Building the Latino LinkedIn ft. Frank López & Edder Barcenas | Coffeez with Joe Shalaby

Summary

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Coffeez for Closers with Joe Shalaby

Episode: Building the Latino LinkedIn ft. Frank López & Edder Barcenas

Date: September 5, 2025
Host: Joseph Shalaby
Guests: Frank López & Edder Barcenas

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Episode Overview

In this vibrant episode, Joseph Shalaby invites Frank López and Edder Barcenas—co-founders behind Ngozi and Ngozi Life—to discuss the vision, strategy, and powerful community impact behind their mission to build the “Latino LinkedIn.” The trio explores empowering Hispanic entrepreneurs, creating pathways for wealth, and providing support to undocumented business owners. With personal stories, practical insights, and a deep layer of faith, the conversation weaves together entrepreneurship, community-building, and cultural identity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins and Motivation for Ngozi

[00:00–02:40]

• Frank shares his personal experience growing up undocumented and the challenges it posed, inspiring his passion for Ngozi.
  • “You can be an undocumented person, but you can have a legal entity and you can run business… That spoke to me because I've grown up in this country most of my life without documents.” —Frank [00:00]
• Ngozi started as a passion project, addressing the lack of culturally relevant resources for Hispanic entrepreneurs.
• In four years, Ngozi has 3X'ed revenue and reached 40,000 users.

2. What Is Ngozi?

[02:44–04:05]

• Edder describes Ngozi as “the Hispanic LinkedIn”—a platform for business owners in the Hispanic community to network, post jobs, access resources, and collaborate.
  • “We're bringing in people that do taxes, attorneys, CPAs, real estate people, lenders… help each other grow and win and build opportunities.” —Edder [02:44]
• Ngozi offers both digital networking and real-world events in Latino hotspots across the US (Miami, New York, Houston, California).

3. Brick-and-Click Model: Events and Community-Building

[04:05–05:24]

• Ngozi hosts large in-person events (350–500+ attendees), forging face-to-face connections and reinforcing cultural ties.
• Upcoming three-day conference in San Diego, partnering with organizations like NAREP.
• Emphasizes Ngozi’s inclusivity: “It's very diverse… not just in the Hispanic community but to bring others that see the vision.” —Edder [05:13]

4. Expanding with Ngozi Life

[06:17–09:00]

• Launch of Ngozi Life: a specialized vertical offering culturally relevant life insurance, addressing a massive education and coverage gap for Hispanics.
• Unique B2B approach: working with established business owners to introduce insurance to their clientele, rather than one-on-one sales.
• “No one really speaks to the impact. No one really speaks to the cultural relevance… So we kind of started taking a pulse.” —Frank [06:34]
• Ngozi Life's model enables partners (even undocumented owners) to refer or directly sell insurance, with robust educational support and strong commission opportunities.

5. Tackling Wealth Gaps and Changing Mindsets

[09:23–16:47]

• Deep lack of life insurance and investment product knowledge in the Hispanic community.
  • “There's what, like about 40% people that understand how life insurance works, and the other 52 or 60% are not even insured…” —Edder [10:41]
• Life insurance as a tool for generational wealth, and the secret of leveraging insurance for real estate investment (whole life, IUL).
• Ngozi focuses on education to shift mindsets from short-term survival to long-term wealth creation.
• Empowerment through licensing: “You don't have to be documented in California to get a life insurance license… you can use an ITIN.” —Frank [15:54]

6. Crisis, Opportunity, and Community Response

[17:45–21:38]

• Discussion on rising fear in immigrant communities due to political shifts and deportations.
• Ngozi’s proactive stance: creating “immigrant-friendly” financial service centers, serving as safe havens and networking hubs across the country.
  • “If you want to do business here, come here. It's a safe haven for business.” —Frank [20:25]
• Alliances with other immigrant communities (Indian, Jewish) for broader coalition-building.

7. Leadership, Integrity, and Collaboration

[23:53–29:07]

• Latino identity at the core: building with “integrity, transparency, and vibes.”
  • “If we connect and I vibe with you… sky’s the limit for sure.” —Edder [24:13]
• Long-term friendship and trust between Frank and Edder underpin the partnership.
  • “I trust him… he has full access to the bank account.” —Frank [33:16]
• Frank relates entrepreneurship to the ultimate equalizer, especially for undocumented immigrants: “Entrepreneurship is the equalizer in this country… that's how we equalize a playing field.” —Frank [26:04]
• Leadership growth: learning to listen, balance “lion” and “lamb” sales styles.

8. Faith, Timing, and Personal Stories

[32:36–35:36]

• Stories of serendipitous and faith-driven opportunities, such as unexpected global partnerships.
• “I just follow God’s plan… as long as you have good intentions and you want to serve and do God’s work, [God] will line it up.” —Joe [34:15]
• Plans for Ngozi to go global, with already-forming connections in Spain and Latin America.

