← Money And Wealth With John Hope Bryant
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- [00:00]
John Hope Bryant
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
Wemimo Abe
In business they say you can have better, cheaper or faster, but you only get to pick two. What if you could have all three.
- [00:12]
John Hope Bryant
At the same time?
- [00:13]
Wemimo Abe
That's exactly what Cohere, Thomson Reuters and Specialized Bikes have since they upgraded to the next generation of the cloud. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure OCI is the blazing fast platform for your infrastructure, database, application development and AI needs where you can run any workload in a high availability, consistently high performance environment and spend less than you would with other clouds. How is it faster? OCI's block storage gives you more operations per second cheaper.
- [00:42]
Dexter Thomas
OCI costs up to 50% less for computing, 70% less for storage and 80%.
- [00:49]
Wemimo Abe
Less for networking better. In test after test, OCI customers report lower latency and higher bandwidth versus other clouds. This is the cloud built for AI and all your biggest workloads right now with zero commitment.
- [01:03]
Dexter Thomas
Try OCI for free.
- [01:05]
Wemimo Abe
Head to oracle.com strategic that's oracle.com strategic.
- [01:11]
Richard Karn
Hi, I'm Richard Karn and you may have seen me on TV talking about the world's number one expandable garden hose. Well, the brand new Pocket hose Copperhead with Pocket Pivot is here and it's a total game changer. Oh, old fashioned hoses get kinks and creases at the spigot, but the Copperhead's pocket pivot swivels 360 degrees for full water flow and freedom to water with ease all around your home. When you're all done, this rust proof anti burst hose shrinks back down to pocket size for effortless handling and tidy storage. Plus your super light and ultra durable pocket hose Copperhead is backed with a 10 year warranty. What could be better than that? I'll tell you what an exciting radio exclusive offer just for you for a limited time. You can get a free pocket pivot and their 10 pattern sprayer with the purchase of any size Copperhead hose. Just text water to 64,000. That's water to 64,000 for your two free gifts with purchase w a t e r to 64,000 by texting 64,000.
- [02:05]
Wemimo Abe
You agree to receive recurring automated marketing.
- [02:07]
Richard Karn
Messages from Pocket host. Message and data rates may apply.
- [02:09]
Wemimo Abe
No purchase required.
- [02:09]
Richard Karn
Terms apply.
- [02:09]
Unknown
Available@pockethost.com Terms Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ads. Supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora and as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the Net combined. Learn how podcasting can help your business. Call 844-844 iHeart.
- [02:26]
Dexter Thomas
Are there any pictures of you online? Then you could already be in a massive police database without even knowing it.
- [02:32]
Unknown
Clearview scrapes together images from Facebook, from LinkedIn, from Venmo accounts.
- [02:38]
Dexter Thomas
I'm Dexter Thomas, host of Kill Switch, a podcast about how living in the future is affecting us right now.
- [02:43]
Unknown
Police, they are trusting this software with this magical ability to lead them to the right suspect.
- [02:49]
Dexter Thomas
In this episode, we dive into how cops are using AI and facial recog and sometimes getting it wrong and putting innocent people behind bars.
- [02:57]
Unknown
So if your accuser is this algorithm, but you're not even being told that it was used, let alone given any of the details about how it works.
- [03:06]
Dexter Thomas
Listen to Kill Switch on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [03:13]
John Hope Bryant
Welcome to Money and Wealth with John Hope Bryant, a production of the Black Effect podcast network and iHeartRadio foreign. Hey, hey, hey. This is John Hope Bryant of Money and wealth podcast series season two. I want to thank everybody for making this top 100 podcasts in the country, as well as a top 50 podcast that's for business on Apple and other platforms. The top 50, 50 podcasts for entrepreneurship. That's amongst all categories, by the way, of people and races and places. It's also been a hit internationally on every continent. So I want to thank everybody for helping us to get there on this silver rights movement in the third Reconstruction, taking people from the streets to the suites, helping to unpack capitalism and free enterprise that help people to do for themselves. And it's the James Brown version of affirmative action. Open the door, I'll get it my damn self is the theme of the approach that I take of giving you the tools to empower yourself to change your own life, not have to wait for somebody else. A friend of mine, CEO of KeyBank, once told me that the only true freedom was financial freedom, that every other freedom could be taken from you. And that once you have financial freedom, unless you screw it up, it is yours for life. That's what this podcast series is about, to set you free, to give you the tools to be free in self determination. I want to thank the Black Effect Network and iHeartRadio for their partnership here. And we have a very special guest today, a friend of mine, a bad, bad brother. And in the normal sense, he'd be a bad brother. Because if you're black in America, you got to get up twice, you know, gotta be out. You're twice as intelligent, twice as smart, get up twice as early or twice as Hard stay up twice as late to get half of the deserved rewards. And you're born on probation. In America, if you're black, and no one can feel bad about that because that just puts a weight on your shoulder. You just get to the business. But when you're from Africa, on top of the fact that you're a person of color, in America, it could be even tougher because you're coming into an environment where you don't know the rules, where you don't have friends, you don't have relationship capital. You might have self esteem because Africa have, generally speaking, intact families. And you see people around you who are aspiring, who look like you, but you may have left confidence, less confidence, because you're coming to the biggest economy on the planet where people are hyper competitive and you have nothing to play with. No toys, no resources, no inherited wealth. Nobody's going to give you an internship or apprenticeship or a start you out on second base basically through inheritance or through again, relationship capital. Because if you hang around nine broke people, you'll be the tenth. And the opposite is also true. So this individual is unique and singular. His name is going to be famous one of these days, I predict, as a entrepreneur up from nothing. His name is Wememo Abe. If I say that Nigerian pronunciation, way Mimo, he's gonna correct me if I don't get it right. Wemimo Abe. Did I get that close to right?
- [07:04]
Wemimo Abe
You got it, John. We got to welcome you to the Yoruba culture in Nigeria. You know, I love it.
- [07:09]
John Hope Bryant
I got my African bracelets on, by the way. Nelson Mandela's prison numbers right here. Got my. I wear it every day. He's a founder. Co founder. We're gonna give credit to his co founder. He's the co founder of a company called Isusu, which he's gonna explain where that comes from, where that name comes from. And this podcast is important because now you're going to see somebody other than me who's gone from nothing, literally nothing. From one would argue actually worse, you know, circumstances than me. You'll explain it to building. Hold on now, audience, listen to me. Building a $1 billion valuation company. That's right. From nothing. Literally a small African village, literally coming here with the shirt on his back again. We're gonna unpack this and explain it. Or my dad would say, explain it. We're gonna explain this in details so that no one's unclear what he went through, how he got here. I don't want any excuses from anybody of what they cannot do. Once this podcast is over, he's gonna unpack his entire story. And now the company that you probably have never heard of before today, because it's business to business in many ways. He's a business doing business with other businesses and with governments. It's not necessarily retail focused, but this company you've never heard of, maybe Isusu now has a valuation on market, on Wall street, in market, in the marketplace of institutional investments of $1 billion. Plus investors are rewarding him for building a great enterprise. So this topic today is from immigrant Hustle to Unicorn Impact, how to build a billion dollar business in a decade. Please join me in welcoming my good friend Wemimo Abe said properly in the Nigerian dialect, you got it.
