March 15, 2022

Episode 76 - Should You Jump On A Trend?

Check out today’s episode as your hosts celebrate Nicki Minaj and discuss what’s poppin’ with Lil’ Wayne and his take on achieving longevity in the industry as well as 19Keys’ perspective of execution in today’s society.

 

Also, check out Young Guru’s blueprint to success as the supportive role behind big names such as Jay Z, Def Jam and more. So, grab something to take notes with and check it out.

 

What You Will Learn:

  • Why it’s not always a good thing to hop on trends
  • When is it best to take on a trend?
  • When is it best to start a new trend?
  • What about the greats should you copy?
  • Why trends can sometimes delay your success.
  • The importance of embracing changes in your industry.
  • Trends vs. industry standards
  • The importance of asking for help
  • Why execution seems insignificant in today’s society
  • Why being given things isn’t always a good thing
  • The importance of the person behind the scenes
  • The benefit of working in your genius whether it’s being the star or the support
  • The call is greater than the title
  • Why you feel you have to be in the spotlight

 

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Transcript

Nicky Saunders  
whats poppin whats poppin whats poppin. Welcome to nicky and moose. I'm Nicky, that's moose, What's up moose?

Mostafa Ghonim  
What up y'all

Nicky Saunders  
and welcome to episode 76. Sounds good. And in this week, we're going to be talking about embracing your style, and not always going with the trends. We're talking about innovation. We're going to talk about having too much information and how that can be unbelievable for some reason. And you do not have to be the star, the boss, the CEO, in order to win moose how we feel about this?

Mostafa Ghonim  
Yeah, I feel good. This was refreshing. It shows that you, there's room for you, no matter what role you play. And no matter what style you show, you know, it's like it's a really refreshing one. So yeah, y'all gotta tap in, it's gonna be good.

Nicky Saunders  
Let's get into this intro.

Jaymie Jordan  
Two kids from Queens. Cut from a different cloth. Now joining forces helping you to elevate your personal brand. Yeah, I'm talking about Nicky and moose, bringing you a never before seen perspective into the mindset, the mentality, the behaviors, the driving force, for more importantly, the stories behind the people and brands that you know and love the most.

Nicky Saunders  
And shout out to all our audio, our video listeners, viewers, whether you're day one, whether you're right now, whatever it is, shout out to y'all for real for real. Moose, how're we feeling?

Mostafa Ghonim  
I feel good. I feel good. Yeah, I've been like I studied, I went. It's funny. I feel like I'm a big fan of hip hop. But I never really understood the history of hip hop like that. So I don't know what it was this week. But I like dove into, into the crates are like really digging deep. And I went through like the history and really trying to understand why is hip hop the way it is? And why are certain people appreciated and respected the way they are? And I was like, Okay, this is this is dope. Everybody needs to do that. So if you're into something, study the history of what you're into, man that's important.

Nicky Saunders  
I Like that. I am depending on when you hear this, I will be in California. I'm speaking at Social Media Marketing World. I'm, I'm excited. I'm excited. But I just look to rent a car and everything is booked. This is true. But maybe so all the cars but this but the here's the thing, maybe it wasn't meant for me, because prices, gas prices are disgusting. And so maybe it was more like, over here and there. And then like walk around because gas is over there. I think it's like $6 Which is crazy. Um, but wow. I don't even drive that much anymore for me to be like.

Mostafa Ghonim  
That's bananas. $6 That's crazy. Right? So yeah, we feel bad for your West Coast people with gas prices. God bless me.

Nicky Saunders  
Yeah. I don't know about gas prices in New York. And jersey.

Mostafa Ghonim  
Nah, nah, nah, nah, it's like for like 450 Okay. Yeah, like for between $4.04 50 Okay.

Nicky Saunders  
I don't want you to be like $6 to 5.50 over here. 69 589

Mostafa Ghonim  
Come on.

Nicky Saunders  
No shout out to the people who have like Honda's and stuff like that who can still get unleaded feel me Okay, those are those people who had to upgrade and everything like they're feeling it right now. They feel it right

Mostafa Ghonim  
No low key though. I feel like if anybody was on the fence about getting a Tesla After what just happened with these guys prices, they're gonna be like, sold on a test like Tesla is aware of.

Nicky Saunders  
Oh, is it a I was watching somebody real and it was like $13 to fill up my Tesla. I'm like,

Mostafa Ghonim  
yeah, yes, like 17 bucks my brother in law I think that's what he has was 17 bucks to get 300 300 miles or something like that. 

