Exploring Life & Business with Solo Ceesay of Calaxy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Solo Ceesay. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Solo Ceesay, Co-Founder at Calaxy, grew up in St. Louis, Missouri prior to graduating from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Born to parents who hail from West Africa, Solo grew up understanding the power behind understanding varying points of view and cultural practices. Growing up, Solo had always excelled in the classroom but his passion for sports came far later in life. Most of his time was spent in the classroom or at his desk at home. It wasn’t until he moved to a new school where sports were a requirement that he gave football a try. On the back of a tireless work ethic and endless 5AM training sessions, Solo was able to make the most of his few short years playing football and leverage it into more than 20 Division I scholarship offers, a lot of them being from Ivy League schools. Despite having a number of offers from larger FBS schools, Solo wanted to pursue not only athletics but also academics at the highest level which ultimately drove his decision to attend Wharton. Solo would go on to earn his BS in Economics with a concentration in Business, Economics, and Public Policy. At Penn, Solo would be a part of two Ivy League championship Penn Football teams.

In the summer of his junior year, Solo completed an internship at Citigroup Global Markets in the Sales & Trading division. After finishing at the top of his class, he was offered a full-time position at the bank where he would return after graduation. To start his career, Solo was on the High Yield Corporate Bond trading desk where he developed an intimate understanding of Corporate Finance and broader financial markets. Solo would then move on to work on the Securitized Products trading desk before settling into his final home which resided in Capital Markets in the Global Securitized Products banking group. It was only a matter of time before Solo started to connect with others about what the broader applications of securitization technology could be and how that could relate to personal tokenization. This is where Solo’s background and the origin story of Spencer Dinwiddie’s Calaxy project intertwine. Moving forward, Solo, along with the Calaxy team, aims to reshape the entertainment industry and how we all interact with each other via social media. Through the use of blockchain technology, Solo aspires to help put power back in the hands of both fans and Creators in what will be a decentralized world.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
To say it has been a rough road would be an understatement. I have had to overcome many obstacles throughout my life in order to be where I am today but I can honestly say I wouldn’t have it any other way. From having to balance two very potent cultures to learning to find my way in the treacherous world of financial services, I have continually faced adversity. It wasn’t the easiest thing growing up with the strong backdrop that was my African heritage given that American culture was sometimes very unfamiliar or unnatural. Not to mention, I had very limited exposure to the upper echelon of corporate America so I had very little idea of what to expect when starting on Wall Street. I never had an uncle that worked at Goldman Sachs or a cousin that just made partner at McKinsey – I had to learn all about that world on the fly. To be frank, very few members of my family knew what I actually did for a living other than that it required me to wear a suit daily. That said, the grit and determination that is intrinsic to me and my culture allowed me to prosper and find success in every stage of my life and ultimately, my career.

We’ve been impressed with Calaxy, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Calaxy is the open social marketplace for creators, by creators. Built and backed by a team of visionaries and spearheaded by co-founders NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie and ex-financier Solo Ceesay, Calaxy is an entirely new approach to the world of content creators putting today’s fan right at the center of the action.

Calaxy is reimagining the way people use social media: empowering more meaningful and fulfilling fan experiences. The app gives creators the ultimate toolkit to interact with their fans in one place and rewards fans for their engagement.

Harnessing Hedera Hashgraphs’ cutting-edge blockchain alternative, Calaxy’s open social marketplace creates a fair exchange of value, enabling creators to monetize relationships with their community through Creator Tokens, which fans can utilize for a suite of personalized experiences.

What are your plans for the future?
I am greatly looking forward to bringing blockchain technology and crypto mainstream. Through the development of Calaxy app, we are looking to provide influencers and celebrities with the necessary tools to more directly monetize their followings, ultimately solving one of the biggest Creator Economy issues as of recent. I am also excited to get more acclimated to the Los Angeles lifestyle given that it is a 180-degree turn from bitter cold New York City. The future is looking bright and sunny over here.

Contact Info:

• Email: solo@calaxy.com
• Website: www.calaxy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solo.ceesay/