I borrowed $35 to take my kids to the movies: Ideas That Matter Plus Sneak Peak

Summary

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Ideas That Matter Podcast by Vusi Thembekwayo

Episode: “I borrowed $35 to take my kids to the movies: Ideas That Matter Plus Sneak Peek”

Date: November 5, 2024
Host: Vusi Thembekwayo
Guest: Kasim Walker

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Episode Overview

In this inaugural episode of “Ideas That Matter Plus,” Vusi Thembekwayo explores the power of struggle, resilience, and finding purpose (“the why”) in entrepreneurship and life. The conversation centers on the personal journey of Kasim Walker, a St. Kitts-born, New York-raised entrepreneur whose life story exemplifies the power of perseverance and adaptability. Through open, intimate dialogue, Vusi and Kasim tackle themes like generational struggle, sacrifices for family, the immigrant experience, entrepreneurship, and the hidden costs—and rewards—of chasing your dreams.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Impact and Global Reach

• The episode begins with audio messages from listeners Lakson (Zimbabwe/US) and Patrick Zinkamban (Malawi), both expressing how Vusi’s teachings have tangibly impacted their lives and businesses.
• [00:01] Lakson: Shares his story of being inspired and mentored by Vusi, leading to significant progress and membership in the Club100 platform.
• [02:01] Patrick: Describes how, with Vusi’s guidance, he built a successful agricultural business before graduating college, asking for advice on maintaining consistent results.

2. Genesis of 'Ideas That Matter Plus'

• Vusi gives a brief history of the podcast and explains the vision behind expanding from audio to video—bringing not just “famous” people but everyday individuals with potent, relatable stories.
• [04:00] Vusi: “Everything we hold to be true was once an idea...Some ideas matter because they move us forward and some ideas that don’t.”

3. Kasim Walker’s Early Life: The Struggle as Foundation

• Caribbean Childhood & Family Roots
  • Kasim recalls growing up in St. Kitts, migrating at 12 to New York City, and highlights his diverse heritage via an ancestry test (Nigerian, German, Scottish).
  • [11:34] Kasim: "Most times we're not aware of where we come from and what makes up our DNA."
• Raised by a Village
  • The absence of his mother (who migrated early for work) and the absence of his father meant the village “raised” him in St. Kitts, experiencing support, love, and hardships.

4. Immigrant Adjustment & Values in New York

• Vusi and Kasim discuss the contrast between Caribbean village life and New York’s “concrete jungle.”
• [16:31] Kasim: “As an island boy, you learn to appreciate hardships...city life—it's embrace your struggles. It’s do or die. Sink or swim.”
• Kasim reflects on how these dual experiences shaped his grit, adaptability, and appreciation for struggle.

5. Challenges, Family Sacrifice, and the Immigrant Parent’s Perspective

• Vusi touches on immigrant parents' primary aspiration: raising “good children” and avoiding drawing attention as outsiders.
• Kasim recalls humorous yet telling stories about challenging authority, breaking parental rules, and how his mom’s lack of pressure became a blessing.
• [20:20] Kasim: “Everything I tried, she supported it, not even knowing what it is.”

6. Choosing an Unconventional Path: Wall Street Without College

• Kasim describes the defining moment in high school that pushed him toward Wall Street: a fake stock trading challenge.
• [22:18] Kasim: “Wait – your money can make money?... Went online... Wall Street—what is Wall Street? That’s where I’m going. My friends went to college. I told them, ‘I’m going to work twice as hard as them.’”
• He earns a Wall Street job through hustle and hunger, not credentials: cold calling 2,000 people per day; he learns the art of persistence and dealing with “unfairness.”

7. Resilience in the Face of Unfairness

• Kasim shares the story of losing a client $300,000 and being told to ask for more investment despite this—a test of nerve and persuasion.
• [25:02] Kasim (on sales rebounding): “The timing was wrong, but the path was right.”
• Vusi draws the lesson: “It’s unfair. But somebody has to make that call.”
  [27:01] Vusi: “Do you feel like a big part of your life has been just understanding that you don’t always get dealt fair?”

8. Corporate Hustle, Setbacks, and Pivoting

• After a fallout at the brokerage, Kasim transitions to FedEx, moving up quickly—but faces recurring unfairness (being moved just before major accolade, undercompensated for high performance).
• [34:47] Kasim: “It’s unfair that I’ve done so many things to be here. And now that I’m about to reach this level, it’s now stripped from me…”

9. Entrepreneurial Leap Amid Uncertainty

• Vusi outlines three entrepreneurial archetypes: DNA entrepreneurs, default entrepreneurs (thrust into entrepreneurship), and intentional designers.
• Kasim identifies as a blend, having been forced by circumstance after being let go from FedEx and motivated by under-recognition rather than complaint.
• He starts a cleaning business (“Clean Right”) in St. Kitts—not in the crowded US, but in a smaller market where he could dominate.
  • [41:31] Kasim: “Why not go down to a pond where I’m playing in the sandbox by myself?... Bring that skill, that competitiveness... to a place where it’s more relaxed.”

10. Surviving the Startup: Red Ink, Doubt, and “The Why”

• The emotional core: Kasim recounts struggling to keep the business afloat, pouring in personal savings, borrowing from friends and credit cards, even hiding his car from repossession.
• Expanded on the “$35 Movies” moment:
  • [48:32] Kasim: “Take them to the movies... you’re so absent as a father, so you try to cling on to anything that can make them feel your presence. But how do you go from having a little something... to now fighting for $30?...You’re sharing popcorn between three of you.”
• Friends, family, even his mother beg him to stop, fearing the toll. But Kasim clings to hope, conviction, and the small signs of progress.

11. Breakthrough and Redemption

• Against all warnings, with everything on the line, Kasim takes “just one more bet” with borrowed money. The risk pays off—his business finally turns around.
• [54:07] Kasim: "That bet changed everything... the best feeling, when you saw your account went from negatives... and you have a couple hundred thousand dollars. I went to a restaurant on my own... Lobster and shrimps... just me."

12. Defining the Real 'Why'

• The episode climaxes with a meditation on purpose:
  • [57:40] Vusi: “In all of these struggles... what is the idea at the back of your mind that keeps you going when the world says don’t?”
  • [59:14] Kasim: “The one word I’m going to give you is: why?... My why is my family and my friends... I had to be that example for them to now be able to believe that they can do the things that they probably want to do... the why was bigger than me.”
• The “why” transcends self—he positions himself as an example for friends, family, his children, and his Caribbean community.

13. Reflection and Gratitude

• Kasim credits Vusi’s YouTube videos for providing much-needed comfort, perspective, and practical guidance during his most trying entrepreneurial phases.
• Vusi notes the fulfillment of seeing his “seed” land on real lives, more important than mere social media metrics.
  • [64:24] Vusi: “Behind the metric is the meaning of the person whose life has changed.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Embrace your struggles... don’t complain about it, don’t rebuke it, but make it a part of you.”
  — Kasim Walker, [17:29]

• “It’s unfair. But somebody has to make that call.”
  — Vusi Thembekwayo, [27:01]

• “The timing was wrong, but the path was right.”
  — Kasim Walker, [25:02]

• “As an entrepreneur, if you could identify your why and hold that close to you, I think you could overcome many situations.”
  — Kasim Walker, [60:52]

• “I told my mom, you know, forget about college, I’m going to Wall Street...My friends who went to college, they all did. And I told them, I’m going to work twice as hard as them.”
  — Kasim Walker, [22:18]

• “There are thousands of podcasts where you can watch [famous people]... I want guests to help my community members grow.”
  — Vusi Thembekwayo, [06:00]

