The New Dreaming Podcast
The New Dreaming is more than just a podcast - it’s a truth-telling movement. A space for real, meaningful conversations that empower, challenge and inspire. Through the voices of those who have broken barriers, found their purpose and reclaimed their stories, - we uncover the truths that shape who we are.
For those ready to listen, learn and be part of something bigger - each episode is a step towards truth, healing and collective empowerment.
The New Dreaming Podcast
How Gratitude and Culture can ReWire your Health with Mengui Ahmat
Chronic disease keeps stealing years from our mob and it’s happening earlier than ever. We sit with Mengui - Torres Strait Islander entrepreneur from Badu Island - to unpack a practical, culture-first path back to health: fast smarter, eat real food, honor spirit and take ownership. He started by living the change six years ago, then found the science matched what Elders already knew: food is medicine, recovery requires space and gratitude tunes the mind like a radio to better choices.
We walk through the nuts and bolts: how chronic inflammation hides behind busy routines, why constant snacking blocks deep repair and how simple rituals - intermittent fasting, whole-food smoothies and a soothing, natural-leaning tea - make healing convenient without the hype. There’s a live taste test, a full ingredient rundown and a look at why magnesium and ashwagandha play supporting roles. Mengui shares the story-driven way he speaks with Elders about change, keeping jargon out and culture in, so the message lands with respect. This yarn goes deeper than diet. We talk about ownership over victim mentality, the real weight of trauma and the uncomfortable but freeing work of accountability.
Mengui opens up about dark, numb seasons and the turning point that brought him back, turning pain into a mission: if I can, you can. From there, we map his bigger vision - shopfronts in Cairns and Brisbane, a manufacturing and ideas hub for Indigenous creators, research-backed transparency with QR-linked data and frozen products that can travel to remote communities and humanitarian efforts. If you’ve felt stuck - tired, stressed, inflamed - this conversation offers a clear first step. Swap one processed habit for a whole-food choice, set a five-minute gratitude practice, or try a gentle fasting window and notice the difference.
Walla, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for having me, Walla.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, appreciate the opportunity.
SPEAKER_01:No, thank you. Um we reached out, you didn't even hesitate. We had a quick yarn to talk about everything. Um for those watching, I'm in Cannes. Let's start with name, mob, and a little about where you're from and what you do.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so my name's Mengui Ahmad. I'm from Torres Strait. Um Badu Island, Aragon and Wakai tribe. Um and Mabyog Wagadagam and Blood from Saibai as well, the Tabu clan out there. Um so for me, what I'm doing, um so I've I've started my um own holistic business about like holistic health, trying to go back to the to the old ways and um rewind time just to um you know the big you know the epidemic that's going on, which is like chronic illnesses and diseases, you know, like 67% of our people um are suffering from some form of chronic disease, which is that's a lot, that's over a half. And um, you know, that needs to change because the kids are now, kids are now um, you know, struggling with all these health things that adults, you know, back in our days, the you know, the elders would be the generation is just getting younger and younger. Um, and it's like nobody wants to look through the lens and look at what's going to happen in the future. It's like we look at the the data and statistics that are there from before, and we look at the life expectancy being like you know, 72 around there. Um but we have to remember that's from the past generation. So this generation coming through now, like that could easily cut 20 years off. Oh, it could be 50, could be 50, and then next generation 40, and it's you know, addic. Um so yeah, and just you know, I had a good yarn with the cousin the other day talking about um how times have changed where you know our father's days, their elders would have been considered around the 80-year-old mark, whereas now our like our generation coming through. We look at our elders around the 60-year-old mark, it's 20 years in one generation. You know, it's so for me with what I'm doing, you know, I'm looking through those lens and I'm I'm not seeing any changes, I'm not seeing anyone going out there doing anything, any organizations really putting the hard work in to actually get it done. So, you know, I changed my lifestyle. Well, I've always been healthy, but I I started to practice this different way of living like six, seven years ago, and yeah, and I was just you know trying to think back how did they live, how did they live? I'll do this, I'll do this, yeah. And I I've I've made I found out a lot of things with myself through experience, you know, experience is the biggest teacher. So um, and then I it was it was good for me because I actually did that first, and then I started to read like scientific data and stuff, which aligned with what I was doing. Wow. So I didn't read and then practice, I was practicing, then I started reading. So I was like, you know, you know, that's deadly because back in their days they didn't they knew what they needed to do, so they just you know, and that's how they lived, yeah. Um so yeah, my business is cool. Uh let's go. And like I said before, listening in, I got my own product as well because it's like it's the same thing. Like people, we want convenience now. Nobody wants to go cut up a whole different different fruits and stuff like that to it. Everyone's too slack these days.
