Success isn’t just about closing deals—it’s about creating lasting impact. In this episode of Success Unleash’d, hosts Zack Ellison and Shawne Merriman sit down with Jaye Connolly, Chairman and CEO of RippleNami, to discuss her journey from high-stakes M&A to transforming African economies through technology and innovation. Jaye shares how big data, strategic partnerships, and smart investments are driving Africa’s next era of economic growth. She also highlights why Africa’s greatest asset is its people and how RippleNami is helping nations achieve financial sovereignty by restructuring taxation, agriculture, and business infrastructure. This episode is about leveraging business for real change—a must-listen for anyone looking to redefine success beyond personal gains.

Success Unleash’d Principles From This Episode

1. Confidence and Preparation Lead to Success

Jaye emphasized the importance of preparation. Walking into a boardroom fully prepared sets you apart and builds authority.

2. Labels Equal Limits – Ignore Them

Instead of focusing on being a woman in business, Jaye focused on excelling in her field—proving that drive matters more than labels.

3. Leverage Unexpected Advantages

When people underestimated her, Jaye used it as an opportunity to surprise them and close major deals.

4. Africa Is the Future of Business Growth

With 1.5 billion people and rapid technological advancements, Africa is a massive untapped opportunity for innovation and investment.

5. Success in Business Mirrors Success in Sports

Jaye’s competitive background as an athlete shaped her relentless approach to winning in business.

6. Saying No Is a Power Move

Early in her career, Jaye said yes to everything. Now, she understands the value of protecting her time and energy.

7. Mentorship and Teamwork Matter

Building strong teams and long-term partnerships have been key to Jaye’s business success.

8. Innovation Drives Global Impact

RippleNami’s data solutions are transforming how African governments operate, proving that technology can create systemic change.

9. Persistence Is Key to Business Growth

Jaye’s journey shows that resilience, adaptability, and a willingness to keep showing up lead to long-term success.

10. Success Comes From Filling the Void

When given an opportunity, Jaye always stepped up and took responsibility—proving that leadership is about taking action.

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Watch the Episode Here

Listen to the Podcast Here

Building A Better Future: Transforming Africa Through Big Data With Jaye Connolly

Welcome to another episode of Success Unleashed. We have with us Jaye Connolly who’s the Chairman and CEO of RippleNami. Jaye, thanks for joining.

Thank you for having me.

You’ve done a ton of cool stuff in your career. Let’s get started in terms of what you’re doing and how you got here.

How Jaye Built A Career In High-Stakes Deals

It is our tenth anniversary for RippleNami. We’ve been working in Africa with leaders, deploying technology to solve critical problems, like big tech and big data, for the last couple of years. We’ve been journeying through Sub-Saharan Africa.

Before you started RippleNami, I know you did a lot of deals. You’re a deal-maker. Talk a little bit about that.

I grew up in Dallas, so I’m from the oil and gas industry. Once I moved out to California, there wasn’t much oil and gas going on so I went into M&A or Mergers and Acquisitions. I have been doing deals for 25 years. I did deals like Labcorp. I did big deals working on the corporate side. As the buyer of deals, you know what people want to buy. I then went and transitioned as CEO of turnaround companies that needed to be turned around and get ready for sale.

My first company was an AI company back in the early 2000s. We deployed AI in healthcare. I was CEO. We successfully sold it to UnitedHealthcare. It’s still the core of all their systems. I’ve done that three times. You get exhausted after every deal because everyone hates you when you walk in. You’re like, “Most of you are getting fired. We’re going to turn it around.” I retire each and every time, and then someone else comes and says, “We have this great idea. You’ve been to Africa. Why don’t you go to Africa and try to do something?” That’s what I’ve been doing for 40-some-odd years. I’ve been doing deals.

Is this one of these things that has always been with you? What has gotten you into this space from the start? How did it all transition to what you’re doing now?

