MCG Talent

5 lessons I wish I knew 20 years ago. 1. Your kids will remember you missing dinner. Your boss won’t remember you staying late. Choose wisely. 2. Don’t gossip. It drags you into the mud. Build people up behind their backs. That’s real leadership. 3. Relationships are everything. You don’t climb alone. You get pulled up by someone already at the next level. Stay valuable. Stay connected. 4. Focus is a weapon. In a distracted world, 3 hours of deep work is a superpower. Master it, and you’ll outpace everyone. 5. It’ll take 10 years. Minimum. There’s no hack. No shortcut. Play the long game. Stay in the game. That’s how you win.

“I’ll do it tomorrow.” I’ll hire a VA tomorrow. I’ll post on LinkedIn tomorrow. I’ll build that outbound system tomorrow. Tomorrow is where most people’s dreams go to die. You don’t scale by waiting. You scale by deciding, quickly, and backing it with action. Your competition isn’t smarter. They’re just moving faster. Perfection is procrastination in disguise. Speed + systems = momentum. Build a habit of urgency. Because delay is the biggest killer of growth.

Growth needs oxygen. And if you’re suffocating in a role, a market, a model, or a mindset… It’s time to move. Staying stuck isn’t noble. It’s expensive. Go where you can build. Go where you can breathe.

Mazen Nahawi's story isn’t the usual founder narrative. Raised in a small town in the UAE, he grew up focused, disciplined, and driven to build something meaningful. No distractions. No shortcuts. Just a clear desire to succeed, because failure felt personal. He held himself to high standards early on, not for appearances, but because he wanted to earn his success. And over time, that turned into something powerful: A business built on trust, long-term thinking, and care. In this episode of Beyond the Business Card Podcast Mazen shares: – Why trust is the most valuable currency in business – How to build something real and with purpose – And why the money only comes when you stop making it the goal Mazen speaks the truth about what it takes to build a career and a business that matters. 🎧 Listen now - link to the show in the comments.

Your job should do one of two things: Make you smarter or Make you richer. If it’s not doing either, you’re not in a job. You’re in a prison with a salary. Staying for the team For the “potential” For the fear of starting over Cool. Just don’t call it strategy. Call it what it is: stalling. Get honest. Get moving.

The fastest way to stand out in a world drowning in AI content is to write like a human.

Every time I’ve put myself out there online, it’s changed my life. Writing a post. Sharing an opinion. Telling a story. Starting my podcast Showing my face. None of it was perfect at the start, far from it. All of it moved me forward. Just before I launched my first business, my aunt gave me one bit of advice: JFDI I won’t spell out what it means. Just do what she said. MCG Talent Identifii 7-Figure Recruitment Scaling Systems Vanessa Lanham-Day

Real success is far simpler than you think. Waking up healthy and clear-headed. Doing work you actually enjoy. Having your kids run into the room while you’re mid-Zoom! A tight circle of people who’d take your call at 2 a.m. Laughing until your face hurts. Being able to switch off, even just for a day. That’s the stuff I’ve come to value. Not the highlight reel, but the real reel. And it took me years (and a few wrong turns) to get that. Because here’s what the world tells you success is: – A fancy job title – A watch that costs more than your first car – First-class flights and filtered sunsets in Bali – Shouting about “hustle” while quietly burning out – Pretending you’ve got it all figured out Looks great online. But I’ve met enough of those people to know most of them are miserable. Build a life that works for you. Not one that just looks good for other people.

“Work is not the enemy of life. Work is a privilege. And it gives you life.” That’s what Natasha Sideris said to me in one of the most powerful interviews I’ve ever done. No filter, just the journey of building something massive, and what it actually takes. She didn’t move to Dubai and just have instant success. There was no silver spoon. No cheat code. “I didn’t just arrive, open Tashas Galleria and it was pumping. It doesn’t work like that.” What people see today is the surface; Restaurants full. A strong brand. A great car. Nice holidays. Throwing the occasional party. What they don’t see? The suffering. The sacrifice. The guilt. “If I could turn back the clock and give everything back just to have a few more days with my parents… I would.” Obviously this one hit me hard as well. So many of us push, grind, sacrifice, because we believe in what we’re building. But sometimes, in the drive to create a better life, we miss the moments that made us. Natasha didn’t hold back. She spoke about the obsession with building something great. About choosing the right people, not once, not twice, but every single time. “Staff. Staff. Staff. That’s the most important thing. Choose the right people and invest in them.” And then she dropped this gem: “Control how it looks and feels to your customer. The backend? I don’t want to know. I don’t enjoy it. It’s not what I’m good at.” Delegation is a skill. That’s a real leader. Clarity on what matters. Just vision and focus. And finally, she left a warning for the wannabe entrepreneurs: “If you don’t have that fire, that willingness to sacrifice, then don’t go for it. Go get a day job. This life isn’t easy.” Natasha Sideris is a powerhouse. Founder of the TASHAS GROUP Thousands of staff. Multiple venues across South Africa, the Middle East, London and more to come. And I still feel she’s just getting started. But behind it all is the story no one tells: The price. The pain. The purpose. If you’re building something, this is a reminder to trust your instinct, go all in, and never forget the people who matter along the way. Episode in the comments. Enjoy.

Started in comms at 19. Quit it all at 25. Taught English in Honduras at 26. Started again in recruitment at 27. Fired in the crash at 29. Launched a biz in Dubai at 30. Built a multi-7-figure recruitment business at 33. Opened four global offices at 35. Failiure hit me and had to shut some at 36. Rebuilt at 37. Exited first venture at 41 Second at 43. Started coaching at 44. Launched a popular biz podcast at 44. Co-founded a personal brand consultancy at 45. More to come… Success isn’t linear. It just requires staying in the game. MCG Talent 7-Figure Recruitment Scaling Systems Identifii Remote Resource Beyond the Business Card Podcast