- [09:15]
Wemimo Abe
You got it. Well, thanks a lot, John. It's such a joy to be here today. And first off, thank you for the work that you do for the community. Not just rhetoric, keeping it real and giving us a pathway and above all, a playbook to be successful in any environment in this country. So just really excited to be here and, you know, share my story, how I did it and the collective and the village, including people like you, that essentially made this happen.
- [09:48]
John Hope Bryant
He gives me outsize and probably undue credit. He keeps saying that I helped inspire this business, et cetera, et cetera. And we've hired him. We hired him actually at the company I used to own that I've since sold, but built from zero to $150 million, which was the Promise Homes company. We hired him there and then we partnered with them at Operation Hope. But let me tell you how good a business plan is. Businessman this guy is, he says, oh, John, you did this, you did that. And, you know, got my. Got my heart all open up and whatever. And he's the humble businessman, right? So my speaking fee is about 50 grand. And I lose money and I go get speeches. I gotta make $300,000 a day for my enterprise. It's 3, 350. But. But you know, when I accepted a commercial speaking fee and then expenses, all that stuff when Mimo has gotten me twice for free. And I don't mean when he was starting. I don't mean like back in the day when he was hustling. I mean recently, because, oh, John's my man. Oh, John, he's. Oh, my God, you helping people. Oh, oh, yeah, Yeah, I guess I am. Okay. Yeah. What date? But it's been a pleasure. I'm inspired. Every time I have gone to show up at one of his meetings, I wanted to, frankly, all seriousness, I Wanted to pour into him, to invest into him, to let people know. I backed him. To try to explain what. What to brag on him in ways he could not brag on himself. To explain to people why this is a good investment. The one they made, the one they still need to make. I. You know, somebody once told me when Mimo, that the whole purpose of power is to collect it so that you can intelligently and smartly give it away. So any power or influence I might have, I am honored to use it. Whether it's through Operation Hope or some little church that can afford to have a guy like me show up or a non profit group or somebody who's truly just striving. Now, if you're a commercial enterprise, you're a for profit business. That's a different thing that capitalism is not, is a gladiator sport. Business is not personal. They should pay. But I speak for a fee so I can then afford to speak for free, Right? And you give back in the same way you come and speak at our annual meeting. You've never ever. Me and all the rest of my. You and all the rest of my friends, I might add, never asked, never sent me a bill, never sent me even expense report. You just show up and do the thing and I thank you for that. And it's not. We've never even talked about this. It's just an unspoken thing between friends and people made it like service is the rent you pay on the success you get.
- [12:33]
Wemimo Abe
Exactly.
- [12:34]
John Hope Bryant
To society, giving back is the rent you pay on the success that you get. So let's talk about the thing that I'm impressed most about you is your spirit, your authenticity, which my sense is, comes from mom and maybe dad, but certainly family. Talk to us. Explain your upbringing from Africa and what that was like. How old were you? What's the situation and circumstances? Tell us about your parents, right? And then let's get into what came next. How the heck did you get here?
- [13:13]
Wemimo Abe
Absolutely, John. I grew up in the slums of Lagos, Nigeria. I lost my father at the age of two and I was raised by my mother and two very spirited sisters. Just to give you and paint a picture on how I grew up. I didn't have television or electricity for the first seven years of my life. We didn't have running toilets or running water. But one thing my mother believed in, despite all those destitution of our social position, was education. She wasn't going to compromise on education. She worked at the post office for over 21 years. She poured into Me and made sure I went to one of the best high schools in Nigeria. So when I went to that high school and I saw all the kids in my high school going to the us going to Europe, and I saw that in some cases they had better grades than some of them. I said I could do what they are doing. They don't have two heads, they don't have four eyes. With hard work, perseverance, even if I don't have all the things they have, I could get ahead. So at the age of 15 and a half, going to my 16th birthday, I got into university, one of the best universities in Nigeria. I said no because those other kids were going to the United States and Europe. I wanted to study, I self study the SATs. I had to learn American English, which is different from British English. Passed, went to the embassy and applied to the University of Minnesota and got in. And I immigrated from 80 degree weather in Lagos, I'd never seen snow in my Life to negative 22 degrees in Minnesota.
- [14:57]
John Hope Bryant
Wow.
- [14:58]
Wemimo Abe
Which was a, which was a car to build an experience.
- [15:02]
John Hope Bryant
But let's back up for a minute. How did you. It wasn't she for your mother to get you, put you through school? It wasn't. And by the way, we, for those who are listening to this versus getting a visual of way Mimo. He's not, we're not Talking about an 80 year old guy here. We're not talking about. This has happened, you know, 60 years ago when he says that it was no running water, no electricity, no proper toilets. We're talking about, you know, post 2000, right?
- [15:28]
Wemimo Abe
Yeah, yeah. This is to 2021. 2022. This is recent.
- [15:33]
John Hope Bryant
Recently.
- [15:33]
Wemimo Abe
Yeah.
- [15:34]
John Hope Bryant
Wait a minute. So hold it. Back up, slow down. Wait a minute. What year did you come from Nigeria?
- [15:41]
Wemimo Abe
2009.
- [15:43]
John Hope Bryant
2009.
- [15:44]
Wemimo Abe
Yes.
- [15:45]
John Hope Bryant
Okay, everybody listening to this. Enough with excuses. Racism is like rain is either gathering somewhere or it's falling. So you might as well get out an umbrella and the color you like, start scrolling through it because it's not going to change. So you must. This guy just told you. I mean it was. I thought he's gonna say 2002, 2005. 2000. Correct me? No, no, John, it was 1990, late 19, you know. No, no, no, no. He said this was, you know, this is very recently. 2008, 2009, 2010, the last 15 years. He wasn't even here. Nobody. His family was here.
- [16:28]
Wemimo Abe
Right.
- [16:29]
John Hope Bryant
And he's killed it. He's killing the game. We'll get to that in a minute. So Mother worked at the post office.
- [16:35]
Wemimo Abe
Right.
- [16:36]
John Hope Bryant
You guys lived essentially in what they call in South Africa, shanty, a shanty town. I don't know. What do they call them in Nigeria?
- [16:42]
Wemimo Abe
Just the slums, you know.