9. Personal, Family, and Business Goals

[39:19–42:53]

• Edder: spend more time with his children, support his daughter’s astrophysics aspirations, and build a legacy with his wife.
• Frank: retire his parents, be present for his children, and pursue financial legacy—ultimately seeing Ngozi go public or be acquired.
  • “Not that I want to have billions and billions of dollars… I want to specifically make my community wealthy.” —Frank [41:54]

10. Faith and Reflections on Legacy

[43:04–43:51]

• Reflections on what God might say at the end of their lives:
  • “You're imperfect, my son. You're imperfect, but you tried. You tried, you tried it. You never gave up to be a good man.” —Frank [43:10]
  • “Hey, I'm proud of you. Keep going. Keep doing what you’re doing. This is your time. This is your opportunity. Not just for you, but for others.” —Edder [43:20]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Entrepreneurship is the equalizer in this country…that's how we equalize a playing field.” —Frank López [26:04]
• “They could become active participants with just…with a license, and a lot of people don't know that.” —Frank López [16:47]
• “If we connect and I vibe with you, I feel like we could do business. Sky’s the limit.” —Edder Barcenas [24:13]
• “Whenever there’s crisis…you just got to keep your eyes open.” —Frank López [19:39]
• “If you want to do business here, come here. It's a safe haven for business.” —Frank López [20:25]
• “I want to be like the Mexican Warren Buffett… I want to make other people wealthy, specifically my community.” —Frank López [41:54]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Ngozi’s origin story & undocumented entrepreneurship: [00:00–02:40]
• What is Ngozi? Platform overview: [02:44–04:05]
• Events and brick-and-click model: [04:05–05:24]
• Ngozi Life vertical (insurance & education): [06:17–09:00]
• Changing mindsets about wealth in the Latino community: [09:23–16:47]
• Dealing with political climate & crisis response: [17:45–21:38]
• Community building, alliances, and leadership values: [23:53–29:07]
• Faith-filled entrepreneurship & timing: [32:36–35:36]
• Personal/family/business goals: [39:19–42:53]
• Spiritual legacy & reflections: [43:04–43:51]

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Conclusion

In this episode, Frank and Edder embody the spirit of empowered, values-driven leadership, blending cultural roots with entrepreneurial grit and unwavering faith. Their mission with Ngozi is about far more than business—it's a call to uplift, unite, and enable wealth creation within the Latino community and beyond. With honesty, practical insights, and humor, they deliver a motivational blueprint for leading with integrity and building transformative platforms.

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Connect on Instagram:

• Frank: @frankfunsassets
• Edder: @eder_theeastbayrealtor

Transcript

[A]

You can be an undocumented person, but you can have a legal entity and you can run business. You make tons of money. So the entity is legal but you're illegal. That spoke to me because I've grown up in this country most of my life without documents. And we decided to invest in Agozi first is a passion project.

[B]

Welcome to another episode of Coffees.

[A]

Thank you Joe. Thanks for having us brother.

[C]

Thank you Joe, appreciate you, thanks.

[B]

I know etter you flew down and that's very kind of you to come down for the show. And Frank, it was a pleasure to meet you and get to kind of spend some time with you at an event that we got to connect at. Now I like to start the show off the same way with everybody which is what's your guys morning routine?

[A]

Morning routine. Like this morning I was up at 4 o' clock in the gym, out by 5:30, took a shower, did a little work and then drove over here, had some breakfast with Eder and his wife and now I'm here.

[B]

Sweet.

[C]

Same for me. I get up at 5 in the morning, first things my prayer, you know, give thanks to God for waking up another day. I would say 5, 5, 45, I'm at the gym, get an hour, hit the sauna for at least 10 minutes, go home, get ready, be by the office by 8:30.

[B]

Love it, love it. Alright guys, well let's jump into it. So Ngozi didn't start like as a business, it started as a need. What moment in your own careers made you guys realize that this platform really had to exist?

[A]

So for me, I met Tony at a racetrack, at the BMW racetrack in Palm springs. We're racing BMWs. And I met him and he was off the chain like crazy. I thought, okay, this guy's been drinking too much. But what he said was really impactful. He said, hey, in this country you can be an undocumented person, but you can have a legal entity and you can run business, you make tons of money. So the entity is legal but you're illegal. That spoke to me because I've grown up in this country most of my life without documents. So anyway, I tracked them for another few months and then I met him again in Oakland, California at a business event. And I was with my co founder at the time of one of my companies from Arkansas. And we decided to invest in Ngozi first as a passion project because we thought, oh man, this thing's gonna have a lot of impact. But four years later it's been 3Xing on its top line. And its membership is at 40,000 users now. And it's just, it's just spreading like wildfire. Right, because there's an immense need in a lot of areas, right. When it comes to running a business, that's already a tall order. But then if you don't speak the language, if you don't know the system, you're kind of stuck. So we're there to facilitate that and help these businesses scale.

[B]

So give, give the audience just an idea of what is Ngozi.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, so, so Ngozi is pretty much, we call it similar to the Hispanic LinkedIn at the moment. It's not as big as LinkedIn, but it will get there. So it's pretty much a platform for business owners in the Hispanic community to network together. And what I mean by that is that we're bringing in people that do taxes, attorneys, CPAs, real estate people, lenders. So it's pretty much like a circle for everyone to collab and pretty much help each other grow and win and build opportunities for others that are looking to come into to the community. They're also promoting jobs, you know that. So through Nagoza, you could actually now go onto the website and like for me, for example, I have my business, I could go on to negotiat. I'm looking to hire, you know, two people that could help me with the, with the office work. You go on the platform, they'll blast it to all the members, which is about 40,000 members, and you'll be surprised. People do go on there and say, hey, I'm looking for work. So that's how we're working. Similar to LinkedIn, where you could go onto LinkedIn, post a job, post a job and people send you messages. So we're constantly building and that's what I would say.

[A]

The difference though, it's a brick and click model because we also have eight events throughout the country, big events with like 350, 400, 500 people that attend essentially in all the Latino hotspots like Miami, New York, Houston, Texas, California. So all of Cal.

[B]

We're in California, which every city's.

