Episode 308: From Jamaica to the Dragon’s Den with Levi Roots
Levi Roots, the creator of the iconic Reggae Reggae Sauce, has a truly inspirational story that has captivated audiences around the world. From his humble beginnings in Jamaica to his appearance on Dragons’ Den, Levi’s journey is a testament to the power of perseverance and the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people.
Levi Roots shares his incredible journey from a troubled childhood in Jamaica to becoming a successful entrepreneur and musician in the UK. Raised by his grandmother, Levi learned the art of cooking and making sauces, which would later become the foundation of his business. After participating in the Notting Hill Carnival, Levi realized the demand for Caribbean flavors and decided to start his own sauce business. Despite initial setbacks, he persevered and eventually secured investment on Dragon’s Den, propelling his brand to new heights. Levi emphasizes the importance of surrounding yourself with like-minded people and seeking mentorship to overcome challenges and achieve success.
Levi Roots’ journey from a troubled youth to a successful entrepreneur and cultural icon is a testament to the power of resilience and the importance of surrounding oneself with the right people. His story serves as an inspiration to individuals facing challenges and seeking to make a positive impact in their communities.
Show Highlights:
- Levi’s introduction to the sauce business and the success of his stall at the Notting Hill Carnival
- The importance of branding and the success of the “Reggae Reggae Sauce” name
- Levi’s transformation in prison and the impact of his mentor
- The experience of appearing on Dragon’s Den and securing investment
- The upcoming movie about Levi’s life and the excitement surrounding it
- The importance of mentorship and surrounding yourself with the right people
- Levi’s current projects, including a play and his involvement in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Links Mentioned:
Get to know more about Levi Roots by visiting his website at leviroots.com
Get your Business Growth Secrets SUCCESS PLANNER for FREE and profit like a pro: https://adamstottplanner.com/free-book47315172
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Transcript:
Please note this is a verbatim transcription from the original audio and therefore may include some minor grammatical errors.
[00:00:00] Adam Stott: Hello everybody and welcome to Business Grow Secrets. I’ve got a super special guest today that I’m really excited to be talking to somebody that has a truly inspirational story. So much so that there’s being a movie commission about his life, which I’m really excited to hear about later on today, I’m welcoming to the podcast today, business Growth Secrets, the one and only Levi Roots.
[00:00:24] Welcome, Levi. How you doing? You good?
[00:00:27] Levi Roots: I’m brilliant. I’m absolutely fantastic, and I feel really top, top of the day. Brilliant.
[00:00:33] Adam Stott: And look your story, there’s so, so much and here and there’s so much inspiration that I’m really looking forward to getting into and obviously very well known for Dragons Den for reggae, reggae sauce for the massive success that you created there.
[00:00:49] But there’s a huge backstory into, in, into your life and the things that you’ve been through, which I think are really incredible and the audience really should know. And I think it will inspire many people. So where did it all start for you, Levi? What was, before all of this success came and this brand that you’ve built came, where did we kind of start from and what was getting into business in the early days, like for you and starting off, what were the challenges?
[00:01:15] How did we get going?
[00:01:17] Levi Roots: Yeah.
[00:01:22] When you think about, you know, who I am today and what I’ve become, it obviously starts when I was a kid back in Jamaica, the youngest of six. My parents were coming over those days to the uk and just after the 1948 wind rush shit that was bringing people from the Caribbean to come to, to fix the country here after the World War.
[00:01:43] In 1948, my parents was one of those. And the plan as many people in the Caribbean was then to come to the uk, work hard, three, four jobs, you know, in one time. And then to send for the kids one at a time to educate them. And then the plan was for the parents to go back to Jamaica once they’ve done their job, you know, work in the N H Ss, sort the country out, bring the kids over, educate them, and then they would go back and have nice time.
[00:02:07] And it was always with. The scenario, I think was the youngest that was the last to come over because obviously, yeah. Yeah, because I think that the skill in those days, the plan was for the older kids to come to get the education, to move on, to get a job, and then be able to help the parents again. So that was the scenario.
[00:02:23] So the young ones was never once to come first because they’ll be in the way type of thing for my mom to be working, which she did three jobs, you know, she worked, my dad worked three or four jobs to be able to buy a house and send for the kids in those days, in the sixties. Fifties and sixties. So yeah, so it was the plan to stand for me last, so I stayed with my grandma.
[00:02:43] She was a fantastic cooking in Faringdon in Jamaica where I was born. She was passed the most well known person that cooks a decent meal fantastic cook within, within my little village. And she would teach me everything about food and cooking and everything. I was four when my parents left, so I didn’t have a connection with my mom and dad.
[00:03:04] With my brothers and sisters. ’cause I was very young, struggling. Everybody thought, yeah, nothing would become of me. And and I just learned a lot from my grandma about food. She was a great sauce maker. She could make great relishes and. You know, nicer pot of vegetables with just the sauce that she would make and put it on it and you’d be feeling like you’d be having a three course meals with steak and everything.
