Kind: captions
Language: en
everybody Welcome to impact Theory you
were here my friends because you believe
that human potential is nearly Limitless
but you know that having potential is
not the same as actually doing something
with it so our goal with this show and
Company is to introduce you to the
people and ideas that are going to help
you actually execute on your
dreams all right today's guest is a
force of nature she is a venture-backed
Founder CE CEO and inventor she created
her first gamechanging product at age 19
and she founded Uncharted play a
renewable energy company at 22 while
still attending Harvard and instead of
dropping out like other high-profile
entrepreneurs she just did both because
well when you box for fun and consider
yourself a cross between Bill NY and
Beyonce that's just how you roll but I'm
not sure that even the Superhuman that
would be the Beyonce Bill NY hybrid
could keep up with today's guest Des
desite having no formal training in the
hard Sciences not only did she invent a
product that turns a soccer ball into a
power plant but her company now holds 15
patents and patents pending she also
managed to raise $7 million to
supercharge her company's growth the
largest raise ever by a woman of color
and she's partnered with Fortune 500
companies to completely rethink how
energy is generated and distributed not
surprisingly Inc magazine named
Uncharted play one of the 25 most
audacious companies in the world fast
company named them one of the 10 most
Innovative companies in the world and
she personally was named to Fortune's
most promising women entrepreneurs list
Forbes 30 under 30 and when Obama needed
somebody to represent small businesses
when he signed the historic America
invents act he chose her please help me
in welcoming the female innovator who
has been called the Elon Musk of kinetic
energy the woman Oprah named to the
Super Soul 100 the real life Riri
Williams Jessica o
Matthews Jessica thank you so much for
thank you what a pleasure to have you
real life Riri Williams yes which is why
I'm wearing this shirt That's So Dope so
I completely uh really enjoyed doing the
research on you and when I saw in one of
the articles that I was reading that you
dressed up as Riri for uh Halloween I
said all right yeah my woman I respect
that so I'm huge in comic books and
really believe that they actually have
tremendous power as archetypes as
mythology so me too like anime and manga
and like I remember the first time I I
read Akira um I just believe in the
ability to use play to think about the
world so that to me is exactly what
comic books do all right well I didn't
expect to start here but since you said
that let's dive right into the Tooth
Fairy yes so tell us why the Tooth Fairy
is Meaningful to you no so I believed in
the the Tooth Fairy until I was 12 years
old and okay it is generally
embarrassing but I like to tell people
that um because I didn't necessarily
grow up in a house where we allowed
certain stories like this to kind of
just spread and progress and become
bigger than life um you know my mom was
the mom that would be wrapping up the
Christmas presents the Night Before
Christmas being like Oh yeah like you
know hold this do this do that like you
didn't believe there was no there the
Santa Claus was not coming to my house I
knew exactly what my mom paid for it I
knew what was going on I knew the hard
work went into it um but for some odd
reason you know given I rather despite
the fact that I had parents who were
very I think direct about the realities
of Life the realities of the world um
and like the hard work it takes to get
anything they they decided to kind of
move forward with the FIB of the tooth
fairy and so for me you know because
that didn't really make sense I just
assumed well the Tooth Fairy must be
real like it must be because my parents
would not give me money for my teeth I
just think they see the value in my
teeth um you know I have Nigerian
parents like this just doesn't make
sense um and what I love for that and
I'm like what I I have several reasons
for why I love my parents and everything
that they did but uh and continue to do
but I think what really made that
something that was special for me is
that they allowed me to be a person who
believed in Magic you know a person who
believed in hard work a person who
believed in science a person who
believed in um how you can create real
tangible Solutions towards something
that you want but that there can also be
a bit
of of an intangible
unquantifiable sense to what you're
trying to do and that there's a way to
make room for that without losing your
stability and your sternness on what
really matters in the world and so when
I finally did realize like that my mom
was the one basically putting these
dollar bills under my under my pillow it
happened you know at the age of 12 and
age where I had already started to
really dabble in science dabble in uh
thinking about how to build robots or
you know entering different science
fairs and
so my frame of the world the my way of
thinking had already begun to really
form and so it I think it just um ended
up making me the person who I am today I
love that so as a company we're making
um a big bet that
Millennials are doing business in a way
that nobody has done before and I think
that story really illustrates what I
think is happening the the shift so 15
years ago when I first got into business
and you'd go into a board meeting or
you'd present to a VC it was so buttoned
up and so business-like and everybody
would have you know moved their company
to um Silicon Valley to be a part of
that um and and I get that right that
actually makes a lot of sense but they
were very happy to sort of subvert
themselves and who they are naturally to
fit in to make the world make sense to
May overemphasize the science aspect and
what I find fascinating is instead of
doing that you move to Harlem and you
know looking at what your parents did
with the teeth and seeing wonderment I
think what you said was I found Wonder
in the unknown yeah and talk about that
I think that's really
um so there's several things there right
like so one there's a concept of getting
to know on and owning that um and then
