Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another S.L.T. Meet up your host, Alvaro, to bring you another successful, interesting, and in this case, very special guest. His name is Si Shah, and he's the founder and CEO of One Group International, which is a leading diversified business group specializing in real estate and venture capital. Now, they're based in London, and they have over a billion dollars worth of projects with over 800 employees all around the world.
This individual right here is a good friend and somebody that I really look up to, not just because of the success that he's amassed over the years in business, but also because of the mindset that he's acquired. So we're going to have him here with us today to tell us all about the 360 mindset that he takes for you to become a very successful individual in life. What's going on, right? Good at yourself?
Yeah, good. Thanks, man. I just landed on a ten-hour flight. I just landed like, what time, you know, 6.40?
I landed at 3 o'clock, so an hour and a half ago. I just got home like 15, 20 minutes ago. Right on, man, the hustle never starts, huh? There you go, man, there you go.
Where were you flying from? I was flying from Pakistan today. Back in Sanjay. You're now in the UK.
Now in London. Yeah. There you're always on the go. And I love that because you have built this incredible business structure.
You're all over the world with incredible real estate and venture capital projects. So for those that don't know much about you, they go into your social media, they see this inspirational businessman that is taking over the world right now. But give us a little quick summary of who Z is. Where do you want me to start from?
Like, I mean, you know, I was just, I think I just grew up as somebody who just wanted to be more, just wasn't happy with the status quo. So I never even knew what I wanted to be by. I just knew that I don't like the average life, you know? So from there, I just sort of, you know, really made goals, made bigger goals, kept achieving them, working hard, focusing.
And I'm just following the path of life really. All I knew is when I sat out is that, you know, I, you know, I, I grew up in a home that I've roped in. Like money was always a problem. Like it was always an issue.
And I was like, that's not how I want to live. That's just one thing that I knew. And my parents were both, they were professionals. They were in jobs.
So I was like, okay, these guys work 12 hours, 10, 12 hours a day. And they're always struggling for money. So I know two things. Number one is I need money.
And number two, you don't get it. You've got a job. I was like, you know, I just got to work. And then I just, you know, like just putting the word, just, you know, keep going, keep pushing limits, keep picking risks.
Never satisfy, do more, do more. And, you know, just got us to where we are. That's interesting because we've had previous conversations where you were telling me about your journey all the way to where you are today. And you've been facing a lot of notes, right?
A lot of people were closing you doors. A lot of people were saying you know, and instead of you quitting, which is what a lot of people do when they first face that resistance, you use that as an opportunity to grow. So tell us about those initial stages when you were on TV, and they told you not, this is not a good idea. You're not good enough.
You shouldn't go back to getting a job. No, you know, you know, it's, see what happens is I'll tell you, well, actually the TV story is an interesting one that you bring up now. So like I said, I was on TV. And when I was on that show, I was on a reality show.
So I was completely away from my home and my businesses. You only like to have like one phone call a week to your, to, for five minutes, to your family or your, whatever you want to call. So while I was on that show, when I came back out, I realized that basically my team, who I was, you know, this is going back around about shit, 11 years now. So I'm like 26 years old back then, 27 years old.
My whole team that effectively stolen my business. And it got to a stage where, you know, I built up all the way to get to, you know, it was turning over, you know, a couple of million dollars a year. And all of a sudden I'm now in minus in hundreds and thousands of worth of debt. So at that stage, you question yourself, right?
You're like, shit, you know, am I good enough for this? Am I out for this? You know, maybe I'm just not good enough. Maybe I should give up and, you know, I've got some good talent.
I can just go get a good job and I can, you know, do, I'll do okay. I'll do well. Bob's, yeah, I didn't do that. I carried on.
And now when I reflect in hindsight, there, the real turning points, those pivotal moments, when you have that self doubt, when everything you've built has fallen apart, it's about getting back up again and doing it again. And that's why you always say perseverance is the most important skill of any entrepreneur. It is true that a lot of people, when they go into this journey of entrepreneurship, the moment that they face a little bit of that resistance, they question themselves, right? And it might be through external forces or just internally through your own voice.
But that's why I wanted to bring you in here with us today, because you've been definitely building a very robust career out of entrepreneurship, which you mentioned not too long ago, the three key moments in the life of an entrepreneur. Where are you going to live? What career path are you going to? Who your life partner is?
You know, it's such a simple answer, but it's so important in terms of getting backitis. And a lot of people don't even ask themselves that question. How many people question themselves and think, am I living in the right place, you know, because the city you're in, the country you're in, the city you're in, the energy, the vibe where that place is going, that can carry you with it. The same way the industry you choose.
Let's say for example, if you go into an industry that's got an average growth rate of 20% a year, right? By default, you're getting put, you've got tailwind behind you and that's pushing you forward. Versus going into a declining industry and you're fighting against the time. You know, it's true.
It's really critical to see things in life, you know, like your life partner, what city you're living in, what industry you're working in, very important, who you're surrounding yourself with, these are the integral decisions of life. So true, and we've heard this so many times that you're the average of the five people you think out with. And that's a lot like, I'm also very grateful to be here in Miami where the city has been on growing. So it's such a man, Miami is popping.
It's popping. And you're just like, not riding the wave, but you're definitely having that uplift push because everything is going up. So whether you're in that industry, like real estate, for example, real estate in Miami, the city, and then the people, my partner, or everybody around, it's like, it's a perfect formula. And it's just such a basic foundation, right?