[00:03:28] And really it was just vegetables. ’cause we were very poor. You couldn’t afford steaks and meats and that. So she made sauces to be able to copy that. And she taught me everything that I needed to know that by the time I came to the UK I was 11. But what I had was her teaching. You know, I couldn’t read or write or even spend my first name having not gone to school.
[00:03:48] But I could cook every Caribbean meal no matter how big these great big meals in a church. She can rice some peas, curry, goat, all of these things I could cook from. I was like eight or nine. She would, she was that much of a great teacher. And I suppose it was that kind of drove me on. ’cause obviously coming to the UK without being school and facing everything included racism and everything like that.
[00:04:11] As a young kid from the Caribbean would never experience this type of stuff, that’s pretty difficult to be able to find myself eventually. So I got a lot in, got into trouble a lot because I wanted to be cool. I wasn’t learning in school because that was this kid that just wanted to be loved and wanted to be liked.
[00:04:28] So, hence, Being in the wrong company and spiral down in into trouble. So I gave, got into trouble a lot. I think my mom spotted that I needed another guardian, like my grandma was very close to me. And be able to tap into, in, you know, into who I am as a young child and my mom be, began that work trying to work on me and trying to help me to, to.
[00:04:51] Indoctrinate me within the country and, ’cause I miss Jamaica a lot, I really miss my grandma ’cause she was mom, dad, the cat and the dog and everything to me. Yeah. ’cause I spent a lot of time with her, so I struggled a lot Adam and eventually. For myself, when I started to cook, you know, my mom gave me the free to start the cook in the house.
[00:05:11] Many years later, I was introduced to the NAL Carnival and I had a stall at the carnival when I was quite young. I was in my teens and I started the cooking there. I saw that everybody had stoles and had names, quirky names, and I wanted to give my store a really good name. So I thought of the restaurant, you know, that was what we.
[00:05:34] Caribbean restaurants and blah, blah, blah. So I just thought that because I was now becoming a Rasta man, know, started to twist my hair up and become a jello. So I just thought that the restaurant would be a nice word. And it was the making of our store. You know, every year people would come back religiously, you know, thousands of people to see me sing and cook and play and sing food songs and that sort of stuff.
[00:05:58] And and it was that concept that I realized that. People wanted the sauce. People wanted Caribbean food, not necessarily Caribbean people, mainstream people, because they are the main people that comes to Carnival is people from all over the world. And I realized that they wanted Caribbean flavors.
[00:06:14] And then it was like that ping moment in my head for me that, yeah, I may not be good at much other things, but I’m bloody good at cooking and making sauces. So I thought that’s gonna be the business for me. So I went straight into the sauce business.
[00:06:28] Adam Stott: Well, I love the fact you called it Rason, you know, you realized that brand.
[00:06:31] How much do you think that impacted the results? The fact that the name, the brand name, do you think it was massive for it?
[00:06:38] Levi Roots: Absolutely. It was a learning ground for me because I then understood what branding was about from in that early days that people was buying products. You know, no matter how.
[00:06:48] You know, other stores were looking fabulous and had all the monies for their store to looking like, you know, the bloody tardies. Yeah. Or something like if I step inside and you’re in the Caribbean in some stores. But I realized that all you need is really is a good brand. I never had the money to do all this kind of stuff with a great store.
[00:07:05] As a matter of fact, my store was pretty much average. You know, things were falling apart and all that kind of stuff, but it was the branding of the name that gave, you know, mainstream people that were coming to carnival something else to hang their hat on that. It was called a restaurant. Why is it called a restaurant?
[00:07:22] There’s the guy singing, food songs with a guitar with his kids and his family and stuff. So for them it was something really new and they took onto the restaurant. It was amazing. Absolutely
[00:07:32] Adam Stott: love. I love the implementation of the music with it, right? As you know, building, bringing that culture and really bringing that.
[00:07:38] And I don’t know that many people really know that you are. Maybe they do, but you’ve got a big musical background, right? In the, in 19 2, 19 96. I, we were talking earlier and I think that was really inspirational. You said you were a moment where you were struggling in your life. Yeah. And you had a good opportunity that you created.
[00:08:00] Right. So let’s hear a little bit about that, because I think that’s awesome.
[00:08:05] Levi Roots: Yeah. As I said, you know, there was a struggle about the, you know, the times when you are, when you’re at your worst, you know, which I was for a long time, got into a lot of trouble. And it was, you know, that spiraling down that I talked about, you go, so until you hit rock bottom, you know, and I hit rock bottom in 1986 when I had a really long sentence.
[00:08:25] For lots of different stupid things that I used to do as a young kid in Brixton. And and that was the wake up point for me. I was inside. I never used to listen to anybody because I had a lot of problems in my head fighting against the world and not wanting to be here, wanting to be back in Jamaica with, you know, with my grandma.
[00:08:45] So I rebelled and it was a sort of teacher that was in the prison. Her name was Theresa. She was a kind of a drama teacher that sort of used drama to help prisoners to sort of prepare themself for when they release, and we became really good friends. She became my first mentor. You know, that actually changed my life from the person that went in, you know, that was stupid and did all those bad things.
