[00:00:00] In 2018, Robert Wallace and his wife got on a ship. Six months, 40 countries, 100 ports. He was not on a holiday. This was a mission of research. He had already written eight books on entrepreneurship and decided that every single one of them had the exact same blind spot. They were all an American perspective.

So he went and looked at the rest of the world. Listen, this conversation was so good. Robert came back with three findings, and one of them he had been told his entire career was not real. I'm Priscilla Shumba, and welcome back to The Entrepreneur's Kitchen. In this episode, we get into how to build when you have nothing, where faith actually fits in, not as an add-on, not as fluff, but as the strategy.

How he hears the voice of God, and his answer is only two words long. And my favorite, why you build the structure of wealth before the wealth comes, or you lose it when it arrives. Let's jump [00:01:00] into the conversation

Priscilla Shumba: Welcome to the Entrepreneur's Kitchen This is an absolute treat because Robert not only understands business and entrepreneurship, he's a person of faith, and he's also been in the political arena.

This conversation's gonna help Christian entrepreneurs think strategically about their businesses, where their faith fits in, and where they fit into the political landscape. We don't usually go there, but we got Robert here, so we're gonna go there today.

Thank you so much, Robert, for joining us. Robert, you've done a lot of things. How do you introduce yourself?

Robert L. Wallace: Absolutely. So I am a humble servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm a follower of Christ. I am a Christian businessman who has created a number of businesses to not only create wealth and to create jobs, but to have impact on communities and people. I have been married 48 years to the love of my life, my sweetheart from college.

We met in engineering school at University of Pennsylvania, and we have [00:02:00] five grown children and we have 12 amazing grandchildren. So we continue to create jobs and have impact on our family, our community, - and the world, quite frankly. So we're very excited to be here, be part of your program, and hopefully we can share some things that may help some people. 

Priscilla Shumba: You've seen some exciting things in terms of entrepreneurship around the world. Our listeners are from everywhere. What's your take on what you're seeing right now?

Robert L. Wallace: There's a lot going on in the world that will impact all of us. Let me give some context. So in 2018 my wife and I decided I was working on my next book, which is called Global Entrepreneurship. I've written eight books, six have been published. But those books primarily looked at entrepreneurship from an American perspective, right?

People of color in America, but yet an American perspective. What I wanted to do in 2018 was to start my research looking at [00:03:00] global entrepreneurship. So expanding my realm, expanding my perspective from the US perspective to a global perspective. So 2018, we decided to hop on a ship, and we actually sailed the world for six months.

. We visited over 40 countries, We stopped at 100 ports of call in Australia, New Zealand, where you're based in that area, that part of the world, and throughout the entire world. And what we saw is a couple things. One is that entrepreneurship still has the power to change lives and to impact societies.

Two, we saw that what we call the Global South was now gaining speed on the production and creation of entrepreneurs from a different perspective than the Global North has. That was a really eye-opening thing for me. And the third thing I learned from this trip- was the intersection between successful entrepreneurship and spirituality, [00:04:00] right?

For a long time, a lot of experts said to me, "Oh, Bob, there's no connection between successful entrepreneurship and spiritual matters, and you should separate the two." From my research I found that's not the case I disagreed with them and disagree with them today. I do think there's a strong connection, there's interconnection there, and it's one that I've written about.

So many of my books address the issue of success from a physical intellectual perspective and as well as a spiritual perspective. That is the direction of this next generation of young entrepreneurs. They wanna see, how can I be a capitalist? How can I create jobs and wealth, but at the same time change my community?

How can I use capitalism, entrepreneurship, for example, to deal with climate change, right? Which is affecting all of us, especially in the US. How can I use , my [00:05:00] technical skills, my business skills to feed the poor, those who are hungry? That's a new trend that I'm seeing, and it's a global trend

Priscilla Shumba: In the global north, you hear a lot of people saying, "I don't know where this faith thing combines with business." And you're way ahead of your time because even now people are still having that friction around that to say "Just talk business.

If you're talking business, just talk business. If you're talking faith, just talk faith alone." What was it? Was there a moment that made you realize that no, the two must go together? Or what in you gave you that conviction before now where this is taking over?

Robert L. Wallace: Absolutely. The, the conviction for me started as a kid. Ju- just some context. I was raised in South Baltimore which is a tough city, tough neighborhood in what we call in US housing projects. This is housing for low-income communities, right? And it's a tough neighborhood. The schools tend not to be as good as the other schools.

, There's economic scarcity. [00:06:00] There's, drug addiction, there's violence. There's all the things that people who are impoverished around the world have to deal with. And so being raised in that environment, I saw the problems that our society has, right? that we need to address.

But I also saw entrepreneurs in my community, who by the way, didn't live in my community, right? They're people who lived outside my community, who came into my community to make money off of us, and then leave our community. I saw that and I said, "That's not right." The people , who are benefiting from the dollars that circulate through the community, those dollars should benefit the community.

