Episode 35 - Take A Stance And Get Paid
Welcome to Episode 35 of Nicky and Moose: The Podcast. They’ll get into what’s poppin’ with Drake being honored as Artist of the Decade at Billboard Music Awards. Also, Naomi Osaka became the highest-paid female athlete but how? Plus you know they had to cover the big move Amazon just made by buying MGM Studios and grab some lessons from J. Balvin.
Grab what you need to take in the lessons from this episode…and maybe some rice while you’re at it. (You’ll get that later.) Don’t miss out on this one!
What You Will Discover
- The truth behind the process
- A way to stay grounded
- Why brands are attracted to your brand or business
- The results of getting solid advice
- Simple concepts pushing big ideas
- The significance of patience in growing
- Understanding the data and partnerships
- What you need to go global
- It’s ok to be you on social media
Nicky Saunders:
What's poppin'? What's poppin'? What's poppin'? Welcome to Nicky and Moose! I'm Nicky! That's Moose! What's Moose?
Mostafa Ghonim:
What up y'all?
Nicky Saunders:
And we are on episode 35!
Mostafa Ghonim:
There it is!
Nicky Saunders:
And once again, another jam packed week! We're gonna be talking about Drake, of course, we're going to be talking about a famous female who was just labeled the highest paid sports female person...I messed up this whole title, but you know what I mean? Yeah, we're gonna be talking about Amazon and, if we have some time, we may have a surprise lesson. But Moose, how are we feeling?
Mostafa Ghonim:
Excellent, man. I'm feeling really good. I mean, by now, I think that people already know what's happening this time tomorrow from the day we're recording.
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, but more importantly, the stories behind the people and brands that you know and love the most.
Nicky Saunders:
And you already know what time it is review of the week. And I actually went back on this one, so people don't think I'm only reading current ones. I went all the way back on this one. So this one says "The G.O.A.T.S." I always say I'm a baby goat, but I appreciate it right? "Love these two, they drop so many gems and truly inspire me to do better. Their advice is always on point. Thank you for that. I'll see you at the top. Loving this podcast! Text gang." Shout out. As usual, everybody who leaves us a review, we read them, clearly I go all the way back to like October of 2020. Right? We read them all. We appreciate them all. So thank you. Thank you. And shout out to all our first time listeners. We got a whole bunch of new people on the podcast, right? So shout out to y'all we've been reading the comments but let's....I'ma give you a bomb on this.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Breaking news off the bat.
Nicky Saunders:
I don't know if it's breaking news. I'm not really sure if it's breaking news because clearly other people want to talk about this situation. So let me set this
Mostafa Ghonim:
And you are. This is you. up. Actually, let me let me do this. All right, let me do this. We have a huge, huge announcemen that was not broken on this po cast. It wasn't broken on this p dcast. Here I am, thinki
Nicky Saunders:
Hey don't say anything. Like don't even tell g I'm a great friend, not saying anything. you mama. You know? It's like, you know, don't say anything right? But but here, shout out to our network and shout out to the big brothers of S2S Podcast who um broke some very important special news that you probably saw on our Instagram already and our Facebook because I made sure at least blasted it over there. Okay, him him in the comments, at least its not on on Instagram. Sir, it's on YouTube with over a million subscribers and is on a podcast that gets over a million downloads, but that's okay. That's all right. Moose, you could say what's happening. I'm not...I already said too much. But yeah...
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, man. I mean, it's, I think there's no other way to say it. This time tomorrow, we're recording on a Thursday this week because of some special events happening. These special events are...I m getting married y'all. It's o ficial. I'm getting married man I'm tying the knot tomorrow, an
Nicky Saunders:
Getting married and didn't invite Nicky.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Oh, God, she's coming. She was the first invite technically.
Nicky Saunders:
No, no. I invited myself.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Technically, by definition, the first self invite when to Nicky.
Nicky Saunders:
Yeah, I invited myself. Yeah, Nicky didn't get an invite. So if you are feeling kind of salty, like how didn't I get an invite? Why didn't Moose tell me? He didn't invite me.
Mostafa Ghonim:
He didn't invite nobody. So let me tell y'alll real quick man. No, no, no. So here I am thinking I'm being a responsible person. You know how to air traffic controllers, do. It's just like, Hey, you know what, you know, the rules say you can't have large gatherings. Everyone who's gone to a wedding that I know of somebody at that wedding has gone in the Vid. So I'm like, oh, no weddings, you know, COVID's still alive. And to make sure that people get vaccinated to come to the wedding, that's too much. So I'm like, alright no wedding. Its just gonna be bride, groom, Mom, Dad, Mom, Aunt, and the two witnesses. Its a wrap. That's what I thought. And as I started breaking the news to people like aye, so yeah, so and so this date, I'm gonna be a little busy. I can't do this, this gonna have to do this. It was like, Oh, no, no way. You can't, you can't do that and not tell...I'm coming. And I was like, Oh, well, in that case, we'll pull out an extra chair. So I didn't not invite people. I was trying to do the responsible thing. But when people insisted, you know, I definitely had to make room. So that first insist, was right here, Nicky. So she's coming through come on. She's not having it. But that's the truth. That's what happened.
Nicky Saunders:
Um, I would love for people in our DM's comments. Do you feel great when somebody says well I didn't I didn't invite nobody? I didn't tell nobody. So do you instantly feel like you're in the category of nobody? This is gonna be a whole live conversation. Don't worry about it. Just wanted to make sure we break the the news and the news that Nicky didn't get invited.
Mostafa Ghonim:
There it is.