[00:09:09] To a new person. She taught me who I am now to be, become the best of me. It was a two and a half years closeness of her writing to me, even when she wasn’t in the prison. She took pretty much care because I think she, she noticed some kind of talent because I had abandoned the prison. I was touring in the prison, going into other prisons, and I had a great relationship with them.
[00:09:32] With the prison governor that was allowing me to take my jailhouse rock band and tour it in other prisons and do all this kind. I was writing the prison magazine and doing all kind of different things and I think Theresa kind of saw something special there and she decided to mold that and to turn me into the person I am.
[00:09:51] So I came out from my sentence and I was ready to take on the role. I. I was given the tools by Theresa in my head of how to change to become the best of you. And and that’s what I came out. I went to see my mom when I came out to try to get a loan from her to start my business. And she said to me, oh, you know, go and see the man down the road and get some inspiration.
[00:10:12] I’m thinking, mom, what you talking about? Go and see the man. What bloody man you let me go and see. She says, Mandela is down the road. Go and see him. Maybe you’ll get some inspiration and turn your life around. So I joined the crowd, you know, outside of my mom’s house that was going to see Mandela, hundreds of people, thousands in Brixton to see Mandela in Prince Charles and I got down to the town hall where they were at, where he was doing a speech, and I was spotted in the crowd by one of the security guard to come up and sing.
[00:10:42] Happy Birthday, Mr. President. To who I thought in that time was perhaps the greatest human being ever. You know, Nelson Mandela, know United? He float like he, he didn’t even walk to me. It’s like he floated on here, you know, man had the respect of everyone. And I’m standing at the bottom of the staircase while he is coming down with Prince Charles and I’m there holding a birthday cake, singing Happy birthday, Mr.
[00:11:05] President. I be like, Mario and Monroe singing Happy birthday Mr. President.
[00:11:13] It was really an inspirational time, and Mandela came down, took the cake, shook my hand, and it was that light bulb moment that now I knew what I wanted to do. I knew that this tool that Theresa had given me, this new person that I am now had a purpose now to be able to go out there and prove to the world that I’m not the kind of wasteman, you know, that I was in my early life.
[00:11:36] I am this new and the. And that handshake from Mandela, you know, felt like he was saying he was passing his energy. You know, to me, And I just went on from there thinking that I’m gonna do my grandmother’s sauce. I’m gonna cook like my grandma, you know, and I’m gonna base this around music. I’m gonna, I’m gonna put music and food together and mer just like all my grandma.
[00:12:00] She was a fantastic singer. I. She was always singing when she was cooking, and I, that inspired me to put my love of music and food together and wrote the song Regg sauce song so I can consolidate that about what my grandma and tell the story within the song I. And decided to go and tour, you know, with it in the Shias.
[00:12:22] As I like to say, it was a moment that we failed with our first batch of sauces. I wrongly thought that I had a market for it, you know? ’cause I lived in a Caribbean era. We did 4,000 bottles of sauces and thought that great, we are gonna sell all of it. ’cause everybody like lives, zero Caribbean people, they love.
[00:12:40] Adam, it failed badly. Nobody brought it. People were saying that, you know, they can make their own sources. They’re own Caribbean, you know, they’re not gonna buy mines. And it was a big shock. It was the first let down for me. But we thought that nobody has a right to a market. You know? And that’s another message for your listeners out there.
[00:12:56] You know? Yeah. You could go out and find your market, that it didn’t mean that the source was bad or it didn’t mean that I was a bad salesman because people didn’t buy it in my locality. It’s just that it was the wrong market for me. So we decided to go out and find the market, you know, not to change the source, not to change me, but to go out and find the market.
[00:13:17] So we decided to go anywhere that had Shire at the end of it, know, because we thought that there is no black man in the restaurant, three foot long dreadlocks and a guitar in the Shires, you know? Doing food. So for a few years, you know, every lovely country market in the Shires in, you know, in this lovely countryside, English countryside that would’ve, these farmer’s markets and these lovely Saturday markets, I would turn up, you know, and these places drive sometimes two, three hours to get to North Yorkshire in a lovely village somewhere.
[00:13:47] And selling my sources, singing the song. It’s amazing. And it was an amazing success. It was ab and it gave me the inspiration to continue doing it.
[00:13:57] Adam Stott: And I think that’s a really good message. Like you said, there’s so many things that you said there. One thing that you said going back slightly is you said that Theresa gave you the tools in your head, and I think that a lot of people don’t actually realize how important that is because success first being created in the mind, and you really recognized that you’ve got those tools in your head and that was the belief, right?
[00:14:20] And you, she helped you with belief. And then you were able to take that belief and that helps you to take a lot more action, which I think is really amazing. And then we even let. Being able to pivot and say, Hey, I need to take this to a market that hasn’t seen something like this before. And actually go and deliver them something new, something fresh.
