The Detached podcast
Welcome to the podcast. This is a space where I get to vocalize my thoughts and dive deep into conversations with some truly remarkable individuals. It’s not about surface-level chit-chat—this is where we get into the real stuff. We talk about the things that matter: health, fitness, relationships, and the process of breaking free from the limitations we place on ourselves.
I don’t believe in small talk, because nothing meaningful ever comes from it. So, let's dig deep into the topics that can actually change your life. I want to bring you value, provoke your thinking, and help you see the world differently.
If you resonate with these conversations, I’d love for you to share the podcast with others. Your support means everything.
Let's get into it.
Sophia
The Detached podcast
Ep: 80 The number one aspiring Product developer in the world, Kian Golzari
Kian Golzari shares his transformative journey from Scotland to Dubai, revealing how his Iranian heritage has shaped his identity and career. He emphasizes the importance of building meaningful relationships, embracing opportunities, and balancing ambition with personal fulfillment, particularly through family connections and self-awareness.
• Kian’s multicultural upbringing and its impact on his identity
• The influence of personal experiences in shaping his career path
• The significance of networking and mutual value in entrepreneurship
• Reflections on balancing ambition with personal connections
• Kian’s vision for the future as a leading product developer
You can Find Kian on instagram below:
https://www.instagram.com/kian_jg/
If you like to share your thoughts on this episode, find me on instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/sophiadelavari/
Thank you for listening.
Welcome back to another episode of the Detach podcast. Just before the camera started rolling, I was just pronouncing Kian's name. So, kian, do you want to introduce yourself?
Speaker 2:Cool. Thanks very much for having me on today. I really appreciate it. My name is Kian Golzari. Just a little bit about my background Born and raised in Scotland, went to university in Miami. After that moved to China, lived in China for a few years and that's where I really became, like you know, good at what I do in terms of product development, sourcing, supply chain. After that moved to LA, started working with like the NBA and the Olympics and a lot of different leagues and licenses and players and stuff like that. Covid hit, moved back to Scotland and then been in Dubai for the last like four years. So a bit of a roundabout journey, but my career path has always been around product development and supply chain.
Speaker 1:I feel like that isn't the first introduction you've ever done, because that was so quick. So let me bring you back to your surname, because I just realized that that is an Iranian surname.
Speaker 2:That's right. Yeah, so both my parents are from Iran and they moved to Scotland, uh, for university. And it was interesting it was it was at the time of the Iranian revolution. So, like my dad was coming to Scotland for uni, my mom was going and they hadn't met at this time and my mom was going to the U? S but then the revolution happened. No one was allowed to go from Iran to the US, so she came to Scotland instead. My parents met at university, got married, had kids, etc. So I wouldn't have been born if it wasn't for the revolution. So I guess you know good things happen from negative things as well.
Speaker 1:Were your parents like traditional Iranians.
Speaker 2:Not really. No, like they don't necessarily follow religion or anything like that. You know, there's like respect to the values and principles and stuff like that but, they're not necessarily like traditional. Do you know? I'm half Iranian and my mother is Irish. Oh nice, yeah, so similar story. Your surname is Persian, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so similar story. They met in the UK as well and then obviously went back to Ireland. Being from Iran and growing up in Scotland, was there any difficulties with that?
Speaker 2:No, it was cool. To be honest, I think you know what's weird is that, like born and raised in Scotland, but I don't necessarily feel Scottish Like. I feel like you sound it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I mean like I'm from Edinburgh and I think the Edinburgh accent is not as strong as like Glasgow and Aberdeen, so people always get confused when they hear my accent. They don't really know where I'm from. I get like all over the world but, to be fair, I've lived in a lot of different places as well. But I just feel like I hold on to like the values and the principles of like Persian culture, like in terms of like respect for your elders and things like that. I think there's a lot of beautiful things from that culture as well.
Speaker 2:But being raised in Europe, you see, like a different side of life as well. So I kind of feel like I'm very lucky and I got like the best of both worlds, because people which grew up and live in Iran like have their challenges there as well with, like you know, the government, and they don't have as many opportunities as we do. So, being able to be raised in Europe, I have like Persian principles and values, I feel very lucky so when you were growing up, what was kind of the ecosystem as in?
Speaker 1:did you have brothers or sisters or yeah?
Speaker 2:just one older brother. Uh, he's a year and a half older than me. We're still like best friends, so talk every day. He, um, he still lives in Edinburgh, uh, but we're like, yeah, we're very, very close did you ever go back to Iran?
Speaker 2:yeah, I've been back a few times. Um, I I've been back like maybe seven or eight times in total, but a lot of my family's moved out there. Like they've moved all over the world, like they've moved to like Europe. Some have moved to the US and then, like you know, you got like grandparents and stuff like that there and then even they've like slowly started to move out as well.
Speaker 2:I feel that, like you know, it's not the best place to live just because of like government control and regulations and they use like religion to control the people as well, and there's always like revolutions there.
Speaker 2:So anyone which like becomes good at what they do whether you're a doctor, lawyer, engineer, whatever like the opportunities are always outside of iran. So it's a shame. I feel like the talent leaves and, um and I don't know if the stat is 100 correct, but I've heard a few people say it and he said said that there's more Iranians living outside of Iran than there are in Iran, which I find like fascinating and it would be interesting because if there ever was like a revolution, I wonder whether that talent would ever return to Iran. And also, you see what's happening in like Dubai and the Middle East and like Saudi and Qatar and the UAE and these are all like really wealthy countries and like Iran used to be like the Dubai of the Middle East, like in the 80s, and that was the direction it was going. It was attracting a lot of foreign people and a lot of cool things going on. It was very arty and so hopefully one day it goes back to that but we'll see.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel like every second person you meet in Dubai is Iranian. Yeah, you know. Yeah, so when you went back to Iran, did it feel like home to you at all? Because I know when you live away from somewhere, but yet your roots are Iranian. Yeah, how does it feel to go?
Speaker 2:back. Um, you know I've not been back in like seven or eight years, but, um, it's weird. It does feel like home and this is like my origin, but it doesn't feel like natural, if you know, I mean, because I've just been there on holidays and not really like spent a lot of time there. So it feels like this is a part of my journey, a part of my history, a part of my life and family, but it doesn't feel like 100% like me, if you know, I mean we've been like going so many different places around the world.
Speaker 1:Do you ever feel like nowhere feels like home?
Speaker 2:yeah, uh, definitely, and you know it's. It's every traveler gets this. Like when you go on holiday somewhere or you go somewhere for a short time, the moment you get there you're like, oh, I could live here, and then you start to really love everything about it. But then after you've been there for like six months or a year, then you start to see like the negatives and then it doesn't feel like home anymore and the more you do that, the more difficult it is to settle somewhere. But I feel like I haven't lived in Dubai now for four years.
Speaker 2:I feel so comfortable here and this is probably the first time in my life where I've lived somewhere where I feel like I can actually stay here for the long term and I can build a foundation here and I could start a family here and I could really just see myself living here for a very, very long time. And I think that's like credit to the leadership of the country of making an environment where everyone can thrive and it's very safe and it's got amazing networks and you feel at the center of the world as well, like having a world class airline like Emirates and just being able to get wherever you need to get to around the world Because I go back to Scotland see family, I go to China to do business, go into Europe tomorrow for an event, and then it's like it's so easy just to book a flight and be there like in a few hours. Like it's crazy.