Nicky Saunders  
I don't understand none of that. Yeah, I would love I would love a Tesla. A Tesla

but let's get into this episode. Really air horn happy so far. So, you know, it's a woman's Women's History Month. I think national. I never get those things right. But is your month is our month, everything like that, and I'm going to start with the Queen herself. Barb's I want no issue, we're only going to speak very highly of Nicki Minaj. Okay. And that's what we're talking about. She recently, first off, she's been super busy with like two to three new songs, really dope roll out, we spoke about it on one of the episodes. But she had this really great, sit down with Joe Budden. And I had so many parts that I wanted to grab from it. And I didn't there's this one particular part about how music is right now. But you know, how we do we always take it as how's it applied to our brand and business? And like, we see a certain blueprint over and over again? And do we take it? Or do we not? So this is what she said about it. You know, once anybody has success with anything, it seems like everybody just jumps on that sound, even if they may not have even liked it. It might be people behind them, telling them to do it. Once you do that. And once you do it a couple of times, who then are you? We've now forgotten who you are. We've now forgotten who you are. And so I don't think people realize that if you jump on it, every trend, you will become faceless. Wow, that was a bar. That was my truck. Mic drop. I'll let you start with it with that hurt my feelings still go ahead and apply.

Mostafa Ghonim  
So yeah, nice. It's relevant. It's relevant. And I mean, look, we're at that era right now where whatever it may be that you're after. If you're wanting growth online, or you recognize the importance of social media and the online world, you're going to do things that are trendy, that are capturing attention that the platform's themselves are pushing. But if you're not careful, and you haven't established a strong foundation, and you're not mindful of your own DNA, it's easy to forget about where you came from. Even worse, it's easy to forget who you are. So I think what she's saying here is, if we're just jumping on things, because they're successful, then no one can ever really trace back to see where you came from, where you started. And or what was trending at that time. So like, again, the thing for me, that was kind of cool. And going back to the 90s, and being able to like learn about hip hop and see how see the rap battle between Jay and DMX that everyone talks about that kind of like started the whole Rockefeller thing and seen as like, you can see them being themselves at that time, and representing an era that they came from. And sure they have grown and progress throughout whatever trends may have come up. But a lot of times because they were so true to themselves, they were able to start trends and not have to just jump on them. So yeah, I think I think that's one of those things that we got to be mindful of because you could just go through some people's profiles now. And it's like, there's no documentation of so Who who are you at one point or who is like, Who's, who's you without all of this other stuff? So that's, that's, that's probably a bad loss. If, if we never get to establish that first.

Nicky Saunders  
I think you, you. You have so many good points with that one. But it always goes through that battle that we normally talk about, which is like do we follow the blueprint or don't like she said, like, this is proven that it works. And so if it proves that it works, that means I can get some type of success from it. Now I think where we go wrong is like, maybe we've never seen success before. Or feel confident enough that we can do it on our own. So that way if we follow this particular thing, boom, we're going to get the same success as the originator has done. Now my only thing with that is like the same thing that she said like you're going that trend is done. When that sound is over when that you know that wave is over. Then who are you like, and there's nothing wrong With jumping on a trend, because I mean, that's where you'll get the reach, like, you will stay relevant by doing a trend within your industry. And I'm not just talking about music, like, that's why I'm, I'm, there's trends in everybody's industry. So with that, if we do that, then they're saying, like, we're being relevant, we're embracing him. And we're going to talk about that a little bit. But we're embracing what's happening. And we are showing other people that, you know, I'm not, I'm not an old, old person on with the times, I'm doing this, you know, and, and taking advantage of new eyes on you, right. But when you start, and I think it's because the success, or the reach that you get from trends is addictive, that you tend to jump on trend, to trend to trend to trend, and we forgot to mold ourselves and create our own style. Right? That's true. And it's like, I mean, we had this conversation a few days ago, where it's like, and I think I may have to bring on a Click Funnels person based off, like our conversation, but like, everybody is on the Click Funnels wave. And that's how to be successful in when you were selling this or doing this and doing that, right. Um, and me and moose are both semi rebellious, because we've done it and it's like, yes, but there has to be something else. There has to be a different, like, this trend may go away. And then what so is it really that Click Funnels is the only way? Right. So because it was wasn't there, and there was success by other people? What were they doing right now? 100%? Yeah. And, you know, you can jump on, like I said, you could jump on these different sales strategies that are trending, you could jump on these different pieces of content that are trending, you could jump on different design ways. There's always going to be something you could you could jump on and have this whether it's immediate, or a certain amount of success, but then what? Yeah, I feel Oh, go ahead.

Mostafa Ghonim  
I don't know, I was gonna say, I just feel like, it's better to take on trends when you know, your style already, because you can almost infuse your style into the trend, as opposed to just letting the trend take over your entire, you know, swag and its like. Oh, that's not even you anymore.