Nicky Saunders:
Okay. Um, so since I wasn't invited, don't expect pictures from me.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Wait, you invite them they're not happy. You don't invite them they're not happy. So it's like, What in the world?
Nicky Saunders:
Because then it was like, everybody invited themselves and was like, okay, that's fine. Yeah, go, go here. No. I'm the one that has to be like, um, be there. No, no, no. No Ima be there. Okay. Others were like, hey, let me invite you live on the podcast, CJ Mal and all of S2S podcast you are invited. Oh so, they did get an invite. They did. Oh, I didn't get one.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Aww man this is too much.
Nicky Saunders:
So its documented, its documented that other people got invites. I'm just saying its documented.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Its not even the real wedding. But okay. All right. We'll take it.
Nicky Saunders:
What is your definition of a real wedding?
Mostafa Ghonim:
My definition of a real wedding is the whole nine yards. You know, the, the wedding party happy you know, say having the bride choose. I'm trying to think like how does this thing work. The bride got her ladies. The groom got his fellas. You know, you're doing the entrance. You're doing the sitting at the front. You're doing the whole nine. None of that is happening this time. So I'm like, that don't count but, but alright we gonna make it one.
Nicky Saunders:
It's a wedding people. It's a wedding. But let's get into the podcast. Shout out for everybody who was dealing with our shenanigans. Nicky is feeling away, but it's alright. It's alright. It's happening. I'll be there. I'm gonna have this little 360 camera. It's gonna be a whole vibe but clearly I'm not going to be posting because I wasn't invited. So I'm just going to keep these to myself.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Oh my God!
Nicky Saunders:
Anyways, so let's get into the podcat. Now Drake, which is no surprise, right. Drake was crowned the artists of what was it the decade? Yes. Artist of the decade. Okay, um, that's no surprise my man is like the most streamed artist, was the first artists to debuted him number one, two and three on the charts. What happened? 200 over 200 songs on the Billboard. My man has dominated the whole music industry, whole music, not just that particular category of hip hop. But I just think in general how music is. Now not going to get into a whole Drake episode because we did that already. Shout out to everybody who's...what episode was that? It was very early. I think it was even like before, double
Mostafa Ghonim:
I don't think we did it on the podcast probably digits. on Facebook only.
Nicky Saunders:
No, no, it was on the podcast.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Oh it was on the podcast?
Nicky Saunders:
Yeah, it was on the podcast.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Oh so its early.
Nicky Saunders:
Yeah, before double digits, podcast life. But there was a part in his acceptance speech that I wanted to talk about real quick. That was interesting, though, because I believe Drake has all this confidence. But let's watch this clip.
Drake:
I rarely celebrate anything. And just for anyone watching this, that's wondering how this happened. You know, that's really the answer. It's, it's being so unsure how you're getting it done that you just, you just kind of keep going in the hopes of figuring out the formula. Feeling so lucky and blessed that the fear of losing it keeps you up at night.
Nicky Saunders:
So, here's my thing, right? Um, I really like I think we, we assume that artists as high as Drake has all this confidence and the fact that he said, yo, um, I wasn't really sure. So I just kept going. And then I saw it was kind of working. And so what keeps me up at night is losing it. Right? Not, to the point of, I always knew this was going to work, I knew that if I worked at A,B,C,D, this is going to be the result. He was like I have no clue. I'm gonna just keep going to figure out this formula, and then hope to never lose the formula. But what is what how did you interpret that? Because I was, I was like, Drake? Really? Like this is, this is how you feel about like, I don't know. And he said earlier, he was like, yo, I don't take compliments, because I was expecting him to be like, not shocked. Because clearly, you know, you're winning these awards, once it's presented like that, but more of happy. And he's just like, I don't do compliments very well. But, you know, I'm just hoping this doesn't end.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, more and more, as a lot artists, a lot more artists become transparent and a little bit vulnerable about their journey and their process, we're gonna start to see that Beyonce' is not the only one with an alter ego. You know, we've heard or at least, it seems that most people are really starting to talk about just who they really are off stage and away from the camera, the lights and the action. And we're starting to see like, okay, people really are understanding that for me to succeed on stage, very similar to kind of like what we would consider in the flight, assess assessment. And again, shout out to the flight assessment, the natural and the adaptive, it's like people have to really project a larger than life image on stage because they understand that that's part of the music and what they're trying to do. So now I think more and more, we'll start to see that Nicks. And that's kind of what we're seeing here with, with Drake. The flip side of that, though, as it relates to the compliment, that's something that I see in certain people who are really trying to stay grounded, because they want to A) they really, really enjoy what they do, and they don't want to lose passion for it. Because part of the challenge of having to still go up and still and feel like you're still pursuing something, I think that's what makes it fun for people who are really engraved and embedded in their process. But then you have others who don't want to change because they realize like, okay, I've had the success that I've had for a particular reason. And if I accept compliments, and maybe my head gets a little, a little too big, and I start to really feel myself a little bit too much, that maybe I'm going to go away from what made me me, and made me have the success that I have. So I think that's a nice way to kind of keep yourself humble and grounded. And not that you're being mean or disrespectful towards people who are complimenting you, but you don't give it enough kind of attention that that it takes you away from the process to grind and that what you do.
Nicky Saunders:
That works. I just.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah.
