through
the personality.
Do you see what I mean?

(44:54):
I think for me that was themain thing you know.
But, like I said, you can, ofcourse, monetize.
You know people monetize.
I've got a friend.
He's a content creator.
He monetizes for his views, hisfocus, his views like his
youtube.
You know it's through the viewsand so that's how he monetizes.
He doesn't necessarily workwith a lot of brands with me.
I work with a lot of brandsbecause of I like fashion and I

(45:16):
think brands like that, so theywant to work with me in that
sense.

Speaker 2 (45:20):
You're thinking of business within the content
creation that you have, thebrand that you have.
You're thinking of creatingyour own business.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
No no, so I've got.
So I'm I'm working on a suitbrand.
I've got the suit brand whichI'm working on, but it's just
that for me, my main thing isI'm sort of like a Mr Beast.
A Mr Beast in the sense of yousee, Mr Beast, he doesn't really
care about money too much.
When he gets the money, he justthrows it back into his content
.
And I feel like that's whatI've done I just throw it back
in, Because I want to be thebest at what I can be.

(45:51):
You know.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
But I checked your website and then everything is
out of stock.

Speaker 1 (45:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Because but that's putting the
emails in and stuff like that.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
yeah yeah, but you're wearing one of them yeah, so no
.

Speaker 1 (46:04):
So this is a brand I actually worked with.
There's another brand I workedwith on social media, but, um, I
was wearing it yesterday, but Idon'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, butright now the we're collecting.
But, yeah, I'm excited aboutthat and that's why I'm working
on the long form videos, sopeople get to know me, because I

(46:27):
feel like even the people thatI started with on social media,
they got to a certain stage andthen they just dipped, but I
remember back then they were theones that were focused on the
money at the time when I used tomeet up with them.
They're up with them.
Oh.
So what's going on with the?
And I was kind of like nah, butfor me, my focus was the value

(46:48):
and that's why I continue toexpand, like, for example, even
traveling.
Right, the last six months, Itold you, I've been to like 11
countries.
I don't need to travel.
I choose to travel because Iwant to connect with the people,
I want to give more value, Iwant my content creation to be
more colorful.
That's an investment I've putinto myself.
I could have just stayed inlondon, but I chose to.
You know.

Speaker 2 (47:08):
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 (47:21):
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 my20s, trying to figure out what I
was going to do, I felt like Iwas taking a break.
I wasn't doing anything.
So I felt like those were thetime.
That was my break time.
And now and I made a promise tomyself because it took me three

(47:42):
years before my account actuallyblew up on social media right,
I made a promise to myselfbecause I struggled.
I said to myself, if I evergrow, if I ever because I was
putting out videos but it wasn'tdoing well, at the time I was
like if I ever grow, I'm notletting go, I'm not stopping
because I struggled, stoppingbecause I struggled, and so I

(48:03):
know how it feels like to not,you know, get any attention for
the hard work you're putting inor the value you're giving.
So once I get that moment, whenthat time comes, I'm not gonna
let go.
And that time came and when itcame, I didn't stop you know
what's been a strategy to growyour social media so so what
happened?
so what happened?
The reason why I have so muchcontent to post is because in
the beginning, because I was soexcited, I was creating loads of

(48:24):
videos.
I was creating like close to 20videos in a day in the
beginning, you know, and I wouldbe 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 thenumbers I've just had so much
content.
That's why I'm able to postevery day, and sometimes I can

(48:45):
post old videos.
Change up the tempo, change upthe music, because when you post
your social media, not everyonesees your post, only a certain
percentage.
And then, even when it goesviral, your audience is not
necessarily seeing it.
They're showing it to a newaudience.
So sometimes you can repost anold video from a few years ago.
Change up the tempo a bit andthe music and it'll be shown to

(49:06):
a new audience, and then you'restill growing.

Speaker 2 (49:08):
Let me stop it here for a minute.
If you've been watching thisshow, I want you to subscribe
and become part of the family.
We are on a journey of changingthe lives of people on this
channel and we appreciate youfor being here.
But if you haven't become partof the family, connect with us,
hit the subscribe button andlet's carry on the conversation.

(49:29):
That's a really good strategyyeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (49:31):
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, butit's because I was hungry.
You know I was watching.
This is a bit off topic, butit's still to do with work rate.
I was watching an interview withChris Brown, who's one of my
favorite musical artists, andthey asked him how many songs do
you have that you haven'treleased?
And he said 8,000.
Just think about that 8,000songs he hasn't released.

(49:55):
And this guy is dropping musicall the time since 2005.
But then it showed me why he'sstill relevant.
It's because he keeps going.
He's hungry, you know, despiteall the stuff that he's been
through.
That's necessarily negative,right?
He's hungry for success.
He wants to stay on top as theguy, and that's why, even if you
look in the music industry,when it comes to urban artists,
he has remained top and he hasremained the most consistent.

(50:17):
You see many artists come andgo, but he's remained there.
But I put it down to his workrate.
I don't know many artists thathave 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 ifyou're not creating, someone
else's, you know at over 10million audience size, you're

(50:38):
still hungry yeah, but there'ssix billion people to reach on
this earth.
Okay, okay, 10 million is not alot to me, you know.
I mean I'm I'm grateful.
I'm not saying there's not alot in the sense I'm grateful.
I I thank god all the time foreven blessing me with that.
But even with let me, let metell you something, because I
even missed out a part.
So the period before I grew onInstagram, I was actually about

(50:58):
to delete my social mediabecause I'd given up, because it
was three years in and I waslike this is long, you know,
this is long I'm.
This is not for me.
You know, maybe this is not mypurpose, maybe I was just
dreaming.
And then one of my good friendssaid to me don't delete your
social media, don't.
Good friend said to me don'tdelete your social media, don't.
And so I stuck at it and aboutsix months later that's when I
blew up.
But even before that, there wasthis girl that kept commenting

(51:21):
on my posts, some random girlfrom, I think, algeria.
She was just commenting on mypost saying she really likes my
style, blah, blah, blah.
But every time I would post avideo, she would comment in
detail.
So then it made me moreintrigued to know who this
person is.
Who's this person that keepscommenting on my posts?
And so I messaged her and Isaid thank you so much for the
compliment.
But uh, who are you?

(51:43):
Because on her profile therewas no pictures.
And then she said to me oh, I'mjust an admirer, I'm just a fan
, I'm like, okay, cool, nothing,I carry on posting.
She's still commenting on mypost like in-depth comments, and
I'm like.
So I messaged her again.
I was like I need to talk, Ineed to see who this person is,
because I didn't even know itwas a guy or woman, because on

(52:04):
their profile it the name was inArabic and I can't read in
Arabic, so I didn't know it.
Maybe it was a guy, maybe itwas a girl, I didn't know.
So I ended up calling themthrough the Instagram app just
to see who it.
You know, because you becomecurious to know who's this
person that is commenting onyour post when a lot of people
at the time, maybe, are notcommenting.
So you feel it, you feel youappreciate it more.
And it was a young lady.

(52:26):
And then she and I said to herwow, thank you very much.
And then she said to me shesaid something you know every
time I see you grow, I smile andyou're going to reach millions
of people and you're going toget 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 meDecember 2021, january 2022,

(52:48):
which was the next month myaccount started blowing up.
Crazy, yeah.
So for me, following the omens,following the science, she I
believe she was there to keep megoing.
Her comments I don't know her,I never met her never met her.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
Maybe she was the fatima from the book of
alchemist no, but.