- [16:44]
John Hope Bryant
Okay, and how did you get a. How did you get a plane ticket and a plan to America? Was that also mom?
- [16:53]
Wemimo Abe
It wasn't. My mom was upset with me because I didn't want to go to the local university because that's what they've worked on all their lives. But I had a bigger dream, I had a bigger ambition because all the kids in my high school were going. And I thought I was smart, I could operate on the same level. So one of the things I did to save to come here, I got on a $600 Qatar Airlines ticket from Nigeria, which is the cheapest one. It took me 29 hours to fly to America because I had to go on a layover in Doha. The way I got that 600 plus dollars was, you know, church members helped. I also used to help drill wells. So in Nigeria, it's very mechanical. You take a shovel, someone is drilling and someone is taking the sand out. So I did manual labor to contribute to my ticket. Church members helped, family members helped. And that's the power of collectivism. It's the power of the fact that I am who I am because of who we all are. I am not just alone. I stand on the shoulders of so many, including my mother, people like you, John, and others that have sacrificed for me to be where I am. So that's how I came here. Didn't complain it was 2020 plus 24 hours plus flights. But I was just excited to be here and contribute my own humble coda to this country.
- [18:28]
Richard Karn
Hi, I'm Richard Karn and you may have seen me on TV talking about the world's number one expandable garden hose. Well, the brand new pocket hose Copperhead with pocket pivot is here and it's a total game changer. Old fashioned hoses get kinks and creases at the spigot, but the Copperhead's pocket pivot swivels 360 degrees for full water flow and freedom to water with ease all around your home. When you're all done, this rust proof anti burst hose shrinks back down to pocket size for effortless handling and tidy storage. Plus your super light and ultra durable pocket hose Copperhead is backed with a 10 year warranty. What could be better than that? I'll tell you what an exciting radio exclusive offer just for you for a limited time. You can get a free pocket pivot and their 10 pattern sprayer with the purchase of any size Copperhead hose. Just text water to 64,000. That's water to 64,000 for your two free gifts with purchase W A T E R to 64,000.
- [19:22]
Wemimo Abe
By texting 64,000, you agree to receive recurring automated marketing messages from Pocket Hose.
- [19:25]
Richard Karn
Message and data rates may apply.
- [19:26]
Wemimo Abe
No purchase required. Terms apply.
- [19:27]
Unknown
Available@pockethose.com Terms Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only iHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business? Think iHeart streaming radio and podcasting. Call 844-844 iHeart to get started. That's 844-844 iHeart.
- [19:59]
Dexter Thomas
Are there any pictures of you online? I'm not just talking about Google, I'm talking anywhere.
- [20:04]
Unknown
Clearview scrapes together images From Facebook, from.
- [20:08]
Dexter Thomas
LinkedIn, from Venmo accounts is now being used by police departments all across the country to match criminal suspect photos. And sometimes it makes mistakes.
- [20:18]
Unknown
So in this one case, two of their search results that I think were in the top 10 of the search results were Michael Jordan, a picture of Michael Jordan, but cops are still using.
- [20:26]
Dexter Thomas
It to make arrests.
- [20:27]
Unknown
Police, they are trusting this software to lead them to the right suspect. But you're not even being told that it was used, let alone given any of the details of about how it works.
- [20:37]
Dexter Thomas
This is not Minority Report. This is happening right now. People are getting arrested and doing actual time in jail after being picked out by a computer. I'm Dexter Thomas, host of Killswitch, where every Wednesday we explain the right now of living in the future. You can turn off the computer, but do not let the computer turn you off. Listen to Kill switch in the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [21:03]
Unknown
Jan Marsalek was a model of German corporate success.
- [21:06]
John Hope Bryant
It seemed so damn simple for him.
- [21:09]
Unknown
Also it turned out a fraudster.
- [21:12]
Dexter Thomas
Where does the money come from? That was something that I always was questioning myself.
- [21:17]
Unknown
But what if I told you that.
- [21:18]
Dexter Thomas
Was the least interesting thing about him? His secret office was less than 500 meters down the road.
- [21:24]
John Hope Bryant
I often ask myself now, did I know the true Jan at all?
- [21:29]
Wemimo Abe
Certain things in my life since then have gone terribly wrong I don't know if they followed me to my home. It looks like the ingredients of a really grand spy story because this ties together the Cold War with the new one.
- [21:47]
Unknown
Listen to Hot Agent of chaos on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [22:05]
John Hope Bryant
So breaking this into pieces, I want the audience to learn the lesson of up from nothing and mindset that his mother was was broke, but she wasn't poor. To be broke was economic. To be poor is a disabling frame of mind, depressed condition of your spirit. You must vow never ever, ever to be poor again. That's something we say at Operation Hope all the time. My mother taught me because she told me she loved me every day of my life. So I can we have that in common. And my mother didn't agree with my entrepreneurial pursuit. She wanted me to get a safe job so that she wouldn't have to worry about me. But I had a bigger dream, just like you did. And I decided to take my to bet on me, just like you did. We have a lot of parallels in this story, but when people talk about collective economics, I want to get this straight. They're not talking about the output, they're talking about the input. Collective economics works only on the input. In other words, he's just told you he didn't have enough money to get that airplane ticket and to get the apartment or whatever for the first month. So the church members, the family members, the friends, they believed in the dream. So collective economics. Please listen to me, everybody. Collective economics participated in. Again, I say every good relationship is where 2 +2 equals 6, 8, or 10. It's multiplication, not addition. Created a lot of it. They bought his ticket, they helped him, they invested in him. They were the venture capital investment in him. But the output of that had to be him. So in other words, if you try to take collective economics and put it on the back end, and now you've got 20 bosses trying to run an enterprise and nobody knows what they're doing or half of them don't. You're going in different directions with the best of intentions. The Bible says a house divided cannot stand. You cannot have 50 bosses, you cannot have 50 visions. So collective economics as a operating structure, like if I had A camel is a horse designed by committee. A camel is a horse designed by committee. You cannot have a committee in an executive. You need to make crisp decisions and move on them. And somebody's got to bet the farm on a vision. So they collectively brought, put their economics together, resources to Invest in a singular product and then they let him go pursue a dream that they didn't understand.
- [24:43]
Wemimo Abe
Right.
- [24:44]
John Hope Bryant
They believed in it, but didn't really understand it. So audience, don't be romantic about economics and business. Business is not personal. Capitalism is a gladiator sport. Collective economics is the input more than the output. Right. By the way, you can have, after he makes his money and builds his wealth and we continue hope he continues to do very well, he would then create a foundation, the Isusu foundation or the Waimemo Abbey Foundation. His mother, in his mother's name or something. And then collectively the community that invested in him can get back together on the committee or on the board if he likes to figure out where to collectively invest resources in philanthropy. But that's after you made the wealth. So now you've gotten to America and you went from one of the hottest places in the world to one of the coldest.
