While Bilal is laden with many sought-after
titles, one of the aspects most admirable about him, is that the title he
desires to consistently hold...is being “a decent
human being.” As it happens, upon hearing the sincerity and positivity of
Bilal’s words and the auspicious future that he desires to build for his community, decent only scratches the
surface of the virtuous human being that is...Bilal Qizilbash.
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While most people may know
about Bilal Qizilbash primarily from his work with the EasyKale Shaker, I wanted to
delve into who he is a little bit more. I started by asking him to introduce himself, using these 5 short answer, warm-up questions...
1.Who are you, who do you strive to be?
Bilal: That’s a really easy question to answer,
because my name is Bilal Qizilbash, and I strive to be a decent human being
each day. It’s funny because everyone talks about their profession, they start
spouting out some fancy titles—who cares? Ultimately, we’re all trying to be
humans in the world that we share.
2.
Where were you born or Where do you consider home?
Bilal: I was born in Queens, NY; I consider our
universe home, so I can be almost anywhere and I’ll be good to go—as long as
I’m around nice people, I don’t like mean people. I guess I would consider
[both] New York and Mississippi my home; I consider Mississippi my new adopted home and I hope they
[Mississippians] have adopted me as well.
3.
What is one of your Likes and Dislikes?
Bilal: Well, one of my likes/loves is peace,
tranquility, and happiness—they’re all kind of intertwined together. One
of my intense dislikes is disrespect, I do not like when people disrespect
others.
4.
Introvert or Extrovert, and why?
Bilal: Ok, I know it’s popular to be an
introvert now, but I’ve always been an introvert; I’ve adapted to being an
extrovert to some degree based upon my talks and lectures. In reality, I’d
rather be at home with my cat, with my action figures, probably playing a video
game. But, that [being out more] is when we solve the world’s problem; until
then, we have work to do.
5.
Name 3 TV Series, Songs, or Books you’re currently obsessed with?
Bilal: Oh, that’s a good one... The Variable Man, by Philip K Dick
(book); “I Have no Mouth, and I Must Scream,” by Harlan Ellison (short story);
and, The Witcher (tv show)!
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While I have read your story and researched how Bilal’s
EasyKale Shaker came into fruition…how would you describe your journey
with The EasyKale Shaker, to
others?
Bilal let out an instant laugh before answering this question...
Bilal: It’s a series of failures, that just compound upon each other, then eventually start to make sense...you can sit down and make it sound really smart and “genius-y”, but in reality, I just kind of sucked at certain points, and then I learned from my “suckiness”; then, I kept improving based upon feedback because...the very 1st one was so disgusting that people—even when we were giving it away for free—were like ‘Get it off the table, this is nasty!’ Instead of taking it personally, I was like ‘Okay, they’re telling me they don’t like it, so how do I make it something they like?’...and honestly, the discovery of how we figured out how to minimize the flavor profile—that was not intentional.
It was totally an accident because I was sleep deprived, but thank goodness I take good notes, because when I went back to my notes, I figured it out!
For those who may be unfamiliar with EasyKale or even hesitant to try it, what are 3 main benefits of your product?
Bilal: The main benefit that
people like to talk about is the fact that it’s virtually tasteless; this
applies mostly to people who don’t like kale; people who do like kale can
detect a very slight taste of it, so that’s one of the key features. The other
one is the very long shelf life—the fact that it can last up to 2 years and be
shelf stable, many people love that. And the 3rd benefit that most people enjoy, is that it’s as close to fresh
leaf kale [as you can get] without having to actually eat fresh leaf
kale.
