Mine - Al Kags — Strategist, Social Entrepreneur, Writer

July 2, 2016

#OdeToYouth Lesson 13: Take time to do something – while you have it

It has been a while since I last posted something on this series that I started months ago. The delay is a combination of things - the difficulty of managing an ever demanding schedule of two leadership jobs, of learning, of taking responsibility for family and ...

April 27, 2016

Life Story & Inspiration: Lorna Kui Irungu

Last time I was in Chi Town was 19 years ago. It was a defining moment in my life. I arrived here to visit family and friends and research on Lupus as I had just been diagnosed and my friend who had passed away had ...

April 19, 2016

#OdeToYouth Lesson 11: Be the great person you are supposed to be – NOW.

I often enjoy listening to the BBC World Service in traffic as a means of engaging my mind. I started listening to the World Service while I was still living in that servant's quarter room I told you about earlier. One of my favorite people ...

January 23, 2016

#OdeToYouth Lesson 9: Think differently about money

Guest blogger, my friend from Passionately Kenyan just sent me the blog that I could never have written better. Lesson 10 of the #OdeToYouth series. You are in your mid 20’s or early 30’s. You have a job. You have a nice crib somewhere, a flat screen, ...

January 4, 2016

#OdeToYouth 8: Your 20’s “TurnUp” turns up in your 30’s

At some point when I was in my twenties, I did very many jobs - at one time, I had five jobs: I was working in a small consulting firm business from 7am-4pm, a cyber cafe (they were necessary and mainstream those days) from 4.30pm to 7.30pm, ...

December 26, 2015

#OdeToYouth: Lesson 7 – Have a healthy respect for booze, it has the power to ruin you

“Happiness is having a rare steak, a bottle of whisky, and a dog to eat the rare steak.” These words by famous TV show Late Night host, Johnny Carson often ring true to me. I do enjoy my whisky. In fact, I daresay that I frequently take ...

December 25, 2015

OdeToYouth Lesson 6: Run your own race, Keep you eyes on your ball

Its Christmas. And what a year it has been. A couple of months ago, I made a commitment to write 30 blogposts about what I have learnt these 35 years of my life. Life & Work got in the way these past few weeks but I ...

November 15, 2015

OdeToYouth: Lesson 4: Travel as often as you can

I have had the good fortune to travel to many parts of the world - for a few days in some cases and a few months in others. The places that I visited for a day or two, to attend a conference don't count in ...

November 4, 2015

#OdeToYouth – Lesson 3: (Guest blogger) – No success without Sacrifice.

My friend, who writes the #PassionatelyKenyan blog is also an ex-youth like me - she is my age. She is a C-level executive for a large government organisation and I can tell you for sure, she has come a looong way. Here's her unedited story. I am at ...

November 1, 2015

#OdeToYouth: Lesson 2 – Learn how to sweep a floor

My last day of high school was a Thursday. My mother, one of several accomplished hoteliers and caterers in our family, had arranged that I would start apprenticeship at the Tropical African Dream Hotel in Malindi. Apprentices at the hotel were essentially being given practical ...

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