A public love letter to appreciate those that helped me along the way

Building a career from scratch can be difficult without the right opportunities or support from those who've walked the path before you. As I take a break to exhale and plan the next phase of my career, I wanted to shine the spotlight on a few people that have contributed in a huge way to my career journey and to whom I owe my development as a leader.

• Kevin Kibiego - This guy was my first boss and the person who gave me my first opportunity (and connected me to my second one). One of the smartest and most capable people I know in the marketing space. Kibiego gave me challenging work and trusted me to execute. I remember one time in my earlier days as an intern while in e-commerce, I sent free coupons to a list of over 100,000 people instead of 2,000 subscribers (a move that would have cost the company some good amount of money if everybody was to redeem the coupons). Somehow my segmentation logic had updated itself at the time of send and I could already see the company execs pacing up and down while taking deep breaths in the office. I knew they would surely have my hide for dinner that day but Kibiego jumped on the bomb and while it detonated on him, he successfully managed to keep the heat away from me. That was my first real lesson on leadership - Leading. Thank you Kibiego.

• Janine Kanters - One year later after I had already started proving my worth in the marketing space...two product managers were fighting to have me as their marketer to support with email marketing and technical SEO. I ended up choosing to work for Janine and I am glad that I did. One of the kindest bosses I've ever worked under. Janine was someone who gave me a lot of autonomy and supported me when needed. We had a very trusting relationship to the extent that when I was moving companies, tears were flowing in plenty (not saying from who). Janine taught me my second lesson in leadership - Empathy. Thank you, Janine.
• Jes Scholz - What can I say about this woman? Jess is a force in the leadership and marketing space and perhaps one of the managers that have challenged me the most growing into my career. With Jes, there were no excuses...you had to dot the i's and cross the t's. You were always working on big projects and always being encouraged to think of new things to test. I still remember this one quote from Jes, "every day, you need to ensure that you're learning something new...because in that one day that you don't learn anything new...somebody somewhere will have learned something new." For anybody who has ever consulted me on matters SEO and Email Marketing, you have Jess to thank for that. I picked up quite a lot just by observation from watching her leadership style...there's more than I can write here but I am thoroughly grateful to Jes for giving me my third lesson in management - Having a learning mindset. (Jes always said, all my managers must know how to work! A philosophy that I have carried forward whenever I am screening for candidates). Thank you, Jes.

• Jonathan Lawoyin - This guy poached me from my first employer only for them to buy a controlling stake in the new company and we both ended up being employees of my first employer (we had a lot of fun with that one when the news became public). Jonathan is a very cool dude, technically gifted, a good communicator, and an absolute team player. While I was working under him...the team grew from 3 people to more than quadruple that number, and even with that size working across different verticles and supporting multiple CEOs, the team morale was always at an all-time high. He just seemed to know how to integrate different personalities to make things work together. I remember one of our last meetings together where JLaw (as we used to call him) sat me down and said, "Look bro, you're a very smart dude and I believe you can be more. In a year from now...I don't want to see you doing this email marketing thing". Those words stuck with me for a while even after Jonathan had left the company. JLaw taught me two of my next leadership lessons - hiring and building for the right team culture, believing in your team and seeing more in them. Thank you JLaw.

• Eleonora Mejia - Probably the boss that has had the biggest impact on my career. Eleo gave me exposure to the inner workings of strategy setting and the bigger picture role of marketing as a function in a commercial environment. Eleo would throw me right in the fire with a lot of initiatives that were a first for me but I always felt that I had her complete trust...and because of that, I went on to increase my competencies and grow at an accelerated rate than I had ever seen before. We immediately became friends shortly after my onboarding and we continued to develop trusting relationships not only between us but within our marketing team as well. We did a lot of great things together as a unit working under Eleo and the new Moringa School Brand is an output. Eleo taught me my next lessons in leadership - Building trust, rewarding effort, and being a genuinely decent human.

• Stacey Odimu-Kimani - Talk of trailblazer...Stacy would pick up from where Eleo left off. Stacey is just one of those people who knows how to get results. A meticulous planner, resource allocator, and overall project manager. She knows how to set clear visions and being rallying the teams to deliver on them. Our relationship grew from Manager - Managee to peers and friends. During our last days working together, Stacy would spend hours onboarding me into my new role, explaining different business scenarios, what to expect, and how to react when approached in such scenarios. Sometimes we would just sit on the balcony during our 1:1s and just talk about life in general and that gave us the space to connect and appreciate each other. Stacy also saw more in me than just the average marketer and challenged me to spread my wings and soar higher. Stacey, thank you for teaching me my next lessons in leadership - Accountability and Challenging yourself.

• Meredith Karazin - Ours was a short-lived one but I did enjoy my time working with you. I was especially amazed at how you helped us navigate the difficult covid period, rallying the execco together and helping us to go remote. You were a very visible leader and that helped to steer us through the different stages that we went through together as an organization...everybody trusted your leadership. Thank you for being there for us.

• Nelly Agyemang-Gyamfi - Nelly is as real as they come. Someone who believes that there's nothing that can't be done, a culture carrier, and a refreshing dose of energy no matter the weather. She's always the one shouting "A luta continua" even when not much seems to be going well. I love your positivity Nelly, and I appreciate your willingness to always show up for your people. I enjoyed working with you and I know you'll continue to do great things ahead. Your teams are firmly behind you.

To everybody else that was not my direct boss (Fiona, Kathleen, Lohinee, William, Edoardo, Allan, Agnes, Alex, Setriakor, Nancy, Sasha, Benjamin, Maurice, Esther, Wachinga, Arnold, Gideon, Gloria, Xavier, Rai, Steve, Irene, Catherine, Katana and the entire Moringa Classroom Team, Mercy, Muiruri, Njeri, Sarah, Syema, Silas, and many others)...I have always considered you to be brothers and sisters in arms. My close peers and the people that I show up for every single day. Thank you for being very kind to me, trusting in my leadership, giving me positive and constructive feedback, showing up for me, accepting me, and making my work enjoyable. You guys are the lot that I will miss the most because whatever we were going through...we were always in it together. You have given me soo much than I could ever repay and as I take a break as a full-time employee from Moringa School...I just wanted to let you know that I will always have your back. My hope for you is that you find joy and lots of success in everything you put your energies to be it at work or in your personal lives.

Warm Regards,

Mark O.