Kerrie 0:00
Hello, my friends and welcome to connect with confidence. And I’m super excited to introduce you to a new friend. And this is so timely because this conversation with Kofi follows my amazing conversation with Andrea flax weather old who shared about her book, the funny thing about forgiveness. Then she introduced me to Kofi, I think it was because she was talking about his book on LinkedIn. Or he was talking about her book on LinkedIn. So kofi, welcome.

Unknown Speaker 0:27
Thank you very much, Carrie,

Kerrie 0:28
what’s the best way to introduce you like you, you’re multi talented. You’ve got such an extraordinary story. I’m really excited. And partway through your book. And I’m wondering, is it on Audible? yet?

Speaker 2 0:41
I’m currently recording the other version of the

Kerrie 0:44
book. Fantastic. As I thought I want to hear it in your voice

Speaker 2 0:48
is coming up pretty soon. Last night, we recorded chapter seven. Cool. So we have three more chapters to record. And then the production will do their magic. And it will be available as soon as possible.

Kerrie 1:05
That’s fantastic. And apologies to those who have asked me about my audio books. haven’t actually stepped into a studio to do that. But you know, I can ask you about yours.

Speaker 2 1:17
I do you your book in my car. I have so many books lined up to be, you know, read currently. And yours is actually one of the ones I’m looking forward to.

Kerrie 1:30
Oh, thank you. Well, I think you’ll enjoy it. And I know that you’ll reflect on the many times you would have had conversations with strangers that have like, open up doors of opportunity, or Yeah, I mean, there’s anything come to mind right now, as I mentioned that, what’s talking to strangers done for you.

Speaker 2 1:47
talking to strangers have changed my life? Yeah. Yeah. You know, strangers are business owners, they are world changers. They are outliers. They are, you know, restaurant owners, they are everyone you know, everyone you know, oh, you will meet. Even if they are stranger, the minute you meet them. As long as they’re human beings, you know, they’re not walking with their head. They are amazing people, you know. And I highly, highly encourage people to connect with strangers, because it’s like going for a treasure hunt. Yeah, to be willing to take risks, to go to places where you wouldn’t normally go for you to be able to see something new.

Kerrie 2:45
I love that you shared that. And it just reminds me of something that I saw on your LinkedIn last week. I love that you’ve said treasure hunting, because you have sought out the treasure in people. And I saw that with a young guy that you were mentoring in the Air Force. So you’re not as an author, as listeners would have picked up already. Your United States Airmen, which is amazing. I’ve got a lot of difference in the Air Force here in Australia, and, and some military friends in the US also. But yeah, I loved seeing that part of your story. And then there’s your childhood and farm upbringing, which I relate to parts of that, because I’m a farm girl, but kept going back to this finding treasure within people. That’s obviously something that you’re really passionate about. That’s what I’ve picked up just in the last week of knowing you online. This is our very first conversation. But tell us about, you know, that guy or some other people that you’ve seen treasuring that maybe other people haven’t and what happens.

Speaker 2 3:45
So usually, when we start something that we are not familiar with, you know, we have this feeling that we’re gonna lose, or we’re gonna get hurt. Yeah, right. But let me backtrack. So when I view when I saw airman, I call him Joey, on LinkedIn to preserve his privacy. When I saw him, I saw myself, right, so myself through him, my fears, my doubts, and my desire to be supported, and to find a community and some, someone who I can trust. And I just knew after we took off our uniforms, because I’m his commander in the first place, right? And I didn’t want that to be in the way of our conversation. So I invited him to go off is to a restaurant completely, just two men having a conversation. And after we talked, I noticed that he He has the drive and the will to turn things around and be successful. But he didn’t know where to start from. Yeah. And guess who knew how to support that. Not only I am his commander, but I also do coach people, I support people to find and unlock their gift, and use that and gift it to the world and pay it forward. So I was very excited to work with him because he had the wheel and was just needing a plan to start and get things changed. So we work together came up with a plan that worked for him. And I would give him accountable when I couldn’t go work out with him in person, he will send me a screenshot of how many miles and for how long, he has been running. And over a matter of four weeks, he passed his PT test, and now he’s even making bigger plans and have a he has bigger dreams to keep growing and keep moving forward. And I am so grateful and honored that I could have a little piece of contribution in his story.

