#3 Meet a Founder - Yemi Ogunbase

Picture this: a party in Lexington changes everything. Yemi Ogunbase joins us to recount his incredible journey from California's sun-soaked beaches to the charming hills of Kentucky. You'll hear how a Facebook friendship blossomed into a lifelong partnership and how a chance meeting at a game night led to fulfilling work with CleanSpace. 
Yemi also opens up about his path of self-discovery, shaped by early life challenges like losing a parent and marrying young. This episode is a testament to the serendipity of life, where a single event can lead to both personal and professional transformation.

Transcript

From California to Kentucky Journey

Speaker 1 0:36

all right , everybody welcome back , we are welcome welcome .

Speaker 1 0:41

Good pals ready to lock and load another podcast . We're going to be talking to our man , yemi oganbashi . So you've heard eric's story leading up to now . You've heard a little bit from me . Uh , I was joking earlier that we the man , the myth and the legend one of us , the man , one's a myth , one's a legend . We're not sure who's who , but either way , we're talking to yemi . Uh , third person in this trio here , so pretty excited about that . Yemi , give me a snapshot of kind of your . I know you're from california originally , right , so , like people may or may not know about , just give me a little high speed starting now . Grew up in california . Bam , you're axington kentucky . I know how you got here and that's kind of a funny story . So you know you can give us some detail on that .

Speaker 3 1:26

But catch us up to speed and then we'll talk a little bit more about the here and the now you know , I uh grew up in san diego , um , and about 2005 , 2006 , um , we decided to move to texas , and I lived in texas for close to a decade and then went back to california and then uh made my way to lexington . As a result of uh came for a party Okay , and never left .

Speaker 1 2:03

The never ending party . Yes , that's usually what happens . People come to Lexington for a party and then just like man , it's just so good , yep , just decided to you know , it's bourbon country and all .

Speaker 3 2:14

It's the .

Speaker 1 2:14

Lexington origin story . Yes , it's awesome .

Speaker 3 2:19

But yeah , I will say the only thing I really miss about california , I miss the beach , you know I miss the ocean I miss being able to go put my feet in the water on christmas day .

Speaker 1 2:33

You know , so you can technically still do that I , I mean it's .

Speaker 3 2:38

You know it's not the same .

Speaker 1 2:45

You know how to man .

Speaker 3 2:48

You can probably find a find a pond somewhere that might be frozen over A little creek down the way .

Speaker 3 2:55

That's great . But yeah , came here in 2018 actually , and it was to attend a party . At the time , my best friend in the world was working for a roofing company here in town and they were having a large party you know a big , you know fancy shindig to celebrate a business milestone they'd hit and she needed a plus one . And I was like , well , you know . Then she said , oh , if you come to the party , my boss needs some marketing help , so maybe you could sign him as a client . And I was like , oh well , I'm coming to the party and meet everybody .

Speaker 3 3:43

Meet my friend and , like we've been friends for five years and it never actually met , we became friends on Facebook . Met in the comment section of Pastor Mark Driscoll on his Facebook fan page .

Speaker 1 3:57

For those of you who are familiar with Driscoll , there's a whole podcast about Driscoll now too , so that's what's so funny about this , yeah .

Speaker 3 4:05

So we met in the comments section , became friends and really shared a lot of things , just very close , very , very good friends and everything . You know , she called me on my , on my junk , when I was acting a fool sometimes and she usually didn't act a fool , so I didn't get to call her out much , but whatever anyway . So I'm here , I go to this party and I'm in the middle of you know , I'm close . I closed the deal and I was like well , you know what ? I'm gonna rent an apartment here in lexington , you know . So I'm moving into my apartment and I'm getting my kitchen situated and I go into . You know what was going to be like my room , my bedroom , and my friend had made my bed with some sheets and it was just like it was no big deal . But at the same time it was just this super kind gesture . And you guys know how it is when you have your moment , you meet the wife you just know you're like man and I just looked at her .

Speaker 3 5:06

I was like this is the best woman I know . Wow , I want to marry her like it was that and so within three weeks of getting to kentucky , I'm standing in front of her father and I'm asking his blessing to to marry , to marry her . And so I married my best friend . And it was so funny because on facebook we actually had each other listed as brother and sister you know , because we were close like that .