going down a path that fits who you are
versus kind of fights against who you
are um but starting first with the last
thing that you brought up you know
wondering the
unknown yeah I mean there's there's just
so much excitement in figuring out how
things work for me I don't know like
whether it's people or the things around
me like what stresses me out is not um
hard work it's not knowing what work is
going to be involved you know so as soon
as I have a process in place or I have a
framework of how something should be so
I can build up steps to how I want to
address it it's not stressful so like
you know think about I've been doing
this now for almost 10 years it's never
been
really really like kind of intense or
like or difficult for me it's always
been hard but you know a lot of work but
um because I've I understand what I'm
doing I know what I'm doing it for I
know what I'm fighting for I understand
the steps in in terms of what's involved
to make sure that I never lose sight of
what I'm fighting for so everything else
is just kind of going through the
motions the Motions that I I know to be
valuable um and that ties back into what
you're saying before in terms of
choosing choosing to go to Harlem you
know choosing to be as authentic as
possible in the way we build this
company um and seeing that not as
something that we were just doing
because it was a nice idea but because
we really believe that it is our
competitive Advantage it is the thing
that's going to really catapult our
company to being the first billion
dollar tech company in Harlem and one of
the most meaningful te companies in the
world if you know if we keep doing what
we have to do um and it it all goes back
to this idea of realizing you
know okay so I am a black girl you know
with immigrant parents who grew up in
pipy New York you know um decent
schooling but nothing spectacular uh was
lucky enough to get into a great College
mostly just because my older sister was
one of the people from my high school to
get in there and she set the path she's
actually right over there um and she set
the path yeah she set the path where I
was just like oh and like you know when
you're only two years younger than your
sister you're like oh okay if you can do
it I can do it it made it real you know
it didn't make it too scary um but I'm
not you know the
classic Silicone Valley CEO um you know
I think that for me I used to believe
that that meant that I could never
really achieve what they achieved that
there were certain parts of the the
world certain um levels of success
certain
um levels of business that were just
going to be too big for me it's like how
can I dare say I'm going to run an
energy company like that I'm going to
build wealth for a community like who
who the hell am I um how did you get
over that cuz I think most people have
that but they stop there the first thing
that I did was not think too far ahead
so the idea was instead of imagining
from day one oh I want to build an
energy company it was more imagining or
really envisioning well why am I getting
up in the morning why am I you know
what's the point of my day um and so for
me I'm really really excited by
self-actualization I'm really excited by
the idea of figuring out ways to one
kind of recruit people to be part of the
the solution the to the world's problems
because I I truly believe that there is
given how complex our problems are there
is no one person or company that's going
to solve all of them the only chance in
hell that we have is as many people as
possible are engaged and feel empowered
to be part of that solution um and so I
think it's like how can I then create
systems and products
that I almost want to call them Domino
invas like they basically beget other
Innovations they Inspire the right
people to start to solve the things that
I could never imagine solving um and in
doing that they've make that one life
that they're living that one life that
they
have feel like it was worth it you know
on whatever day happens to be their last
day um and so that really excites me
especially also I think I would add to
recently wanting very much to make sure
that little girls who look like me
believe that they can do anything um and
believe that they can do more than just
media and entertainment in particular
and believe in the value of their
perspective and so that's what gets me
up in the morning and then everything
else the details is like it kind of I
can push through that day and what I
found is that instead of trying to live
a successful life if you aim to have a
successful day you know just you know 12
if you have 13 out of the 24 hours of
your day if you won those hours um you
won the day and if you win most of the
days in a week you won the week you know
we just need a simple majority here
right and if you and if you if you win
you know most of the weeks in a month
there you go most of the month in a year
most of the years in Al life and and all
of a sudden look at that without even
trying you've been able to kind of get
somewhere and so the the biggest roll
blocks for me were kind of in those big
momentous moments then so like getting
ready to raise the round for example was
one of those big moments where I
realized that without knowing it I had
been building a life up to this big leap
but but it it wasn't about starting
there thinking about the leaps thinking
about the big momentous things that
would have to happen it's like you just
go hour by hour day by day week by week
month by month year by year and then all
of a sudden five years into working on
something I have the opportunity to
raise the largest round any black
woman's Ever Raised in history and I'm
afraid I'm afraid despite everything
I've gone through to get there I'm
afraid and it's because I still am just
like yo I know me and Mark Zuckerberg
went to the same college but that's
about it I was on the step team I know
he wasn't you know what I mean like like
yeah I mean I I mean from what I
understand he wasn't I don't you know
but like we we have different we have a
different life and I know that
ultimately these investors are looking
to invest in people that they understand
right I think actually a lot of people I
don't think I'm special in that I think