[00:14:38] And I think it is amazing. And like you said you went and discovered that market which I think was awesome. Awesome. Lessons there for the listeners for sure. In you then went on to do the mos, right? So how did that come around? What actually happened? Happened
[00:14:54] Levi Roots: there?
[00:14:55] Yeah. Well, I, when, while I was inside, while I was serving the center, my mom had brought me a guitar, you know, again, she knew how much I was inspired by music and she was trying to help in every way. She knew I had the time. I don’t know how she did it, but I can’t ever, I can’t remember in those, when I was inside that anybody else had a guitar in the cell.
[00:15:14] She talked to the prison governor and allowed me to have a guitar in there. She brought the guitar and she brought a Beatles book of songs. Because I couldn’t play at the time. She brought the big book of songs that just showed you where to put your fingers on the fre of the guitar. And just thought that show that I would taught, teach myself to, to play.
[00:15:34] And the first song that I wrote was a song called Free Your Mind. And it was about myself saying, now Theresa had taught me to free up. You know, the stuff in my head that used to hold me back and put a new me in inside and that was the cursor for the song. And it was that song when I came out it and I wrote an album, an old album, while I was learning to play.
[00:15:58] I came out and I recorded the album. And it was fantastic that it, I got nominated for MO Awards, which, as you know, mobile awards is nominated by the fans. It’s not a record company telling you that, oh, you’re great because you’re selling lots of records. It’s fans that actually says that we like you because, you know, you inspire us with your music.
[00:16:18] So it was a fantastic thing to, know, to get that that nomination from, but it still wasn’t enough because the music wasn’t really giving me money. You know, it was giving me a lot of praise, but no raise praise, giving raise, right? Yeah. You know? Absolutely. And I recognize that and that’s again, one of the difficult things to do is when you are working with something that inspires you, it’s difficult to come out of it, especially something like music.
[00:16:51] One of the best thing that I ever did is when I actually admitted that I wasn’t good enough to get on the top of the pops with my music, that type of music weren’t gonna actually bring me to where I really wanted to be, which is on TV doing lots of stuff and blah, blah, blah. So I had to really look into myself and thinking that, You gotta put down this music that you know, that’s bind you to it and it’s very difficult to pull yourself away.
[00:17:17] One thing I did, Adam, I didn’t put the music down completely. ’cause what I did was merge it with my other passion with the food and then that was the massive success of it.
[00:17:26] Adam Stott: And that is a really hard thing to do. I think that is quite a unique thing to do, to be able to have that conversation with yourself and re-strategize and to try a different route.
[00:17:36] Which is awesome. You mentioned about Theresa teaching you to free your mind. Was there anything that stuck with you that she taught you? Because I really do think that this can inspire a lot of people because where you are coming from being in prison. Having a mindset that was holding you back and having beliefs that were keeping you stuck.
[00:17:56] Was there anything specifically that you just remember that Yeah, absolutely. She might have
[00:18:00] Levi Roots: helped you with loads. Loads. I don’t, I’ve never forgotten anything that woman taught me. You know, I said These are my life lessons that helped me to be the person who I am. And one of the key things that I think, which really when I think about that change now, it was part of that, and it was about listening.
[00:18:18] She was very pinpointed in that says I had to stop being the person that talks a lot, but listen more and taking the information. ’cause her point was that sometimes throughout your whole day you pick up some gems, pass you by and you let it go because I. You don’t listen to it and you don’t take it in.
[00:18:38] And her point was that was wrong with me. I didn’t really listen. I wanted to be cool all the time and be friends with people. And I was never a leader, I was always a follower. So as a follower, you listen, you don’t speak and some, and people make you, make things happen. You know, you follow.
[00:18:56] And she was saying that I was good enough because now she saw me with the band and how much I was in, in prison, and had a different vibe when I was there with, you doing my stuff. So she taught me to listen. You know, she says, listen to yourself and listen to others, and it made me become a calmer person.
[00:19:16] To the person that went in was always, you know, rushing to do things and always, yeah. Yeah. It was Theresa that brought that calmness to me. She, first thing that she did was through the complete works of Shakespeare at me. You know, she complete about that peak, either the complete works. She and her point was that when I get out, I’m gonna have to surround myself with like-minded people.
[00:19:41] And any of these like-minded people in this kind of millionaire role are doing things that are very educated people. You’ve gotta be able to talk to them. And she has said most of them has gone through that, you know, that kind of teachings of being able to use the English language in certain way literature.
[00:19:57] She says read that. So I became versed in Shakespeare. I read the whole complete word quote, Shakespeare from now till tomorrow because of her influences. And in some ways that helped me to change my views, you know, about how I express myself in certain ways. And so, yeah, she was an amazing woman.
[00:20:20] She was from a, she was from New Zealand. I never saw her again when I left. When I left, but a few years ago when we were planning the movie, which I’m hoping you’re gonna talk to me about, yeah. Yes, definitely. We searched for Theresa. We, I found her, you know, she went back to live in New Zealand and I spoke to her.