SPEAKER_01:That's it. They want to cut up their TikTok.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's it. Cut up the videos on TikTok. Oh no, I can't cut, I can't go cut up mango or something. I'd I'd I'd rather just have a shake. That's they don't they got no idea what's in there. Um, so yeah, I made my own product, it's all natural, all natural ingredients. Um, the only thing synthetic is there is the magnesium. It's just it's just harder to get magnesium in abundance like that.
SPEAKER_01:So food, yeah, the concentration of the body, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I do it that way. Um, and yeah, and I I created that product for that convenience to get it into homes so that family can have access to healthy things, you know. Um and the beauty of it is like you can freeze it for four months as well. Wow, um, you know, and I'm I'm I'm actually talking now with a few companies in the background to do some testing to extend that shelf life.
SPEAKER_01:So you've taken a holistic approach to training, but you've gone back to cultural knowledge, you've integrated cultural knowledge, you've lived it, practiced it, and then got the scientific research to back up what we already know for centuries. I've had a look at your website, yeah, and I saw that the product that you have there was a smoothie from memory. And yeah, the tea. Beautiful.
SPEAKER_00:The tea, yeah. So well, the second product is there, so you've got smoothie and a tea as well. Um, the smoothie is designed to give back to the body, it's designed to be a meal replacement, but you know, because going through the system and compliance and stuff like that, I can't claim it as a meal replacement. But my lifestyle and what I've achieved for myself, you know, that's that's what I use, you know. Like what was um, so just even today, like my the last meal I had was yesterday morning, and I feel great. I went worked out this morning, I didn't feel feed myself anything after that. I don't take protein, I don't think any of that stuff, you know, because uh it's about all about the same thing, you know, you you need to fast to so that your body can get into a state where it it can actually repair itself, but in order to get to that point, you have to give your body an opportunity to do it. If you're eating all the time, you don't do that. All you do is you know, digest rest, digest rest. You don't achieve recovery. And that's why we have all these problems because our bodies don't achieve recovery, you know. And a good example is myself, you know, when I had a fracture, um when saw my doctor and asked, you know, this is when I was going through that phase of learning. I asked my doctor, how long is it, how long is this is this gonna take to heal? They said, Oh, four to six months, you know, maybe three if you're good. You know, I did it in a month. So I ate all the right things, practiced all the right things. It's all interconnected, that's why I talk about holistic with my business, is because like you can't eat without the right mindset, and you can't have the right mindset without the right spirituality, you know, because spirituality is energy, and that's that's ingrained in our DNA as you know, the indigenous people. And that's where that's where you talk when you know now science is starting to understand that they talk about manifestation and all of that stuff and frequencies, but our ancestors knew all of that, and you wonder why the knowledge was cut off.
SPEAKER_01:So that's why there's that chronic illness epidemic right now, because a lot of our mob are disconnected from culture and spirit, therefore the health is is missing too. Yeah, that's right. Do you do you feel that when you start to eat better, you naturally make better choices, but for us it it goes a layer a layer deeper. And talk me through some of that that cultural knowledge that you've sort of practiced, whether it be mindset, whether it be, you know, stuff back in the islands that that you incorporate that have transformed you to come up with this business.
SPEAKER_00:So no, you know, one of the one of the biggest things, you know, growing up is the idea of um, you know, practicing gratitude all the time, being grateful for what you have, showing respect, and not um expecting things, you know, not have that sense of entitlement. And you know, and it's it's all about the same thing. Now you learn a bit of talk about that, you know, even gratitude itself. So gratitude scientifically has been proven to be to vibrate at the highest frequency. Wow. And then you got like love, stuff about gratitude, is the highest one. So you practice gratitude, you know, and they talk about, and with all of that, they talk about um, you know, we're all walking antennas, so it's like a a radio tower, your radio station. In order for you to tune into that station, you have to hit that frequency. Your body's the same. If you want to bring in what you want, you need to vibrate at that frequency for it to come to for it to show itself to you physically. That's what I talk about, like you know, throughout practicing that, like you know, I'm reading all this stuff now, but it makes sense with our culture and spirituality, and we talk about how they vision things, they were visionaries, you know, they knew things, they could change the weather, they can do all that stuff, yeah. You know, and they talk about the same thing, you know. I was listening to a podcast yesterday, and then one of the guys on there was talking about his friend who's an American Indian. Um, they were in the desert and it wasn't raining, um, and they want it wanted rain there. And plus, um, so he was talking about his friend who's an American Indian, and um the fella said to him, Listen, you know, I want it to rain, but I can't think about it. Like, I I'm not I can't think about it. I just need to be grateful and experience the fact that it's already raining, like feel it, feel the senses, but but be grateful for the fact that it's raining right now. Yeah, and then an hour later it started raining. Wow. Yeah, and you know, things like that, the power of the you know, there, the mind, everything manifestation, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Athletes are using it, mindset coaches are using it, and even resonating with people and people coming into your life at certain times, and people you know, people think that someone's left, you know, that it's you know, energy exchanges, yeah, resonance and frequency. I think we don't talk about this enough. Um in society, yeah. We're always hardwired to devices, and you know, I've got my device sitting here right now. But you know, when you first discovered this, how old were you? I I'm not gonna ask your age now, but like was it 10 years ago? Was it, you know?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I my journey started like seven, six, seven years ago. My journey started. I was always healthy and fit before that, but I was taking supplements and all that stuff, didn't have the right mindset. And um, I had a lot of things happen that made me question why, you know, we all go through that. Why is this happening to me? Why, why, why, all that all the whys. Yeah, and then yeah. Um, and then you know, the reality of like, well, you can't walk around being upset about it, take control of what you have control over, and so yeah, and then I started on that journey about it, it was more about the diet aspect first, changing the lifestyle, and then as I went further and further, once that started to balance itself out proper, then the mindfulness started to come in, and the spirituality obviously mindfulness first, and spirituality flows after it. Um so yeah, and then you know, as I was going through that, it's just the same thing. Like, there's no point in stressing over things that you don't have control over. Yes, you know, there's so many things that you have control over. The fact that you're sitting like I'm sitting here right now, moving my hands, walking outside, going for a walk. Yeah, these are wonderful things. You just have to bring it to the forefront and stop worrying about things that you don't have control over.
SPEAKER_01:That's the and and and that first step is is would you say ownership? Ownership of where you are and all the decisions in your life that have led you to where you are at this point in time, and then taking ownership over that instead of passing blame or having a victim mentality, and once you start to own it, then you can start to practice gratitude. Do you believe that could be a step for some people?
SPEAKER_00:Ownership of yeah, definitely. Like for myself, because I did that and I feel great. And you know, you once upon a time sometimes you don't even realize you have a victim mentality. You just you just it just happened and you're just there. But then when you get this opportunity, when you actually because you know, me naturally being a very introverted person, I do a lot of deep thinking. Um, I think about these things, about these situations that I was in, how it could go differently. And I think you know, about that stuff, and then and I realize that like you know, that victim mentality is strong there, you know, you can't do that stuff, and especially for yourself, because the reality of it is talk about the same thing. If you want to align yourself, you have to there ownership, and when ownership comes, gratitude and stuff like that just follows. Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I I I'm a huge uh victim mentality. I had it for for many years, and it wasn't until that change when my life started to change, and I realized the the man that I was wasn't a man for starters. I was just a boy parading as a young man.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Uh because I was deeply insecure and I was deeply uh wounded through trauma and all these things, but a lot of it was just my interpretation of what I went through. And I woke up one day, I looked at myself and went You're just making excuses for your inaction. And then everything changed.
SPEAKER_00:I said that's the first step. And it's amazing. But you know, it's like but to be fair to our mob, it's like, you know, what you don't know, you don't know. Because this all the stress, everything that comes with it, all that stuff, all that trauma that that was, you know, that was sort of like introduced into our culture. We just sort of didn't have that before. Yes. And even trying to navigate that, we don't have the tools because we've never had that. So that's why they talk about men don't show emotion. Yeah, back in the days when we didn't have all these outside influences that cause stress, you know, and all that sort of stuff.
