Q&As & Introductions

It’s a new year and I figured now is a great time to mention a few things about myself as LinkedIn is also a social platform.

I’ve added more than 1,000 people to my network between last year and now and since writing the paper, I have received quite a few questions. I thought I'd simply write an article responding to these questions.

My biggest failure and what encouraged me to write?

My biggest failure has got to be General Paper at Cambridge Exams or A-Levels. I got a 'U' in the subject. If you don’t know what it means, it means ‘Ungraded’, and it's actually worse than an 'F' grade. I did manage to get 'A’s' in everything else but failing this paper meant that I had missed a potential scholarship opportunity. This opportunity was to study something else and not exactly finance or management. At that age, you compare yourself to others quite a bit and most of my friends, looked like they had everything figured out. Meanwhile, I was grappling internally trying to figure what to do and who I wanted to be. After the failure, I really had no idea so I studied management because it was interesting but it was difficult to build a career from it. After that, I made the decision to switch to finance.

Finance was thus not my first choice but once I got into the world of it, I knew I wanted to excel in it because it felt competitive. I had reasoned at the time that finance powers economies and it’s a very respected profession.

Not sure if I have the biggest failure in the corporate world. Obstacles have really helped me grow. In particular, presenting or public speaking as I grew up very, very introverted.

As for writing, I was more into spoken word for about a decade before switching to writing professionally and throughout university, I was a secret fan of a musician named Eminem because I felt he was great at storytelling. Most of my spoken word pieces capture stories but from different perspectives. I never published these, maybe one day? Not sure.

Who am I and what do I talk about on LinkedIn? Any newsletter?

I was born and grew up in Trinidad and Tobago. Living in any country has both its good and bad things and so there are a couple of good things that are worth mentioning. For starters, Trinidad is a very diverse country and we’re considered to be down to earth and open to other cultures. Cricket and doubles are traditional icons and if we’re talking finance, the?economy of Trinidad and Tobago?is the third wealthiest in the Caribbean?and the fifth-richest by GDP (PPP) per capita in the Americas (Wikipedia/World Bank). 80% of my career has involved working at SME’s and I usually stick to talking about finance on Linkedin. Since finance at SMEs is an umbrella term, my posts are also diverse. I also work full-time as part of the executive team at a manufacturing entity.

At this point in time, I do not have a newsletter for 2 reasons. Timing/other commitments and also my network. A bigger network simply feels more appropriate.

What motivates me?

Growth. I like discovering something new from working with data. I like staying productive and I get excited working with others. I love talking to other finance professionals and hearing their perspectives and I believe this part is very rewarding. At the same time, motivation is a fluid concept, I show up most days but there are times when I simply feel overwhelmed with things to do just like everyone else.

Why do I have a geek in my title?

Received lots of advice throughout my career but a few have really stood out and every now and then when things get challenging, I remember some of this advice. The best advice has probably been to remain a lifelong student and not to lose curiosity. Those simple words have helped me reflect, remain professionally skeptical, gain buy-in from others and accept change. Change truly feels like second nature now. There is always something to discover and navigate within finance.

Also, when I joined the platform, many people assumed I was still in high school. Along with the diverse content, using geek simply made it easier to niche and post.

What could you give a 30-minute presentation about with no advance preparation?

Honestly, I was surprised by this question but it’s a great question. I doubt I could last 30 minutes without someone else anchoring.

It depends on the context. I’d talk about failure stories, mention an icebreaker such as a joke or two and my own leading life indicators, and disapproval of lagging ones which is really enjoying things as they happen and aligning it with some sort of purpose and not doing so after the fact or after they happen (life is too short). It's less about talk and more about action. I’d also talk about my upbringing and what I learned from traveling.

I've seemingly and temporarily updated my profile with other professional bits. Thank you for all the questions, if you have any other professional questions, please DM or feel free to ask.