My Two Cents: Terror Taught Me Some Lessons

It's very difficult to find a partner whose world view and vision align with yours. Not only do they align in life but also in business. It's very difficult to find someone who's equally passionate about things that you are passionate about and it's also doubly difficult to find somebody who executes a task at almost the same pace as you do. 

Many of you might already think that I’m about to narrate a romantic story of how I met my wife. I would love to do that on a different blog post, but today it’s about a business partner and a friend.

I found friendship and partnership in Jason Spindler. He was the co-founder of I-Dev International, a boutique financial advisory firm based out of Nairobi. He helped numerous companies and investment firms to raise funds across the globe. I thought to write down my thoughts today because, at this same time last year, we lost this giant personality. We lost this partner to some coward act and something that he had survived before. He survived the devastating attack on 9/11 in the US and bravely stayed back to help people escape the wreckage. It was in the tragic attack on the 14 Riverside Complex on 15th January 2019 that Jason lost his life.

Jason’s love for the continent was unwavering. He had this cheeky smile and a bright face whenever he talked to me on matters how we could reduce the struggles that founders from the continent are going through. You could easily see his genuine concern and involvement by how he seamlessly mingled with people of all ages, backgrounds and circumstances, and generously availed his time and resources to make the fundraising process easier for founders.

He pitched a podcast to me every week for 6 months before we finally nailed it and successfully used this medium as a storytelling tool for great founders from East Africa. We both wanted to showcase and inspire more entrepreneurs on the continent and how brave they are to even think of being part of a solution. The same bravery that we tried to bring out with the podcast is what brought Jason to Africa as a Co-founder of I-Dev International.                                                                                                                               Today is the exact day one year ago that he passed on. Today, I still grieve the loss of my friend, but I am excited that I am still feeling and living his way of life. It is fitting that this week we began as the first cohort of the Jason Spindler Foundation, where we are attending a fellowship on Social Impact Investing facilitated by the Frontier Markets Scouts program at Middlebury University. Thank you so much, Jason, for still giving and supporting leaders to grow and achieve.

It's been a long year of reflection, sometimes peeling back the last moments before, during and after the attack. A lot of questions keep lingering in my mind: What did we do wrong? Why attack us? What could I have done to help more people see the next day?

 Terror shook us, it made us go on our knees, but I didn't break us. On the contrary, it made us stronger, appreciate our friendships more and to take the little joys that come with finding like-minded partners. 

For me, I have learnt to appreciate everyone in my life and work -- their positive energy, their big dreams, their strange ideas and even their struggles. This encounter also made me deeply think about preparedness, not only in terms of physical fitness but mental preparedness for calamities like this happening. Most importantly, just being vigilant and speaking up against things that don’t seem right, to question and speak up when you see something fishy happening. Your speaking up might save lives.

I have learnt to keep my friends close and my support system closer. I got to understand what people call quality time and now I am very selfish of my time towards time waster and naysayers. I learnt the hard way how to acknowledge, accept and receive professional mental help. Most black African men like me consider themselves macho and mostly shun professional help during distress. I noticed I was human once I started fearing quiet, dark parking lots and any loud bang. I became a slave to my imaginations and dreams due to the attack and resolved to get the help I needed to overcome the trauma that came from the attack and the loss of my good friend. 

While we will always remember the attack, we must courageously move forward and live the best life we can to honour those that have been lost. Today I'm no longer crying for the loss of Jason; I'm celebrating that his vision is still living on one year after he's gone.