- [25:35]
Wemimo Abe
Right. So I came. I'd never seen snow before. I came here with a three piece suits ready to conquer America. And I got into negative 22 degrees. I thought people were living in a freezer. But I was just so grateful to be part of this society because I had read and see what was possible. But then real life started. I wanted to go to college at the University of Minnesota. I had got in, I was really excited. And as international students, you don't get Pell grants, you don't get financial aid. You have to pay every dollar out of pocket. So my mother and I went to a bank to borrow money. The bank not because they are racist. I want to make sure this is clear. Denied us because we didn't have a credit score. We didn't have the financial identity in America, which is the most important three digits number to get financing. We didn't have it and rightfully so. They said no to us and we had to go borrow money from a predatory lender at over 400% interest rate. My mother sold my dad's wedding ring again. Our new church in Minnesota poured into us. Church members borrowed us money. And that's how we got started for me to go to my first semester of college in this great country.
- [27:03]
John Hope Bryant
Another collective economic story.
- [27:06]
Wemimo Abe
So when I got to college, I learned a lot about myself. It was incredibly cold. I'd never seen snow. People helped me out. Both black, white, Asian, Latino. Everyone was just there. And that's the true genius. And that's what's special about this country. Ask and it shall be given unto you. I did crazy things like learn how to deer Hunt and ice fish. So when you see this Nigerian guy with a funny accent, you know, and with a 12 gauge shotgun, deer hunting and ice fishing, it confuses people. But I am a cacophony. I am a noise of so many people that have invested in and poured on me. And my ultimate sort of giving back to that is service, love and try as much as possible to pay it forward. That's really what life is all about from my vantage point. So. And I always believe, like Bishop Desmond Tutu once said, we're a masterpiece in the making. We just need people to help us and set that together. So that was the journey that brought me to this great country. And what led to my company and my co founder coming together to make this what it is today was really simple. You know, I had worked in corporate America, places like Goldman Sachs and PwC, buying and selling companies.
- [28:34]
John Hope Bryant
I mentioned your co founder's name by the way. Let's give him some credit.
- [28:36]
Wemimo Abe
My co founder's name is Simeon Goyal. You know, Samir was born in Schenectady, New York. Indian immigrants came to this great country and you know, we met during a global conference and we also found out that we were in school together at nyu. He was an undergrad, I was in graduate school. But we had this spirited conversation about my background, about his parents background also. And we wanted to build a company that where you come from, what you look like or how much is in your pocket doesn't determine where you end up in life. Right. We wanted people to have an opportunity regardless of your social economic status. And that's what led us to co found the company called Isusu. And by the way, Isusu in West African Yoruba culture is one of the oldest forms of collectivism. It's a short form for if you want to go fast, you go alone. But if you want to go far, we go together. Why? Our futures are inextricably tied together. That was the concept of it. But the main idea was simple. The idea was folks send on an average eleven hundred dollars to their landlords every year. You pay rent on an average that rent 110 million people in this country. Rent. If you do that math, price times quantity, it means renters are sending close to $1.4 trillion. Let me repeat myself. Close to $1.4 trillion to their landlord every year. When we got in this business, this data never showed up on their credit score.
- [30:24]
John Hope Bryant
That's right.
- [30:25]
Wemimo Abe
So remember when my mother and I came, they were renting, we had people renting but that data didn't make us be seen. Only if that bank had seen that information would. Our circumstance would have been different. So that's what led us to create the company that when you pay rent, that data should show up on your credit score. Because we want to give credit where credit is due. Whether you're in South Dakota, whether you're in North Dakota, whether you're in Montgomery, Alabama, New York City, California or Wyoming. Everyone, regardless of what you look like, when you pay your largest monthly expense, it should show up on your credit score. Because then that expense can show that you're credit worthy if you're paying on time. And hopefully one day you can get the proverbial American dream of homeownership a better credit. The reason why this is also important, and John says this every time, if you have a poor credit score, it can cost you over a quarter million dollars in interest over your lifetime. It is expensive to be poor folks. And creating the solution offers us an opportunity to avoid that kind of perpetual cycle that gets people to be in this trap. So that's what we created. And during this journey, it was really, really hard. Really, really hard. You know, myself and Samir worked in corporate America. We quit our jobs and we went to investors to invest in us. 326 people said no. 326 people said no. I remember that number because every no feels like it pierced to your heart. But you know one thing I will always tell you, you will never out walk myself and Samir. You will never outrun us. We would be there, caught trying, and we're going to be there with our idea day in, day out, trying as much as possible to make it successful. So the nos were just better inspiration for us to tell a more compelling story, take feedback from people. Some of their feedback were valid. So when people tell you no, or when people give you feedback, every feedback is a gift. Whether you like it or not, every feedback is a gift. So we took the feedback, we incorporated it on someone, bet on us, and invest the first $1.6 million in this company as a collective. In a few years later, they turned into 2.3 million. We did another raise of 10 million. And now, which I would let John sort of introduce, the company is now valued at over a billion dollars, having raised over $150 million. Now, I remember when I called my mother the woman that barely had a high school degree, the woman that sacrificed everything, the woman that cried when I was leaving corporate America and asked, who's going to pay my rent? Now I Called her up and said, hey, we just raised all this money and the company's value at a billion dollars. You know what she said?
- [33:33]
John Hope Bryant
What's that?
- [33:34]
Wemimo Abe
She said, how's the wedding planning coming along? It's so funny. Right. Because she did not understand what just happened. Right. But it is because of people like my mother, Eunice, that we build what we build. And it's a clear message that if we fund ideas, we always ask people to think outside the box.
- [33:57]
John Hope Bryant
Yes.
- [33:58]
Wemimo Abe
But we never fund ideas outside of the box. But it's for people like Eunice that minds their own business, that does two job even till today, does two job as a personal care aid. The number two profession in America. She's the epitome of everyday American didn't understand that our child has raised over 150 million and the company's valued at a billion. All she cared about is when are you getting married, when are you going to reproduce and when am I going to have a grandchildren?
- [34:26]
John Hope Bryant
Right, right.
- [34:27]
Wemimo Abe
That is the true beauty.
- [34:28]
John Hope Bryant
Can you pay your rent?
- [34:30]
Wemimo Abe
Exactly. That's it. Can you do your basic shirts? And that's what every American wants. Every American, whether you're black, blue, red, whatever political affiliation you belong, people just want a better life.
- [34:44]
John Hope Bryant
Yeah.
- [34:44]
Wemimo Abe
And that's something we need to understand.
- [34:47]
John Hope Bryant
So going back to the God bless Eunice, by the way, is she in. Is she still in Africa or she in America now?
