#041 - Hospitality Meets Mohamed Ali - The Powerful Story of Hope

Hospitality Meets... with Phil Street

When I started this podcast, one of my objectives was to keep things light and humorous, especially in the face of the seriousness of the lives we are all being asked to lead at the moment.

But every now and again, Someone’s story comes along where light and humorous just doesn’t feel appropriate.

In today’s episode we have one such story.

It’s powerful, gripping, hopeful, moving and incredibly important. It’s a story that transcends Hospitality and I think needs to be heard by as many people as possible.

So today, I’m stripping things right back, no music intro, no comedy moments just me, chatting to someone with a phenomenal story of transcendence. I’m delighted to introduce to you, Mohamed Ali who currently works at those legends over at Wahaca. Mohamed has quite literally been saved by the industry of hospitality and shows what kindness really can achieve.

Mohamed’s strength is in how he is looking forward

I’d urge you to listen to every single word of our chat and when you’re done, share it to as many places as you can, even beyond our incredible industry. It’s a story that needs to be heard and could save an awful lot of people.

A huge thank you to Mohamed for being so open.

Until then sit back, take a deep breath, and I hope you enjoy Mohamed’s story as much as I did

Please Follow Mohamed's inspiring message of positivity in the following places:-

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGFWTvZLPb-vImhUnmvLGwg

Instagram - @MI_Horizon

Twitter - @Mo_Humaneskill

Follow The Clink at:-

Website - https://theclinkcharity.org

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOE41Y7hY6XcPHHxU7C9fEw

Twitter - @theclinkcharity

Instagram - @theclinkrestaurant

Show Transcription

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

people, life, Clink, hospitality, feel, Mohamed, thinking, prison, easy, situation, realise, gun, support, guess, hear, father, Somalia, choice, story, London

SPEAKERS

Phil Street, Mohamed Ali

Phil Street 00:00

Hey, everyone. So here's the thing. When I started this podcast, one of my objectives was to keep things light and humorous, especially in the face of the seriousness of the lives we're all being asked to lead at the moment. But every now and again, someone's story comes along where light and humorous just doesn't feel appropriate. In today's episode, we've got one such story. It's powerful, gripping, hopeful, moving, and incredibly important. It's a story that transcends hospitality, and I think needs to be heard by as many people as possible. So today, I'm stripping things right back, no music intro, no comedy moments, just me chatting to someone with a phenomenal story of transcendence. I'm delighted to introduce Mohamed Ali, who currently works at those legends over at Wahaca. Mohamed has quite literally been saved by the industry of hospitality, and shows what kindness really can achieve. But his real strength is in how he's looking forward, I'd urge you to listen to every single word of our chat. And when you're done, share it to as many places as you can. Even beyond our incredible industry. It's a story that needs to be heard, and could save an awful lot of people. A huge thank you to Mohamed for being so open. Stay tuned to the end For information on where you can follow this inspirational guy. I'll also put the links in the show notes on our website, hospitalitymeets.captivate.fm, where you can also sign up to our weekly newsletter. Until then, sit back, take a deep breath. And I hope you enjoy Mohamed's story as much as I did. Hello, and welcome to the next edition of hospitality meets with me, Phil Street. Today, I've got an absolute humdinger of a guest. As you all know by now, one of the objectives of the show was to tell as wide a variety of stories as possible from entry level all the way up to the very top of the industry. Today's guest has had one hell of a journey, just to end up in hospitality, where he now feels, I think it's safe to say, at home and has a superb career in front of him. I'll let him fill in the blanks on that but it gives me amazing pleasure to welcome to the show, Mohamed Ali.

Mohamed Ali 02:04

Thank you so much Phil, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. That's a massive introduction.

Phil Street 02:09

Excellent. I always write these things a little bit in the dark about, you know, am I saying the right things, and I've got some wrong I've mispronounced people's names. And

Mohamed Ali 02:24

It sounded like I was just coming, you know, to the ring for the first time, you know after being away for so long. Just about to have the biggest fight of my life. the introduction got me really excited. You know?

Phil Street 02:35

Nice one

Mohamed Ali 02:36

Thank you so much.

Phil Street 02:37

You're very, very welcome. How are you doing anyway?

Mohamed Ali 02:39

I'm doing great. Thank you so much. As you know, like, you know, there's so many, I guess, uncertainties in this time at the moment has in 2020

Phil Street 02:50

Yeah

Mohamed Ali 02:50

Um, but what I'm trying to do the best to the best of my abilities be as optimistic and, and, you know, hopeful about the future. Obviously, right now, I've been looking forward to having a conversation with you as well. You know, one of the things I really know I'm hoping to do is highlight how how hospitality has really, you know, helped me and change my whole perception about people in general as well.

Phil Street 03:16

Yeah.

Mohamed Ali 03:17

And I guess, you know, this is an opportunity for me to say thank you to everyone in hospitality from The Clink to you know, Wahaca who has given me an opportunity to every single other, you know, member of hospitality who have given me a helping hand. But yeah, you know, honestly, I can't thank them enough.