Speaker 1:What made you to make the decision to move to Dubai four years ago?
Speaker 2:It was just luck, to be honest, because I don't believe in luck.
Speaker 2:I was from LA. I moved back to Scotland during Covid because when it all kicked off I just went back home. And then it was December. I was just sitting in my apartment in Edinburgh and I was freezing and I was just like I'll just go to Dubai because there's no lockdown there. And then there was two weeks I was on a two-week holiday here and then after two weeks I had to go back but there was like a second lockdown in the UK. I was like I don't want to go back to that and I just researched. I was like you can extend your visa if you set up a company. So I just registered my company online, just made one up consulting or whatever, put my YouTube channel as like my business, and then they're like right, stamp, here you go, here's your visa. I was like oh, wow. And then so I just stayed there a little bit longer and then everything started to fall into place and it's just been a dream to be here the last four years now.
Speaker 1:So what kind of kid were you in school? Were you the ambitious kind, or what were you?
Speaker 2:I was very shy, very quiet, didn't talk much, um, just like observed a lot and and I think that's kind of like served me in my career because I think I've become good at what I do just by having attention to detail.
Speaker 2:Because, like you know, looking at products and stuff like that, you know like my favorite product to manufacture is, let's just say, a backpack. Right, and you know you might see a backpack in like in a store one unit, unit on a shelf but I kind of see it in like 30 different pieces, like the shoulder straps, the foam that goes in the shoulder straps, the zippers, the buckles, the pullers inside lining, the webbing, the waterproof coating, everything. And I just like think of it in like 3D, no-transcript, just like going to like multi-dimensions of this happens and that happens and that happens. I need to do this, I need to go there and I need to talk to this person and, like I zone out, my friends are like looking at me, I'm just like staring at the ground and I do this all the time, but it's just like.
Speaker 2:But that's, I guess, what caused me to be like, you know, shy and focus on attention to detail and thinking because I believe in momentum so much, like I don't have notifications on my phone and like when I'm working I'm really locked in. I have like a timer on my phone. I block everything out.
Speaker 2:My office in my apartment is the maid's room, you know, like the small, tiny little room with no windows, I just like to like lock in, lock in and just like get ultra focused, because, I mean, this is a tip to anyone listening like, if you want to like, it's really about the number of, not hours of, you work that you work in a day quality the hour of the hours of focus work that you have right and the worst thing you can have is notifications on your phone.
Speaker 2:Because if you think, think of like momentum on a task, you're just momentum's like firing like that Right. And as soon as like something pops up a notification on your homepage to say like you know so, and so is like your post, even if you don't do anything with it, you still look at it, you think of that person, you think about that post, you think about what they might think about that post, and then you're like OK, you go back to your work. But you were going like that and now you've stopped right and now you have to slowly get back to where you were. So just by seeing that thing for two seconds, even though it didn't do anything like it's actually caused you to lose complete momentum. So whenever you have and Tony Robbins talks a lot about being in flow state like to be in flow state. You just have to have full momentum.
Speaker 1:So that I like to operate in that way with everything that I do so, when it comes to work, how many hours a day would you have be in flow state?
Speaker 2:uh, quite a lot actually. I'd probably work. Maybe it could be anything between like 8 to 14 hours a day, but it work, doesn't feel like work you know, I really love what I do and it's like I would rather work than watch Netflix. I don't even have a Netflix account, you know, so it's like.
Speaker 1:I will happily work Monday to Sunday, like I don't take weekends off like I just really enjoy what I do. So do you ever find? Does anyone ever tell you that it's a little bit odd, that maybe you don't?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, all the time, yeah it's like my mom tells me all the time she's like you know, why don't you work? That's funny, you have fun, and it's like I am having fun.
Speaker 2:Like you know, this is what I love doing and but I think everyone like who has achieved anything significant, has always got a bit of a screw loose. You know that they're like ultra dialed in, ultra disciplined, they're really hard on themselves and like I think it's a gift and a curse, because the gift is that you can achieve amazing things, but the curse is that like you sacrifice, like you know your social life and stuff like that as well, but ultimately it's worth it. If you get that big thing that you've been striving towards, then you know all the sort of discipline, hard work, late nights was all worth it.
Speaker 1:My theme for last year was enjoyment. Right, Because I work so much. I'm a workaholic and I can gladly say that as well. So I said, right, let's flip the narrative and just enjoy every piece of work that you do, even the shit stuff yeah, yeah um, and that just completely changed everything for me as well.
Speaker 1:Um, but when I told people, when they said, oh, you need to stop, you need to dial down, or whatever, I would say, well, I'm actually enjoying it you know, yeah, um, but I think sometimes when people give you those comments, it's their vision, it's not your vision exactly, and I think they're saying it to protect you, but it's actually hurting you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it pushes you away.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, exactly so how important has your ecosystem of friends been for your career?
Speaker 2:um good, I mean, I think a lot of the things that I've been able to achieve has been through like networks that, um, you know, you've you've made with people. But I'm a big, big believer in like adding value to people before like asking for anything. Because, like, even now, like I've got um a YouTube channel where I talk about product development, sourcing, supply chain, and it does quite well and I get a lot of people just DM me on Instagram and it's like, while it's nice to get the messages, but it's a lot of people just asking for help and it's like your friends know what you do as well. So all your friends are like, hey, we want to start this business and can you help this, can you help that? But like, if you're getting 15 messages a day of people asking for help, it gets very, very draining. So, knowing that, like, whenever I want to like achieve something and I need someone's help as well, I never ask for anything without giving sorry for asking you to be on the podcast no, no, no.
Speaker 2:I enjoy this, um, but like, for example, like if I was going to ask someone for something and I saw that they had like a really bad, like, let's say, personal website, right, I would maybe like hire a website designer, make a new website for them, and I'll just say, hey, by the way, I just noticed that you don't have a great website, I've built this for you. Check out the link and they'll be like wow, amazing. And let's say you hired a website designer. Let's say it cost you like five hundred dollars or a thousand dollars.
Speaker 2:Now the mindset of them is like that's amazing, what can I do for you? Whereas if you ask the thing that you wanted first, they probably wouldn't even reply to the message if you know what I mean. So I always believe in like adding value to people first before you ask for anything, and that's been like the main, like that's how I've been able to like utilize network to grow and to do amazing things.
Speaker 1:I think that's really important, because when people come to you and they haven't even built that connection with you, it's kind of yeah, I don't know. It's because, like you said, you might get 15 messages a day.
Speaker 2:I think people need to understand that, that like they're not only just asking you, there's like 10 other people behind you even already asking yeah yeah, um, and I think when people, maybe if you don't respond to people, other people might get frustrated yeah and I think it's really important to understand that, like, ambitious people are busy people and busy people don't have time to just stop what they're doing and just jump on to like what it is that you're asking.