Lessons From Competitive Sports And Business Leadership

I was an athlete like you. I was not as professional as you but I was an athlete. I was super competitive. Growing up in Texas, my mom was a very strong woman. She was like, “You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it.” I decided I was going to get an accounting degree because if you know the numbers, you can rule the world. Numbers come and go. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in. If you know the numbers, you can rule the world. That’s what started this journey.

I love deals. It’s a deal high and a deal low. There have been some crushing lows, but that competitiveness to try to get the deal done and make sure it works for the company has driven me my entire career. I always like to say I Forrest Gump my way through this whole thing. I had no plan. I just showed up to work and they were like, “You’re in charge of something,” because everybody else got laid off and I was the cheapest person. I always took advantage of whatever situation I was in to make the best out of it.

I always like this question, especially when I’m talking to former athletes. One of the things that always comes up is when I’m talking to somebody who is like, “I didn’t play at the level you played at,” I say, “I don’t care if you played a D2 or D3. You went through training camps. You went through practice. You were sore some days. You understand it.” Does any of that mindset for being an athlete help in the second part of what you’re doing now?

Absolutely. It’s not about the win. It’s about bringing the team together. I played competitive soccer. I was a D1 player back when there wasn’t girls’ soccer, so I played against boys. We toured the country playing against boys’ teams, but it didn’t seem like there was a problem with that. It was just something we did. That competitiveness is about winning but also about being part of a team and making sure the team is going to win. It’s not just about me. It wasn’t an I sport. It was a team sport.

When you were younger, what was it that motivated you? Who are your role models?

I come from a very long line of strong women. They said, “You can do anything you want. Just do your best. We don’t care if you’re perfect at it. Just do your best and apply yourself.” That’s what I did. My definition of best was perfect. I try to be perfect. I then decided later on in life that the older you get, the less you care. It’s like, “I’m going to be flawed. It’s okay. I don’t know the answer.” In your twenties, you had to know the answer. In your 40s, you don’t care if you know the answer.

I used to take offense to people using athletic terms. When I go to these board meetings and I’m talking to one of my intellectual property attorneys or something like that, when I first started, they would always say, “This is like being on a 4th and goal and there are three minutes left in the game.” I would say, “I can’t understand what you’re saying.”

After a while, I said, “There are a lot of similarities between being an athlete and in business.” I always say that we’re some of the most disciplined people walking on planet Earth because, at some point, you’re told what time you got to wake up, what time you have to go eat food, what time you have to watch a film, and what time you have to work out and practice. We’re always on the schedule. Has a lot of that helped you in this phase?

100%, and coupled it with I was a single mom, so I was even more efficient. You had to get your real job done during the day because when you got home, there was another job waiting for you. You had to be efficient. I hired single moms for the longest time because they get stuff done. You don’t have time to sit there, gossip, and complain about who said what about you. It’s like, “I got eight hours. I got to work here. I got to work fast. I have to go home, pick up the kid, and then I got to get homework done, and then I’ll go back to work.” It was timing. When you’re always on a schedule as an athlete and as a single mom, you have to be efficient with your time.

When you were coming up, I’m sure you ran into a lot of challenges, hurdles, and roadblocks. What did you do to overcome those? Did you have a certain mindset? What was it that got you through the tough times?

Thriving In Male-Dominated Industries

I’m glad I was brought up in the generation I was in because there weren’t all these labels that equaled limits. I never thought of myself as anything different than a person who wanted to work hard. That’s it. I didn’t think I was a woman walking into a man’s club in the oil industry. It didn’t matter. This is what I wanted to be. I wanted to be in the oil and gas industry.

I tell this to everyone I mentor, “Stop labeling yourself. Labels equal limits. You will fail.” That out of your mouth is such a downer for me. I didn’t even want to deal with people like that. They’re like, “I grew up poor.” I’m like, “So did I.” They’re like, “I grew up like this.” I’m like, “So did I. I can one-up you all day long. Who cares? What are you going to do with it? You have the same opportunity as everyone.” Everybody’s got the same opportunity. It’s just the drive.

