How To Connect With Gen Z with Milimo Banji

Speaker A: Welcome to the Young Entrepreneur's Journey with

Speaker B: your host, Yasmina Ellens.

Speaker C: Welcome to the Young Entrepreneurs Journey where we take the skills, mindset and attitude needed to achieve any entrepreneurial endeavor, whether you're just starting out or you're already on your journey. And now, our host, Yasmina Ellens.

Speaker D: Hello and welcome back to the Young Entrepreneur's Journey podcast with your host, Yasmina Ellens. Now, today I have the absolute pleasure of chatting with amazing young entrepreneur, uh, Milamo Banji, also known as Mills, who is the founder of leading social first creative agency Tap In. He founded Tappin after dropping out of his aerospace engineering degree because he couldn't ignore his calling to disrupt the early career space and make a positive impact

Speaker B: on the lives of other young people like himself.

Speaker D: Tappin's mission is to prepare 100 million

Speaker B: young people for the world of work.

Speaker D: Now, Tappan won uh, RAF Engineering, which

Speaker B: people don't know what that is, Royal

Speaker D: Air Force Engineering as one of its first clients before Mills even hired any team members. And less than two years later, Tappan's team has quadrupled and has had the pleasure of working with a whole host of other graduate employers, including BT Capgemini,

Speaker B: UBS News in Europe and ey, who

Speaker D: also want to transform the way in

Speaker B: which they attract and engage Gen Z

Speaker D: talent in the social media age that

Speaker B: we now live in.

Speaker D: Tappan does this by creating the type of content that they know Gen Z

Speaker B: are looking for that's relatable, shareable and most importantly, valuable.

Speaker D: It's the kind of content that positions your employer brand not only at the

Speaker B: top of their minds, but also in their hearts.

Speaker D: Our, um, Mills is a really smart cookie, especially because he's been consuming a lot of gym quick lately, uh, and he's done a ton of placements, uh, big name companies such as Google, JP, Morgan Stanley. Oh, sorry, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and McKinsey, just to name a few. And as an entrepreneur, Mills is a force of energy with a bright future ahead of him and has several hotshot

Speaker B: mentors supporting him on his journey.

Speaker D: By the end of this interview, you will have a strong understanding of how

Speaker B: to create a powerful brand.

Speaker D: You will gain insight into how you

Speaker B: can build a deep connection with the Gen Z audience and you will feel that you too can reach into the hearts and minds of your target market.

Speaker D: With that said, thank you so much for coming on today, Mills. I'm really excited.

Speaker E: Yasmina M. Honestly, I was just in awe. I have never had anyone introduce me like that. I feel so Important. I feel so, like, when you. When you listen to your introduction, sometimes it just begs the question, have I done all of these things? And when you hear somebody speak, it. It just feels so good. So, no. Thank you so much for the introduction

Speaker F: and a real pleasure to actually be part of the podcast.

Speaker D: Amazing. I'm super excited. Yeah, it's my job to make you feel really important and cool so you can tell me all of your secrets. Hey. Hey. So my first question for you, Mills, is what originally got you onto your entrepreneurial journey?

Speaker F: Well, that's a good question, actually. That's a very good question. I think when I think back at, uh, how I kind of got into entrepreneurship, um, for me, I think back to how I was raised. You know, I initially think back to how I was brought up. I was brought up in Zambia, so I grew up in Zambia. In fact, I. I grew up in a place called Highlands. It was this really cool kind of farm, a piece of land that was, uh, parallel to an international airport. So I kind of grew up seeing all these aircraft taking off and kind of landing all the time. And, uh, my parents were quite hard working. You know, my parents would. Would.

Speaker E: My.

Speaker F: My mom had, um, what I call

Speaker E: it, she had a garden, but she had so many different.

Speaker F: Different, uh, uh, fruits and veg. She had, like, you had, like, uh, carrots, um, in there. You had all the different kinds of vegetable. Collard greens, you had onions. You had everything in there.

Speaker E: And I.

Speaker F: And I saw her really take that garden and build that into a business.

Speaker E: So she would sell that to get

Speaker F: the produce, and she would sell that at the local market. And it was just incredible to see that. I know I could.

Speaker E: I was helping out with the planting of the seeds. We'd got into the garden, would plant the maze, would harvest it.

Speaker F: So I saw that growing up, and

Speaker E: I began to see, you know, entrepreneurship

Speaker F: or the early inceptive stages of entrepreneurship when I was quite young. Um, and I think as I kind of grew and I. As I kind of grew, I began to really understand entrepreneurship. But I'd say, I think the early inceptions for me were actually watching my mother, you know, build that garden in the backyard and turn that into a business. And I think that was when the first, uh, inceptive ideas for entrepreneurship actually came up for me.

Speaker D: M. That's pretty incredible that you got to see her from such a young age, and you got to see this little innocent garden, and then you could

Speaker B: see it grow and flourish and develop into that business. That's really cool that you're exposed to that.

Speaker E: And, um, yeah, I was gonna say

Speaker F: it's just, it was so incredible because, like, what I saw was just not, um, it wasn't normal. You know, uh, my friends, uh, and their families had like, typical jobs, would obviously be working a typical kind of 9 ah to 5 job. Mum was actually doing that as well as the, the kind of gardening business on the side. And actually she then developed that further into doing some baking.

Speaker E: So she would bake really, really like

Speaker F: in Zambia, we have these pies, these meat pies.

Speaker E: I, I, to this day, if anybody brings me a meat pie as we, that's, that's the key to my heart. So she'd make these really cool meat

Speaker F: pies and she would sell them at the, uh, at the market. But it all started off by, you know, um, that garden, which then grew into a bakery business. But just seeing her go through the early inceptive stages of entrepreneurship was just brilliant for me.

Speaker D: That's pretty incredible. Uh, it's exciting because in an entrepreneur,

Speaker B: you get to see something start from the ground up, and you get to see and build and watch something grow.

Speaker D: I'm really curious. So you went to study aerospace engineering

Speaker B: because you're really smart, and what was

Speaker D: then the trigger for you to decide, okay, this is cool, but I want to be an entrepreneur?

Speaker F: M. That it's one of those things that I've always been thinking about. I know in my first year, I think to answer this question, we have to kind of understand why I went into doing aerospace engineering in the first place. I mentioned, obviously, I had, I lived on this, uh, farm that was parallel to this international airport. So for me, that passion for aerospace came from seeing aircrafts kind of take off and land pretty much every single day. And I thought to myself, how do these massive objects, these mechanical marvels, how do they stay up in the air? And I was like, what, nine, ten? And I was asking myself those questions. And then I went to university and actually studied aerospace. But I think within six months, I kind of got the answer to that. You learn about Bernoulli's. You understand Bernoulli's law, and you understand the principles, the physical principles that govern flight. Then after that, I was kind of

Speaker E: like, great, I've kind of, I get it now I know how these, you know, airplanes stay up in the air. What next? Um, and then, I don't know if

Speaker F: you remember, but Amazon a couple of years ago, we're thinking about using drones for their delivery service, right? Thinking about using drones for delivery service. And I was doing Aerospace, but I also love drones. I was a drone hobbyist. So what I would do is I would um, go on ebay and buy all the constituent parts, you know, for the drone. I'd buy the propeller by the motor, by the um, uh, the, all of the components I essentially create and uh, allow us to actually build a drone. And I'll be building that on the side. So when I saw Amazon do the whole delivery system and I knew I was doing drones, I was like, great, Amazon is trying to use that for parcels.