people like to understand things um and
in the worst of times in my business if
they don't understand me they're not
then they're not going to understand my
decisions they're not going to have
faith in how I'm going to get us through
this right and it was actually this
person who's currently one of my
advisers works for one of the top BCS uh
out here in the west coast and he said
without missing a beat Jessica Mark
Zuckerberg could have never invented the
socket right uh you know it is your life
it is your unique perspective it is who
you are that has brought you here so
anyone who invests in you is going to
want you to be who you are they're going
to have to trust that being who you are
even if it's different from who they are
um that that's going to be the thing
that's going to take this to the next
level no matter what um and I think for
me that was that was the critical piece
of advice right like we all need someone
to say the thing that's been so obvious
but we've just been too head down to to
realize um you know we all have our
struggle regardless of who we are
whether you're male or female
black orange green who cares we all have
our struggle um and we all have our
privilege you know I consider it a
privilege to be born of Nigerian parents
like forget tiger moms lion moms I still
should be getting my law degree right
now according to my mom you know what I
mean course because you haven't done
nearly yeah exactly but that's the push
right that to me is privilege to have
parents who believe in you irrationally
so um you know uh you know I feel I feel
privileged to have gone to the the
schools I've gone to right but
in the end you know it's about
recognizing the value in our own
struggle uh being appreciative and aware
of our privilege um so that we can have
empathy for others and their experience
can we can bridge the gap for them um
and then being able to take all of that
and own it say this is who can we curse
can I curse go for it let get crazy I'll
try not to though trust me I'm not going
to try not to so jump in the waterers
War yeah no I mean like this is who the
[ __ ] I am there you go this is who I am
hello who to who you are and to who you
are that's great but this is who the
[ __ ] I am right take it or leave it like
I know that no matter what happens if I
stay who I am like I will I will feel
good about it at the end of the day you
know that's all the only thing that's
going to be constant in this
everchanging world especially in the
startup space is who I am and
so in really meditating on that and okay
you know what I don't know what's going
to happen with this round I don't know
what's going to happen with this company
but I do know who I am let's double down
you know most people they raise money
they get out of Harlem we went to Harlem
I I don't think people really believed
it until I also moved my ass to Harlem
because I don't like to commute I'm all
about that walk I'm all about Round the
Corner walk and so we move the company
up town I move up town and we immerse
ourselves you know and uh it was the
best decision I made not just because
again it reminds us you know it's such a
diverse Community we're talking about
you know building products for people of
diverse experiences around the world and
the beauty of Harlem is that you know
you'll meet seven different types of
people on the way from the subway to the
office and they're living their lives in
seven different types of ways you know
like from your Rabbi on 96 to your
Barber on 125th these are experiences
that count these are voices that are
meaningful and so honestly for for us as
a team it's like how can we give back as
much as we're getting you know how do we
make sure that in being here we're
promoting urban renewal and not
gentrification and so we've done things
like uh you know we created a 501c3
called the Harlem Tech fund uh which
entirely designed to figure out how can
we help the Legacy members of Harlem be
a part of the tech conversation the
entrepreneurial and Innovation
conversation tell me about what you
think the obligation of business owners
are today because you've talked pretty
eloquently about the onus that
businesses have I don't know if there's
an obligation I don't know if I think
that anyone has an obligation just
because they run a business I just know
that I won't get up in the morning if
it's just about profit I want to make
sure that on my last day whatever day
that might be and maybe this is just
more Prime for me again because of my
struggles because you know I remember a
year when my aunt my uncle and my
grandfather died just like that you know
um because I have a younger sister who
died um you start to realize that
there's this life and there isn't
because I feel blessed despite you know
the hardships we may have had as a
family growing up you know uh and pyy
and you know making sure we'd have
enough money to be able to put ourselves
through school and all these different
things my parents always made sure I had
what I needed and I think I feel like
I've had a great life I've often felt
like to be honest that like uh I almost
I used to think that God gave me too
much and that he did by mistake and that
the only way for him not to notice is if
I just was super productive for
everything you know it's like keep him
busy keep him busy oh don't look at me
over here you know let me just inv the
socket yeah yeah don't worry about it go
look at LeBron he's too tall don't worry
you know um and so when you are
appreciative and grateful for what you
have and the life you have um you you
want to give back you want to make the
most out of it and you want to make sure
that on your last day you don't have
regrets because that to me is the only
solution you know death is accepting it
um and
so being 100% just focused on profit in
the end if you have to look in the
mirror you know you have to be with just
yourself when you close your eyes at
night if that's if that's if that
completes you dope dope you know yeah
that's what I love about what's
happening in business and the changes
that are coming now and I think in in
many ways you're really an amazing
example of that of somebody who refused
to be anybody but themselves and I think
