BLOCKS 2 BAGS

In this episode, the Blocks 2 Bags hosts Micky Tesfaye and Sebuh Mesfin discuss the relevance and effectiveness of email marketing in today's digital landscape. They debunk the myth that email marketing is dead, emphasizing its continued importance and the need for quality content. The conversation explores the differences between good and bad email practices, the concept of nurture marketing, and the significance of providing value in email communications. Additionally, they touch on the role of AI in enhancing email marketing strategies and offer practical tips for crafting engaging emails.

00:00 The Relevance of Email Marketing Today

In this episode of Blocks 2 Bags, hosts Micky Tesfaye and Sebuh Mesfin engage in a dynamic conversation with Kimberly Ofori, a global entrepreneur and thought leader. They explore her journey from early influences to her experiences in building businesses, the challenges she faced, and the lessons learned along the way. Kimberly shares her insights on the importance of understanding value in business, the concept of camels versus unicorns, and the future of technology and AI in solving real-world problems, particularly in Africa. The discussion culminates in a quickfire round of questions, revealing Kimberly's personal philosophies and future aspirations.

Takeaways

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Kimberly Ofori

02:43 The Early Hustle: Curiosity Over Money

07:29 The Journey of Entrepreneurship: From Banking to Startups

10:37 Building and Selling: The First Startup Experience

14:41 Understanding Value: Lessons from the Exit

19:08 The Aftermath: Learning from Failures

24:12 The Importance of Focus and Expertise

24:58 Early Career: Becoming an Insurance Advisor

27:06 Overcoming Disrespect and Insecurity

32:45 Navigating Financial Challenges and Career Growth

33:53 Resilience Through Failure

35:45 The Importance of Perspective in Business

37:03 Building Sustainable Businesses: Camels vs Unicorns

43:43 The Role of Leadership in Shaping the Future

46:49 Unlocking New Levels of Impact

50:41 Quickfire Questions: Insights and Reflections

The health and wellness industry is, to put it frankly, booming. With platforms such as TikTok proliferating information about everything from what supplements you should be taking to how to improve your gut health, businesses have quickly followed suit. Not only are aisles stacked with choice, but a new creation or service seems to pop up every day. And particularly in a post-pandemic sphere where we’ve shifted to modes of internal healing and taking care of our bodies, it’s not an avenue to disregard.

Here at Blocks2Bags, we’re always looking for founders and creators who push the limits of their respective spaces and build something that stands out. This week, we sat down with our guest, Victoria Omobuwajo, founder of Sunmo, whose journey has seen her selling wildly popular naturally-sweet plantain crisps across stores nationally, to now selling a wide range of supplements online and in-store. With retailers such as Selfridges and Sainsbury’s stocking her products, she’s been able to cultivate a brand at the forefront of movements to heal our internal selves and treat our bodies with greater care. Sunmo has also seen Victoria win Gordon Ramsay’s BBC Future Food Stars, with the win securing an investment into the business for her, something which the brand describes as “[epitomising] Victoria Omobuwajo's vision and Sunmo's dedication to holistic well-being”. Wondering how you can level up your business and progress? Tap into this week's episode and find out.

Watch the episode on YouTube.

Follow @blocks2bags on Instagram. 

This week on Blocks2Bags we’re all about the LEAP. Taking the concept of a leap of faith at its most literal verb definition — and fully plunging into the unknown, two feet forward — along with celebrating the filmmaking endeavours of creators of the docu-vlog, LEAP, Adesola Akerele (@addieadessy) and Stephanie Okereafor (@stephanie.dinma). With the film associate produced by Blocks2Bags, our hosts Bejay Mulenga MBE (@bejaymulenga) and Sebuh Mesfin (@sebuhmesfin) to discuss their life-changing move to LA and their creation of the documentary which saw a sold-out screening at Genesis Cinema and propelled the creation of the Leap Prize fund in partnership with B2B. Tap in to find the path to your own personal leap of faith, from Blocks 2 Bags.