Kerrie 6:25
Yeah, that’s fantastic. Because it sounded like, you know, he was pretty discouraged, or people weren’t seeing that treasure in him that you saw. And I just think it’s powerful when we can just pause and look beyond, you know, those layers, the external, whatever. Yes. When did someone first do that for you?

Speaker 2 6:49
Well, I can’t quite pinpoint when someone did that for me. But I can pinpoint one time where I was in need. Yeah, I was in need, and I got help. So whether that is with having a new career plan, or, you know, starting a new business, whatever that need is, it creates some discomfort and some worry within us. And regardless of what is the cause to that feeling in us, the feeling is the same when we are worried the feeling is the same whether the cause is the loss of a beloved one or the loss of your house, you know, so I could relate to that feeling he might have been going through to a certain extent. Yeah.

Kerrie 7:54
Yeah. And sometimes we’re motivated to help people because of ways in which we’ve been helped, or because of ways in which we haven’t, and we’ve seen the need for it. And I saw that, you know, in the first part of your book, you talked about moments where your dad said something that could have diminished, it could have kind of killed a dream, but it kind of fanned it into flame. And we have those moments of decision, don’t we? And can you tell us about the first time you saw a plane? Because, you know, we often a lot of our listeners will be in, in places where there’s planes flying overhead all the time. And unless we think back, and maybe people have always had that, but not so much. You know, tell us about the first time and where you were,

Speaker 2 8:40
there’s always a first time, you know, sometimes we just don’t pay attention enough. But to me, it was so obvious that I couldn’t overlook that. I was standing on the compound of our house, and my dad happened to be next to me. And I just saw these things zoom into the air. Loud. And you know, from that village, I, that was my first experience. I did not know whether that was a flying duck, or whatever that was. And I asked my dad excitedly and he explained to me the concept what NLP is, and I was really excited. I wanted him to tell me more. And ever since then, anytime and every single time an airplane will fly over our village. I will be running after that and you know, trying to see it for as long as I could, until I could no longer see it. So my dad told me to not get my hopes too high. That no one in our family ever got on an airplane and it was event hope. But that just didn’t sit right with me. I thought, but why not? And I’m glad that happened, because it’s been some really, really free and powerful fuel that I’ve used for a long time.

Kerrie 10:17
Yeah, that’s amazing. I think so many times people could be, you know, spoken to in a way that kind of tries to diminish the dream. But if it doesn’t sit right, you know, to be curious and to keep looking and going, but how could I? How could I make this possible? And, you know, do you think your 10 year old self could have imagined that you’re doing what you’re doing now?

Speaker 2 10:42
Absolutely not. Yeah, I had wild dreams. But it’s like, every time you think your dreams are big. You, you and you keep growing and keep expanding, you notice that your dream wasn’t that big in the first place. You know, it’s like taking off on an airplane and aiming for 40,000 feet up there. And you want to go there, live there and fly there. And you think of that place as the sky. And then you go through all the struggle you take off, you stabilize at 4000 feet, and you look to the window, you know, at the sky, and you see is still limitless? Yeah, done nothing. You’ve come this far. But you’ve done nothing, right. So I had big dreams back then. But as time goes on, and as I achieved most of those dreams, I came to realize that oh, Kofi, you haven’t done anything. And actually, now the dream is to bring other people with me to empower and inspire other people to dream and to grow together. And I think now my mission is to help people destroy their self limiting beliefs, and open their gifts box, and just enjoy those gifts and give a paid back to the world.

Kerrie 12:23
That’s beautiful. I don’t know where to go from here. Tell us more. Tell us. So what was the what was the step from Togo to the US? How did that happen?

Speaker 2 12:37
Well, it happened to believing in yourself in your dream. And the fact that the universe truly wants you to be successful, and will support that. So it happens. It happened through perseverance, courage, determination, and also a lot of intentional actions. You know, you can expect picking strawberries, when you go visit a coconut tree farm, right. So you have to be intentional about what you want. And then yes, you don’t have full control over everything. But but as I always shared, it’s not about the amplitude of the control the control that you have in your life, over the things you live in. But it’s all about how much of use you make of the tiny control you have. That’s what makes the difference. So you are intentional. And you make absolute control, you try to use as much as of the control you have. And you don’t worry about what you don’t have control over. That’s how I see it. So by putting intention and the fact that the universe wants you to be successful together and taking action towards the direction he wants to go, you want to go, then things start happening might not happen, exactly how you want them to be. But at least when you’re walking down a farm, an orange tree farm, chances are you might not find 1 million oranges, but you might find two as opposed to when you’re looking for oranges and you’re in a coconut tree farms. Chances are you won’t just find any at all.

Kerrie 14:45
Yeah. So So what age were you when you you know, first started to see that you could go to the US.

Speaker 2 14:52
I was 12 years old, and I watched this documentary on JFK. You know, he was telling came to the US after this event happened in Alabama where two African American gentlemen were not allowed in the university. And JFK held a conference and talked about how when the war happened, and the country needed people, color of skin wasn’t a matter. But now they fought, they came back home. And now all of a sudden color of their skin matters. And he gives us a powerful speech that this Catholic nun explained to me, her name is Clementine. And I just fell in love with the man and all the explanation that the non gave to me about the documentary. And that sparked the passion about the United States and me wanting to just visit this country one day. Wow.

Kerrie 15:56
So was that about the Tuskegee Airmen? Yes, yeah. Yeah, my dad and my mom met some in, I think when they were in Arizona, for a world skydiving meet. So that was when I first heard their story. Yeah, incredible. So they inspired you. And did you finish your schooling? in Togo? Or did you? America,

Speaker 2 16:21
I finished everything in Togo, graduated as a civil engineer, started my own company ran my company for about six or nine years before moving to the United States. So I moved to the United States, after I turned 30, actually, and leased that at 31.

Kerrie 16:44
Oh, okay. Because you look 30 now?

Speaker 2 16:47
Well, I’m still in my 30s. But yeah, you know, and the reason why I’m sharing that also is that it’s never too late to redesign yourself and your life and everything that you want to do. It’s never too late to be happy. It’s never too late to get after what really matters to you? Yeah.

Kerrie 17:08
Yeah, I love that message. Because I think it well, there can be so many different excuses that come to mind, you know, like, I’m not experienced enough. I’m not old enough, or I’m too old or don’t have the energy or whatever. But that passion and that clarity, what is it that you want, can really just open up all those doors of opportunity? So, yeah, I love hearing about your drive. And, you know, this is like an express episode today because of our time zones, and how everything’s working out. But I would love to hear. I mean, I want to hear more about, you know, what you’re actually doing in the Air Force? Obviously, you can’t tell us lots of things. But I’m sure you tell us practically, what is your service looks like? And, yeah, and what are you excited about going forward? I think you’ve got lots of exciting things opening up?

Speaker 2 17:56
Well, I would have loved to tell you what I do in the Air Force. But I can tell you, I do some pretty cool stuff. I go to work, I work. And then I do some more working. And then I come home, you know, but ultimately, I love like you’ve seen on LinkedIn through that story of me and my Airmen, I love being there for my Airmen, making sure that they have what they need to do their best, but also to grow as a person, and also to dream. Yeah. And I truly believe that when we create an environment where people are not just looking forward to the weekends, right, but they leave and find joy in every single day to the career, then retention is no longer a problem. Yes, performance and productivity becomes a personal matter, to each and every member of your organization. So I try to cultivate that environment in that culture, in my air force in our Air Force. And that is truly what our leaders and are my my superiors, that’s what they want. And that’s what I believe into. So I love that I get to do that and be there for my airmen and mentor them and, you know, be mentored by them as well.

