Indulge me for a moment.
Imagine yourself lying on the beaches of the Maldives, the breeze and the sun hitting you just right, a margarita in hand, listening to one of Burna Boy’s hits.
Now stop imagining and come back to reality.
Before you go to the Maldives, you will need money. And not meager money; you need loads of it. The best you can do at this moment is listen to Burna Boy.
What I have just described is a dream for one George Wayne, the founder and managing director of Nakuru Box Innovation Centre.
When you hear someone describe such dreams, you tend to dismiss them. But after the interview I had with Wayne, his dreams are within reach for him. Heck, the life he lives today is a big dream considering his upbringing.
“We are born of love; love is our mother.” – Rumi
George Wayne was born in Kariobangi to a single mother. His mother worked in the banking industry, and her career was beginning. She had to raise a son and also actively build a career.
Wayne’s mom is a super mom since she managed to raise a stellar young man. She made efforts to be present as she raised Wayne. She made sacrifices to afford Wayne’s private classes during weekends and even attended some of them with him.
The sacrifices she made paid off, as all through Wayne’s school life, he has been a great performer. You should hear him understate his Form Four performance. He scored an A-minus, but when he says it, you would think he scored a D-plus. That is another great quality his mother instilled in him. Humility.
“When you catch a glimpse of your potential, that’s when passion is born.” Zig Zigglar
Wayne is a soft-spoken gentleman. But just a few minutes talking to him reveals how smart and intelligent he is. The man is not only book smart; he is street smart. The true definition of an entrepreneur Hence, he is the right person to found a space for entrepreneurs. – Nakuru Box
Wayne’s brilliance, especially with technology, is unmatched by most. When he was in primary school, he interacted with his first computer and fell in love with it. His teacher then was one of his great teachers, as he nurtured his interest in computers. Upon joining high school at Utumishi Boys Academy, he met another great teacher, Mr. Mbaluka, who continued to shape him into the tech guru he is today.
After high school, he joined Strathmore University to pursue a degree in informatics. He later transferred to Moi University to pursue the same course.
“Don’t handicap your children by making their lives easy.” – Robert A. Heinlein
He, like many Moi University students, suffered the major culture shock that most experience. Moi University is located in a remote village known as Kesses, approximately forty kilometers before you get to Eldoret.
However, despite the culture shock, Moi University brought out the entrepreneur in Wayne.
Do you remember that Wayne’s mom is a banker? Good. She used to account for everything she gave Wayne before he went to school. She would calculate the number of tomatoes he will use in the month, determine how much it will cost, and give him not a shilling more. She did this with everything.
“When fishermen cannot go to sea, they repair nets.” – Nabil Sabio Azadi
This meant that Wayne had to find other means of making money. That’s when he started the shambala business. Shambala was very popular back in the day.
As he was doing the shambala business, he teamed up with a partner and started making some custom-made wristbands and chains. The business picked up, and they decided to expand into jewelry. Through the partner’s family member, they got an established supplier, and the business blew up. They got a point; the business would make 10,000 shillings a day.
They started an Instagram page for the jewelry business, and the business grew in Nairobi. He made an executive decision and moved to Nairobi to continue growing the business. This move saw him transfer to the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology to pursue computer science. This is the degree he graduated with.
After moving to Nairobi, the business expanded, and he was able to buy his own shop in Nairobi. He grew so much that he used to go and source his own stock in China at least twice a year. Going to China is one of his best memories. See, I told you the Maldives was not out of reach for him.
Gean Jewelry has done well to date.
“A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
However, that is just one side of his story. Like I told you, Wayne is a hustler. At any one time he is doing a million things with his life
As all of this was happening, he also founded a bike rental business, both at Moi University and at Daystar University. This is the business idea that would take him to Nigeria, where the idea for Nakuru Box came from. But more on that in a few.
“No talented person remains a talented without a perseverance.” – Lokendra Singh
What happened to Wayne’s love for computers?
After he finished high school, he joined eMobilis for a three-month computer class, where he learned so much, including programming. eMobilis would later give him an internship and assign him to train university students how to program applications. The internship came when he was on campus.
He would also intern at Safaricom. Speaking of Safaricom, in 2014, he entered the Safaricom Appwiz challenge, and his application was among the finalists.
Well, in short, as it is written in the Scripture that all the deeds of Christ could not be recorded, the deeds of Wayne can, but we would need books, and this is only an article. Maybe we’ll need to write another one.
“Blessed are you who sow. Every seed you so plant, will grow into bountiful crops for great harvest.” – Lailah Gifty Akita
Let me bring you to where Nakuru Box comes in.
So in 2018, Wayne applied for the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program with his mountain bike rental business. He was taken through the program and got to travel to Nigeria. While in Nigeria, he discussed with a friend the idea of having an entrepreneurial space in Nakuru since there was none. He likes the idea, and in 2019, the idea comes to life.
What does Nakuru Box do? In brief, it is an innovation center, an incubation center, a co-working space, and a space for entrepreneurs to learn, network, and grow. More on this in subsequent articles.
Before you go, I forgot to tell you that Wayne’s favorite car is the Mercedes GLS 550 AMG. Why do I tell you this? Because I want you to visit Nakuru Box and become part of making Wayne’s dream come true while you use the amazing space and resources in Nakuru Box to buy our dream cars too.
Written by Stephen Kinyanjui