The Chris Voss Show - The Chris Voss Show Podcast – Kayshree Govender: Empowering Kids to Become Future Entrepreneurs with Dreamers and Founders

Episode Date: June 13, 2025

Kayshree Govender: Empowering Kids to Become Future Entrepreneurs with Dreamers and Founders Dreamersandfounders.com About the Guest(s): Kayshree Govender is the dynamic CEO and founder of Dreamers and Founders, an audacious global initiative aimed at transforming today's youth into tomorrow's CEOs. Born and raised in South Africa, K. Sri Governor brings a rich background of entrepreneurial spirit that sparked at the young age of 10 when she launched her own dance school. Her diverse achievements include holding multiple modeling crowns and patents. She also passionately advocates for the education and empowerment of girls and women in rural communities. Episode Summary: In an exciting episode of The Chris Voss Show, host Chris Voss welcomes Kayshree Govender, the innovative force behind Dreamers and Founders. This episode captures Kayshree Govender's mission to foster entrepreneurial skills in the youth from ages 8 to 18, nurturing them to evolve into the business leaders of tomorrow. The discussion delves deep into the essence of instilling confidence, resilience, and leadership abilities in kids through entrepreneurship, laying the framework for a promising future. Kayshree Govender shares her inspiring journey that began in the rural parts of South Africa and has now burgeoned into a global movement extending beyond borders. With an emphasis on the indispensable role of nurturing the youth's mindset, K. Sri discusses how Dreamers and Founders equips children with the tools to transform their nascent ideas into tangible businesses. The episode weaves through how the community supports children, provides insights from experts, and fosters family relationships, augmenting the entrepreneurial spirit among the young dreamers. Key Takeaways: Visionary Movement: Dreamers and Founders focuses on empowering young people by teaching them to create real businesses, thus preparing them for leadership roles in society. Global Reach: Although launched in South Africa, Dreamers and Founders has tested and succeeded with an international group of students, expanding its impact globally. Holistic Development: The initiative emphasizes nurturing the mindset for confidence and resilience, fostering essential skills like leadership and problem-solving in children. Community and Support: The program includes a built-in support system featuring children's psychologists, relationship consultants, and professionals ensuring comprehensive family and individual development. Invitation for Collaboration: The episode calls for entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals willing to support, mentor, or invest in the incredible ideas generated by these young entrepreneurs. Notable Quotes: "When a child learns that they can turn an idea into an income, their confidence explodes." "Kids change everything because that's the foundation for them to know and to learn and to nurture." "We have demo days where they would pitch all of their business ideas, and we are looking for anyone who wants to partner with them."

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Now, here's your host, Chris Voss. I'm Oaks Voss here from thechrisvossshow.com. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Chris Voss Show. As always, the Chris Voss Show is a family that loves you, but doesn't judge you, at least not as harshly as the rest of the world does. Because we know you're here, you're learning, you're trying to get to know yourself better, you're trying to get to know the world better, you're trying to get to know human nature better.

You're the people who are making a difference because you're learning. You know, there's an old saying by George Carlin that says, realize how dumb the average person is and realize that 50% of them are dumber than that. If you understand the law of average, you understand how that works. But if you don't understand the law of averages, well, you know which 50% you're in. But the beautiful part about our audience is they're always learning, they're always growing, they're trying to get better and kudos to you because you people are the ones who are going to make the difference in the world and the rest of people, I guess, are just going to go like lemmings off a sheep off a cliff or something. I don't know. Anyway, guys, but refer the show to your family. This is what we're trying to set up here. Refer the show to your family, friends and relatives

so they don't end up the lemmings running off a cliff and go to goodreads.com, fortunes. Chris, lots of luck did.com. Fortress Christmas Christmas one of the tick tockity and Chris Foss, Facebook.com. Terry and amazing young lady on the show today. We're going to be talking about her insights, what she does and how she makes the world better with the work that she does today. We have on the show with us. Uh, let me pull this up here. We have the dreamers and founders.

CEO, uh, with us today. K. She governor. Uh, let me, let me hit that a different way. Uh, I'm having problems with getting our screen up, uh, to see this. So there we go. K. Sri governor is the powerhouse behind dreamers and Founders, a bold global movement

turning today's kids into tomorrow's CEOs. She's on a mission to equip young dreamers with the tools to begin booming businesses and bold futures. Her entrepreneurial spirit was unstoppable from the age of 10. She had launched her own dance school and since then, she's earned multiple modeling crowns and patents representing her country on international stages and a passionate advocate for educating and lifting girls and women in rural communities. Welcome to the show. How are you Kishri? I'm great. How are you?

