You’re Not Lost, Stuck, or Confused — You’re Just Listening to Too Many People (Episode 114)

What if simplicity is the most powerful growth strategy you’re not using yet? We sit down with entrepreneur, mentor, and author Hussein Hallak to unpack how purpose-led business outperforms hype and why clear value beats complex pitch decks. From launching in Canada to opening new markets in Egypt, Hussein shares how universal principles—respect, clarity, and value exchange—travel across cultures while the details adapt. The result: shorter sales cycles, stronger trust, and partnerships that actually matter.

We dig into the practice of choice and personal agency. Hussein argues that good decisions are built through repetition, not perfection, and that most choices are reversible if you’re willing to learn fast. Instead of letting systems and scripts decide your path, he urges you to choose what you truly want—whether that’s money, impact, or the spotlight—and to own the responsibility that comes with it. This is how you avoid living someone else’s version of success and start building a life and business that feel aligned.

Expect practical frameworks wrapped in vivid analogies, from math problem solving to cars built for different roads. We talk about simplifying offers, stating concrete promises, and delivering value at the price customers are happy to pay. We also explore legacy: empowering people—especially youth—to think clearly, choose boldly, and lead with purpose. Hussein’s mentorship, writing, and Creative Commons book are designed to be shared so these ideas spread and stick.

If you’re ready to reframe growth with purpose, clarity, and courage, this conversation will give you tools you can use today. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who needs a mindset reset, and leave a review with one choice you’re committing to this week.

🔗 Connect with Hussein Hallak:

🌍 husseinhallak.com

📝 husseinhallak.substack.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Guest Intro
• 1:33 Purpose Over Profit
• 3:45 The Power Of Everyday Choices
• 6:10 Value Delivery Made Simple
• 9:50 Teaching Principles Before Details
• 12:20 Entering New Markets In Egypt
• 16:20 Universal Principles Across Cultures
• 20:10 Math Analogies And Clear Thinking
• 24:00 Legacy, Agency, And Ownership
• 27:10 Youth, Autonomy, And Real Growth

Transcript

Fatima Bey: 0:02

Mind Shift Power Podcast. This is Mind Shift Power Podcast, the number one critically acclaimed podcast where we have raw, unfiltered conversations that shape tomorrow. I'm your host, Fatima Bey, the Mind Shifter. And welcome everyone. Today we have with us Hussein Halleck. He is out of Canada, and he is the founder and CEO of Next Decentrum. This man is not your average businessman. He's very unique, and I'm really excited about this conversation. So, Hussein, how are you today?

Hussein Hallak: 0:39

I'm doing very well, Fatima. Thank you for having me.

Fatima Bey: 0:42

Thank you for coming on. Um, so I like to dive right into it. So tell us, who are you and why'd you come on this podcast today?

Hussein Hallak: 0:50

I guess I describe myself as an entrepreneur and I'm also a mentor and an author. I love to talk to people and help them figure out their life and uh their business uh because they're interrelated. And I'm here because uh you hold great conversations that talk to the youth, which are um some of them are my kids who are the youth, part of the youth. And uh I've uh had the privilege of mentoring a lot of youth, and uh, it's one of the most enjoyable things that I've done.

Fatima Bey: 1:22

And your your ability to connect with youth is partly why you're on here, but you are a different thinker, you are not average, um and we're gonna talk about that. So most people chase innovation for profit, and you have blended innovation with purpose. So you don't just build, but you you build to influence culture, and that is that is very different. So what brought you to make that choice?