So at a very young age, as a teenager, I saw that dynamic. And then I saw, at that age also, I saw the benefit that having a strong economic foundation, , the benefit that can have to a community. So when I saw, for example, in my own community, when we needed something, when we needed a baseball field, right?

When we needed a [00:07:00] playground built, who do we go to? We went to the business people, right? To make contributions. We went to the government too, but we went to business people. So I saw the power that business people had to do good. And so I said, as a young man, "Gee, one day I wanna be that business person. I wanna be the business person who's making enough money to take care of my wife and my children and my grandchildren and my family, but who also can have enough resources left over that I can invest in the community to make the lives of people in the community better."

And so throughout my career as an entrepreneur, I saw the opportunity to do just that. Now, to me, that parallels with the mission of Jesus Christ I would argue that Christ was an entrepreneur, right? He had a value proposition that was selling, all right?

And He had to convince people that, one, they needed it, and two, that He could provide what they needed. I think the same model applies to entrepreneurs who have a spiritual foundation. [00:08:00] They recognize that the gift that I've been given, in my case, is engineering and science. I'm an engineer. My companies are in tech.

, I'm in information technology. I'm in energy. We do large scale solar battery engineering, microgrid engineering, energy data analytics, all that engineering stuff, right? That's my gift. But my gift must be used not only to benefit me, but to benefit the kingdom of God. And so in doing that, I'm just following the model that Christ followed, right?

Except I'm using, technology and, and processes. But it's the same thing. I got a value proposition. I am selling it, and I'm trying to convince the market that you need what I have, and that I can help you in doing that. So to me, Priscilla, that's a very similar model that Christ used.

And so at a very young age, not only did... have it there, but then when I got into business as an adult and began making money, , we started going on mission trips all over the world, in different countries in Africa and Latin America, Southeast Asia. And what did we do? It's the same model that Christ applied.

That is, [00:09:00] let me meet people at their need. Let me meet them at their need. For example, Priscilla if a community needed water systems, let me build the water systems. If a community needed orphanages for children who lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, let me build that orphanage. If they needed a hospital to care for the sick, let me build that hospital, right?

But what I found in the process, Priscilla, in the business model here, that when I met them at their need, then it became easier for us to now do business together. Because now they would say, "Hey, this guy Bob Wallace and his group, they actually care about us. They care about us." So when we had another need where they had money to spend on who do they think of?

They think of people like Bob Wallace and say, "Hey, he's an engineer. They got a tech company. They got an energy company. Maybe we should talk to them and work with them," because we were able to build that trust. That's the same thing Christ did. Christ would say, , "Let me meet you at your need and meet your need." And [00:10:00] then in the process of us doing that, then we can pivot. We can pivot to the spiritual dimension, right? And that's the same thing that we do in our business.

, It's the same model. I'm just following the model of the master.

Priscilla Shumba: A lot of people who would listen to this would be that young Bob that feels like, "Look, I see what's happening in my community. I see the dollars are going elsewhere. I want to be that person who helps to change this, who helps to build up my community."

But they don't quite see how it's gonna happen or, how they're gonna manage to do that, but that seed is in them to want to do that. You worked for some amazing companies when you- I'll let you speak to that, started working and you walked away from that.

What made you make that pivotal decision?

Robert L. Wallace: , Priscilla. I think it's a fundamental question. I tell young people, I'm working on a, a new book called The 100 Principles of the Overcomers, and I'll talk to you about that. That's out next year. I would say, Priscilla, First things first.

In other words you and I, all of us, when we're born, God puts a [00:11:00] seed in us that is unique to us. It is a gift. It is your superpower, right? And you have to find where this superpower is and then spend your life making it better and making it stronger. So I say first things first. That is, find that superpower, work on that superpower.

In my case, it was engineering and science, Priscilla. I was gifted in math and science. I'm not very good in, English or reading books, but uh, you know, my gift is math and science. And so that's what I do. All my businesses, Priscilla, are tech businesses, right? Because that's what I do. That's my superpower.

That's my passion. And you gotta spend your early years... Like the first book I wrote, Priscilla, it's called "Black Wealth." And in that book, I talked about the stages of development, and I tied the stages to the decades of life. For example, I say in the book -- when you're 10 to 20, these are the things you should be focused on.

in your 20's these are the things you should be working on. This is not true for everybody, [00:12:00] Priscilla, but from my study, it kinda, there was some commonality there. From 30 to 40, this is what you should be doing. And 40, 50, so on. And so first things first, build yourself.

See, I think the mistake I see some people making, Priscilla, is that they try to do too much too soon. And I caution them because it's to me, it's in our DNA to want to help. It's in our DNA for most people to wanna extend a hand. It's in our DNA to take care of our sister and our brother, i-in most of us.

Not all of us, but many of us. That's great. But the first things first, you gotta work on you such that when you go out there in the marketplace, Priscilla, you are strong enough, you are confident enough, you are competent enough to compete. Because if you don't compete well in the marketplace and you can't sell your services or your products and all that because , it's tough competition, then you won't have the resources necessary to do [00:13:00] the thing, the vision that God's given you.

