No Turning Back in life or business with Martin Hobbs

In episode 107 of The Real P3 podcast, host Philip Johan Oldendahl embarks on a captivating journey with Martin Hobbs, a visionary from South Africa. Together, they meld the worlds of adventure, resilience, and the vast expanses of African agribusiness. Martin shares his extraordinary story of setting the Guinness World Record for the fastest time swimming the length of Lake Malawi. This endeavor pushed the limits of human endurance and determination.

Navigating through tales of border crossings, the essence of the "African handshake," and the unexpected challenges faced during Martin’s journey, the episode is a vivid narrative of perseverance, strategy, and the sheer will to overcome the formidable. Martin's recount of battling through inclement weather, potential threats from wildlife, and the physical toll of swimming in extreme conditions underscores the power of the human spirit and the importance of setting bite-sized goals to tackle seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Beyond the adventure, Martin delves into his philosophy of life and business, drawing parallels between his aquatic conquest and the principles that have guided him to success. From understanding the value of vocalizing ambitions to the intricate process of building and nurturing a business from the ground up, Martin imparts wisdom that resonates across the spectrum of personal and professional development.

This episode promises to inspire, enlighten, and ignite a passion for pushing boundaries, whether it be in the vast landscapes of Africa, the competitive world of agribusiness, or the personal quests we embark on. Join Casey and Johan for an enriching dialogue that bridges the gap between the science of nutrition, the heart of perseverance, and the art of living a life filled with purpose and adventure.

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www.thesunswinegroup.com

Transcript

Casey - Introduction
 0:00:00
 Welcome to the Real P3 podcast, now co-hosted by myself, Casey Bradley, and my esteemed colleague, Philip Johan Oldendahl from Zimbabwe. As we reintroduce the global agribusiness dimension to the Real P3, we aim to connect you with extraordinary individuals who inspire us to become unstoppable in both life and business. While I continue to shed light on the latest in animal nutrition and health, focusing on the US perspective, Johan will open the doors to his vast global network as a Neufeld Scholar. Embark with us on this enriched journey of discovery and practical insights. Our expanded view will navigate through the intricate world of agribusiness, powered by the collaborative efforts of Animistic and Swine Nutrition Management. This podcast is your bridge to groundbreaking ideas in animal nutrition, agriculture, and beyond, promising episodes that are not only enlightening, but deeply inspiring. Tune in to grow and transform with us. Real P3 Podcasts where science and heart converge, empowering knowledge to spring into action.

Johan
 0:01:19
 Okay everyone, so today I'm here with Martin Hobbs. He's visiting us from South Africa.
 We're in Zimbabwe currently and Martin, good to have you.

Martin Hobbs
 0:01:30
 Thank you. Hello Horsey.

Johan
 0:01:32
 So we're going to unpack the nicknames later. Yeah, I don't know how to come back from that already considering this is my first official podcast but you will hear a lot of people refer to me either as Johan or Vos and those can come out definitely later if there's interest. So Martin is the owner of a company called Nuquip in South Africa and that's what he's doing with us here today is we're using. And I think, Mart, the interesting story was your journey up to Zim through the ByteRidge border post via vehicle.

Martin 

0:02:12
 Yeah, no, it was interesting. 29 hours in total and 8 of it at the border, customs officials and paperwork and the other normal, you know, expecting the, what we call the African handshake. So yeah, it was interesting. No, well I'm sure the African handshake, we don't need to unpack that one. But it is Africa and as, yeah, just do it how, there's no other way to get around Africa to be honest, you can't get, but 8 hours at a border post, what do you reckon the temperatures were there?

Martin
 0:02:47
 No, it was sweltering, I mean we arrived there at 8 o'clock at night. Thank goodness So we were actually delayed but in hindsight it was actually a blessing in disguise So you're at a clock it must have been at least 35 degrees there And yeah, we got out there 4 o'clock in the morning And then we had another we had another another 12-hour drive to get you to you guys But it's lovely. That's what we do. We love it. We enjoy it and it's it's a journey, it's a ride, and you just got to go with the flow and try and enjoy every part of it, eh? And it was great to be there and see you guys.