Hussein Hallak: 1:53

I think throughout my life, I've always wanted to do something that mattered. Um, from my upbringing, the kind of uh influences that I had, the name that I carry, which is the name of my uncle, how my family looked at me. I've always thought that if I want to do something, dedicate time for it, it it better matter to someone and it better add value to someone. Um it's gonna be equally as hard, which which I did. I tried. Uh I I I'm not a saint. I I went the path of trying to make a lot of money, and I tried to do stuff that you know give me status and I look good in front of people. And the things that brought me the most, I would say, joy, happiness, and the things that fulfilled me the most were the things that added value to people because uh whenever I'm alone, like things don't don't have meaning. Like the things that enjoy the most are usually with someone else, sometimes more. So that is how I became, you know, obsessed with doing something that adds value to people, that has a purpose, that um takes us somewhere, whether it's me and the people around me. And it's it's wonderful to to bump into people who will come in and tell you, you know, uh, I really thank you. I enjoyed this, I had value with this because it's the best feedback that you can have. Not just to build yourself up and you know feel important, but you you see the value of the things that you worked on and how much impact they have.

Fatima Bey: 3:34

And that and that is awesome. So I'm gonna I'm gonna pull out, I'm gonna extract some of what you said because I want to point out a principle, a key principle that I want to really highlight out of what you just said. And that is that you went the path of chasing money down, chasing, you know, oh, look at me. I got the fastest car and the most money, ain't I great? And that didn't satisfy you. So you chose, and it is a choice, you chose to to go a different route. You can still make money, nothing wrong with that, but to make money while also fulfilling purpose. And that is a narrative that I'm constantly teaching and preaching. And I love that you're gonna tell us how you did that. So, what I what we haven't talked about yet is what does that look like in practice? What is it that you build?

Hussein Hallak: 4:24

Well, in regards to choice, I I make a lot of choices. The only way to know that you're making good choices is to make a lot of bad ones. Unfortunately, that's true. That's true. Uh the and the way we understand choice, I found that uh, I mean, even me when I was first starting is that um you if you give the choice too much power in the sense that this choice is gonna make or break me or gonna govern what I do for the next 20 years, most of the time no choices are like that. And you can always make a different choice the moment after, unless like it's a it's a really consequential choice. There are some choices like that. But most choices in life are easy choices that you can make and make again and again. So the more choices you make, uh more often the more practice you have. So that's how I got around to do that. And what I do in in daily life is I actually help uh people who are building businesses to build a far more uh, I would say, influential, impactful business that adds value. Because at the end of the day, a great business, a business that grows, is a business that makes a great promise and delivers on that promise. Um at the end of the day, your clients want value from you. So you have to constantly be involved in how you deliver value. We make businesses so much, a business has so many moving parts, but it's as simple as a car. If you look at a car, of course you can open it up and it has like a, you know, I don't know, uh 100,000 pieces. Um, but at the end of the day, the principle of a car is simple. You go from A to B. And depending on what kind of car, it can be a Formula One or it can be, you know, uh, I don't know, a Toyota. And uh depending on where you want to go, a Formula One may sound like a great car, but it doesn't serve you on the regular streets and in the busyness of a of a city. And a Toyota doesn't work on a NASCAR, let's say, ring, or you know, so it's really a business is just a mechanism to deliver value. So we I like to simplify things when I work with business leaders and when I work with entrepreneurs, when I work with even youth who are who are trying to build something and trying to understand this, how do they find their place in life? I like to simplify things, teach it to them, help them do it. And uh I've been lucky that I've been able to help some young entrepreneurs build hundred million dollar companies. So um I love to simplify things, I love to teach, and that is the core of what I do in everything I do.

Fatima Bey: 7:01

So it sounds like you teach principles first, details second. Would that be an accurate way to say it? That's a great way of saying it, yeah. I do too, and I love it. I I believe very strongly in it because when you when you do that, then it helps people to have the right mindset. You know, I I see you as a sort of a mind shifter um in certain areas of business. And and I think that's a beautiful thing because what you just described is exactly that. Sounds like you you help people to think differently, see the principles, and then let's talk about the details of how to accomplish that. And instead of just one, two, three, you're a robot, follow this formula and everything will work out. It doesn't because it doesn't always, because we need our minds in the right place to handle that one, two, three first. And um, and I love that you're doing that. So can you give me an example of in in whether in art or tech where you have where you've done this um for one of your businesses?