[A]

Yeah, well, we're having an event next Thursday, July 24th in Long Beach. Then we're having a three day conference in San Diego. We're paired up with Avance, which is formerly Latitude.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Founded by the Stefan family, Emilio Stefan and his wife. They rebranded. So we're having that event. That one's gonna be, honestly, that one's probably gonna be thousands of people there.

[B]

It's a three day event, very Similar to narep. You guys heard of narep?

[A]

Very similar, but a for profit model, right? NAREP is non profit.

[D]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And narep's gonna be there, actually one of our partners for the conference.

[B]

So you guys are collaborating with nara? I'm a member of nara.

[D]

There we go.

[A]

Then we're gonna see you.

[B]

I'm not Hispanic, but you don't have to be, brother.

[A]

The money's green.

[C]

And the beauty of the Ngozi too is that, you know, it's very diverse. So, you know, so we're open to not just in the Hispanic community, but to bring other others that see the vision and the opportunity.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I love the concept of, of, you know, a LinkedIn platform for the Hispanic community that's niche down. Because LinkedIn, as great as it is, it's very, very broad and it doesn't offer like direct support, you know? Yeah, direct support. Whereas Ngozi has, you know, a tighter community, a lot more face to face interaction opportunities and just, you know, a lot more collaboration within the platform.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

One of the newest investors I was talking to, I think he dropped like 30k. He was saying, hey, this is a crazy platform because like your membership will actually want to rock the brand. It's not there. I mean, it's not their brand. They could buy shares into it, but they want to rock the brand. Right. That speaks to the sense of community that people are finding there. Right. The sense of value that they're finding there.

[B]

Yeah, it's like Naret. People rock the Naret brand. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's a, it's powerful. So what about Nagozi Life? You had Ngozi, then you started Nagozi Life as a vertical.

[A]

Yeah. So sort of what, what we were talking about right before the show.

[D]

Right.

[A]

These folks already have extensive books of businesses.

[D]

Right.

[A]

In many cases, or in some cases, they don't really need to grow their clientele, they just need to further optimize for their monetize the book of business they already have. And they're not really finding that avenue. I mean, there's the mlm, multi level marketing for insurance, and then there's other agencies, but no one really speaks to the impact. No one really speaks to the cultural relevance. So it just came to me and I was like, hey, look, why don't we start a vertical where we offer life insurance? It's very niche, it's not going to ruffle a lot of feathers and it's very much needed. So we kind of started taking a pulse. This Was a. This was like a year and a half ago.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Anyway, long story short, we launched a company in Miami in May and then we've been touring. We were in la, New York, we were in Vegas. Now we're going to be in Long Beach. So we're going to go on this tour. We're just showcasing the brand. Right. So the brand and the platform is essentially much like your model, Joe. It's technology.

[D]

Right.

[A]

It's education and infrastructure.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Needed resources, collateral that you could use. Plug and Play and start offering insurance. And a lot of these folks, they don't want to do extra work.

[D]

Right.

[A]

They're like, I'm already busy.

[D]

Cool.

[A]

Will be your outsource partner and we could represent your brand. Or if you're cool, we'll say, hey, we're Nagozi Life. We partner with X company to provide you services and we'll give you a 50% commission for doing nothing as long as you have a license and we help them with the licensing process.

[B]

So you split the commission with them without. Would they just refer the deal? Yeah, yeah. Our model, we base. They basically we just take a tiny percentage, but they do all the work.

[D]

Got it.

[B]

Yeah. They just use our, our back office solution, our ecosystem, our tech branding.

[D]

Okay, okay.

[B]

You guys are straight doing this. You, you guys are, they're just sales people. You guys are doing all the actual leg work.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

The underwriting.

[D]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

In some cases, maybe the, the partner wants to actually become an expert.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So we have an LMS system, a learning management system they can plug in. We have ongoing trainings that we're going to start live.

[B]

Then they can big. Make a bigger piece of the pie.

[A]

And then they can make a bigger piece of the pie.

[D]

Right.

[A]

They can just take the whole 100% of. Of the deal.

[B]

Nice. Nice. Now you guys have both built like different careers in different, like real estate insurance, but this time you're building up for like the long term. What did you guys have to unlearn to risk or risk to step into something like, like this bold?

[C]

Well, I mean, one of it is there's quite a few things for sure. I mean, one of them was, you know, we have been in the real estate and insurance industry. We noticed that there was a big gap and lack of knowledge when it comes to like the insurance and life products. So me and Frank, like he mentioned earlier, we saw that this opportunity where the Hispanic community unfortunately is not as educated when it comes to the life insurance and the investment products. So me and Frank were like, dude, Yeah, I understand. We're busy. We have these businesses, but this is a good opportunity, not just for us, but to bring value to the community. And what I mean by that is for us, building Nagozi Life, partnering up with Ngozi, and being able to work with all the members that are part of Ngozi to bring the value to the community and make it spread like wildfire. And what I mean by that is that we're not going one by one per individual. We're actually working with. We're doing B2B. So. Which means that it's accelerating the, you know, the process of teaching the community that life insurance is important. I'm pretty sure you guys know this is. In the Hispanic community, there's what, like about 40% people that understand how life insurance works, and the other 52 or 60% are not even insured with a life policy, so they don't understand how life insurance works.

[A]

Lowest level of coverage at any demographic. So essentially we're paid, all of us are paid, commensurate to the problems that we solve. So we saw huge problems, right. Not only on the uninsured side, but also on the capital side, because insurance can be leveraged for cash value. I'm having a panel on the 24th where I got some gentlemen that are buying multifamily large deals, raising $50 million fund. And they were telling me the other day, you know, one of the secret weapons with some of these big acquirers of real estate is that they're pulling money out of insurance. I was like, neat, right? Why aren't we doing that? So the education piece, there's a whole life or iul? Whole life.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

But it's like a. It's apparently within this circle. It's a kept secret. Some people don't divulge that it's coming out of insurance.