Johan
 0:03:20
 Yeah, yeah, and seeing you in shorts today, I saw that the Mozzies also enjoyed the ride. Yeah, I know the Mozzies absolutely annihilated me at the border post. I think I might have lost a kilogram to them. So yeah, they sucked me dry. So yeah. Mozzies being mosquitoes, and it is a malaria area, so we actually went and got some co-optive just in case. Just in case, to rather be safe than sorry. So yeah, nobody got annihilated by them, but yeah, that is what it is.

Martin
 0:03:46
 And yeah, we made it here safely, which is the important thing. And the scenery on the route was really nice. There by Rindu River, those mountains and that edge is beautiful.

Johan
 0:03:56
 It's a beautiful drive, eh?

Martin
 0:03:57
 Yeah, lovely, lovely.
 Yeah.

Johan

0:03:58
 So Martin, I've actually sat through one of your motivational talks before and I'm really excited to start off this project with you because just for everyone to know, Martin Hobbs is the current holder of the Guinness World Record for the fastest time swimming the length of Lake Malawi, Lake Malawi in Africa in the country Malawi and also the Guinness World Record for the longest freshwater swim. Correct, yeah. And you know, I've sat through one of your talks and I think we find it really, really inspiring. I think the hardship, aside from actually the resilient side of being able to achieve such a feat, is also the danger aspect to it. You're swimming the length of a lake in Africa, there are crocodiles, there's all sorts of stuff. Although that's not what we're advertising for Malawi at all, and I think you fought safe the entire way through. You guys did your due diligence and work, but would you like to tell us a little bit about that, Martin, what led you to take on the challenge?

Martin
 0:04:52
 Yeah, so I mean, first of all, I'm not a swimmer. I only started swimming literally 10 years ago. Before that, it was just jumping in the pool and playing around like kids do. So I'm not a swimmer and it never was planned to be a swimmer. I basically, unfortunately due to some bad motorcycle accidents and an injury that I picked up when I was in the police, I basically messed my back up and I had to then look for another sport because the doc said, no more motorcycles, you got to take it easy. I was also a long distance runner, running is also not great for the back. So that was pretty much off the cards. So during my rehabilitation from the op, I started actually doing some like water aerobics.
 And I was in the pool and just trying to strengthen the muscles and trying to fix myself and heal. And then I was watching the guys in the pool next door to us swimming up and down and I thought, well, while I'm in the water and I'm trying to heal myself, why don't I actually try and swim a couple of laps? And that's what I did. I swam two laps and I thought I was going to die. I mean, breathing, anybody that swam a little bit competitively will know the breathing is a killer.
 And I thought I was never going to get it right and literally grew every week by probably a couple of laps, eventually until I was doing 10 laps and then I tried to push for 20 laps and then 30 and then 40. While I was doing 40 laps, and it takes a bit of time and it's quite mind-numbing, so I thought, well, let's try and make a goal. Why am I trying to keep on increasing the swimming and the swimming? And I said to my wife, I said, well, why don't we do something else? And she said, hey, have you ever thought about swimming the Midmar Mile?

Johan
 0:06:48
 The Midmar Mile being one of the South African…

Martin
 0:06:51
 Yeah, it's a big swim in South Africa. It's probably the largest open water swim actually worldwide. It's also in the Guinness Book of Records, but largest meaning quantity of people. It's only a mile that you swim. So I entered into that and we trained like hell. We were so scared we were going to drown and we were going to die. And we were training and we were training and did as much as we could. The night before we carbo loaded, we took it really serious and we swam and it was actually a piece of cake. We did it quite easily and did it and then went back the next year. And because, like I mentioned, it's the largest with the quantity of people, they actually then split it over eight races because it's more than 100,000 people that swim, this event. So it's too many to put into one race. So they split it over eight races. So then the next year I went and I actually swam two. So I did a mile and then late in the afternoon I did another one. And then the year after that I did four. And then the year after that I did all eight. So I basically swam to the end, jumped in the speedboat, got back and then did it again.