SPEAKER_01:And it's it's very, very important, I think. We're having these conversations now when and uh you know podcasts weren't really as popular ten years ago, but we're having these conversations now. For the younger ones now, you know, then 16 to 18 year olds might be listening, feeling this way, and it's like we didn't we didn't have uncles yarning this to us about purpose and meaning, and you know, we just had uncles growling us and telling us, you know, but that there's that respect there. Yeah. You know, I don't even swear around my uncles and aunnies. Like I'm I'm just yep, anie, yep, no worries. Like whatever you need. But I can't have a conversation with them about purpose and meaning, yeah, alignment and aspirations.
SPEAKER_00:Because they didn't grow up in there, you see, yeah. And that's the thing. You know, I I I resonate with that because the same thing, it's like, you know, sometimes because I think to myself, like, I wish I had someone to mentor me to tell me all these things that I'm going through now. But the beauty of it is I had myself. I when I as soon as I realize that I had myself, I counsel myself every day, talk to myself all the time, refer to myself as a third person, you know, or a second person, sorry, all the time, because that's that's the best way to create that ownership. Yes. Like you do something, like you know, it could be as simple as have driving a car having a little road rage over someone, but then pick it looking in the mirror, like the review mirror, seeing yourself and say, mate, what are you doing? Just relax. That's right. There's no point.
SPEAKER_01:Is that really as big as what I'm making it right now?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Now, for people watching, they might be feeling a certain way about the world. I don't want to sort of um pass judgment on how people process things in the world. But if someone's struggling and they're like, I want to stop stressing so much and being anxious, what are some some steps, maybe some thoughts, some easy things that they could do to start that process of?
SPEAKER_00:Well, my you know, my one of my biggest things is, you know, this this self-reflection. Start thinking about the things that you're doing. Good, get away from the noise. Get away from the noise, disconnect, put your phone away, exercise, get those right chemicals inside your bloodstream, inside your body, so that you have a bit of mental clarity when you do start to reflect. Yes. Um, and reflect on these things, reflect on your actions and think about it. And take the, like you said, take ownership. Take ownership. As soon as you take ownership, then you move forward. You don't latch on to the things that you can't control. If you don't take ownership, you're always gonna latch on to things that those same things that you can't control from the past. You take ownership, then you let it go. You move on to new things, you create, you know, new opportunities for yourself, possibilities. Possibilities are endless. It's just it's up to you as an individual to have the right mindset. And I think one one of the biggest things is like for our mob is don't wait until something happens. Because that's something I've known people that just drop with a heart attack and gone. That's it.
SPEAKER_01:And it's getting younger.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. Hypertension is massive. And why is that like you know, inflammation, inflammation from all the foods, chronic inflammation is a manifestation of disease over time. Yeah. You keep going, you keep going with that chronic inflammation, you know, you'll get diseases. And that's why I told people you can exercise, but if you don't deal with the inflammation, even though you exercise and lose weight, you can get a heart attack because your heart's still working over time. I know people that have that it's happened to. Um, and to reduce the inflammation, incorporate fasting and eat the right foods. That's it. It's that easy.
SPEAKER_01:Food is medicine.
SPEAKER_00:That's right, food is medicine.
SPEAKER_01:Now, I want to go back to your smoothie. I want to talk about this product. What flavor is it? Where can people find it? People listening out there, you know, like um, are you just in cans at the moment just getting it started through here? And and then will you be starting to ship it, you know, interstate? Talk me through all that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, for the for the flavouring side of things, it's it's not about flavor, it's about health. So there's no flavor, but it just tastes good. As a matter of fact, I I I bought one. I brought two. I bought you the tea and the smoothie for you to see that for you for you to have a go. And uh that's gratitude.
SPEAKER_01:There's no um deadly, deadly, deadly. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00:That's the that's the smoothie there. This is the tea. Wow.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you.
SPEAKER_00:It's that natural thing again, like it works like a natural antibiotic. So I put ingredients in it that actually that fights help your body fight um harmful bacteria and viruses the same thing. I can't publicize that. But you know, I've given it to family members and definitely notice the difference.
SPEAKER_01:I'm gonna have some I love like it's a day. Here we go. Oh, that's good. That is real good.
SPEAKER_00:When I do markets, when I do markets around cans, all the kids that come up and like of all of the kids, I've only had two that didn't like it. Really? So the best that's one of the best things is the fact that the kids like it. And they didn't like it because of the flavour, they like it because they didn't like it because of the consistency.
SPEAKER_01:Texture, yeah. Yeah. It's delicious. Coconut water, coconut milk, mango, banana, green apple, avocado, asai, coconut yogurt, spinach, passion fruit. Magnesium. Coconut. Oh yeah. This is actually really good. Like it's really tasty.
