A few years ago, a start up advisor simply said “…so you sell hope.” I disagreed because I believed we were providing a needed skill that would transform the scope of one’s life through increased incomes, and ultimately advance Africa. To put it into context, our vision at Blossom Academy is to create African data scientists who can solve Africa’s problems and propel the continent forward.
However, just yesterday, his statement begun to make sense. I caught up with a hiring partner to inquire how one of our graduates was performing. He shrugged and said, “…he also relocated to Italy.” Ironically enough, I’ve silently observed this trend where a number of our graduates have moved to countries across Europe and Canada, and assumed roles in the world of data.
As a founder-led company, this absolutely feels like we are failing in our ability to execute on a personal vision. Some may even be quick to term our approach as brain-drain. However, it suddenly dawned on me: we cannot dictate how someone decides to maximize their God-given potential. What we can control is the value we provide to each other and the impact we are capable of nurturing in our lifetime. Personally for me, that’s one of the many beauties of building something from ‘scratch.’
As you power through the rest of 2021 (2022 for context purposes), I encourage you to empower and to “sell hope”. It may not manifest the way you envision it. But learn to accept that it’s perfectly okay to not realize your desired outcome today, tomorrow, or even in your lifetime. More often than not, when you put your hand in the dark to help another hand, you end up realizing it’s your own.