• “You weren’t the dad that was missing and out playing. You were the dad that was missing and out building.”
  — Kasim Walker, [61:40]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:01 – 02:50] | Listener messages from Lakson and Patrick: Real-world impact of Vusi’s work
• [03:58 – 08:24] | Introduction: Podcast vision & shifting to “Ideas That Matter Plus”
• [08:24 – 12:53] | Kasim’s upbringing in St. Kitts, migration to NYC, and family context
• [13:30 – 15:55] | Culture shock: Caribbean village to New York hustle
• [16:31 – 19:08] | Values learned, resilience, and blending struggle with hustle
• [21:11 – 25:45] | Wall Street without a degree: “Money makes money,” learning sales through adversity
• [27:01 – 29:44] | Life lessons: Fairness, entrepreneurship, and Mission Impossible attitudes
• [32:26 – 35:32] | FedEx journey: Fast-track promotions, setbacks, and lessons in patience
• [36:53 – 39:57] | Transition to entrepreneurship: Getting “pushed” into business after retrenchment
• [41:10 – 44:37] | Launching Clean Right: Choosing a small market, focusing on reliability, the limits of business plans
• [47:55 – 50:38] | The “$35 Movie” story: Borrowing just to share a moment with his children—defining personal lows
• [53:22 – 54:51] | Going “all in” on one last business bet: Taking risks, ignoring pleas to stop, and finally winning
• [57:40 – 61:59] | The significance of “Why”: Family, example, breaking community conditioning
• [62:49 – End] | Vusi & Kasim’s mutual gratitude, reflection on inspiration, and aspirations for the show’s tone and impact

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Tone and Language

The dialogue is direct, motivational, empathetic, and often humorous—marked by humility, honesty, and a shared recognition of hardship and possibility. Vusi’s questions are probing but warm; Kasim’s storytelling is vulnerable, sometimes raw, and always geared toward helping listeners find purpose in their own struggles.

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Summary Takeaways

• Struggle and unfairness are not only inevitable—they’re actually essential to extraordinary growth.
• Knowing your “why” can anchor you through every season, especially when support is scarce and struggle seems endless.
• Entrepreneurship often isn't a heroic leap but a gritty, reluctant pivot—survival, learning, and relentless adaptation.
• Leadership and inspiration can ripple outward from the most ordinary of backgrounds.
• Personal stories, honestly told, resonate more deeply and instructively than any theory.

This first “Ideas That Matter Plus” episode is both a powerful, practical meditation on resilience and a call to examine your own “why.”

Transcript

[Lakson]

Hello family. Good day. Jose. I, I just hope you get to hear this audio, but I, I was inspired by yesterday's episode on ideas that made a podcast and I just thought of sending an audio. So a little bit about myself. My name is Lakson. I, I'm originally from Zimbabwe and I stayed in South Africa a bit and then I moved to the US as a student where I'm doing actual science and stuff. I got to learn about the VT podcast like two years ago when I started a marketing startup in South Africa, when I was still in South Africa. And you are the person who actually inspired me. I will not say one of the. One of the people, but I actually say the person because in terms of the people who actually inspired and mentored me, you kind of exist in this your own category. So I just wanted to say thank you to start with. I've seen a lot of progress in my life right now by just listening to master classes and I actually ended up joining the Club100 platform because I actually always wanted to join it, but by then I couldn't afford it. And thank you so very much for. You gave us an opportunity when you were celebrating your 22nd year in the speaking industry. One of my greatest dreams in life is to some time or at some point get to see you and just at least be in your master class. I listen to them. Of course. When you came to Harvard recently, I wanted to attend, but I only knew about it when you were actually going back. So by the grace of God, one of the days I will attend your master class and that will be my dream come true. Thank you.

[Patrick Zinkamban]

Hello, family actually is awesome when you do it. It's just, it sounds different and I'm super excited that I have the chance to take place how I feel about what you're doing. Sir, my name is Patrick Zinkamban from Malawi and I'm blessed ever since I started listening to your podcast, as I said earlier, and I'm. I feel blessed because it was a moment where I started my business and ever since I started listening to you, I feel like I've been mentored day to day and I feel like I've been having progressive results, good results in my business. I'm actually, I've invested in the agriculture where I buy and sell farm inputs. And it's been a year now and today I can testify that I've had two big clients who have been in a contract to purchase almost 30 tons of sugar beans. And this is happening after a year of my business and at the Same time at every stage of my life where I haven't yet even graduated. I'll be graduating next year and I'm 28. So I'm really glad that I've had the chance to know you and learn a lot of things from you. So I think my, my question is, how can you advise someone who's experienced this great, great results at the area of the business and how can I keep it consistent?

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

It's time to take your seat at the table. Find out how with vulcitembegwayo as we discuss Ideas that Matter, a catalyst for bold action. So about four years ago, we started doing the VT podcast Ideas that Matter, audio format only. And I want to say we're at something like 3 million downloads now, or something like this. It's done really, really well. Really, really well. Be honest, some of you watching this will know because you're often in the inbox saying, when are more episodes coming and when can you get more content? I'd committed to you guys that we were going to start migrating the format not only from audio only to include video. Then we spent, as is my nature, a lot of time thinking about what would the format look like, what's already out there. Because if there's one thing I hate doing, it's being a me too kind of guy. So when we did Ideas that Matter, it was a 20 minute format, audio only podcast. You get it on the Monday morning on your way to work, energizes you for the week and that was it. We don't compete with any other format. We wanted to do something similar with Ideas that matter plus the video content. So here we are. Listen to this. So we start planning it, we come up with like a list of guests and people that I wanted to talk to. And you guys know I'm kind of connected all over the world to all sorts of people. And all of them were right, and all of them we will interview when the time is right. But there's something that happens when the thing you've been wanting, the exact right platform, exact right conversation, happens at exactly the right time. So welcome to Ideas that Matter. Plus, I'm not sure why you're watching, but now that you are, enjoy the episode. So in our very first episode, it's my pleasure to introduce to you guys, Kasim Walker. Five days ago, I didn't really know who he was. His partner had reached out, asked for him to come and have a meeting with me. I do these like one on one sessions with people that I find interesting. Send through some of his information, I was like, oh, this is cool. I'd like to meet the guy. And he flew out from New York, a native of St. Kitts. Flew out to Johannesburg, where we're shooting this from, to come and see me. The meeting was supposed to be about an hour, and I want to say, three and a half hours later, I was like, all right, we need to call it. You got stuff to do. I've got stuff to do. But something in my spirit said he would be the perfect guest for us to do our first episode of Ideas that Matter. Plus, before we get started, Ideas that Matter is something that dawned on me a long time ago when something hit me and I realized this. Everything we hold to be true was once an idea. Everything we possess was once an idea. Everything we become was once an idea. The profession you want, the life you want, the career you want, the business you want to build, the opportunities you want to grow into, the possessions you want to own. One day, the house you're going to buy was somebody's idea. At some point, you took that idea, put it on a piece of paper, created architectural drawings, got council approval, and then built the house. The car you want to drive was once somebody's imagination. Everything we are starts as an idea. If this is true, and it is, then there are some ideas that matter because they move us forward and some ideas that don't. All I'm going to commit to you on this podcast is I'm going to bring you guests who hold true a single idea that I think can change your life. And all I ask is hold me true to that standard. I might not bring you the most famous people. In fact, I'm probably not going to because there are thousands of podcasts where you can watch them. I won't bring you people you necessarily know. These won't be people who are accomplished authors or business people or politicians. These are everyday, ordinary people who you would walk right past in the mall and not pay any attention, but whose life story is something you and I can learn from. I've got a fairly big community, so I don't need guests to grow my community. I want guests to help my community members grow. And so I'm going to bring you people who will help you grow. And today's idea, I think, is going to be very interesting. Please meet Kasim Brother Walker.

[Kasim Walker]

How you doing? Dizzy.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

How are you feeling?