 But like I say, I'm not a swimmer. I say to the guys, I'm more like a steamboat. I'm not a speedboat. So I'm an endurance guy. I'm really slow. I swim all in breaststroke because of my spinal fusion, I don't have the flexibility in my back. So I can't swim freestyle, which is the fastest. I swim much, much faster than freestyle, but I can't because just the pain, the injury is too much. So I'm really slow, I don't swim fast at all, it doesn't look pretty, it doesn't look sexy, I don't look like Michael Phelps. He looks a lot better in his speedo than I do. So it's nothing sexy, it's nothing attractive what I do. And so I swam the 8 mile and I was like, okay, what's next? And I literally, I think every kid sits in the classroom and you can recall sitting out the window, gazing away because I wasn't focusing on the teacher, drifting off and thinking about doing some kind of adventure. I think every kid wants to have an adventure in life. Absolutely.

0:08:56
 And I always thought about maybe cycling from Johannesburg down to Cape Town. 

Johan

So from a youngster, you wanted to achieve something.

Martin
 Something, yeah.
 And I think I always wanted to do some kind of a major adventure. So I picked the map of Africa on Google Maps and I looked at it and I found Lake Malawi and I was like, well that's pretty much the longest straight line piece of water I could find. And I said, well, that's it, I'm gonna swim it.
 And yeah.

Johan

0:09:22
 And then, yeah, that's just an incredible story.

Martin

0:09:24
 And yeah, like I said, swimming in any lakes in Africa is Challenging.

 Comes with a lot of challenge. And you had more than just the danger aspect as well. I mean, it was fatigue that you're faced with. You were telling us a story the one day about the flies like a midge or a gnat that were on like in clouds that you could actually inhale these while you're swimming. Yeah, yeah, the gungu fly, lake fly.

Johan
 0:09:48
 The gungu fly.
 It's a good name.

Martin
 0:09:50
 So yeah, I mean there was, I mean there's the obvious things. Number one was the crocodiles. Lake Malawi is a pretty wide lake and we got some really good advice from some crocodile farmers and the local people and they said, listen chap, swim down the center of the lake. The lake is about 50 miles wide. So we literally swam right the way down the center of the lake. The chances of you getting a croc out there are very slim.

 Yeah, it's very slim.

Johan
 0:10:16
 I know from Lake Creve as well, we often jump in the water there, but we're always in the middle and you kind of feel confident that it's too deep and they're not going to swim out that far.

Martin
 0:10:23
 Exactly.

Johan
 0:10:24
 Yeah.

Martin
 0:10:24
 I mean, for them to go 25 miles, if they're out there, they're going to be knackered from the swim to get there. So the chances of you getting attacked by a croc are very low. So obviously the start and the beginning was our biggest danger zone, so we were on our guard big time there. We also had a tornado that ripped through Mozambique and headed into Lake Malawi which forced us because, and that was another thing we didn't realize, we were getting six meter waves in Lake Malawi and that's just, you can't comprehend it.

 So, the one day with those waves, they were six meters every day for four, five, six days and it just didn't stop.

Johan

0:11:03
 And you managed to push through that?

Martin
 0:11:04
 Yeah, so we just had to bite down hard and get through it and actually at one point, we were actually going backwards, the waves were pushing us backwards, it was that big. So we headed inland, which was obviously not where we wanted to be for the crocs, but we needed to get a little bit of shelter, get away from the wind and smaller waves. So there we were exposed at risk from the crocs and obviously there's hippos as well. But kind of the hippos, I don't know, I've got respect for them, so maybe they had respect for me.

 You know, whenever we got close to the hippos, they said, hey guys, we're here. Yeah, they let us know.

Johan
 0:11:42
 Definitely one of the most dangerous animals in Africa, however, I think more deadly on land if you get in between them and water.

Martin
 0:11:48
 Exactly, exactly.

