Welcome to the Game of Grow Movement - The Vision | My Story | What to Expect - Episode 1

Welcome to the very first episode of the Game of Grow! I’m your host, Muoyo Okome. On this episode I will be sharing my vision for the show and how it came about, and also sharing a bit about my story, so we can get to know each other. Sidenote: I’d definitely like to get to know you as well… I want to know who’s listening. Don’t be afraid, just reach out. I’m easy to find. The gameofgrow.com website will allow you to sign up our mailing list where you can reply to me any time.. Those messages are coming directly to me and you can also connect with me on social media… all the handles are listed right there So, without further ado… here’s how the show was born: Origin of the Show One recent night in the coffee shop, after a long day of work, I found myself asking myself some hard questions, like... “What if I placed the demand that any business I build leave every person that interacts with it better off? What would that look like?” “How could I make it successful & impactful at a scale I have not yet reached before?” “How would I need to change & who would I need to become to make all of that possible?” “How can I share the process with other people with similar goals?”⠀ Out of those questions comes my new podcast & project "Game of Grow", in which I will document my journey as an entrepreneur. Why the name? Well… it’s kind of a play on "Game of Thrones", which is obviously dope. Plus, I love the Game of Entrepreneurship, the journey of growth and development that comes with it, the growth mindset needed to succeed, and all of that good stuff. So that’s how it happened. If you are trying to start a business, grow a business, or simply level up in ways you have not before, this is for you... It doesn’t matter where you start or where you are. A big part of this game that goes highly underrated, because everyone is overly worried about popularity (including myself sometimes, sad to say)... is skill acquisition. It’s about acquiring the skills you need for where you want to be. It’s about if you’re willing to grow...⠀ By the way, this is not about me being the “expert” on everything. I am a student of the game just like you. I won’t pretend I have all the answers. My goal is to transparently document and share the highs, lows, and lessons of my journey and bring as much value as I possibly can, hopefully producing one of the most valuable pieces of content you listen to each week. In return, I get a ton of public accountability to help me move forward with my goals and I’ll be able to have an authentic conversation with you. I still love the App Game and will continue to talk about, teach, and execute against that (shoutout to my App Moguls making me proud). However, I realized I also needed a more inclusive platform where I could help more people, and let them get to know me... (a realization that recently punched me in the face when someone told me they bought my app course just so we could talk business. Shout out to you, my friend. If that's not a signal...) I want to deliver it raw & real in a live format by leveraging platforms like FB Live, IG Live, republishing everywhere I can, and if and only if you’ve derived value…. counting on my community to help bring others in, one by one. You’ll have the opportunity to ask me anything, and perhaps even a live consulting call here and there. We will experiment... Expect that the show will often be unpolished, because it's happening in real time, and my focus is on the content over the production, but at the same time very real, valuable, and actionable. Shoutout to my amazing podcast coach, valentine, and wife Nicaila Matthews Okome (even if she made me take Podcast Moguls like a regular student with no special privileges. What on earth is that about??) I’ve worked my way through all the content and exercises, and it was extremely helpful. Now it is time to stop stalling and share with the world…. My Story So now let’s get into my story. First of all, I’m from Brooklyn, NY and grew up in a Nigerian household with 2 Naija parents. I attended public school all the way from Kindergarten thru 12th grade (shoutout to Mom & Dad for getting me into the gifted program… I have the most supportive parents ever). I’m married… coming up on 2 years now, to my beautiful wife Nicaila Matthews Okome, who is actually pretty well known for her podcast Side Hustle Pro, which consistently ranks among the top 100 or 200 business podcasts in the world. Super proud of her. Shoutout to wifey... And if and only if you are getting value of any sort. If you care at all…  I need you to pause right now and subscribe to the podcast and leave me a rating & review. I want to be able to show my face around here. I did the "right things” all my life, went to school, studied hard, got good grades, went to great schools, was rejected by an endless number of companies I applied for (this happened after college, and again after grad school) and ended up stuck in a corporate job where I was not respected. I wanted to be able to earn money and support myself and start building a promising and lucrative career as a technology executive I was working days, nights, and weekends in a job that I did not enjoy, where the people did not respect me Worse than that I was starting to internalize the beliefs being expressed towards me and had even begun to wonder if I was smart, competent, or capable. I gained a lot of weight and generally felt miserable most of the time. I was demoted to an even lower position which I was not actually qualified for or credentialed for and often found myself at home without a role where I could contribute meaningfully to the team. I had recently attended an online workshop from a surfer looking dude who would soon become my first app mentor He discussed one of his apps making about $10,000 per month, which broke down to $120,000 per year, or $333 per day, Meaning this one app was making more than my full-time salary by itself. Did I mention he was not at all technical? But what was even more interesting is that he had another app making $3,000 per month, a new one making $800, two more making $5,000 each, and the list went on from there. At the time he had at least 12 different apps, all making modest but consistent profit. But the