Speaker E: Perhaps I could use that for advertising. And I had this whole crazy idea

Speaker F: of using drones, um, to create this whole new immersive advertising experience. And actually I uh, managed to actually launch a business which I'll run for about a year and a half, two years. And um, that's kind of for me when I thought, actually I love aerospace,

Speaker E: but this new idea, this drone idea, I love this so much. And then I ended up going into

Speaker F: the early inceptive stages of marketing and out of home outdoor advertising with drone in, um, and then I think that was for me that stage where I was able to move away from doing my degree and start to actually move a lot closer into entrepreneurship.

Speaker D: Yeah, it's so funky to hear how that transition, right?

Speaker B: You had a skill, you were super excited to learn about it.

Speaker D: And it's interesting because that's the nature of the entrepreneur. If you're a serial entrepreneur, you're let me build this thing, let me make

Speaker B: it really awesome now that I've learned about it.

Speaker D: Okay, let me learn about something else now. So some people stick with the planes for the rest of their lives. And you were kind of like, okay, well I kind of figured out how they fly now. Now I want to fly to something else, which is ah, really awesome. Um, so I'm wondering with Dronen, what was it like building that up from the ground? What was that like?

Speaker B: Was it difficult? Were there struggles?

Speaker D: Did you know anything about entrepreneurship?

Speaker B: What was that journey like for you?

Speaker F: It was, I knew nothing. First of all, I knew absolutely nothing about like, I knew nothing about business. My expertise lay on uh, the engineering side of things. The ah, the drones, how to build those. I knew nothing about taking that hobbyist concept and turning that into a business

Speaker E: and knew absolutely nothing about that. And what I did was um, you

Speaker F: know, in university you have the, your entrepreneurial societies, you know. And at University of Manchester we had uh, um, the Manchester Entrepreneurs they were called. And uh, every March they had this conference which they called what Next, which was budding entrepreneurs or budding individuals that had, uh, really cool ideas. They'll go to this conference, and at this conference you'd have lots of speakers and you'd have all these kind of different individuals there and they'll teach you essentially about entrepreneurship and they'll share their own journeys, right? They'll share their own experiences, their journeys, um, on entrepreneurship. Uh, and I attended that and I think for me that was the first opportunity where I actually got to hear entrepreneurs firsthand. You know, understood some of the concepts of building the business, understanding things like, you know, building the, um, building your business plan on the elements of business plan, the importance of that, the importance of research and market research and understanding your audience and bringing all of that together. Um, and I think after that I

Speaker E: then thought, actually, I don't know anything about business entrepreneurship.

Speaker F: This has given me at least the stepping stones, given me the fundamentals I need to start. And I think within about, um, a week of that event, I just put my head down, I wrote something like a 30 page kind of business plan which is kind of run through all the kind of details of that first business. And then, um, yeah, I was, I

Speaker E: was there, I had an idea and then I had a 30 page business plan.

Speaker F: And I was thinking, what next?

Speaker D: M. Yeah, you're like, okay, now I have the plan.

Speaker B: What are the steps?

Speaker D: Right, what are the steps?

Speaker B: Yeah, exactly that, yeah, it's.

Speaker D: It's really cool to hear because so many people, when they, so many people

Speaker B: are afraid to take that first step

Speaker D: because they think, well, I don't know, I don't know the solution, I don't

Speaker B: know how to do this, and something that they don't take the first step.

Speaker D: What I find is really exciting about people who are entrepreneurial is they're like, well, I don't need to know the outcome.

Speaker B: I follow the journey, right?

Speaker D: And I take that step and then

Speaker B: I take the next step and then I make a mistake and then I learn something and then I try again, and then I fail here, then I learn something, then I try again, then

Speaker D: I succeed, then I, then I get a mentor. The mentor tells me what to do. And instead of thinking, I need to

Speaker B: know the goal and I need to know how to reach every step of the goal so I can achieve it.

Speaker D: They think really, really big. You're like, I'm just going to create this drone marketing advertising company, right? And, uh, you just have this like crazy idea and you're like, well, I don't need to know all the steps.

Speaker B: I'm just going to Take the first step, which is really, really exciting.

Speaker G: Exactly. And it really brings me back to, uh, one of the key concepts of a book that I read before, and it's called the Lean Startup. And it talks about this, uh, build, measure, learn, cycle, where as a startup you're not really, you're not taking time to go away and uh, build this

Speaker F: perfect product, build it and they will come. It's really moving away from that.

Speaker G: And I know sometimes when people start businesses, when an entrepreneurship or when entrepreneurs go into business, they're thinking about building

Speaker F: the private product, you know, thinking about

Speaker G: what's the perfect product that we can go to market with that, uh, everyone's going to love. But actually the Lean Startup talks about, you know, this whole concept of building, learning and then measuring. So build a product, but constantly be learning, constantly be iterating, changing that product. Go to market, um, get lots of feedback from your consumers, from the audience,

Speaker F: um, and then learn from that and

Speaker G: then continue that loop. Um, and that tends to be the structure that the most successful startups actually have implemented.

Speaker F: And without knowing it, actually that was something that I was doing in, um,

Speaker G: my first business and also in my second business right now. It was like I was constantly just going out there and like you said, actually I didn't know what the end goal was. I had no idea what we were going to build, but I knew that actually what I can do is begin, start. I can begin something and then iterate, you know, iterate consistently until I get to a position where, you know, what

Speaker F: we're building makes sense.

Speaker G: And it's actually quite a good product market fit.

Speaker B: Yeah, 100% with the lean Startup. Right. It's about, let me just go test, test, test. Let me interview a bunch of people, let me observe people in random aisles

Speaker D: in the supermarket to observe their shopping behavior. And just literally being so out in the field, I think it's really interesting when people get so married. It's a problem when people get so married to like, here's my idea and here's a solution. And if you think that way, then,

Speaker B: well, what if there isn't actually a market for it? Or what if there isn't a need? What if doesn't solve the problem?

Speaker D: And when you do the lean way

Speaker B: or the design thinking approach, then you're like, okay, well let me just build something that really works and really fulfills a need 100%.

Speaker G: And I think one of the barriers that stops a lot of founders or entrepreneurs or a lot of entrepreneurs from doing quite well or for actually Launching businesses is exactly that fear. It's a fear that actually, you know, um, when I build something, the audience might not come, you know, but actually, when you're building something, you should constantly be tested, constantly be going out to market, constantly be collecting information and data to validate your hypothesis. Because once you have that data, you're then able to build a product that not just your audience wants. But, you know, you have to understand that audiences are constantly changing. You know, um, startups target audiences constantly changing depending on market forces and the kind of systems and environments that they're actually in. So when you launch a business, it's so important to just be out there testing, testing your product, speaking to the audience, and just ensuring that the data that you're actually capturing makes, um, sense and allows you to justify and validate those hypotheses.