So I remind young people, especially young entrepreneurs, first things first, work on you. Work on you. Get your skills, get your education, build your network, your mentors. You can't do it by yourself, reach out and find mentors, men and women, that will help you to accelerate the process, to shorten the learning cycle, right?

So you can become more competitive and more competent a lot quicker. And then once we do that, Priscilla, then we're in a position where we can now have impact building orphanages Funding schools. , We have kids in,, in Tanzania and Kenya that we've adopted over the last 30 years. But guess what?

We pay for their education. We are paying for their education. So now many of them are in college. We're paying for their college. They're in Kenya, they're in Tanzania, they're in Uganda, okay? Because God has blessed us to have enough resources that we can do that. And I think, Priscilla, the key is first things [00:14:00] first.

Work on you first. Work on you first so that you're strong. When you get on an airplane, Priscilla, and they're doing their pre-launch check, what do they tell you? If the oxygen mask drops, what first thing you do? They tell you, put yours on first.

Because if you're unconscious, if you're unconscious, you can't help anybody else. So if you are economically unconscious, to use the metaphor even more, right? You can't be any help to anyone. So the key is first things first. Work on yourself first.

Priscilla Shumba: We run ahead of where we are and not understand that it starts right here. Don't try to go over there yet. Build that solid

Robert L. Wallace: right. Yes, ma'am

Priscilla Shumba: Yes., The first company that you started Robert, if you can talk us through how the idea came about, how did you know that this is the idea to go for what that process was like for you?

Robert L. Wallace: So first of all, Priscilla, recognize I have started a number of companies that failed okay? I got into leasing, I got into small business financing, [00:15:00] I got into small manufacturing, and they didn't work out, right? I would say, Priscilla, I went through at least five or six businesses that did not pan out, and that's okay.

That's okay. Okay, so there I knew what, what didn't work for me. My first business to really get traction was Biff Group Technologies. It was an information technology services company. And let me tell you, Priscilla, how I made that work. Prior to me starting that company, I was working as an employee for IBM.

So I was solving information technology problems, providing solutions for big customers like General Motors, Ford major companies. I was providing information technology solutions as I was doing it for IBM. So what I did, Priscilla, then, was take what I was already doing at IBM, the skill set that I had learned as an IBM engineer, and I parlayed that [00:16:00] into my own business.

So then when I left IBM, I was able to take some relationships with me. I was able to take the skill set that I had learned while at IBM. I was all over the world working for IBM. I had gone training all over the world for IB- for IBM. So I was prepared, okay? capacity, competence, right?

And capability. Yeah. I spent years building those three things. And so when I launched, I was in a strong position to be successful. And so that was my first company. It was an information technology services company. That company now, Priscilla, is almost 40 years old. I no longer run it. I'm the chairman of the board.

I've got people that run it. We've had employees for that long period of time and in some cases, Priscilla, we have second and third generation people working in the company. So we have people who started, and then their children join, and then their grandchildren join, right? So you can see the ripple effect of having impact, right?

And who knows, Priscilla, where, how far this will go. Only God [00:17:00] knows. But I'm just saying that we were able to build a foundation that was sustainable and that could stand the test of time such that we now can allow a new generation of people. We got young people now running the business, i'm the old guy in the room and then we got young people, right? Which is great. That's how it should be, right? And so we've been able to do it by God's grace.

Priscilla Shumba: When you were starting these businesses and they were failing, starting these businesses and they're failing, what kept you starting another one? Because maybe to the person who's like on the third one and it's failed, or on the fourth one and it's failed, and they're just like, "Maybe this is the sign.

This is not for me," what kept you going?

Robert L. Wallace: Yes. Good question, Priscilla. And I did have people during those difficult times, people who loved me. Not my wife. My wife was-- She's been-- I would not be where I am today were it not for my wife. My wife is a biomedical engineer from Ivy League school. She's smart, worked at Procter & Gamble, DuPont.

She's brilliant. Why she married me I'll never know, but, I thank God every day that she did, [00:18:00] right? There are people that just bring that kind of gift. And so when you're going through difficult times, and this is another thing, Priscilla, that's very important.

You've gotta very early on find a handful of people that you can trust, who have the skill set and the experience to help guide you. We call them mentors, right? It doesn't have to be many people, Priscilla. It doesn't have to be many. It could be two or three. And so what I was able to do, starting with my wife, who's been with me day one, -- And then other, we had three or four other mentors during that time.

So even in difficult times, others always were telling me, "Hey, Bob, go out and get a job. You're not-- This, this is not working. You got five kids, you got a wife, you can't take-- go out and get a job," right? They meant well. They didn't mean any harm.

Just in their mind, they couldn't see the dream, they couldn't see the vision. And so from their limited perspective, they told me what they thought I should do to help me. But then the group, the inner group, the inner circle, they're [00:19:00] like, "Okay," me and my wife, "Honey, okay, let's change the strategy. Let's pivot and let's see what else is out there that might make sense."

