March 26, 2025 • 45 mins
Entrepreneurs face many challenges, and Sumi's journey illustrates this beautifully. Sumi emphasizes the perseverance needed to transition from military life into the competitive world of business, helping listeners understand the importance of community, adaptability, and self-belief.
• Importance of embracing the entrepreneurial journey
• Overcoming challenges and failures
• How military skills translate to civilian entrepreneurship
• The role of family support and community
• Cultural understanding in business practices
• Educational and professional benefits of multiculturalism
• Managing the balance of family and business life
• Long-term goals and vision for Phoenix Global
• Fostering a mindset of growth and resilience
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Follow Sumeya on IG: https://www.instagram.com/sumi_23s?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Warriors fall in.
It's time for formation.
I'm very fortunate today tohave a guest who is here for the
second time, and earlier in theyear I guess two years ago
maybe we had a conversation withSumi and she was talking about
her background being in theUnited States Army and then
(00:21):
transitioning out of the Army,going to Customs and Border
Protection, and then ultimatelyfound a job Army going to
Customs and Border Protectionand then ultimately found a job
utilizing Act.
Now Education's services Justrecently followed up with Sumi
and she had decided to start herown business, becoming a very
bold, very courageousentrepreneur, and we briefly
(00:46):
spoke about what she was doingand I was absolutely amazed with
everything and I thought thatit's really important for me to
share with the rest of theMorning Formation community on
where Sumi is right now, becauseyou know she's the type of
person.
She immigrated from East Africawhen she was 11 years old.
She speaks four languages, veryimpressive, professional.
So today, sumi, I got you onboard because I want you to tell
(01:06):
everyone what you're into, whatyou're doing right now with
your business and why youdecided to step into
entrepreneurship overall.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Thank you, kp.
So right now I'm doing productsourcing for T-shirts and
hoodies for small companies whowant to put their logos on them
for branded apparels, and I'mgetting those products from
Egypt right now and I'mbranching out to Bangladesh and
(01:37):
my minimum is usually 50t-shirts per design and normally
the overseas companies theirminimum is like 600 to to $1,000
.
But small companies like methey can't really, they don't
have that many employees or theydon't have that kind of finance
to afford like to spend likethousands of dollars on t-shirts
(01:57):
.
You know, so I'm, you know, mybusiness is just going on two
years now and I'm trying to helpmyself and other small
businesses also get up in therise by helping them get
affordable T-shirts with theirlogo on them so they could go
out and sell those T-shirts orhoodies and make money from them
and establish their smallbusiness as well.
(02:19):
And recently, my clients I lovemy clients because they keep
giving me new ideas they werelike well, I am a moving company
and I want to have like boxeswith my logo on them and I want
to have the wrapping sheets andthe blankets, but I want them
like at a cheaper rate than Icould find in the United States
(02:41):
which is found cheaper in Egypt,which I have family and
connections which we're workingon getting for them from Egypt
to the United States.
So the fact that I'm able tosource globally to help small
businesses here in the UnitedStates compete with bigger
companies is something I takepride in.
(03:02):
And I got into entrepreneurshipbecause of my kid.
I have a five-year-old.
He's going to be six soon.
He's diagnosed with autism.
He was diagnosed when he wastwo years old, two and a half,
and I used to take him to a lotof appointments and just so many
activities.
And it's really hard to keep afull-time job when you're taking
(03:25):
a child to appointment likefour or five times a day, like a
week, and it's just when itcomes to picking between your
child and you know and your job.
I chose, I chose my child and Iwas fortunate enough to do it
because I was a military memberand a veteran and had benefits.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
And I was able to leave.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
You know my positions and choose.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
You know being a business owner and take care of
it it's hard to transition outof the military and find like an
ideal job.
Um, what has inspired you to gofrom the safety of government
work into entrepreneurship?
Because in entrepreneurship youtake a huge risk and no one's
(04:06):
telling you.
It's not like the military,where they tell you what time to
show up for formation, what towear, when to pivot.
So as an entrepreneur you haveto tell yourself when to pivot,
when to when to do this, when todo that.
Yeah, uh, can you talk abouthow you overcame?
Because you were enlisted inthe military right and you were
a culinary arts or cook.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Culinary specialist yes, Culinary specialist right.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
So, with that being said, how do you go from being a
lower enlisted soldier to beingan entrepreneur where,
basically, you're having topivot on your own, to being an
entrepreneur where, basically,like you're having to pivot on
your own.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
So my background did help.
So my family, like my dad, whenI was a kid he had his own
store, like back in Saudi, saudiArabia, and he had his own
store and then when he was inthe United States, like he had
like this international storethat he used to sell like
clothing and stuff.
So I have that background and Icome from an international
(05:08):
community.
So the languages is like you'reborn, like you're automatically
speaking two languages you know, and we're Muslims, so the
Arabic is added to it and thenit's just kind of like Arabic
Tigrinya Tigrinya is ouroriginal language, then Arabic
together and then you watch alot of foreign shows, which I
used to do, and then I learnedTurkish and then English when I
(05:29):
came to America.
So just kind of like thelanguages.
So me being an internationalperson and learning languages,
being a culinary specialist didnot limit me or being an
enlisted did not limit who I was.
So when I was leaving ortransitioning, I wasn't just
like, oh my God, I'm just anenlisted, did not limit who I
was.
So when I was leaving ortransitioning, I wasn't just
like, oh my God, I'm just anenlisted.
What am I gonna do Like no, Iwas doing other things and I had
(05:50):
other skills and talents that Iwas honing that when I got out
to be able to use.
And I have this thing where,since I was a kid, where I don't
like to give a certain power orposition to an authority or to
anybody, where they're my onlysource of survival, like I have
(06:12):
to have like multiple ways, likeI have to be able to survive
without depending on one entity.
So that drives me to moveforward.
And then with entrepreneurship,like the first year was really
tough because I wasn't doingthis brand, like this
promotional products or thisapparel.
At the beginning I was doingconsulting, I was going to, I
(06:35):
was ready to export vehicles outof the country.
Everything was set up.
I arranged the people who aregoing to sell the cars here, the
wholesalers in the UnitedStates, and then I traveled to
Dubai and Saudi Arabia by myselfand arranged the buyers over
there and I removed themiddleman, the auction folks,
(06:57):
because that was their issue,and I was like, don't worry,
I'll remove that fee for you.
And I arranged the freightforwarders, the like, just
everything.
And I was so prepared on a highlevel, something that I prepared
for, you know, years before Ieven started my business.
And then it's just a fellthrough, you know, and I spent
(07:18):
so much money, so much time andat this time my son was my
sister, because I was first yearof my business.
I was like, okay, I'm doingthis for my kid.
So I was like I need to jumpstart my business.
I was like I need this time.
So my sister was generousenough to like take care of my
kid.
Well, you know, for that entireyear, last year and while I was
(07:40):
taking care of my business, sothat business deal fell through.
So for a few, for about a couplemonths, where I was just like
why did I even get intoentrepreneurship?
I was just like I should justgive up you know, I don't even
want to do this anymore Like whydid I even get into it?
And then, in moments like this,there's this article, there's
this book the Struggle is whenGreatness Comes From which, I
(08:03):
think the author by Ben Horowitz.
There's even an excerpt that hetalks about, like you know, he
talks about how entrepreneurshipis really difficult and it
sucks and it's just a terriblething, but at the end it's like
greatness.
You know, the struggle is wheregreatness comes from.
So I kept rereading that andit's just I was reminded why I'm
(08:26):
doing it.
This is something bigger thanmyself.
Is to help myself, my community, my kid, a small business owner
.
So just kind of likeremembering that I'm doing this
for something bigger than myself.
And then the fact that my kidwas overseas was I was like okay
, cause then I was like, oh myGod, the sunken cost fallacy.
I was like okay, because then Iwas like oh my God, the sunken
cost fallacy.
I was like I sacrificed thiswhole year with my son.
(08:48):
Granted, I was visiting himback and forth multiple times
throughout the year, but I waslike I sacrificed so much my
retirement, you know, mymilitary retirement, everything
for this business.
So it was just kind of like youknow what am I doing, I froze a
little bit, and but just, itwas just kind of like you know
what am I doing?
I froze a little bit and butjust, it was just kind of like I
(09:10):
had to step back, which iswhich was needed, and I needed
that two months to step back andjust be like, okay, what am I
doing?
What can I do?
This is not working.
And then I'm part of Vistageand this is a network for like
executive and CEO groups thatthey advise you.
And I was talking to them aboutit and they were like, when you
(09:31):
are dealing with this vehiclesituation and this deal fell
apart.
It could be for various reasons,whether it could be sexism,
because I was in the Middle East, or it could be of race, it
could be of various reasons.
You know that it doesn'tconcern me, because I did the
best I could.
If people want to be, if theywant to treat me, you know
(09:51):
differently, that's on them.
You know.
They were like why would youwant to be part of that space?
Why would you want to be in aspace where you don't, you're
not wanted?
Why don't you go to spaceswhere you are wanted?
So it was just kind of likeletting go of that bad energy
and just it was like I was likeall right, so just having that
community.
They were like you need to letthat go of that bad energy so
(10:12):
you can move forward, so youcould see what's in front of you
.
And when I did that, then mycustomers were like oh, I want
product, oh, I want this, oh, Iwant this at an affordable rate
because I can't afford it in theUnited States.
So if you can get it for mefrom the other country, that
(10:32):
would definitely help me, youknow, build my business.