Speaker B: M 100%.

Speaker D: I think it's really cool because you

Speaker B: stayed in the marketing space. You went from drones to helping prepare, helping employers and brands connect with Gen Z audiences, which I think is really, really cool.

Speaker D: What got you onto that?

Speaker B: How did that become your mission and your new inspiration?

Speaker F: Yeah, it's so interesting because, um, after launching drone in which was, you know, uh, for context, it was this crazy, uh, idea which I had, which I wanted to use drones as a means of advertising. I pretty much wanted to have a drone flying on every street, every corner with it sounds absolutely, sounds like we're in it or in 2040, but it was, it was absolutely ridiculous. So it was like having these drones flying by, um, on roads, you know, with these banners or, uh, digital ads, I'd call them. And the whole idea was to create this very immersive advertising experience where the user is actively immersed with, uh, adverts. So rather than seeing an ad or seeing several ads, and then, you know, remembering that actually I saw this advert earlier on. Let me make the purchase now, it was actually about getting consumers to purchase or to make purchasing decisions immediately. So you'd see a drone, it might say you've got 70% off, um, ASOS, you know, so the moment you connect to the drone, you get that code to get 70% off ASOS immediately. And, um, I think I went from doing that to then thinking, actually, you know, this is great. But then things like legislation come in the way and bureaucracy comes in the way. And then, you know, at the time, drones were not really regulated and it was a very difficult space, place to kind of operate in. And, you know, I had conversations with the caa, so the Civil Aviation Authority, and they came and said, mills, we love the concept, we love the idea, but at the time the legislation just didn't exist to really facilitate the use of drones in uh, civilian crowded areas. So what we ended up doing was we tried to pivot it into ah, a platform, you know, a marketplace where you can go onto there, you can hire a drone operator if you needed a surveyor for agriculture or for video production or for um, your property videos or anything that didn't work as well. So after a year and a half I just kind of said, actually this isn't working. I think we realized that this wasn't going to work. That's when the internships came in. And then I had the opportunity to kind of intern at the likes of, kind of Google. I was at, uh, you know, JP Morgan and BP and all these companies. And what that gave me was just a contrast, a difference, you know. So I had spent some time already building businesses and building my first business, thrown in and seen how much I enjoyed that and how much flexibility and freedom I had with that. And then on the other hand, we then had um, um, internships where I was working within an organization, you know, and I was uh, exposed to very, very different, um, market forces, different, different individuals. Um, and what I very, what I realized quite quickly was that structure wasn't one that I was very suited to. Uh, I tend to describe some, I tend to describe myself as somebody who's, who's got lots of ideas. I like to see, um, a problem and really think about how that can be changed and action that pretty quickly. But working in these corporates, it was like I would identify something and it would go back and forth. I'd be actively involved in the change process, but it would take me months just to have a conversation and then that conversation takes me a step back and then I go through another hoop and it takes. So like, I realized very quickly that if I wanted to enact change on a national, on a global level, what I really, really had to do was to really think about how I can be the initiator, um, of that change. Um, I think it wasn't clear when I was doing the internship what that would look like. What we're currently doing today with Tap in was not clear at all when I was doing the internships. And, but when I did come out of those internships, I went back on campus and um, people were asking me, mills, how did you get Google? Like how did you get into J.P. morgan? You're doing aerospace engineering. And these are my peers. These were you know, aerospace engineering students, perhaps one of the most obviously most smartest or most intelligent people on uh, um, at university. And they would ask me these questions, how did you get these internships? And I would have these small sessions, Yasmina, where I'll talk to them for like 10 minutes and be like this, this is what you need to do for your CV and your cover letter and interviews and so on. And then that's what then grew into um, tap in. But essentially it was, and it was almost like an accident, but I think, I guess realizing that there was a need for what we are producing, which is supporting young people with careers, there was such a need for that because what existed at the time was your forums. I'm sure you remember student room, um, at university

Speaker E: we'd all go in student

Speaker F: room, you know, would spend so much, would ask questions after an exam. That was a place everybody went to to to get those answers. But I thought actually there has to be a new way of being able to engage with young people. You know, forums, blogs and articles are uh, they sit as an archaic way of engaging with young people. Um, and I saw that actually there was an opportunity here with, with social media and uh, and all the different social channels to really engage with young people, particularly with providing them with uh, careers information.

Speaker B: It's really awesome to hear your journey from drone in to the internships to tap in.

Speaker D: And I definitely want to dive into

Speaker B: that engagement with the Gen Z audience.

Speaker D: But before I do that, I have

Speaker B: to ask about all those internships. Right.

Speaker D: And I'm going to ask you what the people asked you when you came

Speaker B: back to the campus in Mills. How did you get all those?

Speaker D: Because I think a lot of young

Speaker B: people are confused, right.

Speaker D: And I uh, even think for entrepreneurs

Speaker B: or entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial people, uh, some

Speaker D: really want to go to one of

Speaker B: these big companies so they can work around the smartest people and really learn a skill set.

Speaker D: Right. And so I'd be really curious to

Speaker B: know what is the top piece of advice or the top few pieces m of advice that you can give to someone who's going up for the kind those kinds of big companies.

Speaker F: Yeah, 100%. I think, um, the biggest piece of advice I would give is to really be unique, number one. But I think also really be self aware and understand where your value actually lies and be honest with yourself about that. What I did for myself was I would approach people, um, on LinkedIn and I would also go to tons of these campus events and really speak to people, meet them in person. Because I understood that actually the reason why companies come on campus is because they actually want to speak to, um, students and actually see the talent before they actually, uh, can work there. So I'd make sure that I was going out there speaking, uh, I was going to networking events, I was speaking to a ton of different people and really understanding them, you know, investing time in them, building those key relationships with them, um, jumping on coffees with them. But I think what also helped was, um, my academics and my academic background was, was quite good, which meant that actually when I did apply, I had already qualified. But I think academics on their own aren't enough. You know, when it comes to landing a job, I think everybody now gets the academic side of things. Everybody will get their A's and H stars, everybody will do the extracurricular things. But it's about how can you take that a step further and build relationships? You know, how can you really build genuine relationships with people, um, and begin to actually show them something that most people won't, you know, which is take them. If it means jumping on a zoom call with somebody and having that one to one to really get to know them, if it means going for a coffee and all things are opening up now, going for a coffee with them, um, and I think differentiate yourself. And I think being self aware, like I said, and being aware of where your strengths really lie, you know, what value can you really bring not just to that organization, but to that individual who you connected with and then leveraging that, um, to really build your way into these organizations. Um, and I think what was also important is really having a real understanding of the spaces that you're going into. So if you're going into banking, understand, um, the space that you're going into, networking and having good grades isn't gonna cut it. When you're working on the sales and trading floor and you've got to do lots of regression models and analysis, you really have to understand the space you're going into as well. Um, but I think once you cop all those together, um, you've got the right ingredients for success.