Nicky Saunders  
Right? Right. But not many people know how to you know what im saying like, it's, it's still you you either there's not always a happy medium. There's like, Okay, let me go do the trend, or let me not do to trend is it's it's only certain percentage that understand, like, I could do the trend, but I can make you understand that this is me and my brand. This is what I do. But because they see the success of copying the brand, the brand copying the trend, copying that certain wave that's happening. Um, they get used to that microwave, feeling that microwave success. It's like, Oh, snap, I got different eyes on my brand. I got different eyes on the biz, like my business is booming. A little bit more in this situation if I do this particular strategy, just like someone so and so and so and so and so and so and so and so. There's a lot of so and so's

Mostafa Ghonim  
the Alonso's? Yeah,

Nicky Saunders  
I think that's one of the likes, like I wouldn't say a red flag, but a yellow flag, like if MAD PEOPLE is doing so and so like is, is doing this particular thing. You may not want to put all your eggs in a basket for that.

Mostafa Ghonim  
Yeah. Now, at that point, you're you're better off taking on a little bit more risk to figure out the next day. Like is is better to honestly to contribute to the next trend. And and and and be an early adopter or someone who's helping to start something new than to just be a bandwagon fan. You know, of what's currently training right now, cuz you did nothing to help bring that into style. It's like you just adopted it.

Nicky Saunders  
But how do you Okay? So I'm brand new. Right? I'm brand new. Hello, I'm Nicky , I never done nothing before. But I want to have a really successful business moves ever really do. And they'll have to brand myself and I need. But um I really, I'm seeing this this, this blueprint that these people were doing. And I could do that, and I've done it and it gave me this. Should I keep going? Should I keep doing that? Like? I don't know if there is a easy way to say lets stop right here.

Mostafa Ghonim  
They are there is it there isn't I mean, I've always used numbers for that reason, because numbers will tell you everything you need to know. Like, it's easy. If you look at numbers over a series of time or a sequence a time, it's easy to determine if you're on an up trend or a downtrend. So it's easy to determine what one should I get off? Well, once you start seeing that thing, dip, and it's starting to fall down. You might want to start coming off. Ideally, you actually want to jump off before you peak. Yeah. Right? Because and we go back to this was beast lesson, right? Where it's like, I intentionally want to leave at my prime or when I'm at my best, so that you never see a decline on on my name or like that's not on my scorecard. So I think the only thing to copy, it's not even trends its fundamentals. So it's like, okay, well, if I'm a copy something, I'm gonna copy the fundamentals of the greats. Well, what did they do? Okay, as it relates to the basic professional and personal development, things that we all know about. So, and maybe when you hear it through somebody else's lens, it'll resonate with you a little bit more. So you take it on, but if you're going to copy their style, it's difficult. I don't I don't know that. At some point, you feel like, okay, it's not me. And it goes back to that conversation you and I have where it's like, okay, like, Yeah, but no

Nicky Saunders  
that goes back to maybe it as a suggestion of not getting on a trend before you understand who you are 100% If you don't understand that part, you're going to get lost in the the hype, you're going to get lost in the false reality of success.

Mostafa Ghonim  
Yeah, because at that point, the trend doesn't accelerate your success, it actually delays it. If you're me, because I Oh, then you got to come back to square one to learn who you are, recognize your values and yada yada yada to get back in the mix. When it's like, Man, I should have just stayed here. Got my stuff figured out. really figure out who I am and my place in the world and, and then figure out what what pieces I can take into it. But yeah.

Nicky Saunders  
So people just figure out you first figure out you first. And it is addicting. I will say that the trends are addicting. But let's get into this next one. Um, so it wouldn't be right to talk about Nicki Minaj. And we not talk about the person. The reason why Nicki Minaj is so huge, which is Little Wayne. And he had an amazing interview that I had grabbed like nine clips that I wanted to say on this whole podcast and figured that wasn't going to be right. It'd be a whole little Wayne break down from one perspective. And that wasn't even right. So he did A a dope interview with I am athlete. And the question was like, how do you how do you stay on top and he said something very tangible that we want to go over? So for those people who are like, Alright, I'm seeing a business success, or I want to prepare for success. And how do I stay on the top like he Little Wayne is still relevant till this day. Hands down. But how? So let's talk about it.

Lil Wayne  
You have to be embracing. You have to be embracing you can't be the guy thats you can't be the guy thats a person that saying I don't like this new I don't like new music. I don't. Whatever, whatever the name. You can't you can't say I don't like it. You got to love it. Learn it like it and love it because you better understand that that's music. You can't feel like I'm this way and this my flow this my this what I just what I do. No, You gotta go get you a vocal coach. you know what I mean? gotta go get you a shout out, rest in peace Mrs.Betty White, got to get you a vocal coach. you know I mean, you gotta learn how to stretch your voice. Because then you got a Drake. you know what I mean, there's a drake, so you got to he's music.