I always use that all the time, especially when you’re talking about being an athlete. I remember when I got my first big injury. I’ve never had any significant amount of time missed. I blew out my knee and I came back. For the first time ever, I started to think about doing other things. It was like that Superman cape fell off where I was like, “I can get hurt. This thing can be done.”

I remember trying to get through that and get back on the field. I was walking out and seeing my teammates going. I was injured and had ice on all the time. I had my leg up because I couldn’t go and do these things. It started to build an extra layer of skin that I had when I endured those things and got through it. Talk about those different layers because you talk about these labels or someone says they come from this background. The fact that you did, you built this layer of skin that has helped you do what you’re doing.

My name is Jaye. It sounds like a guy. When we’d walk in deals, they go, “Who’s in charge? Who’s that guy that’s in charge? Who’s Jaye? Where is he?” I’m like, “That would be me. Let’s sit down.” They would be like, “What?” I’m like, “Thank you for noticing. Let’s get this deal done.” Sometimes the reaction was that way. I played with it. I used it to my advantage. I didn’t use it like, “You don’t think I’m a woman.” I’m like, “I’m going to take advantage of it. You’re thinking with one head and I’m thinking with the other. Let’s get this deal done.”

In some ways, being a woman has been an advantage, right?

100%.

What advice would you give to other women in business? Sometimes, they might think that being a woman is a disadvantage but there are also advantages. What are some of the advantages that women have that they should utilize?

I hate these types of gendered questions because it depends on the person and drive. It’s all about looking people in the eyes and having the confidence that you’re a subject matter expert, whatever that is. I walk in and meet African presidents. I went to the Ghana President’s Inauguration. I’m the only woman. I’m the only blonde woman there, so they call me the American lady.

It’s that confidence to look them in the eyes, shake them in the hand, and say, “Thank you for having me. What is it that we can help you with?” It’s to have the confidence like, “This is what we’ve done.” If you don’t know the subject matter that you’re going to speak with, it doesn’t matter who you are, woman, man, or whatever. Know your stuff. Be prepared.

I don’t think it has to do with being a woman. I get that question a lot. I can’t relate to it. I’m sorry. I don’t see myself as, “If I was a woman, I would do this.” I’m going to be talking to women and my whole thing is, “Come from a long line of strong people. If you’re in this position and we’re having this conversation, you’ve already made it. Where do you want to take your career in the next five years? Figure it out. What are the skillsets you need? Be prepared in life.” It’s not the answer you wanted to hear, but I don’t see it as a woman thing.

I appreciate that. You’re underestimated in a way initially. I’m not saying that’s the case now because there’s plenty of success for them. Eighty percent of my MMA company and exec level are women. It does not look the same, but when you walk in the door and they hear Jaye, they’re looking for some man to come in and be at that position that you’re at.

For me, it’s walking into the door and being an athlete. I get it all the time. They’re like, “How do you know about streaming? How do you know about intellectual property? How do you know about copyright?” I’m like, “You underestimated me walking in the door. That’s your fault. I have the advantage because I know a lot more information than you thought I did walking into the door.” I know you said they’re thinking one way and you’re thinking the other. Has that backfired and helped you in a way because you were underestimated walking in?

How Confidence And Preparation Win In The Boardroom

Yeah, because I am probably over-prepared than anyone in that room. That’s who I’m built like anyway. When I go in, I know every fact and every deal. I remember a deal I was doing. It was a big deal. I won’t name the company. There were all men and it was myself and the general counsel. The general counsel was a woman.

We walk in. I’m the head of the deal and she’s the head of legal and they treated us so poorly. They kept talking to the men. The guys were like, “They’re in charge. You got to ask them,” and they wouldn’t do it. I finally stood up and said, “You’re not here to do a deal. You want to talk bro top. Let me know when you’re ready to talk and we’ll come back. Until such time, this conversation is over” We took control of the situation and then they were like, “Sorry. We didn’t realize.” I’m like, “The guy told you three times. You failed to listen.” It was about that directness and then earned respect.