And that's how I was able to keep going, and in my case, Priscilla, my wife was an engineer. She was working so we had steady income - to meet the needs of the children. We had healthcare. So she provided that foundation, which allowed me then to go out and take more risk, right?

And that's important, Priscilla. That's important to have a partner. And it don't, it doesn't have to be a spouse necessarily, but somebody that can give you some cover, right? That can give you a foundation that you can build upon. And I was blessed to be able to have that.

Priscilla Shumba: Having that mentorship and that core group that understands, who you are and what it is that you're trying to do and can help you see what you saw in the beginning when things are not working out is really important.

Robert, for you, what do you think has been as you look back on the history of the company, the 30 years or so that things that have made a [00:20:00] really big difference in you personally and that you think for entrepreneurs as they are taking this walk and building, you found something that works, what do you do now to, one, sustain that and to sustain yourself to keep going?

Robert L. Wallace: What is your passion and your superpower, right? And then be clear on why you're doing it. See, I have found, Priscilla, that if the why, when an entrepreneur asks themselves why are they doing this, right? If the why is simply to make money it doesn't work. It doesn't work. It's a very short-lived experience.

You can make money, but if that's the end point, then, you're gonna be miserable. And I never wanted to be miserable in doing business. So the why was, for me, was not only to make money, create wealth, but to have impact. So when I see, for example, my employees we've sent people to college.

We've sent employees to get their PhDs. We've sent people where their [00:21:00] children are now working with us, and their grandchildren , as I mentioned. When we see communities that when they have a need, they can come to us and say, "Hey, can you help us with this?" And we can't help everybody, but we can help somebody, and we do often.

Those are the things, that kind of keep you going, when things get difficult. And to be clear on the why are you doing this? ', I always tell my employees this, may sound morbid, but I remind them, I say, "Folks, one day we're gonna die."

say, " Ooh, that sounds pretty difficult." , One day we gonna die. What I mean by that is I want things to be clear on the why of what we're doing and to keep things in perspective. See, sometimes things happen around us, things don't work out so well, people talk about us, they criticize us, we get all in a knot with that.

And I remind myself, and that is me, one day I'm gonna die. And when I'm on my death bed about to take my last breath on this side of eternity, what is it that I wanna be thinking about? What [00:22:00] is it that I wanna be remembered for? And that analysis helps me to put these things in perspective so I can maintain a clear mind and clear thought as to how I work my way through these situations.

And , that idea that we are mortal beings and we're gonna die one day, and what will all this matter at that point? So it's like, okay, whatever time I have left, how can I best use that time, right? To build the kingdom of God on this earth, all right, using the resources that I've been blessed with, right?

And helping make that happen.

Priscilla Shumba: , I really get that understanding of kingdom perspective. Sometimes we hear it, but we don't understand what does it look like practically and I can see that in the way that you make your decisions. Robert, for people who are becoming entrepreneurs,

there's a lot of noise, and then you don't quite know what is worth listening to. What does your day look like and how much of that do you take as this is how entrepreneurship should [00:23:00] be, hyperproductivity, and all those kind of things?

Robert L. Wallace: I've always said, Priscilla, if you wanna build a billion-dollar business, find a solution that a billion people need on the planet, and you will have a billion-dollar business. Now, to bring that home, closer to home. So if you look at the world, right? And I think, Priscilla, your listeners need to be looking at this on a world perspective.

you can start small, but you gotta think big, right? , Start small, think big. I'll give you an example. So we've already done work building solar plants, right? Not only US, but in countries in Africa, in the Caribbean and we're now looking at Latin America, right? 'Cause , it's a global reality.

And so that becomes very important for us that we have that perspective. I think if you look at the world, we got about 8.2 billion people, right? The bottom four billion people who make less than $1,500 a year, [00:24:00] okay? Those people have dramatic needs. As a matter of fact, a lot of the businesses that we've invested in are businesses , that , targeted the need of that four billion people on the lower levels, of the world pyramid, right?

That's a multi-trillion-dollar industry. And so those are areas that young entrepreneurs need to be looking at and saying, "What can I do with that market?" That for all intensive and purposes is being ignored. that's changing though, 'cause we have companies now that have come out of Stanford Business School and Harvard Business School.

People like yourself ... Who are not American, but who came to America I'm not saying you came to America to be educated, but many did, and they went back to their countries and they say, "Hey, there's a problem here that I can solve. If I can solve this problem, I can create a business.

I create a business, I can create wealth. If I create wealth, I can create jobs. If I create jobs I can create impact on these communities," and so I think Priscilla, that's a wonderful opportunity that young people, young entrepreneurs need to be looking at, [00:25:00] right? And not just following the pack, right?