Nicky Saunders  
so this is no, this could almost contradict what we were just for me. Listen to what I listen what I mean by that, right? And not contradicting what we just all said about Nicki Minaj. But how we both feel about Click Funnels. Its like, I hate it, I don't want I don't like it, it doesn't feel right. No, you got to love it, you got to embrace it, and you got to get you a coach that make you understand it, we may not have the right coaches, I can take it. You see how I flip that, you see how I did that? Listen, um, and you probably feel that it's kind of like an inside joke, but we just kind of told you, um, where you probably feel that way, about something in your industry that you're just like, I've had this success. And now something new came through. And I'm not feeling it. Right, either. That ain't. That's not my style. That's not what I do. Right? They they changing the whole industry of like, if you speak on on it like that, then this trend, or this new wave could possibly be the staple of the industry from now on, right? Things change all the time, there's no single industry that has stayed the same. There has been some types of updates, there's been some types of trends, some child upgrades, like there's always been something that we may not all agree on. But in I think about it from even from like a nine to five aspect, right? Where it's like, I may not like this new policy. But to keep my job to stay in the game, I have to do it. Right. So I look at it like that, where it's, you have to embrace it to a certain point, though, you may have done it one way and you've seen success. If you are continuously wanting success, if you are continuously wanting to be relevant, if you want to have people to continue to say your name over and over again, in rooms that you are not in. You got to embrace what is happening. Now, that does not stop you from innovating. That doesn't stop you from creating a new thing on top of what is already there. So that's that's not saying that. But it is like when if we're talking about what he was referencing, which is music. And he was more from a lyrical side. And then it went all into this melody of mumble situation and how you seen concerts being more of a rock and roll situation. Like they're rock stars, they do mosh pits and things like that. He's like, You know what, I'm going to brace that I'm going to collaborate with some of the rappers that are now. Shoot, he had her whole rock album, just cuz, right. He, um, he shouted out Betty white because that was who helped him with his vocals and things like that, because he as he signed one of the most impactful artists in music, he understood where music was going. And he was like, shoot, I gotta learn how to somewhat have some types of vocals, because Drake is now music. Right now. That doesn't mean it couldn't revert back to what he was doing.

Mostafa Ghonim  
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Nice. It's a it's a different. It's definitely a fine line, though. Because I know, I know. It's like, Yo, wait, I just, I just, I just thought Yeah, I said don't change. But now you're saying change. I'm confused. It's like, okay, there's a fine line, right? Because I think especially through through his lunch, when you get deeper into the game, or like you've been around for a minute, and you're trying to stay like, keep the same sound the same way the same. Everything the same look like I still want this to be the way that works. 25 years later, it's like, no, but but everybody rebrands Apple uploads, updated their logo, Instagram changed their logo, like everyone shows the trajectory or the change, or just like the upgrade of time. So okay, we're still the same company, we still the same business, the same brand, we live by the same values. But over time, you're going to see us at least pick out what's, what are the good things from the new from the new generation, like, what can we pick up from the new generation that can be beneficial to what we're doing? So I think that they're awesome.

Nicky Saunders  
Real quick, because I think, because I love how you said that we were went from one situation to another, this difference because one was a trend. And this is now industry standard. Hmm. Let's go and saying so we're not saying in this topic. While the trends are happening, embrace to trends, no one said none about trends. This is now the new industry standard. This is what we know of this particular industry. Get with it or net loss. My bad. I just wanted to clear that up because I was like, sound, man.

Mostafa Ghonim  
Yeah, no, but it is two different things. You're right. And notice, we're telling you that in the beginning, like lay your foundation first, but I think what's even more, like honorable and respectful is the fact that he saw you not only should you embrace it, because that's like almost the act of the passing of the baton. But you need to invest, to figure out how to learn it, how to love it, how to like it. Like you, you got to put money up now to do that. I don't know about the quickfire stuff. But, you know, at least as it relates to some of these other stuff.

Nicky Saunders  
No kidding you people don't know, Loki, when moose feels away, he feels away, and you gotta have a lot of facts. To be like, not even like I agree. That's okay. But yeah, I had throw the Click Funnel stab because? Because it is. Well, it depends. You may not say it's a industry standard. You may not. I made I may say is semi is the only reason I say semi is because who based off who we follow, which isn't everybody harps on that. But that's I still need more exposure to intelligently say, yeah, absolutely. is the industry standard.