Speaker B: Yeah, definitely, 100%.

Speaker D: I think def, like understanding the space

Speaker B: and the tasks and the skills is

Speaker D: important because I mean, understanding what you're saying, right, is understanding their reality, understanding

Speaker B: the reality of the company, understanding the perspective, perspective of the people who work there and the, um, employers, um, I think is so, so, so important because

Speaker D: when you can understand their reality, you

Speaker B: can then communicate with them more effectively. When you take the time to build those relationships and and take that coffee when most people wouldn't, or proactively seek

Speaker D: it out, then they will tell you what they need. And when you know what they need, then you can understand how you can communicate your value.

Speaker B: To be like, I'm exactly what you need.

Speaker D: And then.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker D: And it's when you build those genuine

Speaker B: connections as well, and not just focus on work, work, work, work, work, but actually build that deep connection, then they,

Speaker D: they, you never know, they might be

Speaker B: in the ear of the person who's hiring and say, yo, this person's really awesome.

Speaker D: And that might get you the job.

Speaker B: Like, relationships are everything.

Speaker F: I wouldn't, I couldn't agree more. You know, I think when you understand that the number one basic need and want from every human is to be loved and appreciated, every single human being strives to be loved and appreciated. I think even before you think about an internship or you think about any business engagement or clients, how can you first make somebody feel loved and appreciated? Take this podcast as an example. You started this off by giving the most extra ordinary of introductions.

Speaker E: I have never had anybody introduced me

Speaker F: the way you had. And I think that really set the, uh, set the tone for the rest of the conversation. I think when you do take a little bit of thought to do the research, your background, research into somebody to really understand them, it really does set you apart. Because when you understand the basic intrinsic needs of humans, which is like, you know, every person you know strives to be loved and appreciated, when you can work on that and realize that, it absolutely changes your game and it absolutely changes your perspective and your mindset when you do go into these conversations and you know, you can really set yourself up for real success.

Speaker B: M Definitely, definitely super important. I had a genius point, but I forgot it.

Speaker D: So I will, I will move on. But, uh, everything you said is 100% true.

Speaker E: Five minutes.

Speaker D: I remember it now. As soon as you decide to not think about it, it immediately comes back. I love how the brain works like that. Um, yeah. Ah, I just wanted to say to

Speaker B: aspiring entrepreneurs who are listening as well, right.

Speaker D: Don't think this is just a corporate thing.

Speaker B: This is a universal human principle.

Speaker D: And maybe there's, uh, someone that you

Speaker B: really admire, ah, who's building a business, maybe someone like Mills, uh, maybe someone else, um, if you can use those same principles to work under that entrepreneur to understand, okay, how do you build that business and then learn the relevant skills. So it's definitely something that is universal, which is really, really powerful.

Speaker D: So coming back to what I was

Speaker B: saying earlier, before I delve back into

Speaker D: that about connecting with Gen Z audiences, right?

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker D: How can companies or entrepreneurs or people

Speaker B: in general really connect and engage with the Gen Z generation?

Speaker F: That's a very good question. I think the best place to start is always understanding. You know, I think before any change can be made or before um, any strategies or systems can really be implemented, there has to be an understanding piece. There has to be a conservative effort from anyone. If it's an organization or brand or an individual who wants to understand generations, that is, before you can figure out how to engage with them, you have to first understand them. What I mean by that is, you know, understanding their needs, their wants, you know, the trends, how they think, their behaviors, the kind of platforms that they spend most of their time on, you know, and once you understand that, you can then take that apart and begin to really think about strategies which you can really be implementing to attract and engage Generation Z to anything, to your brand, to your organization, to whatever you're doing. But I think data is so important and I think the alignment and understanding sits as the central core requisite to success when it comes to Generation Z. Um, and then the second one is then understanding where to find them. You know, where do you find Generation Z? You know, we've had so many, I've had conversations so many times with uh, um, organizations that will say, actually, you know what, um, we're running loads of ads on LinkedIn, for example. We're doing lots of work on LinkedIn to find generation Z. But actually when you look at LinkedIn, you know, we can only see that there's ah, there's between 20 and 23% of Generation Z actually spend their time on LinkedIn. So being able to understand where to find them, um, platforms, you know, what platforms are they on? We know that they're on TikTok, we know that they're on Snapchat, we know that they're on Instagram. You know, when you focus on honing on those three platforms in particular, you can then begin to understand a bit more about the audience. You know, if you look at recent data coming in, you know, I think just about two days ago, as a recording two days ago, data came in showing that by the end of 2021, actually, um, um, TikTok will now have more Gen Z users than Instagram. You know, and in comparison, TikTok is a fairly new platform in comparison to Instagram. And then actually uh, by 2023 TikTok will have more users, more Gen Z users than Snapchat, you know by 2023, which is absolutely incredible. So I think once you understand the platforms that these uh, generation, that Gen Z actually are on, you can then begin to think about your strategy. So the first thing to first do is to understand them, you know, build that understanding of the audience first of all, so you can align your goals to theirs. You can begin to build strategies that are effective and then second of all find out exactly what platforms that they actually use, what platforms are they on, you know, and then the third one I'll say is execute. You know, and by execution I'm talking about how do you reach them? You know, are you producing content that's on TikTok? Are you producing a uh, real content on uh, on Instagram? Or you know, are you producing an influencer campaign? You know, are you working with influencers to re engage with them? You know, so once you follow those three kind of uh, stages would really recommend that and I'd personally recommend those uh, when it comes to engaging with Generation Z, once you follow that structure, um, and you understand the understanding piece, the data collection and then you can move, move on to um, the second piece on understanding the platforms that they're on and then the execution, those three sit as a central requisite to successful generations.

Speaker B: There 100.

Speaker D: I think you can even say that

Speaker B: that is the formula for targeting, engaging any target market that you want to engage. Right. Understand them, why they're hanging out and then execute on the appropriate strategies, which is really, really cool.

Speaker D: And um, so let's say I'm on

Speaker B: TikTok now or I'm on Instagram on one of these two. What content have you found that is the most engaging, the most shareable, the most valuable, the kind of content that really connects with the Gen Zen audience when I'm on that platform?