- [34:53]
Wemimo Abe
She's in Minnesota now.
- [34:55]
John Hope Bryant
Minnesota, Right.
- [34:56]
Wemimo Abe
And my mother, regardless of what I have, still works as a personal care aid. Top five professional in America, taking care of elder people. Walks two jobs and I have to beg her to stop. And she's not stopping. And pays attaches every year.
- [35:10]
John Hope Bryant
Yeah. She gives, she has, she has dignity and self respect. She wants to do it for herself, which is beautiful. But now she knows unconsciously she's got a backup plan, which is her son. She started with community.
- [35:23]
Wemimo Abe
I don't think she knows. John, let me give you another story, okay. When she was renting, she uses a Susu to report our rent. And then she called me, she's just like, yeah, I want to let you know I reported my rents. Those issues, how do I verify? I called customer support and I was like, wait a minute, you called customer support at Isusu? And it's like, yeah, I want to know when those Isusu people reflects my credit score and make sure this thing's showing up because I want to buy a house. Right. This is. I'm like, wait a minute. Like, do you get what you're Talking about. She's like, yeah, I know you work there. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. I co founded the company, like, whatever. But let me just tell you what is going on. I need to call this customer support. What's their number? I'm like, oh my God, are you kidding me right now? It's like, what's their number? I need to call them. We have to be responsible so I can get ready for my mortgage process. She doesn't still understand the magnitude of what's going on. And she's the only person that could give me the basic conversation. And I like it that way. She still doesn't know what is going on. And it's the most beautiful thing.
- [36:28]
John Hope Bryant
Yeah. And by the way, where would she have gotten that from? Where would she have heard the word founder in her life? What would she have, where would she have heard or understood the phrase founder, co founder, chief executive officer, principal shareholder, major investor? Hundred million dollars, frankly $1 million billion dollars. I mean, that's something you read about in the newspaper. That's somebody else's story, right? You'll pay any attention to it. You just trying to survive. You got, you got, you got too much month at the end of your money. You're just trying to get the payments made. So. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. How do I get the customer service? Exactly when you get married, exactly when you get grandchildren. Yeah, yeah, okay, whatever. Can you pay your rent? Right. And my mother, My mother and father, the exact same way I came. I came home several times with achievements that were just, they just couldn't relate to. And so in my father's case, he literally would dismiss it. My dad had never met the city councilman in the city of la. And I came home one day and dad, the President of the United States. President of the United States of America mentioned my name like, you know, recognize me? Which president? It was President. I think, I think this was Reagan. It was Reagan or Bush. Oh, you know, Republican. I don't, I mean, he didn't know what to do with it, so he dismissed it. Right. And it hurt me. It hurt my feelings back then. I now realize that my dad didn't know any better.
- [37:57]
Wemimo Abe
Right.
- [37:58]
John Hope Bryant
But I stopped bringing stuff to my father because I knew that this was. I mean, I, I couldn't get advice for where I was going from where I came from, even though I couldn't go where I'm coming from without them backing me to begin with. So I was forever grateful. But they, I realized that this was over. Their, their, their skis with regard to experience. And your mother is the salt of the earth. She is the epitome of every mother's experience and story in the world. And you would not be you without her. But it's also great that she doesn't recognize what you've done in many ways because it keeps you grounded.
- [38:41]
Dexter Thomas
It did.
- [38:41]
Wemimo Abe
It does. It does. My mother always reminds me that vanity upon vanity, you came to this life naked. You're either going to be cremated, you're either going to be buried. So whatever you think you have, one day your lease would expire on this thing called Earth. And what would people say about you all? The only thing that's certain, John, is our lease would expire on this thing called Earth and we will be gone.
- [39:06]
John Hope Bryant
And you're not reporting that to isisu.
- [39:14]
Wemimo Abe
And you know the biggest realization for me in this process and you know it goes back to someone. Something Mel Robbins said, said people can only meet you as far as they've met themselves.
- [39:26]
John Hope Bryant
Right?
- [39:27]
Wemimo Abe
She's to your point, can comprehend the word founder, chick executive officer, even if she has seen that, can comprehend that someone from our lineage can be there. And I understand that. And I also appreciate the very basic conversations because it keeps me grounded, it keeps me honest, and it keeps me focused. Everything can be taken away from you. No one is invisible.
- [39:51]
John Hope Bryant
Yeah.
- [39:56]
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- [40:51]
Wemimo Abe
You agree to receive recurring automated marketing.
- [40:52]
Richard Karn
Messages from Pocket host. Message and data rates may apply.
- [40:54]
Wemimo Abe
No purchase required.
- [40:55]
Richard Karn
Terms apply.
- [40:55]
Unknown
Available@pockethost.com Terms Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only iHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business? Think iHeart, streaming radio and podcasting. Call 844-844-IHeart to get started. That's 844-844, iHeart.
- [41:27]
Dexter Thomas
Are there any pictures of you online? I'm not just talking about Google. I'm talking anywhere.
- [41:32]
Unknown
Clearview scrapes together images from Facebook, from LinkedIn, from Venmo accounts.
- [41:38]
Dexter Thomas
That database is now being used by police departments all across the country to match criminal suspect photos. And sometimes it makes mistakes.
- [41:46]
Unknown
So in this one case, two of the search results that I think were in the top 10 of the search results were Michael Jordan. Just a picture of Michael Jordan.
- [41:53]
Dexter Thomas
But cops are still using it to make arrests.
- [41:55]
Unknown
Police, they are trusting the software to lead them to the right suspect. But you're not even being told that it was used, let alone giving in any of the details about how it works.
- [42:05]
Dexter Thomas
This is not Minority Report. This is happening right now. People are getting arrested and doing actual time in jail after being picked out by a computer. I'm Dexter Thomas, host of Kill Switch, where every Wednesday we explain the right now of living in the future. You can turn off the computer, but do not let the computer turn you off. Listen to Kill switch in the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [42:31]
Unknown
Jan Marsalek was a model of German corporate success.
- [42:34]
John Hope Bryant
It seemed so damn simple for him.
- [42:37]
Unknown
Also, it turned out a fraudster.
- [42:40]
Dexter Thomas
Where does the money come from? That was something that I always was questioning myself.
- [42:45]
Unknown
But what if I told you that.
- [42:46]
Dexter Thomas
Was the least interesting thing about him? His secret office was less than 500 meters down the road.
- [42:52]
John Hope Bryant
I often ask myself now, did I know the true Jan at all?
- [42:57]
Wemimo Abe
Certain things in my life since then have gone terribly wrong. I don't know if they followed me to my home. It looks like the ingredients of a really grand spy story because this ties together the Cold War with the new one.