When you were climbing the career ladder, did you have any big breaks? What was your first big break?

I started at Pennzoil. When I started, the price of oil went to $12 a barrel. It was the day I started. They said, “It’s over. Everyone is getting laid off.” 500 people got laid off. I had a hangover because this was my 1st day and I was 2 weeks out of college. They said, “You’re in charge now.” I was like, “I’m in charge of what?” They were like, “Discontinued operations, mining, and all this stuff.” I had no idea what I was doing. My thing was that 90% of life is showing up. When they tell you, “This is what you’re going to do,” do the best you can, learn as much as you can, and then move on from that.

The biggest break was my first M&A job. I was going to interview with the CFO. It happened to be a publicly traded company. Back in Texas, when you went to a shareholder meeting, there’d be thousands of people. I said, “My interview is next week. There’s a shareholder meeting. I’ll go to the shareholder meeting so maybe I can glean some more information.” I was the only person at the shareholder meeting. I had to introduce myself to the CFO and said, “I’m interviewing with you next week. I’m trying to understand a little bit more about the company.” He goes, “You’re hired. You took initiative. You came here.” That’s how I entered M&A.

Why Africa Is The Next Big Business Opportunity

Can you talk a little bit about the market in Africa? Even some of the stuff that we’re doing on the combat sports side and the streaming side, it’s a market that I can’t get away from. Anytime I walk into some of these big meetings, the endless possibilities and the growth is coming out of Africa.

When I look at Africa, there are 1.5 billion people across 54 countries. By 2030, it will have the largest workforce in the world. They don’t have legacy ICT or technology systems. They are implementing systems at a rate that you cannot imagine. They are more efficient than our own government. They don’t have documents down in a mine. I hear we have documents here down in a mine. They all use this cell phone. They’re willing to put any type of technology in because they didn’t have it. They don’t have the same systems and structure that we have.

Where would I go? I go into governments and I get all their data from all their different ministries and pull that together to solve problems. If you think about it, where else would I go to do that? That’s Africa. They are so willing and so open. I’m going to an AI conference in Côte d’Ivoire. I’m one of the speakers about how we’re going to deploy AI into agriculture and taxation, which is what we do all day long. We’ve been using AI for a long time and they will deploy it. They love blockchain. They love anything advanced. Starlink has taken off there. It’s everywhere.

To me, Africa is full of opportunity. They’ve been independent for 60 years. That’s when the colonists left. Think about where we were during that time. We were putting railroads in. They’re well beyond that. They will leapfrog us because they have all the natural resources everyone needs to make all these cell phones and everything. They’re being exploited and we’re helping them put technology to stop that. I love it over there. They have the youngest population in the world. Fifty percent of their population is under sixteen years old. That’s why they’ll have the largest workforce. There is an abundant amount of opportunities.

Success Is 90% About Showing Up

I wanted to go back to one thing you said about how 90% of success is showing up. I 100% agree. We talked about this in a prior episode. It pretty much comes up all the time because it’s such a fundamental principle of success. One thing I wanted to add to that is first, it’s showing up, so you’re in a position to get picked and to have an opportunity. If you’re not there, you’re not going to have any shot.

The other lesson that I’ll add to that that applies to startups especially but also applies to everybody’s career is you show up but then you stay alive. Even if you’re not improving, there are often others around you that are falling off. In the startup world, other competitors are running out of cash. They’ve mismanaged their business. Just by showing up and staying alive, eventually, the others self-destruct in many cases.

You see this in big businesses too. I’ve worked at five publicly traded companies, three with over $1 trillion in assets. A lot of the people at the top of these financial firms, in my opinion, I don’t think are the most talented people. I don’t think they’re the best leaders. They’ve gotten there through almost attrition. Everybody else has fallen off and hasn’t been there long enough or hasn’t kissed enough behinds to get to that spot.