[Kasim Walker]

I'm feeling great. I'm happy to be here.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

A bit nervous.

[Kasim Walker]

A little bit, yeah. My first time. But, you know, definitely meeting one of the greats. But I'm enjoying it.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So let's get started with it. There's a Caribbean accent there. Yes, tell me about that.

[Kasim Walker]

Well, I originally born in Saint Kitts and Nevis. That's a Caribbean island, you know, one of the smaller ones, nonetheless produce, you know, great people like me. Right. But I grew up there and lived there until the age of 12. Right. And then we, my sister and I, we moved out to New York City where my mom was already. So she left five years prior just to get things set up so we can get out there. And so then we move out to New York City.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

I want to just start there. So until you're 12 years old, you're in Saint Kitts and Nevis.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

There are a number of Caribbean islands. For those in the conversation who don't know them, just tell us a bit about some of them.

[Kasim Walker]

Well, some of the nearby islands you would think of would be like St. Vincent, St. Lucia, St. St. Martin, St. Barts. You got the Virgin Islands. You could go further down and you end up into Grenada, Dominica, Trinidad. You know, the whole works of it. How many islands are there, roughly? You probably could look at about 12, 13 islands, major islands. But within those islands, they are smaller islands because, for example, like Sinkitz is the bigger one and you have Nevis. Antigua would be Antigua, but then they have Barbuda. They also have two other private islands that most celebrities live on. So there's multiple islands between the Caribbean.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Of course, the history of the Caribbean is rich because the Caribbean islands was really where kind of the warehousing and distribution took place of slaves. Slaves who had been migrated from West Africa into what would then be either Southern America or North America.

[Kasim Walker]

Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Have you ever done one of those tests where you trek back to see where you came from?

[Kasim Walker]

Funny you said that. Yes, I did. Yeah. A few years ago was just, I don't know, curiosity sometimes hit us, Right. So I did the ancestry test and, you know, I just wanted to see where my roots were. Right. We look it up and, you know, you had like 35% Nigerian. And then we have some Germany in us and stuff like that. My great great grandfather was a white man. That's where we get the walker from. And then my great great grandmother was Nigerian. So between them, they, you know, they produce the, you know, the half white kids, and that's where we get the walker.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Do you know if it was a relationship of consent?

[Kasim Walker]

Yes.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

It was of mutual consent?

[Kasim Walker]

Yes, it was. Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

It would have been a controversial relationship.

[Kasim Walker]

At the Time it probably could have. I mean, definite. They had, you know, a few kids, you know, amongst them. So during the ancestry test, you were able to see that, you know, like 14% of my DNA, you know, go back to Scotland and, you know, Germany and stuff like that.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So I would have loved to be in the room with your grand, your great great grandmother and your great great grandfather. You've got this like rules driven, stochastic, kind of like disciplined German mindset with this like fervent, vibrant Nigerian man. That would have been something.

[Kasim Walker]

No defin.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Imagine the debates. Your great grandmother definitely won all of now.

[Kasim Walker]

I'm pretty sure she did. Pretty sure she did. But it was very interesting just learning, you know, the family history from like my grandmother and stuff like that, just to really understand your background. So for me, doing that test kind of revealed, you know, a lot because, you know, most times we're not aware of, you know, where we come from and what makes up our DNA.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

You said at 12 years old you moved to New York. Yeah, but you mentioned your mom, not your dad. So tell me a bit about that transition.

[Kasim Walker]

The crazy thing is my mom had me at a young age. Right, right. How young is young? I would say it's age 16. Wow. Right. So she had to kind of fend for herself, you know, at that age. And you could just imagine a 16 year old, right. Having a kid. So it's always been me and her for some time at least. At least six years, six, seven years difference between me and my sister. So like she always said, we always ride it out together. Interestingly enough, sometimes when I do go back to St. Kitts and you hear the stories, you hear stories of friends of hers that we used to have to sleep under. They used to have to sneak her in their house while their mom is, while the parents are sleeping so that we can sleep on the floor. Wow. You know, that, you know, just touching, man. It's always been like a struggle for her to get there. So I really appreciate my mom for that.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So out back, why would your mom have been in that situation?

[Kasim Walker]

Where were her parents? Oh, her mom were in Puerto Rico, I guess, trying to, you know, I guess start the whole trend of us, how we got into New York. So she was left there and left with friends, you know, so you. It's crazy, right? Because the village raised her. Right. And then the village raised me, you know, so you're literally just a product of, you know, your mom, your parents. And people say this, but you don't believe it. But if you go To San Kis, and you go to the village that we came from. I'm very much loved in that village, but that's because I grew up between so many different families. You know, when she's busy working, you know, this family has me today. That family has me today, and that family has me today. And the reason why I'm saying different families, because my side of the family, we migrated a long time out of St. Kitts. So my mom, myself, my sister, and maybe one of the cousins were the only set of walkers left there. So if you go there, there's no walker. Is a strange.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So interesting. Yeah, tell me about that. Moving to New York, so. Because I imagine Saint Kitts, I've never been. I've done British Virgin Islands. I've done Trinidad Tobago, Jamaica, Saint Botts, which is where all of the celebrities go.

[Kasim Walker]

That's close by.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's. I think that's where Jeff Bezos did the whole park. His yacht.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes, yes.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

But I've never done Saint Kitts, nor Nevis. And I wanted to understand. So I imagine having experienced that kind of Caribbean life, right. You know, it's very laid back. It's. It's like that Stella got her groove back then.

[Kasim Walker]

You're right. I mean, after living in New York City for so long, you could definitely see the difference in lifestyle. I mean, it's a huge difference in lifestyle, especially being in the city. I'm a city boy, so moving from St. Kitts and going to New York, it definitely was a lot to undertake, right, because it's the city life. But nonetheless, you had to adjust to it. And I'll give you a funny story. When I signed up for high school, the first day, my mom took me to high school to show me where it was. The second day on the train, which don't normally happen, it missed my stop. So I was stuck now not knowing, you know, where to go, you know, about the breakdown crime. Because I'm like, well, how do we get home? You know, cell phones wasn't the big thing back then. And it just so happened. I looked to the crowd and I saw one of my uncle have an uncle that's not just like one or two years older than me. And I saw one of his friends, and I never felt so good to see another man, you know, at the time, because I ran over to him and hugged him and like, yo, could you please take me home? And he's like, yeah, I'll show you where it is, you know. So it was definitely adjustment in the House.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

This was in New York. This was New York on the underground.

[Kasim Walker]

In New York on the underground.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Man, that's brutal.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

That's scary. As an adult experience in the New York underground.

[Kasim Walker]

Right. So you could just imagine what that was like, you know, so the adjustment was definitely felt. You could, you know, different from the. The island lifestyle to moving to the city lifestyle.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

I'm trying to understand a bit about that early life and how that's framed the way you think about the world. So you go from the small island where the village raises you, right. And now you in what is literally the concrete jungle.

[Kasim Walker]

Jungle.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

I almost want to say, I think the term is coined after New York, right? It is concrete jungle where dreams are made of, you know, it's got that whole. It's got that whole kind of brutal. What's the word? Steely, almost inhumane touch to it. Like New York is. You fend for yourself, no one's coming to save you.

[Kasim Walker]

Well, it's funny you say that, right? Because I appreciate my years in both places, even though New York City is where I kind of spend most of my life. Right. But as an island boy, you learn to appreciate the hardships in life, Right. And that's what you were taught, that the hardships in life make do of what you have, you know? And in the city life now, like you said, it's embrace your struggles. It's do or die. You know what I mean? Sink or swim. And so I was able to blend the appreciation of stretching it. Right. And in the appreciation of that hustle. And when you combine those two together and it intertwines and make it a person that you are today.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

You just said something which. Which I just want to pause on. You said, embrace your struggle.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So in other words, don't complain about it.