In addition to the aforementioned benefits of EasyKale, one of the other main aspects that I learned when initially researching Bilal’s product, was its health benefits concerning cancer. The below excerpts from his website gives details concerning Bilal’s research findings, and provides even more insight regarding why his product is so significant (see Cancer Research section):
In addition to the aforementioned benefits of EasyKale, one of the other main aspects that I learned when initially researching Bilal’s product, was its health benefits concerning cancer. The below excerpts from his website gives details concerning Bilal’s research findings, and provides even more insight regarding why his product is so significant (see Cancer Research section):
-“What he found was that, in a
controlled laboratory setting, juiced kale would attack and kill melanoma
cells while not affecting non-cancerous cells.”
-“The great hope for
the future of cancer treatment is approaches that are reliably lethal to cancer
cells, while sparing healthy cells entirely. The finding that a natural, safe,
readily available, and inexpensive source may harbor just such potential is
truly stunning.—Bilal"
Because of your community service endeavors (e.g., the Draw a Smile Foundation), your leadership qualities, and your innovations, you have been featured in some very prominent mediums: such as Forbes, Business Insider, etc. and you've also received a plethora of nominations and awards, acknowledging your work...out of all of your achievements, which ones have been the most surprising or life-changing for you?
Because of your community service endeavors (e.g., the Draw a Smile Foundation), your leadership qualities, and your innovations, you have been featured in some very prominent mediums: such as Forbes, Business Insider, etc. and you've also received a plethora of nominations and awards, acknowledging your work...out of all of your achievements, which ones have been the most surprising or life-changing for you?
Bilal: So that’s kind of
funny, because I’ve always had a problem with this...when I win awards, it’s
not that I don’t care about them...okay, I kind of don’t care about them as
much; the reason why is because to me, it’s not about the award; it’s about
getting the job done. So, If I get all the awards in the world, and there’s still
hungry people outside, I didn’t finish; I didn’t do the job right; or at least,
I’m still building towards it. My true award will be when we actually rectify
the problem we sought out to fix. For example, when we created the Draw a Smile Foundation, which is a non-profit organization, even in our bylaws I put it in
there that 'we’re in the business of putting ourselves out of business'—I don’t
want to exist perpetually. Eventually, I want to shut it down, because we
solved the problem, then I have a load of video games I want to play. So, the
best reward I can get is the time to play video games and post my action
figures.
Moment of transparency! This is a 2 part question...
-What would you say was your hardest challenge in creating the EasyKale Shaker?
Bilal: The hardest challenge, I guess at one point was realizing that people really, intensely, disliked the 1st product. I was aware of people not liking kale as a whole in terms of the taste and texture, then when I concentrated on the powder and made it 6 times the concentration, unfortunately it also made it 6 times the flavor, and everyone was gagging. They were like ‘This is like fish food, this is nasty!’, so listening to that, when I felt like I put my whole heart and soul into it [was hard]....but I went back to the drawing board and after 4 and a half months, I discovered a way to minimize the flavor profile, and that was the big eureka! moment.
-What would you say was your hardest challenge in creating the EasyKale Shaker?
Bilal: The hardest challenge, I guess at one point was realizing that people really, intensely, disliked the 1st product. I was aware of people not liking kale as a whole in terms of the taste and texture, then when I concentrated on the powder and made it 6 times the concentration, unfortunately it also made it 6 times the flavor, and everyone was gagging. They were like ‘This is like fish food, this is nasty!’, so listening to that, when I felt like I put my whole heart and soul into it [was hard]....but I went back to the drawing board and after 4 and a half months, I discovered a way to minimize the flavor profile, and that was the big eureka! moment.
-What are some challenges you are perhaps currently facing,
and how are you overcoming them?
Bilal: So, one of the current
challenges I’m having is the educational component. In the most impoverished
areas, the problem is that you’re fighting a culture of unhealthy food.
One of the reasons why the unhealthy food is so prevalent, is because it lasts
longer than fresh food. So we’re trying to show and integrate EasyKale as a
possible solution to food deserts, but even if we gave the product away for
free, they [people] don’t really know what to do with kale; they don’t know how
to eat it; and they don’t know what to do with this powder. The solution that
we recently discovered, believe it or not, is sneaking it [EasyKale] into foods
people are already eating—like cakes & cookies; it turns cookies green and one lady baked it into a fried chicken, and basically it turned it into green,
fried chicken thighs and breasts...but, you couldn’t taste it.
