“All things are difficult before they are easy”- Thomas Fuller
I remember a time when being an entrepreneur was a large, unattainable goal only brought to life in that one lecture with an open-minded, computer savvy lecturer. The big names: Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Jack Ma and so many more presented what seemed to a young student as the next step in revolutionizing oneself in an ever so growing rhetoric, “Jobs are scarce, find ways to be an entrepreneur”.
December 2019, done with a strenuous 5-year course that had me acquire a great skill, I was unsure where and how I was going to implement this knowledge.However, at the back of my mind lay a struggling foundation borne out of scrimmaging for opportunities throughout my campus life and driving myself to be at the forefront of my skill and network development. I remember pushing myself -“Implement that idea”.
Photo by David Clode on Unsplash
Having a shallow approach; I came to realize, always held me back. The simple notion that entrepreneurship shapes itself until that moment your startup sells, or that you just have to start and everything will fall into place with Google as your friend: All these played a key part in siphoning my motivation as a ‘do it yourself’ kind of person. I found myself in a maze without any prior knowledge; knowledge that would allow me to get an understanding of where exactly to begin with my implementation.
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” -Paulo Coelho
In the midst of it all, I was recruited in an upcoming startup studio called Impact Africa Network.
After years of experience working in startups in the Silicon Valley, Mark Karake, the CEO, chose to repatriate back to Nairobi to immerse himself in the economic development challenge. IAN came at a timely manner. It was fashioned to do exactly what had been bugging my mind for months-Equipping young talent with the skills and mindset to thrive in the 21st Century. The coincidence was almost too good to be true and the environment set a learning precedent from day one to date.
Three months down the line, I feel like each day has been a learning experience through executing.I have grown my ability to notice gaps and opportunities in areas that before seemed bleak or almost non-existent. My positivity in adversity has grown tri-fold; what used to be a scrimmage in taking up opportunities is more controlled and geared towards my goals as an individual and the organization at large. My need for structure in idea implementation is now under practical experimentation; while as a team, we breathe excellence in our undertakings each and every day. Succinctly speaking, the Corona Virus pandemic has been a black swan for the world , but it has also created an opportunity for the team and I to grow and adapt to the changing nature of work.
You can call it fate, a stroke of luck or a swish of a fairy’s wand that I get to be part of IAN’s growth while accelerating my own ; either way, my only focus at the moment is to savor the beauty of it all.