Kerrie 19:27
Yeah, that’s beautiful. And you know, why we have veterans listening? We also have people listening from, like, so many different countries, less than sorry, more than half of our listeners are international, like not in Australia. 40 something percent. Yeah. 40 something percent of our listeners are in Australia, but people are really around the world. But I think one thing that everybody wants is to have that kind of workplace culture. And you know, we’ve got some entrepreneurs and artists as well that might be working from home. But everyone wants to be in a culture of, you know, inspiration and motivation and productivity and effectiveness and making a bigger difference. And so, in the day to day conversations, like what are some tips that you could share with other difference makers to just increase that positive impact?

Speaker 2 20:20
To increase that positive impact? I think the first step is to get to know your people truly, yeah. And I would highly discourage, to treat people like you want to be treated. Some people don’t like being put on the light. But on the spotlight, some people they don’t want to be recognized publicly, some people wants to keep their life private. And some people, they are motivated when you promote them before a crowd. So when you get to know your people, personally, and you treat them as they want to be treated, not as how you would like to be treated, then you see them, and they can feel that you see their individuality and their uniqueness. Yeah. And that fosters that type of environment and culture. So I think the first step is getting to know your Airman and, or your people. And that can be as simple as just going to talk to them with no agenda. Or maybe the only agenda is to be curious about their lives, and what they do and what they like. I remember one time I was having a conversation with one of my Airmen, only to notice that I was new there. I just got to the unit to command. And people who have been living and working together for many years, didn’t know didn’t know much about each other. I was having a conversation with one of my Airmen, she has a cat named duck. So when we were having the conversation, everyone was very surprised that, like, you have a dog, she’s like, No, it’s my cat. Her name is Donald. And that that sparked the conversation. And from there, when people see something that is relevant to this person, and to a cat, or we would even get them like pillows with this is not a dog. And stuff like that. And if makes people feel as though they belong, yeah, that people care about the who they truly are. And I think that is the foundation and from there, you can just build upon that by helping them with their goals, what they want to achieve, and you put them on a path that can lead them to those places, and you will see amazing thing happen.

Kerrie 23:16
Yeah, that’s beautiful. Oh, before we wrap up, I feel like I could just fire questions at you. But tell us, yeah, what is it that you’re looking forward to? Now? What are some of the projects you’ve got on the boil? I feel like there’s there’s more creativity being unleashed?

Speaker 2 23:34
Well, thank you for the opportunity to share. I think I’m very excited currently about my upcoming book. And also about my intention to use social media, especially LinkedIn to make an impact and build a community that not only empowers and encourage each and every member of the community, but actually gets out and support because I think building a community is great. But harnessing the power of that community intentionally with purpose to achieve something meaningful is even greater than just building a community. And in the in the line of that I started a an audio event on LinkedIn called Saturday conversation with a que and I’m pretty excited to start that I never done a an audio event on LinkedIn. Until last weekend, one of our connection on the on the platform, needed a job and she had a special needs person in her family. So I took it on me and went on LinkedIn and started this audio just reading her her resume and talking about how great she is. And she is truly great. And all of a sudden people have on the event and next thing you know, she’s not talking to a potential employer. So I think that is powerful. And I want to be more intentional about that. And I’m so excited to be launching Saturday conversations every Saturday at 11am. central time through noon. So it’s going to be one hour, and I can’t wait to see all the amazing things we can achieve with that. So my goal is to build a community that empowers and encourages and supports its members.

Kerrie 25:49
That’s beautiful. Well, I didn’t know about that. I’ve missed. I missed the, the activity on LinkedIn around that. So that’s really cool. And do I see are you singing also?