- [43:15]
Unknown
Listen to Hot Money, Agent of chaos on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [43:33]
John Hope Bryant
For most of the years I was grinding my family other than holidays were invisible. I was focused and I was working and they couldn't really relate to what they had, what I was doing. They're doing a 9 to 5 job or they were in the military and they were doing something struck structured in their life. What's John John doing? They call me John John. What's John John doing? Or you know, what's JHB doing? Whatever. I don't know. He's giving a speech somewhere. He's. I don't know, he's meeting some people in New York about something. I don't know what he does. And everybody would show up if I had some money to distribute. But that again, communal. That is, that is communal holidays were communal again was gift giving. Gift giving. And I didn't, not only did I not resent it, I accepted that that was just. It's just a different, a different role that I had to. And. And I became a leader in the family with something that they didn't understand. I'm the leader, but they have no understanding of how I got there. What I do. All I know is that money falls from this tree and lands in their pocket.
- [44:41]
Wemimo Abe
Exactly.
- [44:42]
John Hope Bryant
And so it was a. It would be a mistake for me. I'm listening to when people listening to this. If you have, if you become successful because you're an expert in, you know, you've become the best football player on the planet, you got to drafted in the NFL. You're there because you spent 20, 30, 40 hours a week perfecting your game over a decade or two. Don't then turn, turn around. Take the money from that contract and give it to cousin Pookie and them who have no experience in financial management, have no experience in investment. You want to have the same criteria that you, that the NFL had about you, which were you the best of the best of the best, and you've proven it on the field. You want to turn that money over to somebody who is the best of the best of the best and who's proven it on the, on the field of their endeavors. And they have credentials and references to back it up. Don't give that, that money to somebody you like in your family. They will. You will go broke and they're going to go shopping. And then when you come looking for your money, they'll be like, what are you, what are you tripping about? You're already rich. Right. They can't really. They just assume it's going to keep flowing. And, and if you put the wings on a pig and hope it'll fly, it's not the pig fault. It's you, you should expect pig fly. So there's a lot of pressure on a leader to be almost all things to all people. And let's go back now to the 350 times or whatever you were told no. I love what you say and I want to dig a little deeper because I will often say I take no for vitamins. That is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm over round it through it. I'm going to get to it. And you can't go without legitimate suffering. It seemed to me that those 350 or whatever that number is of turndowns were actually investments, just non monetary. Right. Because as you said, you took that feedback. I want you to go a little deeper than that. You took that feedback.
- [46:42]
Wemimo Abe
Yeah.
- [46:42]
John Hope Bryant
Even if it was a no. Right. It made it valuable. Talk about that a little bit.
- [46:46]
Wemimo Abe
Yeah, let me talk about that a little bit. So Samir and I remember to your point, like my mother, we're figuring it out. We don't have anyone in our family that's created a company like this. Aspiration are beyond our wildest imagination. Right. So we have all these things going against us. So we learned the first presentation didn't have the what you call the mental model. The second presentation, we're not thinking big enough. The third presentation, people didn't like the idea. We just continue to get data points and all those data points, you know, is really, really important to make sure you get to the final destination. I always think that every situation you encounter in life, it will change you. It would despair or no longer satisfy you.
- [47:36]
John Hope Bryant
Right.
- [47:37]
Wemimo Abe
That's the arc of the journey. So we told a more compelling story. So when we got to the 327th person, they're like, wow. It's all the feedback, all the failures of that 326. On the darkest day of the 326 journey, myself and Sameer, we just closed a $20,000 contract for my alma mater, University of Minnesota. But we are both in $100,000 in credit card debt. We had nothing. We couldn't afford a hotel room. We had a genius idea to go slum it out at Denny's and walk all night and take a airplane to San Francisco to continue to raise money. At 4am in the morning, we started dozing off and we got kicked out of a Denny's. The reason why this is important to everyone is failure is the only guarantee. If you don't fail and you're daring to do something great, failure is an inevitable. But you should also remember failure is also not Permanent.
- [48:35]
John Hope Bryant
By the way, he just used the British English on you. We would say inevitable. American English would say inevitable. I'm gonna try to translate for you. What did you say? You're right. You're right.
- [48:55]
Wemimo Abe
So one thing that everyone must understand, listening to this podcast, is there's no resolution to life's problems.
- [49:02]
John Hope Bryant
That's right.
- [49:03]
Wemimo Abe
There's none. It's a continuum. It's a journey. And you will fail. It's the only guarantee. But it is how you respond, how you get up, how you adapt, how you show up, how you did different. And one of the reasons why I always say John played a key role in some of these darkest days, he always says something that resonates with me. There's always a rainbow after the storm. You just have to fight through it. And you know what? There's an African American saying, if you hang around the barbershop, sooner or later, you're going to get a haircut. And all myself and Samir did was hang out there. Someone came into the barbershop. Someone was getting an echo, like, what year we're gonna die here. We're not gonna eat until we get our air cut. I'm bald. We got.
- [49:50]
John Hope Bryant
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And. And now you're on the barbershop.
- [49:56]
Wemimo Abe
A lot of barbershops.
- [49:58]
John Hope Bryant
So. So you got that first. After 326 no's, you got a yes on the three. 327th.
- [50:08]
Wemimo Abe
Yes.
- [50:08]
John Hope Bryant
So a friend of mine, Tony Wrestler, who owns the Atlanta Hawks here in Atlanta, would say, if you don't quit, you can't fail. So you just never left the barbershop until you got a. Got a haircut. Somebody's going to give you a haircut.
- [50:25]
Wemimo Abe
Yeah.
- [50:25]
John Hope Bryant
It was just a matter of when.
- [50:27]
Wemimo Abe
Right.
- [50:28]
John Hope Bryant
And you just kept at it. Kept at it, kept at it. So now you go to get this first. You got your first sale for 20,000. You flew, I guess, to raise some more money because you couldn't stay overnight. You couldn't place the state. So you. You literally stayed up overnight. I've done that before to get on the plane. Did you start closing one deal after another after that? And did you live off the sales, or did an investor finally show up and say, okay, here's a, you know, here's a bucket of money. What. What happened next?
- [50:56]
Wemimo Abe
Great question. So out of that collective experience of all the no's, we finally had an investor that bet on us, and they wrote a significant check into the company. And from there, we raised $1.6 million in our seed funding. So that was the first major bet that huge outside capital took on us and others participated to make sure we're able to raise $1.6 million to build what the company is now today.
- [51:25]
John Hope Bryant
And that person who put the seed money in that first investor, we don't have to name names. They in all likelihood got a larger share of the opportunity because they took the larger risk.
- [51:37]
Wemimo Abe
Yes.
- [51:38]
John Hope Bryant
So we never talked about this before. I'm just making a presumption, listening to this. Don't get upset because folks want a high return for a high risk. That's the way the world works.