Mostafa Ghonim  
So yeah, and that's why for me, I'm saying no communists, like I just think that a lot has changed around the centerpiece, for the centerpiece to still be the industry standard is like, No, you gotta think about it, like a lot of the stuff that is so that feels like industry standard now is like, is it really industry standard? Or are we saying that it is because we're coming out of a pandemic. And we weren't given any alternatives, like the stuff that we used to be able to do to be able to grow our business or expand our reach or bring more people to towards our brand. We weren't able to do that for two years. So we had to just stick with the only alternative that was available to us and say, oh, shoot, just just click it. Go ahead and just keep clicking. But now I think as we're getting back to some level of normal or things are starting to open up a little bit, God forbid, or or previously things overseas, settle down some, we're gonna really see like, okay, can it stand the test of time, and I think that's the thing for me like those grapes, Grapes, grapes that become undebatable in my mind, they survived the test of time. So I think we're gonna see, you know, over the next little bit what's happening.

Nicky Saunders  
Yeah, and for those people who are lost when we say, Click Funnels, I just want to, cuz I know shout out to my mom's gonna be like, what was this cook?

Mostafa Ghonim  
What is that? What is

Nicky Saunders  
it is a software think about it, like when you go to McDonald's, and you buy a burger and they asked if you want fries with that is like an upgrading system automatically. That can be a website and landing page and things like that. So I just wanted to give people backstory, I'm trying to do better, as we say these like little things, and it's like, Hold on that everybody knows this. So we got on that but on the same topic, not the Clickfunnels topic, but on the same topic of I like how he made it very tangible. Of like, because he could have just been like, just embrace it. It was like No, embrace it, and then get you somebody who can help you be in that, that new industry standard? Like, go get you somebody, um, and don't. And don't go to YouTube University. And and think you can learn it on your own. No, you are on top, you are one of the thought leaders, you are what people talk about. And so to stay relevant like that, you got to not try to figure that out on your like, on your own. And this is from person who always tries to figure out things on their own to now where I've been very vocal with Hello. How did you do this? Okay, let me know. whoop dee boo. Right. I'm not to everybody, because I still have trust issues. But yeah, I'm being it. Just because we've, we see more of these big influencers and celebrities, ask questions, and do things. It's like, why do we think we're above that? Like, they are? Millions and billions, And they ask questions, and they're creating relationships, and they're doing this and doing that. And here I am being like, No, I'm gonna figure it out on my own right? Now, I am cool with like having blinders. Right, like just go. Your some questions cannot be answered. Because they're only going gonna be based off their success. And I don't want based off their success I want it catered to more of me. So there's going to be some still some situations where I'm going to be super blind by it. But there's other things when I've reached a certain level, where it's like, okay, now I got to ask questions to stay on top. That's where I'm asking like, We're in. We're in the podcast game. We're, we're on the chart. Okay, now, how do I do this, then the third? Because before it was like, I'm not going to ask no questions, we're going to go because we're creating something different. Now that people understand that it's a bit different. Cool. Now I can ask questions on these particular things. And kind of, like narrow it even more down to where we stand out even more. So. For me. I like like the embracing I like the embracing. Ah, but with asking people for help in looking up stuff and things like that. I want to shout out to the EYL boys and 19 keys, because they were just on the Breakfast klub. And I say boys, I mean men, you know, I don't mean no harm to people. Some people are like, really delicate, they understand my heart. Um, but 19 key, I was really like, hit by a certain part of the interview, where he was saying that this generation is just on information overload. But how he worded it was like, Okay, what is the solution? So let me let me tell you what I'm, if

19 Keys  
If you teach the child everything, you spoil them up the ability to learn properly, you understand me and so a great teachers always go leave something out. So it leads you to a journey. We are overly informed society, but we under execute, because it used to be a heart where you got to go to a library and get some knowledge, right. But that's why I got to walk there. I got a library card to take out a book I got to learn. I got to bring it back. That's the process. Now you Google something on your phone. There's no work in between it. Right. And so you don't appreciate it because they don't have any real value.