Speaker F: Yeah, that's a very good question. I think the first thing to understand is that these platforms are constantly changing. You know, um, a year ago Instagram introduced Reels, which was a borrowed concept from TikTok. Now Reels is absolutely taken off, you know, so you can see the usage of reels is just completely shot up. Every single creator now is using reels. But if you'd asked me the same question a year and a half ago, I'd have said videos, I'd have said, you know, IGTV perhaps, you know, was great or um, going live. But I think the one thing to understand first of all is that these platforms are constantly evolving. They're constantly changing. You know, these, these uh, um, these tech companies are introducing New and cool features to really be engaging with this audience. Um, on TikTok, what we tend to find is that, ah, content that tends to fit in with uh, Gen Z culture. You know, when you look at trends, look at, look at what's happened on TikTok. There will be trends that are on there. You know, there might be a trend on um, jobs, perhaps the mother. I know right now there's, there's a, there's a massive trend around uh, getting a new job where people are posting lots of really cool, imaginative, creative content on uh, on TikTok, around getting a new job. But there are tons of these, there are hundreds of these Trends on, on TikTok. I think for success, um, study these trends, study what these creators are actually producing, you know, um, and understand the formula for success and then try and replicate that. If you're an individual, uh, I'm looking at this from an individual, uh, an individual's perspective. You are looking to, you know, produce some content on TikTok, for example, or build a brand or be an influencer. Look at what's already working. You know, jump on particular hashtags. Sounds are great on TikTok. There are particular sounds that people jump on. And once you understand what those are, jump on those. Engage with the audience. And if you're a brand, um, try and see how you can actually engage on that platform by understanding exactly, like I said before, like the, the, the tags, the hashtags again, the sounds and what's trending. You know, understand what's trending and what the culture. What does Gen Z culture on each platform say? The culture on TikTok is very different to the culture on Instagram. You know, the, the kind of posts that Gen Z are making on, on, on Snapchat are very different to post that they're making on TikTok and very different that they're making on, on Instagram. So I think when we look at all three platforms across, we look at why it's important for us to be on those platforms and it's because, you know, we'll look at things like trends, we'll look at things like hashtags, we'll look at things like the types of content. I think once you understand those, you can then begin to have success with the audience.

Speaker D: M. Yeah, it's uh, super interesting to hear how the cultures are all different. Right. I find it so interesting how you

Speaker B: can just take, you can just take

Speaker D: a platform that's like, hey, we connect people, but it does it in different ways. And then because of the nature of

Speaker B: the platform, people, uh, whole different cultures emerge.

Speaker D: I find that so fascinating. I've never thought about it like that before.

Speaker F: Yeah, it's so interesting. It's like different kind of, um, ecosystems as well. Like you find there are creators who we find while just on TikTok. You won't find them on Instagram or they'll post very different content on Instagram. In fact, you wouldn't even think it's simple, you wouldn't even think it's the same creator with what they're posting on TikTok is completely different because the landscape there is drastically different to what you have on the platform, like Instagram, for example. So they might be going viral, they might be doing really cool funny videos on, uh, on TikTok. And they know that the audience there on TikTok love that. And they know that the culture there or on TikTok is conducive for their type of content. So they'll stay on there, you know, so beginning to understand those, those different ships, shifts in culture and what platform brings. What is so important?

Speaker B: Um, definitely.

Speaker D: I'm curious because you've obviously have several

Speaker B: years of marketing, marketing agency and um,

Speaker D: with Dronenin and all that kind of stuff. What are some of the most powerful

Speaker B: lessons in marketing that you have learned in that time?

Speaker F: It's a very good question. The first thing I would say is the power of marketing to change people's perspectives. I think we at marketers have the power to really change what people think about particular products, services, organizations, people, systems. And I think with that great power comes great responsibility, responsibility as well. You know, one of the most important things that I've learned is actually that as marketers we have a responsibility. You know, we have the power to change communities, to change society. But I think there's also a responsibility that we have on our shoulders to ensure that we are doing things, um, ethically. You know, we are running campaigns ethically. And where we're thinking about, for us in particular, we're always thinking about the next generation. You know, we're always thinking about young people. We're always thinking about the impact that what we're doing has on the audiences that we're working with. So I think one of the biggest lessons, I probably, I would definitely say, um, when it comes to marketing and one of the biggest things I've learned in marketing is that, ah, we have the responsibility, you know, we have a duty and a responsibility to be able to, um, operate in ways that are ethical, um, and allow for us to really engage, engage, uh, authentically with our audiences.

Speaker B: That's really, really interesting and definitely true because marketing is applied psychology. And so it's really interesting to see how marketing shapes the world and shapes thoughts and shapes the mind and shapes

Speaker D: the amount of advertisements people see every day. I can't remember the exact figure.

Speaker B: Maybe you've got a more correct figure.

Speaker D: But the last one I remember seeing

Speaker B: that the average amount people see a day is something like 3,000. I don't know if that's so accurate,

Speaker D: but whatever it was, it was high. It was high. It was around that. Um, so it's pretty crazy and I

Speaker B: think it's really powerful. You say that, um, about responsibility and duty, right? Um, super fascinating.

Speaker F: It's really interesting because you know that that number 3,000, some, some sources say 5,000, some of them say 6,000. But the general consensus here is that, you know, we are exposed and we're bomb bombarded with a ton of different types of advertising media. And you know, if you look at a platform like Facebook and you talk about psychology and you talk about, you know, the responsibility that we as marketers have, you know, if you look at what um, Chamath did at uh, um, Facebook with uh, you know, engagement and building the growth, the growth channels at Facebook, uh, you know, they really delve deeper into psychology and human psychology. They really delve deeper into understanding the impact that something like the feed has on people's uh, consumption and their dwell times on platforms. You know. But then if you think about the adverse effects of spending time on Facebook, you know, we've seen lots of young people be affected by things like mental health because they spend a lot of their time on Facebook, you know, they spend a lot of time on Instagram, you know, and if you think about how these platforms are actually built, sometimes they're, they're built to, they're built with the purpose of keeping those users on the platform, you know, because that's how advertisers actually make their money. You know, if their platform is attractive, you can spend lots of time on there. They're going to make more money because they've got more eyeballs to actually sell that space to. You know. So I think when we understood that and when I understood that, I really took that back and said, you know, we have a responsibility here as an organization. You know, we have real ethical responsibility to ensure that we, what we're doing from marketing perspective, um, is supporting our audiences. But I think more importantly, um, it's conducted in a way that provides longevity and supports the audiences that we're looking to engage with.

Speaker B: Mhm. And that at the end of the day, it helps. And it helps more than it hinders. Hopefully doesn't hinder at all. Right.

Speaker D: It's super interesting. What you're saying is totally right.

Speaker B: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn, maybe not.

Speaker D: But like all these social media platforms,

Speaker B: they are made to keep you on there.

Speaker D: Like the more of your life that

Speaker B: you spend on there and not in your life is beneficial to them. Right. So super interesting how you say that. And I think it's, it's a really fascinating perspective.

Speaker F: Uh, exactly. I couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree more. And I think there's a responsibility here, not just from these tech companies, but I think also from marketers, you know, from marketers alike, to ensure that the way we're running campaigns and the way we're building these channels and kind of growing and working with clients is done in ethical way.

Speaker B: Totally agree, totally agree.

Speaker D: So I'm curious about you, Mills.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker D: Some sources tell me that you have

Speaker B: a lot of mentors and that you're collecting them like Pokemon, which I think is awesome.

Speaker D: And um, so I would love to hear how, how have mentors served you,

Speaker B: ah, in your life, your business, why are they important? And how have you gone about building those mentor mentee relationships?