- [51:50]
Wemimo Abe
Yes.
- [51:51]
John Hope Bryant
Don't. Don't call them names. Don't call them greedy. No, they're taking a risk. They could lose everything.
- [51:57]
Wemimo Abe
Right.
- [51:58]
John Hope Bryant
And they lose everything and come to you, you say, hey, you know, that's what it. That's the risk of doing business. Right. So when you hit, when you do well, don't be resentful. When you got to pay that person, what the part of that upside. I'd rather have 10% of something than a hundred percent of nothing.
- [52:17]
Wemimo Abe
Exactly.
- [52:18]
John Hope Bryant
So. So as they became more successful, they had to give up less of the company, less of the upside to investors is my guess. Right.
- [52:29]
Wemimo Abe
Okay. 1,000%. Just to give you an idea, that first investor invested roughly, you know, say, $500,000. That $500,000 is now what, 50 million?
- [52:46]
John Hope Bryant
15 million?
- [52:47]
Wemimo Abe
55.
- [52:48]
John Hope Bryant
050. Wow. That's amazing. That's what happens when you make the right bet.
- [52:55]
Wemimo Abe
Right.
- [52:56]
John Hope Bryant
They can live. They don't make another investment the rest of their life.
- [52:59]
Wemimo Abe
That's it.
- [53:00]
John Hope Bryant
Okay, so in the last few minutes, we've got. Why don't you. A mix of where you are now. So what's your business model now? What are you most proud of in, in the achievements in the last few years? Right. Where are you going? Right. How can people help who are listening to this?
- [53:19]
Wemimo Abe
Right?
- [53:20]
John Hope Bryant
Because there's a broad range of folks who listen to my podcast, from billionaires to millionaires to thousandaires, somebody trying to buy some air to government leaders. I mean, they're all over the map. People listen to this podcast to help you. How can they help you? And then what advice do you have for strivers as a comment? What advice? Suggestions?
- [53:41]
Wemimo Abe
So I will start with our business model. So we work with large owners and operators of real estate or anyone or businesses or employers. We charge $2 per door per month. We have 5 million units across the U.S. you can do the math.
- [53:57]
John Hope Bryant
So $2 per door per month. Okay. People who are not good At English. That was a proper way of saying door. He speaks proper English. It's not a right.
- [54:16]
Wemimo Abe
Right. Per units, per apartment, units per month. So that's the business model. Simple. It creates a win win. And people get rent reporting, they get free tax filing, they get financial coaching from Operation Hope and to be able to get financial health, because that's the civil rights matter of our time right now. You know, you get resources from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Financial coaching really, really important to set you up for success. So we've now built a platform for that. So we've grown. We're one of the largest, if not the largest reporter of this data in the country and work with 75% of the largest owners and operators of real estate in America. So it's there. You can find us with your employers. Employers also buy this as a financial health benefit for folks. How can people be helpful? Number one, we need your advice. Go to our website if you have feedback shared with us. We want to be the best we can possibly be. I said it earlier, every feedback is a gift.
- [55:25]
John Hope Bryant
People can go to your website and leave an idea.
- [55:27]
Wemimo Abe
Yes, we have a AI bot on the website that you can, you know, communicate with. If you give it ideas, it will jot it down and make sure it gets to me and my co founder also.
- [55:39]
John Hope Bryant
Man, I'm gonna steal that idea. The best in life. The best Ide a copy. I'm still in that.
- [55:43]
Wemimo Abe
Exactly, exactly. Well, bun are originals, but we die a copy.
- [55:48]
John Hope Bryant
By the way, what he said was you were born an original and you die a copy, not a copy copy. That is proper English, right? Right. You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy. Just use Indeed. Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites. With Indeed sponsored Jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you can reach the people you want faster. According to Indeed data, sponsored Jobs posted directly on indeed have 45% more applications than non sponsored jobs. Don't wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility@ Indeed.com podkatz13 just go to Indeed.com podkatz13 right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.
- [57:03]
Unknown
Run a business and not thinking about podcasting. Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora and as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only iHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business. Think iHeart streaming radio and podcasting. Let us show you@iheartadvertising.com that's iheartadvertising.com.
- [57:33]
Dexter Thomas
Are there any pictures of you online? I'm not just talking about Google. I'm talking anywhere.
- [57:38]
Unknown
Clear View scrapes together images from Facebook, from LinkedIn, from Venmo accounts.
- [57:44]
Dexter Thomas
That database is now being used by police departments all across the country to match criminal suspect photos. And sometimes it makes mistakes.
- [57:52]
Unknown
So in this one case, two of the search results that I think were in the top 10 of the search results were Michael Jordan, just a picture of Michael Jordan.
- [57:59]
Dexter Thomas
But cops are still using it to make arrests.
- [58:01]
Unknown
Police, they are trusting this software to lead them to the right suspect. But you're not even being told that it was used, let alone given any of the details about how it works.
- [58:12]
Dexter Thomas
This is not Minority Report. This is happening right now. People are getting arrested and doing actual time in jail after being picked out by a computer. I'm Dexter Thomas, host of Kill Switch, where every Wednesday we explain the right now of living in the future. You can turn off the computer, but do not let the computer turn you off. Listen to Kill switch in the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [58:37]
Unknown
Jan Marsalek was a model of German corporate success.
- [58:40]
John Hope Bryant
It seemed so damn simple for him.
- [58:44]
Unknown
Also, it turned out a fraudster.
- [58:46]
Dexter Thomas
Where does the money come from? That was something that I always was questioning myself.
- [58:51]
Unknown
But what if I told you that.
- [58:53]
Dexter Thomas
Was the least interesting thing about him? His secret office was less than 500 meters down the road.
- [58:58]
John Hope Bryant
I often ask myself now, did I know the true Rian at all?
- [59:04]
Wemimo Abe
Certain things in my life since then have gone terribly wrong. I don't know if they fall followed me to my home. It looks like the ingredients of a really grand spy story because this ties together the Cold War with the new one.
- [59:22]
Unknown
Listen to Hot agent of chaos on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [59:39]
Wemimo Abe
So number two is, you know, one thing I want an advice also is always remember when someone tells you no, that no is your pathway and your foundation for a yes that is yet to come. Always remember that number two advice is nothing in life is worth doing alone. If you want to go fast, you go alone. But if you want to go far, you go together to build something special, you need to surround yourself with exceptional people. Number three is very simple. Surround yourself with people smarter than you. If you are the smartest person in the room, you're doing something wrong. And when you do those things and what leases all together is perseverance, grit, and never give up. Never ever give up. And that's going to help you be incredibly successful in life.