There may be opportunity there, but there's a lot more opportunity, in my opinion, in that four billion people in the lower levels of that world pyramid

Priscilla Shumba: I, as an African living here, for a long time it was like we were all looking towards, the Americas and Europe, - as young people too, we were looking at that as young Africans saying, "We need to leave this place of hardship and be over there."

And now that we're over here, at this point in time, everything is shifting to look back to

Robert L. Wallace: It sure

Priscilla Shumba: we came from

Robert L. Wallace: Yes, ma'am. It sure is, Priscilla. It sure is. And I think it's okay, this is my opinion, I think it's okay, Priscilla, to... If you have the opportunity to come to the States for education, like you, go to business school or something, or engineering school or something like that, I think that's okay.

I think the mistake I see is that once you have that training and education, if you only [00:26:00] apply it to the American system or to the American environment, that- that's okay, and some people do that, and they do well with that, but I would argue there is a greater opportunity in that emerging markets, right?

The four billion people that I'm talking about , at that bottom of the pyramid that is , an amazing market because those people need and want the same things that everybody else wants, right? They want clean water. They want clean food. They want to send their kids , to school and educate their children.

They want good healthcare. They want infrastructure. They want to know that they matter and make a difference. Everybody, every human being, where they are on that scale, has the same needs. Now, these four billion people may not have the means that the other four billion have or thereabouts but they have the same desires and the same needs.

And I'm saying that if you can find a solution to a problem that a billion people [00:27:00] need, you can make a billion-dollar business. You can create a billion-dollar company. Thank you for that. I think-

Priscilla Shumba: When you've got multiple opportunities that look good, there are people talking about AI, people are talking about the Global South, so much is going on.

How do you, Robert, decide on which opportunity to go after or how do you think through it? I'm thinking for the, novice founder who's not sure how to think through opportunity

Robert L. Wallace: , The way I do it, Priscilla, is I start with what is my superpower, right? So if you came to me and said, "Hey Bob, , I wanna open a s- a, um, a series of restaurants." I would say, "Priscilla I, I'm the wrong person for you for that. I have no passion for that, no interest. I'm not good at it, and so I would be wasting your time and your money." All right? So the idea is to focus on what you're good at, what you're good at, what is your superpower, and what is the need? So if you have a need that you've identified and it's big enough need, it matches your superpower, it matches your talent and your gift, [00:28:00] and you're able to build a team.

That's another thing I wanna mention too, Priscilla. It's important for your listeners to recognize, do not try to do this by yourself, right? , Whatever it is that you're thinking about. So whatever vision God's given you, that's great, but you're gonna need people to help you. And one thing that hurt me in the beginning of my journey was I felt, and I total transparency here.

I felt that I didn't need any help. I felt I had multiple degrees from good schools. I was a hard worker. I've done all the things. I was tithing and offering and I was going to church. I had everything I thought I needed, right? And what I learned the hard way, it's not enough.

It's not enough to be smart. It's not enough to have a good idea. You gotta have people that can help you, that will help you. And so it's important to build a team of people that can help you. Now It doesn't have to be local people. Like for example, you and I meeting, online here, [00:29:00] right? You're in Australia, I'm outside Washington, DC.

Who knows , if I can help you down the road? Just even with just advice or make a connection with people or anything like that. Who knows? And so the key is to recognize that you need help. You need a team. . That's why I wrote the book about strategic partnerships and how to build them, 'cause I learned that is critical to long-term success.

And the sooner you master that, the sooner you master the art of building strategic partnerships, identifying them, and then building them, the sooner you'll be on your way to achieving your vision and making your dream a reality. I wish I learned that at a younger age. Took me a while, but I finally did learn it, but it took a while. 

Priscilla Shumba: Maybe it's the education system that kinda makes you wanna work by yourself or makes you

Robert L. Wallace: That it is. Yep

Priscilla Shumba: trust in yourself only and - I think that's even more now with all these technologies that people

Robert L. Wallace: Yes

Priscilla Shumba: [00:30:00] self-isolating. And I like that you point to the importance of that.

And okay, I hear it. I don't even know how to go about creating these strategic partnerships. What should I look for in people, and how do I approach them? All those questions that people might have

Robert L. Wallace: Sure. So my easy answer, Priscilla, on how they do it is they can buy my book. I'm trying to tease. Um, let me give it to you., Let me give you a summary of the book. All right? How they do it. 'Cause I get s- asked this question all the time, Priscilla, and it's the right question.

First thing you do is you have to humble yourself. Yeah, folks don't like to hear that. You have to humble yourself. What do I mean by that, Priscilla? It means you have to recognize and admit to yourself, "You know what? I don't know everything. I've got some blind spots, and I need help."

I need help. that's the humility part, okay? You gotta humble yourself, right? So when once you humble yourself, then you gotta figure out, okay, what is the community that I need to be a part of? So whether in my case, for example, when [00:31:00] we got into renewable energy like solar pro- and wind and batteries, we were in IT.

