IMAGE: WWW.DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM
ARTICLE / BUSINESS
IF YOU
DON’T
BUILD YOUR
DREAM,
SOMEONE
WILL HIRE
YOU TO HELP
BUILD THEIRS
DAD, MOM, I JUST QUIT MY
JOB. I WANT TO START MY
OWN BUSINESS.
THE SALARY? IT WAS FANCY, TOO. THE COMPANY WAS PROUD TO BE AMONG THE TOP PAYERS OF THE INDUSTRY
F
inally the SMS arrived:
“Tomorrow morning 5am,
flight number AZ610 from
Cpt to JHB and 9am JHB to NYC.”
An SMS hitting my BlackBerry on
Sunday evenings used to decide my
destination and client for the coming
week.
I was working for one of the top
three global strategy consulting firms.
A life packed in a suitcase. A
consulting life where you miss out
on everything and everyone in
life, except Excel spread sheets. A
fancy business life we are taught to
be ideal slaves of, at top business
schools whose degrees we are proud
to hold.
After few hours of sleep, the
driver was taking me to Cape Town
International Airport, 2 hours later I
arrived in JHB, and then taking my
fancy business-class flight to
NYC. Upon arrival, I was checking
in to a fancy five-star hotel and
heading to my client’s office
afterwards.
The salary? It was fancy, too. The
company was proud to be among the
top payers of the industry.
PAGE 32 / NORTHERN HILLS / CHRISTMAS ISSUE 2014
PARENTS
There was something wrong with
this consulting life, though. I couldn’t
stand this “living out my suitcase “life
any longer and one day I called my
parents: “Dad, mom, I just quit my
job. I want to start my own business.”
My mom almost had a heart attack.
It wasn’t the first thing a perfectionist
mother wanted to hear after
encouraging me to graduate from the
world’s top business schools with top
grades. I tried to ease her distress.
No chance.
“Mom, I hate it. All these
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