It’s a very good principle to think about is the idea of consistency. Show up every day. Going back to sports, it’s the same thing. If you show up every day and you practice hard, eventually, a coach is going to put you in the game. If you don’t show up or you’re not a good practice player, you’re never going to get in the game.

I would add something to that. It’s filling the void. I had a great boss. He’d look at me and go, “When I point to you, you have to fill the void. I don’t know what that void is going to be but you got to do it. Whatever the hole is, fill the hole.” My team and I have been together for four companies. We know each other’s cadence. We know the strengths and weaknesses. We know not to call, when to call, or when to ask.

We always know that if you ask for something, it will get done. I don’t have to go bug someone like, “Is it done yet?” It’s about filling the void. They’ll see holes and they’re like, “You weren’t thinking about this. You need to do this.” I love that in people. To me, it’s not about showing up. It is 90% showing up, but then where can you make a difference? Where do you see something that can be improved? Step up. Talk up. Speak up. Don’t just sit there and do the same thing over and over. That’s boring.

My former coach used to always tell me that the best ability that most people can have is availability, to be able to do it. What Zack was talking about with someone being a great leader or better, if you are able to step up and make yourself valuable, then that is where your value takes place. It’s not about always being the best at what you do. You make yourself valuable when you’re able to fill that void.

Shawne, in a prior episode, you mentioned this idea of “the more you can do.” Talk a little bit about that for people who missed that episode.

You got these guys to come in and they might be late-round draft picks. In the fifth, sixth, or seventh round, they may make the team or they may not. They used to come to me in training camp. Everybody’s scared. They’re on the edge of their seats. They don’t know if someone’s going to come downstairs and take their playbook or tell them that they might get sent home on a Southwest flight that day or be cut. The NFL can be brutal at times.

They say, “What do I need to do to make this team?” I say, “Run down on special teams, carry water bottles, pick up helmets, and go clean the locker room. Do whatever you need to do to make the team.” We had this saying, “The more you can do.” The more versatile you are, the more important and the more valuable you become to the team and the company.

I agree.

I used to be a bond trader and was fortunate enough to work at 60 Wall Street at Deutsche Bank when we were the biggest bank in the world. It didn’t matter how much you got paid or what your pedigree was prior to getting there. Deutsche Bank recruited out of the best MBA programs in the world. We would all come in and we were given the most menial tasks. We had to get breakfast sandwiches for a trading desk with 40 people.

If you couldn’t get the orders 100% perfect, you weren’t going to get the next thing. These were kids coming out of Harvard, the University of Chicago, Wharton, and Columbia. Some of them looked down on that and they said, “Why am I getting sandwiches? I just went to Harvard.” The reality was that was the only way you were going to prove yourself to the real veterans or the real producers.

We always had that mindset as well, the same that you guys did. It was always, “What more can we do to make our team better and our boss’ job easier?” The number one piece of advice I got when I was interviewing at banks when I was in business school was, “Figure out how to make everybody’s life easier on that desk, be likable, and work your butt off and you’ll probably get the job that you want.”

If you were not willing to subjugate yourself, do the dirty work every day, get there at 5:30 in the morning, stay until 9:00 at night, get people sandwiches, and print out all the reports they want to see, back when people read the paper instead of everything on the screen, if you weren’t willing to do that, you weren’t going anywhere. You were going to be out the door and looking for a new job. That’s worth highlighting. No matter if you’re a professional athlete making millions, a trader making millions, or a CEO making millions, you have to get there through that hard work and that attention to detail, and making everybody else’s life easier.

You got to know the details. Otherwise, how do you know if it’s getting done right? I’m a visual learner, so I have to see and do. People can tell me things and I’ll be like, “Yeah.” I don’t resonate. If I do it, I will get it. If you can do everything, then you know how to manage when people are missing things.