And we were doing a great job in IT, but we wanted to be in the energy business. So what did we do? We didn't have any eng- energy experience in a big way. What we do? We figured out what communities in the energy sector like solar and wind, battery, what communities existed already in those sectors, and then we did what I'm gonna recommend to your listeners, then we immersed ourselves in that community.

So when there was meetings or when there were groups that were talking about solar energy, when there were groups talking about battery engineering, when there were groups talking about wind energy, we were in the room. We put ourselves in the room. Once you put yourself in the room, you'll be amazed at the opportunities that will unfold.

And when we did that, when we took the effort to get out of our comfort zone and immerse ourselves, not just dibble dab and dibble [00:32:00] dab, immerse yourself in those industries. That means you become a member, you attend the meetings, you participate. You're not a wallflower. You talk, right?

You immerse yourself. What you will find is that the opportunity and deal stream will find its way to you. It's amazing and powerful principle, right? And too many of us, we isolate ourselves. We go, in front of our computer. We're there all day and we're, we're on social media and all that all that.

That has its place, but nothing replaces the old school, old fashioned get in your face, let me talk to you, let me buy you a cup of coffee. Let's spend some human time together. That still works. That's still the best approach in my opinion. So I would say, Priscilla, they start with that and then be clear on their destination.

Like I said earlier, Start small, but think big, [00:33:00] right? So we started small and for example, in the energy business, we did start doing small solar projects that we could handle, but then as we immersed ourself into the industry and began to meet people and began building alliances and partnerships, then we were able to do bigger and bigger deals.

That's how it works. That's the way it works. It's that simple. Now, here's the thing, Priscilla, that takes time. That takes time It takes patience. And anybody , who wants to be overnight success, okay, then they're not gonna get it. They're not gonna get it 'cause they think, "Man, I gotta do it now.

It's gotta happen now." I always tell people we are 20-year overnight success company, right? It's like I hope it happen in two weeks. No. That's not how it works. So get comfortable. Get comfortable with the fact, okay, this is gonna take some time.

This is gonna take some effort. This is gonna take some patience. Get comfortable with that and live with that, and I think you'll find that when you find your way, e-even when you make money it'll mean more to [00:34:00] you. It'll be more significant to you because of the process that you use to earn that money.

Priscilla Shumba: It's very hard for people in this world where you want things to happen really quickly

Robert L. Wallace: Yes

Priscilla Shumba: I don't know, whether to calm yourself or find a way to enjoy the process. did you struggle with that a little bit, Robert,

Robert L. Wallace: I get Priscilla, I totally get it. I, I'm not sure how old you are, but I was a young person at one time, I wanted it right away. and that's to be expected, and that's normal. what I wanna caution your listeners to though is that in moderation.

So it's okay to have that intensity. It's okay to want it to push push. All that's good. But recognize the process. The process is it takes time. Now, every now and then, Priscilla, a young woman, young man they hit a home run. Like my, one of my kids hit home runs early in their career.

I would argue they were able to hit a home run early in their career because they had parents who gave them a foundation. See, my [00:35:00] parents didn't do that. My mother was a janitor, my dad was a laborer. They didn't know about engineering, they didn't know about business, they didn't know about money.

We didn't have any money. So I had to start from scratch. Whereas my children are not starting from scratch. My grandchildren are not starting from scratch. So it's okay. Just understand the process though, the process. And I tell you people that I've, I have studied and talked to when they took their time to build a structure of wealth, right?

That is the intellectual, the physical, the spiritual, okay, dimensions to build the structure of wealth. Then when the wealth came, they were able to, for it to be more impactful because they had built the structure to handle it. When there's no structure, guess what? Even when it comes, you're gonna lose it.

It's gonna fall apart, and I've seen that time and time again. So I remind young people, young entrepreneurs, take your time. Take your time. It's okay to be pushing [00:36:00] and driving and energetic and passionate. All that's good, and keep doing that. But just recognize that the process does take time, and be comfortable with that.

Ooh.

Priscilla Shumba: Oh, that was so good. Now I'm gonna shift you a little bit, Rob, 'cause I want

Robert L. Wallace: Oh, that was so

Priscilla Shumba: you're doing all these amazing things and you're helping all these people, and then politics comes in.

Robert L. Wallace: Yes

Priscilla Shumba: What was the moment at which you decided that is the path to go and why?

Robert L. Wallace: Absolutely. , 'Cause people ask me all the time, "Why would you go into politics? You built a successful business. You make money. Why would you?" Sometimes God asks us to do things that we don't understand, right? That we don't get it, right? God, what are you talking about?

run for mayor of Baltimore? Are you serious? What, I think sometimes, Priscilla, in this case, politics, I felt that the way that the city of Baltimore was going, that it needed a different leadership model. It needed a different model that would impact the economic reality in [00:37:00] the city of Baltimore.

The city of Baltimore, for example, is like two-thirds African American, right? But many of those people, many African Americans live in poverty, right? , There's a very weak economic base, and I felt that if we can change that, if we can fix the economic dynamics in Baltimore City such that people of color participated more in the economic activities in the city, that we'd be a better city, that we'd be more a healthier and thriving city.