[Kasim Walker]

No.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And. And don't rebuke it.

[Kasim Walker]

No.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

But make it a part of you.

[Kasim Walker]

Make it a part of you, man. It's deep, man.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

It's deep, man. You obviously, you're now in New York. You go to school. Were you like an academic kind of kid?

[Kasim Walker]

It's funny because I always say I'm not right. But I've performed, you know, the B's, the A's, you know, I've gotten those. But I never really coined myself as an academic kind of person.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Sure.

[Kasim Walker]

However, I read a lot, and over the years, I've learned a lot. Right. So I guess now I'll probably consider myself that, you know. But at that point in time, in those school days. Nah, I was always that Wonder kid, always curious, always stretching things. You know, my mom beat me a lot for that.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Really?

[Kasim Walker]

Oh, yeah, yeah. She talks about it a lot now, actually. She apologizes now.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Tell me a bit about that. Just double click on that for me. So. So. Because let me project a little bit and then I want you to tell me how what I'm about to say sounds to you. My experience with immigrant parents tends to be that they sacrifice so much just for the experience of migration. So for the immigrant parent, success isn't making a million dollars when they get to the other side. It's just being able to settle and to raise good children.

[Kasim Walker]

There you go.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So a lot of the. It's been my experience that a lot of the children of immigrant parents are almost taught stay in the. Stay in the lane, don't break the rules, don't stand out because we are outsiders here.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Blend in perfectly. And so you'd be coming with this, like. Yeah, but, you know, that's. Why is it done that way. And I want to do it differently typically.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah, yeah. And she. I mean, she's rooted back to many things in my life that always show that I'm always at a challenge in things. I remember one time clearly where she told me not to have a party in the house. So what I did instead was I had to get together, you know, so I invited friends over. We. We sit, we gotta sit. Music is a little bit down low. And you know, I remember when my friend has left, she's like, project at the party. Said, didn't I had a get together. And she was like, man, I'm gonna kill you. You know, so.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

But just hold on. Take me to that party. What were you playing? Was it like LPs or was it like a radio?

[Kasim Walker]

We had the radio with the cassettes back then.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

The cassette tape.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah, yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

People won't know nothing about now.

[Kasim Walker]

You had a little Biggie and stuff playing there. So we try to keep it cool while and you know you're enjoying it. But she comes.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

She probably had like some run dmc, you know, the OPP or something like that.

[Kasim Walker]

All that we're playing, I like that. And she was just like. She's like. And we joke about this a lot now because, you know, being a, you know, entrepreneur and stuff like that, you could see the details back then that kind of created who you are today. So. But what I would tell you as my mom is that she wasn't really that much academic. Right. And for some reason she didn't put that pressure on me. And today I think that it was a blessing, right, because then you didn't have this standard to kind of live up to on that end, you know, everything I tried, she supported it, not even knowing what it is. I remember when I. When I left high school, I was supposed to go to college, and I was like, mom, forget college. I'm heading to Wall Street. And she's like, okay. She had no idea what it is, but she just supported, you know, whatever was about.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Tell me about that. So you finish high school, you decide you're not going to college, which for an immigrant child in the United States is a tough call.

[Kasim Walker]

It is.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Because for a lot of immigrant parents, that's almost built into the system, the expectation, right?

[Kasim Walker]

And it's.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

It's not. It's not only you're going to go to college, but it's also there are very few careers, right? You're not.

[Kasim Walker]

You're not.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

You know, again, my exposure limited, albeit, is like, you're not going to college to study, you know, dramatic arts. You're going to college to be an engineer, a doctor, a scientist, a computer scientist, or commerce, accounting, something like this.

[Kasim Walker]

Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So not only did you not do those disciplines, but you didn't go to college at all.

[Kasim Walker]

At all.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So what'd you do after high school?

[Kasim Walker]

Well, in my last year of high school, and if you look at my yearbook now, it would say that I want to be a graphic designer. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to be. I just put something down. Graphic designer. But. But in my last year of high school, we had something what you call a Kurt Thomas challenge, right? He was a basketball player in the New York Knicks. And they gave you, like, a fake $100,000 account to different schools around the country, and you had to compete to see who can turn that $100,000 into more.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Right?

[Kasim Walker]

Right. We came third. So I'm like, wait a minute. So you're telling me that your money could make money? Cause, you know, you're not, like, again, coming from the Caribbean, you're not learning these things. So I'm like, wait, your money can make money? You know what? So I went online and looking up, I'm like, wall Street. What is Wall Street? And start learning about it. I'm like, good, that's where I'm going. I told my mom, like, mom, you know, forget about college. I'm going to Wall Street. My friends who went to college, they all did. And I told them, I'm going to work twice as hard as them, right? And they're like, you sure? I'm like, yeah. And then I went to Wall Street.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

How did that go? I mean, I can't imagine you just walk down the street and you're like, hey, I'm Kassim. You need a job.

[Kasim Walker]

I actually applied online. They gave me a call. They came in for the interview. And believe it or not, right? Maybe now it has changed, but back then, Wall street is built on kids that's hungry. So if a college kid and a kid that is hungry go for that same job, the kid that's hungry is going to get the job. Because that's what it's about. It's the hustle. And I got the job based on, again, my background, you know, not having anything, not coming from much. So when I got the position, I was taught for six months on rebuttals, how to always overcome. No. So you call clients and they tell you, we can't invest any money with you, and you convince them to send the money to you.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Beautiful.

[Kasim Walker]

You know, so you were doing cold calls. Cold calling. 2000 calls a day.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

2000 calls a day.

[Kasim Walker]

2000 Calls a day.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

What are you working, let's say, 10 hours. That's 200 calls an hour.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah, you have to. Every time you.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So you're on the phone all the time.

[Kasim Walker]

All the time, all the time. You cannot. You know, the bosses didn't really appreciate the conversations. They want, you know, the calls to be made. And I'll give you a great experience from that. I remember one time I convinced a guy to invest $300,000, and he did. And I remember a few months later, we lost all the money. And my boss said to me, go and make the call and convince him to send you more. I went into the bathroom. I'm like, but how do you call someone and tell them that you lose their money and then they have to send you more? Nonetheless, I went in and I did it. And he did send more money. And from that point on, I knew that, man, there's. There's something. There's a calling somewhere for me.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

How did you know? What did you say?

[Kasim Walker]

I convinced him that the timing was wrong, but the path was correct. You know, so hold on.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

I need to download that. I need to download that. Say what you just said and say it slower. The timing was wrong.

[Kasim Walker]

The timing was wrong, but the path was right. The path was right. You know, I mean, so. And that. And it did pan out. It actually did. The story did end in a positive way because it did pan out. And he became a Client of mine, and we had relationships like that. But, I mean, who prepares you for something like that? Right. Who prepares you for. Because no one gave me the script. Right. So you have to go in and you have to tell the guy, look, I lost your money. But in that conversation, I was able to thought of it and said, look, I'm sorry, but the timing was wrong. But I guarantee you the path that we're on with this direction of the company that we're thinking about investing in, that is correct.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

There's. There's something I want to understand there, because before you make the call to him, you go to the bathroom.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

There is a conversation that Mr. Walker is having with Mr. Walker.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And you are both audience member as well as moderator and facilitator of the conversation.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Run me through that conversation. What are you saying to you?

[Kasim Walker]

I'm saying that it's unfair. You know, I didn't personally lose the money, so it's unfair. Why do I have to make that call? Right. You know, I should just quit, should leave. And then I said to myself, but what if you call them and they do send the money? Then what does that say about you? Right. And it's funny, because your whole entrepreneurial journey is always that two minds is playing around with you 100%. Yeah. It's always playing around with you. And people who probably is not on this path won't get it. But if you're on this path, you're always between minds. So I was between that mind. But then I was always curious to see, can you really do it? You know, and after you did that, then everything else became like, just habit.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

It's unfair. But somebody has to make that call.