the quote you gave about not moving to
Silicon Valley was I would have to
change who I was in order to survive in
Silicon Valley and I'm prepar to do that
I love that and then you know looking at
sort of the business realities of what
it means for you specifically to be
encountering a very diverse population
that you can do that um in Harlem that's
really really smart to to look at it but
you don't come at being yourself from an
obstinate standpoint and you've already
pivoted the company and um you know
moving from the so sort of as a primary
vehicle to your more technology um and
walk us through that Insight walk us
through cuz here's what I think people
need to really understand what I think
is really powerful about you is being
able to hold these two ideas in your
head I'm going to be me and I'm going to
listen to the marketplace right and the
ability to do both is I think incredibly
liberating and I think for young
entrepreneurs especially to hear that
message of yes be you yes you need to
know who you are but you're going to run
a business you have to listen to the
market I mean I think that the parallels
are actually very similar um you know
let's say a startup is like a you know I
don't know a young like celebrity actor
something like that like that's how I
used to think of the socket it's just
like super flashy super amazing but like
are we developing the right way as a
business are we actually asking the
right questions of ourselves to make
sure we have the longevity so that we're
still getting rolls when we're you know
36 uh you know like um you know and I
think for me so when I say you know I
know who I
am I guess the the unsaid portion though
is like and then for the things I don't
know about myself I'm open to finding
out right and so I think the idea is to
think about our lives as a constant
research
experiment um you know who I thought I
was and what I thought I wanted um when
I was 19 is is is to a certain extent
similar you know now but there's also a
lot of a lot of difference in the
nuances in the details of the execution
and I think what it is is that like we
we all have a core that like is our soul
that is our kind of ethos that we're
born with that's that's our ethical
nature that we get from our families and
our friends and like our where we grew
up that you know ideally and hopefully
it's good um and I think that nugget
that's always unchanging and you have to
figure out who that is what you know
what that is inside of you as soon as
possible and I've always been a very
reflective person I've always been
someone who will ask myself you know
every six weeks or so am I happy just
and it's a really simple thing it's just
like it's it's either the answers are
either yes um or no and I mean that's
you know what I mean and if it's a no
it's like okay well am I doing things
that while right now maybe I'm not like
blissfully happy are working towards
something that I know will make me happy
you know what I mean like and am I
generally happy with the idea of the
tradeoffs that I'm making right now or
that I have to deal with you know does
that make me happy um and if that's a
yes it's like okay cool but if it's
still a no it's like stop everything no
this doesn't make sense um and so I've
always been the kind of person who would
check in again because I feel like do
you have a system for that like where
you literally just say every morning I'm
going to ask myself this or no I mean I
mean I think there are two systems I
really have uh one is that I like to
make a to-do list almost every single
day except for weekends when I just feel
like doing nothing um you need everyone
needs rest but uh ever since I was 19
and uh you know I made the mistake
freshman year of college of going in and
having no goals freshman year you know I
actually did horrible in class uh
because I didn't know my goals of what I
wanted to achieve academically um I let
my body fall apart I just I let my I
lost myself and because of that I
realized that I'm the kind of person who
needs to work to know herself um and
consistently keep track of who she is
and what she needs um and so and okay
also like the high level it's like when
they tell you hey so we're going to need
you to leave school because like you
know your grades are bad and then like
your Nigerian parents are like so we're
going to need you to leave our home no
they didn't do that they didn't do that
but they were just kind of like it was
more like just the look The Silent look
of disappointment
it's the worst any Nigerian kid would
tell you like I'd rather get arrested
than have my mom's disappointing look um
but so with that you come back you're
like okay I need a solution um and so I
started doing two simple things one was
the check-in which I do just it's more
like you can sense if you take some time
to be quiet you can sense when you're
not in equilibrium and then that's when
you ask that's it like you should just
running running running running running
without taking a time to just figure
your know where you are I mean then
there's probably going to be other
symptoms where you're just overe eting
or overdoing this or not sleeping like
you'll people will be able to tell you
yeah you don't look Balan if you asked
if you ask them so like that's the time
to ask yourself and then the second
thing is a list and the key thing about
that list it's always more than what I
could ever reasonably accomplish in that
day because I like to push myself you
always end up accomplishing still more
than what you think and I I like to
never feel satisfied with myself and
I've been doing those two things for 10
years and that's why I'm here I love
that yeah staying unsatisfied is
something that I think a lot of people
don't they don't know how to balance
that because they think if they're
unsatisfied that they'll be unhappy with
themselves that it's somehow corrosive
but really I find that that virtually
everything I've accomplished in my life
is because I'm always unsatisfied and
that whenever I set a goal by the time I
get to that goal I've already set
another goal that's farther away and I
am constantly moving the goal post
myself yes because that keeps me going
it keeps me hungry it keeps me pushing
because like you right it's not about
the money
right and the one promise I can make
anybody you're going to feel exactly the
way you feel today about yourself you
will feel if you even if you earned a
billion dollars right you'll whatever
insecurities you have all that like
money can't touch that [ __ ] it's like a
black hole that you're filling with the
wrong things I mean and again I try not
to be too prescriptive in what people
you know I can only speak for myself and
and what I understand in my limited
number of years on this planet about
life but I don't think there's anyone
who said on their deathbed so glad I
made that billion dollars like whatever
I don't think that's the thing can I I'm
going to push you on that a little bit
and the reason is I I think a lot about
this because we've chosen not to have
kids so I often run the scenario of okay
when I'm on my deathbed everybody tells
me I'm going to be thinking about the
people in my life and all of that so I'm
going to have that moment where for sure
I'm going to be some part of me will
wish that I had had kids like I can
already put myself in that position and
I can get it but I don't want to live
for that moment right so we all have
faith cycles and things we go through
like right now I will tell you this
company would not exist this impact
theory is the deepest reflection of what
I want to do in the world and it is only
possible at this level because I made
money and if I hadn't made money so I am
literally thinking thank God I made that
money because now I'm able to do what I
like my whole life has been building
towards this moment my whole life is
about the reason that I mentioned Riri
Williams in the beginning is I believe
that there's a we are going to usher in
a movement where people really
understand pop mythology and understand
how to become you because of it that
there is some girl right now because of
how we're going to bring things in and
fuel that kind of Mythology and all the
stuff that we're going to wrap around it
that a young girl who did not believe
that she could become you is going to
become you because she read a comic book
that really espoused the kind of
philosophy that you've cobbled together
over the years to become that but
nobody's handed it to them before and
said this is real like don't read this
like a comic book read it like it's real
but to bring it back so all of that is
is only possible because I made the
money so I think there's something more
interesting I think and you'll correct
me if I'm wrong but I think there's
something that's more interesting that's
driving you there's something more
interesting that keeps you on the sort
of compass of of who you are and who
you're becoming and I want to talk about
your concept of thinking outside the
boundaries right so how did you not let
people Define you because you literally
there are so many boxes people are
trying to cram you in but you're a real
human like how have you oh gosh shucked
all that off I mean so it's interesting
right like so to your first point
about you know needing resources to
accomplish what you want to accomplish I
think that that definitely makes sense I
think it goes to the idea of like saying
like sometimes there are you're doing
things that are hard and exhausting and
not fun and aren't in the moment making
you happy but you're fine with it
because you know why you're doing it and
that's fulfilling and um I think for me
like when I think about everything I've
been through with Uncharted play and all
the work that's still ahead because I
know that if I am not I like to call it
snatching economic edges so like when
you snatch someone's edges it's like
with the Precision you're able to snatch
like an edge and just like it's it's a
black thing but it's just like it's like
it's like it's just like o gotcha like
you know what I mean like I want to like
you know there are some people in this
world right now that I'm just like I
want to snatch your edges you know what
mean oh you want to like especially in
our government right now oh I just want
but I'm like oh but the way to do that
to me the way I believe I am most suited
to do that is economically like to me
it's like you know what like I'm not
force I don't I can't march I can March
but I can't march forever like it would
be like I can't like I I'm not that
artistic with the signs like my signs
would be a little lame what I can do is
very quietly figure out how to
control the energy systems you know in
the world and like and be able to figure
something out but and the idea there
though is like I don't think I want to
just do that because it's like oh great
now I'm powerful now I don't know now
whoever will like me it's more just like
no like I cannot let the Next Generation
come into a world where you are the
Paradigm I cannot I it just there's
something in me and I think okay so like
why have I have I been able to just stay
in who I am and not be trapped and it's
true I always kind of bring things back
to my parents um you know they're what
they knew for sure was that education to
them ucation was the way out you know um
and that's why I believe that Nigerians
collect degrees like we just collect
them and it was my older sister who was
the one that said yeah I'm not going to
take classes over the summer I'm going
to do an internship they were like
internship and she's like internship you
know what I mean like I don't know where
she got the balls to do that but I
didn't have to fight for that like I
didn't have to like come up with some
magical way to convince them that like
it's not just education you need
experience you need to understand X Y
and Z and so I came into it with this
like
with this great opportunity and that's
the reason why I always think it's
important for even people who can say
listen you know I I run a company out of
an inner city or you know I'm a woman or
you know I'm I'm I'm a black person I'm
daughter of immigrants but I still had
the privilege of this like no one is
anywhere without somebody helping them
um and we just we're too quick to tell
our stories without including those
people in it and and I I think I'm I'm
lucky cuz there are a lot of people who
have paved the way who have come before
