As a part of our series called “Celebrity Inventors”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ali Badshah — The Secret Order of Lumiiis™.
Ali Badshah is a critically acclaimed actor, screenwriter, producer, director, author, poet, and comedian. He is the Co-President and CEO of Secret Pirates™ Entertainment Inc. and the creator of the Lumiii™ Franchise.
An ACTRA Award nominee for his work on Adult Swim’s comedy series Doomsday Brothers, Ali also has recurring roles on FX on Hulu’s drama Y: The Last Man starring Diane Lane, and CBC / Netflix’s comedy Workin’ Moms. Ali is the male lead in the Oscar-nominated feature film drama The Breadwinner, produced by Angelina Jolie. He has written and starred in five televised comedy specials for CBC, CTV, the Comedy Network, MTV and ABC2 Australia.
His first book, Ghost Flowers: A Poetic Remedy From The Rebel & Mystic Heart, debuted as a #1 best seller on Amazon Canada in July 2020.
As a creative director in the marketing world for over ten years, he has led teams of talent to build and deploy digital platforms, products, and marketing initiatives for top-tier global brands — including Sysco, Astra Zeneca, and TD Bank.
Ali worked as an associate producer at Muchmusic. He also created, produced, wrote, directed and starred in CBC’s first web comedy series Bloody Immigrants. An alumnus of both The Second City and Yuk Yuk’s, he was on the front page of the Toronto Star as one of the top ten people in the country — the only actor/comedian to ever appear on their list — and was featured on the Comedy Network’s ‘Nubian Disciples Special’, as part of the “next generation of great Canadian comics.”
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
Yeah, for sure. I was born and bred in Toronto. No siblings. Parents were always working. My mom nurtured the artist in me and tried to keep me out of trouble (it didn’t work haha!) and my dad, bless his soul… had some challenges. He meant well but it was rough. I found out after he passed away that, at one point in his life, he worked as a prison executioner — which explained a lot! Beyond that, I grew up street dancing (popping, freestyle hip hop, and house) and doing comic book art and graffiti. I’ve always been an artist. It’s how my mom built me.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
One book that changed my life for the better is “Think And Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. When I first came across the book, I was functionally homeless — I earned enough money to have a monthly transit pass and a 24-hour gym membership but that was essentially it. I stashed clothing and items at friends’ places. I’d sleep where I could… the TTC late-night Blue line bus, or at Pearson airport, pretending that I was waiting for a flight. It was a dark time.
I’d hang out at this big book store in downtown Toronto called Chapters and, one day, “Think And Grow Rich” just called out to me. I didn’t have the money to buy it, so I read a chapter a day, at Chapters, until I finished it. And then something clicked. The lessons in there around purpose, desire, faith, subconscious reprogramming (what Hill calls Auto-suggestion), persistence, and the other facets of richness slowly started working on me. “Think And Grow Rich” literally got me off the street and living a truly rich life.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. What was the catalyst that inspired you to invent your product? Can you share the story of your “ah ha” moment with us?
Well, I came up with the world and characters in The Secret Order of Lumiiis™ years ago. They were a bunch of funny stories I cooked up for my kids to make them laugh and to teach them about issues like pollution, mass consumption, and income inequality. I built it into a TV show and shopped it around. Got some interest but wasn’t able to close a deal at that time.
Then the pandemic hit and I decided to finally take the dive into crypto. And, like some people, I did pretty well with meme coins. During that time, two things dawned on me: 1) There’s no thought leadership or anyone out there helping people — kids, adults, families — get into the world of crypto, and 2) Millions of people love meme coins but they don’t receive any real value or a bigger, juicier story from them — they’re just memes! The marketer and storyteller in me realized that there was a huge opportunity here. And because the story that I’d already crafted for the show fits perfectly within this whole decentralized space, it was a no-brainer: We blow out The Secret Order of Lumiiis™ into an all-encompassing web3 brand — a fun gateway for kids and adults to enter the world of crypto, DeFi, NFT collecting and gaming, and the Metaverse, all under one cohesive vision and story.
There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. How did you overcome this challenge?
Great question. I overcame this challenge by being placed next to a business partner who has faith in my vision and understands how to cultivate real business leaders and teams. Mehdi Rahman, my COO, is an international business powerhouse. While I’ve been working for the world’s top brands on the creative side, Mehdi’s been doing the same on the operations side. We complement each other’s respective skill sets and bodies of work. We learn from each other, and he’s building me into a solid CEO. We maintain great balance and forward momentum. And that’s ultimately what it is — momentum. Ideas are great, but business requires action. A lot of action. I’ve spent hours on film and TV sets, but the amount of work it takes to translate an idea into a thriving business? I’ve never worked this much in my entire life. And I’m grateful for it.
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
As far as researching whether or not their idea has already been created, Google’s a great place to start. But what I recommend more than checking out the competition (which is vital) is to be in a creative mindset rather than a competitive one. Trusting your gut and letting your idea grow. Giving it a chance to breathe and, while that’s happening, really homing in on the uniqueness of your idea — because, ultimately, if your idea is unique in its ability to solve a big problem for a lot of people, then you have the makings of a winner. It doesn’t matter about the competition at that point.
Did you have a role model or a person who inspired you to persevere despite the hardships involved in taking the risk of selling a new product?