You just need to make a decision to go in that direction. People with energy, you know, when something's moving in a positive direction, the energy of that city, the conversations people are having the vision and then you attract the cities, when they're when cities are booming, they attract new people, right? And it's got a whole vibe in energy. Everyone's got that can do attitude like they're in a positive frame of mind.
So that's a huge, imagine, think about this, right? If you were to be born and live your, if you were to be born in the 70s, let's say, where would the best place in the world be to live? The UK, for example, where you are, that was like a really strong market. Silicon Valley.
Well, I mean, California, you just see that growing. I mean, I would look at that for me. I would look at that's where you want to be. Right.
I mean, you're looking at an industry that is starting to boom and they don't know. In looking at looking at buying, right? You're looking at that. But in the moment, if you're born and don't know, then you're just like, basically, another condition.
But yes, like right now, you see the booming with crypto, right? Like Bitcoin is like a whole high side. Everybody's like, oh, so where are they? Oh, bro.
Don't talk to me about crypto. Don't talk to me about crypto. I've got terrible, I've got terrible story about crypto. Yeah.
The whole time I never ever invested in crypto the whole time, right? Then what happened is one day, one of my friends comes to me is that look, he was in like deep in that crypto game, right? And he's like, bro, this is one coin, right? And some, I don't even know what the coin was called, right?
And he's like, look, basically, it's a sure shot 300 X, right? He's like, I'm putting in half a million dollars, right? And he's like 300 X is like the bottom. This will be a 500 X even, right?
So what he's talking about is 500 K to 150 million dollars, right? And he's saying this is going to happen like, you know, today, I'm investing today and, you know, like, I'm investing in the next couple of days and next week, 10 days is going to be 500,000 dollars, 250 million dollars. I left there, I left my damn man. Can you imagine if it actually happens?
Can you imagine? He's told me, and then he goes and does it and then 10 days, he told me, see, look, I made 150 million dollars off this. I will fucking shoot myself. But anyway, I was like, oh shit, so why did was not too much.
I think about about $150,000, right? And then that's when he told me about this. And within one or two days after that, about $150,000, I put into the crypto market, spread it into different things, not all into his coin, into various different ones. Bro, it was the next day, the market collapsed.
Oh God. What year were you in now? It was like 22? No, 21 November, October, November 21, something like that.
Anyway, the next day was when Bitcoin just went like from its peak to the top. Yeah, no, I mean, look, it's all like that with big, big waves, right? That's how people want to get into it. That's a different topic.
I mean, the reason that I really wanted to bring you on is because of that entrepreneurship mindset that you have that have taken you where you are today. And one of the things that I wanted to address is that you put a lot of effort into building your career to the degree that you didn't take care of all the areas in your life. And that is something that you realized as time was passing by that, wow, what am I really doing? And then you made this huge transformation on yourself.
When I was young, I used to train as a teenager, I used to be in the gym, I'd be feeling bad, I've been seeing on your story and everything on your field, on your Instagram that you're already into it. And you've been doing the Ironman or something, I think? No, what's on my list? The whole distance of an Ironman.
No way. That's crazy, man. That's crazy. That's crazy.
And yeah, so I just got to a stage, man. When I was like, I was out of shape eating bad, feeling bad, and COVID hit. And it was when COVID hit, you know what? I just need to make a change.
I just need to do something different. The whole world slowed down, everything was closed down. Like you lock down. So one thing I can do right now is I can eat clean and I can train.
So I just got all the weights and machines and treadmill and everything. And it's just work out in my apartment for the first two months in my house. And then after that, you're allowed to meet people outdoors. So I get a trainer and you train me outside in my garden, etc.
And that's where the journey started. And now it's the part where my lifestyle is part where I am. And that's beautiful. And it's what you said at the beginning, in terms of building your career, like building your life is that consistency, that resilience, that perseverance, because that always is an easy beginning, right?
You're not used to go to the gym every day or eating clean, so it's making those adjustments into routine habits. And then later on, it becomes my teaser. And it's part of your lifestyle. Well said.
Now, I know that you just go back and apply. You probably are like a bit like the up like tires. I just wanted to ask you one last question. What is luxury to you?
Luxury is being able to live life on your terms. That's not very right. I like that. That is luxury.
It's like, you know, the benefits of being an entrepreneur, the benefits of working hard is financial freedom. One of the benefits. And that's a luxury. That is what luxury is.
That, you know, having, you know, I remember times when like, you know, I didn't have money to order a burger, right? From a takeaway. Let's say like five dollars, right? Just didn't have the money, couldn't afford it.
So living like that or living where you constantly got to think, how much money about can I afford this, can I afford this, can we do this, can we do that? It's, you know, it's a difficult way of living. And I think luxury is having that freedom where you can do whatever you want without having that headache of, can I afford this, can I not, can we do this? Like, you know, you can go wherever you want, eat whatever you want, travel wherever you want, buy whatever you want, you know, that's what I mean.
Yeah, living on your own terms. That's actually 100%. Well, my friend, I really appreciate you. For those that want to find out more about your projects yourself, where can they go?
My Instagram. The easiest way. That's right. I think I'm actually, this year I've activated all my social media again.
And I've got all my platforms active, Instagram's active, LinkedIn's active, Facebook. They've even got me on TikTok all the time, not being on there myself, but I do have to talk about it as well. But yeah, so they're all social media active and find your social media. Yeah.
That was good to you. Well, listen. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Great to connect. And thanks again for everybody tuning in today. We hope you enjoyed it. And remember, embrace it's beautiful success in life.
My name is Alvaro and I'll see you next time.