Speaker 2:And if they don't have that, like you know, people don't necessarily people who aren't getting messaged so many times a day are always on their phone. They're always texting their friends. So they don't quite understand when you don't reply or if you can't do something and they take it as maybe like disrespect or they think it's rude that you don't reply and all that. So that's why it's really difficult to sort of keep your ecosystem, keep your friends, like people which are also on a similar journey to you as well, because quite a lot of times, like your friends don't actually understand you or understand what you're going through, or they can see it like negatively and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:So and it's hard to explain, like because if you haven't gone through it, then like it's really hard to understand I always find, when you're trying to grow something, it's like you're going at one speed and then you might find a friend that's going at a similar speed and then over time maybe one, one or the other will overtake yeah and then it's hard to kind of stay within that friend system yeah do you have anyone who's like been at the same speed or similar speed?
Speaker 2:that's just yeah for sure, I try to apply, like the law of thirds and what I try to do is spend like 33 percent of my time with three different groups of people, which is like I want to learn from the 33 percent of the people which are ahead of me who have achieved what I want to achieve, and I want to learn from them.
Speaker 2:Then I'll, like you said, I want to spend 33 percent of the time with the people which are on the same journey as me, at a similar level, where we can really help each other, like day to day, and we're trying to achieve a similar thing.
Speaker 2:We can go on the journey together, and then I believe that 33% of your time should be spent with the people which you can help, which are behind you, which want to learn from you, because I feel you become better at what you do by teaching uh, what you, what you know as well, because I think it was Tony as well who said that, like, your knowledge is only 10% retained if you read it, and then it's like 40% retained if you write it down, but it's 80% retained if you teach it. So the more you teach what you do, the better knowledge you retain as well as you're learning, so it's important to apply those three thirds like teach people, go on the same journey as people and learn from the people ahead of you as well it's interesting that you made that point from tony robbins, because I only listened to a podcast this morning and he talks about having two businesses.
Speaker 1:You're in your present business right now and you're in your future business. Yeah, so do you find, with the business that you have right now, what you do? Are you focused on the present and you focus on the future? Because obviously, ai everything is really transforming and moving at such a quick pace yeah how do you manage in between the two?
Speaker 2:yeah, it's interesting because I try to stay in all realms, because I feel that, like we're doing really incredible things right now. We have an amazing life right now. You really have to just enjoy the moment as well, because if you think about the past of like where you were like four years ago, I think about when I was just working in my apartment in Edinburgh, and if you told me four years ago what I'm doing today, I would have just been like there's no way, like just it's impossible. And then, but then in the present moment, you're kind of thinking about like what you want to achieve like in the next few years, and you kind of don't realize what's happening right now.
Speaker 2:So I tried to live in all three stages of like focus on what I want to achieve I'm always big on vision and goals and what's my five-year plan and what's my next few moves and then like work towards that and I write very, very detailed notes on an app called notion around that and then I really am like mindful and purposeful of like enjoying the present as well. Like every day, I feel like I'm very, very lucky and blessed and I feel like it's a dream and I try to just take notice of that so you can really enjoy these moments, because life goes by so fast and I just try to remember where I was a few years ago as well, so I know that it is possible and you can go a long way in a few years as well.
Speaker 1:When you say life goes by so fast. Have you had anyone close to you pass away to give you that realization?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, quite a few people. And yeah, my cousin recently passed away, a couple of years ago, which was tough, and then I've had a couple of close family members like go through cancer and recover. So it kind of puts everything into perspective. And you know, the thing is like, you know, people always tell you, tell you, like you know, uh, you know, like send messages to the ones that you love and like, uh, you know, cherish these moments and things like that, but you can never really do it until something like that happens to you.
Speaker 2:And then you, then you go through the emotions of what it's like to think about losing someone or to actually lose someone, and then, like it puts everything in perspective and it comes like shattering down real quick. But then you go back to normal life as well and then you hear something else and then it grounds you again. So it's not like it's a practice that you know, whether you're into, like meditation or anything like that. It's almost like you have to remind yourself, like how lucky you are just to be here and just to be healthy and, uh, just have a normal life and then apart, and then after that you can start attaching on all your goals and things like that as well, because I think, if you zoom out from a bird's eye view of a lot of people which live in Dubai, like you know, there's a lot of like nice people here, but there's also a lot of like superficial people here who aspire to have all these like luxury things and they're striving towards getting those things.
Speaker 2:And it's like, if you actually look at what you've got right now, you've actually got a very incredible life. You know you're part of the top 1%, you live in the best city in the world, you've got amazing weather, you have complete freedom, you've got so much convenience like, so much you can be grateful for. But if you're thinking about getting that car or flying this way or getting that, you know, jewelry like it's like your mindset's all wrong.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you get lost in the process of it and actually is the process that you should be enjoying. Yeah, um, have you found yourself ever running towards the future and not enjoying the process?
Speaker 2:um you ever caught yourself doing this no, I mean honestly, luckily, I've just always appreciated everything I've had, just because, like you know, growing up in Scotland and you probably felt like growing up in Ireland as well, like you sometimes life is like tough and it's like now you're here, I'm just like I just got to be very, very thankful and grateful for like being raised very well by good parents and having a good upbringing and just being able to appreciate everything Because it's funny, I think there's a big difference on your life when you like work hard for things and you achieve it slowly versus, I see, like you know, the crypto bros in Dubai and like, don't get wrong, I invest in crypto.
Speaker 2:I think it's great. But I've seen a lot of people here in Dubai where like, let's say, they've started with nothing, they've invested in some weird coins, it's worked out really well, great. They've become overnight millionaire, like congratulations. But then, like, after you spend a bit of time with these people, you realize that they actually feel sorry for them because you've now achieved the big financial thing without learning the lessons of what it took to get there.
Speaker 1:If you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:So like if you make, let's say, three million dollars from running a business, well, you've had to hire, hire people, fire people like, suffer failures, like ship product um, arrange customer service, like there's so many battles and fires you've had to put out which caused you to learn like critical thinking and so many good life skills and lessons and how to read people and how to work with people and stuff like that to create opportunity.
Speaker 2:So then when you achieve that thing, it's not necessarily the financial goal, it's the person you became on the journey to get there. But then when someone earns like three million dollars from like a meme coin, it's like, yeah, you got the thing, but you didn't learn the lessons. So now you can still analyze their life and like from my perspective, they're just a little bit like lost and soulless and don't have good people around them and it's like at the end of the day they might get hurt or lose that money or have the wrong people around them. So it's like I'm grateful for like the slow journey and the slow grind and acquiring all the lessons along the way, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:What has been the biggest lesson that you've had when it comes to business?
Speaker 2:I would say anything worth having is worth working hard for like never to shy away from hard work. And it's not the journey. It's not a destination, it's a journey no-transcript this, I think this was in like 20. Do you know?
Speaker 1:it's mental. He was my first book that I read, awakening the giant. I still have it and I still have it on my little bookshelf because it's like it. You know it's a bit, but when was your first event?
Speaker 2:I think it was 2017 or 2018 I went to Unleash your Power Within in London and then I went to Date With Destiny in Boca Raton in Florida and that's. That's the same one that you did on the Netflix documentary I'm Not your Guru and that was honestly a life-changing event. Like that was insane. Uh, just six days, immersive, just like all in. And I've been listening to Tony since I was like 18 years old as well. I was very lucky that, um, it was funny, I was gonna go to.
Speaker 2:I had this like weird fascination of America and, um, I told my dad that, like after high school, I said I want to go to America, I don't want to go to university. And and he was like, right, right, okay, which is like before you make that decision, he's like just listen to this. And then he gave me like a Tony Robbins CD and then I listened to it and I learned so many lessons that I was like, okay, I don't think I'm ready to go to America yet. And I just like became obsessed with Tony after that, bought all his books, listened to all the CDs.