SPEAKER_00:Simple, easy. Especially where you're at in Brisbane, you know, like on the go. Yeah. Um, well at the moment I'm just I just service the Cairns area. Um I'm still I'm still growing in the um Cairns area. Or before I just be try the try the tea.
SPEAKER_01:Oh yeah. If you'll if No, well, like this is gonna go down real quick. It's it's really good. Because in another life before I started producing content, I was in in the health industry.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Um and it's divine timing and it's not coincidence that we're here talking now because this is a little off track. Last night I said it's time to find the balance again. Work and creative work is is been great, it's been growing, the growth, all those things, but then I've lost the health balance. So now it's time to stop making excuses and take ownership. Yeah, that's it. So that's why we're here, Yana.
SPEAKER_00:That's it. Everything happens for a reason.
SPEAKER_01:Oh yeah, and this is three serves cool. Oh yeah, astrogunda. Yeah, this will be good. Oh, that's good. That's real good. People are like, what is this podcast? Is it a a testing? A taste testing?
SPEAKER_00:Everyone loves the too. Oh, that's really good.
SPEAKER_01:I like that hint of cumin and ginger in there.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it it creates a good balance though, but it's not overpowering.
SPEAKER_01:No, it's it's just the right balance. How long did it take you to get the formulation right?
SPEAKER_00:Um well initially I started with one one for one simple formula, and then I just started adding more things as I as I moved forward. But it took me like I would I would say about a month. I wasn't trying I wasn't see the beauty of that is when I created that, I did it to give to help families when they were sick. That's how the tea started. It wasn't to sell. The sew was a smoothie. I didn't make it to sell, it was to help families, but obviously everyone like we need to we need to reach a lot of people. In order to do that, you gotta start a business and and grow it and then get give access to give it give people access.
SPEAKER_01:So um it's so good. So it it just started naturally to do exactly what you want to do is is help yeah, it's all about help everyone.
SPEAKER_00:Well with families, they you know, that have families that were been sick for a week, you know, these and then other families hear about the tea and they reach out and say, Oh, you know, mom or auntie, Aka, or this is and well, you know, can we get some tea? So I make the tea and bring it then next day and you know, tell me, oh, they're in the shopping center going for a walk now, they feel great. You're kidding. But that's how quickly your body absorbs thing. Yeah, you give it the opportunity, you give it what it needs, and it will utilize it in the right way. That's why, you know, creating creating this product is is also all about um pushing that awareness back in that you know, food is medicine. Yes, and we need to go back to cultivating. So trying to create this is also trying to help communities go back to harvesting their own stuff and the importance of it, because the reality is some of the stuff that goes into communities have been sprayed with pesticides, yes, and um that's toxic, that's toxic to your body, and if you don't have the right environment to get those toxins out, it's gonna accumulate, and then you get things like cancer and chronic illnesses and diseases, yeah. Um, so yeah, it's all about that. So we need to go back to the old ways, and that's gonna solve the problem, basically.
SPEAKER_01:Now, for people here that may be watching from Cannes, um, where can they find you?
SPEAKER_00:So well, my website, so I do sales online, but whole life pharmacy in Pea Street actually sell it if you wanted to try. Because online, because I do free deliveries, but online it's a minimum of three, obviously, to make the delivery worthwhile. Um, but yeah, and sometimes I do markets. I've got a Facebook page, I'm um I'm not big on social media, so I don't post much. Um, but I I love that because I want storytelling to drive it. I want these people that experience the changes to tell the stories, and then it's happened. Like I've gotten new orders come through.
SPEAKER_01:Um I wouldn't have found out about you if it wasn't happening.
SPEAKER_00:Well, that's right, and yeah, and I'm grateful. I'm I'm grateful for that. Um, but yeah, so in Cairns, yeah, just my through my website. Or um, and when you go to my website, you can access you can find my Facebook or Instagram, but the website's probably the best one.