Speaker 1 (53:13):
But I believe some people come your way to be a
blessing.
I think she came to add morefuel.
It's kind of like a you know,when you watch formula one and
then the cars driving, they comeback to change up the tires and
add more petrol just to keep itgoing.
I think she was, because Idon't.
I I've never met her, I don'tknow her you thought, that gave

(53:34):
you.
I just thought, the energy, theenergy of wow, belief.
You know someone believing inyou.
When someone's saying they'rehappy with your content and
they're happy and they're hopingthat you and they know that
you're going to reach millions,you're like wow.
You know, even my friend, theperson that said to me don't
delete your account, keep going.
That that is a blessing,because he I could have had a

(53:56):
friend that told me no, becauseyou remember my mom's experience
.
She had friends that told herdon't pursue your goals because
you're old or you're this andthat.
So I feel surrounding yourselfwith the right type of people
can be of benefit to you whatdid your mom think of the whole
social media stuff?
so, to be honest, my mom'sdementia kicked in around around

(54:16):
then.
So my mom okay, put it this waymy mom, my mom knows of it,
because my mom has dreams.
So my mom will have a dream andsay I had a dream, you know,
like a billboard or likepaparazzi were chasing you and
stuff like that, and so she wasgetting worried.
So when I'll see her in thegirl, she'll be like you okay is
everything.
Okay, you know I'm, I'm fineand I think in the care home

(54:37):
because a lot of the stafffollow me on social media, I
think they've been telling heroh, you know, your son is, you
know, but my mom's not reallyfamiliar with it.
But for me, what I pride myselfin is just my mom being proud
that I didn't take anything fromgranted from her.
You know anything?
She brought me up on the factthat she came to London, are you

(54:57):
?

Speaker 2 (54:57):
able to provide for mom.
Yeah, yeah, does that make youproud?

Speaker 1 (55:01):
Yeah, yeah, it makes me proud, but I do believe
there's more I can do.
You know there's more I can doand I think it starts with, like
you said, it starts with mom,but I think even worldwide, to
travel and connect with theworld.
Because, even my positive words, because I think a lot of
people think of just financialaspect of things you can still
give money to someone thatdoesn't have money, that is poor

(55:22):
, but even if you give themmoney, you can still lose the
money if they, if they're noteducated, you know.
So I don't think it'snecessarily just about giving
money.
I think sometimes even words ofaffirmation, you know, just
letting someone know that.
You know, like, even when I sawyour work, I've seen your work
I was, I really liked it.
I've watched it on youtube, youknow, several times and it's
really good.

(55:43):
But you hearing that, you'veheard that a lot from other
people, but that will still addfuel to you.
That would be like, okay, hesaid it, there's another 10
million people that are going tosay that.
So you're going to reach morepeople.
It's going to put more in yourtank.
So I think it's very importantwhat we say to each other and to
inspire and give value.
You know, because, like I saidbefore, I believe we all have
gifts and talents.

(56:03):
All of us, we all have giftsand talents and your purpose in
life is to figure that out.
Figure that out.
Maybe some will figure it outearly, some others later, but as
long as you keep trying throughtrial and error, I believe you
can make a real positive impactin people's lives all right,
you've just shot a video and youneeded to post it right now.

Speaker 2 (56:19):
Can you vividly explain to me how you post it on
your social media account?

Speaker 1 (56:25):
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'veshot a pose video, um, my
photographer would have editedthe photo and then he just sent
me the footage and then I justput it together in shot and
basically I sort of know whatworks with my audience in terms
of, like, going viral.
Right, because because I'veposted so many times, I know how

(56:48):
the algorithm works.
You know, the algorithm is upand down.
It's like life, it's full ofups and downs.
You stick around, you're gonnacatch the highs, you will catch
the lows and it will feel badwhen 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 goinglike this, right, you're like
this, you're on a path andyou're going like this, but the
world is going like this, up anddown, because you kept going.

(57:13):
So you're going to get yourmoment, but most people, the
world is going like this, butthese 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 doyou do before you hit post?
um, well, the caption willprobably be like free poses or
something like that.
It's fairly simple, nothing,nothing extreme like there's.

(57:33):
It's not like I have to prepmyself like majorly.
I'm so used to posting.
I sort of know I'll just add asong that is trending, you know,
um, or a song that works withmy account, and then I'll just
post it.
You know I use in shop and thenpost it.

Speaker 2 (57:47):
That's it, very simple caption on the video, as
well as caption in thedescription um, so yeah, caption
in the video.