Speaker 2:And then a friend of mine, just out of the blue, invited me to a Tony event in like 2018. And it's something I think it was a bucket list item. Like anyone which is into personal development or you want to achieve good things, whether it's in your health, business, relationships, whatever you have to go to a Tony Robbins event yeah it's just one of those events which will change your life, but you have to be open to learning, if you know. I mean you have to be open to like being vulnerable and do you know?
Speaker 1:I think when you're in a room with so many people who are open to the whole experience, you just kind of have to be a chameleon yeah, regardless, otherwise then you're going to stick out and you're really going to suffer yeah so I think you do have to surrender. I think, even if you're skeptical, you'd probably go to that and come out as the tony robbins believer.
Speaker 2:Yeah it's interesting because, like he makes you like play all out and, like you know, maybe like the british culture is a little bit like I'm not doing that, I'm not saying that or what's all this, but, like you know, he gets you pumped up because he knows for you to take action, he needs to get you into a flow state so, like before he comes on stage, you'll have like music pumping, like with dancers on stage and then like everyone be jumping on their feet, jumping up and down, and that's just to get like the blood flowing, because you're sitting in a seat, like how many times we've been to a conference?
Speaker 2:we're just sitting there it's cold, it's dry, you're bored, you're falling asleep, you're checking your phone none of that at Tony Robbins event like you're full in, immersive, all in energy. But one of the biggest takeaways I got from that was it's like right, what do you want to achieve? You know, everyone always dreams like I want to become this, I want to do this, I want to have this house, whatever. It's like well, cool, have that vision, like what is it you want to achieve? But then who is the person you need to become in order to achieve those things? And it's like well, the, if I want this 10 million dollar house, then I need to have like disposable income of like 30 million dollars, then I need to have this business. And then who do I need to become to then have that business? How do I want to attract people to want to work with me? And like how do I hire people and what sort of different types of businesses do I have to have to have that cash flow within?
Speaker 2:So he kind of like breaks it down for you through visualization of like what is it that you want and what you have to do to get there. And then you start going from there and, as long as you know there's a path. As long as you know there's a journey like yeah, okay, we're far away from it right now, but you know that you're on that way. Then you just keep going. You have momentum. But like there's a lot of people just dream and they're like I want that thing, but then they don't do the things to get them there, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's useless to have a dream if you don't have an action plan yeah so, with uh your mind going a million miles an hour, which I've just acknowledged, what do you do to stay present and stay calm?
Speaker 2:yeah, I'm constantly working on that because it's honestly a struggle, like I don't know if you've had this, but like I'm too excited to go to sleep sometimes, like I just like like last night, I was up till three o'clock in the morning, like not because I like to stay up late and watch tv, but I was just like I was so excited about what I have to do today that I was like I just want to wake up right now so I can do it, if you know, I mean, and it's like I have to like purposely like switch off, like I have to like stop using my phone an hour before I go to bed. I'll'll wear like those red light glasses or whatever I thought you were going to wear them today, yeah, and then like I listen to like really, really like slow music.
Speaker 2:I have to sometimes take like melatonin and even after that like I can't like wind down, but I just I'm constantly trying to teach myself how to learn, how to switch off.
Speaker 1:Like I want to get one of those eight sleep mattresses because I heard that's good for I have one. Are they good? Yeah, they're good, yeah, oh nice. Um, yeah, I'm totally the same and sleep routine. Sleep is so important yeah do you ever find but lack sleep, though? Are you just as as efficient as you would be? No, it's like you.
Speaker 2:Just you can't sleep. Like I wear the whip and I see, like you know, when I sleep. Like you know, this whole last week I slept like four and a half hours a night and like I feel like I have to really get myself into gear, whereas like, if I get seven hours, boom like it's, like it's over, like 16 hours big day, like very effective, like. So I have to, like I know that like the better sleep that you have, like the much more productive you'll be the next day. So I try, I really really try to to get the um, to get a good sleep, but sometimes it's really tough.
Speaker 2:I think, uh, especially being in Dubai as well, I do think it's quite tough because people are night owls here yeah, I think there's something in the air here as well, like because I use the whoop and I can see, when I go back to Scotland, I get like four hours of deep sleep, but in Dubai, like I'll be lucky if I get two and a half hours deep sleep.
Speaker 2:Like I don't know what it is, where it's the vents or the AC or the air quality or the lack of oxygen from not having enough trees or whatever, but like there's something like here that I just can't get, that's the only thing that you know.
Speaker 1:Obviously it's been. It's a blessing living in Dubai, but I do think air quality is a huge, huge thing. Cause even with running. I noticed my runs back in ireland, yeah, so amazing. And also I went to like a nutrition talk with martin mcdonald. He's a nutritionist from not nottingham and he was just talking about how much stuff is imported and like now we're having vertical farms here where you fresh local produce but half the produce that come here there's so much pesticides and everything else.
Speaker 1:So I think there's a difference in between the nutrition quality, water quality and air quality here for sure but it's the cost that you take in order to live in such an expansive place for sure so when was the last time you did something for personal development, like Tony Robbins?
Speaker 2:um.
Speaker 1:I don't know how often would you do something to develop yourself.
Speaker 2:I guess I read a lot of books, like audio books and like physical books and stuff like that, but in terms of like playing all out and something like that, I've not done it in a really long time, to be honest.
Speaker 2:But I think you know, living in Dubai, you're always meeting extremely interesting people and I'm always about like experiences that force you you to think bigger, if you know. I mean like, for example, like the first time you fly business class, you just kind of go like right, I'm never going back, like, whatever it takes, I'm going to make sure that this is always the way that I fly, and stuff like that. So, like I try to just create those experiences that scare you a little bit, where you're like okay, now, this, this is the next level, but you have to taste it right. So say, for example, like if you've just got like a normal everyday car, but let's say you don't have the funds but your dream car is a Ferrari, you would go and like test drive a Ferrari just to feel it and sit in it and be like this is what I want. But you felt it now. So you're like okay, now I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 2:So it's like I like to put myself in those environments where like you scare yourself a little bit and taste a little bit of what you want, the life that you want to achieve, and then that will sort of get you on the path of where you want to go.
Speaker 1:I used to always say, like I'm just tasting my future to justify certain things. Totally, um, okay. So then, on a weekly basis, what's the fitness routine like?
Speaker 2:oh yeah, it's very important. Like I try to do something every single day, like I've got like a spreadsheet that I just call workout planner and I try to like plan my workouts like two weeks in advance, like based on where I'm going to be and I'll just put in that calendar like classes I'm going to go to, whether it's I go to this gym called chalk in dubai where they got really good classes and then like I'll do like some yoga, meditation, breathwork, ice bath on the beach at lake breezy, um, and then just do my own weights and stuff like that as well and then do for go runs.
Speaker 2:I'm training for like high rocks, training for like half marathon, all that sort of stuff. So I just try to like put as much stuff in as possible and I don't like to take rest days. I feel like I'm not being productive if I have a rest day, but I've come to realize that it is important um, you can have an active rest day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, true, I always think it's like you're you're still itching the habit of actually actively going to do it yeah so it's like when you skip that one day, the likelihood of you skipping a second day is quite high.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, and it's like, once you take a couple of days off, it's like hard as said to like get back into your routine.