 So they made us know, hey, we're here, and they came up, they did the, and they're spraying water all over the place, and we knew, okay, there we are.
 At a few meters, you're swimming, swim around the wide girth around them. And yeah, I know, so hippos, crux, waves, heaps. I mean, actually when I went to California to receive my Guinness Book of Records, it was held at an event just for swimming. There was actually nine of us that received swimming Guinness Book of Records. And quite a few of them were ice swimmers, and I was like, hey, you guys are insane to jump in the ice water. And they will try and swim a mile in this icy water. I said to the guys, you guys are insane. I don't know how you do it. And then I started talking to the guys and told them what I did. And I mentioned about the water temperature that I was swimming in. And we averaged around about 32 degree water temperature.

Johan
 0:12:46
 And they said, you think we're crazy?

Martin
 0:12:48
 Yeah.

 Man, you're crazy. And how much are you sweating out in the water that you don't even know? So they told me about a scenario that happened at the Dubai Olympics with the 10 kilometer open water swim in Dubai where the water temperature actually reached 29 and I think two guys died. So they've actually now put a rule in that water temperature 29, events canceled. Really? It's that insane. So I didn't even realize it.
 
 At the time. And some days I was out and we had a medic luckily on the boat. We had a very small team but that's another story. But I had a medic on the boat and a couple of days he had to put a drip in me and stabilize me because the water was just, it was hectic. It's hot, hot, hot. And Martin, that's something that really interests me as well. I mean, I think there's so much more to share about this story, I mean I know that for you to get sustenance in the actual swim itself, guys would feed you bananas or something off the stick so that you wouldn't compromise the swim by touching anything. Correct, yeah.

Johan
 0:13:47
 But like, I'm pretty sure there's days where you wanted to give up. I'm pretty sure there were days where you're like, you know what, I don't need this.

Martin
 0:13:53
 No, absolutely.

Johan
 0:13:54
 What do you find, and what do you search for when you wanna keep going? You know, and I think we can take these lessons into life as well, like how do you dig deep to go that extra mile?

Martin
 0:14:05
 Even in a situation where you don't actually need to be doing it, you still find it. You know, up until halfway, the swim went fairly easy, and then it got extremely hard with the tornado, which obviously made massive swells. And it was hectic, and I funded the thing myself, so there was a budget as well, which also put extra stress on because now you're worried your money is also going to run out. We had a timeline that we wanted to do it. We wanted to swim it in 40 days and we didn't make it. So that was a bit of a downer. But the heat, the exhaustion and just day after day diving back in that water, I mean I would wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning to eat my first breakfast. Then I'd set the alarm for 4 o'clock, I'd have my second breakfast. Then I'd have breakfast again with the crew at 5 o'clock in the morning and then ride up to the waypoint from the day before and jump in that water. I think that jump into that water the first time of the day, the strength you have to muster up to get into that water is just, it's hard. It's really hard. And what's the driving factor behind it?

 There's no secret recipe. I think determination that you just are not gonna give in and I'm the kind of guy, if I say I'm gonna do something, I'll do it.

Johan
 0:15:19
 Do you think that sort of determination can be found? Do you think some people are born with it? Do you think anyone has that where they can literally just dig deep and just go?

Martin
 0:15:27
 I think even if you're not born with it, I think you can work on it.
 
 You can find it. I think you can train yourself to become determined. You can, even if it's a small thing that you have to go through. The swim was hard, but actually in hindsight, the training was even harder. The nine months that I prepped for that training before was even harder. I mean, I swam 4,500 kilometers before I actually swam Lake Malawi. Which what was that length?

 That was 719 kilometers that I swam.

Johan
 0:16:00
 And your training was 4,500 kilometers?

Martin
 0:16:02
 Of serious hardcore training. Yeah. Did 4,500 Ks and some days, the weather was so bad that I couldn't swim in a lake. It was lightning so it's obviously a bit dangerous. Then you hit the pool and you have to do 600 laps.

Johan
 0:16:15
 It's mind-numbing.

Martin
 0:16:16
 I mean, I don't even count. I didn't even count the laps. I just worked on time. So I think the determination to get through it is hard. You've got to dig deep, you've got to have a goal.

Johan
 0:16:30
 You mentioned bite-sized goals earlier.

