IAM916- Owner Specializes in Private Safaris Throughout Africa

Shaun runs a small, niche safari business called Moriti Private Safaris. The safari business specializes in private safaris throughout Africa for couples, small groups of friends, and families wanting a more intimate safari experience. The business has been running since 2011 and started out as a passion for the African bush and the animals that live in it.

• CEO Hack: Finding and listening to people I look up to
• CEO Nugget: Hold on, don't change or give up
• CEO Defined: To be a pioneer and offer something different

Website: https://moriti.co.za/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-taylor-moriti-safaris
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MoritiPrivateSafaris
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildest.africa/
Tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Attraction_Review-g312618-d5503743-Reviews-or10-Moriti_Safaris-Kruger_National_Park.html
Pinterest: https://za.pinterest.com/moriti_safaris/

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Transcription

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00:10 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

00:41 – Gresham Harkless

Hello, Hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Sean Taylor of Moriti Private Safaris. Sean, it's awesome to have you on the show.

00:50 – Shaun Taylor

Yeah, great. It is fantastic to be here, buddy. How are you doing?

00:53 – Gresham Harkless

I'm doing fantastic. And I hope you are too. And I'm good. Perfect. Perfect. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Sean so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Sean runs a small, niche safari business called Mariti Private Safaris. The safari business specializes in private safaris throughout Africa for couples, small groups of friends, and families wanting a more intimate safari experience. The business has been running since 2011 and started out as a passion for the African bush and the animals that live in it. Sean, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:23 – Shaun Taylor

I am here. I'm ready.

01:24 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Well, let's do it then. So to kind of kick everything off, I want to hear a little bit more about how you got started. Could you take us through what I call your CEO story? When did you get started with the business?

01:33 – Shaun Taylor

Yeah, 100%. So, it kind of was a no-brainer for me in the beginning. I've always, always been absolutely fascinated, with wildlife and the outdoors, everything to do with the outdoors, whether it be trees, plants, animals, whatever it was. And growing up in Africa, you kind of don't really have much to do, anything else but spend your time outdoors, especially during the 80s. So it was always a no-brainer for me. I kind of grew up moving. We had family that had farms in Zimbabwe that we used to move between. And the areas between South Africa and Zimbabwe were quite wild. So it was almost like doing an extended game drive on the way to the farm, which is just so awesome. And it kind of just snowballed from there. Just had a complete obsession really with everything to do with the outdoors. Finished up with school.

And along with my passion for wildlife and everything that goes with it, I'm also very passionate about people. And initially kind of people were like well you know if you enjoy wildlife and outdoors maybe you should look at becoming a veterinarian or something like that. But because I'm passionate about people as well, I kind of figured out quite early on that I wanted to mesh the 2. So I wanted to have an opportunity to still be in the outdoors, but also bring people of different races, different creeds, different backgrounds, and introduce them to the outdoors and introduce them to the African bush, and try and kind of instill a different way of thinking and a more kind of simplistic thing.

And the most awesome thing about being out in the bush is the fact that you just live in the moment for 24-7 days you're not thinking about anything else when you're walking when you're driving in the vehicle anything could happen at any given moment and living in that moment is something that we tend to not really have much of a choice to do these days in the modern world And to give that kind of experience back to my fellow man is kind of why I still do this and why I'm so passionate about it.

03:39 – Gresham Harkless

Nice, absolutely, you know, appreciate that. And definitely, you know, it sounds like you're given a phenomenal gift, a gift of, you know, experience. And as you said, to have many different people from different places, different walks of life, be able to kind of experience that. And rather than, as you said, well, I kind of heard the entrepreneurial mentality, I guess, rather than saying, oh, you can only do it this way, you have to do it this way, you were able to mesh those 2 interests that you had into something phenomenal that you're doing and providing loads of awesome experiences for people. So I think that's phenomenal.

04:06 – Shaun Taylor

Oh yeah, no, I mean, it's, you know, there are lots of opportunities if you choose not to go out on your own, but, and certainly, when I was training and kind of building up a portfolio, I was working for people but you know, if you I truly believe that a lot of people are born entrepreneurs, you're born with that pioneering spirit and I always had that from a very very young age And so it was kind of got to the stage where I realized that not necessarily that I could do it better, but certainly that my unique spin on things could, there was an open market for that kind of unique insights into how things worked and the introduction of different things. And I took it with both hands and I ran with it. And it was a process as of course everything is, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

04:55 – Gresham Harkless

Nice, absolutely appreciate that. I love that phrase, pioneering spirit. And to be able to understand that, we have within each of us something unique and a unique perspective a lot of times if we can tap into that, every business or everything we kind of touch becomes a little bit different, a little bit more unique because we're running it or restarted it or something along those lines. And so I know we're talking about your business, your private Safari business. Could you take us through a little bit more on how it works and how exactly you serve the clients that you work with?