I am excellent. Give us your dot coms. Where can people find you on the interwebs? So we are dreamers and founders on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, on YouTube. So they can find us there. And so give us a 30,000 overview of what you do there. So we built a global movement whereby we teach kids from eight to 18, how to build real actual businesses. So we take them from their mindset, we groom them, and we help them build and turn their ideas into actual businesses. Pete Slauson And do you do this? You mentioned you represent

your country in several awards you've received. What country do you represent there? Anjali South Africa. I was actually born and brought up in South Africa. awards you've received is, is what country do you represent there for South Africa? So I was actually born and brought up in South Africa. And so, uh, do you mostly do your company's work in South Africa? Is this an international, uh, agenda? No. So we, we started out in a rural area in South Africa, but we've gone global

and we've tried and tested with a lot of international students more so than in South Africa. Yes. And so how does it work? How do people sign up? Whether they get for it and all that good stuff. Okay. So we're hosting a master class on the 26th of June at 11 a.m. EST. And from there, they will have to look at the masterclass, go through the work, and before they leave, they would actually launch a business. And if they're happy thereafter, we do have one-on-one coaching.

They're more than welcome to join us for that. Mm. So, they sign up on the website. What sort of people are your target audience out there? What are the people that you try to get with and go with? Anuradha Sinha So, I would say any parent that, you know, is feeling a bit stuck, is feeling like their child is glued to a screen the whole time, they're lacking conversation with their kids.

They know that their kids are destined for more, but life has thrown them Roblox games and PlayStation apps, et cetera. So we're looking for any child that just has a drive and is teachable because we believe that we would spark and ignite that vision and that dream into building a business for them. Wow.

And so why is it more important to, or I don't know about more important, but why focus on kids and youth? Why is it important to try and instill the entrepreneurial spirit with them in their youth? instill the entrepreneurial spirit with them in their youth. I think firstly kids change everything because that's the foundation for them to know and to learn and to nurture and I think you know the most important from what we've experienced is their mindset. If you can teach them how to think differently in terms of their confidence, their resilience, if we can teach them ownership in the world that

often teaches them to follow. When a child learns that they can turn an idea into an income, their confidence explodes. They start seeing problems as opportunities. They learn how to speak, how to pitch, how to lead, and most importantly, they learn that they are capable of doing far much more. And I think the other most important thing is that we forget sometimes, you know, we think, you know, children are just going to be doing businesses. But in relation to that, when you sit at a dinner table, you go from, oh, what did you do at school today? You know, kids don't want to be asked that. They don't want to engage. They don't want to have these conversations. But it creates a shift on that

dinner table. They, what are you doing for your business today? How are you growing? What can I help? And kids are amazing because they're resilient in the fact that they would come and say, Mom, did you know we could do this? And then that sparks a different bond between a parent and a child, a grandparent. And I think that's what a lot of families are suffering with right now. It's trying to build a bond with their child in today's lifestyle and still keeping up with the AI and, you know, everything else that the Generation Z is going through. Yeah, and AI is going to bring some real changes to where we're pretty much going to be

basically, we're pretty much going to be basically all entrepreneurs selling data and information and service and knowledge and coaching and all that sort of good stuff as, as the AI I think takes over, you know, other things that are going on in the world. Uh, and so it's kind of a, it's kind of an interesting place. You know, I, I became an entrepreneur, I became an entrepreneur at 18. There was no one running. I didn't even know I was an entrepreneur. I was just a kid who got fired from McDonald's for having long hair and was trying to survive.

And, you know, my dad's like, you can't stay at home and just do nothing. You know, we were Gen X. So you got to go out and you know, you're 18 now, get the hell out of my home. You know, that're 18 now, get the hell out of my home. You know, that's, that's how it was. And, um, so we, I wish there would have been more of a conversation when I was young where people would go, you know, Hey, here's, here's an option for you. Entrepreneurism. Like no one did that. No one did that in the career thing in school.

No one, no one in the, the career counselors of school weren't like, Hey, you know, maybe being an entrepreneur is a good thing for you. And so it's like, like you say, just go get a job, you know, do the bot work. I always remember that, that mass manufacturing scene in Pink Floyd's, we don't need no education where the kids are coming off the conveyor belt, you know, and they're, they're taught to just be mind spun. And so, yeah, we need more of this because there's so much innocence and looking at life from a different angle that youth have as well. Yeah.

