A section of young people in the country have had the misfortune of earning quick money, carelessly spending it and ending up in a cycle of debt, poverty and depression. When Brian Mwau misused his money, he learnt his lesson, picked up the pieces and built an even bigger legacy.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Campus Life
Speaking on KTN’s What’s Your Story, he detailed his journey and lessons he learnt.
Growing up with a military father, Brian and his elder brother learnt to be disciplined and responsible early in life. When he joined Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, Karen campus, he was exposed to a different side of life.
While they were fortunate to be driven to school by their father, others drove their own cars to school.
As he immersed himself in campus life, he would become one of the student leaders, serving as the academic secretary. This gave him more access to people who were rich and influential.
The Jackpot
He recalls being approached by a parent of one of the students to sell a piece of land in a good neighbourhood for Ksh100 million. Somehow, they managed to get a client but reported he was willing to purchase the land at Ksh80 million. Eventually, the parent agreed and he made Ksh20 million from the sale.
Having never had this kind of money before, he moved to the upper part of town, bought a car and began partying. He would visit his mother, who was staying in Makueni, with a hired motorcade. His father was at the time out of the country.
With the careless spending, he soon found himself with nothing but debts and had to leave his house and sell the car. A friend helped him out but eventually he moved back to the village. He went back to the city after a talk with his elder brother and for a year slept on his couch.
During this time, he worked on the spiritual part of his life and began serving in church. He admired a particularly rich family whose children also seemed to be doing well.
They were well-off but the father would serve as an usher. At one point after fasting, he felt like going to visit the late business mogul Chris Kirubi.
The Turning point and career
He arrived and introduced himself as a friend. The security almost called the billionaire businessman to ask if he had an appointment, but in what he believes is the intervention of the holy spirit, decided to trust him. The businessman was gracious enough to receive him and the two developed a relationship.
With time, he found himself working at Centum and he has since risen to take up other roles including as a mentor.
He has served at Tribus – Tsg (a subsidiary of Centum) as a cyber security division team lead and as a lead developer at Ajira. This is a platform that helps connect youth to job opportunities and offers them the required skills for the job market.
The married father of one currently serves as a Business Development Coordinator at Two Rivers International Finance and Innovative Center.
Advise to young people
He advised young people to create rather than look for opportunities. They also need to have discipline in each and everything including their dressing. He also emphasized on the benefit of having a strong spiritual connection in whatever you believe in.
