Darkness is the best time for light. That’s how Karl Lokko describes the consuming change that propelled him into a position of status and influence some could only dream about. In this episode of Better With Paul, we sit down with the Most Influential Man In Britain for a first take look into the mind of a mastermind.
The perfect blend of street smarts, book smarts, and innate heuristic skills all went into the maturation of a man I admire for many reasons. Born and raised in a community with a tenured history of violence, poverty, and a relentless desire to survive, Karl Lokko’s options may have been cut short long before he ever even realized he had them. By his 13th birthday, Brixton had already branded Karl in ways most people never experience. The son of council estates shares the challenges posed by managing childhood genius and the life-altering side effects that come from living in a community that was 70% prepared to be a prison before it was cleared to become housing for the poor. But it wasn’t the literal bars he needed to escape from, the bars on his mind were far more restrictive.
In Episode 2 of Better With Paul, Karl Lokko walks us through the process of going from victim to victimizer to international success. A small seed planted by a woman concerned with where his life was headed eventually grew into a pathway that changed his family’s future and inspired a legacy. That rise didn’t come on accident. We talk about how the pressures of powerlessness became a theme that burst into a lust for violence; the only antidote he thought he had. Growing up in gang culture forces your hand, either you assimilate or you become a target. Despite life’s brutal introduction, Karl’s circumstances also positioned him to develop a few transferrable skills that eventually led to his personal revolution.
Born the child of illegal African immigrants, dreams of mattering, of making a difference, and creating an empire his children can inherit were Karl Lokko’s inspiration to change. Shedding the title of being a notorious 18-year-old gang leader whose name was known around the UK wasn’t an easy job. If you ask Karl, he’ll tell you that he never even wanted to change, he was fine with the reality he’d created for himself. When he looked around, he didn’t see chaos, he saw a palatable solution to things that once kept his family terrorized by fear. He didn’t see the lifestyle as problematic, he felt the things his gang contributed to the community, resources, protection, and support, made the darker side of the lifestyle a small tradeoff. But when his life made a 360-degree turnaround, Karl Lokko immediately recognized God’s grace in action.
“In order to have more, you have to become more.” It was that realization that led Karl Lokko to read a book a week on a personal quest to become the man he felt he needed to be, to live the life he deserved. Now, he’s a billionaire by association and close friends with the royal family. Mindset was the secret ingredient to turning his life around. Karl never shunned ‘the streets’, he saw how he could do more for them, and himself, by raising the stakes and grooming himself to sit at tables nobody from council estates, almost no other person with black skin, has ever been invited to sit. In this episode, we explore the power that comes from using your differences to your advantage. Karl Lokko’s story is an inspiration to us all. Tune in as we listen to the Most Influential Man In Britain talk about what he’s done that will set him up to soon become one of the most influential people in the world.
To learn more about Karl: https://www.instagram.com/karl_lokko/
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