This week – and this year – at Blocks2Bags, we’re all about the path to levelling up. What are the practical steps to pivoting into bigger avenues, new opportunities, and the bag as a whole? Our newest episode has the answers for you, and more. Blocks2Bags hosts Bejay Mulenga MBE (@bejaymulenga) and Sebuh Mesfin (@sebuhmesfin) sat down with our guest Elfried Samba (@elfriedsamba) to discuss everything from building as a founder to growing on LinkedIn. Previously the Global Head of Social Content at GymShark, Elfried’s role as co-founder and CEO of Butterfly 3ffect and his amassing of 140,000+ followers on LinkedIn have culminated in a keen sense of what it truly means to connect with your audience. Tap into this week’s episode and find out how you can switch it up in 2024 and break boundaries, from Blocks 2 Bags.

The New Year is a beginning in essence – new settings, reframed mindsets, and restarting – attempting to understand what habits nurture our growth, and how the past year has culminated to shape us for the next coming chapter of our lives. Amidst the fears and hopes that ultimately shape the resolutions we make, or the intentions we set, are common turns of phrase; endless how-to guides on how to ‘switch-up’ and how to ‘level-up’ for the New Year come back around like clockwork. Practically speaking, it’s easy to get lost in the noise as opposed to consciously tackling the changes you want to make in an intentional manner.

1. Engagement, engagement, engagement – What do the first 15 minutes after posting look like for someone sitting on the helm of over 100K followers? For Elfried, the period following a post is what really matters; enmeshing yourself directly within the community that you’ve built, and taking the time to respond to and connect with people actively. The key word here is engagement. Making sure that you take intentional time to sit with your audience – recognising the gems that they can also offer you and the rest of your community, beyond just your solitary voice.

Ever wondered how to build a global, $100M-valued business? With this week’s episode of Blocks2Bags — you don’t have to anymore. Our hosts Bejay Mulenga MBE (@bejaymulenga) and Sebuh Mesfin (@sebuhmesfin) sat down with co-founder of AudioMob, Wilfrid Obeng (@wilfridobeng), who built the niche audio company from the ground-up, revolutionising the in-game advertisement landscape by replacing traditional video ads with audio ads. Despite only being established in 2020, AudioMob has propelled itself to success that’s gone beyond the borders of the UK, with offices in Abu Dhabi and New York. Tap in to take yourself from Blocks2Bags, learning insights from a leader in his industry about how you can break barriers in entrepreneurship, too.

1. Technology has carved equal ground; take a chance — Entrepreneurship as a notion can appear immediately riddled with barriers; but with digitalisation as a means to connect for anybody and everybody, think about the way these instantly accessible resources are something you can harness.

Without even knowing about AudioMob — you know about AudioMob. 

For the 3B+ gamers globally, it’s safe to assume we are collectively familiar with in-game advertisements. For mobile-gamers, the intrusive video advertisement after a level is especially infamous, dampening the flow and quality of gaming on mobile platforms which have otherwise been streamlined to offer an experience that retains the scale of play on larger devices. But, if you’ve noticed in any capacity that these video advertisements have been replaced by audio advertisements overlaid as you play a level through without interruption — then, you know about AudioMob.

Here at Blocks2Bags, we’re always looking for entrepreneurs who are pushing the boundaries to address gaps in the market in creative ways; this week’s guest, Wilfrid Obeng, is no different. An ex-Google engineer turned co-founder of AudioMob alongside Christian Facey, their number-one audio discovery platform is “driven by a goal to help advertisers better reach their consumers and help game developers better monetise their games. […] by allowing users to programmatically insert audio ads into mobile games”. 

The niche approach to a seemingly small problem has been incredibly lucrative, with the 2020 established company valued at £100M,  And beyond just the literal proof of success, it’s indicative of systemic boundary-pushing, with the low proportion of Black founders in the industry meaning breaking-in comes with several challenges. With AudioMob’s expansion to a global market, opening offices in Abu Dhabi and New York, the venture only seems to be going up.