Nicky Saunders:
I just I'm always curious why. And I understand there's a sense of humbleness and things like that, but I'm just like, Huh, why? Why don't you accept compliments at this time? You've done so much. Why are you still doubtful with so much accomplished? Like, that's so confusing to me. But that shows actually some kind of...how do I put this? Like hope for those who do have some confidence issues and those who are not truly sure if this is going to work or not. He's showing you know what, just keep going and just continue to pray that it won't go away. So I like what Drake said is very humbling. Shout out to Drake and all your accomplishments and everything like that and the whole OVO camp. That was a huge, huge award. But let's talk about some big bucks. Whooo $55 million. Naomi, Osaka? Look at that. I said it right. Naomi Osaka
Mostafa Ghonim:
There it is.
Nicky Saunders:
Earned $55 million in the past year, more than any other woman in sports. Listen, 23 years old. Twenty three! $55 million, or reportedly, because you know, we probably have a clip from Forbes this says something different, but a lot of money. This this 23 year old regardless if it is 30, 36, 55 I don't care. At the end of the day, she's still the highest paid female. Right. And you know what I found out? Only 5 million. I'm saying only five you hear me? Only 5 million was prize money.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Wow. Only 5 million came from tennis.
Nicky Saunders:
Yes. Yes.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Or through tennis. Wow.
Nicky Saunders:
The rest whether it was 50 mil or however many was off court. Crazy. We're going to get into it. Of course, let's get into what Forbes said because, you know, they have a different amount.
Forbes:
Osaka is the world's highest paid female athlete, earning $37.4 million in the past 12 months. She's number 29 on the 100 Highest Paid athletes list. Osaka now has 15 endorsement partners, including global brands like Nissan Motor, Shiseido and Yonex. Almost all are worth seven figures annually. Osaka has established herself as a global sports marketing icon and brands are lining up.
Nicky Saunders:
So...
Mostafa Ghonim:
Let's go.
Nicky Saunders:
Yeah, this is this is a whole vibe. Um, and the reason why I really liked this one, and I wanted to talk about it on the podcast is the reason why brands are going to her. Right. Because you would assume Okay, she beat Serena right, who clearly is the queen of tennis at the time, right? She's young, successful, of course brands are going to go to her because she's in top of her class. But come to find out that brands are starting to make more of a stance on things that are happening such as Black Lives Matter and police shooting and just different things like that, that they are now more attracted to celebrities, athletes, influencers that make a stand as well. And she was definitely one of those people who put a mask on and brought awareness to the police shootings. And where before for athletes that used to be kind of making brands like shy away from that like I don't want no parts of that we will drop you if this is what you are about. to now people are being are coming closer and wanting to partner and give her equity and give her a huge paycheck. We we clearly know, Nike is giving her an eight figure check. Can we say can we say yearly? Yearly. Okay. She has people like Louis Vuitton. She's an investor and a brand ambassador of what was it sweet green, I think what its called Sweet green. Um, so she's getting she has her own bikini... swimwear. She has Levi's she has watches she's, she's part of a lot of brands. And all because she stood for her values. She stood for what she, you know, she represents what is good and what needs to be spoken about in the world. And and like I said to 23 years old, that is amazing. And I think for me, right? It's a huge, it's a huge leap not only just for minorities, but it's a huge leap for females to be the voice and the front runners, of bringing awareness to certain situations like this. And understanding that there are people who are going to back that there are people who will still give you a bag for being yourself, right in a respectable manner. So I love this story. Whether it's 55, whether it's 36, I don't care. It's a lot of M's that I don't have... yet.
Mostafa Ghonim:
I ain't mad at it. I ain't mad at it.
Nicky Saunders:
But can we talk about why Forbes is always like, the opposite of everybody else? I don't know who's right, or who's wrong, you know? I'm not gonna say that's why I brought up this one. So from the article that was Essence. And there was several articles that I read this if 55. But of course, when I go on to Forbes, we want to say 36. At the end of the day, like I said, highest paid female, regardless of what the amount is, a lot of M's in a year. That's a year. That's not career wise, that's not two five years, or whatever, that's in 12 months this is what I made... crazy.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, that's huge. That's huge. I still remember when she steps stepped on the stage. You know, I think she was a teenager, if I'm not mistaken. Like, I'm not sure exactly how old but she was pretty young. So to see her have that much you know, growth in such little time is amazing, to be honest with you. And she's done a phenomenal job. Like, you know, you'd always want to give credit, when you see someone that young, get a lot of growth in a short amount of time, you always want to give credit to the people in their corner, because clearly she's getting some great advice to not just collaborate and partner with brands, but she's also like you said, as an investor in something, that means you're getting some really solid advice. So you just hope that she continues to get, you know, some solid counsel in her corner, nothing that throws her off because you know, unfortunately, we've seen a lot of people kind of stumble, especially at a young age, there's some sort of fall out. But those who can navigate this time, without any, you know, crazy crisis or whatever, they end up being a greats like you know, person that comes to mind immediately as Beyonce' right? Like Beyonce', also someone who came on the stage or as a very young age, but kept a clean record did her thing kept her head down, and then you look at her now and like Beyonce is in a class of her own, like no one is going to doubt that. So definitely wish the same thing for her. I think she's on that same path. You know, being so young dominating on the court and doing her thing in the business world. So it'd be cool to look up in a couple years and see what she's done.
Nicky Saunders:
Probably more paid. Again. Like she got her own swimwear, her own skin line and everything. So I like how already that she's not only depending on endorsements and taking it a bit further and investing in particular companies, but as well, she's creating her own and being taking advantage of the amount of money that she has to start her own. So shout out to Naomi she is a whole vibe, and at 23. But, um, we have to talk normally, normally we don't talk about companies or anything like that we normally stick with celebrities influencers, however, I believe Jeff Bezos is a personal brand in his own way. Right. So to see how Amazon is completely dominating things and what happened this week, which some will not understand how big this is. But Amazon bought MGM Studios for like $8 billion. Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on. Because they spend a whole bunch of M's on Whole Foods and Twitch, and oh that's what I should have put up. I had this amazing graphic. Let me see if I can find it. I'll just read it out. But of all the like, all the things they bought, right. And the crazy thing is, Amazon started as a bookstore like an online bookstore.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Crazy, right? Crazy. Crazy.
Nicky Saunders:
So the fact that they spent 8 billion... "B". People "B" not mil not. Now makes it looks like the 55 mil is like chump change now, right? 8 billion for MGM. But why is this important? Right, so I'm believing, they have the video section of Amazon, the Amazon Prime videos, right? So we have Netflix, we have Hulu, how do you let How do you try to even be in the same lane as them? Right and acquiring MGM Studios, I'm believing, you're going to take all those films, over 4000 films and over 17,000 shows. Right? And that I already know Amazon's about innovation. Right? So whatever else is going to happen. And I believe Amazon is just taking over the world, bit by bit by bit and understanding but you know what? We are, we clearly see after the pandemic, we clearly see not so many people are trusting going back into the movies. So soon. Let's, let's put some money into this. Let's let's, let's get this studio. Let's create a whole vibe. And really play as a contender to be what a person needs in one place. You need books. I got you. You need clothes. I got you. Do you need a gel seat for your peloton? I got you these little socks that keep your your toes warm in the winter. I got you. Yo, do you need music? I got you. You want to hear a podcast. Now we have a whole guap of movies. Its lways going to be about the ustomer. And what's unique bout them. And why I want to alk about Jeff is because his ormula is always said to be rong. Like you want to only do ne thing. Like you want to take are of the pain points of a pecific problem. And my man is aking over the world where some eople say he should have stayed ith books and would have killed t. But in the pandemic. He rushed every other competition.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, legit, legit. Even if he would have like, even if you would have considered his move to be wrong or an "L". I think the growth that he's acquired and accumulated just through the pandemic, he probably would have made up for it. Like even though he didn't go wrong. I mean, clearly the company has still been progressing, but just what's happened in the pandemic alone. I mean, everyone has seen but that to me, they feel like the modern day Walmart, but also plus, with the virtual convenience, like that factor tied into it because everything happens online. They were one of the first companies to utilize the smart Checkout, you know, like a checkout system that's able to recommend other products that is almost like AI right? It's artificially intelligent in the sense that it's smart enough to know what can complement what you would buy and it helps you like we bought I think it was like a stack of candles or some like that, like the electrical ones and I didn't know but that particular product didn't come it came without batteries. So we immediately recommended the batteries and enough batteries to fill the entire packet. It's just like when you think about it, then you go through the experience you can kind of make sense it's a small add on, but it makes a big difference for the convenience you know of the user and the everyday customer.
Nicky Saunders:
Big facts and I got it on the screen but for my audio people. They bought some some important things in life. Okay, Moose you see it on the screen? I want to make sure you see too.
Mostafa Ghonim:
I see it.
Nicky Saunders:
So Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. Zappos...I always want to say zapatos. But I'm not sure. Whatever. Zappos in 2009 bought it for $1.2 billion. Um, of course, the MGM Studios $8.45 billion this year. PillPack, $1 billion. Ring in 2018, $1.2 billion. You hear how I haven't said anything like all those were billions. The only million, and it's still grasping into the billions is Twitch, which is $970 mil which they have to be making a killing because Twitch is, for gamers what that's doing in that world is amazing. But with all that said, like this is all under the Amazon umbrella now. And I'm like, how Sway? Like, how were you the the what do they call the something that's separate? Follow me with this, there is a certain blueprint. And they clearly went a different way with the blue frame when it comes to creating a brand. And so I had to find a clip of like yo What is this formula Sir? Like how is this even possible? And I found it?
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah.
Jeff Bezos:
Well, I think if you look at the big ideas at Amazon, what we're really focused on is thinking long term, putting the customer at the center of our universe, and inventing, those are the three big ideas and they work well together. It's, I don't think that you can invent on behalf of customers unless you're willing to think long term because a lot of invention doesn't work. If you're going to invent it means you're going to experiment. And if you're going to experiment, it means you're going to fail. And if you're gonna fail, you have to think long term.
Nicky Saunders:
So, I'm gonna let you to touch on this one first.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, yeah, no, I love that. I love that. I mean, I think the idea that we often are intimidated by whenever we observe a big company is that our thought processes that well, then immediately before I even think about it, this has to be a very complex operation, I can only imagine what it's like to be behind the walls of a Google or an apple or an Amazon, you know, especially a company that acquires a lot of other, not just small businesses. But clearly big business, when you're paying a $13 billion for a Whole Foods, you're not acquiring a small business, you're acquiring, you know, probably another fortune 500 company, or one that can operate under those circumstances. So you often can complicate things more than what they are. But when you really get down to the fundamentals, you still see that what is really pushing some of their biggest ideas are very simple concepts. By way talks about customer first long term be innovative, like he just helped you almost like, summarize their entire ethos in three or four words. And when we think about that, well, what can we learn from that? Well, for you building a business or a brand today, can you simplify and describe or even articulate your ethos, your mission statement, what you're about, in just a couple of words the same way he did, right? Because there's definitely something to learn from that there's definitely something that you can kind of begin to think about, because it will lead your way, it will lead your ideas, it will help you to think about how I can bridge the gap, or what can I do based on these pillars of values are beliefs that I really strongly, you know, want to bring to life or expand and grow into the world. So that's my favorite thing about it. Nicky, when I see someone you know, as as large or a leader of such a large organization to be able to simplify their process in just a couple of words. It's like wow, like, you know, it can really serve as a reminder for us, like dude just continue to keep it simple, regardless of where you're starting. This is something that clearly has worked for them. Because, like I said, the one thing that I realized about them that helped them grow was that smart checkout process, which you know, has put them in a position to generate so much cash. And that's kind of like the boring business side of it now. But the reason why they're able to acquire so much so many other companies is that they're booming with cash, that their problem, which I noticed might not even seem like a real thing. But some big companies, their problem that they have is that they have too much cash. So that's the reason why organizations go out and acquire other companies. So Apple has that problem. I bet Google has it and of course, Amazon so that's how you're able to make sense of that. Which is like, What? How can you struggle having too much cash? Well, yeah, when you when you get out there, that's, that's a, that's a problem.