Nicky Saunders  
Can I play devil's advocate off top. Okay, what you got? Okay, even though I completely agree with this, right? Is that a old school way of thinking? Let me explain what I mean. You always know you're old and I'm not calling 19's old because he's not. But you always know you're old when you go see back in my day. We used to do things this way. And that's what they know. And that's how they process things. Did things and so they believe that everything is good. Right? So the example was, yo, I used to go well, not he didn't say I, but they used to go to the library, boom, grab the library card, find the book, check it out, go home, read it, bring it back. All this stuff now stays in there. And now everybody, it's it's more of a packaged and given to you type of vibe, and no one is executing. Now. Can we say no one is executing, if we're seeing younger millionaires. Are we saying that no one is executing? If actually, they're more people who are in the older status that is now starting new things like, are we? Maybe in where you see it? Because I feel a certain kind of way. And I'm just this is real, raw thought, because I was like, so impressed by this. And then I was like, hold on. But like, I do agree, this is the most information that is ever been given out in the world, period, just that just this time period. But to say that, not every, like, everybody doesn't execute? I don't, I don't know about that part. Because that's like, for the people that are like, the most successful people, not the most successful, because some people will say different, but like, if you are like, like us, only child, right? Didn't have to worry about too too much. Right? Didn't do the struggle thing and nothing like that. Yall not supposed to be like yall supposed to be given everything. And so your level of execution, your work ethic is probably isn't the same as somebody who had nothing. And that's far from the truth. So I look at it almost the same way, like kind of that generation, like, Okay, we did have to get our books, and we had a walk through the snow and get it in, come back. And it was cold. And now I have to read this book. But I, we this whole podcast is based off research. So I don't know that that's playing devil's advocate, even though like I said, I agree with this, I'm playing devil's advocate.

Mostafa Ghonim  
I mean, I will I will say the the part of it through the context of the interview, and I heard that probably a little bit more than half of it. He saying we as a community or as a society, society, we under execute. So we're over informed, but we under execute. My caveat to it or my piece to it is I think we don't execute to enough things that are meaningful. That's that Yeah, we don't really contribute to stuff that is like, okay, like, everyone is just trying to do what they call, you know, like, get their time back, or, or leave. Like, I'm telling you last week, we were at the hospital and this slightly off topic, but let me just kind of give you an example. Last week, we're at the hospital, and to see the amount of people in the emergency room that are supposed to be like, Yo, emergency like, okay, look, let's let's get you taken care of because clearly, it's exactly what we're in an emergency. Like it's an emergency situation, you would think there is some level of sense of urgency or like just moving up. I kid you not the doctor walked in through him said okay so Tell, So tell me what happened last week? Ah, and then, and what about now? and like you have someone in excruciating pain right in front of you. Clearly not in the mood to talk about what happened in her life when she was four years old. It would be helpful if we can like move up on it a little bit. And I'm just like, man, something about our generation. In in some cases, again, in some cases, not all, but there is a lack of urgency towards things that are meaningful. Like we've added more value to things that do come easy to us like the internet and like these trends and like some of these other things, but stuff that actually matters. That's the stuff where I'm like, Man, I'm am I contributing to it? And I'm not calling anyone out and it actually made me like ask myself the question like, am I only looking for shortcuts and conveniences and not looking for ways to do The difficult thing or the challenging thing to contribute to the greater good of society, like, I would just hope that through all this information, we don't forget that it's just a matter of making or creating an easy life for ourselves, but not impacting society. Like at the end of the day, at some point, somebody from your family is going to still live here when you're not your children, your children's children, Your cousin's children, your aunt, somebody shows you from your family, your your generation are going to live on this planet, when you're no longer here. And how have you made it better for them? So that's the stuff where I like literally, like it has me re rethinking all of my stuff. And I know, we're not necessarily talking about the how to learn piece just yet. But just from that standpoint, I'm like, No, I can agree on that. Yeah, we'd like what are we contributing to that truly impacting society?

Nicky Saunders  
I agree. Now, let me go with my real feeling. Because like I said, I played devil's advocate, I think. I think also what the part that if you watch the interview, it was more on the research part. Like some people are expecting business in a box. Yeah, no, no good. Yeah, some people are expecting branding in a box, right? Just give me this, and just tell me what to do. And I'll do it. And boom, here's my success, right. And one of the lines that he said, was like, the greatest teachers are the ones that leave certain things out. Because now you're remembering it and embracing it. And since I'm now using the word embrace so much now, I'm embracing it a little bit more, because you found it out on your own. And you fact checked. And you saw what it did, like you saw the results. It wasn't like, third party information. Like it was you finding out that particular thing. And this is why the greats are the greats. And the geniuses are the geniuses because they did the research, and they got the information firsthand. And you're trying to learn from them? Because they, they put in the work, right? So I, I agree with the business in the box, stocks in a box, anything like super packaged up and you're like, okay, here, give it to me. And when I have this, I don't have to do any more research. Know, when you're Givens, some type of information, even if it's all packaged up great. Still do the research, because you still have to find your own way of doing things. And so guess, ABC works very well. But how can you make it a a plus? How can you make it a B plus, how can you make a c plus, right? We're not thinking of how to make it to the next level when we're given everything.