[D]

Right.

[A]

You don't want to show your cards. Maybe because it's a competitive market.

[B]

Well, whole life has cash value, just not like a lot of cash value.

[A]

Yeah, that Iul. It's probably the Ferrari, right? When it comes to. To cash value.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I have a client who's picked up, not multifamily, just single family, just using Iuls.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Actually, I'm going to bring her in to do an interview. But yeah, so we saw just a large problem. And the funny thing is, we've had a couple of our partners say, why would you start something from scratch? Why wouldn't you just jump on like, you know, on something that's already pre existing? Plug and play. We're like, well, the problem's so large that we want to do two things, right? We want to structure in a way where we change the rules. Most of our commissions, we want them to go into the. Into the field for folks, because part of our mission is to reintroduce wealth creation into our community through education. And also so they understand how commissions work, how they understand how they become active participants in the insurance game. And then, number two, we want to make sure that they also become users of these tools so that when they pass on, they can create wealth that goes beyond their generation.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So create wealth in the. In the present, but then in the long term. So it's, you know, and to some people, it's like, no, you guys are crazy.

[D]

You guys.

[A]

You guys are going to fail.

[D]

Right?

[A]

This is part of business. Chewing glass and staring into the abyss.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, that's true. You know, I just released a book. But, like, as immigrants, like, especially in the Hispanic community, like, they're not thinking generational wealth. They're thinking like, I gotta pay the bills.

[D]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

I gotta pay rent right now. You know, so they're not. They're not like, hey, I gotta establish money for the future. It's like, I gotta put shoes on my kids. So with that said, like, how are you guys, like, deconstructing that mindset for those immigrants for the Hispanic community? Because that's a tough hurdle you have to overcome.

[C]

Yeah. Knowing you're right, Joel, it is a tough hurdle to bypass when it comes to the Hispanic community. So one is, we're working on the educational part, showing them that there is value in having a life insurance policy. And the other thing is, we have resources when it comes to education. The school part we have. And we talk about how life insurance works a lot at these big negozi events. So a lot of these business owners, we let them know how life insurance works. We give them information on the benefits of it and what they do. A lot of these business owners, they just. A lot of them stay shocked because I didn't even know that a life insurance policy could pass, pay like a. Like a mortgage insurance. I didn't know that I could offer this to my client. If they were to pass, they get a life policy, pay off the mortgage, family could keep the home and continue building their, you know, their. Their legacy. So it's all educational. I mean, unfortunately, the Hispanic community, he knows this is like, people don't like to talk about life insurance.

[A]

They want to talk about death.

[C]

Yeah. They don't want to Talk about death.

[B]

Nobody wants to talk about death.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Never.

[C]

And then, you know, and I'm not dying. Yeah. It's like, you know, growing up, I'll give you an example, like with my parents, you know, they never talked to us about life. You know, my dad is. Since was gonna be 70 and never once growing up, he was like, hey, Etter, when you turn. You know, when you turn 18, I need you to go get you a life policy or get you an iul. We didn't know because he didn't know. They don't even have one, you know. Now my dad actually does have one now. But that's the thing, is that there was never training or our family wasn't educating us on how to use a life insurance policy.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Or the thing I'll add to that, that's on the consumption side of things.

[D]

Right.

[A]

The other piece we're going after is, hey, folks, you can be active participants in wealth creation. You don't have to be documented in California to get a life insurance license. Right. Texas is the same way. Illinois, there's a bunch of states that don't require a Social Security. You can use an i10 to get your license.

[D]

Yes. Yeah.

[A]

So that's a powerful tool, Right. That they can actually become active participants in this industry and offer these solutions.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Because we've not taken, as far as I know, we've not taken a survey to see how many of our business owners in Ngozi don't have documents. But anecdotally, I've met several that don't have documents, but they have legit organizations.

[D]

Right. Businesses.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Are paying taxes that are employing other people, and then they. They themselves can never get a job legally. So they could become active participants with just. With a license.

[D]

Right.

[A]

And a lot of. A lot we're coming across that, Joe. A lot of people don't know that. A lot of people don't know that.

[D]

So that's.

[A]

That's a powerful piece.

[B]

I wonder if, you know, the LLC allows them, you know, if they. They're employed by their llc, that basically that. Does that help them with citizenship? Does that help them with the whole.

[C]

No, I don't think.

[A]

No, it's tough. And I can speak to it because I'm under dubious. A dubious status.

[D]

Right.

[A]

And I've been under a dubious status for a long time. And basically what I realized is, like, I have to leverage these entities. I mean, that's the power of this country. This country is built on immigration and capital and marketing, you know, and markets. So, yeah, but it doesn't help you. You might be able to get to a point, really, the easiest route is to get married to a U.S. citizen, right? That's the route.

[B]

Yeah. That's crazy. That's unfortunate.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

So this whole situation that's happening with Trump right now, and it's kind of scary times, and for a lot of friends and family, it's like.

[D]

Yeah, Yeah.

[A]

I mean, I've. If you go to any Latino communities. I was just at Callejones, right.

[D]

The.

[A]

The fashion district, and I was talking to some of the shopkeepers, went to, picked up a few things. They're like, we haven't seen this, like, level of ghost towness in a long time. Like, it's this. One of the guys said back in the 90s, when Pete Wilson was in office, he kind of came hard like a Trump style deportation machine. And then it got scary then and people kind of scattered and were hiding, but.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, it's not good for the economy at all.

