My name is John, and for most of my life, I believed that hard work was enough to make anyone rich. Growing up in Embakasi, Nairobi, I watched my parents work tirelessly—my father on construction sites, my mother running a small kiosk—and I thought that if I followed in their footsteps and worked harder than anyone else, I would succeed. I took every opportunity I could find: tutoring kids in math, selling airtime cards, even doing odd jobs for neighbors. But no matter how hard I tried, my bank account barely grew, and I started to question if effort alone could ever bring me the life I dreamed of.
I wasn’t alone in my struggles. My friend Aisha, a schoolteacher in Kayole, felt stuck despite years of dedication. She had earned promotions and accolades, yet her salary barely allowed her to save. David, another friend, ran a small transport business in Rongai. He worked day and night managing his boda-boda fleet but struggled to break even. All of us were exhausted, frustrated, and confused. We kept thinking that maybe there was something we were missing.…CONTINUE READING
