Old Mutual On The Money
Old Mutual On The Money
Actor Tshepo Maseko on the financial values shaped by his father
He has been a firm favourite among South African audiences since the age of 13, but Tshepo Maseko credits his late dad for instilling his level-headed approach to managing finances even earlier in life. John Manyike, our Head of Financial Education, chatted with Tshepo about these views and in the process, uncovers great financial tips you can also benefit from.
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Old Mutual 00:00
Welcome to the On The Money Podcast with John Manyike.
John Manyike 00:04
Bra Tshepo.
Tshepo Maseko 00:05
Yes, sir.
John Manyike 00:06
How’s it going, brother?
Tshepo Maseko 00:07
I’m all good, my man.
John Manyike 00:08
Good man. The name Tlharantlhope is stuck on you, everywhere you go, they lead with that, that’s why you are reacting the way you are.
Tshepo Maseko 00:15
Tlharantlhope will follow me to the grave.
John Manyike 00:16
What I love about it.
Tshepo Maseko 00:17
Yeah.
John Manyike 00:18
Actually, the TV show “I blew it” started with you.
Tshepo Maseko 00:21
In Tlharantlhope.
John Manyike 00:22
Yes
Tshepo Maseko 00:23
No, but Tlharantlhope didn’t end up poor.
John Manyike 00:25
No, but at least the lifestyle was unusual.
Tshepo Maseko 00:26
He kept it to the end of the series.
John Manyike 00:29
No, it’s because you didn’t do season two, season three, [laughs] that’s why. You owe us.
Tshepo Maseko 00:33
And we should have, hey, because it’s my mother that blew it.
John Manyike 00:36
Oh, is it?
Tshepo Maseko 00:37
Yeah, my mother on the show blew my father's inheritances.
John Manyike 00:41
Yeah, so it’s still “I blew it”.
Tshepo Maseko 00:43
It is “I blew it”.
John Manyike 00:43
You see it?
Tshepo Maseko 00:44
She blew it, I enjoyed it.
John Manyike 0:48
[Laughs] So, let's talk about your family background. Where did you grow up , you know?
Tshepo Maseko 00:52
I’m a boy from Ndofaya, zone 9, Meadowlands, however I am the grandchild of the Bafokeng tribe, in Bokone Bophirima, in Akhuluma. My mother was born in Akhuluma.
John Manyike 00:59
Yeah.
Tshepo Maseko 00:59
And then she got married to my dad [Maseko – clan names] Swati, but grew up Setswana, because my grandfather was, is from Swaziland, and then they had to run to Lesotho, where my father was born.
John Manyike 01:13
Okay.
Tshepo Maseko 01:13
And then Catholicism. Then he moved to Joburg, and then met my mom. So, my mom was like, you are a Mosotho and a Mswati, what's going on? Can we bring these children up under the Setswana customs? And my dad was like, on two conditions, can they do a Sesotho church and then a Setswana school, but later than they can find themselves. So, that's how I’m so proficient with the languages and in Meadowlands Soweto language is...
John Manyike 01:36
But I must say, I mean, if you look at your personality, and what you've been able to achieve, surely, all these different things into these things, the variety of DNA must have really played a part.
Tshepo Maseko 01:46
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Look, essentially everybody's an actor. You meet me. You're a different person now because of the impact I've had on you. So, all my phases in life have contributed to my craft, to my attitude, to my survival, to my mistakes, to my lessons, to my teachings. So, my DNA keeps evolving. It moves around.
John Manyike 02:09
Yeah [laughs]. You speak very highly of your dad. Talk to me about how much influence did that man have on you, your personality and just your values in life.
Tshepo Maseko 02:21
May his soul rest in peace. He left us 8th December 2020, but I feel he hasn’t left me. Yoh, that guy. Bothezelo, Pokello, Nomrod, Maseko, Ngcamane himself. My father was a listener first. And then a discussion on what he just saw. And then he lays the rules. But when he lays the rules, he lays the rules based on have you seen me do this? So he showed before he taught. Because he would say, “Do you see me doing such?” I remember there was a stage when I wanted to dabble in alcohol, you know, growing up. My first encounter, I got very drunk, I woke up sick. He's like, “No, not let come. Let's talk.” Have you ever seen me drunk? And I was like, I've never seen my father drunk. So, everything he says he asks you to reference him first. Now, it's easier to teach by showing.
John Manyike 03:09
That’s true.
