Segment: Being Hungry Isn't Enough - You Need the Right People at the Right Time

Summary

Konnected Minds Podcast with Derrick Abaitey
Episode Segment: Being Hungry Isn't Enough – You Need the Right People at the Right Time
Date: July 29, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the true ingredients of breakthrough success, exploring how raw hunger and ambition are not enough without the right people and timely opportunities. Host Derrick Abaitey leads the conversation with an entrepreneur/business owner, who shares their candid journey through business challenges, the impact of community and mentorship, and the unique dynamics of building confidence and seizing moments—especially in the context of adapting quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana. The discussion powerfully illustrates that while hunger fuels the journey, having aligned people and timely support is the foundation for real transformation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Navigating Crisis and Seeing Opportunity in Chaos

• The guest recounts the challenges and ingenuity required to survive during the COVID-19 lockdowns, including difficulties exporting products and adapting sales strategies.
• When traditional sales channels collapsed, resourcefulness emerged:
  • "I just called them back and told them this is a challenge, my friends. These are the challenges I am facing." (00:43)
• The pivot to essentials proved profitable: nose masks and gun thermometers became primary commodities as demand surged.

2. Making High-Stakes Decisions Under Pressure

• Discusses the dilemma between investing in a shop vs. a delivery van, ultimately deciding on a shop based on trusted advice and risk analysis:
  • "My madame went inside the day after, gave me 11 reasons why she thinks the shop is better than the van… it made sense for me to start a shop than to buy the van." (03:27)
• Decision-making was not solo: Consulted mentors and supporters for critical choices.

3. Investing and Reinvesting in Growth

• All profits were reinvested into inventory:
  • "I plunged all my money into buying inventory stock. So at the point I didn't even have a place to… still leave my head in the room. I mean, you’re full of goods…" (04:37)
• Cultivated business partnerships with schools to become a staple supplier, integrating products into students’ mandatory registration items.

4. The Importance of Strategic Relationships

• Emphasized the need for allies:
  • “I meet right people at the right time. Coincidentally, the people I meet are mostly people who can lead, but they can support.” (08:43)
• Differentiates between leaders and supporters, celebrating the essential but often invisible contributors to one’s success.

5. Hunger vs. Systems & Timing

• While hunger/motivation is huge, it’s not the sole determinant of success:
  • "There are people more hungry than you and not in the position you are?" (08:35 – Interviewer)
  • “Yes, I think there are people… Well, I think… Should I call it systems? And the people they meet. I think that I meet right people at the right time.” (08:39 – 08:43)
• Points out systemic barriers and the role of mentors, community, and timing.

6. Role of Mentorship and Learning from Afar

• Early mentors included virtual or "distance" mentors and influential business books:
  • "One of them is— I used to watch those... there's one Danlock, he's into sales… the book is 'Made in America'…" (07:21–07:38)
• Highlighted the deep impact of studying others’ success and 'hunger'.

7. Giving Back and Community Impact

• Created opportunities not just for self but also for associations and local networks:
  • "I talked to all the association leaders that you need IGF, you need money to run your association. Then I can pay you some money into your… you give me a slot in your registration table." (05:22)
• Belief in mutual upliftment: as the guest grew, so did the people around him.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On taking risks amid uncertainty:
  • "I feared that if I had not sold the noseman I could run at losses. So at 90 CD I sold everything." (02:45)
• On the link between money and social connections:
  • "Tertiary is such that if you have money, you have many friends. My childhood taught me how did they brought me up? I... was taught to be very simple." (04:14)
• On early success and youth:
  • "How old were you?" (Interviewer, 07:03)
  • "I was 17–18 years. Yeah." (Entrepreneur, 07:05)
• On the limits of hunger/motivation alone:
  • "Do you think hunger alone was enough?" (08:26)
  • "It's one of the most influential... but beyond..." (08:29 Entrepreneur)
• On destiny and adaptation:
  • "I wanted to be a telecom engineer... I didn’t have anybody to send me to school after senior high school." (10:02)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Resourcefulness & Early COVID Hustle: 00:29 – 03:08
• Investment Decisions: 03:08 – 04:14
• Scaling Through School Partnerships: 04:37 – 05:22
• The Role of Community and Kintampo: 05:21 – 07:03
• Mentorship and Early Influences: 07:15 – 07:43
• The Debate: Hunger vs. Right People: 08:26 – 09:59
• Personal Reflection on Career Redirection: 10:03 – 10:34

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The Takeaway

This episode is a masterclass in the synergy between grit and social capital. Raw ambition and hunger get you started, but the right mentors, partners, and timing shape what's possible. Professional and personal support networks, adaptability in crisis, and a commitment to bringing others along for the ride separate those who only dream from those who break through.