Speaker F: 100%, I think, you know, it's so important, um, first of all to acknowledge as an individual or as an entrepreneur, to acknowledge first of all that you can't do everything on your own. My mom always says, you know, no man is an island. My mom always says to me, from a very young age, I never really got it. From a very young age, you should always say, remember that no man is an island. I thought it was quite funny actually at the time when she was saying, and I never really got it, but I think as I, as I grew up, I began to really understand what she meant by that. And it's, it's speaking to, you know, the intrinsic human need for, for support. You know, you, um, can spend time on your own. Uh, you can build and you will go fast. But if you can build together and have the collective support of people around you, you can go far. So mentorship for me has been so important, like really, really, really fundamental to my own personal growth and development. But I think also the growth, the scaling of our, of our own business because, because what mentorship allows you to do is to, um, tap into people that have had the knowledge and the expertise and have had the time and I've failed and I've been through the same journey that you've been through, um, and they can support you through that. But I think, you know, it's not just a one way stream, it's actually a two way stream. And something that I began to kind of learn later on was mentorship actually, um, is, it's a two way system. You're providing as much um, support and kind of help and um, um, guidance to your mentor as they're doing to you. And I never really understood that. And I thought to myself, look, I'm like, what, I was like 18, 19, quite young. What can I give to them? But there's so much you can do. There's so much you can do. You know, if somebody wants to mentor you, you know, try and find ways in which you can help them with what they're doing. You, you know, do they need some help with social media, do they need some help with branding, do they need some help with copywriting? And try and find a way that you can obviously be able to give back to them. Um, and I think always just appreciate the time because it is a sacrifice, appreciate the sacrifice in time that they're actually given to you in order for you to kind of grow and develop. Um, now speaking to mentorship and how I kind of uh, really realized the process power mentorship. That's a very good question actually. As you know, I think, um, for me it was an interesting kind of story a couple of years ago where I had just pivoted out of my degree and I was looking to do business, kind of really going to do, doing business. And uh, I, uh, I met somebody from a networking event and they were like, Mills, um, I know somebody who's just, you know, I think they've just sold a business or I think they've just, they've made a massive property purchase or property, property sale. I beg your pardon. And they were like, this guy has a lot of, you know, capital. You should really approach him because that could be your, your startup money. So you know, as I was just, I just came out of uni, I was super hungry, super excited. I thought to myself, right, I've got to find this person, right, I've got to find them. So I called up, called uh, him up. Uh, we arranged some time, we met in person. And uh, we met and he said to me he was uh, head of sales at one of the big uh, sales companies, I think it was Thompson Reuters I believe. And he uh, was quite straight up, so we met within the first kind of three or four minutes. He was like, right. And he was, what do you want from me? So I was kind of there thinking, uh, that is a very ballsy question.

Speaker E: Uh, and I thought, great, he's coming

Speaker F: with that kind of energy. I need to give him the kind of energy back as well. So I was like, I'm looking for

Speaker E: a hundred thousand pounds investors then in my business. Uh, and he laughed at me. He did, he laughed, and rightfully so. And I was kind of thinking, uh, did I make a joke?

Speaker F: Like, is something funny?

Speaker E: And, um, he laughed at me and

Speaker F: he was like, mills, look, I, I can't give you £100,000, right? I can't give you that at this stage. Um, obviously you're, you're, you're still on the substantive stages of your business. It's still a lot of work that needs to get done. And he said, what I can give you instead is mentorship. And I kind of froze.

Speaker E: And I thought, mentorship, that was not what I came here for. I came here for a hundred thousand pound investment.

Speaker F: Um, but he was quite adamant. He said, mills, actually, you know, I can give you mentorship. It's going to be really useful for you. I kind of reluctantly accepted and I went back thinking, I haven't got half failed. You know, I met an individual investor and, you know, I didn't quite get him and I was quite sad.

Speaker E: But then he started to mentor me.

Speaker F: And then I think within the first year of him mentoring me, we actually made £100,000. And that's when it really struck in my head and I thought to myself, wow, this is absolutely amazing because, you know, he's equipped me with the skills and the knowledge and expertise that is necessary for me to go out there and be able to build a business and, and learn what needs to be learned for success. So when I realized that, I thought, actually, I need to find more of these. You know, I need to find, I need to find more of these. And you know, I know you mentioned about the Pokemons and collecting mentors like

Speaker E: Pokemons, which I find quite funny actually.

Speaker F: Um, but I think I, I, I'm at the stage now where I think, um, I've got something like between 15 and 20 different mentors that are in different areas that do different things. And, um, I think, you know, as much as I see them as mentors, um, I always try my best to try and give back to them, you know, um, as a function of the sacrifice that they've given to me, um, But I think it's so important to be able to recognize that mentorship is a two way stream. It's not just, uh, uh, an individual who's sacrificing their time and their commitment to you. It's actually thinking about what you can do for them.

Speaker D: Yeah, definitely. And um, yeah, one of the things

Speaker B: that I found with mentors as well is obviously you could try and help them out with a skill or you can make introductions and stuff like that.

Speaker D: But a bizarre and interesting thing is that people who are mentors have usually

Speaker B: had a significant amount of success in their life.

Speaker D: So now they're at a, their cup is so full that they're just like,

Speaker B: I just want to give, I just want to help the right people out. I just want someone who's young and

Speaker D: hungry and help them break through barriers

Speaker B: and break through belief and achieve something real.

Speaker D: And so what I found is just

Speaker B: being the best possible student you can be and just being there and eager, enthusiastic.

Speaker D: Whatever they tell you to do, you do that, you do it. Because if you don't do it, then they're like, well, why did I bother?

Speaker B: Why did I bother giving my time, my energy?

Speaker D: They feel that sense of warmth, giving that impact, which I think is also

Speaker B: a wonderful thing that you can do. If you can show that you're an amazing mentee, then there will be several mentors falling over their feet and excited to actually help you out and help you accomplish your goals, which is also a really awesome thing.

Speaker F: I'll definitely add to that as well and say actually that being part of, part, being part of what makes a really good, uh, mentee is the, your ability to listen, you know, um, listening to advice and taking it on board and being accountable for that advice. So if you meet with a mentor and they give you some advice, get it done and then be accountable and say, this is what I've done since our last conversation. I've actually been working on this. Be accountable and show them that actually that their investment that they're making in you isn't a wasted one. You know, actually go back to them and say, look, since our last conversation, I know you spoke about these points and you said I should change this, this, this. I've, uh, taken that on board, I've uh, implemented this and this is where I currently am. They're now thinking, wow, I spent an hour with this individual a week ago or two weeks ago, and everything I said was actually noted. They listened to me and they've actually gone and enacted the feedback that I gave them. That will allow them and incentivize them. I probably incentivize the wrong word. But it will encourage them, actually, it would really encourage them to continue supporting you because they know that they're actually being listened to and you're taking that, um, advice and bringing it to, uh, to life and actually making it, uh, uh, making it real. And what they will do is that they'll open up their network to you. You know, they'll be more inclined to do even more, more things for you because they know that that investment or that sacrifice that they're putting in you isn't going to waste.

Speaker B: Definitely.