Tshepo Maseko 03:10
I mean, a person will follow in the footsteps of those that came before them. To step is a verb so it's a doing thing. So, you must do to teach. That's what animals do. Now, that man was a disciplinarian. And you must know that his base is Catholicism, and Catholicism is very militant, but, they’re orderly.
John Manyike 03:25
Discipline.
Tshepo Maseko 03:25
Yeah, no, I call it militant. Discipline is one thing. I call it very militant. I mean, my dad, when he made the bed, he doesn't like a creased bed. You know, and I would ask him, why are you so particular with these things. He says, “You see in the beginning when you get used to little litter, then later bigger litter won't bother you.”
John Manyike 03:43
Wow.
Tshepo Maseko 03:44
And I remember him during the Qatar World Cup, remember the Japanese, is it the Japanese? After a game, then they started cleaning up the stadium, remember? And when they asked them, why do you clean up? And they say, we don't like rubbish. And rubbish goes deep. They didn't say litter, they said rubbish. If you think about it, litter is rubbish.
John Manyike 04:01
It is.
Tshepo Maseko 04:02
So, when you see it often when people throw paper, and it's two papers and it's a can and it's a bottle, suddenly your body and your everything gets used to it. So you don't see anything wrong with it. But when you stick to that thing, even your soul doesn't sit well when things are, okay, it borders on obsessive compulsive disorder. But for me, litter starts here, litter start here, litter starts here. So, it bothers me right now in the country when a television show can just allow a swear word with no remorse, a print media thing will write F*CK, if our children don’t know this, you know, a nice guy in a nice expensive car can throw the bottle of whatever he's been drinking and these things are starting to be seen as normal, but it's because we are no longer okay in the mind. My dad did not allow - clicking of the tongue in annoyance - and I'm like, “Dude, no, you're no, no, this is too much”. He says, “What does -clicking of the tongue in annoyance - mean?”
John Manyike 04:47
Yeah.
Tshepo Maseko 04:48
He says -clicking of the tongue in annoyance - is as strong as the thought in your head. And usually when you -click your tongue in annoyance - it's usually the end.
John Manyike 04:55
Yeah.
Tshepo Maseko 04:55
Right. And you walk away. So, you could have said, a whole lot of swear words, but later, that -clicking of the tongue in annoyance - won't have any effect. It will develop this into something else. So, once we control from thoughts, you're in control of a lot of things.
John Manyike 05:02
Wow. Did you talk ever talk about money?
Tshepo Maseko 05:03
Yeah, yeah. My father was stingy, and he never wanted to show to show us money in material things. My mom and my dad, they presented money in moments and in events. And I mean, they never missed our birthdays, right. And our birthdays, when we looked back, they were actually not for us. They were for the entire community. My dad's car would carry almost everybody to church and from church, and they were always very communal. So, my dad made sure that the value overrides the money. Do you understand? This thing can become so much bigger. But it can also make you so much smaller if you give it that that weight. So he says, first of all, you don't chase it. Second, you respect it. You don't speak evil of it. Because he was very strong on the spoken word. My mama as well. Insult is not normal at home. So, I was taught that money is actually a spirit. You need to get to a point where you master it. Because if it masters you, it's the end of it.
John Manyike 05:56
Yeah, you’re a slave.
Tshepo Maseko 05:57
Yeah, I mean, a simple example, look at the most wealthiest people. Do they look like money? They don't want to look like money.
John Manyike 06:04
They have a simple dress code; you never see them flashing branded wear.
Tshepo Maseko 06:07
Because money takes over their status. If you go to any place, I'll take you out. Let me take you to say to Zanzibar for some international festival, right. And you're pretty loaded, but nobody knows you. And you rock up, chill there, you will be yourself, you'll enjoy. But when you make an announcement or I'll be in Zanzibar, and I'm a billionaire. Trust me when you land there...
John Manyike 06:25
They’ll treat you differently.
Tshepo Maseko 06:26
Absolutely. And it's not you that's difference. It’s the money you have.
John Manyike 06:30
Absolutely.
Tshepo Maseko 06:31
So, the money now is overtaking your status. It's the same with fame. Fame can do the same thing. If you allow it with money, if you allow it. So, you need to be you need to master money. Otherwise, money, you'll be a slave to money.
John Manyike 06:41
That's true.
Tshepo Maseko 06:42
So, that was his philosophy to money. And then he says, “Once you maintain a certain level, the day you are super rich, no one will know, the day your super poor no one will know. You don't flaunt it. But you can make it run for the longest time. And also never buy joy with money. I remember my first paycheck. What was I, 13?
