Tales of Strength and Resilience: Ep 11 with Brian Mukeswe

Tales of Strength and Resilience podcast explores the boundless dimensions of strength and resilience. Join the host, Muthoni Waigwa, on a transformative journey as we delve into the very essence of these profound qualities. We will unveil the multifaceted nature of strength and resilience in heartfelt conversations with extraordinary individuals.

Brian Mukeswe who resides in Canada, serves as a Lead Data Scientist at Mastercard and is a proud two-time recipient of the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship. Passionate about nurturing the potential of African youth, Brian has harnessed his diverse career experiences to train over 1,000 African youth with data analytics skills over the past two years through initiatives like Hibreed Inc and AfroFem Coders. Additionally, Brian is co-founding a startup to pioneer an online marketplace that promotes gig-based opportunities within the African continent.

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Transcript

Muthoni Waigwa:         Welcome to the Tales of Strength And Resilience podcast, where we explore the boundless dimensions of strength and resilience. Join me your host, Muthoni Waigwa on a transformation journey as we delve into the very essence of these profound qualities. We will unveil the multifaceted nature of strength and resilience in heartfelt conversations with extraordinary individuals. We will empower and enlighten through these inspiring stories triumphing over adversity and discovering transformation lessons embedded within. Get ready for today's episode where untold stories of inner power and tenacity await us. Let's begin.

                                    Hey, and welcome to episode 11. Thanks for tuning into this podcast wherever you are in the world. The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program envisions a transformative network of young people and institutions driving inclusive and equitable social economic change in Africa. Since launching in 2012, the program has supported nearly 40,000 young people in Africa to pursue secondary or tertiary education. Today's guest embodies unwavering resolve and a firm commitment towards attaining both professional excellence and personal aspirations. As a recipient of the esteemed MasterCard Foundation Scholarship, he graciously illuminates his remarkable life journey, shedding light on the challenges he bravely conquered along the way.

                                    With an inspiring narrative, he articulates not just his individual triumphs, but also shares a vision brimming with hope and ambition for the continent of Africa. Brian Mukeswe, who resides in Canada, serves as a lead data scientist at MasterCard and is a proud two-time recipient of the MasterCard Foundation Scholarship. Passionate about nurturing the potential of African youth, Brian has harnessed his diverse career experiences to train over 1,000 African youth with data analytics skills over the past two years through initiatives like Hybrid Inc and [inaudible 00:02:39] coders. Additionally, Brian is co-founding a startup to pioneer an online marketplace that promotes gig based opportunities within the African continent. Let's listen. Welcome onto the show, Brian.

Brian Mukeswe:            Thank you, Muthoni. Thank you for having me.

Muthoni Waigwa:         So to kick off this conversation, who is Brian?

Brian Mukeswe:            So that's an interesting question. So Brian Mukeswe, I was born and raised in Uganda, so Kampala is where I grew up, the capital, but my hometown I consider to be Busia, which is right on the border with Kenya. Because that's where most of my family lives, my extended family and my grandparents are from there, and that's where I currently have my family home. So that's where my origin is. And at about 18 years old, I got a scholarship to go pursue my undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. And since then I've been living in Canada up to date. I've studied here, I worked here, and I'm always connected to the continent, making regular trips there, pursuing investment opportunities and hope to one day relocate back to the African continent. That's Brian in a nutshell. I'll hopefully share more as the conversation progresses.

Muthoni Waigwa:         That's an interesting backstory of where you're from. Who would've thought that you are also from Kenya.

Brian Mukeswe:            Yeah, interesting. Maybe just add another interesting detail is, so my wife is from Busia, Kenya, which is right across the border and it takes me about less than two hours to drive from my home to her home, even though we are in different countries. And also it took us coming across the world to Canada to meet. So that's just another interesting fact.

Muthoni Waigwa:         That is amazing. So crossing the waters, going into a new place and then you meet your future wife. But here's the question that I want to ask. How were you able as a young adult, how were you able to seek an opportunity like now applying for a scholarship and telling yourself, you know what, let me just take this opportunity head on and see what will come out of it?

Brian Mukeswe:            Yeah, that's a good question. So when I finished my high school, I always had my sights to something beyond the regular path of finishing and going to Makerere University, which was I would say the most linear path for anyone growing up in Uganda at the time. I believe it still is for the most part. But I think what gave me the, I guess the foresight to think about pursuing an opportunity like this was when I was about to finish high school, a student who was in a year ahead of me had got a scholarship and they came back and gave a speech at the school and told us to think beyond the linear path that we know of because all the family friends that I interacted with talked about finishing my high school, getting good grades, getting government sponsorship and going to Makerere. And that was the only path in my mind.