Martin
 0:16:32
 Yeah. I think that's something that I worked on extremely hard. So 719 kilometers is a long thing to try and visualize. And if you try to say, well, I'm aiming for 719 and let's say you swam 20 Ks today and then you say, right, okay, so tomorrow I've only got to swim 699 and then I'm there and you carry on like that. It's too big to actually... It doesn't feel like you're winning. Yeah, it's too big. It's overwhelming. Yeah. So I work on a thing what I call bite sizing. Bring it down to something that you can actually deal with and you can comprehend. So when we took Lake Malawi and obviously we knew South Africa very well, we took Lake Malawi to scale and pretty much from Johannesburg to Durban. And it's a road that I've traveled a lot and I know it very well, probably could drive it blindfolded, I've driven it that many times. So I said, okay, this is what I'm going to use, this is my tool. So then what I did is instead of saying, right, I'm going to now swim to Durban, I said, well, when I dive in day one, I'm swimming to Heidelberg, which is 70 kilometers. So I aim for Heidelberg, and after three, four days, I was at Heidelberg, and then I said, right, now I'm aiming for Wartum, which is another 70 Ks. And then I aim for Wartum.

Johan
 0:17:52
 So in your mind, you were setting these visuals that you knew.

Martin
 0:17:56
 Visuals that I knew of and that I could comprehend and that I could deal with, that I could absorb. The end goal is sometimes too big and you need to break it down into something that you can deal with and you can comprehend. And that's how I basically tackled it the whole way down. I basically moved from city to city that I knew on that road.

Johan
 0:18:13
 Yeah, you're on your own mind.

Martin
 0:18:14
 That's interesting. And I went down and then I actually, I took it one step further. I even broke it down in the day. So I was being fed meals every hour. Like you mentioned, my dad made the stick with a net on the end because I was never allowed to touch the boat while I was swimming. And in the net, he would have my food in there. And we had a certain routine which was first meal was bananas, second meal was bar ones, next one was jelly babies, protein shake. So in that first hour, all I would think about is bananas. And I would just think about how they were gonna taste, what it was gonna feel like in my mouth.

Johan
 0:18:53
 It's always a good motivator.

Martin
 0:18:55
 Exactly, it is a big motivator. So I just focused on that meal every hour and then by the time you know it, you're on your sixth meal, you're on your seventh meal and then the day is done. And you're like, okay, that wasn't so bad. You know, so break it down into bite-sized goals that you can actually comprehend.

 And it really, really works. For me, it works extremely well and don't try and aim for that end goal.

Johan
 0:19:22
 Keep that in mind.

Martin
 0:19:23
 Yeah, absolutely. And I think also another thing, you know, that I do differently and we talked about the end goal is I do something different and a lot of people will see a movie about a marathon runner who's gonna embark on his first marathon. And it's a movie of a guy, he's standing at the starting line, and he's looking at the starting line, he's visualizing the guy pulling the trigger, and everybody's running off, and he's in the cloud, and he's going. And that's kind of what his motivation is. And I do it completely different. I actually, before we even started, I went to the end.

Johan
 0:20:02
 You visualized the end?

Martin
 0:20:03
 I went to the end, exactly. And I looked at the beach where we were going to finish, and I got that picture in my head, and then I knew we had some flags and we had some bunting tape, and I visualized exactly where those flags were going to go in, the bunting in there. I knew the kids were going to be coming to see what was happening. And I had that image and that thought of the finish in my mind, so much that I could taste it.

Johan
 0:20:29
 That's amazing. And that's big on goal setting. I know having done some sort of motivational courses and Ignite Your Success courses, etc., a lot of it is set your goal and then try and feel what you'd feel like having achieved that.

Martin
 0:20:43
 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, on some of those tough days, obviously, I had a charity that helped me and I would think about them, and I had that finish. And some days I would almost go into a dwell. I'd be in like in a dreamland. And I would just be plodding away. The arms would just keep on going and going and going and going, and I'd be drifting off dreaming about that finish that I'm aiming for and how it would look. And I always say, if you don't know where you're going, if you don't know where your goal is, how do you stay on track? It's not the start, it's the finish. So you gotta have the goal, whether you're building a company or you're building a new farm like we are. I can visualize that completely in my mind.