If you’re striving, remember: Being hungry is vital—but surrounding yourself with the right people is what makes it count.

Transcript

[Grainger Announcer]

Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-granger click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

Very good. The newsmas he said no since I couldn't export the newspapers to me it's not going to pay the cost. I grew lean. It's people's coofies. I mean what trouble have I found myself? But I mean I don't feel risky. So I just called them back and told them this is a challenge, my friends. These are the challenges I am facing. Now you all know the nose master having I mean send it anywhere. In fact it's one or even the the guy that I use his face one of them that tried exporting for me in Accra. So we found a place somewhere in East Lagoon and kept the nose mask. One week passed, two weeks I was praying, I was just praying that. That we will resume school and I don't have the fees. I was only praying for the lockdown to be extended and extended, extended I mean so I was happy anytime and they are doing the quality state of the nation address. My heart will be beeping because I don't know what else is coming. Then after about 3 weeks to 1 month no smarts price rose to 90 cities it went to 20, 25. I don't know if you remember that story. No smarts it even crossed I. It even looked like I sold my early because after when I saw that 90 CD after a record it was still going up but I feared that it can drop down. We have not seen a surge in prices like that before anywhere. So I feared that if I had not sold the noseman I could run at losses. So at 90 CD I sold everything. So that became there because I shared some to my friends, other things. Then my next move I went to buy Gantamoto I think thousand pieces for 130 Ghana City that time you see the francophone countries even before COVID they were using nose masks they were using sophisticated machine like ganters. For us we're not used to that unless you travel outside Ghana we're using the amputee we call auxiliary thermometers. And the ear thermometers, other things, not the forehead, non contact ones. So they had done the lockdown to go border close. But I think the Ivorian border was slow. They didn't close it early. So I had a friend who is still with me now, he's still my friend that I'm. I'm investing some of the business who led me to someone that gave us thousand pieces of gantemometers. We did that. I mean duty, payment, other things. And we brought it in that one too. The gun thermometer. Prices started shooting apart to a point. It got to 1500 Ganachi. Everyone, everybody remembers this story. And I sold mine was I think 900 or 950 for tall people. So it means from just hundreds thousand or eighty thousand, something that I got from the nose mask. Now I'm jumping to almost 900,000. The margins were crazy.

[Interviewer]

I get it.

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

So that is where the breakthrough came in. So I went to my madame about four of them and I asked them that this is how much money I have. I'm buying goods, more of the medical item. Other things to equipment, supplies for my school, other things to sell. How should I do? Should I go for a shop or let's go and buy a van and do deliveries. I had two options that I gave them. That my madame went inside the day after, gave me 11 reasons why she thinks the shop is better than the bank. I see. Including the risk of travel, the risk of, I mean, accident, a lot of things. So when I added that, it was like a simple savvy when I added up or all you see, you had been told research message. So I knew something later about how to pick this service and other things. When I added all those in it, it made sense for me to start a shop than to buy the van. But I was still in school, so I mean, starting a shop would have been challenging.

[Interviewer]

Look, just. Just pause it there. When you made all that money during COVID how did you. How did it make you feel?

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

Oh, I felt good at a point in time. Tertiary is such that if you have money, you have many friends. You understand? My childhood taught me how did they brought me up? I. I was taught to be very simple. Like we live very simple life. So I was still living my simple life with my bicycle, doing my deliveries,

[Interviewer]

making over a million.

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

Yes, yes, yes. I plunged all my money into buying inventory stock. So that at the point I didn't even have a place to. A place to still leave my head in the room. I mean, you're full of goose I guess because it happened in Kintampo. Kintampo. I had to then broaden my supplies. So what I did with. I went back to some of the tutors who had a C. That this time I don't want to be doing my sales independently again. I want the school to accept me as the supplier for the school. So that my goods become part of the prospectus for new applicant. Do you get it? So they over 2000 or 1500 or whatever population, new entrance students. They were buying my books on the registration table.

[Interviewer]

Man, you are very courageous.