                                    But interacting with this student who had received a scholarship, I think if I remember correctly, they actually went to Harvard. So they were telling us this inspirational story of how they were able to compete against other students from all around the world and get into this prestigious university and how it opened up many opportunities for them. So that broadened my view. So when I was completing my high school, I had my sights on pursuing opportunities beyond what was just immediately in front of me.

Muthoni Waigwa:         I like that. You know, seeking out these opportunities that are in front of you, but the spark was lit by someone telling their story and someone just showing up and expressing how they were able to take on an opportunity as well. So you get the scholarship, you go to Canada, I'm sure you are trying to figure out how to get by the culture shock, trying to understand the way the systems work there. How were you able to dig into your reservoirs of strength to tell yourself, I'm here, I have this opportunity, let me not shrink back because of fear and because I'm in an uncomfortable space?

Brian Mukeswe:            So if I go back to that time, I think I always think of when I actually boarded that flight as a 19-year-old not knowing anything about the country I was going to. When I look back right now, I feel like I should have had fear or doubt, but when I look back, I mostly had excitement at the time. So it's only with hindsight that I realized that this was supposed to be a scary moment and maybe I can explain why that there was that, I would say hindsight dissonance and not really getting the feeling that I think I should have felt because... So getting through high school was really tough for me because I faced many financial challenges, getting kicked out of school all the time for not paying the tuition. So for me, I saw getting a scholarship as escaping from these challenges and all these suffering and dealing with setbacks all the time because in my mind I was like, for the next four years I don't have to worry about any financial challenges.

                                    I can focus on school. So this excitement, I think crowded out those worries initially. So it gave me the drive to charge ahead as though there were no obstacles, nothing to worry about, but it was only after I arrived here and maybe during my first winter. Because what happens is you have your first semester and then schools close down for winter, the domestic students go back to their families and school winds down, there are no classes. And I think that's when the reality of the move that had made hit me because now I didn't have school to distract me. I was sitting down there with my own thoughts. It's during Christmas season, up to this point all Christmases had been spent with my family. Christmas is really warm. I imagine same in Kenya. Family gets together, you have nice food. Then here I was in a dorm room, it was -10 degrees outside, no friends to talk to, no family. I'm just sitting there and I think that's when the reality hit me that the impact of moving away from family and moving so far away became very real at that point.

                                    And I think the resilience, I found it a lot through my friends who are going through similar challenges. So being able to have people that I could talk to, could empathize with me and the challenge that I was trying to overcome, that was really important. And these were mostly fellow scholars as well who were far away from family. And then also I think, again, trying to remind myself of the big up prize here, because at the time, even as a student, a lot of my family, in my immediate family back home still depended on me financially now that I had a scholarship. So also reminding myself of what value and the happiness that's resulting from the sacrifice, I think those things kept me going even when things got tough.

Muthoni Waigwa:         Thank you for sharing that. Thank you for showing us how you set your eyes on the prize and you did not give up. And as well as just recognizing that this opportunity has come my way, let me embrace it and take full control of it and truly experience it to the fullest. But here's the thing, someone might be listening to this conversation and they applied for a scholarship and they got rejected or they didn't get the response that they were hoping for. How would you let that person know that it's okay to try again, and it's okay to face these moments where you're rejected because that's part of life and it's part of our growth process. How would you just let them know, you know what, keep moving forward, keep applying?

Brian Mukeswe:            Yeah, rejection, it's a tough one to deal with and I think everyone deals with it at some point, although we seldom hear the stories of the rejection. And I think that's in part why it's tougher across the board to deal with. I would say to someone who has experienced say rejection and they've not got a scholarship or anything else they've applied to in general, I would say I think rejection or failure is... Well, I guess maybe let me separate those two things. So rejection is not the same as failure, and I think rejection is something people will experience a lot and they have to be able to deal with it. And now failure is also something that happens a lot and you experience it. And I like to separate those two. I'll give an example, applying for a job or applying for a scholarship and you get rejected.

                                    There could be so many reasons why you get rejected. It could be that maybe there was an internal candidate applying. It could be that they already had someone in mind for that job, they just had to go through the formal process of posting it. And all these reasons have nothing to do with you or your ability or your skill or your value. So in my mind, I usually don't take that as a failure on my part. It's a circumstance, circumstantial. So with that in mind, knowing that your value is still intact, your abilities, your credibility and all that, you have all the reasons to keep pushing forward because when circumstances are different, maybe in the next application, then you'll have your opportunity. So I think that's how I like to think about rejection. But again, of course in the reality, it's always hard to think like that when you're going through the situation.