[Kasim Walker]

Somebody has made that call.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

It kind of summarizes it. Yeah, that kind of summarizes.

[Kasim Walker]

It does.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Do you feel like. Do you feel like a big part of your life has been just understanding that. That you. You don't always get dealt fair?

[Kasim Walker]

Yes. Yes. And if you go back to a little bit, just. Just talk about a little bit to my past while living in the Caribbean, I always felt like it was unfair that my friends had shoes and clothes and I didn't have any.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

I get that.

[Kasim Walker]

So I was very much upset with my mom because you're in the. You're in the United States.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Yeah.

[Kasim Walker]

And I'm down there, and it's like, man, that's unfair. Right. But when you came to New York City and then I saw her struggles, it was real. So I was like, you know what? It is unfair. But I do understand her struggles. So you've always. I've always had to become that person. That's understanding.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Was mom struggling in New York when you arrived?

[Kasim Walker]

Yes, she was. Yes, she was. I had to. I had to witness that, you know. Okay, there was a time where she wasn't able to pay the bills, but she used to always give me lunch money and I used to eat lunch. She didn't know that I wasn't eating the lunch. I was actually saving the money. So one day when she had to pay that bill, I had the money, and she never asked where I got it from. Could have been drugs, could have been a stall. It. She never asked. Right. And I gave her that money so that she was able to pay that bill. So as a young person, you know, being put through those different circumstances, always having to understand certain things, always having to be able to rise, always having to be able to step up, deliver, you know, she didn't put the pressure on me, but as her son, I undertook that task.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

You've really ministered to me with this idea that it's not fair, but somebody has to make that call. I think we live in a generation today where, for whatever reason, we've become so soft that we think we are owed fair, that the odds have got to be in our favor. At the very least, the odds have got to be even.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

But actually, if you study history and study people who've made it in history, you realize that the reason their story is worth a page in the book of history is precisely because unfair was in the equation.

[Kasim Walker]

Of course, I agree.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So it's like a download lesson for a lot of us. I think it was Lewis Hamilton that says, I don't need it to be. What did he say? I don't need it to be easy. I just need it to be possible.

[Kasim Walker]

I've always loved that quote.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Yeah, it's beautiful, right? It's going to be difficult. He's like, I don't need it to be easy. I just need it to be. Are you a movie guy?

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Right. So there's Mission Impossible. I think it's. It's Anthony Hopkins. Is it? I think it's Anthony Hopkins or. Or whomever it is that plays like that character that gives the instruction to Tom Cruise and. And Ving Rhames and the Mission Impossible team. And he's explaining to Tom Cruise how he's got to break into this bank. And he goes, listen, you got to do this and do this. You got to break this. And Tom Cruise looks at this whole.

[Kasim Walker]

Thing and goes, that's going to be difficult, right?

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And then the voice says, yeah, but this isn't Mission Difficult. It's Mission Impossible. And he says, mission Difficult should be a walk in the park for you. So you're out on Wall Street, I imagine now what happens is this. So you're out on Wall Street. You become, you know, very successful kind of salesperson, stockbroker. You make the millions. You buy the house out of the Hamptons, you get the private jet. You have a second house out somewhere in the Caribbean Islands, and life is easy. Is that what happened?

[Kasim Walker]

That sounds like the perfect picture. I will take that. But no, that's not what happened. The struggles always continue from that job. Just a changing career. Went to FedEx.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

How do you go from selling stocks to Federal Express?

[Kasim Walker]

It's funny you said that. There was a situation where I had a client and we had three bosses. And two of the bosses were in agreeance of me kind of finessing this client. One of the boss was against it. He felt like I'm wasting my time. But I felt like, this guy is a big fish. That's what we refer to them like. This guy's a guy that can invest a lot of money. He felt like that's a waste of time. So he always just picked on me every day. Now, five months later, this guy sends over a million dollars pounds. So all of our clients were in the uk. So he sends over a million dollars. And I'm excited, right, because my commission is going to be crazy as a young guy. And then he said, no, you're not going to have this. And I'm like, but you were one that was against this. And he's like, yeah, you're not going to have it. And at the time, I just renewed my contract. And because of that, you couldn't go back into another final a financial institution. You could get sued for the money that they've invested in you up until that point. Right. So I had to go into something that had nothing to do with financial services.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Yeah, it's so interesting. So it's funny how God works. He just directs you, right?

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So you end up with a job at FedEx.

[Kasim Walker]

Job at FedEx. Opening doors. Right. Four days before my birthday. Within nine months, became an assistant manager. A few months after that, became a manager. I'll give you a funny story about that. The first time I went to Texas to the corporate office, I was pulled out of the classroom because they thought they made a mistake. At that time, most of the managers were older in the 40s, 50s, stuff like that. But here's this 20, 21 year old guy in between all those. So they pulled me out of the class and they said, I think we made a mistake with you. And they called New York City and they verified, nah, this is, that's, that's the guy. That's the guy. And they were like, well, how old are you? You know, so it was, it was funny because from that point on, you just continue to keep rising.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So you're now at FedEx. You're a manager big. I imagine you got your what, What? American. Your 401K. Gotta have the 401K. What's the song? You got to have a J, O, B. Yeah. If you want to be with me.

[Kasim Walker]

Right?

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So what happens at the stage in your life now? Are you settled? Are you a family man? Are you a dad? Are you married?

[Kasim Walker]

Where you at at that point? Not yet. Maybe 23. Then, you know, finally got my son, right? My son came into the picture and then he made the fight even more right? Because now you want to be, you want to give what you didn't have as a, you know, as a growing up, as a kid. So from that you just. The journey just continues. Man, I just keep moving from manager to manager. They keep testing me from location to location to really see if you're really that kind of guy that produces. I remember the last time before they moved me, I was in a location that was close to winning what you call like the President Award. This is the war that most managers want to get to, like the pinnacle. And I'm in that location and I'm about to win. And then a letter email came in that says, we're gonna move you. And I'm like, you work hard to get here. Now you guys are gonna move me. Sure, right? And in my phone today, I still have that message that I sent to the, to my, to the corporate, asking them like, it's unfair that I've done so many things to be here. And now that I'm about to reach this level, it's now stripped from me and I have to now go and start over again to impress you guys.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

There's that word again. Unfair.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah, right. So we, I went to that new location, it was the second to last in the company. And just fast forward it. I went to St. Kitts to look after the business, got a call from my sister and I saw many emails coming in. Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations. I'm like, what's going on? So the call from my sister was like you did it. I said, did what? She's like, the school just came in and you won the award.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Wow.

[Kasim Walker]

And that award allows the company to take you to whatever island that they choose to go to. Beautiful.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Like a reward.

[Kasim Walker]

A reward.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Yeah, like a reward trip.

[Kasim Walker]

I like those. It becomes a big deal in the company. Right. Your president award winner, you know, put some respect on your name.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

100. That goes in your CV too, right?

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah, yeah, it does. It's a. Definitely a big deal. But that was, you know, my journey there in FedEx.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

What I'm curious is I know you as an entrepreneur, so there's the story of you, the child growing up in the Caribbean islands, the move to the us, finding your own identity, growing up in that community, deciding not to go to college, rather take on a different route. So you're already a rule breaker.

[Kasim Walker]

Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

But you're a rule breaker who can thrive within the system because even at a corporate, you can still succeed.