John Manyike 07:01
Yes.
Tshepo Maseko 07:02
The first pay was in cash; and then we went to go open an account. So, now, my dad locked the doors, closed the curtains.
John Manyike 07:08
And just by the way, how much was the first paycheck?
Tshepo Maseko 07:09
No, no, don’t be silly [laughs]. Look…
John Manyike 07:12
It was a long time ago.
Tshepo Maseko 07:13
It's enough to have taken a lot of me and my siblings to school, to have improved the house.
John Manyike 07:19
At the age of 13? You’re a boss.
Tshepo Maseko 07:21
Money is beautiful.
John Manyike 07:23
Sorry, I disrupted to your flow.
Tshepo Maseko 07:25
So, now in the morning, there's no money on the table. We have breakfast and he says no, it's me and my son, mama. And he tells my mom, no, we're going to open a bank account now. Now, when we get into his bakkie, I don't see this money. But I don't ask, I mean, he's my dad you know, I don't ask anything. When in fact, he put it in the car early in the morning without me seeing it. When we get to the bank, we go sit down. This big Afrikaner boy comes, and my dad’s Afrikaans is terrible, terrible. And he didn't even make an effort to want to learn Afrikaans. But his stature, he was a big boy. I mean when you’re a size 11 shoe, massive man. So, just his stature would speak volumes and his silence as well. So, when he walks in and he stands there, they come up to him. And these boys are shorter than him, then naturally they get intimidated. And then he says, “No, we're here to open account for my little man here”. And they say, “No, come through.” So, we sit and he says, excuse me. So, he leaves me with this guy and he goes out. He comes back with this money now. So, the whole time he never flashed this money in front of me, never. And he puts it in, they start to count it. But I can see this guy's thinking. What's going on here? And my dad is nonchalant about it. No, we do the signatures, then sharp, sharp. I think it was Volkskas or something like that, because I'm that old. So, but now he's not taken aback by the amount of money. He's not flashing this money in front of me. But this whole event is about the money. The money did not take over the moment. For him the moment was to say money must be saved and respected. You don't just flash it around and show everybody that you've got money. You’re like, oh, okay, okay. I mean, it got so terrible that there was a point where I couldn't watch myself on TV because it was my turn to wash the dishes. We had this big Philips TV at home, but I couldn't watch myself on it. So, he was about those kinds of things. You know, I'm blessed because they allowed me the time to be a child. A lot of parents now who’ve got child stars elevate their children, not even elevate, catapulted them to a parental status where the children forget to be children and it kicks up later with them. They, either through drugs, but something just goes wrong because you forget to play. Because now you have an income which is more than your parents. Suddenly they elevate you, now you can do parties. My father would be like; party? Party where? No, what are you celebrating? At six o'clock you must be in the house, or, no, I remember the late Thomas Malpani. His dad owns taxis. His father was my father's best friend as well. So, he’d come to watch boxing matches, but now Tommy would drive his cars without a driver’s license. So, I’m like, no man, papa. No, man, I want to drive your car. He says, “You want to what”? Driving? Hold on, do you have a driver's license”? No, I don't have. So already, that's a fail, “And you want to drive whose car? Your car. Oh, my car! You want to drive my car that I bought”? I'm like, Yeah but, other people… And he said, other people, that's beginning of your downfall. Why do you think you have different fingerprints to other people? You'd be similar, then go live there. Everything was always about the lesson. And now that made me want to buy a car. I'm gonna, I'm gonna buy one. And I bought it for my dad. I'm like, I want to see this thing. Yeah, I’ve bought the car. He says, “Yeah, well done, congratulations. Now, you must look after this car. When you know you're going partying leaving the house”, “No Papa, but I bought this car” .“What did you buy it for? No papa, no papa, think about it and we'll talk later”. So, he always added value onto a lot of things. But when we speak about money, he wanted to associate it with the lesson. And my maternal grandmother Mam’ Bokkie had one of those money boxes. From Standard Bank where you put the money in, and it was compartmentalized, 1 Rand, 50 cents, 20 Cents, just so when you put the money, it rolls down, it goes into his compartments. My grandmother, she was an entrepreneur, she would sell little sweets. At the end of the year, everybody opens the money box. Geez, like, when that money is sitting there. But we can't touch it. So because we've grown up knowing that this thing, this thing, this thing makes a difference. But can we go play now? And then she would divide it half of it goes back into money box and half of it she buys us stuff. So, you know that, yes it's your money, but it's not bigger than my grandmother. Which becomes a problem with child stars. Yeah, it's money. But now this money is suddenly is bigger than your parents. It's suddenly bigger than your values, and it's also bigger than you. And guess what happens when that money goes dry? You go dry.