me who had to learn things and teach
them to me with a quickness um and so I
think in a weird way I was able to stay
Who I Am by being open to learning about
who I am from those
who had been working to figure out
themselves as well and I I think it it
takes a certain sense of humility to be
willing to to listen to those people but
also I think it it takes a certain tense
of uh a certain sense of like
um logic I guess and just like Dynamic
thinking to realize that what they're
telling you is simply part of your full
concept of yourself not the all you know
not the total of it and that's one thing
I think I do pride myself um in being
able to do well I'm I can hear the the
advice of a lot of different people and
say okay thank you thank you thank you
this is what I want to do um and I'll
stand by it I will never blame someone
for my decisions I I
just no it's my life I love that I love
that in fact I got to shake your I love
that that's powerful beyond measure and
most people get tripped up and um yeah
so that's being able to take ownership
for your mistakes especially and and say
you know look this was my choice I made
it um it keeps you in the driver's seat
which is why I'm so obsessed with it so
you have this concept called Thinking
Out of Bounds how do you teach people
how to do that yeah so uh Thinking Out
of Bounds came from this idea when I
when people would ask me like you know
back when we first started out um
creating energy generating Sports
Products right so now we're creating
infrastructure level energy systems that
can harness power from motion right so
it's like from everything from floor
panels to Furniture to power Lighting
systems and Wi-Fi but where we started
was just with the soccer ball uh you
know being Nigerian pulling from the
experiences I had in Nigeria with my
cousins and a lot of people asked me
when it first came out how how do you
think out of out of the box like how did
you get this idea how did you make this
thing happen uh and it was funny because
I would say well I didn't even know what
the parameters with the Box were like I
didn't know this was a box like I am not
a trained engineer um you know and the
unfortunate thing I think sometimes
about the way engineering is taught is
that you're you're you're kind of pushed
to you're kind of you're kind of pushed
to scare yourself away from the bounds
of what might be impossible um you you
are afraid you are taught to be afraid
to be wrong that I know
um and so you will do everything you can
to make sure you're right which is
awesome and you see this amazing work
ethic and this m amazing precision and
the way you know Engineers will build
things but God forbid they say something
that's wrong and I'm happy to being
wrong I'll say something be like blah
I'll be like sky is green no it's not
okay good to know I thought it was green
Moving on but just in case it is green
hey the sky is green today like look at
that look who said the sky is green you
know so but that that ability that
freedom to just kind of fluidly be
comfortable with your thoughts whether
they're right or wrong because you know
as long as you're coming from a place of
logic can you teach people that can you
give them the confidence to not be
afraid you know we're trying to so we
have this really cool curriculum called
think out of bounds um and it it's
actually something we distribute when
we're Distributing our soccer balls and
our jump ropes um and it's designed to
teach people how to invent with limited
resources and so the idea is how can you
build someone's creative confidence you
know because ultimately Thinking Out of
Bounds is about creatively working
outside of the realm of what is known
out of the realm of what's proven out of
the realm of what you believe to be
right um and considering things like
that in a very flexible way we it the
hard the older someone is usually the
harder it is like you know because
they're more dogmatic yeah they're more
just kind of like well listen my my life
experiences have told me X you know um
but actually let me rephrase that cuz
it's usually not their life experiences
it's usually what they've read so I'll
go to like an electrical engineer and
I'll say I know that like you know a
diode needs to be here but you know
entertain me here what if we don't put
one in they're like well you know you'll
see them like like it's impossible like
you know what I mean I'm just like but
is it have you ever tried it you know
you know let's see like and I'll say
these things that you can tell they're
just like this she's crazy I see you
[ __ ] crazy and I'm just like yeah
well you know you took the job you
should have known what you're getting
into um um but like then I you you'll
start to push them and like you'll see
and I'm like listen if you take the
knowledge you have and then be willing
just to kind of play a little bit you
know outside of the bounds like you just
the key is step by step though question
because I have experienced this so many
times I'm so with you how do you
approach it in when it's you on that end
and somebody comes to you with a crazy
idea what do you do mentally internally
to be open to that or are you open to
that so I think the first thing I try to
do is just the thing I was mentioning
earlier where like instead of kind of
like what I've been told to be true or
what I've read to be true I first say
okay well do I have any personal
experiences that I'm just like almost in
my gut it's almost like you have to
fight the intangible with the intangible
in my gut here's why I just like don't
believe that makes any sense um and then
like you know we have a really
interesting kind of I don't want to call
it a Pastime but I guess for the sake of
not having another word a Pastime in my
company where I'm always saying
listen
conflict fight back I'm saying this put
together your thoughts logically and
come back at me like I want you to
convince me that I'm wrong like find the
holes in my argument find the Gap in my
thinking um and we'll go I like to go
Toe to Toe um but I think for me what I
personally do like in general to be open
to these things is like this is going to
sound really weird I'm very wary of
knowing too much about any one thing