Sit down with us this week as we trace Wilfrid’s journey from Blocks2Bags — and what foundership means in today’s globalised landscape.

Watch the episode on Youtube.

Follow @blocks2bags on Instagram. 

What does it take to build and produce a live event from the ground-up? There is a definite legacy and influence to the cultural zeitgeist that events produced in the UK spark, with the organisation of decades-long festivals such as Glastonbury an annual collision between artists and a dedicated team behind-the-scenes. Whether it’s in curating artist line-ups, preparing stages, or organising security, the meticulous work that goes into production cannot be understated.

For this week’s Blocks2Bags episode, we sat down with Dan Tsu, who amongst many other ventures is an event producer and creative director. The co-founder of Glastonbury venue Rum Shack, which has been running for over a decade, and founder of Lyrix Organic, a live events and education organisation using cross-disciplinary approaches, such as the intersection between rap, poetry, and music, to amplify social action-based initiatives. Lyrix Organix is “for artists who think like activists”, with Dan working directly with artists such as Akala, Ed Sheeran, Lowkey, and ENNY to be at the forefront of social change. 

Sit down with us this week to explore using art to build a legacy — and curating events that connect.

Cultivating change through art — As is the foundation for Lyrix Organix, Dan’s work is steeped in a subversiveness that displays the power of art to start discourse. Change isn’t a one-way street; using art as a medium to connect with larger messages can be incredibly impactful and a pertinent way to cultivate change reciprocally with your audience.

Understanding the business of music and live performance as a new artist — As we regularly discuss on Blocks2Bags, there are multiple ways to get to the bag, and this often changes under new and varying social landscapes. With music, for example, live performances today supersede products such as merchandise, and understanding these subtle shifts can be key in intermingling artistry with business. 

Globalisation and humility — The desire to take your product — whatever this may be — globally, is not a unique one; but understanding how best to approach this can be a confusing journey. For Dan, whose work with Lyrix Organix has seen him go to emerging creative economies on an international scale, he emphasises the importance of approaching global environments with a level of humility, as opposed to asserting your perspective as the only valid one. 

Harnessing digital landscapes authentically — The digital world is something we’ve discussed at length on Blocks2Bags; it is inexplicably intertwined with almost everything we do. For any new artists who have been witness to now-popular artists coming-up through social platforms, Dan advises using these platforms with a level of authenticity that speaks true to your comfortability with them — the people you’re ‘selling’ an artist persona to will catch on to how you truly feel. 

On this week’s Blocks2Bags episode, we switched things up a little. With a special quickfire episode on the value of restaurants as opposed to takeaways, our host Sebuh Mesfin (@sebuhmesfin) sat down with previous guest Khalid Elmourie (@arablaq), and one of our hosts, Micky Tesfaye (@mekebeb.b), whose successes in both establishments provided a unique insight into which path is truly worth taking. But their key gems on the business of food entrepreneurship didn’t stop there; with discussions on new innovations and the level of traction in new ventures like dark kitchens, we considered it all. Tap into this week’s episode and learn how you can take your food business from the drawing board to a legacy.

In this episode of Money Matrix, hosts Micky Tesfaye and Sebuh Mesfindelve into the intriguing world of the stock market, providing a detailed overview of its historical roots, major milestones, and global dynamics. They navigate through the evolution of stock markets, touching upon key events and developments, including the creation of the first modern stock market in Amsterdam and the formation of iconic exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

This week on Blocks2Bags, our host Bejay Mulenga MBE (@bejaymulenga) sat down with Andy Albalous. The winner of Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars Award, and founder of CBD-infused olive oil brand Drops of Heal, Andy and Bejay discussed the ins-and-outs of developing a CBD-based product and destigmatising its usage, particularly due to its wellness benefits. But how did Andy’s innovative product capture the attention of Gordon Ramsay? Tune in to the episode and find out!