[Kasim Walker]

Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Which tells me you have the ability to hunt as a lion.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

But when necessary, you can behave like a lamb as well.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes. Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

How do you go? Okay, now I'm, I'm in the space, I'm in the safety and the comfort of a corporate. I'm going to leave all this and I'm going to start my own business. In my experience, there typically three circumstances that, that necessitate or drive somebody towards the path of being an entrepreneur. It's either they come from a family of entrepreneurs and. And they had buried that, and they get to a stage in their life where they go, let me see. And they just, they're like a child who jumps into the pool for the first time. They're genuinely experimenting to see if that which is in the DNA of the family also is in their DNA.

[Kasim Walker]

Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

The second which is the most common is actually I've learned Most entrepreneurs in 15 years doing what I do now, working with entrepreneurs, thousands of entrepreneurs I've mentored and worked with. Most entrepreneurs actually aren't doing design entrepreneurs. They default entrepreneurs. They don't make the decisions. It's like something happens. They go, well, I've got to survive. Right. Which is not the story that's often told. The story is the founder who starts an idea, goes and raises money, builds a team and then makes a billion dollars.

[Kasim Walker]

Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

But most entrepreneurs aren't that. It's like, it's a mistake.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And then they go, I need to put food on the table, so I might as well do something. Right. And then the third type of entrepreneur is the one who goes, I'm going to do this. I'm going to stop everything. And here's what I'm going to focus on. So of those three, are you the DNA default to design guy?

[Kasim Walker]

I think a blend.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Okay.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah, I think a blend, to be honest with you. After winning the award in FedEx, the highest award in FedEx, that's a big deal. The end of the year, we're going to get a raise, right? And in my mind I'm like, my raise is going to be crazy, right? Because you won the highest award, which means you've knocked out all the metrics. Yeah, Well, I got a call from another manager that performed poorly and told me that their raise were higher than my raise. Now, I'm not the type of person that complains, but I'm the type of person that would pivot very calmly, the lamb mode. And so at that point I decided, you know what? I'm not going to complain about the way that things are done. I'm going to create my own path. And then I went on, started thinking about opening a daycare until when I visited St. Kitts with my cousin in 2014 and we came back and then he said to me, you should start a business there. And I'm like, no, for what? It's a slow place, New York City's opportunity. Let's do that. But nonetheless, he told me the cleaning business, and I did my homework, my due diligence, and found out that there was an opportunity there. So while being at the job and dealing with FedEx, I was also working on that on the outside. Now here's the crazy part about it. Every training that I went to and they teach you certain things, like how to greet the customer, you know, hey, welcome to FedEx. I would put in my book, welcome to Cleanlight. So I started just being in the training and rather focusing on them now, even though still maintain it was about me. So you made a decision to go there because of the circumstances that created you in that opportunity. However, I didn't make the decision to leave FedEx on my own. And that was due to my commitment to my employees at the time. But after FedEx let me go, I had no choice.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

I'd be very surprised, by the way. Very common story for all of you guys. You'd be very surprised how many people who've made a success in business didn't volunteer themselves for that. It's often people who are. The most common is retrenchment. Actually, it's often people who've worked In a place given many years to it, and for whatever reason, the corporate changes the strategy and they just decide this person is no longer of use.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Or that department or that role. And then this person goes, well, then I'll. Then I'll go use my skills elsewhere. And they start thinking about how do I use my skills for myself? And they become a weapon.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes. Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Because now you've had 10 years of learning under somebody else's budget. You attended every training, you got every certificate, so you understand how to run a business, how to build a P and L, how to hire people, how to find fire people, how to get product, how to do marketing, how to do logistics, how to do legal, how to do sales. You're a weapon.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah. Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And you've been trained in somebody else's school.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And now you get to open your own school. There is a question, though. And then I want to talk a bit about that journey of starting your business. There's a question I gotta ask. So typically, when you're starting a business, you want to get into the space where there's the biggest market size with the largest opportunity. You were in the U.S. right, where everybody was trying to go, but you went to a small island.

[Kasim Walker]

Right?

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

That's counterintuitive for me. Why did you do that? I mean, apart from your, your cousin saying there's a real opportunity. That's the first question. And I want you to answer both of these together. The second question is, and why cleaning? It's like, it's so, so. It's so odd. You've gone from stockbroker to FedEx to clean it. I mean, are you, were you, were you intentional about the regression analysis? What's the.

[Kasim Walker]

I mean, not at all. Right. But I've had time to kind of look back on my past, and I'm talking about going way back into my singers years. And I realized that even when I played sports, because I played all the sports, I've always got rid of the sport that have come second in. Only just. Only stuck to the one that came first in first.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Gotcha.

[Kasim Walker]

So if you think about it, the same thing being in New York, of course, you can start a business there, but look who you're competing with. Sure, right. Why not go down to a pond where, you know, I'm playing in the sandbox by myself. Right. So you bring that skill, that competitiveness, and you go to a place where it's more relaxed.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So you, you, you go to St. Kitts. So I imagine you get your business license, of course. You are a citizen because you're a native. You can start operating immediately.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

You come up with the name Clean, right?

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And you go, that's it. I'm in business.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So you just. What. What happened? You just get like, your first hundred customers made a million dollars?

[Kasim Walker]

I wish I did. Well, first of all, the. The clean. Right name. We were trying to figure out a name. Right, Right. But you don't want to start a business that people have to guess. Right. Do the guesswork, especially early on. So while driving in New York City, there's a Laundromat, a stop right by the stoplight, and it's the Laundromat that just says clean night. I'm like, huh? Simple, straight to the point, clean. What it is. Right. And you went down to the islands and you. You start the business. However, as an entrepreneur, you always believe that people are gonna embrace things and see the light like you do, right?

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Yeah.

[Kasim Walker]

So you're excited?

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

100%.

[Kasim Walker]

You start this business, and I'm going into the banks, and I'm. Guys, I'm here to start this business. I'm gonna employ people, you know, can I get a loan? And they're like, no, no. Right. Cleaning wasn't really the path that I wanted to take. But I'm a kind of person that follows opportunity, though, because early on I said that I was going to go into the daycare. I'm not a teacher. Right. But I'm always able to identify where the opportunity is and then add my skill set to it.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So you and your cousin, as it was, identified cleaning as the thing to.

[Kasim Walker]

Do, the clean thing to do, and.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

You then decide you're going to start this business.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Tell me a bit about those. So I have a theory. You define a business by the first 90 days, by the first 999 days, and then by the first shareholder fight. Those are the three things that define a business. You can survive the first three months without losing your mind and going back to what you know you'll be okay. If you can survive the first three years, those 999 days, then you'll build a business for your children, for sure. My experience. And if you can survive the first shareholder fight, then whomever it is that stays off to that, those are people that are going to stay in the business.

[Kasim Walker]

Well, and it's funny that you said that, because we. When we start the business, you know, I first have to identify what game am I going to play.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Yeah.

[Kasim Walker]

Right. So. And that means, are you competing on just cleaning Quality stuff.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Yeah.

[Kasim Walker]

Or what. What. What is the game? 100, right. And I realized that after my research, reliability was my game, right? So everything was designed around being reliable. Everything that we built was about being reliable. So we did that. And of course, it was tough. To this day, the pay schedule for the Cleanlight follows and mimics FedEx, because when we got paid from FedEx, we both poured our paycheck into the business.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Beautiful.

[Kasim Walker]

So it mimics it. So he's like, we get paid. Hand it over. Got you, right? But it did get tough. It did get tough, right? Because, you know, you start something and you believe it's going to happen, but it never goes the way you imagine. I have services today that I didn't thought of in the. In the beginning. You know, we did that, and my cousin kind of lost hope, you know, because when you look at your financials and you're in the red, you just continue. You just. You're just spending money, you know? And for him was like, man, I can't keep doing this. I got you, right? But for me, I felt like, man, we came this far and we did do the due diligence before we started, so there is opportunity. Back to what we talk about timing.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

But the path was right again, just pause on that. Because there's something there, that moment, right? So there's this moment where you've come from the safety of a FedEx. You can see what the business is going to be, but it's not that yet.