Speaker 1 (57:55):
So I use in shot to put the caption on the video,
right yeah, yeah so that's whatI mean by like putting it
together.
When I mean putting it together, I'm talking about the
transitions between each poseand the caption and then the
caption.
I'll just have it in my notes,you know and I just copy it.

Speaker 2 (58:10):
Yeah, simple, very simple.
What's one lesson you'velearned on social media?

Speaker 1 (58:15):
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 youcan use social media to produce.
I choose to produce because Ifeel 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

(58:35):
not giving you value, becausesocial media is mixed.
Some people are giving value,some people have good intentions
, but, uh, most of the time it'snot necessarily like that, and
I feel you can be distracted bylooking at other people's lives
and comparing yourselves,looking at other people's
relationships and comparingyourselves, and I think it can
be dangerous because you need toalways remember people click
edit before they post, so it'snot necessarily fully factual,

(58:59):
you know.
So you gotta be weary with that.
So I'll say that's the lessonI'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 tolisten to podcasts, like
yourself on youtube, etc.
But I feel like you need to becareful of what you're watching
because you can be distracted.

(59:19):
Social media, especially with me.
There's been times I'm layingin bed and I'm just watching
videos and then hours have goneby 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 thelesson, 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 thelesson I've learned.

(59:40):
I've also learned in socialmedia if you give value to
people, you eventually find abreakthrough.
I feel like the algorithm whichis usually to do with audience
anyways, algorithms to do theaudience.
I think people like it whenpeople create content to give to
other people rather than makingcontent focusing on themselves,
you know.
So I feel like giving value topeople on social media through

(01:00:01):
whatever you're good at.
You might be good at gardening.
There's an audience for that.
You might be a barber.
You might love fashion.
You might like even somethingspecific within your religion,
within christianity there's athere's a audience for that.
You might like traveling aroundthe world and showing about
different countries.
You might like traveling aroundthe world and showing about
different countries.
So I feel like there's anaudience for whatever you want
to do.
It's just about figuring outwhat you want to do, and once

(01:00:23):
you figure it out, you commit towhat you want to do.

Speaker 2 (01:00:25):
Wow.
There are people like Fatmaright, who would give you the
boost right.
There's also people who wouldhate on the content that you
post, I mean what are some ofthe nasty comments that you've
seen on your post?

Speaker 1 (01:00:38):
I think in the beginning, when I was growing so
fast, I think what used toannoy me was when people said it
was fake.
That used to get to me.
They used to be, oh, yourfollowers are fake, or whatever.
That used to get to me.
And the reason why it used toget 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 megrinding, no one caring, and so

(01:00:59):
that used to get to me.
But then I noticed they do it toanyone that's doing well.
You know, um, that's what comesof success.
Uh, when you're doing well,when you're pursuing something,
there's always going to bepeople that maybe you make you
remind them of what they'remeant to be doing, and so they
could hate on that, because youremind them of themselves, where
they could have been, and sothey have to downplay it so then

(01:01:20):
they don't feel bad aboutthemselves.
So I some I don't really takeit too personal.
You know, I've had peoplecomment racial slurs in my
videos.
Yeah, but I don't.
I just don't respond.
I don't respond to negative.

Speaker 2 (01:01:33):
Do you get that face to face?
Do you travel around and thennah face to face, people are
pretty respectful.

Speaker 1 (01:01:38):
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 abad encounter that I can think
of.
Usually most people arekeyboard warriors, right, most
people will say stuff online,but in person is different, um,
so no, I haven't.
I haven't experienced it inperson, in person.

(01:01:59):
I've had great experiences andI've met some amazing people,
you know, living out differentlives in different countries,
and I love that.
I really love that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:07):
Yeah this is beautiful.
Is there anything we could havespoken about that we haven't?