                                    So reminding yourself that when you get rejected from an opportunity, a lot of times it's not really about you and trying to separate your emotions, your ego from it will help you see that in reality, you are still as valuable as you were before the rejection and you should tap into that and continue forging forward. But then there are actually sometimes where there are failures. I think about a scenario whereby maybe you didn't put in as much effort as you could have in a scenario, and then the outcome is not desirable. I think learning from the failures or you didn't have the right conversations, you didn't ask the right questions. So in that case, I would say understanding why the failure happened and how to avoid it the next time is usually my go-to in that scenario. So to wrap it up, I would say focusing on separating between rejection and failure.

                                    So if you apply for a scholarship and you can genuinely say you put in your best effort, you didn't leave any stone unturned, then at that point it's not really about you. The rejection was as a result of someone else's decision, not you. But then it could be that you didn't really put in the effort, at least you reflect deep. And if you're honest with yourself, you can tell that you didn't put your best foot forward. I think in that case, the focus should be more on thinking about how you could do better, how you can improve wherever you were not... You don't feel like you put your best foot forward.

Muthoni Waigwa:         I like that. I like how you've said rejection and failure are two separate things because sometimes we can look at ourselves and we have been rejected and think that we have failed, but as you have mentioned, your values are still intact, your talent is still there. It's just that perhaps the opportunity went to somebody else, and on the flip side with failure, maybe in that moment you didn't put your best foot forward or you still need to improve yourself. I think that's important to differentiate those two because sometimes we can see them as one and the same thing when in fact they're two separate things. So you've graduated from your Master's and you are excited. How do you make the next step to get now your job or transition into another space in the department after you have done your Master's? And what challenges did you face then? Because sometimes when we get these new opportunities, they also come with challenges and I would just want someone out there to know that you can overcome any challenge that comes your way.

Brian Mukeswe:            Yeah, that's a good question. That brings me to reflect to a more recent time in my life. So maybe to provide a bit more context, the reason for me going back to school to pursue a Master's degree was I wanted to actually make a pivot from my initial career choice. So when I started out from my undergraduate degree, I went to pursue electrical engineering. And like I mentioned earlier, I was really tunnel visioned on achieving my goal and getting this degree. So I really gave it my all. I didn't really think about any potential alternatives. I just thought this is what I came to do. I'm going to do this no matter what. Cut out all the noise, cut out all the distractions, and I did it. Graduated, I got a job as an electrical engineer, but then I started feeling that I wasn't fulfilled in the job, I wasn't enjoying it as I thought I would. I wasn't having the impact I thought I would.

                                    And I think that took me to a place of doubting by purpose. It's like all these things I've done has really built up to nothing. So I started exploring other alternative career paths, and that's when I discovered data science as a potential career path. And at the time, I think in 2017, 2018, there was a lot of conversation around how data is the future, how there's going to be a big need for people with skills to work with data. And all of these drove me to... And I'd done a little bit of analysis in my job and I enjoyed it. So these factors all came together and led me to set my sights on this new career path. So that's when I went to enroll into the Master's. And at the time I realized that they would really... The job market was demanding people with experience and education was not going to cut it because at the time as well, there weren't many education programs that taught data science.

                                    A lot of people were self-teaching, were going through boot camps. So I realized that I had to actually get a job that gave me that experience. The problem at the time was that the only job I could get was an entry level job, which meant taking a pay cut at the time because I'd already started building some experience in engineering, but setting my sights on the longer term gave me the confidence to make that move because I knew it was going to pay off, or at least I hoped it'll pay off in the longer term. And I knew that if I just kept pushing forward on the path that I was on, I was only going to become less happy. So all I had to lose was... In the worst case scenario, if this new path didn't work out, I could always go back to the path I was already on.

                                    So I already had that baseline of the least happiness I would have was just going back to what I was already doing. So framing it in my mind, that allowed me to be able to take that risk. And I was happy it paid off. At the time it wasn't as obvious because while... I'd switched into a new job, I was also pursuing my Master's at the same time. So I was doing this online Master's while working full-time, and that made for some very long days where I would wake up as early as 6, 5 and do some classes, do a full day of work, and then in the evening do some assignments. And at some point doing that every day, even on weekends just makes you feel like, is it worth it? Ask yourself, is this worth it? There are people who are just going to work and then getting some rest in the evening.

                                    And then also I always look back and say, a Master's is not required. It's something that is optional. So again, getting that extra motivation to still do those long hours despite knowing that I'll be fine even if I don't get this Master's, I can still do my job, get my paycheck, I don't need to do it, but having that conviction that it's going to take me to a better place so it's worth putting in that extra effort. Just reminding myself of that allowed me to continue and work through that very rigorous schedule for three years until I managed to complete the Master's. And then I was able to transition into big opportunities in a new career space.

Muthoni Waigwa:         Congratulations. All I'm hearing is self-drive, inner motivation and telling yourself I need to keep pushing forward. I need to keep pursuing this bigger picture. And I think that's important for someone to recognize that if you are feeling unfulfilled, it's okay to pause. It's okay to reflect and say, I just need to pivot and choose a different career path or choose to build on my skills. And sometimes we can get so caught up in those moments of uncertainty and unfulfillment and get stuck, but to whoever is listening, just know that it's okay to make a different choice. You're not wrong or right. You're just honoring yourself and recognizing that I don't want to be unhappy anymore. So thank you for sharing that and thank you for being resilient and telling yourself to keep pushing forward. And it's reflecting in the opportunities that you are having right now in your career.

                                    And I'm sure also the people around you are recognizing that truly Brian has grown to be this individual who is full of strength, resilience, and an individual who takes charge of his purpose, takes charge of his destiny. And it's important that we share these experiences so that people don't think that we get to point Z just like that, abracadabra, here is point Z. No, it's a decision that you should make on a daily basis, and I just want to appreciate you for sharing that. So with that in mind, where do you see yourself in the future and what are your hopes for Africa?

Brian Mukeswe:            In the future I see myself relocating back to the African continent. It's been a dream of mine. I think that care was born out of interacting with fellow scholars and also interacting with people in the diaspora who had actually moved back and built something substantial on the African continent. So that's my personal hope and dream. And up to this time I've been working towards it, like I mentioned, trying to make some investments in my home country in Kenya where my wife is from and build networks there in preparation for me more permanently making the move. But I mean, of course has not come... It has come with some challenges that I'm still working on overcoming, but what my bigger vision for the African continent is I see a lot of untapped potential, a lot of unsolved problems. And also at the same time, I see a huge population of young people that are well positioned to change the day-to-day experience of someone living on the continent by solving all these what they call unsolved problems.

                                    And in there lies a lot of opportunity to create job opportunities because that's one of the biggest challenges that youth face on the continent. People have skills, but they don't have opportunities to apply them. So being able to unlock opportunity, and my dream is to be able to play a small part in that, empower people to take charge of their own destinies, unlock opportunity for people so they can step on the stage and solve real world problems that are going to make Africans be proud of being from Africa. One thing that I experienced after leaving, for me I always thought myself as a Ugandan, I always knew that yes, I'm from Africa, Uganda is in Africa and had that geographical context, but it was only when I was in the diaspora that actually I said, identifying as an African, partly because everyone sees you as an African. When someone sees you they don't know you from Uganda, or you're from Kenya, they see you as an African. So that identity grew on me and it really started making me think about the continent as a whole.

                                    And my dream is that an African, so someone from Kenya will be able to go work in Uganda, go visit there, so a Kenyan visiting another country or Uganda and visiting South Africa without encumbrances. Because this takes me back to one example. When I was a student traveling to South Africa for research, and as a Ugandan, I had some colleagues from Canada who were also traveling to South Africa and they did not need a visa to go visit South Africa to do the research. I needed a visa that was given those exact days, and that got me thinking that I was born and raised on the continent. They were born and raised somewhere halfway across the world, but they have more access to the African continent. And that did not sit well with me.

                                    So my hope and dream for the continent is that there is more harmony, there is more mobility of labor people, opportunities within the content because that's how we will unlock the opportunity and allow people to fulfill their potential. And I personally hope to be a part of that and I hope to invest all the knowledge and skills and resources that I've gained so far towards achieving this goal.

Muthoni Waigwa:         When you mentioned that about them having greater access than us, I also ask myself, I'm an African, I'm a Kenyan. Why do I need a visa to visit another country on the continent? And I just hope that the right policies will be implemented. And as you've mentioned, that other opportunities are unlocked and that we can move freely across countries, across borders because it's unfortunate. This is our continent, yet we are restricting ourselves from doing so much more, and that is really necessary for us to go to higher heights as a continent, as a people, and as nations. So as we wind down this conversation, how can you end this conversation with one sentence?

Brian Mukeswe:            Yeah. My one sentence is you will not know until you try it. And yeah, that's the one sentence. Some context is that you have to actually make the move. No matter how much you read or research, it won't tell you what it's actually going to be like. So I would say the only way to find out is by actually trying it.

Muthoni Waigwa:         Thank you so much for that. So whoever is listening, just take that leap of faith, take that step because you never know, you might just step into the greatest opportunity of your life.

                                    I invite you to carry the lessons learned in this podcast into your own lives, embracing your inner strength and nurturing resilience in the face of adversity. Let's forge a future where we support one another and celebrate the triumphs shaping our journeys. Thank you for listening and stay tuned for more inspiring episodes that will continue to ignite the flame of strength and resilience within you. Until next time, I'm your host, Muthoni Waigwa, bidding you farewell, but not goodbye.