Technology, Innovation, And The Power Of Data

How did you decide to get involved with RippleNami or found RippleNami? What are you guys doing exactly? It’s just so everybody knows what you’re doing in Africa.

I’m not a founder. I’m not an entrepreneur. This is way out of my swim lane of what I’m doing. I come from very large corporations and then I was in the buying spree at M&A for 25 years. Through my CEO of turning over companies, Bank of America had always been my line of credit for M&A. They said, “We got these two guys who started this company. Can you look at it and see if they got something? It’s something to do in Africa and you’ve been there.” That’s how this started.

I went in as an advisor. The whole premise was, “There’s a lot of big data. None of it is structured, so it becomes meaningless. What if we could structure these big data sets and make them information?” The name of the company, RippleNami, is a ripple of data that turns into a tsunami of information. One of the things we looked at when we were in Africa is how we can help these countries be sovereign nations, get off aid, get off China, get off everything else, and stop paying their debt back with whatever revenue they raise.

What Africans are invested in are land, agriculture, livestock, and property. They don’t put money in banks. They don’t believe in that. They put assets. We said, “What can we do in those three sectors that would help advance communities and economies?” We started in property taxation. We take all the ministries’ data and all the government’s data. Think of e-government. We pull it together on everything to do with property and feed it back to them. Think of Zillow for taxation. They have no traceability and no transparency. They can see who hasn’t paid taxes, who owns this, and who’s not paying. It’s amazing.

We started in Uganda several years ago and we’re through 30 countries now in Sub-Saharan Africa on that premise alone. We went into livestock traceability and agriculture. We did all the food security traceability during COVID. We’re a source for governments to pull together their data to solve the big problems so that they can become sovereign.

What are the next steps? We talk about the growth in Africa. It’s a market that I know we’re looking at for sure as far as streaming, content, combat sports, and different things. If you had a wishlist of what you would want to do in Africa, like the next steps, what would it be?

What we’re doing next is climate. I did a TED Talk on this called Carbon Credits Are Crap because they are. What is happening is the Europeans are driving this. Carbon credits are offsets. Companies invest in sustainable projects to offset their pollution emissions. Between 20% and 30% of the monies from carbon credits are to go to the local communities, and they are not. It made me mad.

What I’m trying to do is accelerate Africa’s participation in the climate economy on a very big scale at a national scale because it’s their natural resources that we are exploiting. Enough is enough. We’ve done it. We’re doing it with rare earth minerals. We’re doing it with logging. You name it. Enough is enough. I’m working with the presidents to put together national plans with technology and bring business-driven solutions rather than the development aid model. We’ve got to transform it. That is what we’re doing. That is what we’re focusing on, and we’re doing it at a national level.

Breaking Into Emerging Markets And Building Influence

Are you forming a lot of partnerships with private companies as well as governments?

100%. There’s no reason I’m successful in Africa without partnerships. We partner with usually the top 3 or 4 richest people in the country who want to make a difference for their country and we walk in together. We bring in other technologies. We are either going to buy, build, or develop it. That’s how we look at every bit of technology.

If it already exists, we’re going to partner. If it doesn’t exist, we’ll create it. If something is out there that maybe we could acquire that they don’t want to go into Africa, we’ll acquire it. We’re constantly looking for great technologies and great partners. We can’t do it by ourselves. We’re a small company but we have big ideas, a big audience, and we got the ears. That’s what we’re working on. Shawne, if you need help in Africa, let me know.

Since you brought it up, when you’re talking about sports and live sports streaming, they need more. Over the past several years of finding out more about Africa and not listening to the stigma or the media of what’s going on out there, the real upside in what’s going on out there has made us very intrigued. I’ll reach out when it comes time to do that.