Hussein Hallak: 8:00

Yeah, absolutely. In our in our current business, actually, uh right now we're opening a business in in Egypt, and you're starting in a new market that you know very little about. You we have a team member there that is running with the business. And it's challenging to figure out um, you know, every market has its own details, has its own mechanisms, has its own forces and things you can't predict because we're not there, we're not on the ground. And even though I traveled there, I stayed there for a month, I could never understand all the things, all the forces that control the market and change the market. So when we come down to certain principles and certain details that are uh I avoid, I would say, the details and come back to the what the core of the business is, even throughout the challenges of language, throughout the challenges of culture, people relate to that because when you simplify things, people can understand them, can grasp them. And right now, we moved from a business that just started a few months ago, and now we're just about to sign really big contracts. And the people we're working with, they want to put us in front of the kind of the biggest names in that market because we were able to simplify things and we're able to have a conversation with them that you know, we don't throw a pitch deck at them in a one-hour sales meeting. Our meeting with them is like 15 minutes. Here's what we do, here's how it adds value to you, here's how it will add value to other people. And people love that. It's like if I'm inviting you, you know, if I'm saying, come, let's meet up and we'll figure it out. And like, okay, I'm not sure. But if I say, hey, I have a great meal, you know, we're gonna eat sushi, for example, you know, come along. It's it's a simple ask. It's like, oh, yeah, of course I want to eat, and you can make a choice there to eat it or not, or maybe you don't like sushi. But that is how simple a conversation should be. We make business far more complicated than it needs to be, and in big companies maybe it is, but at at the small level of building a small company and growing it, usually the simplest principles are the most powerful.

Fatima Bey: 10:15

Yes. And let me ask you this, because this I think um I I I already know how you're gonna answer, but you've built businesses um in Canada, correct? And now you are helping to build businesses in Egypt, or at least a business. Do you handle them differently?

Hussein Hallak: 10:41

I if I look back, I don't. I usually I think one of the things that that are unique to me is my consistency in how I apply certain things. I think when you stand to cer for certain principles, like I learned branding while I was in Dubai. I grew up in Syria, but then I worked in Dubai, and I was fascinated with branding. And everything I read about branding was built for America. America is the kind of the the kings of marketing, the kings of branding, they invented uh this stuff. So I'm learning about these things, but then you need to apply them in a different market, in a different setting. Right. And a lot of people would would come in and say, oh, we need to apply them uh in a different way. And I found that if you actually strip things down to the the uh I would say the key principles, the foundation, uh things will apply in every single market. You just have to remove all of the fluff around them, and uh because at the end of the day, people are the same wherever you go. There are cultural differences, but if you look at uh the things that are universal, uh what we love, the things that we enjoy, they're kind of universal. At their heart, they're universal. So that's what I found. And I think if you simplify things and you you ask yourself, what do people really want? What is the thing that will touch on the heart of almost everyone, you will be in touch with those principles that work anywhere you go.

