To succeed, recall what inspired you

I have been busy of late but one thing I advise young entrepreneurs is never to forget your roots for that’s when you were most inspired.

I don’t know about the rest but that’s the reason why I respect my roots.

I am loving the steps I am making now and I am loving all the attention my ideas are getting as well but the most inspiring time was when my ideas were rejected and I had to work extra hard just to prove to the world that these are really authentic and workable ideas. I truly miss those days. As an entrepreneur your source of inspiration is a great pillar to your success.

In a recent interview, I was asked who my role model is and why. I cannot fill in the blanks with just one name, for I draw my inspiration from different individuals, admiring certain elements in each.

I admire Jay Z because he built an Empire, RocaFella.

What drew me closer to him was the fact that he dissolved the RocaFella records, dropped all the artistes he had on board, went ahead and started a new venture that is now thriving.

He has taught me that I should know when to quit, but the greatest lesson I have learnt from him is that we should not be afraid to start afresh. At one time, he pulled off all his songs from commercial sites and initiated his own site called Tidal and since then all of his artistes put music exclusively on the same platform. Also if you have time make sure you read one of his books, Decoded, it will give you very detailed insight into what I am talking about.

If you are on Instagram then I am pretty sure you know of Gary Vee, an American entrepreneur who also doubles up as an author, and marketing guru.

What I love about him is that his classes are usually straight forward. In on of his lessons he emphasizes that time gone is impossible to recover but you can get on a different boat and sail better than the sailor from your previous boat.

Chris Kirubi, Chandaria, Waren Buffet are among other entrepreneurs I admire.

When I completed high school, as much as I wanted to pursue music as a career I had to make ends meet. My mum’s business was not doing well and I committed to take care of the rent (which was Sh800 at that time), and the daily meals.

My first inspiration, which I have put out across so many times is our state of poverty.

Believe it or not the evening before I made that commitment, my mother came home and informed us that she had spent the whole day at the city council cells so she had no money for dinner. That’s when I knew I had to take up different roles at home. So that meant that every morning I had to come up with a plan on how can change the situation, unemployed and in college which my mum was struggling to pay.

I went to Gikomba, the free market, and bought ladies’ blouses worth Sh1,000 with borrowed money.

Two months later, I had my own shop that was making Sh12,000 every Saturday. That’s when I knew it was possible.

My music dream was still haunting me. Whenever I got time, I would rap, be it when I was getting clothes in Gikomba or during breaks while waiting for customers.

My dream was to meet the duo, Abass and Chiwawa or their producer.

They inspired me from a distance. But the moment I got chance not only to do a song with them but to work for them then my inspiration grew ten-fold.

Remember, your success is a form of inspiration to others. These days I get on social media and I stumble upon random mentions and most of them are mentions on how I inspire them.

The writer is an award-winning artiste and entrepreneur.