Johan
 0:21:25
 I've seen you do that, actually. It's one of the things you do with work. I've seen Martin's done a couple of our piggies, and you can, you can literally see the end and you know where all the pieces go. And I think that's incredible, being a business owner and being able to know not just the end goal, but also all the little bits and pieces that make up that pig.

Johan
 0:21:40
 And we went straight into the swim because that's, I think we could speak about it for hours, Martin, I really hats off to you for achieving that.

Martin
 0:21:47
 Thank you.

Johan
 0:21:47
 But we missed out a little bit on background, so I'm going to circle back. So Martin came over to South Africa when he was 10 years old. He's originally from the UK.

Martin
 0:21:54
 Correct, yeah.

Johan
 0:21:55
 That's English heritage, right?

Martin
 0:21:56
 Yep.

Johan
 0:21:57
 Yep, and your parents built some chicken incubators and were offered sort of a job to come over and manage that whole setup for Rainbow Chickens? For Rainbow Chickens and all the guys. And so basically my dad was brought out here. And we obviously tagged along because he was working out here so much. We'd probably only see him a couple of weeks a year.

Martin
 0:22:16
 And we realized it was gonna be long term, so we made the move. We came out to South Africa. We'd been here in more than 30 odd years. 

Johan
 0:22:24
 You came over, you said, because I've got notes here. I did my homework, 1983 you guys moved to Africa. And that must have been interesting in itself, and I wonder how much of that life as a young English kid coming into an Afrikaans, well because South Africa is very Afrikaans, and there was always this sort of, I think it's getting a lot better, but acts against English in a way.

Martin
 0:22:44
 Yeah, it was tough, I mean, and my dad threw me in the deep end, he put me in an Afrikaans school.
 So that… And he did it because he wanted me to learn the language as quickly as possible. And it was pretty tough and it was pretty hardcore, but I dealt with it and moved along and there was often some situations that you go through.

Johan

0:23:08
 And you're a Brit that can now speak Afrikaans very fluently. Although I'm pretty sure you consider yourself 100% South African.

Martin
 0:23:14
 I'm South African.

Johan
 0:23:14
 You've been here your whole life.

Martin
 0:23:15
 Basically.

Johan
 0:23:16
 Yeah.

Martin
 0:23:17
 I'm South African through and through. I'm African.

Johan
 0:23:19
 Yeah, African. That's really cool. That's a cool story. And I think, I don't know, I can't help but think that move as a kid, at that age, you're coming into a completely different culture, different country, different language, how much of that early childhood years gave you sort of a strength to navigate?

Martin
 0:23:35
 Yeah, definitely. I mean, it definitely wasn't easy and maybe right back inside there's something that it had to do with. What defines one to say that you can become a Guinness Book of Records holder? It's tough.

Johan 0:23:53
 Yeah. And then from that, you joined a sort of a special ops part of the South African PoliceForce post-school, which I hear your parents were absolutely thrilled about the decision? 

Martin

Yeah, not so much. They went to Australia on the holiday and I was supposed to go to varsity and I can't even remember how I dropped the bomb on them, whether it was a phone call or a letter, but they weren't chuffed.
 You dropped your gun on the table.
 Yeah, I just booked myself into the police force and off I went. I got my mate living next door to take me to the local police station and I enrolled myself and that was it. That was also hard. It was tough. We had to serve four years national service. But while I was in there, I then enrolled into like a special forces. And I met some amazing guys while I was in the force.
 And one guy in particular that I met, he was an ex-KUFUT, which is also like a special force guy, really hardcore guys. And he also taught me about sort of mind over matter, how to block out pain. He was a lot of the grounding in getting me through special forces and I applied a lot what he taught me, how to block out that pain, how to just take your mind away from it and put yourself in a better place in those times when you're dying and you've got blisters, you're bleeding, you're hot, you're sweating, you can't handle it. it and I used a lot of that in Swimming Lake Malawi and obviously I used what he taught me to get me through special forces as well. 

Johan

That's really cool. Again, you said it a lot earlier in this podcast but some of the stuff can be taught.