craziest part was that unlike me, he did not have to show up to the office each day. Nor did he code them himself. He did some research up front, created them for small amounts of money, and then got paid for them over and over again. That’s when I realized I didn’t want be paid for my time like I was doing…. I wanted to create apps like this guy. And so that’s what I did... You can imagine my excitement when I first made $30 in a day Given my $300 per day salary, this equated to a 10% raise.... and I wasn't working any harder (ask me when I got a 10% raise overnight at work) And then $100, and then $400, and eventually much more. I had an epiphany: my apps kept on working without getting tired, complaining, or taking breaks, and I could always add more to the team! I could give myself a new raise whenever I wanted by doing the research and creating a new well-positioned app. My plan was to start building up a portfolio of multiple apps that together could pay for my lifestyle and my freedom. I dove in and invested a bunch of money in a book and 2 different online courses to educate myself. It was by no means smooth sailing. My first month I achieved only 900 downloads and brought in about 80 bucks. The next few months I was able to build up to $1000-$2000 in monthly revenue by focusing more on the marketing, but it was still a tough journey. Not every app worked out. I sometimes hired programmers who did not deliver, and Apple would even change the algorithm on me, cutting my daily revenue in half… twice! Six months in, my work started to compound and I finally broke through. 3 apps that I launched took off, and that month I would earn twice as much from my app business as I did from my six-figure corporate job. I even got an improbable 7-figure offer on my company, which I eventually turned down to bet on myself even more. While the money was great, this experience gave me a taste of freedom, as well as the unflappable confidence that I could really cut it and take care of myself, and no one would ever control me again. And while it started out being all about me and being able to take care of some bills, my mission grew into something much greater that I never expected. unexpectedly I became a leader and someone that people consistently turn to for advice, and it’s been one of the greatest pleasures of my life to help thousands of entrepreneurs on their own journeys Btw, that app business grew to over 12 million downloads and I sold it for a very nice chunk of change. Since then I’ve had other businesses and projects, but if we’re being honest, I have not yet reached the levels of impact and success I have in mind. But that’s alright, it’s a journey, and that’s what this show is all about The Game of Grow This is not your typical entrepreneurship podcast. I’ve been an entrepreneur for years now, and had my fair share of successes as well as failures. A lot of people ask me for advice, and I figured rather than tell you, I want to show you the whole process. You’ll see when I get it right, when I fall on my face (it happens more than you think… that’s how we grow), what I learn, and everything that happens along the way. I don’t want to show you the result. I want you to see the journey. It’s not about where you start. It’s about where you want to go, who you want to become and the price you’re willing to pay to get there.. Because you’re going to need to put in the work and develop those skills. A lot of people talk about VC’s and investors, but here in this community, we take action and invest in ourselves. I LOVE the game. I LOVE the Hustle. I’m grateful for every moment and can’t put my foot on the brakes. If you want to build or grow a powerful, profitable, ethical business that makes money AND but also makes CHANGE and leaves the world a little bit better than you found it, I’d love if we could work on that together within this movement It doesn’t matter where you start or where you are right now. Are you willing to take the challenge and GROW? Question of the Day What is your #1 question about starting or growing your business online? The Fee Oh and one final thing, and I don’t want this to be awkward, but we do have a fee for this podcast. Yes, it is a free show… I’m not talking about money... but IF AND ONLY IF you got value from this episode, be that education, entertainment, inspiration… whatever the case may be. First of all, I need you to subscribe & review the show on iTunes, Stitcher, wherever you are listening. That is the number one way we’ll be able to move up the charts and help more people to hear this message. For each episode where that happens, I need you to pay it forward and bring me back one person who is like minded and would benefit from this content. That is the only way we grow this movement, person by person, hand to hand. I take this seriously…. So if you see me in the streets… or on the streets of the internet. Just know that I’m going to ask Show Close Alright enough of that… And with that, I’ll see you on the next episode of Game of Grow! If you’d like to hear more about the app business I described and how you can start to implement something similar, this episode was sponsored by my first book “The 7 Steps to App Success”. Super proud... 12 million downloads, 8 years of grinding, 7 months of writing & editing, and thousands of dollars of my own money later, it’s finally here…. And you can get it for wayyyy less. Head to appmagic.co/book and pick up your digital copy. Shoutout to my wonderful editor Angela Johnson For everything else: sign up for the mailing list, connect with us on social, send me an email… check out gameofgrow.com DJ drop that beat and take us out...   This episode is sponsored by my first book, "The 7 Steps to App Success".  12 million downloads, 8 years of grinding, 7 months of writing & editing, and thousands of dollars of my own money later, it’s finally here…. And you can get it for wayyyy less. Head to appmagic.co/book and pick up your digital copy, in its 108 pages of glory.   Stay connected with the movement: Join the Facebook Community: gameofgrow.com/community Instagram: instagram.com/gameofgrow Facebook:facebook.com/gameofgrow Twitter: twitter.com/gameofgrow LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/muoyo To sign up for our weekly email updates visit us at gameofgrow.com