Every weekend, I go out and meet with the local communities and the chiefs. I’m like, “How can we help you? What’s going on?” I want the pulse on the ground. I want to know what’s going on the ground. Kids always come up to me and say, “I’m a soccer player, how do I get exposed to the universities?” We came up with a solution. It didn’t go anywhere, but that’s what they want. There are some amazing athletes and they have no path to take what they’re doing in Africa and leverage it to somewhere else. If they go to Europe, sometimes they’re scammed. It’s not a good situation. That would be something I would love for you to help us with.

One of my best friends who I played college ball with at the University of Maryland started a program out there. If you’re not connected or you don’t know the right people, you never get things off the ground, which is why it’s smart of you to partner with existing companies, corporations, or organizations there because it’s extremely hard. That’s the problem they ran into. It’s such an emerging market in sports in general but also streaming and television. I can’t stop talking because I can’t avoid Africa at this point. Every time I go into a meeting, it’s always coming up.

It’s too big.

It’s going to be a huge market. It already is a huge market, but especially for what you guys are both doing. With what Shawne is doing with Lights Out Sports TV, it’s streaming sports live but also on demand. Imagine you’ve got one and a half billion people. Jaye, what was the percentage that’s under the age of sixteen?

50%.

You’ve got all these young people, many of whom I’m sure love sports, and they’re looking for exposure. They’re looking to find a place where they can watch sports. With everything moving from cable to streaming, as long as they have a Wi-Fi-enabled device, like a smartphone. Almost everybody has a smartphone. That’s what’s great.

At least 2 to 3 of them. They all have different phones. I’m like, “Why?” They’re like, “This is good for data. This is good for streaming. This is good for texts.” They always have 3 to 4 phones with them.

I was going to ask you how many phones you think there are in Africa. I was going to guess it was probably 3 to 5 billion.

Gone are the analogs. It seems to me they all have iPhones. Even though they say Android, Huawei, and China phones are the biggest phones, I don’t run into anyone who doesn’t have an iPhone.

Imagine all those folks with direct connectivity who can watch streaming sports from all over the world. That’s the best.

Elon has put Starlink throughout everything. These local communities that didn’t have the internet before can have it. We’re still pushing. We’re not done yet. They live with no power, no electricity, no internet, no water, no anything, but they will find a cell phone tower, stand by it, and get their social media with their phone. They will always pay for their mobile minutes.

They couldn’t bank. I love this about the African innovation. To be bankable, you need a national ID. Most of them don’t have a national ID. The mobile companies came up and said, “We’re going to provide mobile minutes.” One minute equals $1 or whatever denomination. They pay for everything via mobile minutes. If you go to a bar and you forget your wallet, you can call me and say, “Can you pay my tab?” I can send money directly to that restaurant via the till number and pay your tab via mobile minutes. That’s their cryptocurrency.

Is there more adoption of cryptocurrencies there?

No, it’s through mobile minutes. There are countries where their denomination is so bad that they use crypto to get money in and out, or the US dollar, illegally. For the most part, mobile minutes is their crypto, which was brilliant on behalf of Safaricom out of Kenya.

Busting Myths, Taking Risks, Leaving A Legacy

Jaye, in the interest of time, we’ve got about 8 to 10 minutes left so we’re going to do a lightning round of short questions. I’ll kick it off. Of all the things that people talk about in terms of habits for success, which is the greatest myth? In other words, which is the least relevant?

Intelligence.

Why is that?

It’s because you’re smart doesn’t mean you’re going to be successful or apply it in the right way.

If it’s not intelligence, what is it?

It’s drive and determination.

Agreed. Next question, what is the biggest risk you’ve taken? Did it pay off?

Africa. With an American lady in Africa, what are you thinking? My investors are like, “We have no idea what you’re talking about.” Africa is the biggest risk and it’s the most rewarding.

Jaye, what’s the number one thing that you think about to stay motivated when times are tough?

I don’t think about myself. I think about the impact and what’s the legacy I need to leave behind, not in terms of money but as far as impact. I don’t mean impact like aid. I mean impact in how I am making a difference in people’s lives. That’s what I worry about. Am I doing everything I can to make an impact in people’s lives?