John Manyike 11:24
That's true. It feels like your dad was all about purpose.
Tshepo Maseko 11:27
My mom is a liver. She lives, she enjoys every single moment. And as a result, I thought my parents were rich, I thought we were balling [laughs]. Because Joy was presented differently. Just a drive to Rustenburg would be an occasion, a big occasion, we’d celebrate every single thing. In my home, we even forgot about the TV, we are the loudest, you’d think there's a fight. Because we celebrated moments. We grew up with, I don't know how many sets of parents who would come to my parent’s house. And they were all fathers and mothers to us. So because now they cater for these people all the time. We always have the clothes. And people always respect us, I mean, I was a big chubby child. So, I thought, man, I'm balling, because I was taught that joy is not money. But there was money behind it. He just held it, because…, I don't know how he, and who taught him. But he knew that this thing has got the potential to overtake you and give you false illusions.
John Manyike 12:24
You know, talking about that. I mean, you started acting at the age of 13. And obviously you became famous instantly. How did you handle fame at that age?
Tshepo Maseko 12:34
I didn't know it was called fame. Isn’t it, like I tell you. My father used to say, “When you walk down the streets, you represent the entire Maseko clan. So, if you decide to be naughty, you’re embarrassing us.” That was my concern about this image. You know, he says, “You must carry this image proper, because you are us.” He says, “Imagine if you hear that I fell down the road because I was drunk. Every time you go passed, they’ll say; yoh, this boy, this is the boy, remember that father that fell. It is dad.” So, is that how you want to be labeled? So, it says never allow certain moments or material things to label you. You must always be about the final name. To say, this is me. Take me as I am. So in relation to fame, Mr Magic Hlatshwayo, the late Rosie Morapedi, and Mr. Ruben Thodi, during the times of Tlharantlhope. So, they come to pick me up. I mean, I had a tutor, me, a kid from the township, and it was a white girl. So, you can imagine when they get to the township, and there’s this while girl is here to teach me all my other subjects. So, I lived proper. And this proper life that looked nice wasn't it was more value than money, anyway; so now they come to my parents because they must take me away for a whole three months. We shot Thlarantlhope for three months. My dad set them down, famous as they were, like eh, “Welcome, sit down.” My mother would bring tea, because my mother is, she's a host. And then we sit down. We have a nice chat. Two minutes, two minutes, they say, no Tshepiso go and play. Eh Eh, okay, no, okay. Now something said, just go peep. My dad asked them, especially the Mr Magic Hlatshwayo. He said, listen, this is my son. So, when you take him away for that long, you are taking over as a parent. These are my rules with this boy. So, now because you're his father for this period, these are now your rules over this boy. Fortunately, Mr Magic Hlatshwayo is very faith based, strong funny guy, you know Mr Magic Hlatshwayo, the actor, phenomenal guy. So, now it was an extended family, you must know that I am a young boy. For me, it's a holiday, you get picked up in a car you’re driven, you’ve got this nice room. And then they bring you breakfast. It was the life and they give you lines. And then when you, when you, during the day when the director decides to change things that give you a chair. So, I'm like, “Oh, this is life.” You know, but little did I know what I was being monitored by all these people. So they were like in an additional eye by my parents. And this is when I saw it. It was a Friday, we were shooting in Bronkhorstspruit, and now; I mean, I was driving that Ford Fairlane V8 convertible car. I'm thinking, no man, you know the naughty me, no man, Mamelodi is not too far from here. We can just, quickly take this car. Ah, but then, somehow, because I was very naughty, highly, highly naughty. But that thing is a big engine. So, you start it and it roars my man. I just heard Magic Hlatshwayo go “HEY, WHERE ARE YOU GOING!” “No, uncle Magic I’m just-”, “I’M NOT YOUR UNCLE, HERE I’M YOUR FATHER, SWITCH OFF THAT CAR! Where are you going?” “No’ I’m not going anywhere”, “So why are you starting the car?” “No, I like it, and I just wanted to hear it when it’s on.” “You shoot with this car every day, so what’s your story?” . And I realized my father has left Meadowlands. He's here with me. But I'm so blessed to have had that. Because a lot of youngsters, I mean, I was the lead guys. So, naturally, they're supposed to bow down to me. But my father told me, you're the lead just by script. But you're still a child who needs to learn. Even by money, you might be a lead, but you're still a child who needs to learn. So, now, when you get a child star, and they light up a cigarette in front of these parents; it, it doesn't sit well with me, or they can just drop an F-bomb in front of you. And when they lose and they’re like “Oh F”, I'm like, “No, man, it's those little things, and it develops.” So, when you forget who's here, if I don't know you, i must give you respect first for you to give me respect. And also what I do has got a lot to do with where I come from, and also to determine where I want to go. So, I was very protected in that regard. I had my parents everywhere. Now this fame thing made me think that, so now, because they see me on TV, everybody sees me. And everybody might come back and tell my father if I misbehave. So it pulled me in. My freedom just left me. This TV thing is not the best of best, because it does steal your freedom away. I mean, when you want to be a child or a teenager, or you want to do crazy things. Now it's worse. There's Twitter, there's Insta lives. So, when you want to explore as an artist, your movements are limited. So you need to find a hideaway. But when, if artists remember this one thing, that what you are on screen, has got nothing to do with who you are now. But instead who you are now can either get you more jobs, or can stop you from getting other jobs.