[Kasim Walker]

No.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So there's that space between. And in that space between, you've taken your money and you've invested it in the business. Your cousin has done the same.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Most entrepreneurs, if you're watching this, I've never seen a business that follows the Excel spreadsheet projections, okay? Excel lies, right? Because you put in the assumptions, right? So on Excel, from month one, you're making a million dollars, and then it just goes up like this. In reality, it's a big hockey stick, right? It's a lot of money into the business first right. Before you get to yield anything out.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And what you're describing was that hockey stick time, right? You guys were putting in the money, right? And what a lot of entrepreneurs also don't get is that's also the time when you're working the most. It is. So. So it's, it's. It's counterintuitive to the world of work you come from. Because in the world of work you come from, you work and get paid, right? Here, you working and you're paying at the same time.

[Kasim Walker]

It is tough. It is tough. But to what you just said just now, we didn't create a business plan. And a business plan could be good, but it also could raise your hope.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Yeah.

[Kasim Walker]

So what we did is we just went based on current moment. Right? So you only could see the past. And that's probably what scared him. Right? Because the past says red, red, red, red, red, where there wasn't any outline of hope. You know, so. And that. And that sometime could. Could scare someone off of it. But we stood. We stood. I stood on track and keep going.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So he pulls out of the business and you keep going.

[Kasim Walker]

I keep going.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Now this. Did you keep going because you believed or did you keep going because there was nothing else?

[Kasim Walker]

Great question. My mind is juggling, but I kept going because of belief.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Come on.

[Kasim Walker]

I kept going.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Is that really true?

[Kasim Walker]

Deep down you believe in it. But then the other part of it is that there's no other way. There's no other way. You're fired from your job. You've put so much into this. So you have to become, like you said now, the lion mole. Right. Everything that you've learned over these past years, you got to tap into that.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

But this time you've got children.

[Kasim Walker]

This time I have children.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So tell me about how Kasim shows up as a dad when.

[Kasim Walker]

Sacrifice, you know, as much time wasn't given to them. And what made me push even more is a story I can give you where you have no money, barely have dreams and hope of what could really happen. No idea of what can happen. And you go to your friends and you said, guys, can I borrow $30? Now I'm picking up $5 from each person because I don't want no one to really get the essence of.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Hold on, hold on, hold on. You go to your friends and you're borrowing $5.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah. So I can make up to the $30.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

What do you need $30 for?

[Kasim Walker]

Take them to the movies. Because you're so absent as a father, so you try to cling on to anything that can make them feel your presence. Right. But how do you go from having a little something and they kind of aware of other ways that we've celebrated before to now experiencing where you're fighting for $30. You're sharing a popcorn between three of you. Right. They want the individual thing, and I'm now selling them. Right. I'm convincing them. Like, guys, when we go home, we're going to have food. You know, we don't need this but really and truly, I was hiding behind my pain. I was embarrassed that you couldn't do. Just couldn't do it, you know, as a father. So no one really understand that type of low that you feel. I mean, it's one thing that I was putting myself through the struggle. But when you watch your kids, man, like, $30 wasn't 100. It's $30. Couldn't do it. Borrowed five from. From each friend so that, you know, the blow was a little bit small. I felt like if I owed, you know, $5, not that much. So $5 between the different people to make up to $30. That's. That's the type of struggle that you had to go through, man. Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Kind of makes you empathize with your mother. And when you experienced her struggle in New York.

[Kasim Walker]

No. Oh, yeah, yeah. Most definitely. I mean, and she also sighed, you know, I remember one day I asked her for $20, and normally she would give me. But you were so deep in debt, so deep in struggle, that she's like, I can't give you $20. If you're gonna go and put it into the business.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Wow.

[Kasim Walker]

You know, I'll give you 20. I could give you $20 if you're gonna get something to eat, but I can't give it to you because you. You're chasing this G, man. And look at. Look at. Look at what it's doing to you. So you could only imagine that pain. And most people can't imagine, like, what it takes to get here.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Yeah, I'm. I'm just listening to this. I'm, as a father, choking up, because I'm thinking about, you know, putting your kids through that is tough. You know, and one of the things about children is that we think they can't see they can have. Your kids ever reminded you of that? Of that specific event?

[Kasim Walker]

Not to me specifically, but I went to my friends, and they said, that is broke.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

No.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah, that is broke. Because we had to share popcorn.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

I want to understand kind of. So that the business at this stage is still crawling. It's. It itself is another child.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

That you have to feed and nurture and help grow. How did. Or rather, let me ask the question this way. How did you not give up on that child? Because this child is now causing pain for your actual children.

[Kasim Walker]

Well, because of. Kept strict financials, even though you weren't there, you still see the opportunity. Right. So you start seeing your revenue go up. Your expenses, you know, is now starting to become a little bit below your revenue. So hope Start kicking in. Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Like that.

[Kasim Walker]

And you're just betting on that horse. Like, I'm there, I'm getting there, I'm getting there. But when you have the struggles of your kids, partner leaving you, business manager leaving you, like I said, you're at the lowest moment when the opportunity came that I saw that could be a turning point. And I went to all my friends and I needed about $7,000. I took out some credit cards and I decided I'm not going to pay back because I understood that after having a card for seven years, he falls off the credit. So I'm like, like. So like I said, the entrepreneurial mindset is that you're just trying to find opportunities. Right. So I took the credit card, borrowed money from friends. They all gave me a warning about, you know, please stop. Right. And it didn't come from the fact that I can't do it, but concern of how deep you're going in this thing, man, you know, like you're, I mean, your whole, a whole year and a half, you. You're struggling. Yeah. You know, I would, I would be honest with you about something. I remember I had a car and I used to hide my car in different garage because the repo was looking for the car. Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

So you appreciate it.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah. So you go through those different struggles that most people don't know that you have to. You have, and the pain that you have to endure to do that. But there was an opportunity that came up and I thought that this opportunity could be the opportunity. And I was very much convinced and I've convinced all my friends, like, look, if you can give me the money, you know, I promise something's going to become of this. And they all gave me a warning. And my mom went to my friends and she told them, could you guys please tell them to stop? And they came to me and they said, you have to stop. And my kids mom said to me, please, you gotta stop. And everyone is saying, you gotta stop. And I'm the only one that's saying this last bit. Just one more bit.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

One more, just one more.

[Kasim Walker]

That one bet.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And did you take the bet?

[Kasim Walker]

Took the bet.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

How did it turn out?

[Kasim Walker]

That bet changed everything. Unbelievable. That one bet changed everything to this day. Wow. Right? You didn't have to worry about the $30 anymore. Wow. You know, but. And it was the best feeling, I think, when you saw your account went from negatives and all that stuff and you have a couple hundred thousand dollars, man. I went to a restaurant on my own.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

What was the first thing you did.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah. Lobster and shrimps and, you know, the whole meal. And the guy's like, who's with you? And I'm like, no one but me.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

It's just me.

[Kasim Walker]

Just me, you know? So that was the. That was the celebration.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

You eat that lobster slow.

[Kasim Walker]

Everything was slow. I took my time. I had to taste that.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

You taste it now.

[Kasim Walker]

Everything, you know, so it's like you enjoy that. But that was a turning point, man. And it was a great feeling. Everyone around me was just so much impacted, man. There was just like, we were literally looking at a movie.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

All right, so here's the question. This is what I want you to share with everybody who's gonna be watching this podcast. If I look at your life, it's pretty clear that struggle is a part of the narrative.