Fatima Bey: 12:18

The reason I asked that is because it goes back to what I was saying earlier and how you and I both think we believe in principles first, details second. And there's a lot of people that would say, okay, well, you built businesses in Canada, the culture is very similar to the US, Western civilization. You go over to Egypt, Egypt, they speak Arabic, the men are dominant, uh, most of them are Muslim. So they're and they're in the desert. So therefore, everything must be different. But I see that as those are just details. The principle is the same because you're right. Humans are humans everywhere you go. I don't care what color they are, what language they speak, what continent they're on. We all want the same things as humans, and the same principles work for all of us. We may apply them a little bit differently, so the work is gonna be done in Arabic instead of English. That's um that's a minor detail, but a relevant one, obviously. But the principles, the principles, and I say that because I just want to extract every lesson I can out of you. Um the the principles um don't change. And and that's why I asked you that, because I knew you were gonna say that. You know, if we just stop getting stuck in details and bring it down to the bare bones, as you say, strip it down to the principles and start working from there. We handle things differently. I I'll tell you, I used to tutor math and I used to teach in tutor math. I actually love math. My the way algebra works, my brain is wired that way. You break things down, you take them apart, put them back together, and I see all the moving parts and connect all the dots. I naturally do that. So for me, that math was easy. But for most people, math is hard. If you don't, if you're not a mathematical thinker, it's really difficult. And I understood that. So what I would do is instead of teaching them, okay, here's how you do this formula, here's how you do that formula, so they could pass the test, just they don't freaking understand nothing. So so what I would do is I would use analogies that they could relate to, whether it's cars, whether it's race, whether it's vacuum cleaners, water, whatever I could use that they would understand to get them to understand the mathematical principles first. Once they understood the mathematical principles, now let's carry that over into the actual equations that you have to figure out past this test. Then it was easy for them. They're like, oh my God, I got that. I'm like, yeah, you do understand it. It just has to be explained differently. And I I I liken that to what you're explaining is that you you uh you are you're not adjusting your principles, you're only adjusting the details. Is that a good way to say it?

Hussein Hallak: 14:50

I think I think that's a that's a very good example when you mention math. I love math and and I used to be very, very good at it because I studied engineering and I used to math, was I used to kind of uh spend time trying to solve equations. And as you said, there are certain principles that no matter what problem, math problem they put in front of you, you go back to the principles and you try different things until you get you get to solution. You can't memorize. I didn't memorize. I would I would actually come back to the principles and I follow and I try to solve the problem and find different paths. Uh that's how I that's how I would I would work through math. And I think if we if we bring it bring it to a very clear example, when when we talk there are many different things when you go to Egypt, when you go to Dubai. For example, in Dubai, you can meet a customer at 10:30 p.m. They would call you, they would not, they would not consider it rude to call you at 10 p.m. They would be talking business, like they would not say, sorry for calling you this late. It's like, hey Hussein, what about this, this, this, and and then we say, well, let's let's catch up and we'll go to the mall and we'll sit and have a coffee at 10:30 p.m. talking business. So I can yeah, I can see in your face that that because we have cameras, uh, like I can see how you're surprised. In Vancouver, for example, after 5, don't talk to anybody about business. In fact, in Vancouver, you can't go network. People rarely go to networking events uh because they have a strict life work-life balance, for example. In Egypt, don't talk to anyone before 10 a.m. You know, they go to work at 10 a.m. Yeah. So, for example, like it's the opposite. So every c there are these things that are culturally different. So we need to learn that. However, when you're having a conversation with someone, it's like me having a conversation with you. You can be from America, you can be uh from Djibouti, you can be from uh, I don't care, France, for example. At the end of the day, if I'm kind with you and I'm respectful, these are principles that will go a long way, regardless of where your culture is. I don't have to study your culture and understand all of the, let's say, how you say certain things and all of that. I just have to know that as a human being, I need to understand that you're I'm respectful of you. I give you the respect and the and the care and attention and listen to you. That's then we can have a great conversation. When we go to a business meeting, I explain to them, hey, business is a value exchange. Your customer expects value and you have to deliver value that they're expecting. So business principles are simple. Talk to the customer, find out what they value, and then find the best way to deliver it to them in the price they're willing to pay. That is what business is. Everybody understands that. Now, if I start telling them, you know, business is, you know, strategy, marketing, sales, and this is how we do it here, this is how we do it there, I'll be correct, but I'll be people will listen and they will shake their heads and we will not close the deal. The best time when I close the deal is when I explain and break things down in such a way that they like like when you said with with math, the difference between two math teachers, one comes in and makes things so easy, two, three things, and people feel they have a grasp on it and they love that math teacher. Another person can be a professor, you know, one of the greatest minds in math, and throws stuff at them and they're like, I can't, I'm not getting anything. I know he's correct and I know he's the master of his universe, but I'm not getting anything. I love that math teacher, even though they're less experienced than the professor.