[00:20:36] I rang her up and I tell her that she’s gonna be amazing in the movie. And it was such a beautiful thing for us to, to contact again after so
[00:20:45] Adam Stott: many years. It really isn’t it? It’s amazing that somebody’s had that sort of impact on your life and yeah, I think the movie is gonna be incredible and we’ll certainly talk about that in a moment as well.
[00:20:57] And then fast forwarding a bit, your Dragon’s Den opportunity, which became the catalyst to really launching your sources and getting your sources known. You know, I remember it well. I was a big fan of dragons, always have been a big fan of dragons. Then how did that come about?
[00:21:15] What was that like? What, how did it change things for you I suppose? There’s so much there, isn’t there?
[00:21:19] Levi Roots: Right. Yeah, absolutely. No I was in the Shires, Adam, you know, that’s it about the Shires. Yeah. I decided to go into a place to find a market, and it was while I was doing these, you know, funky, you know, out of town type of events, I was at an event and I was, I remember singing the reggae regg sauce song.
[00:21:36] I, we’d sold everything off and massive crowd in front of us. At the end of that event, there was one lady that I saw when we started. She was in the crowd and she stayed behind until the very end. And at the end she came over to me and she says, oh, Eva, you know, fantastic. You know, love the sauce, love all your merging music and food together and everything.
[00:21:57] And she took out the business card and she says, would you like to be in Dragons Day? And handed me the card. But Adam, I’d never seen Dragons then. I had never even heard about the show. It’s, I didn’t really watch TV in those days at all, so I never knew of then. So she’s trying to explain to me that it’s a reality TV show and it’s a bit like I’m a celebrity getting out here and all that kind of stuff.
[00:22:19] And I was thinking that I. There’s no way I’m gonna go on TV and be eating kangaroo testicles and stuff. So I completely was refusing source on them. Yeah. And they’d be alright. I did think of that. I did think of that. So I was telling the lady that I’m not interested in it. You know, we are doing great, you know, in here we are selling the products.
[00:22:39] And she said, oh, Levi, please take the card. And if somebody do tell you about jargons then, To give us a ring. So I went home with a card. I did take the card, I went home and it’s my kids. That’s ’cause normally when I come home from the Shires, my kids, they sort out these business cards that I get and put them into a thing that we’ve got with card machine.
[00:22:57] So they saw the B C Dragons, then card with, you know, her as producer on there. And my kids were like going crazy and I like drag. And I was like, what the hell is this dragon instead, you know? What is it guys and you? He just told me that my kids were saying, dad, whatever you don’t go Dragon. And there ain’t no Rasta Man’s gonna go and deal whatever dad.
[00:23:17] And she said, whatever, dad, don’t take that bloody guitar. You know? That was my kids was nobody ever sang before, nobody ever done. It’s all about maths and stuff. And they know that I’m rubbish at that kind of stuff, you know? And they were saying that, you know, we are fine as we are, that we love you. Need embarrass yourself.
[00:23:37] You know, Adam,
[00:23:42] the best of. I could hear that. You know, when, while everybody else, every one of my friends that I went to, and I was so excited, I told everybody that Dragon Village approached me. Everyone said, don’t take the guitar. Everyone said, go and pretend that you know things, but don’t go make a fool of yourself and do something different.
[00:24:02] But I could hear Theresa saying that you are the best of you. You are. It’s easier when you, are you. She used to say that, you know, it’s easier when you or yourself. I love that. I love that advice. Absolutely. It’s difficult when you pretend that you are something that you are not. Be honest, and if there’s honesty on the other side, they will spot that.
[00:24:23] So I just went and I rang out the B, B, C, and I says, thank you very much. I’ll be on that show. Can I bring a guitar and sing? Now, nobody had ever sang on Dragons then before. So they wanted, I think I must have been the only one that had, could do a screen test for dragons then, because they wanted to hear the song first to make sure that there was no profanities or anything like that in there.
[00:24:44] So I had my date at the bbc. I went there and. Third, the summer, and they were absolutely blown away. I don’t think they were thinking that this is gonna become the greatest performance ever in Jack and Stand. I think they were thinking that this is gonna be great tv. You know, he’s not gonna win, but everybody’s gonna love him.
[00:25:00] He’s gonna love him. And and that was enough for me because I was thinking to myself like, I don’t necessarily have to win. You know, as long as people out there have watched me on TV singing my grandmother’s song, you know, I’m hoping that I could sell a few more sources after. Yeah. After enslaved me and I’ve gone back home of people who say, yeah, Levi vibrate.
[00:25:19] So I, I didn’t think I was very good. I thought I was perhaps one of the worst person that was on dragons then got my numbers wrong. I was sweating profusely. I was like, I.
[00:25:34] Bright and center three dragons went out saying that, no, I’m not interested in Levi, we love you, but there’s no business in the source. That’s what Theo ti said. Duncan says that there’s nothing here for him to invest in. Debra Needin said that she’s out, you know, she never invested anything anyway, but she said that Levi’s, sorry, but we are out.