SPEAKER_01:Amazing. We'll make sure that we we link all that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, and I know some of our older mob like e's um with the technology, they struggle a little bit to do online orders and stuff like that. Like, just flick me an email, just get contact me through there and we can start yarning because I can deliver and you can pay as soon as you you know you receive it if that works easier for you. I did one today. This morning, you know, I got a phone call to go out and someone wanted to have a yarn because they heard about it, so we sat down and had a good conversation. It's beautiful because it's the storytelling aspect too. You sit down, you have a yarn, they share their journey, you share your journey, and then they're looking for something, and then they hear about it and it's there, and then they're like straight away. And it was the same thing I was saying before. That's why um he didn't know how to navigate, you know. So he paid, he just paid thing, and then I, you know, I'll I'll deliver it to him.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, thank thank you for this. I I honestly like I knew we were yarning, I didn't expect to get one, didn't even think about it. So thank you. Because it's it's actually really good, and I just want to smash it, but I'm just going. Now, the next couple of years, um, you know, I don't like to put timelines on things. We don't really work on timelines, it's energy and it's you know persistence. But um, you know. What's the goals? Where are you going to take your movement? So legacy you're building.
SPEAKER_00:So my goal, yeah. My goal is to basically well I not I want to, I will have my own manufacturing hub where I mass produce this stuff. Um, but in saying that I'll also create opportunities in that space for other indigenous mob to come and utilize it to come up with their own ideas. So it's it's it's like a manufacturing slash ideas hub. Um my so I want to establish just like Bruce Juice, I want to have I don't sorry, wording, not one. I will have shopfronts, um, first in Cairns, and then my next target is Brisbane. So Brisbane, I I get a lot of interest online from Brisbane. So I want to go to Brisbane, market it down there. Um, and like I was saying before, too, about that research space. So I um I'll align the shopfront with the research, so doing testing on my products and to actually look at the chemical compounds that are actually in there, and then you can work out what the benefits are. Yeah. And then obviously that would be great for marketing, but then you know, you put it out there to everyone, not just our indigenous mob. That's right. You know.
SPEAKER_01:Um because people are they, you know, you've got this little QR code here to scan, you know, you can you can get that data, you can know what you're ingesting in your body.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And is giving you um, you know, giving you what you need, not what you want. What you need. Please, when you when it starts in Brisbane, let me know. I'll be all over it.
SPEAKER_00:Definitely, yeah. Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Darwin, communities as well. Um do a follow-up podcast. Yeah. And your partnerships as well with um organizations that are already in communities, so that before these, you know, as I'm growing, um, because like I was saying before, you can freeze it for four months so that communities can have access to it. You know, send it in communities through organizations like that. I'm already talking to a like um organization now to go down that path of creating that partnership to do that. Love it. The beauty of this is if you're a person that travels for work all the time on a weekly basis, yes, you can take it frozen with you, and then that becomes your lunch in the communities where you don't have access to good the good stuff.
SPEAKER_01:Now, I was going to ask about with starting your own business, movement, legacy, um, what are some of the challenge challenges you found? Um, and how did you overcome those challenges, if any?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, um well, for me in business, you know, you always get to a a point where you know, when I started, obviously there's situations where it's the same, you don't have control over, and you don't you don't necessarily get what you're looking for, but you know, you keep pushing and it you know a failure, you know, just keep failing, just keep failing, keep failing, keep failing because you want to fail. Like this is what I believe, you'd want to fail earlier on in your business, you know, your business career. Because by the time these failures come, when you've grown to a certain point, you you want to know you can see it already, you can see it happening before it even gets there, and you can just cut it off straight away. Yes, you know. So I'm a big believer in that and everything I listen to, and it they always talk about it. One interesting one is you know, it's about like um it's it's not a it's not a great food, but KFC. The guy had a recipe, and at the one 1009th mark, he got his deal. So he walked around asking over a thousand people, and that's business.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I love that.
SPEAKER_00:I'm a big believer in this happens for a reason, and I'm a big believer in the and well, all of our ancestors are around pushing this to happen because it needs to change, but and um, and it goes like that, you know, opportunities come, I go for it, and then there's a no, and more another opportunity, and there's always a bigger reason, and it's funny because there has been, there has been bigger reasons. Like I've you know, I wanted to uh I'll just tell a quick story about when um when I was really hungry for it and I was out there pushing for it, pushing for it, and in my mind I'm like, I want to get my product tested too, but I did but I was still fresh, I didn't know how to go about that, I didn't know who to talk to or who to approach. And then I was going through and I was given given time frames for for capital to to start my business, and it was like a it was like um it was in a long time, it was like well, it was a long time frame, but shorter. And when I got to that point where I was like, okay, it should be happening now. It just got it got prolonged even more. And it's funny because as soon as it got prolonged even more, because I I envisioned starting my shop, so I would have been in my shop working, setting that up, do getting everything ready, but I didn't do that, and so I had an opportunity to be a part of uh AI pitching um course out at JCU, and when I went out there and through there, I connected with um a fellow who owns a company that does testing. Wow. And so we, you know, and there's we created a bit of a partnership there, and he he sent me everything we needed to move forward. Oh, good, you know, everything, and then that's why I was like, man, everything happens for a reason.