Mostafa Ghonim  
That's good. That's good, makes us good. And the truth is, whatever you're given, is only with you for this time, like these market conditions. These circumstances, right? Like, once things change, and we were just talking about change over the last little bit, which is inevitable, it's gonna happen. If you're not taught the instincts of what helped build this box that you have in your hand or that was handed to you, you're not going to be able to take it with you to the next phase, or the next, just market shift or wherever things are going. So um, yeah, I definitely I definitely agree with that. I always used to think of it through the lens of confidence, like when you do it yourself, or when you learn how to do it, you become more confident. But I think there's also a part of it that it gives you a bigger fight. Like, like when you build something and it was your time, your effort, your blood, your sweat your tears, to build it up from nothing, or to build on top of the box because you were given a box. So you you did stuff to build on top of the box. When when someone is threatening or something is threatening to take to take that away from you. You're going to have a bigger fight because you're like, No, hold up. This is mine. Like I actually work to build this. I'm not just going to fall back and let you take it so I think there's that bigger fight that comes with with it when you feel like I had to earned this or I sacrificed to get this. So it pulls more out of you to keep it.

Nicky Saunders  
So good. Um, alright, last topic, but not least, um, this one hits a little home. But a shout out to our family, that FAQ podcast, right? Oh, they have amazing interviews. And I think I'm going to utilize more of them than any other interview I should. But, um, they had young guru, as, you know, one of the people that they interviewed, and if you don't know who he is, he is mainly known for the back end of people like Jay Z, okay. Sound engineer of Jay Z and a lot of his albums. And so he says something really dope about not being the star and him being okay with that. Right? The and what we'll get into it. But listen, to what he said,

Young Guru  
I'm not the star. I helped make the star. You see, I'm saying so if if Michael Jordan trainer want to be Michael Jordan, there's a problem you should take pride in. I'm the dude that trained Michael Jordan. I did his health. I did. I gave him what to eat. I told him how many how much wasted lift how much, you know, saying but you at yourself didn't go out and score the 50 He scored it, but you're still proud. You know, I mean, that's like, that's how I feel. And I'm gonna help you do the best you can. Or I'm at least the dude that is making all the gadgets for double Oh, seven before you go on the mission. I'm gonna make sure you got everything you need. And if it's a special new thing that will help you win, here you go.

Mostafa Ghonim  
I love that. I love that. I love that you because you know why you talk about somebody who really has recognized their worth. And they don't need applause, to, to keep doing it by and it's like no, I actually understand that my greatest contribution comes in the form that doesn't generate the biggest applause from the masses. And the crazy thing is, and I think a lot of people who are in those quote unquote, supportive roles are behind the scenes or don't get to center stage. Some people are in those roles, because they simply that they don't like to be in the limelight. Others are in those roles just because they excel at them or like they're really good at them. But but if you think about it, although you're not getting direct applause, you are probably a bigger reason for why there is applause in the first place. You know what saying like, if you think about it, like if there is no dis there is no engineering, or like someone like guru helping put the album together. And I'm not gonna go to the extent of saying there is no Jay Z, because that's a big thing. But it's like, Yo, we don't receive the music in the same way. sonically. If he didn't exist, it was like, Yo, people, I think people behind the scenes definitely need to start giving themselves more credit. And just because they're not, they're not the ones standing on stage or getting the the applause and all that stuff. That doesn't mean it's not you didn't contribute to it. Or are you you're you're not getting that applause just as much as the person who's standing on there.

Nicky Saunders  
Yeah. Um, I love this one because it's like, it relieves the pressure of everybody needs to be a boss does, right? It's like, it's okay, I forgot where I heard it from. But like, we look at, like, the Mark Zuckerbergs, and things like that Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos. We see how much they make. But how much does the number to make? How much is the number three make? How much is number four make still probably way more than we do. I'm just saying it's like, depending depending the industry. We're we're always looking at, yo I have to be and and I almost look at it. Like when you are the CEO when you are the head of something when you're do like you're more the talent and you have to be the face and be somewhat of the entertainment of the actual brand. where the real work really comes from the Team, not saying you don't do any type of work. But the reason may the reason for the extra push of why you're out there, and why you're successful is because of other people that is around you. And is okay. For contributing to the true success of the main goal. Yeah, you know, and as long as everything is fair, as long as everybody's vision is heard, and and, you know, guided to like, it's nothing wrong with being behind the scenes and executing, as if it was you. Like, for you. Yeah. Right. And, and I love what he said with Michael Jordan's trainer. Because my man, especially after that last dance thing, all I saw was him. Let me show you how I trained Michael Jordan, right? Like, do like, a guru isn't just working with Jay Z. He's working with other people as well. Jordan trainers wasn't just working with Jordan, but you have to understand, are you leveraging the opportunities that are given to you to be able to have your name? Right, your name can be stamped by one spot? And it always depends on how do you leverage it? Right? Like, you don't have to be in I know. I'm some people was like, Well, you know, what about having our own, what about doing this, what about having our own brand, just get it as if you have that desire, I really believe you should write. But if you are not taking care of home, that gave you that stamp, it could get a little ugly, it could get a little ugly. And it's more about you are in your genius, when you are the behind the scenes person and working behind the scenes, you get out of your genius, when you try to be the star, and you have no desire to be that really, but you feel as if everybody is doing it. And I have to as well know, the people you follow the people in your environment are doing. So that's all you see, we get we get so so that's why it's is a gift and a curse for your environment is a gift and a curse for your following. Because you see what people are doing. And if you have a good environment and a good, you know, social media following as far as like who you follow, it can be very uplifting and like, Oh, look at everybody doing things. But then you could get very in a consumer mode and be like, Oh my God, look at what everybody is doing. And I fall and then you start believing in my falling behind. No, my man is the reason why we have multiple Jay Z albums The way we hear it.