Summarizing his struggle with the educational
component concerning EasyKale, Bilal stated...
Bilal: That was one of the
biggest challenges...but now that we’ve figured that part out, it turns out
that once you meet them [people] where they’re at, they educate themselves.
They’re Googling all sorts of things and whenever they come to my talks,
they’re asking me a bunch of questions about kale now—versus before, when it
was like you could hear a pin drop, because they’re like ‘We don’t even know
what this is. Why are you eating kale? Who eats kale?’...in fact, many years
ago when I did a talk in Jackson, I was challenged by the audience to find kale
in Jackson. I told them, ‘I saw it in Highway 55s’ Kroger’ and they were like
‘No, no, no...go deeper into Jackson.”
I was told to go by Ellis Avenue, so I went to the Save-a-Lot there, and turns out they were right; there was no kale. Out of all the green assortment—which was a very small assortment, by the way—there was no kale. However, I did find kale...it was in the deli section, next to the fried chicken. So when I asked the manager if I could buy the kale, he asked me if I was a restaurant owner, I said ‘No.’ He was like ‘Well, what do you want it for?,’ I said, ‘To eat...’, then he said, ‘Who eats decorations?’...so that shows you it's a serious thing, but if you go to other areas like in Madison, they readily know what kale is and they buy it in bulk.
I was told to go by Ellis Avenue, so I went to the Save-a-Lot there, and turns out they were right; there was no kale. Out of all the green assortment—which was a very small assortment, by the way—there was no kale. However, I did find kale...it was in the deli section, next to the fried chicken. So when I asked the manager if I could buy the kale, he asked me if I was a restaurant owner, I said ‘No.’ He was like ‘Well, what do you want it for?,’ I said, ‘To eat...’, then he said, ‘Who eats decorations?’...so that shows you it's a serious thing, but if you go to other areas like in Madison, they readily know what kale is and they buy it in bulk.
What goal(s) have you not yet achieved with EasyKale, that
you are currently striving for?
Bilal: Oh there’s a lot! Let
me give you the basis of which it [EasyKale] is founded upon...it’s founded
upon the Ubuntu principle; ‘I am, because we are.’ And there’s a deeper meaning
that most people don’t know, which is ‘When we are rich, I am rich.’ So that’s
one thing that we’re building towards...EasyKale is built to support the
community and basically grow with the community; so, as time goes on, a portion
of the money [made from EasyKale], will be going back into social good. It’s
not just charity work—I hate that word—because when you start to give
people skills, when they build their confidence, and they realize what they’re
capable of doing, it’s no longer charity; you’re helping to develop people into
the truest, purest form of themselves, and that...is pretty awesome.
Through us both having attended the Mississippi Comicon
event last year, we connected online and started to discuss your product soon
after. Even though comics and EasyKale aren’t readily related, they
somehow led to networking opportunities. With these things in mind concerning networking,
what 3 pieces of advice would you give fellow entrepreneurs regarding
effective networking?
Bilal: Be genuine, be
genuine, be genuine! There’s obviously nuances to that, but the reason why I
say that is because whenever I go to networking events and I ask people how
are they, they usually give me some kind of trite answer, because they're
not really expecting to delve into that.
The other thing is,
they start to explain their career, when I asked them to tell me about their soul...so
that question often confuses them, because they're like, ‘What kind of question
is that?,’ and I’m like, ‘Obviously, you're more than your work; if you're only
your work, that’s depressing. That’s horrifying.’ This is why sometimes people
think I’m being a smart-ass, because
whenever they ask me for my title I say, ‘a human being...and I’m trying to be
a decent human being’ and then they're like, ‘Well, what do you really
do?’ and I tell them, ‘I’m really, really struggling to be a decent human
being.’