[B]

No.

[A]

Yeah, it's terrible.

[B]

What's the pulse like? Is it getting better now?

[A]

Well, there was an injunction, right. There was an injunction by a federal judge that said they need to halt the deportations because they're really just looking at people. All right, you're brown. Let's go check your papers. Or you're speaking Spanish. Let's go check your papers.

[D]

Right.

[A]

So that, I mean, this. There's rule of law, too.

[D]

Right.

[A]

So that, I think, has slowed things down. This happened last week, the injunction. So we'll see how it plays out. And it's one of the reasons why at our event in Long beach, we're making sure that everybody registers.

[D]

Right.

[A]

So that we can control access and we can make sure that people feel safe. Like we're on a private property. So we can, we can make sure that we, We. We enforce private property rights and we don't. You know, if ICE were to come through, we could say you don't have access here because you don't have a right.

[B]

I mean, they're going to restaurants, they're going to.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

You know.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Everywhere. They were going to many private property places.

[D]

Yep.

[B]

But I, I know they'd stopped since the injunction.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

I know it's been crazy. Crazy times in this, you know, but.

[A]

Crazy times. But whenever there's crisis.

[D]

Right.

[B]

Yeah. There's opportunities.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

You just got to keep your eyes open.

[B]

Yeah. What kind of opportunity have come as a result of this?

[A]

Well, you know what, Ngozi, I was just talking to Tony about this. Ngozi is taking A real hard stance right now and saying, hey, if you're undocumented, if you're an immigrant, we have your back. We started creating service centers, financial service centers throughout the country. So if you want to become a financial service under Ngozi, you have to become an investor. So right now all these service centers are popping up. I think the last time I checked, like 250. 250, 200. So if you like Eder's office, right. In San Leandro, you're, you're social now. So you're, you're on a map and it says, hey, this is an immigrant friendly establishment. If you want to do business here, come here. It's a safe haven for business.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

So that's one of the opportunities that we kind of cranked up right now. And we're on this chat, right, with investors and we just see it pop up like new. New social. New social. New partner. Right, New partner. That means they're dropping, you know, several thousands of dollars so they can be on the map so that it's like a, like an HR block.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Can Google it. Oh, these are all HR blocks. Oh, these are all the Ngozi financial centers that are a haven to do.

[C]

Business with immigrants and a safe spot for you to come in and do, and work, do some business. You know, let's say, for example, I'm in the Bay. You know, he's, Frank's here in la. He could go on the, on the Ngozi and look, hey, where's the location? He looks, I'm in the Bay Area. He could just drive straight to the Bay Area and he has an office space and in a safe place for him to work and do business at. So that's pretty much what Frank is saying. And it is spreading like, like wildfire right now. There's so many people placing their locations to, for negotia members to.

[B]

Yeah. Right now during crisis, there's. What happens is the people got to unite.

[C]

There you go.

[B]

You know, it's going to draw the community tighter. Great opportunity, obviously, for Ngozi to capitalize on building those relationships for people.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Not maybe monetarily, but at least like community building, which far exceeds any monetary benefit.

[D]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And you know what?

[B]

That's forever.

[A]

It's opened up the doors for alliances, Right. With other immigrant communities. Like at the event, I'm having a panel. I have been longtime friends with the Indian community. I have friends from college. And so we're having them come in. They're probably future investors. A couple of them are already invested in Ngozi. So kind of opening up those conversations, those opportunities, right. To learn from, like, the Indian community. And I have Jewish friends, and they're very interested in what we're doing. So it's the. The alliances, Right. The coalition building and business. That's also, I think, an opportunity right now because they see what's happening. They're like, all right.

[B]

Scary for all immigrants. You know, I'm an immigrant.

[D]

I came.

[A]

Where are you from, Joe?

[B]

I'm from Egypt.

[A]

You're from Egypt, brother. Yeah.

[B]

So, you know, I'm a naturalized citizen.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

And when Trump's big, beautiful bill came out saying he could deport naturalized citizens, I'm like, wow. I think he did that specifically for Elon.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Probably pissed him off too much.

[B]

Elon pissed him off too much. Now he's like, you know, I'm just gonna add this to the big, beautiful vil. And now he's doing that with Rosie o'. Donnell.

[C]

Oh, yeah, he did Ireland. Yeah, he did Ireland.

[B]

So he's like, I think I should ship her back to Ireland.

[C]

Yeah, he did. He did say that.

[B]

So he's basically added that clause to basic. Basically protect, you know, I mean, kind of override freedom of speech.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

For naturalized citizens, which is like, everybody. Yeah, yeah, basically everybody who's a naturalized citizen who just pisses off the government. But, hey, go Trump. You know, I love Trump, so, you know, I love what you're doing, buddy, but some of this stuff is a little scary for some immigrants, for sure. So what you guys are creating a platform that really uplifts professionals and entrepreneurs. And how is. How is your own Latino identity shaped, how you build, how you lead, and how you connect?

[C]

Yeah, Well, a lot of it is with the vision is with. With integrity, transparency, and a lot of it. Like, me personally and Frank knows this is. I'm a vibes person. Like, I feel like if we connect and I vibe with you, I feel like we could do business.

[B]

Sky's the limit.

[C]

And sky's the limit for sure. So definitely, integrity, transparency, that's our biggest one. And that's the thing that we do bring to the community is like, hey, we're out here to do business together, but let's be transparent. Let's keep it real. And if our. Our fire aligns, let's do business. You know, sky's the limit. There's opportunity for everybody. You know, we look at it more like, if we could, we want to collaborate, because from that pie, everybody get a little piece and everybody wins. That's pretty much the way yeah, we.