Phil Street 03:36

Brilliant. Well, that's great. I mean, we'll talk in more depth about about the The Clink because I think what they're doing is incredible, but an elephant in the room that we have to get out the way...

Mohamed Ali 03:49

Yeah

Phil Street 03:49

...straight away Is your name. Muhammad Ali. Obviously, that conjures up images of somebody else that was fairly famous.

Mohamed Ali 03:58

Yeah. The greatest person ever.

Phil Street 04:01

Yeah. Well, he was he was an inspiration that man wasn't he?

Mohamed Ali 04:04

Absolutely. And that's why I'm not trying to be like him. You know, I'm just trying to be the next one Mohamed Ali, I'm gonna try to take his name.

Phil Street 04:10

Yeah.

Mohamed Ali 04:10

Anyway, so. No putting your gloves on you know?

Phil Street 04:18

Excellent. So, no, that's cool. We also had somebody on the show who was called Rachel Stevens, and still is called Rachel Stevens, in fact, and obviously, that's a member of S Club Seven. I think the band might be before your time. Showing my age now

Mohamed Ali 04:34

I remember S Club Seven, they were good songs, I remember, I think some of their songs.

Phil Street 04:40

Yeah, very happy. Very happy.

Mohamed Ali 04:42

Yeah

Phil Street 04:43

Great. Okay. Well, let's, I suppose kick things off. Take us back to school hood. I know just talk us through your your journey because I think as I said at the beginning of the chat, for me, this is kind of What the podcast is all about? The diversity of people's journeys is incredible. And I think I'm really excited to hear yours in a bit more depth.

Mohamed Ali 05:11

All right. So I guess, you know, childhood, for me was quite happy was happy times Honest to God, if I remember, um, you know how I was, I was growing up in London, you know, I came here as a really young, young boy and growing up in London was exciting, you know, going to school life was, you know, full of different differences. You know, like, there's so many variety of people, there's so many Yeah, multicultural city, so it was nice to be able to mix it with so many different people based on that. I guess. It was also equally difficult to grasp the language having been here only a year. So I came to London, UK 2000

Phil Street 06:00

Where are you from originally Mohamed?

Mohamed Ali 06:02

Yes. So I'm from Somalia.

Phil Street 06:04

Okay

Mohamed Ali 06:05

Yeah, so I came, I came to London 2000 to live with my father. Straightaway, I went to primary school, which was it was nice, you know, learning, trying to learn English, obviously maths was okay, because my dad liked maths, I didn't really like maths. But my dad forced me to like maths.

Phil Street 06:23

(Laughs)

Mohamed Ali 06:24

English, yes. But the English I guess. It was, it was difficult for me to learn English or what I used to do is, I think if I look back, it was kind of a unique way of trying to learn what I used to do is I would copy what people say whatever it was they would say? And then I will try to repeat them in the same expression that was in their face. Okay, so yeah, so I'll give you an example. So one time you know some kids can be evil sometimes, Yeah. So So kids off at school what time and I guess I used to copy you know what people say? And then one said to me, You know, I think he said he said a rude word. Something something something right. But he said it with a smile, so I thought okay, cool. So it must have been something good right? So when I left the school that day, and I remember walking on my way home and I remember saying the same thing that he said but put an S on it, so making a plural.

Phil Street 06:56

(Laughs) Right

Mohamed Ali 07:27

You could imagine. It was a swear word. I don't want to repeat it, the swear word so what so when I said that the swear word with a plural they thought I was talking to all of them and they chased me I guess

Phil Street 07:40

(Laughs)

Mohamed Ali 07:41

Sounds like you know what? Try to repeat, You know what, what you hear from people is maybe not the best way of learning. But it helped me to pick up the accent it helped me to pick up new words all the time. But obviously I won't repeat the same mistake over just repeating what people say if I don't understand what they mean

Phil Street 07:57

Actually a really great lesson for adult life as well to be honest

Mohamed Ali 08:01

Yeah, I definitely always looking back to now like wow, I actually went through that. And I you know, I was actually repeating what people said genuinely, so yeah, that was an example um, obviously school was school was alright apart from you know, the language barrier and the difficulty of learning the English language. Apart from that, it was really fun, you know, to be there to be studying to have the opportunity. Always My dad always talk about you know, you're in England now. You got opportunities, you know, to make something of your life. And he was really pushing me towards you know, doing software my life.

