013: An African Immigrant's Journey to Innovation - With Leslie Asanga

Living African

African immigrants have contributed significantly to the growth and diversity of the overall Black population in the United States. As an immigrant, I know how hard it is for someone to come to the United States with nothing but a dream and work hard to see their dreams come to pass.

That's the story of Leslie Asanga who is an entrepreneur creating solutions to some of the enormous problems we faced back home in Africa, Cameroon specifically.

Join us now as we deep dive into his journey as an immigrant and entrepreneur

Meet Our Guest :

Dr. Asanga is a pharmacist and an entrepreneur with 10+ years of healthcare and entrepreneurship experience. He is the founder and CEO of Pills2Me - an on-demand prescription delivery service - which was launched at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is also the co-founder and CEO of UrPharm (an easy way to search, find, and pay for medications in sub-Saharan Africa). He holds a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree and an MBA from Roseman University of Health Sciences, Nevada, and a Master of Public Health degree from Yale University. He was the winner of the Thorne Prize at startup Yale - Yale University's annual entrepreneurship award for healthcare innovation. He is an innovator and very passionate about using technology to solve healthcare problems, especially in vulnerable communities.

Contact Our Guest:

Email: [e-mail] LinkedIn: Leslie Asanga

Things You Will Learn in This Episode:

[00:01 – 03:00] Introduction

• Introducing our guest - Leslie Asanga

[03:00 – 30:00] Leslie’s Entrepreneurship Journey

• Getting to know Leslie
• The founding of his two companies
• How his humble beginnings inspired his entrepreneurship journey
• The services offered by the companies Leslie founded
• Where to find Leslie businesses in Africa & America

[30:00 – 1:00:00] Further Diagnosis & Treatment

• Life growing up in Cameroon
• The difficulties he had to deal with growing up
• His education and business ventures back in Cameroon
• The impact family had on him
• Coming to America for studies
• Finding problems to solve
• Words of encouragement to the African community
• How to get in touch with Leslie

[1:00:00 – 1:13:55] Final Words

• Leslie's final words
• Anyoh’s final words

Tweetable Quotes

“Our people have a lot of potentials but just don't explore them. People just boxed themselves into tiny boxes. They say - I'm doing this, I'm staying on this track, but I think there's a whole lot more that we can do if we just decide to explore, and not be afraid to fail.” - Leslie Asanga

“Focus on the positive side of things, but believe that the negative side can happen so have a contingency plan, knowing that, this can happen, but I know the probability of that worst-case scenario happening is low and I know what do in case the worst-case scenario happens. So be positive all the time even when you have a negative fact.” - Leslie Asanga

“What I will say to anyone is that chase your dreams! Right? I know, it's been said 1000 times before but you know, you don't let your guard down. Forget about the failure, forget about everything else and go chase your dreams!” - Leslie Asanga

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Check out our website www.livingafricanpodcast.com for more resources and to learn more. Connect with host, Anyoh: You can connect with Anyoh on Facebook (@anyohf), Instagram (@anyohfombad), and Twitter (@anyohfombad).