And then I started realizing myson was improving with his
autism because the food in Egyptis a lot better than here in
the United States and he wasgetting a lot more community
over there.
He's like playing with kidsoutside all day, playing soccer
and just so many, so muchengagement.
He used to have like a feedingdisorder where he was like very
(10:53):
picky with eating food and nowhe eats everything and he's a
lot more social, a lot moreverbal.
He speaks Arabic now and hewrites and reads in Arabic.
He's a very, very smart kid andit's just in one year.
I saw like a lot of differencein him.
I saw a lot of difference in me.
I even grew up as a person alot, and it's just why I changed
(11:16):
my perspective.
I was able to adapt.
And I was like, okay, themoney's gone, but money will
always come back.
You know, my health is here,that's what's more important.
My son is healthy.
So I was like, okay.
So I was just like my word forthis year is abundance.
Each year I have a word.
So this year is abundancebecause I was worried.
I was like, oh, money is gone,my son is gone, this, this, this
(11:38):
.
But this year is like abundanceand I'm like in the state of
like money will come to me,clients will come to me, my son
is here.
I finally brought him back atthe end of last year, december
31st, and it's so good to havehim back, just like in my corner
and every like the world is allmine now and it's just money is
coming, clients are coming.
(11:59):
And now I'm even thinking like,when I have that clarity, I was
like, why don't?
I was like, instead of payingall the shipping costs to bring
these products here to theUnited States, I was like, why
don't I buy the machine itself,the?
It's like it's called DTF.
It's this heat printing machinewhere you get the shirt and you
put it under like in the design, you press it and that's where
(12:20):
you get the logo.
So I was like OK, it's like$2,400.
And then the shirts I was like Ihave connection in Bangladesh,
I have connection in Egypt, Ihave connection in Dubai.
I can just get them at a lowerrate, probably like a few
dollars, and then ship them viaOcean, have them here and then
make them for my client.
(12:40):
That way I don't have to pay alot of shipping fees and I could
have my own like brick andmortar.
And that's something I was like, okay, I could do, you know,
towards the end of this year.
So it was just kind of like,when I'm like living in a state
of abundance, so many ideas areflowing through my head, I have
to be like calm down, one stepat a time.
It's like once you, if you areadaptable, ideas will flow and
(13:04):
things will come your way.
You know, money will come,ideas will come, people will
come.
You're positive and adaptable.
I think that's adaptability islike very important, because I,
like I said, I lost a lot ofmoney last year and I had to be
like OK, a lot of people wouldgive up.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
I mean to be honest with you.
You were under the safety of agovernment job where you could
have just taken your rank.
You weren't limited by whereyou were at, like your MOS or
anything.
None of that stuff limited youand a lot of it had to do with
your background, where you grewup, and your worldly experiences
.
You were able to see beyond theend of your neighborhood and
(14:07):
actually see into the entireworld.
And I wanted to highlight thatabout you because I think many
times in the military, our rankor our MOS can limit us to what
we think we can and can't doonce we leave the military.
And that's what I find mostamazing about you is you're
basically limitless.
You're literally shippingthings from halfway across the
(14:28):
world and you've got all theseconnections and whatnot, um, and
I not.
On top of that, you're a womanworking in the Middle East.
Like that is not easy to do.
Like I imagine you get a lot ofhang up calls and and you know
delete on your emails and stufflike that that you try to send.
Um, that that's verychallenging and you know all
(14:49):
these ideas that you have.
The toughest part is takingaction.
Everybody's got ideas, but youactually step out, take action,
make it happen.
And that's what's mostimpressive Can you talk about?
You talked a little bit aboutit already, but talk about some
of the trials and tribulations,the dead ends, the mistakes, the
(15:12):
fall down.
Pick yourself back up again.
What was your worst moment, youthink, when you thought you
know what, I could just quit andgo find an hourly job or a
salary job somewhere and you hadto dig deep to figure out, like
, how do I get out of this, howdo I make this right?
Speaker 2 (15:28):
that's a great question.
So first the the government.
I was tenured as well, so itwas really hard to fire me,
unless I really, really messedup right, so it was just kind of
.
I was just like are you crazy?
I'm like, yes, you have to becrazy to be an entrepreneur.
A little bit, um, and the part,the trial and tribulation,
where you're like I'll just goget another job.
That's every day, every day.
(15:51):
I'm just like you know what,why don't you?
Just, you know you need to goapply for a job and because,
like, what are you doing?
Are you crazy?
You know, I think it's justlike when, for example, like I,
because not everything is goingto work out the way I want it to
work.
Like I mentioned, the biggestone was when I lost, like you
(16:12):
know, like thousands andthousands of dollars in my the
Middle East endeavor and whenthey were just kind of like, oh,
you know, because you're awoman, or when they told me,
yeah, this is what happened.
They were like when I was inthe Middle East and I was
struggling with all this and Icame back and I had a coach here
(16:32):
who was like part of the smallbusiness, I was just like, oh,
they're telling me this, this,this.
And he was like, well, what youcan do is you can have your
brother be the face of yourcompany in the Middle East or
your nephew, and have himrepresent you.
I was like, first, that's fraudand second, this is a
(16:55):
woman-owned business company.
No, this is the worst idea I'veever heard.
And it was just kind of like.
And then when I came here,they're like oh, you're race.
And I was just like I'm like myidentity was questioned.
So I was just like I'm theproblem, my religion Because now
that I'm wearing the hijabagain, it's like my faith, my
(17:16):
race and me being a woman islike being an issue, whether
it's in the States or in theMiddle East, mostly in the
Middle East, being a woman like.
When I was in Saudi Arabia, Imade an appointment and I went
and I was introduced to theseindividuals by really high level
people, like by companies thathave been in the business for
100 years old, and they theywere like yeah, let's meet up.
(17:37):
And they just ghosted me Becausethey thought I literally flew
across the country just so Icould meet them and have this
meeting, and they ghosted me andI was just like my heart sank.
I was like, ok, and then it'sjust kind of like, all right, I
was like, forget this.
And then, when I'm in theStates, I was just like then,
when I was like, when I shiftedto this apparel part and I go
(18:01):
like, for example, one of themis like my broker license.
I applied for my broker'slicense.
I passed it in October 2023, Ibelieve it took a year to get my
license and that cut me fromdoing any business as a broker,
because originally I was goingto be a customs broker, but
without license I couldn't doanything.
(18:22):
So in the meantime I was likeI'm going to do consulting.
In the meantime, I was like I'mgoing to do branded t-shirts
and then I get my license.
They're like, well, you can'treally do business unless you
have your permit, so that'sprobably going to be like
another year.
So then I have to shift againand I'll be like, all right,
then I have to charge my what doyou call it, this branded
apparel thing and keep gettingclients because I need to make
(18:45):
money and because I took theexam I was preparing because
that exam is really reallydifficult Only like 5% pass rate
5 to 15% pass rate and I wasstudying for it.
And I still have neck pain ayear and some change later
because I was like studying forit and I still like go to
physical therapy.
So it was just more of likewhatever, like a task I take.
(19:07):
It's like I take the militarysaying where, like like you have
to want it as much as you wantto breathe, and when I try to
translate that to civilianpeople that I work with, they
look at me like something iswrong with me because they I
would be like okay, um, you wantto.
Yeah, like you want to loseweight.
(19:27):
I'm like okay, because I lostabout 40 pounds since between
2022 till 2025 now, and I waslike, but I was like I want it
as much as I want to breathe.
So I was like if I don'texercise or go on calorie
deficit, like this means death,so literally like I, that's how
I look at it.
Or if I like this businessdoesn't go right, this is what
it means, and it's just itdoesn't translate well in the
(19:50):
civilian life because they'rejust like no, you're too like,
you're too much or you're toothis, and I'm like that's fine.
Then I stop just apologizingfor being myself and I'm like
that's OK.
Like being militaries, likewe're like the hardcore
individual, like the one percent, we have this skill that we do
not see, the 1% we have thisskill that we do not see, like
(20:12):
we undermine it, that thecivilian people rarely have,
that the military gives us.
Like the military doesn't justgive us trauma, it gives us a
lot of skills and it's just.
It's like I feel like veteransand soldiers do not recognize
that Like being so disciplinedand I'm a very, very disciplined
individual, you know and it'sjust kind of like I learned that
(20:33):
from the military.
Being fearless, I learned fromthe military and it's kind of
like even like I'm going to theeast by myself and it's scary.
But the first time I faced myfears was with the military,
because when I was was joining,I was like, hey, what if I die?
I'm just like, well, the Lordfits in, whatever, you know.
So if I could face death, thenI could face anything.
(20:55):
So I think it's all in our headand if we can change, for like
we literally fought for ourcountry, we're very brave
individuals who can translatethat into this world, like in
the civilian world, like we canhandle anything.
Civilians have nothing.
World like we could literallyhandle anything would like
civilians have nothing.
Like we have nothing on us.
We're like super humans in thecivilian world.
Like think of it that way whereour skills translate in this is
(21:20):
just it's kind of like you're.
You're a lot better than a lotof civilians.
I think it's time to recognizethat.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
As a veteran, and you're skilled and you're
trained, I mean I thousandpercent agree with you on that.
I thousand percent agree withyou on that matter of fact.
I had a conversation withsomeone the other day and we
were discussing something andthey were trying to tell me how
it was.
And I'm like I was deployedthere, like, why are you telling
like I was in the military myboots are still dirty, but
(21:51):
you're a civilian, you've neverbeen to the Middle East, you
never served in Iraq orAfghanistan.
Why are you telling me what itlooks and smells like?