SPEAKER_01:And um I'm so I I resonate with that so much. Yeah, I really do, even if it's crushing at the time, and sometimes um life can really crush.
SPEAKER_00:No, definitely, yeah. Like I was saying before about um those times where I was like, you know, why me? Why is this happening to me? You know, I had plenty of those, I actually had plenty of moments, you know. Thought about yeah, I went through phases of taking my own life and um, you know, been there, done that, and the reality is like things happen, and this is what I mean. I'm gonna talk about like um everything happens for a reason, because in those moments there was things that happened that made me snap out of it. Like, because the the darkest place is when you're emotionally numb to for me, when you don't nothing, nothing affects you in any way, shape, or form. You don't care about nothing, not even your own family. And when you're in that space, you know, well, taking your life is easy, it's not hard because you you're just numb, you didn't you didn't care about nothing, and um, yeah, and then around that, and then you know, things happened, um, or something happened, and then straight away I just snapped out of it, and then from then on, it was just about no, there's um you know, there's people that rely on me, um, it's people that I'm here for, so I need I just need to get up and keep going. And um, yeah, and I just kept moving forward and I just kept growing, and that's when I got went through those phases of starting those deep deep thought moments, self-s deep self-reflection, but with but at the forefront of all of that is accountability. Love it, you know, um, not excuses. I mean, at times I made excuses, I'm human, I made excuses, but yeah. The reality of it is like, well, don't dwell on that excuse, get to a point where you realign again and go, what a shitty excuse. And get up and go again.
SPEAKER_01:Find solutions.
SPEAKER_00:Find solutions, solutions-based mindset.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I've found that some people their identity becomes wrapped up in them talking about the problem.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Uh I want to give an example in my industry. Uh screenwriters, like I write scripts, right? I go to networking events where I meet someone, hey, I'm Max, I'm I'm a writer, I'm a writer too, and we talk about a project. They tell me I'm writing a screenplay. Screenplays can take time to write, like a novel, you know, it can take time.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But then month after month, year after year, I've written seven, eight screenplays. They're still writing that one screenplay. But I see them at the event, we don't even talk because they like to go and talk about I'm writing screenplay. Their identity has now been formed in the screenplay, not the actual act of the completion of it. And I've evolved and they want to stay the same because they find comfort in I'm a writer. Do I go anywhere? No. But you know, like I I like to focus on solutions and um mindset is everything. See, I don't know where I'm going half the time, but I'm sorry for that. But you know, everything you're saying makes sense.
SPEAKER_00:You're right. Well, I mean we don't if you think about it too much, then you Yeah, you think about it over and over again, you get to a point where you're like, what the fuck was I even thinking about? Yeah. Excuse my French. No, no, no. French is welcome. It's like um, why do you dwell on things? Why do you, like you said, keep going back to the same thing? Do you want to be it's just about attention and notice from other people. You want other people to validate who you are as a person. But the person that you sit with late at night is yourself. You validate yourself. So you don't need anybody to validate who you are.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. And that's a hard that's a hard place for people to sit sometimes.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it is, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:They they um that's why unfortunately substance abuse is something that you know uh affects a lot of people, affects our community because coming back to ownership to sit in your own self at night, the lights are off, you know, and own your own space.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's tough. That's very tough, yes. That's very tough.