that is really like I'm really so like I
I will know enough so that I can execute
if I have to so that I can manage
someone in that space so I can advise
that person in that space But I am very
wary of becoming so obsessed about one
specific thing that because when you
know too much it's hard to conf it's
hard to distinguish between your
personal feelings about something and
what you've read you will take what
you've learned and it will absorb you
and become your way of thinking it will
just overly Encompass your way of
thinking and there'll be no space for
that weird you know could the sky be
green question cuz you your mind is full
of the facts so I I try to leave enough
space where I could just fill it with
nonsense and you know and that nonsense
is inspiring to me um and that that's
hard again Engineers they have to take
so many classes they have to do so many
hours of studying so they end up pushing
they barely have enough space for that
information to say at least for to have
10% space for nonsense and
so yeah it's it's it can be hard but
when you start at a younger age with
someone um they start they they they're
able to figure out how to always leave
room for that and it goes back to the
story about the tooth fairy my parents
left a little space for the story about
the tooth fairy and so I'm able to learn
a lot about a lot of things and still be
like but also the Tooth Fairy can exist
like that that I feel so lucky that I um
I have that experience God I really hope
people are listening to you right now
because there's this really cool concept
that you're putting wonderful words
around which is an expert is somebody
who can tell you exactly how things
can't be done and I have that same fear
that you have of becoming that expert of
thinking know so much that I don't stay
open one of the questions that I wrote
down for you um that we're already
talking about but like how your company
is so Innovative and how you keep Jesus
it speaks for itself but how you keep an
open mind how you train your staff to
keep an open mind and I love that it's
something as playful as the tooth fairy
and and look I get it you've really you
know brought it back down to earth which
with what's actually going on which is
leaving yourself open and the wonderment
of not knowing and it's just but it's
been formalized people will be afraid
like uncertainty is scary new
information is scary change is scary
um and everyone has a different way of
handling that you know everyone has how
do you manage
change like your company's been through
yeah in the company I will pivot when
necessary I'm like oh no dead end wo
right you know do what you got to do and
I will I I can take new information and
adjust the plan immediately and have no
qualms about it and just move move move
and the way to balance that is that
outside of work I really like things to
be stable you know I like to date nice
guys I'm not I've never been attracted
to the bad boy why in the hell do I want
to be with a bad boy what why it's like
I don't know if I'm going to call you
bye like I want the dude who's like
here's some flowers thank you honey you
know like let's go to the movies no
problem are we too boring no we are not
too boring this is wonderful this is
everything you know like I I like
stability in those ways like that's um
everyone has their thing and and that's
what helps me cuz yeah you do need to
have a balance you need to have
something that you can count on you need
to have that that poll that you can go
back to when everything looks crazy that
you can reach out to to hold on to um
and so yeah that's that's how it works
for me and if I didn't have that I think
I'd be much more afraid
of chaos at work all right well for
somebody who likes uh stability outside
of work why do you box
oh oh okay well that's okay so I mean so
there's like the so there's there's like
the feminist answer and then there's the
nerdy answer and they're both true all
right let's hear them both um so from
the feminist answer like I like to be
strong respect I like to be strong I
like to I believe in mental strength
spiritual strength and physical strength
I think a lot of women don't lift
weights and I don't know why because it
lifts your ass which is awesome okay
like do do your squats do your squats do
your squats there right to the camera I
love
it um you know like and it's just like
it's dope you know you live in the city
you got to carry your groceries at Le
before all the delivery things you got
to carry your groceries to your home
that alone made you want to get in the
gym and it's like what weight what
weight is um seven bags from uh rest you
know what I mean like you you want to
make sure you can carry that like you um
and so I like to be functional like I
like to have functional strength like
it's it's kind of fun to think about
also you know when you're in a world
where bad things happen to women um to
know that it's like all right well like
you know I don't know what's going to
happen but like you know I want to look
like I want if if a if a if a predator
is walking by I want him to be like I
don't know if I'm going to win this
fight and just walk by I want him to
look at me and be like you know this is
a tossup and just keep walking exactly
you know what I mean like so that I
think is fun um
from the from the nerdy side of it
though um there was something you
know I the idea of being like a ninja or
like a superhero oh yes my friend always
just seemed really cool like you would
watch these movies you know and just see
people do like these dope things and
you're just like that's cool like that's
exciting um
and yeah it's like so learning a skill
like kind of felt fun I like developing
skills that really you know um
expand my mind and expand the way I can
use my body and I had never done this
before my mom would have never let me I
think that the third the third thing for
me too is that I realize that boxing is
actually a really great analogy for
business um like boxing is
inherently reactive and active and you
have to have your strategy but
constantly be realizing that your
strategy will change in the manner of a
second because once you've done one
thing they're now they've now adjusted
and are about to make everything that
