Interview with Tray-Sean Ben Salmi (PART 1)
Early Inspiration and Motivation
Q: What inspired you to start your journey in social profit work at such a young age?
A: Starting out, I met Adam during my A-levels, so I was still studying at the time. I learned how to trade equities around the age of 14, and I think after meeting Adam I was just in awe of the things that he did, and I thought, "You know, there's a couple of similarities there," so it would be beneficial to keep track of, the things that he does and see if there's any way that we can work together in the future. After a little while, I saw that he'd been working on Social Profit, and I thought, "There's some way that I could add to this business." We started talking a lot more, jumped on a couple of phone calls and slowly but surely started to see that there were a couple more synergies there. With starting out, having that involvement with Social Profit was a challenge, and it did mean having to put in a lot more work and having to show up at times when I'd rather just be up, like trading or doing something else.
So I've always had a lot more say around the things that I do and when I show up, whereas obviously when it comes to working with others, it's a case of you have to show up consistently. With regards to starting the whole journey with Social Profit, it was a case of me wanting to do more and the only way that I saw that happening feasibly would be working within a company such as Social Profit. Simply as we have a team, we're able to do a lot more, like even with myself when it comes to things such as trading or the initiatives that I ran in the past, there's only so much that we're able to do. So collaborating has allowed me to share my passion, being financial literacy, but it's also allowed me to learn a lot out of it. Just as we're obviously now working with companies in a much closer way, and it's also allowed me to look towards doing a couple other things. I think that's why I got involved with Social Profit plus the fact that myself and Adam, we've always got on really well. We see eye to eye on a number of things, so I think working with someone where you're very like-minded is something that works out nicely as well.
Q: Looking back, what’s one decision you’re most proud of in your career so far?
A: I guess it sounds weird, as I'm only 20, I think when it comes to I guess everything I've done so far, I'd say choosing to actually learn about the stock market, choosing to learn about equities. So when I first started learning, I was in year eight at the time, and once a week I'd have these calls with my mentor, his name's Jurgen. We'd have these weekly sessions and he'd spend around an hour, hour and a half. And obviously coming back from school, it was a long, tiring day, then I jumped on a call for an hour and a half, learning about equities. It was tiring. We'd go through things like PE ratios and I was just like, "You know what?" Like there were times where I was like, "I'd like to be outside with friends right now. I'd like to be doing something else." Um, there were some times where I was exhausted, 'cause let's say we come back from a holiday or something and I'd fallen asleep on these calls. And I, like, although I loved learning about it, I think at the time I definitely took it for granted. So I'd say just I think starting and just not giving up was something that I'd say definitely helped me out honestly.
I have no clue what I'd be doing today had it not been for those, like I said, for those sessions, it definitely just shaped me and definitely taught me a lot, like with regards to, I guess like Adam and when we first started talking, it was strictly around stocks. That's what we talked about, like our investments and things like that. So I think it definitely opened up a number of different doors, like even when it came to, talking with people who actually have experience within the industry I'd be able to hold a discussion at the age of like 16, 17 around exactly like why a sector has underperformed and things like that. So I think it definitely helped me a lot, but I'd say like one of the decisions that I'm most proud of is definitely just giving it a go and sticking to it.
Q: What’s a book, quote, or mindset that’s guided you through challenges?
A: There's this book called Trading for a Living by Dr. Alexander Elder. Llong story short, he goes into trading psychology with regards to trading, so obviously it's very different from investing. With regards to trading, there's a psychological aspect that very few people focus on. Dr. Elder was a psychologist early on in his career, and I think there's this great relationship that you see throughout the book where it talks about the importance of understanding that for starters, you shouldn't go into any day, any week, any month with an expectation. It's a case of if an opportunity presents itself you will execute accordingly and I think that's something that's definitely helped me through some challenging times. That, as well as Juergen, of course, but I think having books such as these and understanding that you aren't alone when it comes to these losses, regardless of how good you are, losses it’s a part of it. So I think just books like these have definitely helped me to bounce back from setbacks.
Leadership and Challenges
Q: What’s been your biggest challenge as a young leader creating social change?
A: Consistency. I think there are times where you're able to, I guess, give it your all. There are times where there isn't so much traveling, there aren't as many events, there aren't assignments due and things like that. So it is much easier to balance the workload. Whereas, I guess when everything's up and running, when there are events left, right, and center, you're traveling and things like that, it can be, it can be easy to kind of just put this to the side, so I think that's pretty challenging. And I think just like having a team has definitely helped me overcome that, or at least make it more manageable. As I thought initially my struggle was delegating tasks. I was just like, "No one can... I don't really feel like it makes sense to hand this off to someone else." And I guess one of the main worries of mine were execution errors. And I was just like, "Look, if there's an error with this, then it's something that you can't exactly bounce back from, so I'd rather just manage it all on my own." Um, because of that, it meant that I'd iron myself out and I think that's something I’ve definitely struggled with a lot.
Q: How do you balance being an organisation's young influencer, student, and director?
