If you are a migrant, don't let others define you - read this!

Advice for migrants out there.

Don't let 'their opinion' define your potential.

When I arrived in the UK, back in 2000, I could barely speak English. I left my job at Microsoft to come here to learn the language. No one would give me 'a proper job' so I became a kitchen porter. WHY? Because I needed to pay my bills.

The chef (who was a legal resident migrant from the Caribbean) used to call me "illegal immigrant" who will wash dishes forever.

The 21st birthday I spent 12h on a shift behind the sink washing dishes. I left the restaurant, sat under a tree in the freezing cold 7th January and cried a lot. The restaurant in Notting Hill still exists. The chef is no longer there. He is still a chef.

BUT....

That situation didn't define my future.

Even though I was called 'illegal immigrant' daily for 2 weeks (even though I was on a student visa), I didn't allow that to define me. I left after 2 weeks and got a job a cleaner, then as a teacher assistant, then retail assistant and then worked for Chanel, YSL, Guerlain and so on. Life got better. I could speak the language.

I learned the language, and because no one would give me a job, I decided to launch my first business. For 12 years, I grew a property management business to the point of having 15 employees and almost ￡2m turnover. I successfully sold it.

TODAY...

I am listed in the Sunday Times "Top 100 Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs in the UK", and I won an award for my TEDx Talk" https://youtu.be/LwUnUiyh-8Q  which has been watched 156.000 times.

I have written 2 books, authored 2 national reports launched at the Houses of Parliament, I won 7 awards, and I have a network of over 7000 people on my LinkedIn, 20.000 emails and the list goes on.

IF YOU ARE A MIGRANT....

.... no matter what you sound like;

.... no matter what your accent is like;

.... no matter what they tell you...

THEIR OPINION DOES NOT DEFINE YOUR FUTURE. 

ONLY YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Remove those barriers in your mind... because you speak this or that way, because of your accent, because of where you are from... etc etc etc...

Use your background for your advantage!

You moved countries. You chose to change. You can choose to be successful and don't let any of these "issues" stop you from achieving what you want.