Nicky Saunders:
I need that problem. I need I need that problem.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yep give us that problem. Indeed.
Nicky Saunders:
I need that problem but um, I love how, even though he he understands that customers are first he put longevity first, right understanding the long game, and then people and then innovation, you know, and coming from a person who's a, you know, a creator, sometimes like, I would think innovation would come first. Right? But or if you're a people person, people come first. And he's like, if if I'm not about the long game, and having patience and understanding that this vision already is going to work, it's just a matter of time for me. Right? And the proper, you know, people the proper systems, you know, it, everything is timing, but how dedicated are you? How do you believe how much do you believe in that particular idea, or that particular business, because if you do, then timing is not an issue. Because maybe within that time, you have to prep maybe in that time, you didn't put the right resources in place. But the fact that Amazon has everything you need, to the point where even through the pandemic, and coming out of it bit by bit, I'm still not going to the stores, as quickly as I am going to Amazon, you know, like I can get it, I could wait for two days. I, you know, I could wait, sometimes it comes to the next day, you know, depending on what it is. And truly taking the time to understand what people want. And what people need all in one central location, like I said earlier, is not necessarily the ideal way of, of building a brand. But he has, and this is what I think right? I think he mastered how he started, which would be books, right? What he started, and then he said, If I could do this, what else do they need with a book? What else do they need with that? Let's master those particular things. Let's make it easy. And then if he sees that, you know, within time that works, what else can I do within this one spot? And I there, there's another clip that I have that really shows that patience on Okay, are we too quick to say something doesn't work? Are we too quick to say, you know, even if it's a whole year that passes, I didn't get the sales that I want, I ain't get the the the reach that I want. I ain't get the results that I expected, maybe I should take these resources and put it to what was already working. When we have new ideas, I got a clip for that too.
Jeff Bezos:
It would be very easy for say the person who runs our US books category to say, why are we doing these experiments with things? I mean, you know, that generated, you know, tiny bit of revenue last year. Why don't we instead focus those resources and that, you know, that all that brainpower on this on the books category where we, which is a big business for us, we know from our past experiences, that big things start small. You know, the biggest oak starts from an acorn and you've got to recognize if you want to do anything new, you've got to be willing to let that acorn grow into a little sapling, and then finally into a small tree and maybe one day, it'll be a big business on its own.
Nicky Saunders:
So my question to you, right, my question to you to be successful, to be a successful CEO that makes billions and who just wants to spend billions you know, on stuff like Ring and you know, Why don't we buy a whole studio who had James Bond? You know, things like that, like, I like James Bond. Let me go buy the whole studio. Right,
Mostafa Ghonim:
Let me just take the whole movie yeah.
Nicky Saunders:
Let me, let me just let me just take, you know, I like to eat healthy. I believe my customers want to eat healthy. Let's buy Whole Foods. Let's make this into a whole service. Right? Um, is it safe to say that, from a very small foundational standpoint, patience is one of those things we have to really be intentional of having when growing a brand and a business.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, 100% man, 100%. I think, you know, too many people are using businesses or entrepreneurship as a way out of their current miss, like, lack of happiness, you know, like, they're not happy with what they're currently doing. So they're like, oh, like, entrepreneurship is gonna be my exit right out of that. And that's not always, you know, the way to go about it. You know, like, sometimes, not, sometimes a lot of the time you're seeing that these long term plays, allow you to course correct, self correct. correct your mistakes, know what to do and what not to do. But it's only because you're entering with a long term play, then you're giving yourself enough time to really make it work. You know, so the patience is definitely a key ingredient. I think what's also very unique, and I meant to say this on the last clip, but I think it also fits here as well. One of the things that makes this guy brilliant, and many people probably don't give him credit for, but it's the fact that he was the first one, if you really think about it, the first one to leverage the kind of like the share community aspect of things, right. Because a couple years back, I want to say maybe even almost a decade ago, almost 10 years ago. And still to this day, there are people who sell...on Amazon, they sell their products on Amazon. So before he went off and started pushing products, right his own products, or selling more products and creating products, he allowed people sell on his platform. So it gave him the opportunity to really master books. But when you do that, you're also getting analytics on what products are gonna sell the most, or what's most profitable, right? Like, you're able to see all of that because you gave access to other people to the platform to leverage and sell and bring their ideas and bring all that stuff. And I'm not saying what he did is illegal by any means. But I think it's genius, because you were then able give it You were given a first hand look at what's gonna sell, what doesn't sell, what prices the customers want, what are they looking for and you're able to make sense of that data. So yeah, I know, it's a lot of volume. And there's really a lot that's happening there. But if you can afford to partner with other businesses, even if they're slightly different than what you do, but they're in the same realm, I mean, at the end of the day, everybody on Amazon, or what you get on Amazon is for the most part, product based business, right until they got into the streaming and some of these other things. But when you're able to level partner, excuse me, and make sense of the data, it gives you an idea of Alright, where can I take my business to next? Right. So that's something that I know we've talked about partnerships on this platform, but we've never really talked about from a sense of, to be able to make sense of data and how you can utilize the partnership more so for that, not what you know, you guys can do together what you can do for them or what they can do for you. But it gives you an opportunity that makes sense of data without having to put out your own money for more products or other things like that. So yeah, that's one of the things that I've always kind of like noticed, that no one really speaks on but it's a big part of their business at least some some some time back, before they've dominated the space and really started pushing themselves ahead, which, you know, has been next level.
Nicky Saunders:
That's so good. That's I don't want to go after that. That was so good. That was...collab people based off analytics and data, so you know what works and what doesn't, that's Alright, what else are we talking about? That is that that was a whole lesson within itself. And I don't need to go I don't need to go behind that I don't need. So here's the thing, right. Let me set this up real quick. So since Moose is getting married and everything like that, I guess he had to touch into the Hispanic side real quick, because now we're speaking about Reggaeton artist J. Balvin.
Mostafa Ghonim:
That's it. That's it.
Nicky Saunders:
My man came to me like I think we need to speak about J. Balvin. I'm like, Moose, you're not you're not...
Mostafa Ghonim:
I'll be honest with you. From from the, from the beginning I've always wanted to make sure that we we brought enough diversity to this to this platform as well. You know like I've always felt like man us speaking and highlighting women and highlighting Latinos and people from the Middle East like everywhere I thought it was it'd be dope. So I just so happens that I stumbled across one of his interviews. And then they talked about his documentary that had just come out. So I'm like alright let me go check that out, too. And I watched it. I was like, yeah, it's actually really good. And it's what we have up on the screen now for those who are watching on YouTube. And for those who are listening, we have the cover of J. Balvin's new documentary, The Boy from Medelln. I hope I said that right.
Nicky Saunders:
You gotta learn Spanish now. You gotta learn Spanish now.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Oh it's happening is happening. But but a really cool documentary man, it goes back to 2019. It's one of his biggest tours. He went back to Colombia for like his biggest stadium sellout, which of course, is the country that
Nicky Saunders:
I just found it funny and I want to crack jokes. he's from. And it just so happened that there was like a political uprising, there was riots, there were people protesting in the streets, and there was a big kind of threat to man is the show gonna get canceled. This is my biggest one, I want to do it for the people. But at the same time, he was also getting backlash on social media, for him not speaking out for the country. So it shows the behind the scenes as he as all of this is happening. He's there with his closest friends, his advisors, his business people, like his managers. And he's just like, man, like, I have so much pressure on me because I didn't sign up to be a politician. And I know that whatever I say it's going to be wrong, and backlash. So just to kind of see that side, you know, of things that That's all. we've talked about that idea before, like with J Cole, w
Mostafa Ghonim:
We taking jokes. en, you know, this whole thing h ppened around Black Lives M tter sometime back. So like w 're starting to see this h ppen more frequently. So I'm l ke, Hey, this is one another o e of the top streamed artists a ross the world as well. So I f gured it'd be a good idea to h ghlight J. Balvin. on this one.
Nicky Saunders:
So. Um, no. So from, for me as an early reggaeton fan, when he brought this up, I was like, Okay, yeah, let's, let's, my only concern was, does he have interviews in English? And he knows really good English. So I'm, I'm good with this. Um, and the funny thing, this next clip, I call it, the Drake of reggaeton. Because the impact that Hispanics have done for pop culture is amazing. Right, and not clearly Spanish can crossover to our world. But was that always the case? And so we got a clip about that of how he is the Drake, of reggaeton.
J. Balvin:
Everybody in Colombia was listening to, to hip hop, you know, but, and I didn't know what were they saying so I was like, if this is possible with English, what is not possible with Spanish? You know, I knew it since the beginning that we're going to make it, you know, we were like, We gotta make the statement of the Latino culture, you know? By there's some other guys that paved the way for us, you know, Daddy Yankee, Tego Caldern, ... you know, Don Omar, you know, this its not that I made it. Its that they paved the way and then, you know, the thing that was hard for me is that I wasn't from Puerto Rico, right? It's kind of like, Drake, the fact that the guy from Canada, right and exactly. It's kind of like the same story.
Nicky Saunders:
Someone say this, right? real real quick. When you are so dope at what you do. People will think you're from the original spot than where you're honestly from because I honestly thought he was Puerto Rican for the longest. Wow. Yeah. Right. Because of his style, because reggaeton came from Puerto Rico. And so and who he was collaborating with because him and Bad Bunny were like neck and neck. So I'm like, Oh, you got to be Puerto Rican, right? And then when I found out where he's from, I'm like, oh, but the great thing is when you were so dope at it, we don't question. Oh, well, are you from the original spot where it's made? Same thing with how hip hop was started? No one's like, yo, are you from New York, then you can't rap? You know? I don't think people have besides accent right? Because like we can clearly tell Atlanta rap. We could clearly tell West Coast rap because it's different styles, right? And then when we look at because you mentioned Drake, if Drake didn't necessarily say where he's from, I don't know if I would say he's instantly from Canada. I don't know how Canada people sound anyway, shout out to Canada. No shade.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Right.