Fatima Bey: 18:37

Yes, absolutely. Now, what legacy are with all the work that you're doing, what legacy are you leaving behind?

Hussein Hallak: 18:47

Well, I hope, especially with the book that I written, I left a legacy of people sticking to their principles, um making their own choices in life, and living life their way. The one thing I want for people is to live life on their own terms. Life doesn't listen to us. Uh life has so many things that throws at us. It's like I I call it the sea of life. The sea doesn't listen to the captain. You can be the greatest captain in the world and the sea will not listen to you. You can be sailing and everything looks fine, and then it throws a storm your way and destroys your ship and throws you off track. You can't control that. But what you can control is the are the choices you make, how you navigate, how you grow yourself. So I like for people to uh understand that and to live a life as much as possible on their own terms, with their making their own choices, navigating to the destination they want, because it's only one life that we live. So that is the legacy I want to leave for people. And that's what I do every day, helping them with their business, with their life, with the book that I write, with with the uh with the writings that I put out there. That is what I want for people to do.

Fatima Bey: 20:01

By the way, he does have uh Hussein does have a lot uh on his website in terms of blogs. He'll tell you the website at the end, but uh you should take a look at them because they're very uh smart.

Hussein Hallak: 20:14

Thank you.

Fatima Bey: 20:15

That's like that's like the minimal word for it. But uh but they're they're pretty good, and you should uh definitely take a look at them. So what I hear is the the you leave legacy by influencing those you work with to be have the freedom to uh to work on their own terms and to think about it in a healthy way that helps them to do better at it and be successful. But what I also hear is the extended legacy is the influence that those people will have on their environments, the influence that those people will have on maybe the youth around them, the influence that those people have on the city, on their neighbors, on other people. And that's why I I that's why I believe in so strongly what you do, because it's partly what I'm doing here. If I influence one, they might go out and influence another. And that just translates into lives changed. And uh, you know, like I said in the beginning, a lot of people do what you do, and they only have, you know, corporate mindset and making money in bottom line um in in in their purview, in their sites. But with you, yeah, you make all that money too, but you're doing it with purpose, which is far more fulfilling and exciting, and also why you're memorable where we forget about everybody else. Um, so let me ask you this. What do you want this next generation to take away from all that you were doing?

Hussein Hallak: 21:44

I think if I'm to be honest, is not just about what I'm doing. I think we we live our life, unfortunately. Uh, everybody wants us to be somebody else. And yeah, all I want for people, I don't think there's anything wrong with going after the things you want to go after. I I I make it a point in anything that I do is that, you know, if you want the cars, go after the cars. If you want the money, go after the money. But go after them because you want them, not because somebody told you you should want them. Yeah, that is the only thing I ask of people. There's nothing wrong with pursuing what you want to pursue. You want you want the spotlight? By all means. I went after the spotlight. I was a headliner in a band, in a rock band when I was in Syria. I really yeah, I was on TV, uh, the morning show, 40 million viewers in in when I was in Dubai. Uh, everything that I thought I wanted to go after, I would go after. But I always I I tell this advice to my son as well. I said, don't just follow the herd. If you want to do something, do it because you chose it. Because when you choose it, you have the accountability and the responsibility. And when you do that, then you can grow. If you've done it for because other people have done it, you won't grow. And you will nobody will carry the responsibility. Nobody would say, well, if you done it because you followed me, well, I guess I'm responsible. Nobody would do that. So, because at the end of the day, responsibility will fall upon you, and you will be held accountable for what you think, what you say, what you do. So you better do that from a place of choice, from a place that you chose them. So, what that means is that you need to take the time to pursue, understand why you're pursuing these things. And if you don't know why, take a moment and make a choice about it. If you want to drink, drink because you choose it. If you want to, you know, play with the kids, play with the kids because you want to choose it. If you want to play basketball, play basketball because you choose it. So, and and when you make those choices and when you're comfortable with yourself making a choice, when the moment comes, you'll be able to think on your feet, you'll be able to be solid with your choices, and nobody will be able to sway you because you're confident of yourself. You know what you want to choose, you know what you want. A lot of people unfortunately get swept away into different lifestyles, and they wake up when they're 30, 40, whatever. I was like, did I live the life that I wanted? Did I become me, or I became somebody else? A version, you know, a version of somebody else, which it's empty, or it's not what I want. So that's what I want for people is to make their own choices and become their own person.