It's crazy how you come backhere and you talk to civilians
and they act like you're thecrazy one.
But in reality I think they'recrazy because we have a world
view.
When I went to basic training,for example, I think they're
crazy because we have a worldview.
(22:11):
When I went to basic training,for example, I got an
opportunity to meet as a battlebuddy during basic training a
guy from Vermont, a guy fromLouisiana.
All these different people youhave to work with and you get
stressed out and put under timeand tension and you have to
figure it out.
You have to work together.
A lot of people don't get thatexperience and even once you get
(22:34):
stationed at your permanentduty station, you have to
overcome a lot of things thatmost people don't have to deal
with, and you have to figure itout for yourself.
The only thing is is I think alot of veterans struggle with
doing what you've kind ofmastered, which was taking
action and being fearless andthen also pivoting when you know
(22:54):
it's right and no one else istelling you when to pivot or
when to make a decision, whereas, like in the military, I think,
a lot of times you're told whento pivot, when to do things.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Oh, yes, To answer your question about the take an
action part.
There's two parts to this one.
Oh, yes, To answer yourquestion about the take an
(23:25):
action part, there's parts tothis one.
First, it's innate because,like in my bones since I was a
kid, I don't like people tellingme what to do, which is like
ironic, considering theorganizations I went to the army
, the government, you know but,like I, I genuinely do not like
people telling me what to do,Cause I'm just like I come from
a culture.
I love my culture.
And at the same time it's not,you know, um, at the same time
it's not, it's very malecentered.
The United States gave me avoice that I felt very, you know
(23:49):
, independent, like you know Ihave.
You know I could say this Icould live this way.
I have a chance to live thislife, to get this education, to
get this job.
And I look at it from thispoint of view, where, in my
country, we don't have thisopportunity that the United
States gives us and we shouldn'ttake that for granted, you know
(24:12):
.
So it's just kind of like,whatever opportunity I get, I'll
grab it and go.
So that's one of the reasonswhere I'm like you know, I take
action and I don't like peopletelling me what to do.
So I go ahead and do it and theother thing is like the other
thing.
The other reason why I takeaction is, and why I feel like
other members have a hard time,you know, doing or taking action
(24:35):
without somebody telling themwhat to do.
It is easier when somebody tellsyou what to do, because if you
mess up, it's somebody's fault.
It's also taking responsibilityand accountability.
So now I'm all on my own Ifeven if my employees in Egypt
mess up, it's my fault, like Ihave to take responsibility.
I have to go to the client andbe like oh yes, I messed up and
(24:58):
sometimes it has to come out ofmy own pocket.
There were samples where I'mlike I messed up, so I'll have
to come out of my own pocket andget you new samples.
I'm sorry.
And you know, saying I'm sorrydoesn't make you small, it just
makes you a bigger person andpeople appreciate that.
So accountability if you'rewilling to take accountability,
then you're willing to takeaction.
That's one of those Becausebefore I used to be like I want
(25:22):
people to tell me what to do.
But then it was just kind oflike no, because I want to blame
it on them, like well, if youhadn't told me what to do, I
wouldn't have done this.
But now it's just like there'sno one I could blame.
I have to take allaccountability and it sucks
because I don't like criticalfeedback.
But I will take it andimplement it.
I never liked it because ithurts.
So I tell my bosses I'm likegive me a feedback sandwich,
(25:44):
tell me something positive, tellme the negative sandwich, the
negative feedback and then thepositive, and then just let me
feel better and then that way Icould take it.
But it's just, I always take itand implement it.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
But if you, want to take action.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
You have to be willing to take accountability
Back.
Sandwich.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
I'm feeling I'm stealing that one.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah, feedback sandwich.
It's very it, it's so helpful.
You're just like you feel good.
You're like ouch, and thenthey're like you feel good again
.
It's like you get ice cream atthe end and after you get like a
shot or something, you feelbetter.
You're like, oh, thank goodness, you know, that's how.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
I look you sound like a boss, the total, and I I love
that about you overall, Likeyou.
Just you don't.
You don't make excuses.
There's a thousand thingsagainst you.
One of the things you mentionedwas, you know, working in the
middle East and being a womanyourself, and um.
(26:41):
The one thing I want to ask you, though, is is there's a lot of
other companies out there doingwhat you're doing.
They're going to be shipping,exporting, importing.
How do you plan todifferentiate your business in
such a competitive market?
And then also, too, I wanted toask you about the most recent
(27:01):
thing, which are the tariffs.
What are your thoughts on that,and how do you think that will
affect the market that you'regoing to be getting into?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Thank you.
So the the first one, the firstthing that differentiates me
from my competitors like, I careabout my you know my um clients
.
I'm with them face to face.
I'm not just a phone number ona website, um, I'm out there
networking, talking to them and,and, like I said, usually their
(27:31):
complaints is, if something'smessed up, they usually don't
have anybody they can go to.
Or they're like oh, you have topay me because you already got
the sample.
It's more like oh, we messed up.
We take accountability, we careabout your products.
Our products are quality and wejust care about you as a human
being and we want to make surethis is more than money to us.
We want to make sure that youthrive as a human being, as a
(27:53):
business owner.
We want to make sure that yousucceed as a business owner.
We want you to do good, we wantto uplift the community.
So it's not just about money,it's more than that for us.
We want to remove the barrier,the middleman, for you and all
these companies.
Most of them care about profitand we care about you as an
(28:13):
individual and your company.
And then the tariff.
So right now, China there wasalready 25% tariff on China for
products coming from China.
And now he just addedadditional 10%, and people and
companies were alreadynearshoring, which means they
were rerouting their products.
They were going to Mexico andCanada, mostly Mexico.
(28:36):
What they would do is theywould put the parts together and
try to label them made inMexico which was fraud, by the
way and try to bring it into theUnited States so that they
don't pay duty.
But the United States iscatching up on it, which they're
not allowed to do, and sopeople are staying away from
China little by little, becausethe tariffs does hurt them.
(28:58):
And then President Trump saidthat he will do tariff on Canada
and Mexico.
But then they retaliated.
They were like we'll do thesame thing to you.
So he paused because he wasgoing to charge them 25%.
And then he paused on that for30 days until they come into an
agreement.
And now he said we're going tomatch whatever you do.
(29:21):
So if you charge us duty, we'regoing to charge you duty, which
I think is fair.
If you're charging us duty, Ithink you should be charged duty
.
But at the end of the day, whatthe people should know, because
President Trump is sayingAmerica first and we want
America to be first.
But the tariffs is always theburden of the consumer, not the
companies.
Because as a company, if Ibring those products, my
(29:43):
customers are paying the tariffs.
I'm paying for the tariffs andthen I'm going to upcharge them
Because at the end of the daythe burden is always on the
consumer.
So the consumer is getting hurt.
Their bills are higher.
So tariff does not help the youknow regular American people.
It hurts them.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
So does that concern?
Speaker 2 (30:03):
you Does that concern you?
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Does that concern you with like what you're doing, or
does it level the playing fieldfor everybody?
Speaker 2 (30:11):
So right now, because my stuff comes from, my items
come from Egypt, it's not ofconcern as of right now.
As of right now, it's justregular duty for certain cotton
products.
But if, unless it's pen topaper and he actually puts out a
policy, then I'll be concerned.
(30:33):
Because when I was working withCustoms and Border Protection,
I was working under TrumpPresident Trump's administration
and he tweeted a lot of thingsand not everything was policy.
And when people called or wereconcerned about the you know the
tweets, we let them know, themknow, hey, until it's policy,
don't worry about it.
So that's the same advice thatI'm following.
(30:53):
And then I update my clients.
I'm like, okay, this is theupdate, this is what's going on.
And then I just adapt.
I'm like, okay, if you'recharging canada this much or
you're charging china, don'tworry, I'm just gonna go to
another country that you're notcharging and then I'm gonna get
it from there right it's alwaysthat you know simpler to do yeah
Speaker 1 (31:10):
it's always another option, it's fine and I really,
I really think that's thedifference, um, that your
company offers versus the othercompanies is, for one, you have,
uh, sumi's tenacity to neverquit, right, and then also, too,
like your willingness to justadapt and just simply go, okay,
we'll just ship out of here,we'll ship out of there, um, and
(31:31):
all the connections that youhave, and, at the end of the day
, you, you're multi-language,right?
So how has that helped you withyour global background overall,
with being able to adapt andbeing able to laterally move
from here to there when it comesto the business decisions that
you make?
Speaker 2 (31:51):
tremendously, because I don't think this, uh,
merchandise apparel thing wouldbe happening if I didn't speak
arabic.
Because how would I communicatewith the egyptian people?
Uh, how would I speak with the,like the, my employees in egypt
?
I can't speak to them in anyother language.
I can't tell to them in anyother language.
I can't tell them like therewas not.
(32:11):
They don't their English, thepeople English is limited, not
like there are people who speakEnglish there, but not the
people that I'm working with.
If I didn't have Arabic, Iwouldn't be making money right
now and I would be stuck with mecomplaining about.
I was like, oh my God, the carsituation doesn't work, I don't
have money, let me get afull-time job.
(32:32):
There would be no apparelbusiness and, yeah, I would
probably be stuck waiting for mypermit, which I am, but I have
other options.
I would be a lot more stressedand more angry and more just
annoyed at everything, and Idon't think I would have good
(32:53):
energy what about likeunderstanding culture too?
Speaker 1 (32:56):
that's, that's huge right yes.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
So egypt, I love egypt, it's my fate.