Nicky Saunders:
I just, I don't know how y'all, people sound like what is? Do y'all have an accent? I don't know. I'm not sure. But I don't feel like Drake does. I don't feel like I feel like he's mastered his craft so much that we don't question if he belongs. I think J. Balvin has mastered his craft that we don't question where he's from. So from a lesson standpoint, like, have you mastered it so much that we don't question if you belong in this category are not right. If you truly have embodied what has already been placed there, right, and put your own twist to it and put your own kind of vibe to it. You are now either blending in or creating a whole new vibe that no one's going to question you about. Yeah, no one is going. And so first, I wanted to address that. Two, um, I love how, when it comes to music, we don't necessarily have to understand what is being said. It's about the melody is about the energy is about the feeling. You know, we're reciting Spanish lyrics and we don't even know what it means. They're reciting English lyrics and they don't even know what it means, you know, um, prime example. Shout out to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. I swear to so many shout outs. I don't know why. I don't know none of these people. Shout out to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Because I know a word. I almost cursed. Look at me. Um, I ain't even know a word from that Crossroads song. And if you did, you were a true fan. But when you first heard Crossroads, no one knew what that was. And yet everybody was harmonizing with it. Everybody, No, no, what did they say? What did they say? But they had the stadiums and arenas and everything packed because of the feeling and the vibe, right? So music has such a energy and a worldwide effect. That if you play it, right, it truly doesn't matter where you're from, or what language you speak. They're going to vibe to it. What I love about him is that he strategically knew how to crossover. My man did a song with Beyonce', you're done. I mean, what more do you need to do? You are officially a superstar. Officially.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah. Yeah,
Nicky Saunders:
I'm just saying.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, definitely to have those contacts. You know, I think when you listen to the clip, you know, for the most part, you can make sense of it. For me, I really found it to be super inspirational. And the reason why is you really got to ask yourself this question when you think about what they just did is Do you have enough confidence in what you're pursuing that you know, it's going to strike the hearts of other people to make it a global thing, even with the people who don't speak your language. That's like you like I think there are So many of us who are so about only serving people who look like us, or who believe that, Oh, well, if I'm black, I'm only going to be accepted in the black community and the white community is not going to accept me. Or if I'm Middle Eastern, or Muslim, and I'm Arab, then there's no way the Latin community is going to accept me, I only got to go to Muslims and Arabs or otherwise, I'm not going to succeed. So here's somebody who, from the very start, who could have and he was asked this during the documentary, and you know, they asked him like, yo, why didn't you switch over? Or was that ever a concern for you? He said, No, like, I actually didn't want to sell out, I wanted to keep as much of my culture of my country, on the forefront of my brand and on my music, because I knew we were going to be, you know, a global, a global, kind of brand or globally accepted. So what he says here is like, you know, he saw it happen with hip hop music in Latin America, then why couldn't be done the other way. And although like, it sounds like, Okay, that makes sense, there's still a level of belief that you got to have behind your idea to be like, Nope, I'm gonna go into a completely different part of the world, or a different culture or community. And I know, I'm going to be accepted because of the vibe and the energy that I'm going to give them. That's what he was bringing to the table. And that's kind of the question that I'm posing to our listeners, like, yo, do you have that confidence in what you're doing, that you're creating something so just organic and so dynamic, and so incredible, that you can take it into a different culture and believe that people eventually are going to love it, because it's true. Like I remember growing up, when you listen to any of the radio stations in New York, you never heard any music other than, you know, what, what they just played hip hop, rap, r&b, pop music, whatever it is, unless you went to a particular, you know, a different station, if you weren't there, of course, there were Spanish and Latin radio stations that you will go to that to listen to, and only for the most part, you know, you would know them, if you had friends of Latin descent, that's the only way you would know about them. But now it is super common to be listening to Hot 97, which is like the hip hop station here in New York, or Z 100, which is the pop station also in New York. And so also here, a J. Balvin or a Bad Bunny or another one that and you're like, what, like, that's crazy. So the fact that you had these people at the forefront of the whole idea and the music pushing this, so it can be a global sensation, I really think that's so dope. And that's something that we should find inspiration in and really start gaining the confidence and also the desire to say, yo, let me work with people who are not like me, like, I want to know what that learning experience is, like me embracing their culture, and also introducing them to mine. Of course, there's a lot of business benefits from it. Because Yeah, you're gonna gain more customers, the whole nine. But just think about just the pure black and white concept of that, which I think there's a lot to learn from. So yeah, just as I was listening to that Nicks, I'm like, man, there's a lot of inspiration from that. Because that gives us that tunnel vision and I get it like, you got to know your audience, you got to know your niche. But at the bare minimum, I'm telling people, you just have the belief that you're going to stretch beyond you know, just people who are like you.
Nicky Saunders:
That's good. Now, of course, I had to get a clip of him of how he feels about on social media. Tell me about social media. I think I'm always curious about artists and how they handle the public on social media and how they live their lifestyle. So I found a clip.
J. Balvin:
I think to have two faces is too heavy you know, to be walking in the world. You know, like, I'm the same guy that you see on Instagram, I'm the same guy that you see me here. And not on, it's all about being real. Like sometimes even in the in the Instagram or on the social media I'm like it's not a good day. Yeah, like yeah, it happens. Like yeah, it's just it's maybe is not a good day right now, but I show them that I'm not... I don't have a perfect life and I don't wish to have a perfect life.