[00:25:54] And it was two dragons left and I was looking down the barrel, you know, I was thinking that if I don’t get this. Then, you know, it’s gonna have to go home empty handed. But then along came Peter Jones, you know, six foot, seven tall, his stripe, his socks. You know, this angel that saw me struggling, they probably saw the sweat on my head.
[00:26:12] And Peter, I’m gonna save this kid here. And yeah Peter and Richard Farley invested and it was absolutely amazing. I. B, C just never ever seen anything like it. When I came up singing, you know, the song, I remember the look of the camera guys in the room in front of the dragons and seeing them, you know, because it’s real.
[00:26:33] They, the actual dragons don’t know what you’re doing before you come. So once you are. They’re seeing you for the first time. So I remember when I got to the verse of the, you know, the chorus of the song, and I looked at Richard Farley on the left. I could see him actually tapping his hands on his desk with a kinda weird look on his face.
[00:26:52] And it was at that point, Adam, that I knew that the music was doing his business. And I kind got it that this moment is gonna be my moment. And of course Peter invested 25,000. Richard invested 25,000. I got my 50,000 and the next was just dream. That happened. It was weeks before it was actually three weeks that I had a call from Sainsbury telling me that.
[00:27:18] Levi, your Reggie sauce, they couldn’t even pronounce Regg. The guys in Sainsburys. Is that you? Reggie? Regi sauce is outs selling s bloody tomato to ketchup. I tell you, Adam manually fell of mine. That’s the biggest selling source in the old goddamn world. And here I am with my grandmother’s sauce made in my kitchen in Brixton with my children is outselling pine to tomato ketchup.
[00:27:44] It was just an absolute amazing thing. And of course, Peter and I become, you know, fantastic friends, you know, really close. And the business just seemed to become an iconic business overnight. Which is incredible.
[00:27:57] Adam Stott: What’s it been like to work with Peter and Richard over the years and, because it’s been quite some time now, right?
[00:28:03] Yeah. What’s been, what have you learned? Has there been things that you’ve learned specifically that you, ’cause our listeners being business owners, you know, love to perhaps get a couple of, has there been a couple of nuggets along the time that you thought, wow, you know, that made me see things differently?
[00:28:16] Levi Roots: Yeah, I think mentoring is the key thing for anybody who’s young out there and is starting out in business, you need somebody that knows more than you, you know? And I think that’s an important point to remember. ’cause a lot of people, you know, you go into business and you think that you wanna do it yourself.
[00:28:31] You can’t, you know, I really do think mentoring is a way forward. And for me Peter became my mentor and also a friend as well too. And there’s that thing that I mentioned that Theresa had said to me when you get out, she was trying to say, surround yourself with like-minded people.
[00:28:47] And so I suppose that the question to some of your listeners is, who are these like-minded people? Well, I found one of them just before I went into Dragons then because he was a lawyer. And I think legally you’ve got to have somebody who can deal with the legal stuff around you. When it comes to business, I know it can be one of the most expensive things, you know, when you’re setting up your business and to say, to throw things like lawyers and stuff in there.
[00:29:11] But in the end it would be worth, it’s value in gold to have somebody like a lawyer involved. Because I remember when I first. I was going on to Dragons Den. I had a music lawyer and I said to him, his name is Ri. And I called him up. I says, RI look, I’m going on Dragons Den and I want you to be my lawyer ’cause I think I’m gonna win.
[00:29:31] And he says, Levi I can’t be a lawyer ’cause I’m a music lawyer, but I do know a corporate lawyer that I went to school with that I’m going to introduce you to. And his name was Taj au And I went to see Taj. I told him the same thing that I felt like I’m gonna do something fantastic on Dragon. Can you know, help me?
[00:29:49] And he told me the figures that he would be, and I said, well, Tasia can’t afford to pay you that, but I’ll give you some of the business for you to stay with me. And I think that was a fantastic, you know, bit of business for me to have this massive lawyer on board, you know, to help me to set things up and to make things happen.
[00:30:08] And then a brilliant accountant came on board as well too, and which allowed me to play my best part. Cool message for your listeners as well too. You gotta do what you’re good at, you know, and that’s really important that you don’t get, know, confused in that kind of way. And and think that you can do everything.
[00:30:27] So Compartmentalizations. Put people in place that be able to make your business become perfect instead of trying to do it on your own. Yeah. Sorry Adam. There’s problem. No problem.
[00:30:39] Adam Stott: Put people in place com, compartmentalize and get the right. Yeah, w we, which is, know, it’s an incredible story.
[00:30:49] What have been in building that business, in building that business and building reggae source and it lasting and doing so well. Have there been ups and downs? What have the challenges been? Have there been things Personally,
[00:31:02] Levi Roots: one of the reasons why I said how important, you know, legal system is, Because you never know what’s gonna happen because, you know, three years after the den when the sauce is out selling ens and I was the most famous black man in the country that didn’t kick a ball or run fast business and enterprise.
[00:31:21] And I think, you young people were very inspirational about that. It was something different. And yet, I looked different and people like that. You know, I wasn’t the kind of archetype or type of businessman, you know, I think that was cool for a lot of young people to see that. But after three years when everything was going forth, criminally, I got sued.