And that is so true what you're saying. You looked for a mentor or a coach to speak to you even about entrepreneurship, but us being adults, we also, you get stuck along the way. And if you know anything about an entrepreneurial journey, you know, it's a tough one because you starting it out, you don't know whether you're doing the right thing or you feel like it's the right thing, but 10 million other things are happening wrong. So it's always nice to say, okay, look, go through the process where people have been through it. They are, you know, so the process where people have been through it. They are, you know, so it's almost like they're failing forward in a sense with

the right support structures, because it's important, you know, while you're young, that you have support. And I think that's, that's, that's the key point for us. We, we have a community in there to say, look, you know, obviously we cannot foresee every objection that's gonna come your way. Or you know, you get a problem that's gonna come. But this is our way of helping you fail forward.

Fail forward, as it were. But yeah, when kids are young, Fail forward as it were. But yeah, when kids are young, they have so much innocence, they look at the world through what could be as opposed to what it is, you know, and they ask questions, they ask a lot of questions like, why do we do it this way? You know, that's what a lot of people do in consulting and counseling is, you know, they look at things and go, why do you do it this way? And they go, well, we've always done it this way. And that doesn't mean it's the right way. You know? And so, you know, being able to look at the world

from that angle, being able to see innovation, I think as children is so much more important. I mean, that's why you kind of see most of Silicon Valley is all 20 year olds, because of the innovation and disruption that they tend to see. Are they always right? Are they always good at running businesses? No, I don't know why people do that. But have fun with that.

It's not my money, I guess. But young people and young people have a drive where they can really focus on stuff. If you've got a family, wife and kids, you got to provide for, you know, you got to keep a good job. You got to keep the insurance, you know, you got to pay your taxes. You got to, you know, do all the things. And you're pretty much booked for your time, really. But, you know, kids kind of, they have a lot of time. They have a lot of time to ponder.

They have a lot of time to daydream. They have a lot of time to imagine. And really, that's where innovation lies. I think. What do you think? Yeah, I totally agree with you. And I think also with kids, they have this drive and the confidence, you know, they're willing to try everything and anything.

Whereas an adult, you're too scared. You know, certain things come your way and you're like, oh no, I don't think that's for me. I don't think I could push myself to that. But the way these kids ask amazing questions that they fearless and you know, and I think that for me says that they've got the entrepreneurial spirit built in them. It's, you know, when you grow up and you build the limitations on yourself, whereas kids don't have that. So, yeah, all for them going.

And I think that for me, the biggest part or how it started was my son was engrossed in his iPad, glued. was engrossed in his iPad, glued. And it was through a very difficult time in my life. And I had gone through a very messy divorce and I had just lost my mom to cancer. And I think in that whole process, I lost myself in the sense that, you know, it was a lot to deal with and having to now sit with the emotion and having to go through all of this. Honestly, I didn't have the time to deal with all that he was going through. And I fed him the iPad and I said, okay, you know what, you could just

play with your iPad. And one day it dawned on me to say, you know, he came and he's like, mommy, I need another app. And I said, you know what, we actually don't have money for another app. And it was like, you know, the life got sucked out of me and it was such a disappointment because as a mother, all you just want to do is you don't care, you can work five jobs as long as your child is, you know, taken care of and you've provided and, you know, anything and everything that you could drop just to give to your child. I think that's any mother would do. Not that I'm saying a dad wouldn't, but you know, I think that's a mother's first instinct is like, I would drop heaven and earth

to make sure that my child has everything that they need. And when he had asked me that, it literally felt like, you know, what I was a total failure. I couldn't, you know, give my child what he wanted or what he need. In his eyes, this is what he needed. And it dawned on me and I said, no, you know what, I've got to snap out of this because I've let this child, you know, come in and now take over and deal with what I've been dealing with the grief the emotion the everything else and I said to him you know what today I'm not gonna give it back to you I'm actually going to teach you how to do this you know I think he just looked at me and was like, you know what, you've got this attitude and

you're just like, oh my God, you know what, mom doesn't know best. So whatever. And it was at the back of a cereal box. We literally crafted out with crayons and we crafted his first business idea. And then that planted the seed for me. And it's, you know what, how many other parents out there have probably gone through the same thing as me or are going through the same thing. And how many kids out there are feeling, you know, like they have to take whatever emotions

parents are going through and honestly in today's world I think parents go through a lot because life has thrown us something else that we probably you know just going through the motion to figure out how to deal with it ourselves. And that's where Dreamers and Founders was planted or the seed was planted. And we tried it with quite a few kids. And now we have thousands of success stories all over the world where kids are just amazed. They are in awe of all that they have achieved. And as for parents, I think the parents love the community more because their relationships

with their kids have grown ten-x. Pete Slauson Hmm. And that's always good to have. I mean, that's always good to have. You know, I think kids need more. I wish they would teach an entrepreneur class and get schools. I wish they would do some of this stuff, but you're doing it. Now, your goal is to create a community. How do you function that community? Is it a Facebook group? Is it going to be on your website?

How does that work? So we have a Facebook group, but we also have in terms of our website, we have a community within the website built. And the beauty part about that, we get professionals in where we have children psychologists, we have relationship consultants, we have the whole package to make sure that the entire family is seen to. And, you know, having people, having children, you know, train their parents, train their kids is really important. The you know, I mean, really, when you think about it, you know, why not get the kids, you know, raise a bunch of money, pay for his high school, maybe you can pay back for all the cost, you pay for his college, like, maybe pay you back for all the cost. You pay for his college, all like, so maybe pay you back for all the money you spent raising

them. You know, Jeff Bezos, his parents loaned him money. That's how he built the Amazon. Uh, and you know, they're not doing too bad, I'm sure right now. So, uh, you know, maybe that's the thing to do is raise those little money makers. True. Very true. Cause I mean, if you, if you look at it, uh, school teachers, children had to memorize and that's it.

It stops there. And I think this is what we've built. And we've seen the results is that we teach kids how to actually monetize it. And it is insane. It is absolutely insane when they just earn their first paycheck from whatever business they've built. Yeah. And the thing about being an entrepreneur is it changes you and makes you grow up in ways that almost nothing else does. Probably the next closest thing is parenting. But it

teaches you to self-actualize. It teaches you self-accountability. It teaches you, you know, it tests the limits of your character and personality. It'll make you grow in ways that whether you want to or not, it's going to drag you. So you're going to have to grow up as a person and learn stuff. And, um, you know, if not, you're bound to fail. And that's usually what happens to people that fail at being an entrepreneur. And there's, there's other mitigating factors in that too, as well. But still, you know, it's, it can be an issue for people.

I think this is a great idea, what you're trying to build. And, and of course, any, any children or families in the world can be a part of this, is that correct? Yes. As we go out, like give us a round out as to, is there anything we've missed? Anything we need to talk about? Anything we need to tease out on what people should know about what you're doing there? Yeah. So if anybody wants to join in terms of partnering up with us in terms of any businesses or entrepreneurs that are out there and would love or loves

our mission. We would love to partner up with you guys. And even if you can send us a five minute video or anything, words of encouragement for kids, because I mean, you know, an entrepreneurship journey is a lonely one and a very stressful one. journey is a lonely one and a very stressful one and we just want to make it a fun journey for them and for them to understand that they've got people that have accomplished in their business journey and just have some advice for them to get them past the line, to get them excited and motivated, because I think that's a winning factor.

And also in terms of a servant leadership, if anyone out there would like to just give back even an hour or whatever time you have to just come join us on our webinars or send a video, anything, anything, anything that you have out there that you'd like to partner up with us, we'd really appreciate it. Just DM us and happy days. And if there's any investors or venture capitalists, some of these kids' ideas that they come up with are out of this world. Yeah. You know, if we want to tap into that.

Yeah. So if, if there's anyone that's out there that would, you know, like to offer something like that, it would be fantastic. I mean, we have demo days where they would pitch all of their business ideas. And we are looking for anyone who wants to partner with them and allow them some funds to make their visions come true. That would be highly appreciated. It's been wonderful to have you on.

Tell people where they can onboard your dot coms, et cetera, et cetera, and get to know you better. Okay. So you can reach us on our Facebook. That's the best way to do it. We are dreamers and founders. And please, if you have any kids or you know of any kids, you want to sign up anybody's kids, bring them along. And we'll be having a master class on the 26th of June

at 11 a.m. EST. And you'll get the links all from our Facebook, Instagram, TikTok channels. Well, thank you very much. Very insightful. And I love the vision of what you're doing. We need to teach entrepreneurship to more young kids. And of course, this is the future really, when it comes to, you know, how AI is going to work. And really, it's going to be our knowledge that we're going to be selling to each other and our experience and helping lift each other and stuff in the

future. It's not going to be so much about, you know, the bots or the robots are going to do, you know, different things like, what is it, you know, they're going to be basically, you know, doing manufacturing and all that sort of crazy stuff. So anyway, thanks for being here. We certainly appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. And thanks for tuning in. Go to good reads.com, Fortress, Chris Foss, LinkedIn.com, Fortress, Chris Foss, Chris Foss, one on the tick tock itty and all those crazy places in it.

Be good to each other. Stay safe. We'll see you next time.