Amun-Ra Amani is the President and Treasurer of Millionaire Mine. He has amassed over 15 years of education and experience covering the fields of music publishing, stage direction, spa, cosmetics, hotel management and couture; working for top brands, from the Red Door Spa and Waldorf Astoria to Nordstrom.
Brand Profile
Name: Amun-Ra Amani
Current title in your company? President
What’s your motto? See Diamonds, Think Gold
Year you launched MillionaireMine.com? 2015
What is your number one accomplishment with Millionaire Mine? I’ve finally been able to discover the demographic and consumer profile for each of my brands. Our number one priority is to properly service our customers, and add value to their lifestyle.
My ComeUp Story
Tell us about your latest project “Millionaire Mine”? Our latest project is Rich Waffles. Rich Waffles is a micro restaurant and mobile food cart concept that offers for the first time ever, lavender and rose essence infused waffles.
Why did you launch Millionaire Mine? I began Millionaire Mine, as a means of showcasing my respective talents across an array of different entertainment, fashion and media fields. I’ve been lucky enough to work for a variety of industries throughout my employment career.
How did the journey with “Millionaire Mine” as a brand ” start? It came to me as an idea to combine the experience I’ve attained as an employee for other companies. I’ve always felt as if I could excel in hospitality, retail, and marketing environments within the confines of my own business model. And what started out as an idea, resulted into planning and lastly, execution.
How did you start believing in your own work? I’ve always been self -driven. I come from a humbling upbringing. And although I’ve experienced love in the home, as a child, what we lacked was entirely financial. I’ve wanted since I was young to be able to propel myself someday to a level of comfort and wealth that I feel all should be able to enjoy at some point in life.
What made you launch your brand as a fully independent luxury asset group that serves as importer, marketer, premium f&b development, boutique recording label, show production, also beauty and fashion management? I’ve worked for over 100 companies in my life, since I was 15 years old. Yes, at least 100! The one thing I noticed is how inflexible most of the business structures were. There was a lack of creativity and poise, from clothing to hotel supervision. Millionaire Mine seeks to become a worldwide leader in business management. We lead with dreams and accomplish goals that move our souls. If I’m excited about a project, chances are the consumer will be. That is the secret. Business should be built with excitement. And that’s what we are doing. We are building excitement. Millionaire Mine is about innovation and having some fun along the way.
What is the biggest lesson that you have learned since you started Millionaire Mine? Planning is everything. Dreams alone are not good enough. You have to be able to write down your vision and seize every box on the checklist, as if without it, the business will go absolutely nowhere. In other words, as an entrepreneur, you have to develop a system of just getting things done.
Breaking as a corporate brand isn’t an easy feat. What advice would you give young business people looking to form their own companies? Go with your heart, but also differentiate yourself the best you can from the competition. Everyone has invented a wheel. The trick is to sell them yours. If you can’t give me a reason to buy from you, you’re wasting your time. The key is, you have to be genuine about your approach. Your wheel has got to be a wheel you love.
Marketing tips? Learn from the giants. Currently, I’m reading a books from Jeff Haden and Peter Thiel.
Do you recall any embarrassing moments you had during your come up? Yeah. Sure. I wanted to be in the magazine business, back in 2005 and a distributor asked me for a magazine sample. She was in the business of marketing travel brochures. I gave her an 8 1⁄2 x 11 prototype that she rejected and told me that I’d have to learn about printing and publishing before anyone would consider my idea. Her brochure distribution service only released in a 4×9 format. It was humbling. I thought they would take my idea and just go to print. I had no idea, that I’d have to either find a designer or design the magazine myself!
Tell us about a time you were faced with insurmountable odds, yet persevered to overcome? Technically, I’m overcoming those odds, as we speak. I have four business models and a modest budget. I’m learning what to launch first, and why. So far, everything is aligned as it should be.
My Daily Behind the Scenes
What is your typical weekday and weekend like? I’m in operation at least five days a week, two computer screens open and typing away. Most of my work is still research and sending out proposals. I’m in contact with quite a few vendors and we are in pre-planning to get the first idea off of the ground.
What do you do when not working? I’m a consistent weight trainer and I have several days a week to box, followed by meditation.
Where do you find your inspiration? My wife and my mother.
What is your role in the company now? I’m the President and I do everything, currently.
And how involved are you in the day-to-day and overall operations? Heavily involved. The buck stops with me.
What songs do you listen to that psyches you up and makes you feel strong? DMX, “Stop Being Greedy”. That’s a fitness song, but for research I keep a playlist from the soundtrack of Social Network on repeat.
What is one thing you do when you’re feeling stuck creatively? I go to the gym.
We understand that Millionaire Mine was built primarily on the personality, interests and identity of Amun-Ra Amani. Could you give us more insights into this? The entire brand is built on everything I adore and have passion about. It’s uniquely me.
My Now
What type of brands or people do you commonly work with?
Mostly brands from Poland and other areas of Europe. I love their commitment to fair wages and quality garments. How would you describe the Millionaire Mine galaxy model? One parent company, four sub-brands. Think Giorgio Armani for the next 100 years. My business model was inspired on what he’s been able to do in the fashion and aesthetic world as a whole.
What are you working on now? I have a lead single coming out on Songh Dynasty Records called “Cocoa”. It is a release based on my Lipstick Latte brand model.
Any new projects you can hint at? Cocoa, that’s it! lol.
What was your biggest fear when starting Millionaire Mine? Absolutely no fear.
As a successful business owner, I’m sure you have picked up a lot of valuable insights and tricks of the trade along the way. If you had to narrow it down, what one piece of advice would you give to business owners and entrepreneurs? Don’t be afraid to be brilliant.
My Future
What would you like to achieve before the end of 2018? To be completely independent financially.
What is the most meaningful project you have done? Still working on that. I plan to include a philanthropy project with all of my business models.
What would your dream project be? I’d like to work with Pharrell in the future.
What’s one dream you’ve achieved that you’re most proud of and why? Being able to realize my true potential from a young age.
Name a charity you are passionate about and explain why it matters to you? It’s not necessarily a charity, but I have a passion to be a voice to end Child Marriage. It is a cause, I am extremely passionate about. No girl should be forced to bear such a monumental responsibility of being a wife as a child.
How do you show your support? I’m currently doing a lot of research to find a way to get involved on an international level.
If you could go back in time, what advice would you give to your teenage self? I’m actually quite proud of him. I ran with my heart, led with my mind and I’m impressed by how I’ve been able to navigate myself through the years. I’ll also give my mom and my dad thanks for helping me and inspiring me, with that.
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