[00:31:40] You know? I got sued by a friend of mine, you know, saying that the source was his and all kind of stuff like that. It was the most. Terribly part of my own life. ’cause at that point, all my life, my washing was out on the line. You know, every girlfriend that I ever had was being paid by the papers to tell their story, or my friends was, you know, saying, you know, that I was smoking spl.
[00:32:01] Every SPL that I’d ever smoked, somebody had come out and said to me, you know, all these little things that I was really embarrassing and it looked like something that was really inspirational to a lot of people, was just about to become a cropper. Because it was all over the papers and it was like that, but I think that surrounding yourself with like-minded people was absolutely the right.
[00:32:22] My lawyer, you he gave me that advice. And I, and within that moment, if you don’t have these kind of people in and you don’t have this kind of advisors like Peter who was there and stuck with me, you know, and decided that yeah, we are not gonna pay these guys. You know, some people were saying that I could have paid these guys, you know, which I could have, and they were after money.
[00:32:44] But, you know, Adam, I knew that. That would’ve stuck with me forever if I’d paid these guys off. Yeah I didn’t agree. Agree. And
[00:32:51] Adam Stott: also the fact that it’s so entwined to you as a, it’s quite very personal, isn’t it? Because it’s your whole story, your whole background, and Yeah. You know your grandma, so you don’t, you know, even if you could have paid them to get rid of ’em, you gotta fight ’em, you sometimes.
[00:33:05] Yeah, absolutely. And I could be truthful. I could have paid them because as I said, the brand was making a lot of money by then. Yeah. But is that thing that would stick. If you pay off somebody, then you have something to hide. Yeah. You know, and I didn’t have anything to hide, so I decided to fight the case.
[00:33:22] Levi Roots: It cost me a lot of money to fight. It got me over a million quid to fight the case, but I really wanted to do it and I was so glad that Peter stuck with me and, you know, and saw that if I was con, you know, it was a conviction of mine. He said I wanted to clear my name. And it was a good thing that because of the team that I had around me, the judge gave the verdict of in, know, in, on my side and I won the case and moved on.
[00:33:46] But, you know, to answer your point then, yes, that was perhaps the most dangerous part of everything that I’d gone through. I. When you are up and sailing and you think that there’s nothing gonna touch you, but something has. But it’s what you’ve put in place is the people that you’ve had around you, you know, instead of the waste people and that sort of people that allows you to overcome these eventualities that are gonna happen.
[00:34:08] Anyone that starts a business, There is gonna be a moment when something, a spanner is thrown in the rock. You know, whether it is you’ve run out cash or you’ve lost and you paid your repayments and then you are in trouble. And that kind of stuff is how do you get off that? What have you put in place for those contingencies, you know?
[00:34:27] And for me it was about that you know, good accountant, good lawyer, good mentor around you. So to be able to help you in those moments. Yeah, incredible and brilliant that you fought it and you won, you know, and deserved to, you’ve obviously built this huge brand that’s taken you onto lots of other shows, so now really it’s your character, isn’t it?
[00:34:48] Adam Stott: That character that you built and that brand that you’ve built, and being able to go and put that character out to the market has been absolutely integral. And you’ve said yes to a lot of things and I know to Big Brother and celebrity Mastermind, those things.
[00:35:07] Levi Roots: It’s fantastic. You know, again, you know when you doubt yourself as I did, you know, growing up, as I says, you really struggle as a young kid growing up. It’s indoctrinated you in some ways that you will never make it. But when you overcome that and beautiful things that happen, you relish it.
[00:35:23] ’cause I overcome those shyness from Theresa’s teaching and coming out and having success from meeting Mandela. You know, after that it’s like a trajectory going up. You know, you feel super, you know, but not super for you to lose your focus, but grateful that you know that you’ve got these people around you and you’ve got the support of the public.
[00:35:46] You know, I do sometimes three schools a day, you know, young people, they, there’s so much, well, I can’t believe three schools a day. I actually have to be refusing to cover up 18 years. That’s all I do. Schools, universities, prisons. I don’t do anything else because these young people want to see me. They want to hear the story, know?
[00:36:05] And that’s what I love to do. So I go around and I tell the same story that if I can do it, then surely some of these kids were struggling in, in, in areas like mines in Brixton’s, you know, they will have a chance to be able to focus themselves providing that meet the same mentors and the same mentorship that was afforded to me.
[00:36:24] Adam Stott: And the story is so incredible that you’re now, it’s now being made into a film, right? Yeah. So tell us about that. It’s I’ve loved the story. I’ve loved talking to you. I think it’s very, it’s incredibly inspirational because it’s where you’ve started from. In and what you’ve embraced and actually recognizing these different things that are holding you back and decided to overcome them.
[00:36:47] Yes, you’ve had the right help, but you’ve also been open-minded enough to accept the help, you know, and that now is being made into a story, so a film. So tell us all about that. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah, no,
[00:36:58] Levi Roots: again, it was one of these, you know, I like to call it jammy moments, you know, because I’m a jam bastard.