We often ask about the why. Why are we doing this? That goes with the impact. Who are you doing it for? For me personally, some of these things are what gets me out of bed on those days when you sit up at the edge of the bed for five minutes before you get up and figure out if you’re going to get up that day. Why and how are you doing this? Do you have your why?

Yeah, I have my why. My why is this is exciting. Every day I wake up, it’s something new. It’s a different adventure. Since I work in Africa, they think I have all the answers. America thinks I have the answers. They keep calling like, “Can you do this? Can you do that?” Every day, I wake up and I can’t wait to turn on my phone and see what has occurred and what I am going to be working on because I never know. It’s a journey. It’s an adventure. I love adventure. This is an adventure.

You both hit on something, which is that when you’re working for something greater than yourself, that creates a sense of motivation and staying in power that I don’t think you can get if you’re just thinking about yourself. You think about soldiers that are fighting for their country or a boxer who’s in the late rounds who’s getting their butt kicked and who’s on the verge of death in some cases. They’re going to keep going because they’ve got their family there. They’re like, “I’m doing this for my kids. I have to make sure that I do it for them.”

That’s great advice to think about why you are doing something so that when things get tough, you have something that motivates you no matter how hard it is. For many people, that’s a higher power. It’s God, family, friends, or some mission. When you have that, that creates a sense of drive that will get you through the toughest spots in life.

I had a great friend tell me once, “Everything always works out in the end. If it’s not working out, it’s not the end, so keep moving. It’s not the end yet.” Everything always eventually works out the way it’s supposed to be.

Jaye, has your definition of success changed over time?

Yeah. When I was young, it was about money and new things. Now, it’s more about how can I right the wrongs that I see. Especially in Africa, there’s a lot of stuff wrong but it’s not because of Africa. It’s because of Western civilization. How do I right that wrong? I’ve become the spokesman for Africa on bad things that are going on to them.

Last question for Jaye. What’s one habit or mindset that’s completely changed your life that you would recommend others adopt?

Not saying yes to everything. It’s okay to say no to some things. Know your limitations. You can say yes to everything and you dilute your efforts and your ability to get it done. It’s okay to say no. No is a very powerful word. I was taught early on by a very complicated chairman that I had. He was like, “It’s okay to say no. No is more powerful than yes.”

As a 20-year-old 1st-round draft pick, I had to learn no very fast. It took me about twelve months to figure that one out. After that, I got good at noes.

It’s okay to say, “That doesn’t work for me.” You don’t have to say it like, “No, this is crap,” or whatever. It’s like, “No, that doesn’t work for me,” or “No, I don’t have this bandwidth.” In the beginning, you say yes to everything because you’re so eager. You have to step back. Your time is precious, so be careful of how you use your time.

Thanks, Jaye. I appreciate it. This was great. At some point, I’ll also reach out. I’ll get your contact information from Zack. There are so many opportunities in Africa. You’re boots on the ground there already. As we expand, I want to dive in out there a lot.

I work with the presidents. That’s what you have to do. Anyone who tells you anything different, that’s the wrong path. You have to have it from the top. I’m happy to help out. Thanks for having me.

Thank you. We appreciate it.

Important Links

• Zack Ellison on LinkedIn
• Zack Ellison on Instagram
• The 7 in 7 Show with Zack Ellison (podcast)
• Applied Real Intelligence (A.R.I.) Website
• Shawne Merriman on LinkedIn
• Shawne Merriman on Instagram
• Lights Out Sports TV Website
• Lights Out Xtreme Fighting Website
• Jaye Connolly
• RippleNami
• Jaye Connolly on LinkedIn
• Carbon Credits Are Crap – on YouTube
• Building Momentum Towards Success With Monalee Founder Walid Halty
• From Athlete To Angel Investor: Evan Dreyer’s Journey Of Risk, Resilience, And Building Success‘