Fatima Bey: 24:29

I couldn't agree with you a thousand percent more, would not be enough. I couldn't agree with you more. Um, you're so, so, so right. And that is a key principle that some of the adults need to learn. Because some of them are still 13 when it comes to that. There's a lot of adults who still haven't figured that part out. Um, and if that's you, it's not too late. It it really isn't. You know, you are where you are, whatever. I'm I'm not everywhere I should be. I will be, but you know, life happens, we make choices. But I love what you just said. Yes. Yeah.

Hussein Hallak: 25:09

So a lot of people a lot of people blame themselves and they think they are the ones that are weak and they are the ones that didn't make decisions and whatever reasons you make up. But you have to understand that there's a whole systemic uh a system in place to take away that choice for from you. Uh your parents make the choices when you're when you're young because they have to, they're the adults, but then they hand you over to school. Nothing wrong with school, I love school, but school has certain paths for you. It's already been decided that, for example, music is reduced, math is upgraded. Uh, those sort of so it may not work for you, it may work for certain people. I love math, for example. Some other people love music. So these paths are made to you for you. And when you when you graduate from school, also the paths of life are always chosen for you. So you almost have to choose from what's available to you. And you you're not asked throughout life, what do you choose? What do you want? And you're not encouraged to do that on a regular basis and often as it needs to be. When you do that as often as you need to be, you'll grow that muscle. That muscle has not been used. That's all that it is. It's a muscle that you have, but you haven't used it enough. That's why you struggle when somebody asks you, you want chocolate or vanilla? Uh uh, you know, people, do you want to eat pizza? I don't know. You know, like the smallest choices people don't know how to make. You've you've been there, you've been sitting with people, and like forever, you know, it's all like two, three people having to choose one thing, and people don't know. It's because we never use that muscle. I'm using that, of course, like I'm making it a big deal out of it, but just to illustrate the difference. Right. So the more you use that muscle, the better you will get. So it's never too late. Start using it right now, and don't start don't go into the blame, and I made bad choices. Everybody makes bad choices.

Fatima Bey: 26:59

Very good point. Very, very good point. So, Hussein, how can people find you?

Hussein Hallak: 27:06

Easy. Go to husseinhalag.com and I am actually, you can find my book, you can find a lot of my writings, and you can reach out to me if you have a question to uh for me. I've always I always like to take questions and answer them. And I'm launching a mentorship program uh available for people. So um I hope for people the book I I wrote it so that people can have access to everything I mentor and talk about in an easy way. It's like I think $2 on on um uh Amazon. So it's very, very accessible. And if that's too much for you, reach out to me. I'll I'll make it available for you. Uh I want people to benefit. My book is actually Creative Commas, so people can take it, can use it, can rip it, can can teach it to others. I want more people to learn and more people to grow and more people to become confident in their choices and more people to become their own people.

Fatima Bey: 28:03

Yes. And for those of you who are listening right now and you're looking for someone to uh speak to youth, I think he's a really good choice uh because we need more people like him that can relate to them, that can actually uh talk to them and do some mind shifting in a good way because our next generation needs more people like that. So thank you, Hussein, so, so, so much for coming on. Um, I've really enjoyed talking to you. I wish we had another 17 hours, but uh we we're only doing one show today. Um, and once again, thank you. You've been listening MindShift Power Podcast for complete show notes on this episode, and to join our global movement, find us at fatimabay.com. Until next time, always remember there's power in shifting your thinking.