WHY ME, WHY NOW?

If you are reading this blog for the first time, welcome! My name is Akinyi Wavinya. Nearly 3 months ago, I resigned for my full-time job at a startup and have been on sabbatical since. I'm maximizing this down-time to be introspective, and to collate my experiences in the tech scene over the last 7 years. Read a little about the starting of this journey here or here.

Before kicking off this learn-and-share series, I thought it valuable to separately articulate why I am writing, why I think it matters, and share a sneak peak of the framework I'll be using to write.

On the surface, I write because there's a lot I am still unpacking and processing. But stripped to the bone, I write for and because of many more underlying factors;

1. You Can’t Make Serious Moves Without Journeying Back: Making big and bold decisions shouldn’t happen haphazardly. It should be informed after taking stock, accessing, and gaining perspective. However, and in reality, we don’t always have the privilege to zoom out and ask the harder questions — Are we still who we say we are and/or is it okay that we’ve changed our minds? Are we still serving our purpose? Have we shed our skin and are we embracing the evolution needed for the next phase? Are our growing pains still worth it? Whatever the case, moving forward for me means gaining a deeper understanding of what was in order to create space for what can become. It means moving with more confidence and conviction.

2. More Authenticity is Needed and Welcomed: It’s hard working in a space where the pieces are constantly shifting. There’s often no time to dwell in disappointment, celebration or even pivoting. It’s go, go, go. Though it’s not impossible, without a formal playbook for young professionals (especially in emerging markets) to enter and navigate the landscape, there is only so much managers, professional development programs, conferences, networking, or tech socials can do to cultivate grit and resilience. With more access to authentic experiences, perhaps it will be easier to not only attract more (talent, investment, advisorship etc), but be more frank about who we really are and what’s in store (retain and grow).

3. I’ve Had a Fast-Quick & Dirty 360 View: While my journey hasn’t been linear and many inside and outside of the sector can relate, I’ve worked with a handful of VC-backed tech startups at various stages. From inception and pre-seed, to early-adoption, scaling and growth, wind down and closure, and even acquisition. Working across such dynamic stages and such varying sectors so early on in my career has afforded me the opportunity to not only work with diverse people and skill sets, but has also necessitated that I play many roles from a visionary, to a strategist, to an implementer and so much more. I believe these experience have uniquely shaped my perspective and offer a golden window to look at the same things with different lenses.

4. We Aren’t The Only Ostriches in the Field: Things move exceptionally quickly in the startup ecosystem. Investors have different and sometimes diverging interests, businesses rapidly shift their KPIs, proving addressable markets can feel like a hoax, and what is sexy today isn’t necessarily sexy tomorrow. All in all, we are conditioned to learn fast, fail fast, and grow forcefully. This often results in the sometimes unrealistic demand of driving the car while we built it — two different skill sets, thousands of approaches. And though it sometimes feel like we’re the only ones running in circles, if we pause to take a breath, we realize how many of us are in the exact same place. Our experiences though unique are also similar. Sharing our experiences more transparently gives us a better grounds to evolve, partner, collaborate and innovate.

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I still don’t know what the outcome of my sabbatical is going to be. Does the end of the road lead me to joining forces with an organization doing impact-driven work, or do I brave the entrepreneurship road to journey it on my own? I guess time will tell? What's certain to me right now is that I want to get to a place where the decision to move forward is one that isn’t as daunting. I truly believe that writing is the first step in this process, and while it’s impossible to exhaustively synthesis my experiences, I plan to consolidate them into 4 main themes that will anchor each writing.

The intention of this learn-and-share sabbatical series is to write 3 pieces per theme that will address the following;

i) building your identify and starting to make your mark;

ii) learning fast, honing in on your superpower and making yourself standout;

iii) leveling up, taking charge and embracing adversity;

iv) taking stock and regrouping

Based on my experiences and through these written works, I'll share the thrill, joy and growth opportunities the space has to offer, as well as the darker and murkier complexities many young professionals; especially women, must navigate to "succeed". By providing context and creating space to pause, I hope to share valuable takeaways like how to avoid unnecessary hardship, but also more broadly why core values like diversity, accountability, ethics and even leadership matter individually and organizationally.

This series will demonstrate that you aren't alone and you aren't crazy. My coming out on the other side is sheer proof of this. Most importantly, I will share what has been my framework (effective or otherwise) to serving the hectic-craziness of the startup space, and what you can do to do better than me. Spoiler alert, there formula isn't cookie-cutter (more on this later).

Whoever you are, wherever you are working, whether or not you are valued or fulfilled, the experiences you have are real, valid and matter. Hopefully reading about mine will remind you of this.