I really felt that way, and I felt that I was the best person to help usher in that era of economic prosperity across the board, not just for the top 10%, but for across the board, middle class and working class people. And I felt that I was the best person who were available to make that happen.

So I ended up running against the incumbent mayor. I came in second place. I got about 50,000 votes. First time an independent candidate [00:38:00] had ever run for mayor and had achieved that. And some of my ideas that I was putting forth during the campaign the mayor who did win, began to adopt some of my ideas.

And so that was a good thing. So it wasn't me in the office, but my ideas, some of them at least, had gained some traction in the conversation, debates, and all that. And to the mayor's credit, he was very open to pursuing some of those ideas.

Priscilla Shumba: A lot of times as people of faith, Christians, we try to shy away from the political

Robert L. Wallace: We good.

Priscilla Shumba: But the reality is it controls our experience of life

Robert L. Wallace: It does. It does. And you know why, Priscilla? People-- 'cause at my church I'm Seventh Day Adventist a member of a Seventh Day Adventist Church, and many of my members said Bob, if you do this, it will change you.", In other words, you won't change the system, the system will change you.

That was their fear. That is a possibility, and sometimes the forces of [00:39:00] evil are so great. But I'm a firm believer that greater is the power in me than the powers in the world. So I felt very confident, hey, if I got God on my side, I can go into this lion's den, okay, these, and be okay.

I can slay these dragons, because greater is the power that is in me than powers in the world. But there are many people, believers who feel like you shouldn't mix, religion with politics. And I totally disagree with that. 

Priscilla Shumba: I totally disagree with that as well. Bobby, you said something interesting as we're wrapping up. You said sometimes God will ask you to do things that don't make sense to you.

Robert L. Wallace: Thank you.

Priscilla Shumba: And there are times where you're not sure, was that me thinking that? Was it God telling me that? Did, did I get it from an idea from somewhere, social media ? And you're not really sure. How do you know that, okay, no, that's the voice of God

Robert L. Wallace: . How do you know what you're hearing is the voice of God? I will tell you how I do it, Priscilla. First of all, I do what the Apostle [00:40:00] Paul told us to do, pray without ceasing. Just pray about everything, and I do. I pray about everything. And when I get up in the morning, I'm talking to God.

I'm praying for my children, my grandchildren. I'm praying for my employees, my community, my country, the world, for you, people like you all over the world. 'Cause God has full control of the entire universe. Now, secondly, what I do. Unlike some Christians , who will say, , I'm gonna wait on the Lord, until he tells me what to do."

That's not my experience, Priscilla. My experience is I pray. I talk to God. I say, "God, these are the things that I'm looking at. This is the option that I'm gonna pursue, and I'm gonna pursue this unless or until you tell me there's a better way or some other way to go." In other words, I'm doing.

So I'm praying and I'm doing. I'm praying and I'm doing. Too many of us pray and we stop, and we just wait. And say , I'm waiting on the Lord." "What you [00:41:00] waiting on, brother?" "Oh, I'm waiting on the Lord." Okay. That's not how I have built my Christian life. I pray and then I do. I pray and I do.

I pray and I do. I pray and I do. I have found and I am, see this-- I just turned 70 years old, right? I have found my life and my journey that God works with me better when I pray, do, pray, do, pray, do, pray, do, pray, do. I have found this, it will move me better and quicker and more efficiently into different places.

, That's what my approach is, Priscilla, to what does God want me to do. 

Priscilla Shumba: Thank you so much, Bob. What, does Bob do to relax, or what are your hobbies? Bob the person.

Robert L. Wallace: Absolutely. No, that's a good question though. I I tell you my day. So usually I'm up every morning around 5:00 AM, 5:00, right? And first thing I do is I talk to God. So I have talk to God, have my devotion, right? 'Cause I need to hear from God. I need the [00:42:00] word. I've got issues I gotta deal with, got problems.

I don't know what to do. So God, tell me what to do. Tell me what to do, right? So I do that, and then , I'm in the gym, right? After I have my devotion in the mornings. So I'm starting my day, Priscilla 8:00, 9:00 in the morning my day starts. I've already had my devotion. I've had my physical workout, right?

Man, I'm ready, right? But again, throughout the day, pray, do, pray, do, pray, do, and that gives me my guidance - my wife and I, we love to travel. Our kids are all grown. My oldest child is 48, and our youngest baby, the girl is 32. We have 12 grandchildren, three of them in college. One of them is out of college, is now a Fulbright Scholar studying in Malta.

So we have a lot going on, and we still do mission work around the world. So we support and fund mission projects around the world. So it's a lot going on, Priscilla. It's a lot to do. And I will be busy as long as God gives me a [00:43:00] sound mind and sound body, I will be on the battlefield. So I told my kids, I have four sons and one daughter, I said, "When my time comes, you lay me on my shield and take me off the battlefield.