- [60:52]
John Hope Bryant
He just dropped the mic. You know, we didn't do any pre conversation here. We didn't talk about what we're going to talk about. I just said, I think people need to hear your story. And, and we had talked about all of this stuff. And at the end when I asked you for advice, if you said everything you said but you had not included, basically execution, like hustle your ass off, I would have thought the whole interview was a failure. But I knew, because I know you're. You're a proper success, that you would not, you would not not say that. That is the ingredient for everybody. What I want the listeners to understand here is that all success is essentially the same. Different industry, different spaces, Right? But you got to be PhD and PhD.
- [61:36]
Wemimo Abe
Exactly. You can. You. You can not be the smartest person in the room. But no one. Hard work is undefeated.
- [61:46]
John Hope Bryant
Hard work is undefeated.
- [61:48]
Wemimo Abe
It's undefeated.
- [61:49]
John Hope Bryant
I'm getting out. I'm gonna outwork you. I'm gonna outstand you up. I'll move you.
- [61:55]
Wemimo Abe
I would die there. I would die there.
- [61:57]
John Hope Bryant
I'll die on the field.
- [61:58]
Wemimo Abe
I would die there. You have to kill me. I would die there.
- [62:01]
John Hope Bryant
Yeah. Yeah. I'm the last breath.
- [62:04]
Wemimo Abe
That's it. That's what you're dealing with. I would die there. I'm not going anywhere.
- [62:08]
John Hope Bryant
Yeah. I'm not going anywhere.
- [62:11]
Wemimo Abe
I'm not going anywhere except the finish line.
- [62:13]
John Hope Bryant
So, yeah. And so there you go, everybody. If you're not inspired by this epis, then. Then you got to check your pulse. I want you to go to his website and experience what he's doing. Tell your landlord, if they're not already contracting with you, suit, that they should, and go and give him some feedback, even if it's just Bravo, giving some encouragement. There are hard days for guys like this. I mean, eagles don't fly in packs. You've never seen a flock of eagles. It's tough being a leader. It's lonely being a leader. I know that. I can tell you that myself. I'm the loneliest guy in a crowded room sometimes. But it's okay. We got Many problems with self esteem is not one of them. So give them encouragement, give them confidence, give them support and give them a referral. Tell those that you know who lease or rent to tell their landlords to use their company. By all those who are listening to this and you know of institutional companies that Wall street companies that own real estate in under certain neighborhoods. Here's one good reason to feel good about that. 75% of those companies are contracting with this minority owned business. Who, how many employees do you have now?
- [63:24]
Wemimo Abe
Just around 200 people. And one thing that you asked, I didn't say just to close out with. What I'm most proud of is we've established credit scores for over 200,000 people. And the people that have improved credit scores on our platform have gone on to unlock $50 billion. Let me repeat myself. $50 billion in credit of that 50 billion. $30 billion is mortgages. So the proverbial American dream is you work hard, you play by the rules, you buy a house one day. We've helped people improve their credit score so they can fulfill the American dream. And it's an irony. And immigrants from the slums of Lagos, Nigeria contributing to perfecting this union that is the true genius of America.
- [64:05]
John Hope Bryant
Yeah, and America, he is right, is a great country, but she's also got many faults and many, many failings. Slavery, Jim Crow, all the crappy stuff that happened then, some of it's happening now. But there is no perfect. And you just go, you, you just, you want to make the best of this that you can. It is still an incredible place of opportunity, America. And he is part of what, what's making this story aspirational for the next generation of immigrants who are coming here legally and, and making their contribution. And he is part of this American story. His mother is a part of this American story. We should celebrate that. I celebrate him. And this is an example in my opinion of good capitalism. And we should want more of this. This is John Hope Bryant. This is the Money and Wealth podcast episode and series. This is your another example of up from nothing. Tell your friends to go to Isusu. Have them follow wemaimo online and his company follow of course Operation Hope. Get a copy of my book Financial Literacy for All. If you haven't gotten it, go get a thousand dollar coaching scholarship at Operation Hope to get your credit score up, your debt down, your savings up. Do you have a book out yet with Mamo?
- [65:23]
Wemimo Abe
Are you working on one in the near future? The story is still being told in the near future.
- [65:29]
John Hope Bryant
I Love that. I love that.
- [65:32]
Wemimo Abe
All right, John, good to see you.
- [65:36]
John Hope Bryant
God bless. Love and light, money and wealth with John o' Brien is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcast from the Black Effect Podcast network, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
- [67:35]
Dexter Thomas
Are there any pictures of you online? Then you could already be in a massive police database without even knowing it.
- [67:41]
Unknown
Clearview scrapes together images from Facebook, from LinkedIn, from Venmo accounts.
- [67:46]
Dexter Thomas
I'm Dexter Thomas, host of Kill Switch, a podcast about how living in the future is affecting us right now.
- [67:52]
Unknown
Police, they are trusting the software with this magical ability to lead them to the right suspect.
- [67:58]
Dexter Thomas
In this episode, we dive into how cops are using AI and facial recognition and sometimes getting it wrong and putting innocent people behind bare bars.
- [68:06]
Unknown
So if your accuser is this algorithm, but you're not even being told that it was used, let alone given any of the details about how it works.
- [68:14]
Dexter Thomas
Listen to Kill Switch on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [68:21]
Unknown
Did it occur to you that he charmed you in any way?
- [68:25]
Dexter Thomas
Yes, it did. But he was a charming man.
- [68:29]
Wemimo Abe
It looks like the ingredients hints of a really grand spy story. Because this ties together the cold war with the new one.
- [68:37]
John Hope Bryant
I often ask myself now, did I know the true Yan at all?
- [68:43]
Unknown
Listen to hot agent of chaos on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [68:51]
Wemimo Abe
OpenAI is a financial abomination, a thing that should not be an aberration, a symbol of rotten at the heart of Silicon Valley. And I'm going to tell you why on my show Better Offline, the rudest.
- [69:01]
Unknown
Show in the tech industry where we're breaking down why OpenAI, along with other.
- [69:05]
Wemimo Abe
AI companies are dead set on lying to your boss that they can take your job.
- [69:09]
Dexter Thomas
I'm also going to be talking with.
- [69:10]
Wemimo Abe
The greatest minds in the industry about all the other ways the rich and powerful are ruining the computer.
- [69:14]
Dexter Thomas
Listen to Better offline on the iHeartRadio.
- [69:16]
Unknown
App, Apple Podcasts, wherever you happen to get your podcast.
- [69:22]
Wemimo Abe
I know a lot of cops, they get asked all the time, have you.
- [69:25]
Dexter Thomas
Ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1 Taser Incorporated.
- [69:38]
Unknown
I get right back there and it's bad.
- [69:42]
Dexter Thomas
Listen to Absolute Season 1 Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [69:51]
Wemimo Abe
This is an iHeart podcast.