Speaker 3 5:36

So then it was like yeah , we had to uncivil each other other on Facebook and like wait a couple of weeks before , like going into a relationship , because then it's just going to be like oh , he moved to Kentucky , mary was a consumer . Oh , snap , so oh snap , but yeah , so that's yikes . That is that is why I stayed , and I love it here . It's good stuff .

Speaker 2 5:58

Yeah .

Speaker 1 6:02

So you it here . It's good stuff . Yeah , so you're , you're , so you're you're . Obviously you're working with clean space on a number of different roles . That's how I mean we've we've done a few different projects , uh over the years since I've been able to meet you , but obviously your background ?

Speaker 2 6:12

how did you learn about clean space ?

Speaker 1 6:14

how did you learn about clay ?

Speaker 3 6:16

I was at aaron's house for game night and you said I remember eric was over and , like we had talked a few times I've been over there for game night and you were talking about this , this idea that you had or whatever , and at the time I had some stuff going on and and everything . I thought this would be really cool and I just kind of like I don't know if any of you guys have like those kind of throwaway prayers where you're like God , it'd be really cool to work on this . You know , be really cool to be part of this , and then you just move on with your life , toss it out there . Yeah , Just toss it out there . And so about a year after that , um , Aaron actually asked me about doing some stuff within sales in May of last year , 2023 . And I was like , no , I got some other things going on . And then again in August , he asked and I was like , yeah , let's do it . Well , then , come to find out . I later found out . Eric said you know ?

Speaker 3 7:27

that it was the Lord who told me to hire you . So I'm looking at that and I was like , dude , that's a really great job reference , that's a phenomenal reference . Burned as a freelancer for a lot of money and it put us in a financial hole . And I just said in the next thing that I do , I want to work with people of high integrity . That was like , and so , within like a day of saying that out , like again one of those just throw away , throw away prayers . Within a day of that , like Eric , you know , you and Aaron made the offer to you , know , to come on board and join the team and everything , and I'm just , I'm thankful to , to be part of it . Like I'm excited about the mission and what you know , what we're doing , how we're impacting people , but also just like I like you guys , like as people with you .

Speaker 1 8:19

So yeah , we like you too . Yeah , I mean yeah , good guy to have around Appreciate that . I'm in trouble too . It's been , it's been fun . I think you referenced me as Eric's partner in crime . We definitely have a have a crime partnership going , I think , between the three of us at this point . So Aaron's running a crime syndicate , I'm the three of us at this point . So aaron's running a crime syndicate , I'm , I'm running . That's just a joke for everybody on the airwaves .

Speaker 3 8:48

No , like anyone who knows , you knows that's not even like close to the case . So that's right ?

Speaker 1 8:53

yeah , that's right , not even close . Okay , so tell me a little about your , uh , your professional background , because what you're doing here with clean space , you've done a number of different things right , but heavily in marketing , copywriting , that type of thing . So how did you get into that initially , like in your early career , the marketing ? Was that something you always wanted to do ? Did you have a design ? I'm always curious how people get motivated for what kind of ends up being a lot of their life moving forward . Was there something that you saw ? It was like , oh , this is so cool , I want to do that . You know , like I watched the moon landing , I want to be an astronaut . Like , was there some epiphany ? Was it just kind of natural ? How did how did it come about ?

Speaker 3 9:37

So I , I'd been in sales my entire career , got career Got started in , you know , in the 1900s , the late 1900s , got into sales and that just came about on a whim . It was someone I went to high school with . He was cold calling businesses and he was just like dude , you should just get into sales Like you talk to people and they listen to you . You should just sell stuff . I'm like , okay , you know it sounds cool , you know whatever . So I had a variety of sales experience . I have not sold cars , I have not sold real estate , haven't done mortgage loans , but I've sold a lot of other things . Well , the marketing came about because I had a . I got divorced in 2013 . And it's probably the most , like one of the most emotionally violent things I've been to been through and looking at it now I can say that it was like my fault . I was not like I was not a great husband , like like if I had been her big brother , I probably would have fought me , just saying you know , and I can admit that but my confidence was absolutely shattered , like my identity of who I , who I had been , and I could not sell anything Like I , just I , I , I didn't have it . And so I was drinking with a friend and we were talking about mad men and he's like , dude , you should be a copywriter . And I was like like don draper . He's like , yeah , bro , you should like . When we work together , your emails always revive dead leads . You should be a copywriter . So thankful , you know google the copywriting and discovered , you know , the late gary halbert and gary has been a big inspiration into just how I approach copy and everything . And then he said gary halbert had a , he had a 30-day program . He said that would turn you into a copywriter . It was better than like 70 , 80 of the people that were out there read these books , copy these sales letters by hand every day and you should be good .