Speaker 2:So I just like to not take days off, but I feel like if I don't do something like to do with, like you know, your fitness, like I feel like annoyed with myself, if you know. I mean, I feel like I've not been productive and I try to like have a some type of workout every single day because I'm like, no matter what happens today, even if I don't get any work done, at least today's been a good day if I've been able to like do some sort of workout have you always been like this?
Speaker 2:uh, yeah, I would say most of the time yeah. But you know what? Like I've not been like super dialed in in terms of like information. So like before maybe, like I would go and lift weights but then I just wouldn't eat healthy food and I didn't really know it, but like like come to realize how important like nutrition and sleep and all that sort of stuff is, and active recovery, and so like now I feel like I've got good knowledge and now I feel like I can get into good shape. But like I've been working out, like you know, since, like you know, I was like 18, 20, 25. I never got into like really good shape because I was just doing it, but not really like understanding what to do if you know I mean.
Speaker 2:But now I could see like the big benefits of having like a proper like trainer and having your meals and all that dialed in as well.
Speaker 1:So it's super important so with product development'm going to bring you back now, back to your roots. What did you study to do what you do now?
Speaker 2:I studied business at university at Glasgow and University of Miami but I don't think the university had anything to do with what I do. In fact, I wrote my dissertation my thesis on the value of entrepreneurship education as worthless if you want to become an entrepreneur. My thesis on the value of entrepreneurship education is worthless if you want to become an entrepreneur, which is really risky because you're like downgrading the profession of the person marking your paper, if you know what I mean and what did your teacher say about that?
Speaker 2:well, luckily I got an A for it, so it must have made sense. But my argument was that, like you know, if you want to become a lawyer and study law, if you want to become a doctor and study medicine and those sort of subjects put you on your trajectory. But I was like, if you want to become an entrepreneur, the best way to do it is to learn by doing, and like it's very, very harmful if you read about it. It's like, for example, if you want to get strong, you do 100 push-ups. You don't read about doing the push-ups, you just do the push-up, if you know.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's the same with entrepreneurship. You just have to dive in and, like you know, today, in the last 10 years, whatever, it's never been easier to do it with the access that we have to like certain websites like alibaba and shopify and like access to influencers and stuff like that. It's like there's so much resources and tools that we have at our disposal that you just have to learn by doing, and it's constantly changing so much. It's like, if you go to university and study for four years about marketing, well, like, whatever is happening in marketing is changing like every 30 days anyway, like does the person teaching you in class even know what TikTok shop is?
Speaker 2:or it's about to get shut down? Or like what's the next thing you know? So it's like you have to really be like in the trenches to know about it. So university it was cool for like networking and stuff like that. You know, I went to University of Miami and that's how I got the connections with like the.
Speaker 2:MBA and stuff which I ended up working with like eight years later and stuff like that. So to make those networks at university, and I think you have to allow yourself the grace and time to enjoy your university years as well, so that I can look back on it now to be like at least I had a lot of fun in those four years. I'm still having fun now, but it's different, if you know.
Speaker 2:I mean there was no responsibility then, there was no stress then right where it's like now you still have fun, but you also have like responsibilities and stress that comes with it.
Speaker 1:So do you ever look back on the times when you thought you probably were a little bit stressed and you're like you had it so easy?
Speaker 2:100 100, but then that's like the level of the problems that you put on your shoulders as well, and it's like you're just constantly evolving. So like what I thought was a really big stressful moment and big problem like five years ago is nothing. Today I could probably handle it in a few minutes, but then, like probably five years from now, wherever I am, I look back at what I'm doing today and if I feel like this stresses me out, I'll probably be like, yeah, that was nothing you were on easy street back then.
Speaker 2:So like I guess it's a good thing, because if it becomes easy it's like a sign that you've leveled up. But in the moment like you don't know, because you don't know any better.
Speaker 1:So some of the big names that you've worked in the industry, who were they Tell us?
Speaker 2:So I guess, like some of the favorites, like within the NBA, steph Curry he was a partner in one of our companies, but so I had, like, the NBA license and the NBA Players Association license, so I was able to work directly with the team, the league and the players individually. So that was really cool. That was something that I could never even dream of.
Speaker 1:And what would a day alongside them look like?
Speaker 2:It was cool, I mean. So I was living in China at the time and I was doing a lot of work like supplying products to the NBA and I was getting invited to a lot of events and going to the games and stuff like that. So I kept flying to LA and I was like you know what, let me just move here. And I just moved to downtown LA and then there I was like close to the stadium, so I'd always get free tickets to the games and go and meet the players and stuff.
Speaker 2:And what was cool was that, like you know, a lot of athletes are quite focused on like personal brand as well, and I think, like, luckily now, entrepreneurship is quite cool and it's cool to have your own brand, whether it be a clothing brand or a jewelry brand or whatever. So, because that's my skill set in terms of like developing products, finding factories, negotiating price, like fulfilling that like then they're like, oh cool, like you're the guy like who can help me get there. So, like the, the relationships and friendships which I built was really, really cool and that's a really important thing as well, like talking about earlier about giving value to someone first, because, like, there's a lot of people which hang around, like you know, celebrities, football players, basketball players, whatever and they're just like, oh, you know, like can I get a picture?
Speaker 1:whatever and that's cool.
Speaker 2:But if it's like, well, hey, I do this and they're like, oh cool, I need that, then there's like a mutual respect, if you know I mean so. Like there's like you've earned your place in the room and you can really have build a meaningful you know relationship from there, because you know what I said about you know getting 15 messages. They have people wanting help from me. They must have that 100x where they've got like everyone texting them asking for things every single day, like can you pay for this, can I get tickets for that, can you travel here with you? So, like today and come to them to be like, hey, I don't want anything, but this is what I can do for you, then that just immediately sets you apart from everyone else.
Speaker 2:So I would say that for anyone listening like you have to decide like either what you're passionate about or what your skill set is, or what you can get good at.
Speaker 2:Put in your 10,000 dollars to get mastery, and then who is the people that you really look up to and then offer that service or whatever to those people for free. And then those connections will then grant you many other things, because, like the stuff I do with, like, let's say the NBA, or like Real Madrid or some of those guys like that's just fun, to be honest, like it's just like I, just I would do that for free. But then, as a result of being involved in those circles, then a lot of other people reach out to be like oh hey, can I work for you on this or I'll give you equity in this company if you can do this, this and this. So that's kind of like your free advertising, your free marketing. It's fun, but it also gives you many other great opportunities as well and it kind of like proves that you're good at what you do if you service those people you know at the highest level then, okay.
Speaker 2:Well, if you're good enough to work with like Real Madrid, then you're good enough to sort of help me with my e-commerce brand as well, so you never even have to like, pitch or advertise yourself. It's like people come to you to say, like how can I work with you, rather than like you having to like, have an Instagram ad to talk about what you do, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:So that's really important advice that you've just given there, because I feel, like a lot of social media, people are often shouting from the tops of the hills and they they're shouting but they're not nurturing what they have in front of them yeah um, and it sounds like you've nurtured these relationships that have gone into referrals. Yeah, um, when did you find your passion, like, when did you really find your burning passion for this?