John Manyike 17:03
Yeah.
Tshepo Maseko 17:04
But your freedom, forget about it, it’s gone.
John Manyike 17:05
But I also heard, apparently growing up you were afraid of girls. So, did that help you somehow?
Tshepo Maseko 17:12
Girls are no child’s play. Another simple one. My dad says never approach a woman when you're not mentally ready, emotionally ready, physically ready, financial, never! Because they'll figure you out in a second, boy. So, when I do these high school motivational programmes, I tell as these boys, I think, maybe start dating at 25, because then you figured yourself out, you've played. You must understand. I've only known one mother. I've only known one grandmother, both sides. Even in my marriage, I only know one mother on my wife side, even their paternal. So, I know this stability. And I see and I've seen what it does. I mean, I talk of these long years as if it's only an hour's event, but if we make the mistake in this short period, the effects will be that long as well. So, we need to be cognizant of such things. When you approach her, you must decide, because sometimes, somehow you know that, this one is nice but no, or this is the one I wanna marry. So, now we're told that don't bring girls. Here, girls? No, no, no; the one you bring, you must make sure that this is the one you want. I'm not choosing for you, but you must choose. And I was a big chubby boy, I had terrible skin, but the fame kind of like made up, because you know makeup was making me, I mean, look at me now, Skye made me look beautiful [laughs]. So, I was not really scared of girls, but I was living. I was living, I was playing, I was I did kung-fu, I did soccer, I did capoeira, I did music, I did dancing, I did church, I did school, I worked. So, there was no time for girls.
John Manyike 18:30
I honestly so admire the influence of your parents, and just this whole family structure, because you know, how many people would love to have grown in that kind of a setup? You know, where there's a mother, father, a solid family, you know, because it today, we have fathers who are absent, and they don't play any part in the lives of their children.
Tshepo Maseko 18:49
Yeah, look, there are other many people who grew up in a setup where there’s a mother and father, but there was dysfunctionality there, right?
John Manyike 18:55
Absolutely.
Tshepo Maseko 18:56
Because hurt people will hurt people. But other hurt people can learn from it and change things around. You break the chain in, in the Christian world, you break the chain, and you break this, this whole curse. You can come from a single parent family, but there's a strong uncle, a strong priest, a strong coach, a strong brother, somebody strong in the community, and then somebody instills these things. But if you’re vision based, the process doesn't really matter.
John Manyike 19:18
So, having learned everything you've learned from the parents and the influence from your dad, you're married man?
Tshepo Maseko 19:23
Yes, and a father of three.
John Manyike 19:25
How does the money thing work in that family?
Tshepo Maseko 19:27
Yo, I'm very strict.
John Manyike 19:30
So, you took the influence from there.