Speaker 1 (01:02:13):
is there anything we've spoken about that we
haven't?
Um, maybe we can discuss, youknow, like what I'm working on
now, like what, what my nextyear is looking like in terms of
the content, because I feellike most people see me as
people.
People know my face, butsometimes they don't know how I
am as a person, because a lot ofthe content I've posted is

(01:02:34):
short form.
So my focus in the last sixmonths has been traveling the
world and creating long-formcontent where people get to hear
me talk, people get to see mysense of humor, people get to
see me interact with people, andI think I'm excited for that.
I'm really, really excited forthat and you know I can't wait
to start putting out the contentthat I've been working on.

(01:02:55):
But yeah, so my focus now ismore long form content, because
I would love to build community.
I think community is veryimportant and it's not just
about I think before I was morefixated 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 keepposting, I'm going to keep

(01:03:20):
growing, but at the end of theday, it doesn't matter if you
have millions of followers or ifyou have a thousand.
Do you appreciate what you have?
When someone comments on yourpost when you have the time, do
you at least try to respond toit, or is it just an ego boost
for you?
So I think sometimes you got tothink about these things,
because how I see it is how canyou expect god to add more
blessings to your life when youdon't even appreciate what he's
already given you?
You know, how you get to thenext stage is by appreciating
the little you have, also thelittle you think you have,

(01:03:42):
because it's not really little.
Even if you have a thousandfollowers, that's a thousand
people that have chosen tofollow you.
Yeah, that's that's positive.
You stick at it, you give morevalue and eventually it's going
to grow.
It's going to go to 10 000 andthen 100 000 and then whatever.
So I think this is thementality we should have.
But, like I said, my focus forthe next year two years, three

(01:04:03):
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'seasy.
It's not easy because you needto 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 getbetter and it's all a good thing

(01:04:24):
.
You know, some people arescared 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, everyonewould do it right.
So in that sense, keep going.

Speaker 2 (01:04:37):
Keep going, Keep going and remember it's a ready
or no.

Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
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, butyou're going to get better.

Speaker 2 (01:04:48):
Do you ever have low moments in your?

Speaker 1 (01:04:50):
life.
Yes, yes, sir.
Yes, I have low moments all thetime, you know, not all the
time, but I have my moments.
Right?
But I think, because I'vesurrounded myself with positive
people, and I surround myselffor the most part with positive
information, even when I have alow moment, your mind, through
auto-suggestion, starts tellingyou oh, everything's gonna be
okay because you surroundedyourself with that, you know you

(01:05:13):
have people to speak to you?
yeah, yes, I have friends, Ihave good friends, but they're
positive people.
So when I talk to them, if I'mhaving a low moment let's say if
I was struggling with growingand I said, oh, I open out these
videos, you know it's not goingviral.
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, sothey add fuel to you tank.

(01:05:34):
So I think it's very importantto.

Speaker 2 (01:05:37):
That's why I say surround yourself, yeah I've
always wondered how the next 50to 60 years is going to look for
young content creators, right?
There was a time I was having ashower and I was thinking about
this.
Yeah, so when we planned thisinterview, I was like hold on
when this guy gets the age of 60?
Yeah, he's gonna be doing thesame thing.

(01:05:57):
I mean, is there a bigger plan,well beyond that, or?

Speaker 1 (01:06:03):
you're just moving.
No, so the biggest plan is,like I said, is inspiring people
.
That's, I mean, that's thebiggest thing you can do, like
it's changing people's livesright through what?
Through the blessings god hasgiven 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 nowthat's going to even get me to
60?
Because 60 is still a whileaway, right?

(01:06:25):
So I think a lot of people,sometimes they can be so fixated
on the future which the futureis important, but what you do
right now is important.
You might have a dream bodythat you want in the future.
Maybe at this age you want tolook like this.
But I didn't think, if you'renot going to the gym today,
brother, sister, it might nothappen, but if you go to the gym
today, you've taken one steptowards that goal.

(01:06:46):
So I think you know I waswatching an interview by a guy
called Myron Golden and he saidhaving goals is good, but having
objectives is better, and Iactually agree with that,
because that's a differentperspective.
Instead of me saying I want tohave five million subscribers on
youtube, why don't you make thecommitment and say I'm going to
post every week for the nextfive years, because when you

(01:07:10):
make that commitment you'regoing to make improvements each
time.
You very likely might get tothe five million.
But if you're so fixated ongetting to five million, you're
forgetting the steps to get youto the five million, the
objectives.
So focus on the objectives.
You know, what am I going toeat 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 agirl, right, what?

(01:07:30):
What are you going to do todayif you see a lady that you like?
Are you going to go approachher and talk to her, or you're
waiting for her to come knock onyour door?
motivation or disciplinediscipline, discipline, um, I've
said this many times motivationis based on how you feel.
For the most part, you know, Icould feel motivated to uh, get

(01:07:51):
up and go to the gym or to, oh,today I feel like posting.
But what about the days whenyou don't feel like posting?
That means you're relying onmotivation goes, you know, and
that's not good, whereas whenyour discipline is more to do
with your responsibility, I'vemade this commitment and I'm
going to do it, regardless ofhow I feel, and I feel like I
always say this the person thatgoes by how they feel will never

(01:08:12):
outdo the person that does itbecause it's their
responsibility.
And so, with me, I would pickdiscipline over motivation.
What's the best advice you'veever received?
It's a ready or no.
If you don't try.
I think for me, for for me inmy life, I think that was
because and I think for a lot ofpeople that's that's like my
motto you know it's a ready orno.

(01:08:32):
If you don't try, don't doubtyourself before you've even
started.
Try it.
Know it's a ready or no.
If you don't try it, don'tdoubt yourself before you even
started.
Try it.
Then, if it's a no, at leastyou knew and you could sleep
better because you tried.
But imagine finding out thatyou could have become something,
but you, you didn't even havethe courage to even try it in
the first place.
Imagine knowing that that girl,that lady, actually was

(01:08:57):
attracted to you, but you didn'thave the courage to go talk to
her.
And then one day you comeacross her years later.
She's like I was actuallyinterested in you.
How would you feel?
Not you, I'm married.

Speaker 2 (01:09:07):
Yeah, yeah, he's married but you get, you get the
principle behind it.

Speaker 1 (01:09:11):
You know it's already a no if you don't try, so just
try it, yeah amazing.

Speaker 2 (01:09:18):
Can you recommend a book for us?

Speaker 1 (01:09:20):
yes, so in this interview I already uh mentioned
palo cuelo palo.
Cuelo the alchemist is one ofthe best books I've read.
It's a it's not a long book, soI definitely recommend that
book.
For starters.
It's a fable about chasing yourdreams and I feel it's good
because on santiago's journeyright, he goes through ups and
downs, he goes through peoplerobbing him and I feel like on

(01:09:41):
your journey, you're going to gothrough times where you might
feel robbed or you might feel,even when you're posting content
, maybe the algorithm's not onyour side, but you've put your
heart, sweat and tears into itand it doesn't work out, but you
keep going.
You know Santiago kept goingand he figured it out in the end
.
So I would definitely recommendthat.
Um, I'd also recommend a bookcalled the 10x rule by Grant
Cardone.
Uh, it's a book I read recentlyand it's just more so about 10x

(01:10:04):
in your efforts.
You know a lot of people youcan'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 Ronaldois Ronaldo is because he's
obsessed about his football.
He'll, he'll be at the pitchfor everyone and he's leaving
after everyone.
So I think it's very importantto put in the groundwork.

(01:10:24):
Yeah, thank you very much,thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:10:28):
And I hope you enjoy your time in Ghana as well.
You meet some amazing peopleand good luck with your content
creation and everything thatyou're going to do.

Speaker 1 (01:10:35):
Appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (01:10:36):
Hopefully you know we get to connect a few more times
before you leave.

Speaker 1 (01:10:39):
Thank you, sir.

Speaker 2 (01:10:41):
If you made it to the end, you are definitely
connected champion, so can youcomment on YouTube, spotify,
apple?
Let me know that you made it tothe 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 conversationvery much and hopefully I get to

(01:11:06):
have more conversations likethis.
You know my name is derekabayite and stay connected and
I'll see you on the next episode.
Bye.

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