you've want it's almost like chess in a
weird way um where the pieces the pieces
are the punches which I think is better
because like running a startup is is
painful it's painful when you're
sleeping on the floor and you're you
know it's not chess it's boxing right um
and so for me when I think about where
we're going into business now playing in
very Dynamic Industries very scary big
Industries I can't just have my plan be
like here's my plan for 2017 it's like
here's my strategy for 2017 um and I am
prepared to do what it takes to stay
alive like I what I tell my investors is
like all you need to know is that I will
be standing at the end of this match
that's it and like if I have to all of a
sudden you know do an uppercut that I've
never done or like switch to Southpaw
out of nowhere hey I'll do what I have
to do cuz I'm going to win this fight in
the end say whatever you want to say
about someone's fighting style if they
won they won you know what I mean and
like and that's what I love about boxing
it's like it's not only that it requires
you to think
on your feet and and and also be very
very light on your feet very delicate
like if you plant your feet and they
come around you like it's it's it's just
like if you plant yourself in your ideas
about your business you will lose um
when you do make that mistake you feel
the pain you don't just think about the
pain you feel it um and so yeah it's
cool that's awesome that's a great
answer all right I have one more
question but before that where can these
guys find you online sure sure so you
can go to u-play doco u-
pay.co um and you'll see all the stuff
that we've been doing uh with what we
like to call our Legacy products so like
how we're actually working to uplift 1
million kids around the world over the
next four years by using our think out
of bounds curriculum and our socket ball
and our energy generating jump rope the
pulse to inspire 1 million students from
income poor um communities to realize
that they are the future they're going
to be the next Einstein and backing
those ideas if you go to u-m more. um
that's m o r.co you'll learn about the
core technology that's inside of the
soccer ball and the jump rope and that
we're using to bring power to
communities across Africa and soon all
around the world from everything from
flooring to Furniture so that's the two
big ones um if you want to find me and
just kind of like follow my random life
on Instagram you can find me at Jesso
Matt Jesso Matt J SS o M A TT uh and I
think yeah you can find me Instagram
Twitter I do random stuff on Facebook
sometimes Google me that way but yeah no
I mean we we try to keep it real or you
could just come to Harlem probably see
us walking around I'm always walking
around you know uh yeah yeah we're come
to Harlem that is the best come to
Harlem Harlem is not that big you know
just be like hey where's that Energy
company at you know like oh over there
yeah nice yeah yeah all right last
question what's the impact that you want
to have on the world
um for me the impact I want to have on
the
world I know I you know for me when I
all started this whole thing and um what
really kind of originally drove me it
was really about self-actualization and
creating systems and products that
streamlined the way people could
self-actualize in their lives you know
kind of making the journey as valuable
as the end end result um that's
something that's still really huge for
me like how can we make sure people have
just like
really happy fulfilling lives but I
think more specifically now given a lot
of the things that have happened in this
world over the last few years are really
rather a lot of the things that have
been brought to light they might have
always been happening
um you know
I I hate feeling
it's there are some things no matter how
much you believe in yourself that just
suck especially when you're a black
woman they just really like there's like
for
example it sucks feeling like no matter
who you hire you know because they a
young black woman they're going
to ask you things that they would never
ask an older white guy for there's
there's no respect they feel like Rodney
Dangerfield I can't get no respect you
know what I mean hey that's an 80 I'm
born in 88 I can still make that that's
impressive you know um but uh it's and
and then when you think okay well let me
hire people then who look like me we as
black women we as women are not awesome
to each other I mean Girl Hillary
knows Hillary knows people just I hey
you know but like I mean black women
came to vote for you though we came out
we came out um and it's it sucks it's
hard and it's one of those things where
it's like we live in in a world that's
so complicated that it's not not enough
to just say oh well one of us succeeded
or there's one example like it's going
to take so many different things
happening to really shift the way we not
only learn how to love each other but
learn how to love ourselves you know
what I mean like as women as women of
color as black women um
and
I I want to make a
significant step forward in that
direction like I want want my daughter
to enter a world
where there she doesn't even have to
explain oh well I know I'm different but
here's my competitive Advantage like if
there's a pattern matching that people
are looking for in in in the tech space
they're they're looking for either a
Mark Zuckerberg or Jessica Matthews then
she can just come out and be like yep
duh obviously you know what I mean like
that that would be awesome like I want
it to be that like when I'm flying
through what if I'm flying first class
aren't like assuming I'm Venus or Serena
that's it it's just like oh like
literally they be like I came I thought
you were Venus but and now no you're not
so what is it that you do and it's like
and when you tell them energy coming
they're just like oh you know what I
mean and it's like I want this to be
like ah indeed like Jessica Matthews of
course of course okay there's more than
we can do then that you know I just I
want to expand the
way we think
about black women and like I mean that
all I you know and what we think young
women can do what we think people on the
East Coast can do
um because it it sucks