[Kasim Walker]

Yes. Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And there are some people who. For whom struggle is a phase. They have a stage in their life where they struggle, and then they get back to whatever normal was. But from when we started to ARC back now, 45 minutes ago, when we started this conversation, you are born into a place of struggle by a parent who can't care for you. You are raised in an environment of struggle by circumstances that can't care for you. So the village has to take on that responsibility. You migrate into a country and you find your mother in struggle, and you've got to survive in that space. You don't go to college, and you find a job where you've got to struggle to prove yourself. And as you build your life and build your career, you kind of pull back into this place of struggle, and you've got to start a business. And the place you had left behind, God sends you back to, and he says, I want you to go and struggle there again.

[Kasim Walker]

Right.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

In all of these struggles, there has to be a conversation that you're having with you when your own mother says, enough, stop. And what a lot of people who've never been in that situation don't understand is that it's one thing when somebody says, don't do something because they know you're capable of it and they're scared of who you would become if you achieved it. It's quite another when somebody says, don't do something because they love you and care for you, and they can see that even though you're driven to do it, it's going to hurt.

[Kasim Walker]

Right?

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And so when your mother says, don't, that's going to be hard to hear. Of course, when friends who care for you say, don't, it's got to be hard to hear, right? But you've been hearing don't from the boss who said, don't make that phone call to a cousin who said, don't continue with the business. What is the idea at the back of your mind that keeps you going when the world says don't?

[Kasim Walker]

I'm going to give you one word. But before I give you that word, I'm going to say that during that tough time, I don't know who you are, where you came from. I saw you on YouTube and some of the things that you were saying were bringing comfort to the pain that I was in. It's like someone understood me. So I kept looking at your videos and looking at your videos, looking at your videos and. And that helped me to just provide like that guidance, right? The one word I'm going to give you is why? Why? Why all this? Why are you doing what you're doing? Why? There's a movie, I'm not sure if you've seen it, called Unbroken. And in Unbroken, there was a specific part that spoke to me where the plane was shot down. Three guys were in the raft, right? And they start portioning out their food, right? And they said to each other, we have to portion this out. We don't know how long we're going to be on sea. The first guy said, you know, he's hungry, right? He ate all the. By the. By that one night, only one night. By the morning, he ate all the food. The other two had a picture of their family, right? Every morning they look at their family, they look at their family, they look at their family. Only two guys survived that.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Sure.

[Kasim Walker]

The one that died was the one. That one showed selfishness because he ate the food the following day. Two, he had no pictures of his family. There was no why. For me, seeing that spoke to me because my why is my family and my friends, right? They had. I had to be that example. I had to be that example for them to now be able to believe that they can do the things that they probably want to do. When we are conditioned, like you said, coming from the Caribbean and these different things, and when you're conditioned to not fight or just fit into the confines of whatever is set there, that's just how we proceed with life, right? But when you have someone that you grew up with, you know their story, you've seen their pain, their struggle, and then they come to this level that I'm at now, it sends a big message. Every one of my mom, friends, that kids, that is trying to do nails or hair, whatever it is. My mom is like, they can do that business. Let them do it. Why? Because that was that example.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

I like that.

[Kasim Walker]

You know, so my friends that's around, I mean, they're trying different things. One of my friends is opening a restaurant and all this stuff. We went to school together. Again, why? The inspiration. So that one word, why, the why was bigger than me. I love that.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

I love that. It's that Biggie line. And she loves to show me off, of course.

[Kasim Walker]

Yeah.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And smiles every time my face is up in the store. Yeah, I like that.

[Kasim Walker]

That's true. So it boils down to that. As an entrepreneur, if you could identify your why. Right. And hold that close to you, I think that you could overcome many situations. Right. Because you always got to keep looking back as to, you know, what that is. For me, leaving my kids and being in the Caribbean, I fight because I wanted them to know that when I'm down there, I'm building something. So the first time my son came and saw the business, I was like, wow. You know, I think he was probably like, nine or so when I started. You know, my daughter was probably like, two, you know, and then now being able to see that, it just gives me joy, right? Because you weren't the dad that was missing and out playing. You were the dad that was missing and out building. And out building. And then the fact that we can go on vacation and go on trips, and also we're getting that time together. I mean, the why, man, the why. So why is what I want to end this with is, like, that was the real driving force behind the whole thing.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

I couldn't have thought of a better guest on my inaugural episode. You.

[Kasim Walker]

I appreciate you.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

You have helped me break my virginity.

[Kasim Walker]

Popped my cherry.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

You know, like, I'll share something with you. One of the things I was really nervous about in terms of putting together a podcast was that my experience has been that for podcasts to do well, they have to destroy, right? So if you watch the number of podcasts out there that do well, they tend to have something sadistic in the content. This is usually why you'll find there's alcohol on the table, because people have to numb the humanity in themselves so that they can destroy other people.

[Kasim Walker]

Right?

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

And. And we live in this world today where we legitimize destructive behavior by saying, you're keeping it real.

[Kasim Walker]

Right?

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

You know, so if I go on a podcast and I tell all your business, or even if I just throw allegations at you that aren't true, Right. If I start with imma keep it real with y', all, then nobody holds me accountable for my destructive behavior. And I just, you know, my partner and I had this conversation. I was like, I just really want to be clear and make sure that when we do this, we can add that we can give, that we can share. So that's the first thing I want to share with you. The second thing I want to share with you is this was the blessing you gave me. And you don't know this when you do what I do. Maybe let me say it this way. If you are a builder, you wake up every single day, you go to work, you take a brick, you put it on top of another. At the end of the day, you can see with your eyes the thing you've built. If you're an engineer, you can see the bridge you've built. If you're a pilot, you can see the plane you've flown. If you're a mathematician or a teacher, you can see the student you've taught. When you do what I do and you spend your time teaching, giving, mentoring, inspiring. There is a big delay between putting out the seed and seeing somebody who goes, man, you don't even know this, but I was going through stuff, and that seed that you planted landed on my good soil, and I've been able to build this. And so when you came to see me and we were sitting and you were like, man, I was going through those times, and it was just watching your videos that really blessed me because it let me know that in these millions of followers that are, there are actually human beings with real lives, real stories, real struggles, real battles, you know? And my social media team is chasing the metric. And the metric is important, of course, but behind the metric is the meaning of the person whose life has changed. So, brother Walker, you've in me, you found a brother, man. Thank you for that.

[Kasim Walker]

I appreciate the opportunity. I mean, I was able to build.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

On your back, man, I want my 10%. You gotta pay your tithe, right?

[Kasim Walker]

No, definitely. But it was just a great experience. It's a great experience now, but, you know, definitely back then, and just hearing your voice, right, hearing your voice, you know what an entrepreneur is. Cause again, you know, when you're coming into this, you're thinking all it's just gonna be smooth sailing.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Kasim Walker]

But then I'm hearing your voice telling me, man, this ain't what he cracked up to be, and this is not what it is. And this is not what it is. So in my mind, I'm like, he say he's not what. It's attractive to me, so. So I guess this is just the way I'm on the right path. Right? So, you know, I definitely appreciate what you do, and many of my friends, they're impacted by what you do, because I was able to share their word. And a few of them that have business that look at you religiously as well, I'm just one of them. But there are many of them that is impacted by you, and we've used your words to guide us, and your words got me here sitting in front of you.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

I'm humbled. That's it for our first episode, everybody. That's my brother, Khasim Walker. Make sure you look for him on social media. Follow him, check out Clean. Right. His company, he's doing some interesting things in tech now. So I think the future is going to be very exciting. I'm very keen to get your feedback. So hit us up in the comments.

[Kasim Walker]

Let me.

[Vusi Thembekwayo]

Let me know what you like, what you'd like to see more of. Let me know what you think of the format. And wherever you are, just pray for the person next to you. God bless you. Cheers. This podcast was proudly brought to you by my growth fund in partnership with Sound and Sounds Media.