A: I'd say it did take some time to figure out a good balance with things. I'd say initially it was a case of simply just prioritizing what it is that I was looking to at that point in time. Like over the summer, there wasn't that much going on over the summer, I guess I had an internship, and was doing a couple things alongside my family. I was like you know, I still have lots of free time, so therefore I can go above and beyond in terms of this. And then looked, I guess, dial it back slightly as the term starts. I think with regards to managing other roles, as I've been appointed different roles it's a case of just clearly setting expectations, so in that way they understand that way they can understand what to expect from me, and that's something that's helped out a lot, as initially I would try and I guess give it my all in every single area of my life, and it's tiring, it isn't something that is doable and definitely isn't sustainable at all.I think that's something that definitely helped me. I'd say just that as well as prioritizing the role. Like, there are some roles which are more rewarding, therefore you may feel as though you're able to go above and beyond for that. Whereas if it's something that you don't get that same level of fulfilment out of, then I guess there's also, there's also that just to take into consideration.
Q: Who or what has influenced your leadership approach the most?
A: I’d say it's a mixture of two individuals. Growing up my mother was I guess like the pioneer in terms of getting us to act on our visions, our dreams and things like that. So that whole determination is something that's definitely pushed me to do a lot of what I do. I guess like there were times where, I don't know, I've been more closed-minded and she's been like, "You know, like think big. Like why don't you look towards doing this or reaching out to this person and see if you are able to, I don't know, get something out of that and potentially work together?" And then I'd say Juergen as... Although he's much older than me, I guess, like a number of similarities there, and I think just having, having him in my life, and he's incredibly blunt. Having someone who's incredibly blunt, being there to support you is something that definitely makes a difference. There are times where I've reached out to him, I'm just like, "Juergen, I made a made a big mistake. Like, I've lost X amount in this position. Um, what do I do? Like, what do you think I should do? Like, do you think I should I don't know, size down for the time being?" And he's just like, "Tray," he went, "Just don't mess up. Like, you know, you know what you're doing. You're being dumb. Like, you've messed up, here's where it is. It's fine. Have you blown your account?" I'm like, "No, of course not." And he's like, "No, it's fine. Why are you complaining to me then?" And it's just... There have been times where he's been a bit more expressive than that and I'm just like, "Juergen, I have no clue why I reach out to you.", and at the time I'm just like, "I have no clue why I've done this." But it seems to get the trick done every single time.
And I think just having someone who just like having that belief and I guess like seeing that there's that unwavering belief in your ability is something that definitely helps. As with regards to investing, let me talk about how it is. In hindsight it doesn't benefit you at all. Like, with regards to investing it's a case of you either made the investment or you didn't. Nobody, like nobody cares if you, spoke about Microsoft 20 years ago and you told everyone to buy that. Did you buy? Did you buy the shares? Um, and I think that this approach is something that I can use in different areas of my life. So I'd say those two individuals played a key role.
Q: Has there been a failure or setback that taught you more than your successes?
A: Several. I think with regards to my whole investing journey, there were times where I chased fast growth. I think starting at 15, and being left, I guess, this whole right to yourself, to manage, I was just like, "This is fantastic.", I have this right to myself, I can do whatever I want with it. I am 15, I'm looking to grow as quickly as possible, and it looks great. It's just numbers on a screen to me at the time, and I think initially, within the first I'd say six to nine months, I grew the account by a little over 300%, and it was fantastic. I'd been checking with Jurgen, he's also been I guess solidifying my views on whether it's a company that I'm looking to invest in and things like that. And honestly, at the time, I didn't think a loss existed. I was just like, "This is going so well.", and it got to the point where slowly but surely, I started to branch out into different companies and I thought I understood the healthcare sector really well, and it was rather an experience.
There was this company Novavax and I'd been investing in them heavily for a while to make well over 10,000 pounds from them, and I remember overnight there was an earnings report, and I was talking with Jurgen and a couple friends, and they were just like, "Tray, it does make sense for you to at least, I guess, lock in part of your profits, just to ensure you're reducing exposure going into a large report. No one knows what happens. No one knows what will happen with these reports." And I was like, "No, this is fantastic. I've seen all these partnerships, I've seen all these great reports, and things look promising.", the company made around a fifth of what they had expected to make in that quarter, and I lost around 2,000 pounds overnight. It felt like an out of body experience. I didn't know what to do. And honestly, I was worried that the share price would tank even more before the open. So I think at times, it's just about understanding that, like, you need to keep your, keep your ego in check. It isn't an easy thing to do at all, there have been months where I've not made just over 10,000 from trading, and I'm just like, "This is fantastic. Like this, this is amazing." But then again, I've had to check in with myself and be like, "You know what? Like, this has happened before.", the only way, I guess, that I'm able to ensure, like, consistent profits and ensure there's a certain level of sustainability is by preparing for the flip side. Preparing for what's to come. Because a loss is inevitable. Um, so I think definitely, I guess experiences where I've lost a substantial amount from investments, from trade, and things like that, yes, they've been incredibly frightening at the time, but I think it's just, like, it's definitely taught me a lot and it's definitely, it develops my whole approach to markets as well.