Nicky Saunders:
Shout out to Lewis Howes that came from his podcast, but um, let me go in on this so I'm super big on its draining and almost expensive to be to different types of people. Expensive whether you are spending your money on a particular lifestyle or spending your time which you cannot get back, right. I don't I don't truly understand why people see a blank canvas when it comes to social media and feel like they have to live or show a different lifestyle than what they truly have. And is it because maybe you do not like your own life is it may be because other people's lives look so much better. So let me emulate that to see how that feels, or at least portrayed, that's what I'm living. It's a lot of questions that I have a why people do it. But when you are very secure, about the ups and downs of your own life and understanding that this is a real life situation, that people go through this, and people should see the highs and the lows, and to understand that hey, I too go through bad days. I too didn't feel like getting up out of bed. And you know what, it's, it's how you go about that and how you, you know, tackle that situation head on then necessarily try to always paint a perfect picture for people who don't really care. And I'm super big on like, why are you trying to impress? And I have I have this whole saying, but I'm not gonna say it. There's three F's, I think I've said it on the podcast before.
Mostafa Ghonim:
You gave us the idea. Yeah, please leave them off.
Nicky Saunders:
Right, go research what that means, right? But truly, if people don't really invest in you in any kind of way, them Why are you so concerned what they may think of you or what they may think of your life. He has millions of dollars. And he is like, I rather just be real and show you everything that's going on, instead of just showing you what a famous artist look like. And that kind of lifestyle, because though that may be motivational for some. Or even, let's say most, that's not something that really connects with people on a regular day basis. That is more something like Man, I wish I had that. Man, that could be me one day, but not necessarily of like, Yo, this really could be me. Because I've gone through this, I lived in that kind of lifestyle. I've talked this way or I went through some parent issues or I went through depression. You get a different type of loyalty, you get a different type of reputation when you live your truth, instead of playing this fake kind of vibe for a platform that could possibly end in 2.3 seconds, let a server or let Instagram, Facebook, whatever your platform is crash forever. What are you going to do? You wasted all your time to live a certain lifestyle and now real life hits What now?
Mostafa Ghonim:
That's real.
Nicky Saunders:
That's just that's just my take on it. Like I love that. He says, You know what, I don't want to live a perfect life, whether on or off social media, because that's not, that's not real. And so, I'm gonna show that and I hope other people do not feel pressured to be a certain kind of way because I believe our our viewers and listeners truly, are trying to figure out how to brand themselves and how to grow. So it's not a matter of like, okay, I already know I have to live just like them. Right? But not feeling embarrassed to live your truth is what I only ask our listeners to do like do not feel embarrassed that maybe you You didn't really have anything to post that day. And so you just show your surroundings. That's good enough for somebody because somebody else is also in the at home cooped up. There's somebody else who also has a blank page in their notebook and not really sure what to write, you know. So I just hope our listeners just take that and run with it and understand that authenticity is what wins his game for the long run, than necessarily spending money and having this image of being perfect.
Mostafa Ghonim:
I love that. I love that. So well said, man. So well said. Not much to add to it That's it right there.
Nicky Saunders:
Look at that. Both of us were really like, yeah, I can't I can't say, I can't say much. Hey, all right. Well, you know, that's it.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Well I guess that's it. That's all folks!
Nicky Saunders:
Hey. So I really highly suggest that. You go to our YouTube Live Show on Tuesdays at 8pm. Eastern 7pm Central, three times backwards for West Coast people, right?
Mostafa Ghonim:
For sure. She is incredible. Because we're going to be talking about this week or when you watch the replay of having control of your own narrative, having control of your own na rative and not letting other p ople control your narrati e. And now you have to put it ut and say, hey. It's gonna be okes. Its gonna be so much fu because I love Moose. I love oose, and I'm so proud of him. nd I'm so excited about this edding thing. I think I was. 'm gonna say this, I think I' e been the most excited besides aybe his bride and like his mom nd stuff like that. I want to ay I was the third one. He's lik , number 20. And I'm like, th third one, like, yay! What are we doing? Where are we goi g? Yay. Dinner was like 17 mil ion miles away. I was like, Ok! Nope, it's two blocks away. Okay, no, it's in another state. Okay, I was just so happy about I still, I have the address, but I clearly don't know where it is. Because I'm the pilot of everything. So I just go. I didn't have any kind of plans. I was just like, I'm gonna go I'm gonna get tickets. I'm gonna get this. We're great. Mom, by the time you hear and watch this, you already know So shout out to you. Because you know, my mom is so invested in you. I just want o put that out there.
Nicky Saunders:
She's probably by the time this all comes out. I've already surprised her and been like, Hey, I'm here. Love you. Okay, going to Moose. Wait, why didn't I get an invite? Don't worry. Nobody got an invite. It's okay. I love you. I'll tell you about it later. Its alright. So say sorry to mom already.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Sorry Mom. I'm just gonna bite the bullet at this point.
Nicky Saunders:
Mom, he loves you. I love you. All our listeners and viewers. We appreciate that you are here and listening every single week Follow us on everywhere at Nicky and Moose leave us a review. That's all I got. Moose, final words.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Man I don't have anything this week.
Nicky Saunders:
Get married.
Mostafa Ghonim:
Yeah, go for it. Tie the knot. Stop waiting. That's it. Tie the knot y'all.
Nicky Saunders:
Tie the knot. Make a commitment. Do something commitment...Do something about commitment.
Mostafa Ghonim:
That's good. That's good. Finish that. I like that. I like where you're going with that.
Nicky Saunders:
Listen, listen. You may be I'm gonna get I'm gonna get real serious. You may be been in a situation for six years. And it's just time. It's just time. Okay? It's not going anywhere. It's about you making that commitment. And th t commitment may be a mon y investment. That commitment m y be a ring. That commitment m y be a move. I don't know. Ju t make the commitmen
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