Speaker 2:it was interesting. So I went to China for the first time November 1st 2010 and, uh, my dad took me and what age were you then?
Speaker 1:I was gonna expose yourself.
Speaker 2:I was 22, uh. So, yeah, I'm 37 now and that was, yeah, 15 years ago. I've been working in China and I went for the first time and my dad like started a family. He started this business, like you know, when he was at university. He loved, he had a passion for camping and outdoors, so he started a brand called Highlander. It grew into like a medium-sized business and then he was doing all the product development, sourcing, all that.
Speaker 2:So when I was a kid growing up, I just saw my dad, I was going to China and hear all these stories.
Speaker 2:So as a kid I was always curious of, like you know, what happens in China. So when I graduated university my dad was like, hey, do you want to come to China with me and I'll show you like all this? And I was like, yeah, cool, and at the time I sort of didn't realize it. But now I know like he kind of picked me for that because he saw that like I'm very much focused on like attention to detail and stuff like that and that's what's required for, like you know, production can't afford any mistakes and my brother is very, very like outgoing and talkative, so he's more of a salesperson. So he kind of took my brother to, like you know, trade shows and exhibitions and introduced him to customers, and it kind of took me to the china site. So at the time I just thought I was going on holiday. But he kind of carved out roles for us based on our personalities, which is actually quite smart, like a typical iranian entrepreneur.
Speaker 2:He's like grooming his workers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I worked with my dad when I was 14.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it's crazy, but like I'm really grateful for it now. And so he took me to China and he kind of showed me the ropes and he went into. He took me to a factory for the first time and that's probably why bags are my favorite product to develop, because that was the first factory I ever went into. And, like I was saying, you start to think in like 3d when you see a factory, because you don't see it as one unit, you see it as 30 different pieces getting assembled. And then I just sort of became obsessed with that. So that started. That was supposed to be a two-week trip but I ended up staying in China for three months, set up an office there and then built a team there and then just started like every day going to different factories and learning about, you know, chinese culture and different products and how they're made, and and then I just became obsessed with it and then moved to China.
Speaker 2:So I was lucky that I found my passion early, but I honestly still to this day I don't know if it if it was passion or if I really enjoyed it because I was good at it, if you know. I mean because it's like do you enjoy it because you're good at it and then, as a result, the things that you like in your life come to you as a result of being good at that thing. So, for example, like I love basketball, so I was like I was a big, big fan of basketball. I was like I want to supply the NBA and through my skill set, I was able to work with the NBA directly, right, and then I was going to the games meeting the players, so I was like I love that, but being good at what I do, which is something completely different, allowed me to get that.
Speaker 2:If you know, I mean so. I actually still don't know. I mean I I enjoy product development, but I more so enjoy the things that come with it. If you know, I mean so. That's why it's like you know. People always say, like you know, start with your passion and follow your passion and all that. It's like, yeah, that's right, but does your passion lead you to?
Speaker 2:because if your passion is reading history books, like is that going to get you where you want to get to in terms of, like, your dream life, is it going to give you a decent income, is it going to get you in the room of certain people, and maybe that's fine. Maybe, like you know, everyone's like level of aspiration is different and everyone's level of happiness is different as well. But it's like do your passion, but then will that allow you to get you to where you ultimately want to go as well is really important.
Speaker 1:I think there's always a way to fabricate it to connect the two yeah your dream and what you're good at. I think there's always a way. Now I feel like the like, the opportunities are endless. Now, like it's not like our parents time. I think now there's an accessible way, whether it's a product, whether it's a service our parents' time. I think now there's an accessible way, whether it's a product, whether it's a service, but it can relate to your passion as well, to the dream life that you want to live.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:If you do it well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:So when you were younger as well, did your father tell you how good you were at what you did.
Speaker 2:Not really, and I think that's a good thing as well, because, like, what's really weird is that, like I think I worked really hard at what I did because I wanted my dad's respect right, because maybe, like I looked up to him so much that I was like he's so good at what he does and like I just want him to feel that I'm good at what I do as well. But if he told me every day, look, it doesn't matter what happens. Like you know, you're amazing. Or like, let's say, like I used to play basketball as a kid and I was not good, right, but like, if, like, if he was telling me, like oh, you played amazing today. Like well done, but I had like a terrible game. Like it's giving you like that false sense of security. So he was always like I got a lot of love for my mother and like a lot of like not even like love Like I feel like my dad, at every stage, just told me what I needed to hear to get me to the next level, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:So, like, maybe at a time I didn't understand it, but now I'm like, oh, I'm so grateful and like now I sort of take that into. Like whenever I have kids, like I'm going to be like pretty disciplined with them, very harsh on them. If it's a boy, for sure you know what I it's a boy, for sure you know. I mean it's like because that's what it takes like you have to go through those tough things to like become who you are like.
Speaker 2:For example, I had a paper round as a kid, right, and I was like I don't know 11, 12 years old, and every day I'd get on my bike at 6 am and deliver newspapers and in Scotland it was snowing, it was so cold, it was brutal, and every day I'd make one pound from that right, so I'd make like seven pounds a week. And then it's like you know, you go to like the tuck shop and like you know sweets, or like you know a pound, and then it's like you start to calculate in your head at 12 years old, right, I had to work so hard to get this to now do this right. So then you maybe be a little bit more careful. You have to think about things, whereas, like, if your parents just gift you one pound a day, then you don't have, you don't put any value on that, right. So I feel like those lessons have to be learned and that's a little bit of the dangers of living in dubai.
Speaker 2:It's like everything is so convenient and you see so many kids like where I live, on the palm, like so many kids like being raised by nannies, which is fine, but then, like you know, you can see that they have a lot of nice things and they're given things and they have, like, drivers who take them here and nannies which do this for them and it's like, well, are they even at that young age, are they really learning any lessons, if you know? I mean, are they having any hardships? And it's like that's cool now that they have a very convenient life, but like, when they're 15 years old, is that going to serve them? You know, like there's no crime here, which is amazing.
Speaker 2:But like, growing up in Scotland, you do see a bit of crime and you start to realize like you can read, start to read body language, right like you like people pick fights with you, and then you start to see what those types of people are, how they look at you and you sort of notice that from afar and you know it across the street, you know, not interact with certain people. But if you have a very sheltered and comfortable lifestyle here as a kid and then, let's say, you go to America at 18 years old, you might just get knocked out in a bar because, like you know, you didn't recognize that there was a threat coming or something like that you know.
Speaker 2:So, like I think it is important, you know, for raising even though I'm just saying this like I don't even have any kids but for raising kids to like put them in environments where they're going to learn as well. So I feel like very lucky. I feel like that's what my dad did with me. He was like right, he probably went to read a Tony book as well to teach them.
Speaker 1:So I feel lucky that I got that experience as a kid. So with living in Dubai, then do you think it's a bit of a curse for?
Speaker 2:young entrepreneurs to grow up here. I think it's a very good place for entrepreneurs because, like of the network and people that you have access to, and things tend to move really fast here and I feel that people here are a lot more willing to help each other as well, which is great. I feel like everyone seems to be on the same journey, the same path, and they're all very ambitious. So that was kind of like that middle 33 that I was talking about, but I just feel for, like young kids, um, it might be difficult to like become an adult here, if you know.