Tshepo Maseko 19:31
I don’t have a choice. Because it worked for me. You know, I've seen it work. I see it work, right. Now fortunately, my father-in-law is also like that. Baller of note. But he wants his appearance to speak for him first than how he appears. My daughter's got these money boxes. Now, they are the bank accounts. But we started with them. Because they must actually see this money, because I learned that we are so busy living that when you go grocery shopping with your children, they take, they take, they take and they ask, “Can I have this,” and you get annoyed, “Yeah, yeah, yeah” and when you swipe, they don't see money, right. They see this card. And it’s in their heads, this thing never runs out of money. And also, we never taught them how that money gets in there. They just note this is a magic card. You do this, this groceries. So, I'm like, so what's the lesson? He says, “No, you need to, if you, let's say you buy groceries for 4k, then you make a list for about 5000 Rand, and you make them count the 4000 Rand, make them count.” And say, “we teach you and now you're going to do groceries”, you load into the trolley, and you make sure that it exceeds the amount of money that they have. When you get to the till, stand back, so when it hits 4500 Rand, but and you say how much do you have? “No, no, I got 4K”, “what is that money there?” “This is 4500.” “So, you need to return some things.” “Oh, oh, okay.” “You choose what you want to return. If you return bread, then it means you're not having bread tonight. If you're returning meat, you’re not having meat tonight, if you return your sweet, then we can…
John Manyike 20:52
And let them make that choice.
Tshepo Maseko 20:53
Yeah, they must make the choice. Now, also when they pay, I mean remember when they have this money, it makes somehow money makes you feel good or it's somehow you, you, you come alive but when they see it go and it finishes then they understand that “Oh, so this thing can finish but it brings bigger joy in the form of groceries we are all going to eat at home for everybody.” So, these money boxes, end of the year, like my grandmother, we cut them open, and we split it three ways. The half goes into the account, half of half they can go crazy, the other half remains, so they've got a bank account and they piggy bank because they need to feel this, this feeling of money. We need to teach children money by implementing. Sometimes take them to a car you know you can afford, let’s get ready, let's go car shopping. You get in there. You will get into this beautiful convertible double cab Jeep Rubicon and you know you can't afford it. And they tell you, can we test drive? Yeah, they start to go crazy. And when you’re back you ask, so, how much is, no. it’s 1.3 million? Baby, we can't afford this car. Look, if you want us to afford it, we must sell all your TVs and your tablets and then for this whole year we couldn’t go on holiday then we can afford it.
John Manyike 22:02
Then it starts making sense.
Tshepo Maseko 22:04
We're not gonna go on holiday because of this car, papa no, this car can go. This is how we need to teach money. Money makes things easier but money doesn't make you happy.
John Manyike 22:13
For sure. But you were a child star at the age of 13, have you ever been broke in your life?
Tshepo Maseko 22:19
I also wouldn't know. Like I said, my dad said, keep it here. So, that when you there, nobody would know. When you here, nobody knows, because broke is also relative, right. If I have 10 million, and then I buy a house for 6 million, and I buy myself a Rubicon for 1.3, and I buy a V250 for two and a half million, and I buy I don't know another couple and the 10 million is done. I'm now broke. The money's gone. Yes, these things are here, but I’m broke. So, broke only applies to money. Now if you elevate money above you, you will get to a point where you say you are broke. The bank doesn't say you’re broke, it says “Insufficient funds.”
John Manyike 22:58
Temporarily out of cash.
Tshepo Maseko 22:59
No, no, you've spent what you have. And the nice thing about money, it must rotate. And then, when you give it out, investors you know, the more you put it into good places, it brings in, it gives a good ROI.
John Manyike 23:10
What would you say to people who are freelancers, who don't have a nine to five, and they work for themselves to actually stay afloat without getting to a point, as you put it where?
Tshepo Maseko 23:21
Try to run away from debt as much as you possibly can. People die with depression sitting at home thinking, by the way, I owe 2 million in this industry. Pay off as quickly as you can.
John Manyike 23:30
Yeah.
Tshepo Maseko 23:31
I was blessed to have experienced the formal academic training of this of this industry at TUT. So, they teach you these things, things like look after your money, because you won't always have a job. Make sure that you look better than your money. The phrases, “Don't look like your money.”
John Manyike 23:45
Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
Tshepo Maseko 23:47
Because people change perspective. Never get to a point where your talent is, is overshadowed by the money. But, you must be willing to lose some deals. I mean, there are there are jobs that come, and you can see that no, this one is not for me, and your budget doesn't quite allow. So, never, never push yourself to a point where you will be so desperate that you’ll take everything. And how you get to this desperation, you deplete your finances. And sometimes when you when you spend all you have, but you've spent it on good things, it brings a good feeling. So, we need to get to a point where you manage things where you always, I call it a life jacket. You must always be floating, and not floating because this is all you have. No, you must be floating because it's your attitude towards a lot of things.
John Manyike 24:33
Bra Tshepo, you and I can speak the whole day about finances. Thanks for your time.
Tshepo Maseko 24:34
My man, thank you so much.
John Manyike 24:35
Thank you so much, all the best.
Old Mutual 24:37
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