Speaker 2 26:01
Yes, I, I have held a 10 years professional songwriter career back in Togo. Wow, I do have 110 album 10 track album on the market. And multiple singles. Even though I no longer pursue your career. Sometimes I still feel the passion to express my thoughts through music.

Kerrie 26:27
Oh, that’s so beautiful. I love this. So Allison is a getting to know you as I am because we’ve just connected so briefly and because of Andrea. You said the loveliest things in a message. I think that’s when we first connected you sent a message about Andrea’s episode. So what was it that you that you loved about that? What resonated and for those who haven’t heard that, please go back and listen to Andrea’s episode. The funny thing about forgiveness.

Speaker 2 26:57
I think what resonated a lot with me is I’m going to say it in my own, in my own words, paraphrase it. But she says something along the lines of when that there is the place like the stage is big enough for every and each one of us. And everyone has a spot, large and huge enough. And when we are intentional about coming together, the things we can achieve together. We can even wrap our mind around that. And that togetherness, you asked her very specific question in the very beginning of the show that I’m trying to remember.

Kerrie 27:43
He’s not coming. That’s okay. And maybe it’s not about the question. But the impact of that?

Speaker 2 27:49
Yes, yes. Yes, the impact of that is just like, these are people I want to hang around. These are people that can help me grow. And these are people that are intentionally out here working to make an impact. And that resonated a lot with me.

Kerrie 28:09
Yeah, well, I was delighted to see, you know, pop in with that message. And I just, I love how, you know, one conversation opens up other conversations. And I mentioned on the conversation with Andreessen what

Speaker 2 28:22
I’m sorry to cut you off. And a reason why I wanted to remember specifically, the question you asked, is because the way you ask your questions, and the questions you ask, brings the best out of people. So that is what was very interesting to me about remembering that specific question you asked, but I hope it will come back. Otherwise, I’ll just have to go back and listen one more time.

Kerrie 28:54
Oh, that’s cool. Thank you. It’s, it’s great to get that feedback. Because often, you know, there’s a lot of people will say, you know, your podcast, you got to have all your questions sorted. And sometimes people will say, can you send me a list of questions you’re gonna ask me, and I just want to have a conversation. But that’s kind of risky, because in the conversation, you don’t know where it’s gonna go next. But this is why I loved the chat with Andrea, because it’s all about improv and life is improv. So we’re improvising in every moment, if we step into a conversation with a script, with a plan, then I mean, I’ve got a loose plan. But the plan is to connect and share and inspire and encourage. But yeah, if we can, if we’re too planned with conversations, then they can be very limiting and, and stilted. And so I’d rather just be here in the moment and see what questions come up. And of course, later, I’ll think of other questions that I could have asked, but I don’t beat myself up about that anymore. I just think let’s just connect and see what happens. And so yeah, it’s really helpful to know that the Have you found my questions useful? Because, you know, I’m just, I’m just showing up and seeing what unfolds. And I love what’s unfolded here in this conversation. And I know that we’ve got more conversation ahead of us. And I look forward to that already. But um, yeah, so excited to share this. And so we’ll put your, your LinkedIn profile and any other links that you want to share with me, we’ll pop that in the show notes. And yeah, I look forward to continuing to follow. Michigan a screenshot? Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you, for your service. I know a lot of people say this to veterans, but I think it’s also for all kinds of, you know, medics, and, and teachers and people who show up with an attitude of service, but sincerely thank you, for your service that impacts so many more people than you even know. And not just because of the internet, you know, but even the people that you work with the impact that one of your questions or comments can have on them, you know, they’re going and sharing it with other people. So you make a bigger difference than you know. And I am so honored to connect with you, Kofi. So, thank you for being here. And thank you to our listeners, please. You know, share those if you’re inspired, go and check out his book. And let’s stay connected. Thanks for being here.

Unknown Speaker 31:21
Appreciate thank you for the time and opportunity.

Kerrie 31:24
Thank you Kerrie.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai