KISH: Tell us about you…
I was Born into poverty in rural South Africa during the Apartheid era and lived in a tin shack with five siblings. My family had to rely on prayer to get through our hardships. Yet, even with the unending challenges I faced earlier in my life, I had my eye for success.
At age 7, I saw an airplane fly overhead, and I started to chase after the plane to take me away from poverty and hopelessness. I thought to myself, one day, I’m going to fly and never stop flying. That spark of belief led me to manifest my dream decades later.
Today, I am one of only eight Platinum Zig Ziglar Speakers & Trainers, a Leadership Development Coach, & Business Growth Strategist.
KISH: What is your dream and how will accomplishing your dream benefit you and others?
Melvin: My dream is to inspire a billion people to achieve their life’s purpose and find the love, joy and peace in God Almighty. When I accomplish my dream, I believe that people lives will be transformed for eternity.
KISH: Who or what inspired you to pursue this dream?
Melvin: During the lowest point in my life, I stumbled upon an interesting audio cassette, which I found at a public library in Auckland. The cassette tape had Zig Ziglar’s name on it, and it cost $2 to rent. So instead of using that money to eat, I invested my last two dollars, brought the tape home, and did not regret it. My education in sales and business started right there with that first audiotape. Ziglar’s thought-provoking words and charisma were exhilarating, and I knew what I needed to do for the rest of his life.
It was right then when I developed my love for sales, success, and leadership. “[Zig] said, ‘I wish I could get my arms around you and look you in your eyes and tell you I believe in you because I truly do,’ I believed him.”
Ziglar’s philosophy highly influenced me. After all, Ziglar was the grandfather of motivational speakers, an icon whose speeches reached 250 million people. I learned that the way to get anything in life is through helping others achieve what they want in life. I decided to grow my business by serving others by helping them find their life’s purpose.
KISH: What challenges have you encountered while pursuing your dream?
Melvin: After the tragic death of my older brother, a law graduate student, my family’s only economic hope, the entire responsibility of the family fell on my shoulders. I experienced many misfortunes, but my uninterrupted ambitions for success led me to take up a job in New Zealand. I went door to door selling home security systems. I was a total failure. People liked me, but they didn’t like me enough to give me any money for the alarms. I was broke. Again, it was only through the discovery of the Zig Ziglar cassette tape in the Auckland library which I rented with my last two dollars (instead of eating that day) that changed the trajectory of my life that day.
KISH: Who or what inspired you to keep pushing regardless of the challenges you’ve encountered?
Melvin: I believe that it was my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that kept me moving forward and my love of prayer that keeps me in complete peace through all of life’s challenges.
KISH: Please provide final thoughts/advice for others by finishing this sentence… dream.
Melvin: Dream no little dream. I believe that we stir passion and excitement when we dare to believe that God can do the impossible through us. Stay true to the glorious quest, live the impossible dream.
KISH: How may our readers connect with you?
Melvin: Please visit my website at www.melvinpillay.com and connect with me via social media:
Melvin Pillay – Home | Facebook
Melvin Pillay (@melvinpillay1) • Instagram photos and videos
