We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Wacinque Amistad Kaizen BeMende a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Wacinque Amistad Kaizen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today
Innovative new standards are the greatest wealth drivers of new startup companies. New standards are most commonly established in two ways. 1. People’s choice where the new tech or designs don’t have a significant difference, yet people are drawn to one over the other, and over time, this gap widens. 2. Evidence-based math and science reveal a best design that outperforms (with lower costs, greater returns) existing comparative designs, allowing individuals, organizations, institutions, trade groups, etc, to agree on the new standard. If I were to start today, I would focus on telling and presenting evidence of the better design so that the new standard can be adopted as quickly as possible. This new standard would be an Asset Ownership Standard, leading to 100% Financial Inclusion. Financial Inclusion is the favorite word of the day if you say you want to close the Wealth Gap. The US Treasury Department recently announced a National Strategy for Financial Inclusion. David Scott, a Georgia House Representative, sponsored HR1711, a Bill for Financial Inclusion. AFI, the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, sponsors the Global Youth Financial Inclusion Award, so why no 100% Financial Inclusion? The industry focus and belief of most proponents of Financial Inclusion wrongly believe that Financial Literacy is the most essential first step. Ignoring how long financial literacy has existed in human history. In the US alone, it is nearly 300 years old, dating back to Benjamin Franklin’s book The Way to Wealth, published in 1758. One of George Washington’s first actions as President was to establish the Bureau of Weights and Standards. The Asset Ownership Standard would not be a government program, nor would it be supported by Taxes or Debt. It would utilize Bloomberg’s “Your Wealth Number” model and would set aspirational goals that will adjust by the individual owner. It would work like the “Pursuit of Happiness” and could be an Amendment to the Constitution. AOS accounts would be launched Prenatally, be forever deposit-only while invested in any number of dividend-paying stocks, especially those whose products are used most now or in the future by the owner, and bequeathed to the next generation. The lifecycle would be Prenatal 15-30-30-30 Bequeath. The Asset Ownership Standard companion would be the Global Permanent Investment Account-Dividends model, a combination of Savings and Dividend-Paying stocks. GPIA-DIV and GPIA-AOS are products and services designed by Wacinque Amistad Kaizen BeMende, founder of KaizenRhino Solutions International L3C. GPIA-DIV Saver is a Rhino with 5 slots and is the model of AOS/DIV ownership. This is the story that would lead to faster, more efficient adoption as well as company growth.
Wacinque Amistad Kaizen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My inspiration to create a business was born in a life of poverty. I learned that when I was young, I was in the fourth generation, mired in poverty. While at church, I overheard people I loved dearly say that they were dead broke and could not rub two pennies together. I did not immediately know what this meant, except that it was a serious condition. I began to learn more when my 5th-grade teacher asked the class who wanted a million dollars or a penny that doubled every day for 31 days. She added, Don’t worry, this math is called compounding, and she would teach us how to calculate it. Like my classmates, I wanted that million until I learned that a penny compounding would become $10 million and some change. I was hooked before long. I studied banking and finance in college and completed an internship with America’s oldest financial planning company, which is still going strong.
I became an instructor of Personal Finance/Debt Management and how to prepare state and federal taxes. I volunteered at nonprofits and taught for Central Texas College. Over time, with direct experience helping people with the most common American financial challenges, I gained the insight that what was missing was an Asset Ownership Standard, making the most of the Time Value of Money by starting Prenatal, which costs less and produces the most as you get older. This focus on AOS/GPIA sets my company apart from most financial service/education companies. To help spread this story, I created Financial Infinity Days 6 & 7th Feb, where Compound Interest Day is 6th Feb and eMath Constant Day 2.71828, 18 hour 28 second is 7th Feb. Because UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) determines what becomes an International Special Day Dis you Know Pi Day 3.14 is already a Special Day yet Pi dough makes your waist grow while FID dough makes your wallet grow this dinction make me most proud as the creator of Financial Infinity Days. Although Financial Literacy has a role and has been around for a very long time. An Asset Ownership Standard with GPIA-DIV account directly benefits each individual with measurable data is our KaizenRhino Solutions International focus because it makes the most difference for you.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Although I was a subject matter expert on money and how it works, I had never started a business. I will never forget that after I shared my goal to help everyone start with a well-crafted financial foundation that will last for generations, I was repeatedly told everyone can’t be your customer, and I needed to know my customers’ personas. I failed some of these entrepreneur programs and almost believed I might need to pivot. Then it came to me to create two new sub-elements of the Periodic Table. Fino2 and Fin H2o communicate that since everyone needs O2 and H2O to survive, I believe everyone needs fundamental basic access to the financial system and protection of their financial resources. The US Treasury Department’s National Strategy for 100% Financial Inclusion, paired with the UN SDG 1-3-5-10 goals, demonstrates that my company’s resiliency may be the first to prove that everyone can be your customer, just like Air and Water.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I was 11 years old and in the 5th grade when building wealth became a clear mathematical solution for me—an exponential one to boot. Building wealth has allowed me to fund everything I need to launch my startup. I started making investments as soon as I was old enough to sign contracts and have been consistently adding to my initial deposit. My direct and early financial education helped prevent me from making poor financial decisions, which preserved my capital.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wacinque.com; https://krsi-19.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaizenrhino19/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wacinque.bemende
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wacinque-ak-bemende-739a772ba
- Twitter: https://x.com/krsi19
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kaizenrhino968/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kaizenrhino-solutions-international-consultancy-cheyenne-2
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/kaizenrhino/; https://www.facebook.com/KRSI19/; @ubuntukaizenrhino.bsky.social; https://www.goodmarket.global/kaizenrhino; https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7301299782952574976/; https://www.halcyonhouse.org/venture/kaizenrhino/; https://ceoweekly.com/wacinque-a-k-bemende-redefines-financial-inclusion-to-empower-generations/; https://tietampabay.org/celebrating-leader-wacinque-amistad-kaizen-bemende/;
Image Credits
Wacinque Amistad Kaizen BeMende