From mud-house to CEO. You are the author of your own life story.

Born in a mud-brick house with a corrugated iron roof north of Johannesburg S.A. in the African bush. There was no running water and we have never seen electricity, until our school days.

I am right in the middle of ten children, 5 boys & 5 girls. How did my dad do it, I don’t know, all I remember we had strict but loving parents, we worked hard from dawn to dusk in the corn fields, milking cows and feeding pigs. There was no transportation, only mules. The three black families who were living on our farm were our helping hands, they were our sincere friends. We learned a lot from their children (our dear friends) about survival in the African bush. It can be dangerous in the bush and my life was saved by my black friend from a deadly snake bite. How fortunate can one get to have a knowledgeable friend who knows the bush?

Apartheid System
Apartheid did not cross our minds; we were friends and good trusting friends at that. We were excited to share the little we had. We learned a native language from our black friends with screaming laughter on certain pronunciations. We created our own “African toys” and shared it for hours on end. We swam naked in the farm dam while watching the cattle crazing nearby the cornfield and became oblivious to the fact that we completely forgot about them while they were devouring the corn. Deep troubled times awaited us.

As naughty kids on the farm we all got spanked, gender and race was not in question, if the chickens were without water or the cows were in the corn field, you get spanked.

Boarding school in a small town 60 miles away on a dusty road was a must. We stayed for three months then returned to the farm to work during school breaks. Our neighbour’s little Ford truck barely made the trip every time, but we were grateful for the dusty ride at the back of the truck.

Tri-ligual
English language as a subject can only be described as disastrous; it was a complete failure all the way to Grade 12. After my school days, I’ve never been to a college or university, so I have never seen the inside of one. I went to look for a job in Johannesburg after failing English in Grade 12.

My boss said, if I want to work for his firm, I had to learn English. During early morning hours he offered his time to me, I had to read the newspaper to him, he listened and corrected me. My homework was to read it over and over and repeat it the following day. I am grateful till this day for such kind gestures of kind individuals. My spelling is terrible, but thanks to Bill Gates’ auto-spell check in MS Word.

Deep in my heart I yearned for a better life. I was inspired by my boss who encouraged me to keep on doing what I am doing; it will pay off in the long run he said. I worked hard and longer at this largest Consumer Research company. The preparation of computer punch cards was my responsibility. (What’s a computer punch-card you may ask – yes they did exist, so did telex machines) I excelled by reading English and I learned more and more about the functions of our department. In less than two years I was appointed as department head with a staff of 20 people. My life took a different direction. I had to learn quickly about business, my English became smoother, my confidence grew within me.

Directorship
I became an expert in presenting facts and figures to high level individuals in the advertising industry. My knowledge grew. My little background in computers helped me to completely revamp the manual system into a fully computerized system. A mighty breakthrough, I was instantly recognized as a leader by those who are in the same field around the world. My promotion to Directorship was inevitable.

I was invited to present this newly computerized system to 26 different countries in Madrid Spain where all the countries came together. I was a nervous wreck, but my deep desire to improve pushed me forward and upwards.
The presentation about the capturing system was a success. Many friendships were made with like-minded individuals around the world. Invitations came in to visit most of these countries.

Flying HIGH
My taste-buds and life changed from an African mindset to a New Zealand mindset, I immigrated to NZ. It didn’t last long; I wanted to expand my horizon to North America. Canada here I come. It was 1987, Toronto Ontario. My path crossed with a lovely lady, Juliet and we got married in Toronto.
This reminded me of life-stages. I felt mature in elementary school until I went to high school, I felt mature in high school until I went to work and I excelled in my work until I came to Canada. Now I stood alone, nothing to fall back onto, I have to move forward, I have to mature in this new and unfamiliar world. I have to feed my family. I found a job.

The new management watched me; hard work and endurance was my vision. An opportunity came up, I added value by computerizing the time-sheet cost calculation system and saved the company thousands of Dollars. My promotion was inevitable. The responsibility to manage 4 supervisors and a staff of 110 from coast to coast was tough. I showed leadership, I took action by pointing out problem areas and gave solutions that were implemented. I worked harder, I accomplished more things and grew stronger and achieved more milestones. How grateful I was, but with a big bang many of us were laid off during a company take-over deal. It is time to move on.

President Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was to be released from jail in South Africa and to be elected as President during 1995. While in Toronto, I was offered a position to return to my home country in Johannesburg. It felt good after many years of personal growth outside my comfort zone to go back to Africa. I felt like a big fish in a small pond. My English was polished after 8 years outside my old country.

My strong desires.
My greatest desire was to have my own successful home based business in order to become financially free and not to depend on companies to offer jobs that are not secured.

In my next chapter I will add more about our exciting life in South Africa.

It was  exciting living in South Africa.