Speaker D: And, and also in terms of value, I nerd out so much about this. Um, I just been thinking, right? So one of my mentors, really successful,

Speaker B: really awesome guy, has, has literally said he's investing in my business partner and I like a stock, like, as if we were a stock.

Speaker D: Because when you take someone who is,

Speaker B: who is young and hungry, and you

Speaker D: can see that in your eyes, and

Speaker B: you think, okay, this person is going somewhere. This person is going to be big. This person is going to be successful.

Speaker D: When someone is thinking that, then they're like, okay, well, if I help this

Speaker B: person out now, early in their journey,

Speaker D: when they're, when they become way more

Speaker B: successful and really big, then they can help me out. And in the future, they'll invite me to something cool. They'll make a really powerful introduction.

Speaker D: Maybe you'll become even an more successful

Speaker B: than your mentor, right?

Speaker D: Which is, uh, an extremely powerful thing.

Speaker B: So that's another really interesting way to look at it.

Speaker F: I was going to just say it's really interesting how when you look at billionaires, they spend all of their life making tons of money, right? They spend so much of their life building so much money, and then once they're so rich, they give it away. It's such an interesting concept that they all give. Warren, uh, Buffett has given away something like 95% or 99% of his wealth. He's a billionaire. You wouldn't really understand that. But again, it's that concept that you spoke about, which is, you know, you spend so much time accruing lots of value and accolades and wealth, but then you're actually just looking for those people that are hungry. You're looking to, you know, really push that in that, that energy and that support that you have to an individual, a young person, who's hungry and ready to make a change, you know, and it's just interesting how these multi billionaires would take their billions and just Give them all away. And the rest of the world is kind of thinking, why have they done that? You know?

Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, it's, it's funny what you say about Warren Buffett, right? The guy makes me laugh because he's one of the richest people in the world and he's still, still living in his middle class house. There's like middle class car and like completely like none of the material stuff.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker D: I find that so, so fascinating. Um, but yeah, I'm curious to know, Mills, um, how do you find all

Speaker B: your mentors and how do you actually turn someone from just a connection into a mentor and actually build that relationship with them?

Speaker F: So I think the first thing I would say is, um, you know, understanding that if you want the attention of somebody who is very busy, you first of all need to be patient. If you're looking to uh, have somebody that's uh, um, a successful entrepreneur or somebody who's quite senior in the business, the one thing you're going to need to understand is that you're probably not the only one reaching out for the attention. You know, they probably have. I always tend to think that there are 20 other people as well as myself or reaching out for their attention. So I think the first, uh, requisite, I would say is patience. Just being able to be patient and understanding, um, that these individuals are busy. You know, you're not top of their mind. But I think what you need to do is be persistent in how you're reaching out to them. You know, um, I think for a lot of my mentors, this sounds ridiculous, but m. The average time that's taken me to um, having all his mentors is probably like six months. You know, this is six months of kind of reach now, um, going to events where they're going to be at. You know, if you really want something, you're you, you essentially do it. You know, if you really want to achieve something, you, you essentially put in the effort to actually make sure that you actually get it done. So, you know, I would try and bump into them at events. I would send them messages on LinkedIn. You know, I'll, uh, try and send them emails if I had their email. But I think when somebody sees your commitment to getting their attention, it gets their attention, you know, because most people give up after the first email or the second message on LinkedIn. They will completely give up. But I think, you know, having that patience to understand that these individuals are busy is the first requisite. But then second one, there needs to be a commitment from the mentee to essentially seek out mentorship, which sometimes can take months. And I think being able to accept that it will take time, um, is such an important factor when it comes to finding the right mentor.

Speaker D: Yeah, definitely. And also having that sense of abundance.

Speaker B: Right. It's like, okay, well, if this person,

Speaker D: um, doesn't vibe with me, then there are others. The world is full of mentors waiting to have a mentee abundance. It's a beautiful thing.

Speaker F: There are 7.3 billion people on this earth.

Speaker E: Ah.

Speaker F: Um, if one mentor, uh, isn't responding to you, you don't vibe. Keep it moving. Keep it moving.

Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly.

Speaker D: So, Mills, before I ask you my final question, I would love to know,

Speaker B: what are some rules or rituals or habits or mindsets that you have in your life that set you up for success?

Speaker F: Um, I'd say for me, the. The number one thing that keeps me, number one, sane, uh, number two, accountable and keeps me going, is, I think, for me, my faith, you know, um, spending a lot of time with kind of God, and I'm Christian, so spending a lot of time kind of praying and kind of reading the Bible, um, and getting closer to God, for me, keeps me really sane. Because fundamentally, I believe that everything I am doing. Doing, you know, was.

Speaker G: Was.

Speaker F: Was, um, it belongs to God. You know, I am ultimately only just a steward of the business I have or the family that I have, or the graces or the anointings or anything that I have. I'm only but a steward of that. So for me, m. First and foremost is my faith and being solid and being grounded in my faith, first of all. Um, and then I would say some. Some daily habits. You know, I think I. I try my best to get up in the morning every day. And, uh, the first thing I would do is drink, uh, water. Drink probably, like, at least a little in the morning just to kind of reboot the system. It sounds very strange, but. Yes, I know it's very strange, but, you know, drinking a bit of water in the morning and then I would exercise. You know, I'd really, really exercise. I found, actually, that on the days that I don't exercise, when I get up in the morning, my days are completely different. I think if you can win the morning, you win the day. And it's such a. It's such a true thing. It really is such a true thing. So, um, for me, the three things I would say, I've mentioned two of them. The first one would be, um, drinking that water in the morning just. Just to reboot that system. Number two, um, exercise. And then the third one is, is literature and just reading, you know, being able to, to develop yourself, believe that we're constant students, uh, of life and uh, we're the best way to grow a business or the best way to grow anything or to develop yourself personally is to actually read. You know, they say leaders are readers, um, and that's because they, they're always constantly exposed to so much different literature that supports them and how they grow personally and also in their business. So I'd say those three sit as fundamentals. Then some other things like the food. You know, I mentioned, you know my

Speaker G: turmeric tea and I mentioned, know, my

Speaker F: dark chocolate which I have, and I mentioned some of my, um, walnut herbs. So some of these other things. And what's this other one? This is uh, coconut oil. It's just like some of the other, you know, additional kind of life hacks and life things that just, you know, um, add on to the usual routine. But these are all usually a factor of brain function, brain production more than anything. But um, I think those 3M say as the fundamentals to what I'm doing on a day to day basis.

Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, who is an entrepreneur if they don't have every brain food on Tim Cooks? If you don't have that, are you even really an entrepreneur?

Speaker E: That should be the quiz, Jesse. That should really be the quiz. Like if you don't have all of Jim Kwik's brain food, then are you really an entrepreneur? Are you really serious about making it big?

Speaker D: Yeah. It's the next buzzfeed quiz. Let's make it happen. Yeah, I think everything you're saying is really awesome.

Speaker B: I found that the morning is everything. It really sets the whole tone for the day.

Speaker D: And it makes total sense that you

Speaker B: drink a liter of water in the

Speaker D: morning because you haven't drunk for many,

Speaker B: many hours and so your body is deprived of water.