Phil Street 08:02

Yeah

Mohamed Ali 08:07

went to secondary school in secondary school. Funnily enough, my name, Mohamed Ali got me more trouble than it was worth at that time. So, yeah, I think you know, when you're young and you have other young people around you, they don't realise that I didn't choose my name. So I what I say What's your name? And I say Mohamed and so he can fight like it becomes it becomes almost like I'm I'm saying like, I'm a fighter right. I'm making an announcement so people always offering me up for you know taking up because my name Mohamed Ali I must be able to fight and I didn't even like fighting so I'm that guy's that's always gonna fight. Obviously, what can I do you know if people offer Yeah, so that got me in trouble, more trouble than it was worth

Phil Street 09:30

Yeah

Mohamed Ali 09:30

So I got expelled from school couple of times for fighting. And I guess in a way I kind of, you know, went down that path of fighting people and then my dad was really upset about that. So you know, following that he took me back to took me back home to say, look, you need to re-evaluate yourself and think about the culture and think about why you came here. So in his own way, he was trying to help me desist from you know, the mind frame I was in at that time

Phil Street 09:59

Yeah

Mohamed Ali 10:00

However, when you're young boy or having come from Somalia, yeah. And in London compared to Somalia is no, there's no comparison, obviously London is much better and much peaceful much more. It's much It feels like an upgrade, right? So I've come to London, and for me to be told I'm going back, it almost felt like I'm going backwards. And I didn't like that, hence why, you know why I went against my dad's wishes, and try to make my way back. So I went to, when I was taken to Somalia for a little while to stay there. I went to, I went to the the embassy in Ethiopia. Obviously, with the help of some family, I got some money, and I went to Ethiopia, and I went to the embassy, and I said, Look, I've Lost my Passport. At the time, I already have my passport. So I said, I lost my passport, is there any way I can, you know, be given a visa to come back? And this was at the age of 15

Phil Street 10:13

Right

Mohamed Ali 10:14

So, yes, so then I came back with the help of the British Embassy into the UK, and hence why I went to Foster home, because I was an unaccompanied minor, right, that was a fact actually back to this country on my own. So he's like, like, I want to do it. So it really became the social services responsibility to kind of look after me, and they put me in foster home. My first ever foster experience. And I must say, you know, you know, I hear a lot of stories about foster homes, and you know, what, what it's like, but having lived through it, I must tell you right now, like, that, the family I was living in was amazing. Like, I know, this, my foster mum, up to this day, like, I've looked everywhere, till I found her, and an absolutely wonderful family, I feel like, I feel like I done myself injustice because when I went to live with my foster parents who were Eritrean, by the way, so we have similar culture, I feel like, they were really trying to assist me in order to me, help me find my feet and become somebody in this, you know, in this country. And when I explained to her my father, and the situation in Somalia, and the fact that came back, she's really not that you're here, you must do something productive and succeed in life. You know, obviously, I think by this time, it was I was, you know, because I'm a kid, I didn't really see the necessity of taking advice, one, and two, even though I like I, in my head, I'm thinking, if my own father and myself are not, you know, compatible at the moment, I'm old father doesn't my whole family's not, you know, drawing me back to their circle, then why would an outsider and what they say really be true, you know, so I kind of feel like a kind of, you know, cut my nose of despite my face because she was genuinely trying to help me and her family, to be there for me. And occasionally, that led me to first hand to be getting involved in, you know, people around my area. At the time, I was living in Kidbrooke, which actually, funnily enough, is not even that far from where I am now. Because I live in Catford. Now, but um, you know, it, it was almost like, you know, I felt like, I had no reason to care anymore. Because my father, which I, the reason I came back, was to just say to him, Look, I don't want to be in Somalia, I want to be fixed up. But because he kind of, he didn't want to know. Now, if I didn't know. So, this is the worst thing a person can do. It was his worst somebody like, or when people believe that they, let's say, for example, someone thought, you know, Phil that you was a criminal. You're a robber year. What if you said obviously you're not, let's say, let's say?

Phil Street 13:49

(Laughs)

Mohamed Ali 13:52

So let's say you...

Phil Street 13:53

Who knows what goes on behind the microphone eh?

Mohamed Ali 13:55

Yeah. Well, we hope not Okay, so let's say let's say someone says to you, this is what you are, and in you know, a lot of the times, especially when you're you know young, is hard to you know, have that. It's almost like the response like, okay, you think I'm a robber, so I might as well be a robber, you know, like, so in my mind when I came back, me saying, Oh you think I am, you know, misbehaving like, I'm not gonna fix up and that make something out of my life. Instead of saying, I will prove you wrong. just happens to be you know, I proved my father, right, that I wasn't behaving myself, and I wasn't gonna do the right things in my life. And I think it's important for people to always remember, a lot of times people will say what they think, but for you to, you know, you have you still have a choice whether you want to prove that person right or prove them wrong.

Phil Street 14:51

Yeah

Mohamed Ali 14:51

Obviously, as an adult, now, I could look back and say, that was so childish. And what I should have done is say, look, the reason I came back Remember that and to make something of my life would be the necessary, right choice in any case.

Phil Street 15:07

The point you make about, we always have a choice, it's obviously much easier to make a choice when you're in a position and everything's lined up perfectly for you to make a good choice. But there is actually a really wonderful piece of philosophy from, and bear with me here, from Harry Potter. There's a line that, that Dumbledore says in that movie, slash book, I don't actually know if he says it in the book. But in...