So if I get credit for that, and I am the reason why this person has all these accolades. I'm one of the reasons it's like I won. I know I'm a key factor. You may not be feeling valued. And maybe that's why you think that way. That's a different story to a salon owner

Mostafa Ghonim  
Lack of pride too Yeah, yeah. It's a lack of pride because like, like you said, the guy Tim Grover, or MJ trainer or whatnot. Like, my man wants to let you know, I was in MJ I was his trainer. Yeah. Like he takes pride in the fact that he was the one, right? It's like, I did this right. And it's like, we would look at him differently. If he wasn't talking with that same level of pride and confidence for his for his work. We would think like, oh, well he's nobody like yeah, MJ NT just happened to work out with some guy like that's anybody. So I think I think the minute that we start, and, and this crazy man I remember. I think it was like two or three years ago. We were still on Facebook at the time. We hadn't even started the podcast two years ago, probably about two years ago. And, and I realized the importance of everyone who's stepping into the space and any space for that matter. At some point, you have to forget about the title. And you got to answer the call. Bye, bye, forget about, well, what are they gonna think about my title? Is it exclusive enough? Is it powerful enough? Is it? Is it like, cool enough for people? Are they gonna respect me enough, and just answer the column or use your word, embrace the call, like, Yo, if this is what you were called to do, embrace it, embrace it, and be so dang good at it, that they look at you, like, the star, the person who gets the applause because they know, when it comes to this piece, can nobody do it any better. And guess what the beautiful thing about life is everybody is needed. And that's why we started the episode of saying, this is one of those episodes, that's going to show you no matter who you are, and what you do, there space for you. As long as you embrace it

Nicky Saunders  
I think it's, I just, I just want hope, I hope that some people's pressure of being up front is a little bit off, it's not gonna be all the way off, but like this a little bit off, because we do have a lot of people who work behind the scenes that do get a good amount of praise, like you. And that's because they take ownership in it. That's because they treat it as if it's theirs. Like, if you're just doing it just to do it, then it's a job. And then, you know, you may get recognized you may not but you're just doing it, but just to like do it just here, you could treating it as a task. Where No, this is this is mine. I'm like shout out to Karl We had this conversation of like there's difference between people on the team just to be on the team and then there's people who take true ownership of the brand right regardless of the ups and downs that it may have to take there is ownership and this is my section and because I run this section it is it goes the way it does you can't say nothing about this particular part right. And as the brand grows, do grow. And so, you have to if you feel that I have to be upfront, there could possibly be two reasons. One could be you are being pursued not persuade was also word peer pressure, there it is peer pressured to do so based off what you see all the time, or the place that you are behind the scenes that are not valuing valuing you value when it's a harder burden to say, but valuing you So, but yeah, that's what I'll say. But, uh, follow us everywhere, on all social media platforms at Nicky and moose, please and thank you for all our apple podcast people go listen to the after show, we're going to have some Kanye talk, um, some just some of the lessons that we've learned from that whole documentary, which was amazing. So if you want to hear some branding and business lessons from the Kanye documentary because we didn't want to flood once again, the podcast with Kanye talk, Come to the after show. Sounded like Suge knight right there. You don't want to have Kanye all dancing in your but moose final words.

Mostafa Ghonim  
Yeah, I don't man. I think that that topic of buy what are you contributing to the world? It's just, I think it's so needed right now. So I think for me what I'm gonna say is, yo, what you what you contribute to this world is more important than what you keep in it. So I'm gonna just let you answer that question I think on Yo what am I truly contributing to this world? Am I just sitting back hoarding stuff and taking everything back with me, not doing anything with it.