Speaker 1:I mean because it's not real life, it's more like a bubble, if you know what I mean. When you mentioned you were like a little bit shy when you were younger. Did you experience any of those issues then growing up where you had to be on your toes because um you needed to be streetwise yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2:I just feel like as a kid I was always just quiet and calm and shy and reserved and I just like maybe didn't have much confidence either, like found it hard to talk to people and stuff like that, and that was just my personality and it probably still is to this day as well. Um, but I would say like I'm an introverted extrovert, like I don't. Even if you put me in a room with like 50 people, I'll be very quiet and calm and shy and quiet and all that. But if it's around like close friends, I'll be very like cool and you know, I mean just like you know, have a great time and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:So just around the right people then. But you know, actually recording content and doing podcasts and like, um, having a youtube channel and stuff that really helped build confidence as well, because, as you know, it takes like a certain skill set to learn to be comfortable on camera and the first time it terrifies you, but then it becomes like normal and then it really helps build up that, that confidence, insight.
Speaker 2:So I would say that, like for anyone listening, like whatever it is that you want to achieve, like you just have to lean into it, like it's scary, like you have to post that piece of content, you have to start that business, like you just have to take the first step. But, similar to what we're talking about before, about having the goals and the vision, it's like what do you have to do to achieve it? And just write it step by step. And as long as you keep taking the first step, then before you know, a year goes past really quickly and then you're actually where you want it to be, if you know what I mean outside your mentors of Tony Robbins and your father, has there been anyone else who's given you really good advice?
Speaker 2:uh, yeah, I would say, my favorite mentor right now it's funny because, like mentors can also be like online people that you've never met before and uh, definitely by far my favorite mentor, I'd say, is Kobe Bryant, because, um, yeah, I was always a fan.
Speaker 1:You worked with him, though, didn't you?
Speaker 2:oh, it's such a shame, because I was working with him and his team right before he passed and he was like my idol as well, because he was, um, he was writing a series of children's books and I was doing the products for his children's books which we were gonna um, they were gonna sell in Barnes and Nobles where they were selling the books.
Speaker 2:We had like one table like this size and we were doing like kids toys and pens and notepads and stuff like that. So we were designing, developing and sourcing it and all that sort of stuff, talking to his team, and then I was going to meet him like when at the stores and all that, and I was gonna be like, hey, you know, I was the guy just like made all these products and stuff like that. But then at that time then he passed away and it all kind of fell through. But, as it happens, the previous company that I was a part of we did like bed sheets, towels, blankets of like the player's body, like their pillows, their face, and then the player's body was the product.
Speaker 2:And after he passed, like, we got an email from Vanessa, his wife, his widow, and she requested like 15 blankets of Kobe to be sent to the house. So it was very, very comforting and cool knowing that, like, a product that I designed and developed went to the family, like to help them with their grieving process or something. So that was quite cool, um, but like, kobe was obviously like a different mindset, like to achieve what he did on the court but then, like, after he retired, he started doing a lot of podcasts and then, like, I just started listening to like all his podcasts and so many clips on like Instagram and stuff like that of his mindset and just tapping into his mindset, like just his like dedication, hard work, discipline and mindset. It's just been so valuable and you can apply it to any business or whatever you're a part of, or any sport or anything so like.
Speaker 2:If anyone just like types in Kobe Bryant into Instagram and just start watching some videos, you'll get so inspired so I would say that's like the biggest uh mentor to me right now what percentage of your life do you live now, in the present and the future? Let's say um, I would probably say like um probably 40 present, 60 future. Um, I'm always focused on what I want to achieve next, but I'm also really, really enjoying what I do right now as well and what's next what is next?
Speaker 2:uh well, I'm on a mission to become the best product developer in the world. Like I want. That's my passion and I feel that, like having like worked with like the olympics, the nba and a lot of like the big football teams, and I've also done like products for united nations and ministry of defense, so, and a lot of retailers in the uk, europe, and a lot of licenses, so I kind of feel that, like, whoever I've wanted to work with I've been able to work with, so I've been able to like prove myself. And then, um, like I've got a youtube channel called sourcing with kian, where I just talk about product development and sourcing, and I want that to become the biggest product development and sourcing youtube channel. I don't know what is the biggest one, but I think my one's at like 47 000 subscribers right now. I want to get it to 100 as fast as possible, because then that's kind of like I'm not chasing the numbers, but like to have like it's a milestone, the milestone, yeah to be like well, people resonate with your education.
Speaker 2:That's what I really want, so, and I kind of I want to get to a stage where, like, the biggest brands in the world are like I want to launch this product, let's call Kian, like that's basically where I want to get to, and I've been able to consult for, like Alibaba, and I've been able to like do courses for a company called Founder, which is like a large education platform as well. So I feel that, like, luckily, I've been able to spread my message and work for those different brands, retailers, licenses, provide education through YouTube and courses and stuff like that. And then, yeah, I just want to keep growing that until, like, um, the best in the world.
Speaker 1:What does it take to be the best in the world? I don't know. Or do you want to tell anyone your secrets?
Speaker 2:No, I'm going to find out. I think, um, just education and discipline, because I feel that like it's much better to have discipline and motivation, because, like when I was, younger I would always try and motivate myself to do stuff, but now I'm like you know what motivation doesn't actually matter.
Speaker 2:What matters is every day doing the right things to getting to where you need to get to, but not only like putting in the hours, but doing it in that sort of focused flow state, with momentum that we talked about as well. And don't get me wrong, it's not easy. Like I'm talking about it, like I just do it every day, but it is hard. You have to constantly train and develop yourself to be disciplined, and it is. It is supposed to be hard.
Speaker 2:You know, like if it was easy, everyone would do it. But I enjoy hard things because it just means you're on the right track, and like that's why I do ice baths as well, because, like I don't enjoy it, it's absolutely horrible. But like I like to do hard things and then just being like, okay, that was fine, that was easy, what's next? So just constantly putting yourself in positions where you're just overcoming obstacles.
Speaker 1:Do you think you've gone in such a feedback loop of like suffering and then earning something, suffering and earning something that you just don't know any different now?
Speaker 2:No, I think it's always good to reward yourself. So like, let's say, I've written like down 10 goals for the year, but next to every goal is a reward as well, which I feel is really important, because it's so easy to be like, right, achieve my goal, what's next? But you have to give yourself, like the the enjoyment of the reward associated to it. And also, if you don't achieve that thing, then, like you don't get the reward. So like it's like well, it's not like punishing yourself, but it's like we don't get to enjoy that thing. Like, let's say, for example, you really want to go on holiday to maldives. Right, then you'd be like, okay, well, once I hit 100k subscribers on youtube, that's when I'll book the holiday to maldives.
Speaker 2:But if I never hit that 100k, then I'm never going to go to maldives you know, even if someone offers me a free trip tomorrow, tiny violin so I think it's really important to reward yourself for everything that you want to achieve and then, and then when you get that thing, you can really cherish it and enjoy it, because you're like I worked so hard to get this and I feel like your goals also have to be only 80 of them should be attainable like because if you just set these easy goals and you do it, then it's like well, what's the point?
Speaker 2:because you didn't really like push yourself yeah you have to give yourself goals where you're like I don't know if I can do that, but let's find out.