Speaker 3 11:41

Well , I realized that I had been responding to positive copywriting for years , like Frank Kern . Um , for years I was on Frank Kern's email list and enjoyed every second . It was like it was just a dude who was like , hey , I'm talking about this and getting ready to go surfing or whatever . Like it was just Frank was the Frank's . You know Frank's email popped up you , you opened it , you wanted to read it . What was he going to talk about next ? And so got in , you know , got into copywriting and everything and really , just , you know , followed what Gary said and just started started doing it like , got into that , and copywriting allowed me to be able to afford the therapy to work through the issues so that I could start selling again Because I could sell copy jobs and everything no problem , like sell my services . But in terms of being consistent in sales and everything like that , I just didn't have the fire to have the mojo .

Speaker 1 12:38

That's a really interesting development cycle there , yeah . Development cycle there , yeah , because you normally don't hear about people that are , you know , that have done sales , that have done well , that have bottoms out and then come back . You know , like that's quite a cycle that you experienced on that front and it's really interesting .

Personal Growth and Future Goals

Speaker 2 12:57

What's what is like one thing that you've learned from bottoming out ?

Speaker 3 13:05

Hmm , you know , truth be told , I was not . I got married when I was 20 . I just wasn't emotionally ready for it . Um , my dad had died when I was 11 and there were just a lot of issues that I hadn't worked through and just really should not have been , shouldn't have been a husband , you know , definitely should not have been a father . Um , just made a lot of mistakes in you know , acting through pain , being self-centered , and I think that bottoming out , really just it helped me look around and say you know , yemi , is this what you want ? Like , do you still want to be dealing with this ? You know , like , on your deathbed , do you still want to be feeling this way ? Do you still want to be dealing with this stuff ? Do you still want to hold this anger that you carried , you know , from childhood and everything ? Do you want to have this way of relating to people that you do ? Do you like this person , who you are , right ?

Speaker 3 14:12

now , so thank a lot of self , a lot of self-reflection and everything , and that's that's some of the hardest work that you'll do . Like and a lot of it has like you can't , a lot of times you can't control what happens to you when you're a child , but when you become an adult , you're responsible for what you do , the choices that you make , and a lot of times you don't think that this one decision can completely alter the course of your life . Yeah , one of my favorite movies is the movie Vanilla Sky . Tom Cruise , yeah , tom Cruise , yeah , tom Cruise . I think it's his best film , his absolute best picture . Mission Impossible is cool , top Gun is cool . He's done some other stuff , but Vanilla Sky , I feel like , is his best work . I'm not going to spoil it for the people who are watching this , because that's just .

Speaker 1 15:03

I don't spoil movies , but you know it came out like 20 something years ago it came out .

Speaker 3 15:08

It was like yeah , 2002 , I think 2001 .

Speaker 1 15:10

You haven't seen it yet , gosh .

Speaker 3 15:14

And so it's just one of those , like I don't know , if somebody wants to drop me , you know , send me an email or whatever . I will happily discuss Vanilla Sky with you over a cup of coffee .

Speaker 2 15:25

Okay , Okay . So what is your clean space exit strategy ? What does that look like for you ? Say clean space exits , you know X amount . What does that like to you ? What does that look like ? How does your life look after that ?

Speaker 3 15:48

One of the things that . So there was a movie that came out called office space , and he said that he would do nothing , and for me I've been .

Speaker 3 16:02

I've been working in some form or fashion since I was 13 , you , know actually actually , even before that I was , I got a job cleaning my apartment complexes laundry room and I was like nine or 10 . So always been doing some kind of work and what I want to do is be able to just and I won't do this for long because I just can't stay busy but at least for like a week or two , just wake up , go to the massage therapist , the chiropractor , you know , yeah and you know , but but also I want to . You know there's other things I want to do . Um , my mom has always wanted a porch , that you know , a house with a porch that wraps all the way around it and a lexus sc430 .