Beyond my mom and my kids, it’s my spiritual teacher. Over the years, he’s helped me develop and access an inner tool kit that gives me clarity around the bigger picture. I generally don’t place my happiness outside of myself anymore, particularly around anticipated outcomes — thanks, in part, to him. He’s an example of a good human being who serves people in the best of ways, regardless of hardships. It inspires me to no end.
For the benefit of our readers, can you share the story, and outline the steps that you went through, from when you thought of the idea, until it finally landed on the store shelves? In particular we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
Totally. Here’s a walkthrough of getting our Dingles™ Solana NFTs into the market:
- We started by crafting the vision, story, product roadmap, and visual treatment for the larger Lumiii™ brand, and then focused on the specific building and deployment needs of our products, including the Dingles™ NFTs.
- From there, we secured an entertainment lawyer and a taxation/securities/crypto lawyer to map out all the corporate, IP, and regulatory angles in order to build our corporate structures and protect our IP.
- Once the corporate structures were built and the IP was protected, we began sourcing our vendors. We leveraged my showbiz experience and contacts to secure a top-tier animator and composer. And we secured our blockchain developers by vetting a bunch of candidates through LinkedIn and Upwork.
- After securing our production vendors (the animator, composer, and blockchain developers), we started securing our marketing partners and vendors — covering the key areas of content creation, PR, distribution, and community growth and management.
- Then it became a game of consistently checking in with all the team members and moving us down the field — lining up all of our deliverables for our launch date. If you haven’t launched a product or service before, be prepared to lose yourself in the energy of it. The launch phase is all-consuming.
- On launch day, we successfully deployed our NFTs and have been selling them, along with building out and delivering the rest of our products ever since.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Haha! Yeah, early on, when we were interviewing our vendors, I gave candidates my Whatsapp contact info. The bulk of them were lovely. From all over the world. And some were full of scammers. My whatsapp started getting hit up with messages from these former candidates where they were trying to finesse me into sending them money for absolutely nothing. I blocked them and vowed to never give out my number again! Haha!
The early stages must have been challenging. Are you able to identify a “tipping point” after making your invention, when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?
Admittedly, all the stages are challenging but we weather through them and make sure to do it from a place of joy. For us, it hasn’t been so much a tipping point as it’s been a gradual climb to success. If anything, we’ve done our best to be consistent — in showing up for the work every day and accepting that there’s something much bigger at play than any of us. This business continues to be a lesson in giving and humility.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Invented My Product” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Find great lawyers! Our project dives into corporate, entertainment, consumer protection, and securities law and having great lawyers is key for us navigating through the space. Had we secured them sooner, we’d be further down the line (but we’re happy with where we’re at!)
- Keep working out! Before Lumiii™ kicked into high gear, I was beefing out, lifting heavy, and was super fit … and now, not so much haha! But I’m getting back there! I didn’t realize how easy it is to get lost in the work. Maintaining proper physical fitness is vital for success.
- Move fast! You gotta keep your eyes on everything and, if something isn’t working, pivot into something that does — just keep the momentum going forward.
4. Stockpile your sleep! Be prepared for a lot of all-nighters in the beginning.
5. Check in on loved ones! No one tells you that inventing a product and running a business can consume you. Be sure to keep in touch with your loved ones because, ultimately, that’s who we’re doing this for.
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
Take the time and energy to craft a clear vision. Let it form and really see it happening in your mind. Stoke the fire of your desire for this vision to happen and be thankful that it’s happening. If we don’t believe in our invention and take action towards achieving it, then it’ll never happen. We gotta keep believing and act in every moment of every day. It can be exhausting, but it’s the only way it’ll come to life.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
I’m a firm believer in making sure that I’m the dumbest person in the room. Having experts to critically analyze and enhance your ideas is vital. That being said, I’d rather get that feedback from people who work in the trenches and not “consultants” — on account that their suggestions aren’t necessarily field-tested and based more on their theoretical assumptions. At least, that’s been my experience with them.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
It’s a matter of doing both. You need to bootstrap in the beginning to, at the very least, package the materials that paint the vision for your investors. I’m from the school of show and prove. You gotta have some skin in the game and create something of real value before asking anyone to invest. And that requires bootstrapping.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I’ve always used my platform to speak out against injustices and human rights violations, even when it cost me in the short term. The rebel in me will always go toe-to-toe with the tyrants –with the drive to make the world a better place for ALL people.
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Great question. The Secret Order of Lumiiis™ is all about bringing light into the world. It’s about entertaining, educating, and empowering people by unlocking the hidden wisdoms that have been kept a secret from the vast majority of us. Plus, we’re taking an active role in teaching the new financial literacy to kids and adults, with respect to DeFi and the blockchain. This is the future, and we need to help bring as many people on-board as possible.
Social responsibility is the keystone of all the work we do at Secret Pirates™ Entertainment, including The Secret Order of Lumiiis™ and the Lumiii™ ecosystem, as well as my own my greater body of creative work.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Mark Cuban. It’s clear that he works from a place of joy and his track record for spotting great businesses is stellar. I’m certain that a private breakfast or lunch with him will lead to a bountiful relationship for all of us.
Social Media Handles:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alibadshah/
http://www.instagram.com/goodbadshah
https://twitter.com/goodbadshah
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