Speaker 1:Then you're really going to push yourself what's your biggest goal and why is my biggest goal?
Speaker 2:share this um well, I'll give you the youtube one 100 000 subscribers in a year. So what's the date today? So 16, 16, 17th of january well, I wrote that going the 1st of january, so I've got until 31st of december 2025 to get to 100k so yeah, maybe we can do an episode around then and see if we got to 100k, where we're celebrating.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, okay. So when you, when you goal set, do you have any like special framework or do you just sit?
Speaker 2:you sit down, that's it, don't park it yeah, it's really interesting because, uh, tony robbins has something called priming and if you just I was listening to this, it's so good, it's incredible and because Tony Robbins has something called priming and if you just listen to this it's so good, it's incredible.
Speaker 2:And if you just go into YouTube for anyone listening, you just type in Tony Robbins, priming try to do it with YouTube premium because you don't want any ads popping up. But it kind of gets you into like starts off with like gratitude of like you know, like put your hand on your heart, right, I'm grateful for this heart. Someone gave you this heart. You didn't create it, so someone gave you this life. So then you start off with like gratitude, which is amazing. And then you kind of visualize, like your dream life, like you're watching it, not only like, let's say, the house you're living, the car you're driving, but what your lobby looks like, what it smells, like You're imagining it in so much detail. And then it's like, well, what you, what you don't even have to think about it like it starts popping into your head of what you need to do, because, like you're already seeing yourself. It's like you're watching yourself on tv living that life. So everything just starts to come to mind in terms of like what you have to do. And then you kind of finish off with like celebrating, like you've actually done the thing. And then you, if you do that first thing in the morning, then you start your day like so pumped up with so much gratitude, with knowing exactly what you need to do.
Speaker 2:So the things like in terms of like, how do you structure, like you know your goals, and stuff like that, they kind of just come to me once you visualize what's the main thing. It's like I'm here, my what I want to achieve is here, and then all those things just start to pop in. And then I write those things down into like notion and then I sort of decide is that going to be done in two months, three months, six months? Is that q1, q2, q3, q4? And then I sort of decide is that going to be done in two months, three months, six months? Is that Q1, q2, q3, q4? And then I just kind of like stay at it and every day I check my goals, check my to-do list, and I just make sure that I'm moving forward in that direction. And if anyone like offers you something to be like, hey, do you want to do this business or do you want to come on this trip? The first thing I ask myself is does this, do it?
Speaker 1:no, sorry, I can't do it I'd love to step inside your mind for one day, and just be a little visitor to see what's going on in that mind. So what kind of advice would you give to an entrepreneur that is looking to start a business and they want to sell a product? Say, for an example, it could be electrolyte business yeah what kind of advice would you give them?
Speaker 2:um. So in terms of like selling the product, you have to find it at, let's say, the source, like at the highest quality and at the best price. So then that would be like learning the supply chain of that product. So there's a few things you could do like the first step, if you want to like start wide, like I would go somewhere like alibabacom just to see, like, what results are popping up, just to see, like, okay, what sort of general prices coming up, where's the places to manufacture. And then I use a website called import yeticom and what that does is that anything which has been shipped into the usa those shipping documents are public information. So it scrapes the shipping documents.
Speaker 2:So like, let's say, for example, a us brand, let's just say, like I know aloe or someone like that. You could type in aloe. You could type in kim k, kim Kardashian's brand Skims. You can type in the North Face, and then it brings up all the shipping records of those companies which on the shipping record it shows a factory of which that came from. So you can now find the factories of your favorite brands and then from there you can then contact them to, you know, find out, inquire about pricing and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:But a big mistake people make is is that you know you can still. It's quite easy to find a factory which makes a product, but how do you get them excited to work with you? Like, how do you get, how do you build leverage? Because if you're just a beginner let's just say you're an 18 year old, you just finished high school, now you want to start this business and you're like you contact the factory of like skims and you're like, right, I want like 20 pieces. So like absolutely not, because you know we're doing 10 000 units a month for kim k.
Speaker 2:Why would we just do like 20 pieces for you as an 18 year old? So, like, you have to like write that opening message that builds leverage to the factory. So, for example, this might be your first business you've never sold online before but I would lead with. I have selected your factory because I've done a lot of research online. I find you've been established for 15 years. I see that you import to all these different countries and these brands. These are the quality standards I also align with, which is why I've selected you and say I've got access.
Speaker 2:I'm going to aim for a big launch. This is going to be the first of its kind product which I'm going to do. I've got new ideas for new products I want to do with you. So we're going to have a lot of new lines in the future and I have access to these influencers and you can name maybe three tiktok, three youtube and three instagram influencers and show their audience like these guys are going to be the ones that post the product. So suppliers thinking like you know, like well, I don't see a website from you, but you know you've got all these influencers which are going to launch a product and they've got like millions of followers so that's cool.
Speaker 2:They're thinking like okay, this guy's got scale. He also, like, is taking the time to research who we are and what we do and said what he likes about us. So he must be knowledgeable about the process where so many people find a factory and just say like what's your best price?
Speaker 1:What's your?
Speaker 2:MFQ and they already don't care like join the list of 100 other inquiries that they get every day. But if you write a detailed message like that and show like why you selected them and why you're going to be a good partner for them and how you're going to grow, then they're much more incentivized to work with you, even if it is a small order, because they believe in, like your vision of where you're going to take the company, rather than the first order, because suppliers not thinking how much money am I going to make from this order? Or thinking how much will I make with this customer over the next three, five, ten years, like they've got a long-term vision as well. So I would say things that like I want to work for you for the long term, I want to work in partnership with you.
Speaker 1:So you know you're saying those things that will form like a very, very good, like business, partnership and relationship that's amazing advice because it's very detail orientated and I think people just are too quick to not actually make the effort yeah so the effort goes a long way yeah, for sure, because they'll write the message and be like oh, supplier, never got back to me.
Speaker 2:This is not going to work out, but actually it's like we just have to write a more purposeful message, you know so I'm coming around to my last question that I have for you.
Speaker 1:So, because it's called the detached podcast, what would you detach yourself? That's limiting you today?
Speaker 2:what would I detach myself that was limiting me today? Um, this is a hard one to answer, because I feel like I'm very intentional with this type of stuff and I like work really hard on making myself like aware of what I'm doing and who I'm spending time with. Like even, like you know, everyone spends too much time on their phone, on social media and stuff, but I set like timers for that and I turn it off at night and I put my phone on airplane mode and stuff like that. You know what? Let me flip it. Rather than like detaching what would I attach to?
Speaker 2:And I would just say more time with family, because one thing I really regret is focusing a lot and being quite selfish like I think entrepreneurs are very selfish and I feel like my world is like to me the most important thing and I sometimes like I've had my parents stay with me for a while and sometimes like I feel regret that I haven't spent. I spent a lot of time with them, but I've not spent quality time with them if you know I mean.
Speaker 2:so I feel like I need to attach myself back to like family and roots and stuff like that, and then that will get me more fulfillment in life.
Speaker 1:I'm going to ask you that same question. When you have 100 million subscribers, 100 million?
Speaker 2:100 million would be good. I'll take the 100 million.
Speaker 1:I just want to say thank you so much for being on today.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me. It was a great, great questions and I really enjoyed talking about this sort of stuff.
Speaker 1:Thank you.