Reiterating his original answer concerning genuineness, he
ended by saying...
Bilal: In actuality, the
whole reason why we pick the professions that we do, is to contribute to
society as a whole and function as a unit...but, some people lose sight of
that. So be genuine—but, don’t be offensive! I mean...if you're genuinely
offensive, maybe taper that down a little.
In researching you and your product, I read the following quote
from your website:
“The EasyKale® Kale
Shaker is the first in a series of products that EasyKale
Labs LLC intends to bring to market...”
With this quote in mind, with staying updated through your
messages, and social media posts, I know that you have some exciting aspects
coming up this year. However, is there anything more you can say about what’s
to come in the near future for the EasyKale Shaker? Are there any hints or events that you can mention?...
Bilal: I can say that we are working on several
different elements of product development. We’ve been listening to customer
feedback and we’re going to make it easier to travel with EasyKale, in the near
future. Also, we’re working on some encapsulated formats and enhanced versions,
using natural plants and veggies. [We’re working on] understanding the
chemistry behind how it works, to enhance the overall user experience. We’re
still keeping it natural, but say for instance a carrot—a carrot has certain
molecules in it, so we’re working on understanding how those molecules work,
and basically enhancing another product with it (e.g., putting something like
carrots & oranges together).
Also, I want to
mention that we got into the SXSW 2020, so we’re going to be there representing
Mississippi as well—it was really cool to be 1 of 5 consumer packaged good
companies picked in the entire world, so that’s pretty dope!
Upon further research, I discovered that The South by Southwest Conference (SXSW) is an event that combines aspects of interactive media, film, and music festivals into a 10 day span. The SXSW is held annually in Texas, and continuously gets more momentous each year (Wikipedia). To be selected as a participating entity of such a prodigious event, just goes to show how much influence Bilal's EasyKale Shaker continues to have on this world...
We have come to the end of
your interview and as with the ongoing theme of my site, I want to ask this
last question by saying this: You may not consider yourself a virtuoso, BUT,
if you were to convince someone that you are...what would you say?
Bilal: The first thing that
comes to mind is “Uhhhhh...,” but I guess it comes back to exactly as you said;
I don’t really consider myself to be a virtuoso. I simply exist...and as I
exist, I strive to create equity around me. It doesn’t have anything to do with
science in particular, but through science and other tools and skills that I
have, I try to establish that equity. That’s why I guess I made the ‘Uhhhh...’
statement, because it’s not really about me. I know some people may do the
‘humble brag,’ but no...I really mean it. If I could be home with my cat, I
would but...” finishing off his statement, I referenced his earlier
comment, and said ‘but I have work to do,’ to which he laughed, and said, Exactly!
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If I am
honest, my initial thoughts about Bilal Qizilbash was that he was a virtuoso of
science; while that truth still remains, I would be doing him a disservice
If I
sum his aura up to just that...
Looking
back at meeting Bilal for our 1st encounter last year, I remember
being surprised by the air of preparedness he exuded. I’d mentioned that I
wanted to learn more about his product and when we met, Bilal came fully ready
with what I call his “backpack of gadgets”. He gave me flyers about the
product, my own bottle of EasyKale,
and even showed me some of the cool tech items that he keeps handy—I learned so
many things from our conversation, in such a short time!
I say all
this to say that this second meeting was no disappointment, because just as
with the 1st, I walked away with a plethora of knowledge pertaining
not only to the health benefits of EasyKale,
but knowledge of Anwar Carrots, the Ubuntu principle, some really cool gadgets, along with key
qualities of entrepreneurship, life, and the essence of true civility. It is
with these aspects at heart, that I ascertain, Bilal Qizilbash as being a virtuoso
of not just science...but a true
virtuoso of knowledge.
*Be sure to follow Bilal on Social Media and*
click here to purchase your very own bottle of Bilal's EasyKale!
Drop here!