[A]

Look at it and you know, that's part of the reason why, what, nine months ago, when I met Eder, I decided to do business with him, you know, because Warren Buffett says that you can't do business with bad people, right? People that don't have integrity. People are there out to, to screw you. You can't do business with them. You can't build enough like contract language to protect you. And that's one thing I enjoyed about him. His, his values were integrity and transparency. And I was like, that's cool, right? Like, it's hard to find people you can trust. And especially with the Latino community, right, we, we're skeptical sort of group, especially with the stuff that's happening now. So we're always thinking someone's trying to get a one up on us. So for me, I mean, that's, that's key. Like, those values have to be built in to the foundation of the company. The other thing is, like I mentioned, I've been undocumented most of my life, right? But I still trekked along because I believe that this still the land of opportunity no matter what happens, right? Like I'm fucking undocumented. And I've, I went to ucla, I studied economics, I went into the private sector for a while, did some contract work. And then eventually I realized, okay, entrepreneurship is the equalizer in this country. Like, that's how we equalize a playing field. So how do we bring entrepreneurial opportunities to our community? To equalize, right? We can't rely on government handouts, right? We have to kind of empower us and take us to the next level. And for me, that's, that's big, right? And that's big for Ngozi, and that's big for Ngozi. Life.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Great way to lead. You know, entrepreneurship is the great equalizer.

[A]

100%, brother.

[B]

Yeah, it is the great equalizer.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And a lot more people are keen to the power of it now. You know, a lot more people are keen to the power of it now. As co founders, you guys clearly respect each other. But what's something surprising you've learned about one another during the grind of building all this?

[C]

I would say so. It's the fire we have in our, in our bellies. And what I mean by that is that, you know, we, we push, we push hard, we push each other. We know that what we're building is not just for us, but it's for, for the community and bringing multiple opportunities and we just, we just grind. You know, we have. I've had people approached us, approach me and say, like, hey, Eder, we want to. We want to collab. We want to build this real estate or this mortgage, you know, with you guys, how can we collab? I'm like, well, one of it is, like, it's gonna take a lot of time. You know, do you have the time to build it? You have. You have it in you. We could build it. And the reason why I say that is because when me and Frank launched Nagozi Life, we were literally on the phone with. Every day. We were on the phone every day. Even my wife was all like, why don't you just marry Frank?

[B]

Yeah, that's true.

[A]

I remember her.

[C]

My wife, the one that was in here, she said, man, just marry Frank because you're on the phone with him all day, every day. And I was like, oh, wow. I was like, yeah, that's how much. That's how much grind we've put into this. The. The Ngozi life.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Because it was.

[A]

There's a lot of due diligence.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

That we had to do.

[D]

Right.

[A]

We're starting from fresh, from sort of scratch. Like, we didn't decide on Manny just because I like Manny or I like Omar. It was a whole process of us interviewing different models.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Talking to a bunch of different people, then talking to other experts that we trusted, and we presented those models to them. We're like, hey, poke holes in this for us. So there was a lot of due diligence. There's also the contracting we had to do with Ngozi.

[D]

Right.

[A]

To be able to get rights to use the brand, because we knew the brand had traction already. Why not use the brand? The brand piggyback off of the brand.

[D]

Right.

[A]

And we're both investors, so makes sense. Like, we're going to grow this brand. We're going to go virtuous cycle.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

So there was just. Just a lot. And I learned. What I learned from this guy is little joke, inside joke, Right. He's a lamb, Right. When you sell, you don't want to sell like a lion. You want to be calm, cool, and just be inquisitive and curious. And he's really good. We call it lambing out. Just be a lamb.

[D]

Right?

[A]

And that's how you're going to close people. So I'm like, I got to be more of a lamb because I get a little excited. I don't even drink coffee. My energy just goes through the roof sometimes.

[B]

You're a lion.

[D]

Right here.

[C]

I just lamb it.

[B]

I like that. Now let's Talk about growth. What mindset shift did you guys have? Did you guys each have to make not in business, but in leadership to take this idea to become like an actual movement?

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I would say I go back to the whole fire piece. You gotta have fire in your belly and see that vision, because not everybody has that vision where they don't see the opportunity. Me and Frank saw the opportunity and the value we could bring to Ngozi and the community and Nagozi life. We was like, hey, Frank, this is a game changer. You know, if we grind it out, we figure things out. We talk to so many different people, advisors, and we just know so many people that we were able to pick a lot of different people's brain to get to where we are now with Ngozi life, you know, we just had to do a lot of due diligence and just to get going.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I think for me, it was just being quiet and listening, and that's kind of what I did as an angel investor in the Gozi. I remember I even took a trip when I. Because I invested in three different rounds. My last round, I went and sat with Tony, the CEO and just shadowed him throughout the day. I was working, doing my work, shadowing him.

[D]

Right.

[A]

We were going to meetings with other investors, sponsors, and then at the events, I was just. I was more of a wallflower, to be honest. Now I'm, like, in the spotlight in the Gozi. But before, people would see me and they're like, you know, that's.

[D]

I think that guy.

[A]

His name is Frank.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Because I was just paying attention and listening. So that's one of the things that's. That I. I know even as an individual, I still need to work on. You know, my. My lady tells me that all the time. Like, you need to listen more, man. You talk too much sometimes. So the listening piece, right? Just be quiet, listen process.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, that's the. It's that lion sales mentality.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Trying to close all day.

[D]

Right?