Like from the middle eastthat's my favorite place I've
been.
I think, like from the placesI've been in the Middle East,
like they next to Dubai, they'rereally good.
The way the women are treated,like you feel some type of way
like if somebody's likeharassing you on the street,
like you say something, thepolice sees them, they throw
(33:22):
them in jail.
Like they're very like likeleave this woman alone, let them
be.
They're very, very, veryrespectful and it's very and the
culture, understanding theculture, the food, and when
people, when you know theirlanguage and their culture, you
respect them, they respect you.
It's a very different treatment.
Same thing with Turkey.
Same thing Like I've been toTurkey multiple times because I
(33:45):
speak their language.
It's just kind of like thistreatment so much different.
I get so much more respect, somuch more favor.
It's just you're treateddifferently and you experience
the world in a differentperspective, as you're missing
out on the world if you're notexperiencing different cultures,
and it definitely.
It helps my business in everypossible way, because you're
(34:08):
seeing the people and you neverknow who's going to help you and
when people feel seen andrespected, then they're like I
want to work with you.
I think that also what makes usdifferent is we.
We see people like we see you.
We're here for you.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
You know we understand you you check so many
boxes, um, and that's reallyimportant, I think, because, at
end of the day, you're not thetype of professional that makes
any excuses at all.
You constantly pivot, andthat's so impressive.
I keep underlining that aboutyou.
At the end of the day, you're arole model.
What is your long-term visionfor Phoenix Global overall, like
(34:50):
, what is your long-term vision?
What do you hope to sustain,accomplish in the next five to
ten years?
Speaker 2 (34:58):
in the next.
So let's start with the 10years.
In the next 10 years, I want ashipping line, that big shipping
line.
The boat, yeah, I want to ownthat, god willing.
So I want to be able to control.
My goal is to control end toend supply chain.
So I already have peopleoverseas, I already have people
(35:20):
here.
If I control the boat, and thenI'll eventually get my freight
forwarding license and then I'llbe able to be a freight
forwarder, I'll be able to ship.
I'd like just be a DHL, butPhoenix Global, but bigger than
them.
Yeah, so just kind of be have amonopoly in a way of the
shipping, but just in adifferent way, and just kind of
(35:42):
disrupt the current market.
That's my goal.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
And-.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Yeah, that's the 10-year plan.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
So what's your and?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
the five-year is probably to become a millionaire
.
Yes, that's the plan.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
I think overall, with your ability to just move left,
and right and forth, I meanthat that's certainly within
reach.
Um, who do you model yourselfafter, or is there anyone out
there that you look at as likethat's?
That's who I strive tohopefully become or emulate?
Um, is there somebody that youlook to as like?
This is who I, this is who Iwant to become.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Honestly, the future is to me Because the reason I
say that is because I learned.
I'm a very efficient individualand I learn very, very fast.
So if I emulate someone, I'llsurpass them Because I am
granted that talent because ofthe Lord.
(36:42):
And so if I emulate them, thenI'll just limit myself because
I'm a limitless individual, asyou say.
I could just look up to myselfand that feature, Simeon, the
vision, and that's who I look upto and where I see myself and
that's who I just keep goingtowards.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Where do you get that ?
From who inspired you?
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Who inspired me for?
Speaker 1 (37:02):
As a child growing up , who gave you that?
Is that just something that youthink you were born with, or is
it something that, like yourfather, your mother, maybe a
sibling, that kind of you feellike, might have gave you that
overall push?
Speaker 2 (37:26):
overall, like push the lack of um.
If you you watched my phoenixglobal shipping video, brand
video that was like get to knowthe ceo.
That's the lack of.
I was feeling powerless, likeas a young age, you know, I
remember like at age 11, and Iwas praying and I was like
praying for financial freedom.
I wanted to be free and Iwanted to be independent, I
wanted to be in control of myown life.
I just felt everybody wastaking control of my own life,
(37:49):
of my life.
Everybody was just pointing meto a direction and it was just
kind of like it was just always.
I felt like I was undersomebody's thumb and I just felt
I felt stuck and frozen, likein place, and I and I am meant
to be free.
And just the desire to be freeis what drives me to do all of
(38:10):
this.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
I think that's, I think that's just so inherent,
man, I think that you were bornwith it.
I mean, at the end of the day,um, some people have someone who
inspires them to be a certainway and sometimes, I think
people are just sometimes bornto be ceos just like yourself.
Um, what message do you wantfolks to walk away from this
(38:35):
interview with today about sumiand global global, or Phoenix
Global?
Sorry.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
One message would be.
One of the things that I go byall the time is sustenance comes
from the creator, not humans.
So whether you believe in theuniverse or God or higher being,
it's always believing that yoursustenance will come from that
bigger being and not your boss.
Because if you believe yourboss is responsible for your
(39:07):
paycheck, or your manager isresponsible for the job that you
have, or the military isresponsible for you being fired,
or just human beings in general, then you will always be
somebody's slave, like youalways be somebody's, under
somebody.
You will never be free.
But if the moment you say youknow what, like if this is meant
(39:29):
for me, if this is written forme, it will always be for me.
So I'm going to act accordingto my ethics, to my rules, to my
boundaries and to my standards.
Like the world will open up foryou, you will honor yourself
and people will.
There's like a certain glow andpeople will respect you more
for it and you'll get more.
So just don't give your poweraway to human beings.
(39:53):
Is what?
Just remembering thatsustenance comes from the
creator, not human beings?
That's like number one, likejust remember, like people are
not, like people are just people, just people.
They're not.
They're not that all they'llput people on pedestals.
You know, and just because youare valuable, just because you
exist, like your career, yourrank doesn't make you, you know,
(40:16):
lower or higher.
That you're just just becauseyou exist and you're a good
human, that makes you valuablevaluable.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
You know, the one thing, you know, the one thing
I've always thought about, too,was, um.
I feel like people who havesacrificed for me, who have
given me opportunity, who'vegiven me a chance, who've gone
to bat for me.
I've always felt like I wantedto live up to making it worth
their while, and I owed it tothem to make something of myself
(40:46):
, and I didn't want anything tobe done in vain.
So, if I ever had a leader thatwas able to go to bat for me,
put their rank on the line forme, I wanted their risk to not
be done in vain, and it wasimportant for me to accomplish
more.
And I think a lot of peopledon't think about that, like,
whether it's your mother, yourfather, your grandma, grandpa,
(41:08):
whoever it is in your life thatliterally like when your family
decided to move to the UnitedStates, there's a huge risk
there.
They did that for a better lifein the, in the united states,
right, and?
But at the end of the day, theycould have just stayed in east
africa and it would have beeneasier, right, but then they
(41:29):
took this huge risk.
So, sue me, the fact that youare making their sacrifice worth
, um, their time, effort, energy, blood sweat and blood sweat
and tears.
That's huge.
That is huge, and I thinkthat's really important for
people out there to think about,um, because there's always
(41:54):
people in our lives that go outof their way to make things
better for us, and we should nottake that for granted.
So I highly respect you and Ihighly appreciate you for the
person that you are, theprofessional that you are.
I love talking to you becauseyou're so inspirational to me
overall.
So thank you for thisopportunity to talk to you today
(42:15):
.
I just wanted to give you anopportunity.
Was there anything that Ididn't mention or talk about
during this podcast that youwant to talk about in addition
to talking about substance?
Speaker 2 (42:26):
No, thank you so much .
This was great and it's just Ijust wanted to say, like the
military community is just likeI said.
I just I just wanted tohighlight like super humans.
And when I say, when I go intothe civilian world and I compare
our skills and, like I said,like when you're doing great
things, you know someone that Iwas working with Right and like
(42:49):
I'm, because we move fast,because we're in that pace and
they might feel threatened by itand try to be like come down or
slow down and kind of pull youback or slow down and kind of
pull you back, but don't letthat stop you.
You are meant to be fast, you'remeant to be superhuman and just
recognize your skill.
Don't undermine it and just usethat to your advantage.
(43:11):
You have that and not a lot ofpeople do.
You're amazing.
You have so many skills.
You're beyond your rank.
Just this little thing thediscipline, the military is
awesome.
You got this military so manyskills.
You're beyond your rank.
Like just this little thing isthe discipline.
Like the military is awesome.
Speaker 1 (43:23):
So you got this military community I love it, I
love, I love the communityoverall and, uh, and I love what
you said about like your rankdoesn't identify your
capabilities, even outside ofthe military overall and yeah,
no, it it's absolutely amazingOverall.
I would say that anyone outthere, make sure you link up
(43:45):
with Sumi.
I'll make sure that I have yourLinkedIn profile down there,
because I know you're active onLinkedIn.
I'll make sure that I have yourInstagram on there as well, and
any other information you wantto provide.
It'll be in the show notes ofthe podcast that you're
listening to right now, or ifyou're watching this on YouTube,
make sure you scroll down tothe description.
(44:06):
At the bottom.
You can find the information toconnect with Sumi and just,
it's been awesome following you.
It's been awesome.
Like everything from the Act NowEducation Days to transitioning
out of the military, to wherewe are right now.
I'm super proud of you, Thankyou.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Act now education days to transitioning out of the
military to where you're atright now.
I'm super proud of you.
Thank you.
Act now I still use them.
I reached out.
I was like I want to get my pmpand they're really great about
that, so I do appreciate act now.
I'll get in touch with them.
They have so manycertifications.
Jay sutter, he's, he's, he'spretty great for the day is day.
Speaker 1 (44:36):
day is insanely crazy .
He is crazy man, the man hedoes.
He has a true passion, truepassion for the military
community and I'm fortunate.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
Such inspiration yeah .
Speaker 1 (44:46):
No doubt.
Well, sumi, thank you so muchfor the opportunity today.
I hope we can talk again, andfor everyone else out there, as
always, I want you to stay tuned, stay focused and stay
motivated.
Warriors fall out.
Warriors fall in.
It's time for formation.
I'm very fortunate today tohave a guest who is here for the
second time, and earlier in theyear I guess two years ago
maybe we had a conversation withSumi and she was talking about
her background being in theUnited States Army and then
(00:21):
transitioning out of the Army,going to Customs and Border
Protection, and then ultimatelyfound a job Army going to
Customs and Border Protectionand then ultimately found a job
utilizing Act.
Now Education's services Justrecently followed up with Sumi
and she had decided to start herown business, becoming a very
bold, very courageousentrepreneur, and we briefly
(00:46):
spoke about what she was doingand I was absolutely amazed with
everything and I thought thatit's really important for me to
share with the rest of theMorning Formation community on
where Sumi is right now, becauseyou know she's the type of
person.
She immigrated from East Africawhen she was 11 years old.
She speaks four languages, veryimpressive, professional.
So today, sumi, I got you onboard because I want you to tell
(01:06):
everyone what you're into, whatyou're doing right now with
your business and why youdecided to step into
entrepreneurship overall.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Thank you, kp.
So right now I'm doing productsourcing for T-shirts and
hoodies for small companies whowant to put their logos on them
for branded apparels, and I'mgetting those products from
Egypt right now and I'mbranching out to Bangladesh and
(01:37):
my minimum is usually 50t-shirts per design and normally
the overseas companies theirminimum is like 600 to to $1,000
.
But small companies like methey can't really, they don't
have that many employees or theydon't have that kind of finance
to afford like to spend likethousands of dollars on t-shirts
(01:57):
.
You know, so I'm, you know, mybusiness is just going on two
years now and I'm trying to helpmyself and other small
businesses also get up in therise by helping them get
affordable T-shirts with theirlogo on them so they could go
out and sell those T-shirts orhoodies and make money from them
and establish their smallbusiness as well.
(02:19):
And recently, my clients I lovemy clients because they keep
giving me new ideas they werelike well, I am a moving company
and I want to have like boxeswith my logo on them and I want
to have the wrapping sheets andthe blankets, but I want them
like at a cheaper rate than Icould find in the United States
(02:41):
which is found cheaper in Egypt,which I have family and
connections which we're workingon getting for them from Egypt
to the United States.
So the fact that I'm able tosource globally to help small
businesses here in the UnitedStates compete with bigger
companies is something I takepride in.
(03:02):
And I got into entrepreneurshipbecause of my kid.
I have a five-year-old.
He's going to be six soon.
He's diagnosed with autism.
He was diagnosed when he wastwo years old, two and a half,
and I used to take him to a lotof appointments and just so many
activities.
And it's really hard to keep afull-time job when you're taking
(03:25):
a child to appointment likefour or five times a day, like a
week, and it's just when itcomes to picking between your
child and you know and your job.
I chose, I chose my child and Iwas fortunate enough to do it
because I was a military memberand a veteran and had benefits.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
And I was able to leave.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
You know my positions and choose.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
You know being a business owner and take care of
it it's hard to transition outof the military and find like an
ideal job.
Um, what has inspired you to gofrom the safety of government
work into entrepreneurship?
Because in entrepreneurship youtake a huge risk and no one's
(04:06):
telling you.
It's not like the military,where they tell you what time to
show up for formation, what towear, when to pivot.
So as an entrepreneur you haveto tell yourself when to pivot,
when to when to do this, when todo that.
Yeah, uh, can you talk abouthow you overcame?
Because you were enlisted inthe military right and you were
a culinary arts or cook.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Culinary specialist yes, Culinary specialist right.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
So, with that being said, how do you go from being a
lower enlisted soldier to beingan entrepreneur where,
basically, you're having topivot on your own, to being an
entrepreneur where, basically,like you're having to pivot on
your own.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
So my background did help.
So my family, like my dad, whenI was a kid he had his own
store, like back in Saudi, saudiArabia, and he had his own
store and then when he was inthe United States, like he had
like this international storethat he used to sell like
clothing and stuff.
So I have that background and Icome from an international
(05:08):
community.
So the languages is like you'reborn, like you're automatically
speaking two languages you know, and we're Muslims, so the
Arabic is added to it and thenit's just kind of like Arabic
Tigrinya Tigrinya is ouroriginal language, then Arabic
together and then you watch alot of foreign shows, which I
used to do, and then I learnedTurkish and then English when I
(05:29):
came to America.
So just kind of like thelanguages.
So me being an internationalperson and learning languages,
being a culinary specialist didnot limit me or being an
enlisted did not limit who I was.
So when I was leaving ortransitioning, I wasn't just
like, oh my God, I'm just anenlisted, did not limit who I
was.
So when I was leaving ortransitioning, I wasn't just
like, oh my God, I'm just anenlisted.
What am I gonna do Like no, Iwas doing other things and I had
(05:50):
other skills and talents that Iwas honing that when I got out
to be able to use.
And I have this thing where,since I was a kid, where I don't
like to give a certain power orposition to an authority or to
anybody, where they're my onlysource of survival, like I have
(06:12):
to have like multiple ways, likeI have to be able to survive
without depending on one entity.
So that drives me to moveforward.
And then with entrepreneurship,like the first year was really
tough because I wasn't doingthis brand, like this
promotional products or thisapparel.
At the beginning I was doingconsulting, I was going to, I
(06:35):
was ready to export vehicles outof the country.
Everything was set up.
I arranged the people who aregoing to sell the cars here, the
wholesalers in the UnitedStates, and then I traveled to
Dubai and Saudi Arabia by myselfand arranged the buyers over
there and I removed themiddleman, the auction folks,
(06:57):
because that was their issue,and I was like, don't worry,
I'll remove that fee for you.
And I arranged the freightforwarders, the like, just
everything.
And I was so prepared on a highlevel, something that I prepared
for, you know, years before Ieven started my business.
And then it's just a fellthrough, you know, and I spent
(07:18):
so much money, so much time andat this time my son was my
sister, because I was first yearof my business.
I was like, okay, I'm doingthis for my kid.
So I was like I need to jumpstart my business.
I was like I need this time.
So my sister was generousenough to like take care of my
kid.
Well, you know, for that entireyear, last year and while I was
(07:40):
taking care of my business, sothat business deal fell through.
So for a few, for about a couplemonths, where I was just like
why did I even get intoentrepreneurship?
I was just like I should justgive up you know, I don't even
want to do this anymore Like whydid I even get into it?
And then, in moments like this,there's this article, there's
this book the Struggle is whenGreatness Comes From which, I
(08:03):
think the author by Ben Horowitz.
There's even an excerpt that hetalks about, like you know, he
talks about how entrepreneurshipis really difficult and it
sucks and it's just a terriblething, but at the end it's like
greatness.
You know, the struggle is wheregreatness comes from.
So I kept rereading that andit's just I was reminded why I'm
(08:26):
doing it.
This is something bigger thanmyself.
Is to help myself, my community, my kid, a small business owner
.
So just kind of likeremembering that I'm doing this
for something bigger than myself.
And then the fact that my kidwas overseas was I was like okay
, cause then I was like, oh myGod, the sunken cost fallacy.
I was like okay, because then Iwas like oh my God, the sunken
cost fallacy.
I was like I sacrificed thiswhole year with my son.
(08:48):
Granted, I was visiting himback and forth multiple times
throughout the year, but I waslike I sacrificed so much my
retirement, you know, mymilitary retirement, everything
for this business.
So it was just kind of like youknow what am I doing, I froze a
little bit, and but just, itwas just kind of like you know
what am I doing?
I froze a little bit and butjust, it was just kind of like I
(09:10):
had to step back, which iswhich was needed, and I needed
that two months to step back andjust be like, okay, what am I
doing?
What can I do?
This is not working.
And then I'm part of Vistageand this is a network for like
executive and CEO groups thatthey advise you.
And I was talking to them aboutit and they were like, when you
(09:31):
are dealing with this vehiclesituation and this deal fell
apart.
It could be for various reasons,whether it could be sexism,
because I was in the Middle East, or it could be of race, it
could be of various reasons.
You know that it doesn'tconcern me, because I did the
best I could.
If people want to be, if theywant to treat me, you know
(09:51):
differently, that's on them.
You know.
They were like why would youwant to be part of that space?
Why would you want to be in aspace where you don't, you're
not wanted?
Why don't you go to spaceswhere you are wanted?
So it was just kind of likeletting go of that bad energy
and just it was like I was likeall right, so just having that
community.
They were like you need to letthat go of that bad energy so
(10:12):
you can move forward, so youcould see what's in front of you
.
And when I did that, then mycustomers were like oh, I want
product, oh, I want this, oh, Iwant this at an affordable rate
because I can't afford it in theUnited States.
So if you can get it for mefrom the other country, that
(10:32):
would definitely help me, youknow, build my business.
And then I started realizing myson was improving with his
autism because the food in Egyptis a lot better than here in
the United States and he wasgetting a lot more community
over there.
He's like playing with kidsoutside all day, playing soccer
and just so many, so muchengagement.
He used to have like a feedingdisorder where he was like very
(10:53):
picky with eating food and nowhe eats everything and he's a
lot more social, a lot moreverbal.
He speaks Arabic now and hewrites and reads in Arabic.
He's a very, very smart kid andit's just in one year.
I saw like a lot of differencein him.
I saw a lot of difference in me.
I even grew up as a person alot, and it's just why I changed
(11:16):
my perspective.
I was able to adapt.
And I was like, okay, themoney's gone, but money will
always come back.
You know, my health is here,that's what's more important.
My son is healthy.
So I was like, okay.
So I was just like my word forthis year is abundance.
Each year I have a word.
So this year is abundancebecause I was worried.
I was like, oh, money is gone,my son is gone, this, this, this
(11:38):
.
But this year is like abundanceand I'm like in the state of
like money will come to me,clients will come to me, my son
is here.
I finally brought him back atthe end of last year, december
31st, and it's so good to havehim back, just like in my corner
and every like the world is allmine now and it's just money is
coming, clients are coming.
(11:59):
And now I'm even thinking like,when I have that clarity, I was
like, why don't?
I was like, instead of payingall the shipping costs to bring
these products here to theUnited States, I was like, why
don't I buy the machine itself,the?
It's like it's called DTF.
It's this heat printing machinewhere you get the shirt and you
put it under like in the design, you press it and that's where
(12:20):
you get the logo.
So I was like OK, it's like$2,400.
And then the shirts I was like Ihave connection in Bangladesh,
I have connection in Egypt, Ihave connection in Dubai.
I can just get them at a lowerrate, probably like a few
dollars, and then ship them viaOcean, have them here and then
make them for my client.
(12:40):
That way I don't have to pay alot of shipping fees and I could
have my own like brick andmortar.
And that's something I was like, okay, I could do, you know,
towards the end of this year.
So it was just kind of like,when I'm like living in a state
of abundance, so many ideas areflowing through my head, I have
to be like calm down, one stepat a time.
It's like once you, if you areadaptable, ideas will flow and
(13:04):
things will come your way.
You know, money will come,ideas will come, people will
come.
You're positive and adaptable.
I think that's adaptability islike very important, because I,
like I said, I lost a lot ofmoney last year and I had to be
like OK, a lot of people wouldgive up.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
I mean to be honest with you.
You were under the safety of agovernment job where you could
have just taken your rank.
You weren't limited by whereyou were at, like your MOS or
anything.
None of that stuff limited youand a lot of it had to do with
your background, where you grewup, and your worldly experiences
.
You were able to see beyond theend of your neighborhood and
(14:07):
actually see into the entireworld.
And I wanted to highlight thatabout you because I think many
times in the military, our rankor our MOS can limit us to what
we think we can and can't doonce we leave the military.
And that's what I find mostamazing about you is you're
basically limitless.
You're literally shippingthings from halfway across the
(14:28):
world and you've got all theseconnections and whatnot, um, and
I not.
On top of that, you're a womanworking in the Middle East.
Like that is not easy to do.
Like I imagine you get a lot ofhang up calls and and you know
delete on your emails and stufflike that that you try to send.
Um, that that's verychallenging and you know all
(14:49):
these ideas that you have.
The toughest part is takingaction.
Everybody's got ideas, but youactually step out, take action,
make it happen.
And that's what's mostimpressive Can you talk about?
You talked a little bit aboutit already, but talk about some
of the trials and tribulations,the dead ends, the mistakes, the
(15:12):
fall down.
Pick yourself back up again.
What was your worst moment, youthink, when you thought you
know what, I could just quit andgo find an hourly job or a
salary job somewhere and you hadto dig deep to figure out, like
, how do I get out of this, howdo I make this right?
Speaker 2 (15:28):
that's a great question.
So first the the government.
I was tenured as well, so itwas really hard to fire me,
unless I really, really messedup right, so it was just kind of
.
I was just like are you crazy?
I'm like, yes, you have to becrazy to be an entrepreneur.
A little bit, um, and the part,the trial and tribulation,
where you're like I'll just goget another job.
That's every day, every day.
(15:51):
I'm just like you know what,why don't you?
Just, you know you need to goapply for a job and because,
like, what are you doing?
Are you crazy?
You know, I think it's justlike when, for example, like I,
because not everything is goingto work out the way I want it to
work.
Like I mentioned, the biggestone was when I lost, like you
(16:12):
know, like thousands andthousands of dollars in my the
Middle East endeavor and whenthey were just kind of like, oh,
you know, because you're awoman, or when they told me,
yeah, this is what happened.
They were like when I was inthe Middle East and I was
struggling with all this and Icame back and I had a coach here
(16:32):
who was like part of the smallbusiness, I was just like, oh,
they're telling me this, this,this.
And he was like, well, what youcan do is you can have your
brother be the face of yourcompany in the Middle East or
your nephew, and have himrepresent you.
I was like, first, that's fraudand second, this is a
(16:55):
woman-owned business company.
No, this is the worst idea I'veever heard.
And it was just kind of like.
And then when I came here,they're like oh, you're race.
And I was just like I'm like myidentity was questioned.
So I was just like I'm theproblem, my religion Because now
that I'm wearing the hijabagain, it's like my faith, my
(17:16):
race and me being a woman islike being an issue, whether
it's in the States or in theMiddle East, mostly in the
Middle East, being a woman like.
When I was in Saudi Arabia, Imade an appointment and I went
and I was introduced to theseindividuals by really high level
people, like by companies thathave been in the business for
100 years old, and they theywere like yeah, let's meet up.
(17:37):
And they just ghosted me Becausethey thought I literally flew
across the country just so Icould meet them and have this
meeting, and they ghosted me andI was just like my heart sank.
I was like, ok, and then it'sjust kind of like, all right, I
was like, forget this.
And then, when I'm in theStates, I was just like then,
when I was like, when I shiftedto this apparel part and I go
(18:01):
like, for example, one of themis like my broker license.
I applied for my broker'slicense.
I passed it in October 2023, Ibelieve it took a year to get my
license and that cut me fromdoing any business as a broker,
because originally I was goingto be a customs broker, but
without license I couldn't doanything.
(18:22):
So in the meantime I was likeI'm going to do consulting.
In the meantime, I was like I'mgoing to do branded t-shirts
and then I get my license.
They're like, well, you can'treally do business unless you
have your permit, so that'sprobably going to be like
another year.
So then I have to shift againand I'll be like, all right,
then I have to charge my what doyou call it, this branded
apparel thing and keep gettingclients because I need to make
(18:45):
money and because I took theexam I was preparing because
that exam is really reallydifficult Only like 5% pass rate
5 to 15% pass rate and I wasstudying for it.
And I still have neck pain ayear and some change later
because I was like studying forit and I still like go to
physical therapy.
So it was just more of likewhatever, like a task I take.
(19:07):
It's like I take the militarysaying where, like like you have
to want it as much as you wantto breathe, and when I try to
translate that to civilianpeople that I work with, they
look at me like something iswrong with me because they I
would be like okay, um, you wantto.
Yeah, like you want to loseweight.
(19:27):
I'm like okay, because I lostabout 40 pounds since between
2022 till 2025 now, and I waslike, but I was like I want it
as much as I want to breathe.
So I was like if I don'texercise or go on calorie
deficit, like this means death,so literally like I, that's how
I look at it.
Or if I like this businessdoesn't go right, this is what
it means, and it's just itdoesn't translate well in the
(19:50):
civilian life because they'rejust like no, you're too like,
you're too much or you're toothis, and I'm like that's fine.
Then I stop just apologizingfor being myself and I'm like
that's OK.
Like being militaries, likewe're like the hardcore
individual, like the one percent, we have this skill that we do
not see, the 1% we have thisskill that we do not see, like
(20:12):
we undermine it, that thecivilian people rarely have,
that the military gives us.
Like the military doesn't justgive us trauma, it gives us a
lot of skills and it's just.
It's like I feel like veteransand soldiers do not recognize
that Like being so disciplinedand I'm a very, very disciplined
individual, you know and it'sjust kind of like I learned that
(20:33):
from the military.
Being fearless, I learned fromthe military and it's kind of
like even like I'm going to theeast by myself and it's scary.
But the first time I faced myfears was with the military,
because when I was was joining,I was like, hey, what if I die?
I'm just like, well, the Lordfits in, whatever, you know.
So if I could face death, thenI could face anything.
(20:55):
So I think it's all in our headand if we can change, for like
we literally fought for ourcountry, we're very brave
individuals who can translatethat into this world, like in
the civilian world, like we canhandle anything.
Civilians have nothing.
World like we could literallyhandle anything would like
civilians have nothing.
Like we have nothing on us.
We're like super humans in thecivilian world.
Like think of it that way whereour skills translate in this is
(21:20):
just it's kind of like you're.
You're a lot better than a lotof civilians.
I think it's time to recognizethat.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
As a veteran, and you're skilled and you're
trained, I mean I thousandpercent agree with you on that.
I thousand percent agree withyou on that matter of fact.
I had a conversation withsomeone the other day and we
were discussing something andthey were trying to tell me how
it was.
And I'm like I was deployedthere, like, why are you telling
like I was in the military myboots are still dirty, but
(21:51):
you're a civilian, you've neverbeen to the Middle East, you
never served in Iraq orAfghanistan.
Why are you telling me what itlooks and smells like?
It's crazy how you come backhere and you talk to civilians
and they act like you're thecrazy one.
But in reality I think they'recrazy because we have a world
view.
When I went to basic training,for example, I think they're
crazy because we have a worldview.
(22:11):
When I went to basic training,for example, I got an
opportunity to meet as a battlebuddy during basic training a
guy from Vermont, a guy fromLouisiana.
All these different people youhave to work with and you get
stressed out and put under timeand tension and you have to
figure it out.
You have to work together.
A lot of people don't get thatexperience and even once you get
(22:34):
stationed at your permanentduty station, you have to
overcome a lot of things thatmost people don't have to deal
with, and you have to figure itout for yourself.
The only thing is is I think alot of veterans struggle with
doing what you've kind ofmastered, which was taking
action and being fearless andthen also pivoting when you know
(22:54):
it's right and no one else istelling you when to pivot or
when to make a decision, whereas, like in the military, I think,
a lot of times you're told whento pivot, when to do things.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Oh, yes, To answer your question about the take an
action part.
There's two parts to this one.
Oh, yes, To answer yourquestion about the take an
(23:25):
action part, there's parts tothis one.
First, it's innate because,like in my bones since I was a
kid, I don't like people tellingme what to do, which is like
ironic, considering theorganizations I went to the army
, the government, you know but,like I, I genuinely do not like
people telling me what to do,Cause I'm just like I come from
a culture.
I love my culture.
And at the same time it's not,you know, um, at the same time
it's not, it's very malecentered.
The United States gave me avoice that I felt very, you know
(23:49):
, independent, like you know Ihave.
You know I could say this Icould live this way.
I have a chance to live thislife, to get this education, to
get this job.
And I look at it from thispoint of view, where, in my
country, we don't have thisopportunity that the United
States gives us and we shouldn'ttake that for granted, you know
(24:12):
.
So it's just kind of like,whatever opportunity I get, I'll
grab it and go.
So that's one of the reasonswhere I'm like you know, I take
action and I don't like peopletelling me what to do.
So I go ahead and do it and theother thing is like the other
thing.
The other reason why I takeaction is, and why I feel like
other members have a hard time,you know, doing or taking action
(24:35):
without somebody telling themwhat to do.
It is easier when somebody tellsyou what to do, because if you
mess up, it's somebody's fault.
It's also taking responsibilityand accountability.
So now I'm all on my own Ifeven if my employees in Egypt
mess up, it's my fault, like Ihave to take responsibility.
I have to go to the client andbe like oh yes, I messed up and
(24:58):
sometimes it has to come out ofmy own pocket.
There were samples where I'mlike I messed up, so I'll have
to come out of my own pocket andget you new samples.
I'm sorry.
And you know, saying I'm sorrydoesn't make you small, it just
makes you a bigger person andpeople appreciate that.
So accountability if you'rewilling to take accountability,
then you're willing to takeaction.
That's one of those Becausebefore I used to be like I want
(25:22):
people to tell me what to do.
But then it was just kind oflike no, because I want to blame
it on them, like well, if youhadn't told me what to do, I
wouldn't have done this.
But now it's just like there'sno one I could blame.
I have to take allaccountability and it sucks
because I don't like criticalfeedback.
But I will take it andimplement it.
I never liked it because ithurts.
So I tell my bosses I'm likegive me a feedback sandwich,
(25:44):
tell me something positive, tellme the negative sandwich, the
negative feedback and then thepositive, and then just let me
feel better and then that way Icould take it.
But it's just, I always take itand implement it.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
But if you, want to take action.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
You have to be willing to take accountability
Back.
Sandwich.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
I'm feeling I'm stealing that one.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah, feedback sandwich.
It's very it, it's so helpful.
You're just like you feel good.
You're like ouch, and thenthey're like you feel good again
.
It's like you get ice cream atthe end and after you get like a
shot or something, you feelbetter.
You're like, oh, thank goodness, you know, that's how.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
I look you sound like a boss, the total, and I I love
that about you overall, Likeyou.
Just you don't.
You don't make excuses.
There's a thousand thingsagainst you.
One of the things you mentionedwas, you know, working in the
middle East and being a womanyourself, and um.
(26:41):
The one thing I want to ask you, though, is is there's a lot of
other companies out there doingwhat you're doing.
They're going to be shipping,exporting, importing.
How do you plan todifferentiate your business in
such a competitive market?
And then also, too, I wanted toask you about the most recent
(27:01):
thing, which are the tariffs.
What are your thoughts on that,and how do you think that will
affect the market that you'regoing to be getting into?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Thank you.
So the the first one, the firstthing that differentiates me
from my competitors like, I careabout my you know my um clients
.
I'm with them face to face.
I'm not just a phone number ona website, um, I'm out there
networking, talking to them and,and, like I said, usually their
(27:31):
complaints is, if something'smessed up, they usually don't
have anybody they can go to.
Or they're like oh, you have topay me because you already got
the sample.
It's more like oh, we messed up.
We take accountability, we careabout your products.
Our products are quality and wejust care about you as a human
being and we want to make surethis is more than money to us.
We want to make sure that youthrive as a human being, as a
(27:53):
business owner.
We want to make sure that yousucceed as a business owner.
We want you to do good, we wantto uplift the community.
So it's not just about money,it's more than that for us.
We want to remove the barrier,the middleman, for you and all
these companies.
Most of them care about profitand we care about you as an
(28:13):
individual and your company.
And then the tariff.
So right now, China there wasalready 25% tariff on China for
products coming from China.
And now he just addedadditional 10%, and people and
companies were alreadynearshoring, which means they
were rerouting their products.
They were going to Mexico andCanada, mostly Mexico.
(28:36):
What they would do is theywould put the parts together and
try to label them made inMexico which was fraud, by the
way and try to bring it into theUnited States so that they
don't pay duty.
But the United States iscatching up on it, which they're
not allowed to do, and sopeople are staying away from
China little by little, becausethe tariffs does hurt them.
(28:58):
And then President Trump saidthat he will do tariff on Canada
and Mexico.
But then they retaliated.
They were like we'll do thesame thing to you.
So he paused because he wasgoing to charge them 25%.
And then he paused on that for30 days until they come into an
agreement.
And now he said we're going tomatch whatever you do.
(29:21):
So if you charge us duty, we'regoing to charge you duty, which
I think is fair.
If you're charging us duty, Ithink you should be charged duty
.
But at the end of the day, whatthe people should know, because
President Trump is sayingAmerica first and we want
America to be first.
But the tariffs is always theburden of the consumer, not the
companies.
Because as a company, if Ibring those products, my
(29:43):
customers are paying the tariffs.
I'm paying for the tariffs andthen I'm going to upcharge them
Because at the end of the daythe burden is always on the
consumer.
So the consumer is getting hurt.
Their bills are higher.
So tariff does not help the youknow regular American people.
It hurts them.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
So does that concern?
Speaker 2 (30:03):
you Does that concern you?
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Does that concern you with like what you're doing, or
does it level the playing fieldfor everybody?
Speaker 2 (30:11):
So right now, because my stuff comes from, my items
come from Egypt, it's not ofconcern as of right now.
As of right now, it's justregular duty for certain cotton
products.
But if, unless it's pen topaper and he actually puts out a
policy, then I'll be concerned.
(30:33):
Because when I was working withCustoms and Border Protection,
I was working under TrumpPresident Trump's administration
and he tweeted a lot of thingsand not everything was policy.
And when people called or wereconcerned about the you know the
tweets, we let them know, themknow, hey, until it's policy,
don't worry about it.
So that's the same advice thatI'm following.
(30:53):
And then I update my clients.
I'm like, okay, this is theupdate, this is what's going on.
And then I just adapt.
I'm like, okay, if you'recharging canada this much or
you're charging china, don'tworry, I'm just gonna go to
another country that you're notcharging and then I'm gonna get
it from there right it's alwaysthat you know simpler to do yeah
Speaker 1 (31:10):
it's always another option, it's fine and I really,
I really think that's thedifference, um, that your
company offers versus the othercompanies is, for one, you have,
uh, sumi's tenacity to neverquit, right, and then also, too,
like your willingness to justadapt and just simply go, okay,
we'll just ship out of here,we'll ship out of there, um, and
(31:31):
all the connections that youhave, and, at the end of the day
, you, you're multi-language,right?
So how has that helped you withyour global background overall,
with being able to adapt andbeing able to laterally move
from here to there when it comesto the business decisions that
you make?
Speaker 2 (31:51):
tremendously, because I don't think this, uh,
merchandise apparel thing wouldbe happening if I didn't speak
arabic.
Because how would I communicatewith the egyptian people?
Uh, how would I speak with the,like the, my employees in egypt
?
I can't speak to them in anyother language.
I can't tell to them in anyother language.
I can't tell them like therewas not.
(32:11):
They don't their English, thepeople English is limited, not
like there are people who speakEnglish there, but not the
people that I'm working with.
If I didn't have Arabic, Iwouldn't be making money right
now and I would be stuck with mecomplaining about.
I was like, oh my God, the carsituation doesn't work, I don't
have money, let me get afull-time job.
(32:32):
There would be no apparelbusiness and, yeah, I would
probably be stuck waiting for mypermit, which I am, but I have
other options.
I would be a lot more stressedand more angry and more just
annoyed at everything, and Idon't think I would have good
(32:53):
energy what about likeunderstanding culture too?
Speaker 1 (32:56):
that's, that's huge right yes.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
So egypt, I love egypt, it's my fate.
Like from the middle eastthat's my favorite place I've
been.
I think, like from the placesI've been in the Middle East,
like they next to Dubai, they'rereally good.
The way the women are treated,like you feel some type of way
like if somebody's likeharassing you on the street,
like you say something, thepolice sees them, they throw
(33:22):
them in jail.
Like they're very like likeleave this woman alone, let them
be.
They're very, very, veryrespectful and it's very and the
culture, understanding theculture, the food, and when
people, when you know theirlanguage and their culture, you
respect them, they respect you.
It's a very different treatment.
Same thing with Turkey.
Same thing Like I've been toTurkey multiple times because I
(33:45):
speak their language.
It's just kind of like thistreatment so much different.
I get so much more respect, somuch more favor.
It's just you're treateddifferently and you experience
the world in a differentperspective, as you're missing
out on the world if you're notexperiencing different cultures,
and it definitely.
It helps my business in everypossible way, because you're
(34:08):
seeing the people and you neverknow who's going to help you and
when people feel seen andrespected, then they're like I
want to work with you.
I think that also what makes usdifferent is we.
We see people like we see you.
We're here for you.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
You know we understand you you check so many
boxes, um, and that's reallyimportant, I think, because, at
end of the day, you're not thetype of professional that makes
any excuses at all.
You constantly pivot, andthat's so impressive.
I keep underlining that aboutyou.
At the end of the day, you're arole model.
What is your long-term visionfor Phoenix Global overall, like
(34:50):
, what is your long-term vision?
What do you hope to sustain,accomplish in the next five to
ten years?
Speaker 2 (34:58):
in the next.
So let's start with the 10years.
In the next 10 years, I want ashipping line, that big shipping
line.
The boat, yeah, I want to ownthat, god willing.
So I want to be able to control.
My goal is to control end toend supply chain.
So I already have peopleoverseas, I already have people
(35:20):
here.
If I control the boat, and thenI'll eventually get my freight
forwarding license and then I'llbe able to be a freight
forwarder, I'll be able to ship.
I'd like just be a DHL, butPhoenix Global, but bigger than
them.
Yeah, so just kind of be have amonopoly in a way of the
shipping, but just in adifferent way, and just kind of
(35:42):
disrupt the current market.
That's my goal.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
And-.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Yeah, that's the 10-year plan.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
So what's your and?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
the five-year is probably to become a millionaire
.
Yes, that's the plan.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
I think overall, with your ability to just move left,
and right and forth, I meanthat that's certainly within
reach.
Um, who do you model yourselfafter, or is there anyone out
there that you look at as likethat's?
That's who I strive tohopefully become or emulate?
Um, is there somebody that youlook to as like?
This is who I, this is who Iwant to become.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Honestly, the future is to me Because the reason I
say that is because I learned.
I'm a very efficient individualand I learn very, very fast.
So if I emulate someone, I'llsurpass them Because I am
granted that talent because ofthe Lord.
(36:42):
And so if I emulate them, thenI'll just limit myself because
I'm a limitless individual, asyou say.
I could just look up to myselfand that feature, Simeon, the
vision, and that's who I look upto and where I see myself and
that's who I just keep goingtowards.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Where do you get that ?
From who inspired you?
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Who inspired me for?
Speaker 1 (37:02):
As a child growing up , who gave you that?
Is that just something that youthink you were born with, or is
it something that, like yourfather, your mother, maybe a
sibling, that kind of you feellike, might have gave you that
overall push?
Speaker 2 (37:26):
overall, like push the lack of um.
If you you watched my phoenixglobal shipping video, brand
video that was like get to knowthe ceo.
That's the lack of.
I was feeling powerless, likeas a young age, you know, I
remember like at age 11, and Iwas praying and I was like
praying for financial freedom.
I wanted to be free and Iwanted to be independent, I
wanted to be in control of myown life.
I just felt everybody wastaking control of my own life,
(37:49):
of my life.
Everybody was just pointing meto a direction and it was just
kind of like it was just always.
I felt like I was undersomebody's thumb and I just felt
I felt stuck and frozen, likein place, and I and I am meant
to be free.
And just the desire to be freeis what drives me to do all of
(38:10):
this.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
I think that's, I think that's just so inherent,
man, I think that you were bornwith it.
I mean, at the end of the day,um, some people have someone who
inspires them to be a certainway and sometimes, I think
people are just sometimes bornto be ceos just like yourself.
Um, what message do you wantfolks to walk away from this
(38:35):
interview with today about sumiand global global, or Phoenix
Global?
Sorry.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
One message would be.
One of the things that I go byall the time is sustenance comes
from the creator, not humans.
So whether you believe in theuniverse or God or higher being,
it's always believing that yoursustenance will come from that
bigger being and not your boss.
Because if you believe yourboss is responsible for your
(39:07):
paycheck, or your manager isresponsible for the job that you
have, or the military isresponsible for you being fired,
or just human beings in general, then you will always be
somebody's slave, like youalways be somebody's, under
somebody.
You will never be free.
But if the moment you say youknow what, like if this is meant
(39:29):
for me, if this is written forme, it will always be for me.
So I'm going to act accordingto my ethics, to my rules, to my
boundaries and to my standards.
Like the world will open up foryou, you will honor yourself
and people will.
There's like a certain glow andpeople will respect you more
for it and you'll get more.
So just don't give your poweraway to human beings.
(39:53):
Is what?
Just remembering thatsustenance comes from the
creator, not human beings?
That's like number one, likejust remember, like people are
not, like people are just people, just people.
They're not.
They're not that all they'llput people on pedestals.
You know, and just because youare valuable, just because you
exist, like your career, yourrank doesn't make you, you know,
(40:16):
lower or higher.
That you're just just becauseyou exist and you're a good
human, that makes you valuablevaluable.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
You know, the one thing, you know, the one thing
I've always thought about, too,was, um.
I feel like people who havesacrificed for me, who have
given me opportunity, who'vegiven me a chance, who've gone
to bat for me.
I've always felt like I wantedto live up to making it worth
their while, and I owed it tothem to make something of myself
(40:46):
, and I didn't want anything tobe done in vain.
So, if I ever had a leader thatwas able to go to bat for me,
put their rank on the line forme, I wanted their risk to not
be done in vain, and it wasimportant for me to accomplish
more.
And I think a lot of peopledon't think about that, like,
whether it's your mother, yourfather, your grandma, grandpa,
(41:08):
whoever it is in your life thatliterally like when your family
decided to move to the UnitedStates, there's a huge risk
there.
They did that for a better lifein the, in the united states,
right, and?
But at the end of the day, theycould have just stayed in east
africa and it would have beeneasier, right, but then they
(41:29):
took this huge risk.
So, sue me, the fact that youare making their sacrifice worth
, um, their time, effort, energy, blood sweat and blood sweat
and tears.
That's huge.
That is huge, and I thinkthat's really important for
people out there to think about,um, because there's always
(41:54):
people in our lives that go outof their way to make things
better for us, and we should nottake that for granted.
So I highly respect you and Ihighly appreciate you for the
person that you are, theprofessional that you are.
I love talking to you becauseyou're so inspirational to me
overall.
So thank you for thisopportunity to talk to you today
(42:15):
.
I just wanted to give you anopportunity.
Was there anything that Ididn't mention or talk about
during this podcast that youwant to talk about in addition
to talking about substance?
Speaker 2 (42:26):
No, thank you so much .
This was great and it's just Ijust wanted to say, like the
military community is just likeI said.
I just I just wanted tohighlight like super humans.
And when I say, when I go intothe civilian world and I compare
our skills and, like I said,like when you're doing great
things, you know someone that Iwas working with Right and like
(42:49):
I'm, because we move fast,because we're in that pace and
they might feel threatened by itand try to be like come down or
slow down and kind of pull youback or slow down and kind of
pull you back, but don't letthat stop you.
You are meant to be fast, you'remeant to be superhuman and just
recognize your skill.
Don't undermine it and just usethat to your advantage.
(43:11):
You have that and not a lot ofpeople do.
You're amazing.
You have so many skills.
You're beyond your rank.
Just this little thing thediscipline, the military is
awesome.
You got this military so manyskills.
You're beyond your rank.
Like just this little thing isthe discipline.
Like the military is awesome.
Speaker 1 (43:23):
So you got this military community I love it, I
love, I love the communityoverall and, uh, and I love what
you said about like your rankdoesn't identify your
capabilities, even outside ofthe military overall and yeah,
no, it it's absolutely amazingOverall.
I would say that anyone outthere, make sure you link up
(43:45):
with Sumi.
I'll make sure that I have yourLinkedIn profile down there,
because I know you're active onLinkedIn.
I'll make sure that I have yourInstagram on there as well, and
any other information you wantto provide.
It'll be in the show notes ofthe podcast that you're
listening to right now, or ifyou're watching this on YouTube,
make sure you scroll down tothe description.
(44:06):
At the bottom.
You can find the information toconnect with Sumi and just,
it's been awesome following you.
It's been awesome.
Like everything from the Act NowEducation Days to transitioning
out of the military, to wherewe are right now.
I'm super proud of you, Thankyou.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
Act now education days to transitioning out of the
military to where you're atright now.
I'm super proud of you.
Thank you.
Act now I still use them.
I reached out.
I was like I want to get my pmpand they're really great about
that, so I do appreciate act now.
I'll get in touch with them.
They have so manycertifications.
Jay sutter, he's, he's, he'spretty great for the day is day.
Speaker 1 (44:36):
day is insanely crazy .
He is crazy man, the man hedoes.
He has a true passion, truepassion for the military
community and I'm fortunate.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
Such inspiration yeah .
Speaker 1 (44:46):
No doubt.
Well, sumi, thank you so muchfor the opportunity today.
I hope we can talk again, andfor everyone else out there, as
always, I want you to stay tuned, stay focused and stay
motivated.
Warriors fall out.
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