[00:37:04] Adam Stott: One of these moments. Yeah.
[00:37:09] Levi Roots: Yeah. I was approached by, One of the biggest film companies in the uk, you know, made some of the top films over the past 10 years. There the leader, you’re talking about film, that Fisherman’s friend, finding your Feets movies that’s so iconic here and the, these are the producers that came and said that they wanna do my life story.
[00:37:29] And it was just like a wow, you. And for me, it gives me an opportunity to tell that story again and to inspire new generations. Now I’m doing visitations every year, you know, quite a lot of visitations for kids who are basing their next career step on my story. I. And it always inspires me when I get a dissertation for some young kid, you know, something, somebody to do and they’re gonna lead their life forward.
[00:37:56] And I know now it’s, you doing this movie, I’m really, hopefully that it will bring that inspiration all over it to a new generation. You know that now. Yeah. You absolutely. So that’s what I’m excited about it. And I was sent the actors list last week of, you know, the.
[00:38:14] Who are gonna play me and other people within the story. So it’s getting really excited now. And as you can see, I’m smiling, especially, yeah, some.
[00:38:28] Yeah, some absolutely. You know, great names and films and tv, you know, is been talked and I’m always thinking, is that really me? Is that me, the kid from Clarendon Brixton that couldn’t talk, you know, that, that refused to talk for a long time when I left my grandma and come to this new London, you know, and struggle really is this really me?
[00:38:51] And I said, yeah, it is. But it is the changes that you have to go through to become the person who you are now. Absolutely. And right now you are doing a play. Is that correct? Yeah, I’m in Edinburgh and I’m a fringe, Edinburgh Fringe festival. I wrote, but the film, the story for the play is called Sound Clash, but it’s actually part of my life as a musician.
[00:39:15] Whereas when we were, you know, doing the idea for the film, all my 50 odd years in music and food couldn’t fit within the story of the film. And I was so sad that my music and my sound system days couldn’t fit, which was the first part of my life. You know, when I left school, I joined the sound system and music came into my life and that couldn’t fit within the film because they wanted that to be about the jackets then.
[00:39:37] And you know, the part that a lot of people know about within the movie, So the sound catch thing was an outtake of it. And I decided to go and write the story myself of a dystopian sound system, Romeo and Juliet, west Side story type of a musical. And I wrote that and next thing I knew I had Adrian Grant, you know, who produced Thriller in the West End.
[00:39:59] Which was there for I think, a thousand years. It was that long stage and I had Theater Royal come on board and wanted to direct it. I had Jade Hackett, one of the most amazing choreograph for coming board that wanted to do the choreograph for it. So I’m massive, you know, really important set of people that comes on board to do sound and now,
[00:40:28] Wow. Absolutely. And I can’t believe it. I’ve written a musical and we are launching a bloody fringe, know, one of the most amazing platforms for any type of new plays or comic. You. Events. So it’s just fantastic man. So you’ll hear about sound clash, death in the arena. Sound clash.
[00:40:46] Adam Stott: And people can get tickets. I dunno that they’ll be able to get out. Where can
[00:40:53] Levi Roots: Yeah. WW Sound Clash show.com. Sound Clash show do
[00:40:59] Adam Stott: com. And that’s gonna be in other locations presumably
[00:41:02] Levi Roots: as well. Yeah, no, it would be in one. ’cause Fringe you are in one theater here In the Fringe. It’s very famous in that kind of way.
[00:41:09] And we have 26 shows every day. Only two days out of the, or the whole month of August we have off. But that’s how it is. And we are in one of the biggest theaters in Pleasant One. So it’s, it is, it’s fantastic to be bringing Dance Hall music and Bash and Reggae and Scar onto the stage of the Edinburg Fringe Festival.
[00:41:29] Adam Stott: Congratulations. That sounds amazing. And it’s great that you get to tell that story too. Look I’ve absolutely loved having you on as a guest, Levi. I think you’ve been absolutely incredible. I think the story’s super inspiring super inspiring. So many people out there can get inspired and really look forward to the film.
[00:41:48] Go to soundclash.com correct. In order yeah. Com. Yeah. Show. Sound Clash show.com to go and check Levi offer. Wanna say a big thank you for coming on the show? Been absolutely amazing talking to you. Love the story. Congratulations on everything that’s happened in your life. And if you’ve been listening, make sure to subscribe.
[00:42:05] Go and subscribe. Leave a review for us if you’ve been enjoying this. Share this podcast with somebody that needs some inspiration. Perhaps you know, somebody you’re listening to this right now that’s had some difficult times and can really learn from what Levi shared some of those mindset assets.
[00:42:21] Go and do somebody a gift today by sharing this podcast with them so it can inspire them. Thanks again, Levi. You’ve been incredible. Really enjoyed talking to you today. It’s
[00:42:30] Levi Roots: been amazing.
[00:42:33] Adam Stott: Hey, everybody, Adam here, and I hope you love today’s episode. Hope you thought it was fabulous. And if you did,