05:22 – Shaun Taylor

Yeah, absolutely. So I generally will take kind of small groups, as you mentioned. I don't do group Safari. So I do it purposely because I like to get to know who I'm on safari with. So if I've got a couple with me or family or a group of friends with me, I get to know each individual. And a private safari is fantastic because you get to know your guests as I said but more importantly your guests kind are able to share what they are interested in So you know if you do a group safari you might know the majority of people obviously want to see the big 5 you know the lion, the elephant, the leopard, the rhino, the buffalo, those kind of things everyone wants to see.

But you do get as I call them the little mice in the background who are quite quiet and introverted but they might be interested in trees or flowers or something like that and that's what a private safari is all about you get to know your guests and you know sitting around the fire 1 night someone might mention something about being interested in birds And you've got the opportunity then to go out the next morning and start introducing them to the birds. And it's the thing I love most about a private safari is that you get to share in everyone's joy in terms of everyone getting to look at what they want to look at and kind of experience what they want to experience in it.

And a private safari for me, it's just, it's just the best way to experience anything really. I'm not even, you know, I'm not even talking about a safari, you know, a private tour or, you know, a private get-together. It's always awesome to have a small group of people who are passionate about something because it just builds and builds and it kind of causes a snowball effect. And by the end of that safari, everyone just knows everything about everyone and everyone knows everything about what they like and what they don't like and it is just oh man I never get tired of it.

It's just so much fun and it also brings people out of their shells, you know, people who tend to be quite introverted as soon as they start getting their interests taken heed of, they tend to open up a little bit more and return home feeling that they've actually experienced a group holiday with their family but have also had their individual experiences met. And I love that. I mean, for me, that's really key for every single 1 of my safaris.

07:52 – Gresham Harkless

Nice, I absolutely appreciate that and I can definitely imagine you know getting that opportunity to have that customized experience. Of course, you know you're in a group, a small group, but at the same time when someone actually says you know what things are you interested in or you just mention it and you happen to you know listen and be aware of it, you get to kind of I guess cultivate that experience for that person.

At the same time, you know doing it for each person and creating that whole group experience and I can't imagine you know it's very exciting because you get that opportunity to have what sounds like probably not the same experience each time that you go out because each person has their own thing that they're looking for, their own thing that kind of piques their interest.

08:26 – Shaun Taylor

Oh, absolutely. You know, every day is different. I mean, you can drive on the same piece of road, you know, driving out of camp or back into camp and there's always a different animal, a different bird, a different scenario. Sometimes the elephants push the trees over and you've got to create your own little road to get out of camp. Every single day is different and you know sometimes the guests won't even really mention what they're interested in. Perhaps you're busy driving and it's quite a kind of time, kind of mid-morning, the animals are kind of moving off into the bush and you just kind of hear in the background someone mention, oh you know like that bird I saw this morning was quite interesting. So it also teaches you listening skills. Being married helps a lot because having that kind of listening skills,

09:10 – Shaun Taylor

I am listening, I'm listening, I'm just listening for keywords. So I'm not listening to everything you say, but certainly, if I hear a keyword, you'll catch my attention. So being married has certainly assisted me in picking up these little intricate details when it comes to private guiding.

09:25 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. You hear what somebody's saying without them even saying it. It makes so much sense.

09:31 – Shaun Taylor

So, reading between the lines. Exactly.

09:34 – Gresham Harkless

Would you consider that then to be what I call your secret sauce? It could be for yourself or your business or a combination of both. Is it that ability to really, you know, as we said, read between the lines and hear sometimes what people that are on the safaris may not be saying or just maybe not even able to express or know that they're expressing it when they're doing it? Do you think that's that's your part? What makes you unique?