[C]

There you go. Yeah.

[B]

My. Me and my partner are very similar. Like, he's more of like a lamb, like, listens, you know, not a hard. It's not. He's not a big closer. Yeah, he's very, very similar. More just analytical and then just takes things very methodical. There's no. There's no coincidence with that. You just met him in the bathroom.

[C]

There you go. That's true. I did.

[D]

Right.

[C]

And I was like, he said bye to you.

[B]

And I'm like, do you guys meet each other? Like, because he's Usually quiet.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah, he did. It was. It was funny because I literally just walked. I was about to use it, and then. And then I heard him say, hey, who are you with? And I'm. Oh, with. You know, we're Nagozi Life. And meeting with you. And he was like, oh, okay. What are you guys gonna talk about? Oh, we're gonna do the podcast thing. But it just caught me off guard, but, you know, because I don't know nobody. And then he started talking to me, which is kind of cool.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's cool. Now, what's something you guys have done with Ngozi that you wish existed when you were starting out? And how does that shape how you serve today?

[A]

Let me take it. Yeah, you know what, Joe? I'm a big believer that timing is perfect, brother. So I. That's a really hard question for me, right? Like, especially if you. If you're a person that kind of stays disciplined and stays prepared, the timing is perfect. Like, I think meeting you. We were just talking when you walked out was purposeful. I think there's an opportunity for us to do something together, right? And I just think that's just the world, the way the world works. I met this guy nine months ago, and we started a company, and right now we're blowing through cash, building the tech. And I trust him, right? I trust him. He has full access to the bank account, blah, blah, blah, right? It just happens, right?

[B]

This is how God works, man.

[A]

Exactly.

[C]

I always say, God's plan.

[B]

Yeah. I just follow God's plan.

[C]

God's plan, always.

[B]

Everything happens for a reason. It was like, same thing happened to me yesterday. My. My girlfriend buys an Aston Martin on Monday. I'm like, you can't park it in this place here. Like, $300,000 car. And then yesterday, we get a. You guys met her? You met her? Yes, yesterday. My tenants, like, hey, I'm gonna move out of this place. Like, you know, I. I need a. And this place. That happens. She randomly. I'm like, my. My property's coming up for rent. You could just take that, you know, like. And her lease is ending the same day that they're moving out, like, within few days that they're moving out. Like, perfect. You need a garage car for your garage, you know, like, get a bigger place. I was like. I'm like, damn. It's like God just lined it all up.

[A]

Like the time is perfect.

[C]

That's true.

[B]

Like, God just lines it all up, but it's like, it's not serendipitous it's just God's plan, you know, God's plan is always on time, exact, you know, and as long as you have good intentions and you want to serve and do God's work like that, says he will line it up exactly on his in his accordance, you know. Now, five or ten years from now, what would you. What would it mean to you guys? What would it mean to you personally, not just professionally, if Ngozi became the go to ecosystem for the entire global Latino community for entrepreneurs?

[C]

Yeah, I would say it's God's plan, and that's what we're going to get to within the next few years. We did talk about this earlier today, right, Frank, is that we're here for a reason. We're here to. To leave a legacy and build opportunities for others and share the knowledge that we are, that we know and we have within the community, and we definitely see it going global. And the reason why I say that is because there's just so much opportunity, you know, I'll give you an example. We were in Miami, remember?

[A]

We were in Miami.

[C]

We met a lady from Spain. And it's just funny how it works, because it's God's plan. Lady was getting into the elevator and she couldn't find her key. And I was already in a rush because we had to go to the event to launch Nagozi Life. And lady was, like, sweating, panicking, and she was, oh, my God, I don't know where my key's at. And I was, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it for you. I opened up the door for her. We both got in the elevator. They had already left. But it's funny how it worked because we were all together. They left, and I said, wait, you guys, give me one minute. I'll catch up with you guys downstairs. I got off the elevator, went back and got something from the little lunch break room, and I met this lady. Anyhow, she panicked. I let her into the elevator, and then she asked me, what do you do? She just asked me like, so what do you do? What do you do here? Like, are you from here? And I'm like, no, I'm not from here. I'm from the Bay Area. She's like, oh, you're from the Bay Area, okay. I'm like, how about yourself? She was like, oh, she owns a big magazine company in Spain. So she. I was like, oh, okay. She was like, yeah, so what do you do for a living? And I was, oh, we're about to launch the Gozi life here in Miami. Feel free to join, you know, come to the event, yada, yada, yada. She was, I'll do my best to join you. All right, cool. She didn't show up, which is okay. But we kept in touch because we were staying in the same hotel. So we kept in touch, and me and she was all like, hey, let me get your number. And at first I was kind of like, why does lady want my number? I feel a little weird. I'm not gonna lie to you. I was like, she trying to hit on me. But anyway, I was like, sure, I'll give you my number. So I gave her my number and then she texts me a. I can't go to the event. I said, it's okay, don't worry about it. But then she did. She was like, hey, are you staying here in the hotel? I'm like, yes, I'm staying there. She was like, are you open to meet with us? And I was kind of thinking, like, why does she want to meet again? I was like, okay, things happen for a reason. I said, sure. I told Frank, hey, Frank, what do you think? Should we meet with her? Frank was like, ah, dude, I don't know, man. This kind of.

[A]

Because we had a lot of meetings lined up that day.