Martin
 0:25:26
 You just need to be hungry for it.

Johan
 0:25:27
 You need to look for it.

Martin
 0:25:28
 Yeah, you need to want it. You need to want it. You need to want it. Absolutely. And if you really want it, you'll find ways to overcome it and to fight through it and do it if you really wanted that much.

Johan
 0:25:37
 Yeah, and I just find this whole story incredible, Martin, because from a kid joining special forces in Africa, again, a police force in Africa, guys, that's something that's foreign and it's not easy, I get you. And then at the same time, you're sort of night schools, you studied marketing, management and electrics?

Martin
 0:25:53
 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So after being in the police force, got into agriculture but wanted to get something behind my name and have some qualifications and also learning, you know. So I studied international marketing and management and electrical as well, doing like night schools and exams and that and got through with it.

Johan
 0:26:16
 So we're going to deal with some electrics on the farm tomorrow, I'm pretty sure you said earlier.

Martin
 0:26:21
 I was a while ago. I know they say once you've ridden a bicycle, you don't fall off. We'll see.

Johan
 0:26:27
 With the red cable, blue cable, it's pretty much. Yeah, and then Martin, sort of agribusiness from your perspective, and I understand that this audience is potentially a global audience. What are things that you find that work and don't work in life and in business? I think this is really important because it can be applied to a lot of people coming up in business. It can be applied to people maybe going through a hard time. Some countries are dealing with recessions, some countries are dealing with really hard socioeconomic situations and I think you have built an incredibly successful business. What are some lessons that we can take or some of your go-to's that you focus on? I think know your business from the ground up. 

Martin

Actually, my parents started the company but it was very small. I then came in and I think also making sure that I think one of my biggest drives is that I didn't want the – when they handed the company over to me and it was small at that stage and I had a goal, I had a dream where I wanted to take it to is I didn't want to be a failure and sink the company. I think that was – You didn't want to be that guy. I didn't want to be that guy to go to dad and say, hey dad, you know what you've built up, I've now just ruined. So failing is just not an option. That was a big thing.
 And you applied that to life too, your no turning back rule which I wrote down. Yeah, I'm going to touch on that now because I think that's probably one of my biggest trump cards for lack of a better word. It really does work. So I'll touch on that no turning back. But I think just to get back to the business side of things, so when I started out, we didn't have people. It was myself and maybe one other guy. And I did everything, learned everything, packed orders, pulled orders, delivered it, did the invoicing, did all of that. So I think that was every single facet within your company. So nobody can mess you around. Nobody can tell you, well, it took me 10 hours to unload the container.
 
 

So I know the company from the ground up and then people. That was the last thing I thought when I started the company was working with people. I think that's one of the biggest things you need to learn how to do is to work with people, manage people. Within the business and outside of the business, building and harnessing relationships. Yeah, building and harnessing relationships, that's kind of a sales thing, but actually your own people, your internal people, making sure you're getting first of all the right caliber of people. So now that we're actually at the biggest stage in the company, I let the person who's now looking for somebody to work with them, I let them do the first interviews and I actually do the second interviews. And I'm not worried about what the person's qualifications are. That's been done by the previous person. They've looked into his qualifications, what his history's had, experience he's had, where he's worked, what he's done, blah, blah, blah. When that person gets brought to me for a second interview, I'm digging into what the personality is. Who's the person? Where's he come from? Where's he grown up? How's he grown up? What's he done?

 I'm really digging into what that person is. The qualification, I'm not cared about. So the right people in your business, number one, is critical. And then, obviously, you've got to keep them happy. You've got to keep them motivated, keep them driven. Wanting to be there.

Johan
 0:29:49
 Yeah.

Martin
 0:29:50
 And I think I learned a thing from another pig farmer in the Cape. He's a very simple farmer and he taught me a couple of things in life, but the one take home thing for me was if you're not prepared to do that job yourself, how can you expect a staff member to actually do it?