09:53 – Shaun Taylor

Yeah, I think, and I think it comes from my interest in animals, you know, animals are everything about them is body language. They communicate with each other even via different ways of body language, whether they stand in front of each other and open their ears up like elephants or they stand sideways like deer to threaten each other. And so when you become aware of body language, I think certainly my strength within my business is even if I'm not necessarily listening to what the guests are saying at the back of the vehicle, if I'm tracking something or trying to listen out for alarm calls or something like that, You certainly do pick up human beings are very not very subtle with their body language a lot of the times.

So it could be as subtle as someone sitting with their arms folded or something like that that you'll notice and then realize okay you know it's been 40 minutes we haven't seen much we need to know I'm sitting with my head down having a look and tracking, I need to get this person involved in what I'm doing. So it's those, it's that body language. It's.

10:53 – Gresham Harkless

And so, I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

11:04 – Shaun Taylor

I must tell you, I think if you'd asked me this question a year ago, I probably would have told you that it was a selection of books and kind of audio series that I've listened to over and over and over again to kind of get them drummed into my mind, which certainly started off the building of my business. So, you know, people like Bob Proctor and books by people like Napoleon Hill. Certainly, you know, all these goodies. They have a lot of amazing information if you're open to it.

But I must tell you, during this last year with the lockdowns and spending a lot of time at home. I have found a lot of solace in finding where it is like people like yourselves with your podcasts and then certain channels on YouTube as well, but kind of scouring the internet for people who are offering things like yourself in terms of other CEOs to talk to and listen to. And also find people within my industry who you could look up to as well and listen to them.

12:16 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. Yeah, I love that. And would you consider that to be what I was going to call your CEO nugget, which is kind of like a word of wisdom or piece of advice, and something you might tell yourself if you hopped into a time machine is to say true to that light at the end of the tunnel and know that it's there, but understand that you might have to adapt and change but don't lose yourself in order to on the journey towards getting towards that light?

12:37 – Shaun Taylor

Yeah absolutely I mean you know hindsight isn't hindsight wonderful I mean you know in 2 3 years time you know if we sat and chatted again we would sit and talk about COVID and hopefully say wow it was a tough time but we got through it and you know you've gone from strength to strength as of I so Hansard's always you know it's always easy to do but when you're in the moment Hansard means nothing And so that nugget is kind of you to hold on, you know, your business is, especially for somebody who's been in the business, I've been in the business now for at least the private safari business for 10 years.

And it's been a majority of the time it's been a very successful venture. I've seen what can happen, I've seen where it can go, and I don't want to give up on it. I don't want to have to change, and I will never, ever, ever give up. And I think another thing for entrepreneurs is that you know, that tenacity, that belief, that it doesn't matter what is happening in your life, you will just not give up. I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And I'm hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show.

So Sean, what does being a CEO mean to you? To be a pioneer, to be someone who, you know, there's so many different safari businesses and every business is different. Some businesses might offer the same things but every business has got an intrinsic difference when they started and a kind of a vision of how things went. And so for me being a CEO, it is to offer something unique, something different, something that is going to benefit people for a long time to come.

14:21 – Gresham Harkless

Definitely appreciate that. And I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best they can get ahold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

14:31 – Shaun Taylor

What I'd like to put across to everybody is just we are in a tough time at the moment and we don't know when everything's going to return back to normal and there are a lot of people out there who are going to be listening to this podcast who aren't certain with the future and uncertain with what and where they are going to. I just want to say to everybody that it's okay to be unsure. It's okay to have doubts. You know we're all human. We all, you know, as entrepreneurs, as captains of trade, it doesn't matter how big or small your company is, we all go through really tough times.

And for the people who are listening to this podcast, who are thinking about starting their own business. Do it, do it, do it, do not hold back. And if you're thinking of coming to Africa and coming on a safari, you can get hold of me via my website www.meriti.co.za. You can get hold of me via my email address, which is Safaris at moriti.co.za But if you're not thinking of going on safari and you just want to chat or you just want to get some inspiration, please feel free to send me a message as well. The more people I can help in my life, the happier you'll make me. So do it, that's all I'm saying, just do it.

15:53 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. Thank you so much again, Sean. Provided those a great value, lots of happiness, lots of hope, you know, for all of us, we will have the links and information in the show notes as well. And like I usually always say, and I feel like you said so well, if you run your own race, you can never lose. And I think if we stay true to that, we pay attention to our gifts, the things that make us unique, our zones of brilliance, our genius, and start to create from that standpoint, then We can't lose and we start to really affect and have a huge impact on the world. So I appreciate that reminder so much, my friend, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:22 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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