But you gonna find me on the battlefield, and you have to take me off the battlefield when my time comes."

Priscilla Shumba: What are you excited about for the future for Robert?

Robert L. Wallace: I'm excited about young people. Priscilla, one of the things I like to do is I like to go to the schools and across from our office is a nursery where the parents drop the kids off in the mornings. And some days I will just go out in front and I will watch those kids, and I will listen to them play and laugh and it gives me hope for the future.

It gives me hope for the future. And every little child I see or I meet I always ask myself the question: Is he the one? [00:44:00] Is she the one that will change the world? See every child is born, God put a unique seed in that child, and that seed is something that if the world wakes up and embraces it, that seed and that child can change the world.

So when I see a child, when I hear them laughing and playing, they're joyous and their minds are open wide, I think to myself, "Is that the child? Is that the child that will change the world? Is that the child that will find a cure for cancer? Is that the child that will take us to Mars to develop new places on the planet?

Is that the child that will address the needs of the four billion people on the lower levels of , the global pyramid? Is that the child?" And when I do that, Priscilla, it gives me hope. It gives me joy to say, "Man, there's hope. There's still a way that we can turn this around because these young [00:45:00] children are gonna lead the way."

And that gives me hope and confidence in the future.

Priscilla Shumba: I've appreciated talking to you, Robert. I'm interested to know your current book that you said is coming out soon if you can speak to us about that 

Robert L. Wallace: That book is called 100 Lessons From The Overcomers. Now what does that mean? I'll give you again some context. So in 2024, as you've been keeping watch on politics in America, America elected again , President Trump, to be president of the United States.

I get a call from my oldest granddaughter, the one that's the Fulbright scholar, and she's in Europe and she's in tears and she's like, ", pop-pop, they call me pop-pop. Said, "Pop-pop, I can't believe that America has put this man in charge of our nation a second time." And she's "What is wrong with the nation?

What's wrong with the people?" And so as I tried to console her and give her , some peace about the situation, I was telling her about how when we came up in the '60s and the '70s, we fought these same kinds of people, [00:46:00] the same kind of evil in America, and we were able to overcome it. And she turned to me and she said Pop-pop, that's good."

But she said, "My generation," and she's a-- I think she's , a Millennial, X generation. She said, "My generation doesn't know what those principles are 'cause we never had to fight this beast before. Your generation, Pop-pop, needs to educate us on what those principles are." And when she said that to me, Priscilla, I said, "Okay."

Again, you know how I was taught how God tells you something. I said, "Okay, God, you telling me I need to write this book such that the principles that we use in my generation and my parents and my grandparents and my great-grandparents and my ancestors used to overcome racism, sexism, classism, colorism, all , the evils of the world, that they were able to overcome them by employing and deploying these principles, these 100 principles."

And so the book, Priscilla, will talk about what those [00:47:00] 100 principles are and how , this generation can use them to fight this battle. This is an ongoing battle. This battle between good and evil, Priscilla, it's not going anywhere until Christ comes back. We're gonna be fighting this battle until we take our last breath.

So we gotta make sure that the people of good are equipped to fight the battle. And that's what my granddaughter encouraged me when that night and she said that. I said, "Okay, honey, that's my mission." So for all of 2025, I spent writing this book and working with people in business that I've known over years and all the principles that we've used in the '60s and '70s in the US and our mission work in Africa, , the freedom fighters in, in different countries in Africa, what they use.

So these same 100 principles will be in this book. 

Priscilla Shumba: an important question to answer, I think, for this generation, is that , we've become soft because we're so far from what made

Robert L. Wallace: That's 

Priscilla Shumba: , What we're living in, and so we don't have the tools to fight because,

Robert L. Wallace: [00:48:00] Priscilla.

And I remind people all the time, Priscilla, I call it . The power of struggle. What I mean by that is when you struggle, right? Someone said struggle plus reflection on that struggle equals progress, right?

And what the book will talk about is the struggle, the reflection on that struggle, and then how we were able to make progress because of the struggle. That's what I need to communicate, to this generation so that they can use it to continue the struggle.

Priscilla Shumba: .

You said,, the struggle will continue until Christ returns.

Robert L. Wallace: will continue to crush returns. Yes, ma'am.

Priscilla Shumba: . Thank you very much Robert Wallace. It's been a pleasure. Please I don't know if you're active on social media 

Robert L. Wallace: they can reach me at www.robertwallace.com. That's R-O-B-E-R-T W-A-L-L-A-C-E, robertwallace.com. And that will take them to all our companies and my books and speeches and so forth. So that's a good place to start.

Priscilla Shumba: Oh, thank you very [00:49:00] much. I think there's a wealth of wisdom. I'm definitely waiting for that book because Now is the time. 

Robert L. Wallace: Now is the time. That's right. That's right, Priscilla.

Priscilla Shumba: Thank you very much. Thank you so much,

Robert L. Wallace: thank you. God bless you. You take care.