SPEAKER_01:And you and and thank you for sharing because you you're I looking at you would assume that you wouldn't have been in such a dark place, but for you to to come back from that and now to be empowering people it's just inspiring. Well, you know, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I mean you look at society, that's that's one of the biggest things out there, you know, going through trauma because like I said before, experience is the best teacher. People want to learn from somebody, or people want to listen to somebody that understands. Yeah, especially somebody with like you said, you look at me, like you look at somebody, you think, Oh yeah, who's this fella? And then they tell you their story, and you're like, shit. But it resonates with you because behind closed doors, that's what you're going through, but then you hear their story, and that's how you change your life that you're like, if this guy can do it, I can do it. That's why you know, that's why my tagline for my thing is if I can, you can.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, exactly. And you know what I mean, it's it's it's your confidence. That that's what I mean, you know, it's the confidence, it's the um the confidence in you speaking about what you're doing, and I think a lot of our mob um, you know, we're not used for speaking up in spaces historically because we were told to shh or sit down or weren't allowed in the room. So I think it's a great time now for mob to um start their own movements, start their own businesses. Like, how important do you think it is for us mob to now start to think big, to start businesses, to elevate their mindset?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, it it's very important because how do we become self-sufficient? How do we create our own economies? We have to start our own businesses. We work for the government, we work for other people, we work for other people, we become slaves to those people. They control our time. You you work for me, I give you money. You know, and that's why I was talking about going back to the old ways of eating off the land. Because you do that, then you become self-sufficient. Your food, your food source is there, you grow it every day, it's organic, you know that you've looked after it. 100%. Um, and then that disconnects that aspect of it. But by starting your own business and and building it and growing it, then you start your own it's generational wealth, but we have to do it collectively. You know, the generational wealth for our mob has to be done collectively, but um respectfully as well. And you know, there's there's a lot of there's a lot of people out there that still don't necessarily understand the concept of money as a tool. They use it as a necessity, and when they get it, they become greedy because they want it all to themselves. Yes. But money is a tool, it's a tool to create a transaction for. For you to achieve what you need to achieve. I mean, that's what I understand about business. Um, because if you look at it like, oh, money, money, you're not gonna grow.
SPEAKER_01:No.
SPEAKER_00:You need to use that as a transaction because you need to make those sacrifices and take those risks to use a big man of your money to do something. Sometimes when the money grows, people are like, Oh, I don't want to spend it. Which is, you know, I I understand and respect that. But that's the mentality they want you to have, especially if you want to start something, you have to take a risk.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, risk in life, risk in relationships, risk with family, sometimes having tough conversations. Yeah how do you find when you're in a um environment, let's just say you're at a health seminar at the markets and you have some elders, and and you know that our elders um may have some chronic diseases, they may be eating the wrong foods just due to the effects of colonization and white bread and soft drink and all that. How do you have those tough conversations with our old people while whilst maintaining that respect?
SPEAKER_00:Storytelling.
SPEAKER_01:Boom. Just drop boom.
SPEAKER_00:Just tell them about the past. Remind them of what things were like when they were young. I mean, they might have traumatic past, and I completely understand that. But remind them of the stories that they have heard about the elders before them and how they were strong. They were fit, they ate off the land, they did this, they did. And then you say, then you go back to explaining what you're doing now. The importance of why I'm doing what I'm doing, I'm rewinding the clock to go back because we have this problem. That's why you're sitting here, uncle or auntie. You're sitting here because you have this issue inside your body. Yes. And I and you then you explain what the food does inside their body, so they get a bit of an understanding. You could you create you use storytelling aspects to explain that, you don't get technical about it. That's why a lot of organizations go into communities and there's a barrier there because you don't understand what you're trying to say because you're using technical terms. That's right. Um, and using these terminologies where it's just like that's not us, but our more we we love stories. That's why we can sit down and yarn until 3 a.m. We've got to work next day. But that's it, that's right. Make biggest noise, and then our more we're simple people. Simple people, A, B, C.
SPEAKER_01:That's it.
SPEAKER_00:That's it. It's it's true. A B C. But when you get to C, you've achieved what you wanted to achieve. That's right. As soon as you understand that, you just realize I'll just do it. If it doesn't work, the best thing about doing it is if it doesn't work, it doesn't mean that that's the end. It what it means is you can come up with other ways to create that thing happening in the future. If you never experience it, you'll never learn.
SPEAKER_01:I want to close with um you're gonna take the stage. Um it could be a motivational quote, an ethos, or or something you you know, some words of advice.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, well, so what I what I will say is um, you know, like I've said it before, and I'll say it again, don't dwell on the things that you can't control. Focus on the things that you have control over, like I was saying before, little aspects, getting up in the morning, doing this, doing that, you change you focus on that, and everything around you will change. Because in doing that, you change who you are as a person, you change the way you think, you change the way the different chemicals inside your body, and you change how you vibrate as a person, and you tap into a you go into a different level, and things will just happen. Things will just happen.
SPEAKER_01:I love that.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you. Thank you. That's the level. That's all I'm gonna be on.