[C]

She was one of them. Yeah, she was. I don't know, man. And then we were like, you know what, let's do it. Anyhow, long story short, we met with her, we talked. Yeah. She's a big time shot caller for. For a big firm in. In Spain. And she. When we met with her, it gave us, me and him, the chills because a lot of the stuff that. When we met with her and we were talking about, she somewhat knew.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Like, but. And we don't. Keep in mind, we don't. We don't clairvoyance. Yeah. We don't know her at all. So a lot of stuff that me and him had talked about, we're working to built. She was like that. We. She was like, we should collab. She was like, we should collab him. And Because I could see us doing this, this, this and that, and me and him just. I got the goosebumps, man, because I was like, how does this lady. I didn't say nothing. And then she just.

[A]

So the offer on the table with that.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Is for us to go to Spain.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

And she's already connected with like the Prince and the king and business people. She's like, let's have a. On my magazine, Ngozi, Life lands in Spain.

[D]

Right. So.

[A]

And that's. That's essentially the future of Ngozi to go international. I mean, we have employees in Colombia.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. But the licensing requirements are so different.

[A]

Well, Nago. So Nago Z. Yeah. And. But in terms of life insurance. Yeah. The licensing requirements is what you're referring to. That would be a whole different ballpark.

[D]

Yeah, for sure.

[B]

Couple last questions, guys. It's about goals. Three pronged question. What's a personal goal that you have for yourself? A family goal that you have for your family, and then a business goal.

[C]

Yeah. So for me, it's definitely spend more time with my. With my kids. And what I mean by that is that just be more present, you know, I know we get. I get carried away sometimes with work and. And stuff like that, because I want to continue building and leave a legacy behind, but I know that the children do need the. The time, and I actually give you a lot of props for. For bringing your son. Yeah, he has a firm handshake, man. Yeah, he's shaking my hand. I was like, oh, you got a strong handshake. Yeah. And then I like how he asked a lot of questions. That's pretty cool, man.

[B]

Yeah. You know, try your best with them, you know, like. And I always. You always feel like you're feeling. But, yeah, all I could do for me personally, like, I just realized I just got to be into everything they're into, so they're super into fishing right now and sport card trading, and I'm just like. I'm like a pro fisherman and sport card trader now.

[C]

Nice.

[B]

Get down on their level all day long.

[C]

There you go.

[B]

And try to connect.

[C]

There you go. Yeah, same with me. You know, that's what I've been doing with my boy. Getting. Spending more time with him. He loves boxing, so go to more boxing events, watch more boxing fights. He likes to. He's only 14. He likes to drive around. So I just tell him this. Like, I tell my wife, hey, like, this is me and my. Our boy time, where I get to talk to him and, you know, connect with him and kind of share knowledge with him. Tell him what. What's good and what's wrong, you know, guide him through and stuff like that. Well, my daughter's already 18 years old. She's going to college, and she's studying astrophysics. Wow. Yeah. Smart one. Yeah. So she wants to be. She was little, she always wanted to work for NASA. So she's been working hard. And I tell her, you know, and I do go into her room and I see her sometimes stressing out. I'm like, hey, baby, don't worry. Just, this is gonna pay off one day. Just remember that. And then she's all like, all right, dad, okay, sounds good. And you know, just give her a pat on the back and a hug and I'm like, you know, I'm proud of you. It's going to pay off. Watch. Just keep going, cuz, you know, a lot of kids her age are out and about partying, going out. I just stick to it. And it's. You're going to see them studying astrophysics in her room.

[B]

Not a fun Friday night.

[C]

No. And she's. And actually she's a tutor as well. She. She trains other kids at school. She was hired. Yeah.

[B]

That's amazing.

[C]

Yeah. So that. And then for the business and more time with my wife, of course. And then for the.

[A]

Don't leave that out, bro.

[C]

No, I can't leave that out. She's going to watch. Yeah. And then the. For the business is just leave a legacy. And hopefully we could collab with you as well.

[B]

Love that man.

[D]

Love that.

[A]

So personal for me. I want to be like the Mexican Warren Buffett. And not that I want to have billions and billions of dollars, cuz I think it's never enough. I want to make other people wealthy. I want to specifically make my community wealthy for the family. I pride myself that I retired my two parents. I have three children from different moms, but I'm a responsible and present father and keep that. My son's 20 years old. He's at UCLA. That's a good school.

[D]

Right?

[A]

Legacy with me as well.

[D]

Right there.

[A]

Both Bruins with the business. The goal is to either take Ngozi, the mother company to NASDAQ to the public markets, or to liquidate it or sell it off to a Meta A Microsoft. That's the vision for Ngozi. Obviously. Ngozi Life is a revenue stream into Ngozi. So we could spin this off and change the capital structure, bring more revenue to the shareholders.

[D]

Right.

[A]

So there's that option too, but essentially, I think encompassing everything financial legacy across the board. My family, other people's family.

[B]

Love it. Last question for both of you.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

When you're in front of the throne of God, what do you think God's gonna tell you?

[A]

I was. Ah, you're imperfect, my son. You're imperfect, but you tried. You tried, you tried it. You never gave up to be a good man.

[C]

There you go. I love it. Yeah. I would say for me, I mean, I pray to God every day that's the thing. First thing I do when I wake up, a lot of people don't believe me, but it's okay. They don't. They don't have to believe me, but I believe in God. And I would say, God, he would say, hey, I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. Keep going. Keep doing what you're doing. This is your time. This is your opportunity. Not just for you, but for others. So I would say that he'll say he's proud of me.

[B]

Love that. All right, guys, if people want to connect with you, connect with you, how do they find you?

[A]

For me, it's Frank Funs Assets on Instagram.

[C]

And for me, it's Eder Underscore, the East Bay Realtor.

[B]

Thanks, guys. All right.

[D]

Sam.