[rank_math_breadcrumb]

Wade Bales

About

Jerome Touze is the Co-founder & Co-CEO of WAYN.com, the largest traveling social community with over 22 million members worldwide across 193 countries. Not only an Entrepreneur, he also sits on the boards and is an investor in numerous other tech-based businesses.

The Essence of WAYN | I think the beauty about this is that it’s not actually promoting the brand of South Africa in your face, like, “Come and visit South Africa because it’s an amazing destination.” It’s using the contest of social media as part of the usual experience, which is more relevant, something that users want to play with, and it’s all about that carrot, the thing that’s going to initially encourage users to want to engage with a brand.

Lessons I’ve Learnt | Never let someone tell you that your idea is crap! Excuse my French! But I think that’s the number one. It’s not how many ideas you have; it’s how many you make happen. So I really believe that, you know, if you really believe in something, don’t let your circle influence you. It’s good to have advice from friends and to gauge an appetite or a sentiment for whether this is a good idea. But you can have someone say, “Nah, this’ll never work” and it’ll work. It’s important to do some research, you know, an element of due diligence on what you’re trying to build. But ultimately if you are passionate about something you should go for it.

My Favourite Quote is… | this one from Abraham Lincoln, which is, “Everything comes to those who wait, but only those things left by those who hustle.” So yeah, things will come to you if you don’t do anything, but it will only be the leftovers from those who actually wake up in the morning very early and do the hard work!

On Letting Go | Surround yourself with a team that is clearly believing in what you’re doing. That they’re passionate about what you’re doing and they’re good at what you’re doing. Because you won’t be able to do everything. You’ll falter doing a hundred things at the same time whereas you should actually learn to, you know, empower your people to do it for you and give them a chance to shine. And so that’s sometimes the hardest thing to do when you’ve been used to doing everything yourself, to let go a bit.

Leading by Example | Leadership is something that we try to become better and better at every single day, but I believe in leading by example, which is passing your passion onto your people and if you want to have a work culture where people are working very hard but they’re also rewarded for it, then do it for the run front, don’t just hide behind it and expect people to do it because they won’t. They need to believe in your vision.

Principles I Live By | I really believe in meritocracy and hard work culture. That’s my school of thought but it doesn’t mean that I’m right; it’s just the way I do things: I believe in hard work. And, you know, there’s no magic formula. It doesn’t mean that if you work hard you’re going to be successful, because there are a lot of people who work bloody hard and sometimes it’s just through bad luck, bad timing, you know, there is that. But in our case it has been very much about you work really hard and hopefully you get the results.

Working for a Business Versus Owning One | I used to play the piano as a child, until the age of about 18, and I’m a big fan of classical music.  I wish I had time to play the piano and to do two hours of practice every day.  That’s impossible now; it’s like not even conceivable.  But as I say, it’s a choice you make, you know? You either decide to work for a particular company, because you don’t want to have these responsibilities, there’s nothing wrong [with that]. They don’t have those responsibilities, they’re quite contented with the 9-5, they love their job and when it’s 6 o’clock that’s it – draw the line and go home and they kind of have plenty of time to do other things.  If it’s your own company, you can’t think like that but it brings other benefits the others don’t have, so, you know, it’s a choice!

Resources I Use | I love The Economist. The read The Economist pretty much every day. I just have to take particular interest right now in what’s happening politically and economically, because I think these are fascinating times that we’re currently going through, not just for their impacts it can represent for our company but just generally for everybody in this world. But I wish I had more time. I initially took one week of holiday in Mauritius, which was about a month ago, and that was my first week in like literally 14-15 months. So, you know, I read a book but it was nothing too inspiring!

On Traveling | Cape Town is my base now, and I usually spend about two weeks in Cape Town.  I’ve never been in Cape Town for more than about 2 ½ or 3 weeks in a row, because there’s always something and I always have to go somewhere else. So it’s exciting in a way but it’s very tiring in the other, because you can’t have that routine. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to have a routine, to be able to go to the gym every night or play tennis every morning if you can. But hey, you can’t have everything!

Interview Questions

[everest_form id="26923"]

View further interviews.

John Smit

Zainab Salbi | The Legacy Project is an Iraqi-American humanitarian, entrepreneur, author, and media commentator who has dedicated herself to women’s rights and freedom. At the age of 23, she founded Women for Women International—a grassroots humanitarian and development organization dedicated to serving women survivors of war. Under her leadership (1993-2011), Women for Women International […]

John Smit

Kristina Dryža is an international trend forecaster, writer and author of the allegorical novel, Grace and the Wind. Of Lithuanian origin she was raised in Adelaide, Australia and moved overseas in 1999. For the past 13 years Kristina has been based between London, New York, Tokyo and Hawaii while travelling the world gaining insight into […]

John Smit

Daniel Ting Chong is an illustrator, designer and artist based in Cape Town, South Africa. Daniel was born in 1987 in Cape Town. Studied graphic design at Vega. He is emerging as one of Cape Town’s top creative talents following a series of art exhibitions, talks, commissions from clients and design collaborations with leading international […]

John Smit

Mr. Ian Moir has been the Chief Executive Officer of Woolworths Holdings Limited since November 18, 2010. Mr. Moir served as Managing Director of Retail at Country Road Ltd. since January 1, 2010, served as its Chief Executive Officer from November 2000 to January 1, 2010 and served as its Chief Operating Officer. He served […]

John Smit

Nominated to the Women in Finance Awards in 2016, Inna Rosputnia is known as the female trader who turned $10k into $3,000,000 in just a few years of trading. She has run one of the fastest growing investment companies and was recently named “Wall Street Queen” by one of the bankers during the Women Economic […]

John Smit

Sterling Hawkins is out to break the status quo to create what’s actually possible for humanity in our time. He has spent his career igniting new views and inspiring people to act on them. He went on to be involved with the launch, growth or investment in over 50 companies. Today, Sterling reviews over 1,000 […]

John Smit

For justice to prevail, the application of maths, physics, pathology and chemistry needs to be applied. Methodically and meticulously, evidence must be analysed for the truth to be told. As a leading Forensic Scientist in South Africa, David Klatzow reveals his honest truth with us here: David Klatzow,  Definition Of Success | Success means to me, […]

John Smit

Stefan Antoni is South Africa’s very own “Howard Roarke” – creatively brilliant, outlandishly bold and prolific. He is today, without doubt, one of the most formidable and most decorated architects that South Africa has produced in recent times. Together with his partners and colleagues at SAOTA, he has continued to stretch the boundaries of creative […]

Disclaimer
The profiles and images embedded on these pages are from various interviews conducted by The Legacy Project.

These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.

Our Mission

We are your partner creating memorable and engaging experiences that go beyond the event itself.

© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME