A long time ago, when I was still a young boy, I used to go visit my grandfather early in the morning so that when he started planting I would be there. I enjoyed spending time with him and learning how to plant so I would be able to plant on my own one day. I never thought that planting may end up bringing a career to flow in my life.

In Grade 9 is when I realised that my dream may come true because I knew that Agricultural Science was the subject for me. It was not so easy to get the support from my parents because they thought I would take Accounting so that I could become an accountant. They expected me to be making money and working in an office. But that was not what I needed in my future. All I needed was to become the biggest agricultural businessman and be my own boss.

My family was not happy with that and that led to me losing all their support when it came to education. All they used to say was, “An educated young boy wants to become a garden boy.” I was used to being called names but that didn’t change my dreams. Teachers, friends and family members were surprised when I became a farmer. I had passed with a Bachelor’s and many companies were offering me better positions, but all I could do was to become a farmer.

I used to plant different crops and sell them to people passing by the road, and I would save my income in order to start a better business one day. Nowadays people who know my past are really surprised because I am now an owner of a big farm which delivers my goods to more than 8 billion stores around the world. I have even started a company called by my name and it contributes more in Africa.

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Tell us: Have you ever had people laugh at your dream because they didn’t understand? How did you deal with it?