Speaker 3 16:48

So I probably get my mom , you know , get that for my mom yeah um , make my siblings and children like , debt free , you know , and really , I just want to help people reach the ultimate versions of themselves , and so , whatever it is that requires them to do that , whether that's , you know , an investment in their dream . Whether that's an investment in helping them improve their health . Whether that's an investment in helping them improve their health , whether that's an investment in like , hey , dude , I need some therapy . Like , yeah , you know , whatever that is , I want to help people reach the ultimate versions of themselves , because I know a lot of people have invested in and believed in me , you know , including you guys .

Speaker 2 17:34

Yeah , well , I think we're all investing into each other too you know that , you see , you see that .

Speaker 3 17:40

You see . You see what makes that person them . You see the ultimate potential that person has . You're like , if this person is as good as I think they are , they'll be unstoppable . And I just want to cultivate that and help people believe that about themselves . So yeah , it would be a positivity tour . I call it like the Barnabas Project , just encouraging people .

Speaker 1 18:04

Yeah , the Barnabas Project , that's awesome . It's good stuff . Well , all right , you and I talk a lot about food and beverage and many things . I don't know if we're connoisseurs , but we definitely highly appreciate that realm . What's your number one go-to dish ? If you could have any type of food prepared and you already know who it is or what the restaurant is , what would that be ?

Speaker 3 18:35

I've got to say some of the best . One of like this is probably the best steak I've ever had in my life . There's a restaurant in san diego called pacifica del mar . I don't know if they still have it on their menu , but they did it . They had the house cured ribeye and this thing was absolutely just delicious . And then you know you have to forgive me because in my younger days , my ignorance I ate steaks , medium Well yeah , you'll have to start somewhere but it was that good Medium . Well , that's pretty good .

Speaker 1 19:13

I'm going to go and say this to my Google . You said Pacifica Del Mar . Pacifica Del Mar , that's pretty good . I'm gonna go and say this to my google record . You said pacifica del mar pacifica del mar okay , I'm just gonna go ahead and lock that in next time I'm out in uh , california . Yes , it's good to know .

Speaker 3 19:26

Good to know del mar they made a house cured ribeye . But there's also this place well , the place doesn't exist anymore , but it was called ruddle's smokehouse and it was in a beach town called cayucas , california . They had smoked albacore tacos , okay with this apple slaw . That was just part of it and they were . They didn't serve any drinks , but they were right around the corner from a liquor store so you could could go get a beer , whatever you wanted .

Speaker 3 19:57

I got a beer that day and I went and sat and just watched the ocean roll in as I'm eating this taco that was probably sent from heaven Cause it was that good that's awesome yeah .

Speaker 1 20:12

It's just like one of those great memories that you , just , you're never going to forget .

Speaker 3 20:16

I feel like everyone gets to experience what I call perfect moments , where you just have this snapshot of life , where it's like I'm glad that I that my life didn't end before I experienced this moment , and obviously like it's . You know , of course , you have your perfect moments of like . You know you get married , you have your children , everything . But there are other moments that are just like it's . You know , of course , you have your perfect moments of like . You know you get married , you have your children , everything . But there are other moments that are just like it's . You and god man , y'all you guys are just having a moment . We're just we're vibing , we're chilling and that's what's , that's what's going on , like you know , you made the tuna for this and the apples for this and you put it all together and you gave it , gave this person the idea for it . So , thank you , let's hang .

Speaker 1 20:56

That's right , that's awesome . Well , I look forward to visiting Del Mar with you someday and taking a trip to Pacifica and having a good house whereby . So we'll have to put that on the docket .

Speaker 3 21:11

Absolutely , actually , whenever we have our exit , that's on me .

Speaker 1 21:19

OK , we'll take a plane ride out to Del Mar . Yes , we're flying private , love it . Well , yeah , mate , it has been awesome getting to chat with you a bit here . We are both very thankful to have you as part of the team , and I'm personally very glad to have known you these past several years , and I look forward to many great things to come as we continue an exciting friendship and a business partnership . So till till then . Till then , appreciate it . All right Cheers guys Ciao .