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

On the registration table? Yes. So they were renting me the space. I talked to all the association leaders that you need igf, you need money to run your association. Then I can pay you some money into your as my contribution, you give me a slot in your registration table. You see? And this is how parents think. Parents even no matter how poor they are, when they are sending their children to medical school, clinical school, nursing school, physician assistant, they have made their mind that at least they have to buy for them some essential items that are prerequisite for their stay in the school. So the thermometer status of other things. The parents even feel proud that they are able to buy. That is what they. They what they used to call you a doctor or a nurse. So we make it available on the table. I was getting the money up front. If somewhere paying money, why I didn't have stock. You get it? So it became part. Then some of the students were referring us to some other universities, other people. They became award. I mean, initialized supply. But Kentampur as a town played a key role. Okay. The center of Ghana and the center of the world. So all the cars coming from Burkina, Tugu, Wagaboku. There's a rest stop for them in Kentampo, that depot just like in that. All of them stop before they proceed to wherever they are going to start. Other places from all over the north, they stop at Kentampo. There's a place they call Sawaba Market. So there's a man that sells breakfast and cocoa, tea, other things in the morning and at night. I didn't have a shop. So I told him that he should give me a place in this because he was storing

[Interviewer]

during these times. How old were you?

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

20, 17. 16. 1718. I was 17. 18 years. Yeah, 1718.

[Interviewer]

Did you have a mentor at that time?

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

17, 18 years. Yes, yes, I've always had.

[Interviewer]

Who was your mentor at the time?

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

So it was a distance mentor. Okay. One of them is. I used to watch those. I Used to watch him a lot. Then there's one Danlock, he's into sales. I used to watch him. There's a book that I had read. The book is Made in America.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

It's written by some Wharton of Walmart at 1780. Yes, yes.

[Interviewer]

You had read these books. You are following these guys.

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

What about them? Made you follow them to his hunger? His hunger?

[Interviewer]

You were hungry?

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

Yes, I was hungry.

[Interviewer]

Let me stop you here for a minute. So if it's your first time watching Connected Minds or you have been here before but still have not subscribed, do us a favor because majority of the people that watch our videos have not subscribed. This doesn't help us grow beyond what we expect. So help us by hitting the subscribe button. Thank you. Now let's get back to the conversation.

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

I thought that if my father were alive, a lot of things I wouldn't have done, perhaps my life would have been very comfortable. Do you get my point?

[Interviewer]

Do you think hunger enough was enough? Hunger alone was enough.

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

It's one of the. One of the most influential, I mean one, one of the most pivotal, I think reasons. But beyond.

[Interviewer]

Don't you think there are people more hungry than you and not in the position you are?

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

Yes, I think there are people.

[Interviewer]

So what is stopping them?

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

Well, I think. Should I call it systems? And the people they meet. I think that I meet right people at the right time. This is one of the things I meet right people at the right time. Coincidentally, the people I meet are mostly people who can lead, but they can support. There are people like that?

[Interviewer]

No, no. What's the difference?

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

There are people, some people, the, the way they are, they are their Persona, their lifestyle, everything about them. They can't lead. They are not to be leaders. They are too soft. They are too to be leaders. But they can support, okay, they have all it is the managerial acumen to support you, for you to achieve your dream. But if you say they should lead, they may not be able to. And I meet a lot of those people. So they help me as soon as they see my vision and hear of what I want to do. So I can help you. They know that I later on I can become like a bridge for them to cross to wherever they want to go to. But they themselves cannot be the bridge. Yes. So why don't we help you and achieve. And it's true now, a lot of them perhaps, even though for this system we have bought a lot of the things they own now. Perhaps, I don't know. I'm not God. But perhaps they wouldn't have be able. God couldn't have. I mean, they wouldn't have be able to achieve that. But now God has used us to let them get the things that they get. So some people could be more hungry than we are, you know?

[Interviewer]

Yeah. There are people in worse situations than you are.

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

Yeah, that's.

[Interviewer]

Than you were.

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

That's true.

[Interviewer]

You know, you can't be that special.

[Entrepreneur/Business Owner]

That is true. You see, I didn't go to health because I wanted it. It's just now that I have passion for people who are suffering the healthcare. And I've decided to expand more in the health. I wanted to be an engineer up to now. I still have my UMAT admission letter. I still look at it. I wanted to be a telecom engineer because I liked it. I wanted to work in the engineering space and I had. I didn't have anybody to send me to school after senior high school.

[Grainger Announcer]

Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog. H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.