Speaker D: Um, yeah, I've definitely found the same

Speaker B: thing gives me that clarity.

Speaker D: And um, talking of mentors.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker D: Reading books are mentors as well.

Speaker B: Books can be mentors. Books are written by people where people have distilled decades of knowledge into a book, which is really, really awesome.

Speaker D: And I think it's cool that you

Speaker B: stay so connected to your faith. I think it's really cool how that can give you a sense of meaning and a sense of purpose and keep you humble.

Speaker D: And um, I think that's, that's really awesome. So thanks for sharing. Thanks for sharing.

Speaker F: No, honestly, on, on, on, uh, on the point around, uh, you know, Your, your day to day kind of habits. And keeping that, like, that routine is so important. It sounds so mundane. It really does. Like doing the same thing over and over again, it sounds so mundane. But the key to hitting your goals and to getting to where you need to be is just consistency, you know, and consistency means you're getting yourself into daily habits and daily routines, um, which then lead to your eventual success in whatever space you want to go into. If you're looking at entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship, or you're looking at going into work for corporate or whatever it is you want to do, those daily habits make such a difference. They do, don't they?

Speaker D: They really, really do. And they allow you to harness the exponentially amazing power of the compound effect,

Speaker B: where everything compounds over time exponentially, either

Speaker D: in your favor or to this benefit, depending on the actions that you're taking, which is, uh, really awesome. So my final question for you, Mills,

Speaker B: is what are three key truths about the entrepreneurial journey that you would share with the young entrepreneur today?

Speaker F: Three key truths.

Speaker E: Oh, that is a very good question. You really got me thinking there, Yasmin, haven't you?

Speaker D: It always does.

Speaker E: Three key truths.

Speaker F: Um, the first one is preparing for failure. Is, is a truth that I think every young entrepreneur has got to come to terms with before doing anything. You're preparing for failure because you will, you will fail. There will be things that you need to kind of iterate and go around. Um, but I think having been resilient and being able to kind of overcome that, um, and understand, I think as you're going into entrepreneurship that failure is, is, is normality. The best entrepreneur will fail. The best entrepreneurs have failed several times in what they're doing. Um, the other truth is, don't underestimate the power of, um, mentorship. I know we've just spoken about mentorship, but do not underestimate the power of mentorship. Mentors are so important. They are pivotal. Again, remember the ideology. Remember that, um, that, um, um, that thought that actually if you go alone, you go fast, but if you go together with a group of people who have that collective knowledge and understanding, you will absolutely go far. Um, and then the third one is, you know, it might be a bit of a different one, but it's like when you start a business, when you're looking to go into entrepreneurship, you're looking to raise funding. Like I shared earlier, you're looking to. You, you want to raise X. You, you see people raising millions and you think actually that's the route, you know, depending on your business. That might not be the route. You know, uh, you might be better off getting a loan from the bank. You might be better. You might be better off, you know, bootstrapping it. You might be better off looking at other alternatives. Because I think the misconception, um, or the misunderstanding sometimes, especially with young entrepreneurs is you have to raise, you know, I, I have to, I was guilty of that. I thought, you know what, I got to find an investor who's going to give me 100 grand and that hundred grand is going to solve all my problems. Depending on the business. Sometimes that can't be, that isn't the best route. But I'd say definitely those three would be my top three truths.

Speaker B: Really powerful stuff. And pivoting off the last one as well.

Speaker D: Um, I think it's so interesting that rich versus king dilemma of the entrepreneur

Speaker B: who wants control over their business, where it's like, okay, well then don't dilute

Speaker D: your company by getting investor funding and don't, don't join a vc. Like, if you want a lifestyle business, do not sign up with a vc, which is basically worse than a job because it's way more stressful. Right. Um, or do you want to be

Speaker B: like, have the potential to be really, really, really rich, in which case VC

Speaker D: might be the way to go.

Speaker B: Maybe it's angels, maybe it's, you know, several different things.

Speaker D: But, uh, yeah, I think it's very

Speaker B: important to be informed about all your options.

Speaker F: 100 and I think different entrepreneurs have different objectives. Some people actually just want to build a business and have that as a lifestyle business. Others want to be exponential and build, you know, a billion dollar tech company or billion dollar lifestyle business or billion dollar clothing brand. I think understanding where you fit into that is so important. I know, uh, nowadays, you know, we can, can be pulled into this whole hustle culture of, you know, you got

Speaker G: to work, work, work, and you got

Speaker F: to raise X and sell that and do this, understand yourself and be self aware, you know, be really self aware about what you really want and where you need to really be. And I think once you understand that, you can then figure out what the best funding route is for you. Or in fact might not even need funding.

Speaker B: 100% really powerful mills.

Speaker D: So do you have anything that you'd

Speaker B: like to plug and where can people find you? Where can people find. Tap in? Now is the time.

Speaker F: Yeah, I would just generally just say that, you know, just. Thank you. First of all, I do, I honor you. I only. Yasmina, thank you so much, uh, for the opportunity and for inviting me here onto your podcast.

Speaker G: I really do appreciate it.

Speaker F: For those that are looking to find me, um, I'm on LinkedIn. Um, Milamo Banji, um, on Instagram, mills_10. And on Twitter as well, mills_10.

Speaker G: So if you want to connect with

Speaker F: me and find out anything about my life and what I do, those are the three platforms that you can find me on.

Speaker D: Amazing. All right, all of that's going to

Speaker B: go in the show notes.

Speaker D: And thank you so much for coming on, Mills.

Speaker B: I, uh, honor you, too. I had an, uh, absolute blast. It's been really fun.

Speaker F: I had. I had fun. I've never had so much fun on

Speaker G: the podcast, but I thank you.

Speaker E: Thank you so much for making this

Speaker F: so easy and so fun, Yasmin. Okay, thank you.

Speaker D: Hey, awesome. Anytime.

Speaker A: Do you ever feel like you put on a front to the world? I did an episode for this podcast with my friend Will Nedda a while back called how to Hack Yourself and Live Life to the Fullest. And we were talking all about how many, many people bottle up their emotions. They mask their true feelings and their true selves with a fake smile. Firstly, because going through hard times is not something that people typically want to hear about. And secondly, because they're afraid to show

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Speaker B: are in the show notes.

Speaker A: I gotta say, I have the hoodie myself. It's extremely comfortable, it looks incredibly hip. I love wearing it. And so if you're one of the cool kids, this is most definitely for you. Again, you can get a 10% discount using the discount code YAS10. That's YAS10 at the checkout at, uh, LowKeyEmotional.com and you too will be rocking the street look in no time. Again, M All of the details are

Speaker B: in the show notes.

Speaker C: Thank you for listening to this episode of the Young Entrepreneur's Journey. This episode is recorded in London by Yasmina Ellens. The music for the show is well as the editing is done by Jake Babineau. If you've gotten anything out of this podcast, please consider sharing it with a friend or liking it in the itunes store. These things help more than anything else in reaching a broader audience and in turn will lead to better episodes for you to listen to. Thanks again and we'll see you in the next episode.