 Exactly. And that was one thing that I turned back and then I looked at my business and I looked at something maybe that the guys are doing like unloading a container and it was maybe out in the rain or in the sun and I was like, well, I wouldn't want to do that. So how am I expected for this guy to actually do it and actually do it with passion and do it right and do it properly, you know. So I think a big thing that I took home was make sure that if you can't do the job, then don't expect somebody else to do it. Absolutely. Yeah. Cool. And I've seen that. I can actually attest to that. I've seen you,

Johan

0:30:41
 I mean, you're here now, you know, as a business owner getting stuck in and getting your hands dirty and showing us how to fit things. You could easily send someone up, but you're right in the trenches. No, you have to be. You have to lead by example, roll up your sleeves, get dirty. That the guys can see, well, if he can do that, more so can we.

Martin
 0:31:00
 Yeah, absolutely. 

Johan

Now that's really interesting, Martin. And then we are gonna come to the end of this one, but I just wanted to ask one more. So of any challenges you've faced and how you've overcome those sort of challenges in your life.

Martin

0:31:13
 I'm gonna actually swing this question back to the no turning back. Yeah, 100%. This is one of the things that I think is one of the things that I live by and it works. We all know those, you and probably yourself, you've got an idea, maybe not you, you're a little bit dynamic.
 You're a crazy guy.

1
 0:31:34
 A lot of guys get an idea in their head and they think about something, but you know what 90% of the problem is? It stays in your head. You've got that idea, you've got to voice it. You've got to shout it out, you've got to stand on your balcony, scream it out to the world, whatever it is, you've got to announce it. If you just keep it in your head, you don't have to commit.

 So you're thinking, you're watching the Tour de France and you think, ah, that looks really nice, I want to do it, you know, and you might go, ah.

Johan
 0:32:05
 Tell someone.

Martin
 0:32:06
 Exactly.

Johan
 0:32:07
 Accountability.

Martin
 0:32:08
 Exactly, even if he thinks, ah, Jan, you're an idiot, man, you're never going to ride it. But it doesn't matter, you voiced it.

Johan
 0:32:13
 Yeah.

Martin
 0:32:14
 You need to voice it, you need to shout it out. Create your own accountability, I like that. Exactly.

Johan
 0:32:19
 Write it down, tell someone.

Martin
 0:32:20
 And that's what I did with Lake Malawi. Yeah. I went on to Morning Live TV, and I announced it to the country that I'm gonna swim Lake Malawi. I mean, it's almost like when you're gonna get married, you know, when you get engaged, there's still a chance you can kinda get out of it.

 You know what I mean?

 But when those wedding invitations are sent out, and your grandma phones you and says, I've just bought a new floral dress, and I've booked my ticket to come now to your wedding and fly to your wedding, there's no turning back at that point.

 That's what I call my no turning point.

Johan
 0:32:53
 No turning back.

Martin
 0:32:54
 No turning back. You know, shout it out, put it out to the universe that this is what I'm going to do, even if they laugh at you, so what, eh?

Johan
 0:33:00
 Do it. Yeah, shout it out. That's cool. I actually love that fact, like create your own accountability.

Martin

Exactly. And definitely some of the courses I'm doing now is if it's not in writing, it doesn't exist. Yeah. And that's something we're doing now is we're working through a course where they're encouraging you to write your five-year goal down every single day, what your one goal is. One-year goal is to get to your five-year goal and your ultimate ambition. Write it down, because once you've written it down, you can start manifesting it. And exactly, by telling people.

Martin 0:33:28
 Write it down and voice it.

Johan
 0:33:30
 And voice it.

Martin
 0:33:31
 Put it out there.

Johan
 0:33:33
 Cool.
 Martin, thank you so much for sitting with us in this podcast, I really appreciate it. Pleasure. And I really do. I mean, I'm a big believer in what you do. I know you do a lot of these chats for people and I don't think we always know what these talks do to people and how many lives it can potentially impact. So I just want to say I appreciate what you've done and what you are doing.

Martin
 0:33:54
 Pleasure. And yeah, thank you for taking the time.
 It's an absolute pleasure and I just hope somebody takes one small thing out of it and it works for them and that's all we need, that's all we ask. And I think as a Zimbabwean and South African having a chat we tried to manage the slang because I think we've got some