Fashion and Style

We hope you�ve been enjoying the feature on Frazer so far! If you haven�t read the previous parts yet, you can catch them here and here . Today, Frazer will be answering some questions I threw his way. What are three principles that leaders should live by? 1.       Intense personal reflection 2.       Don�t give a shit 3.       Facilitate radical candor What three words would you use to describe yourself? 1.       Intuitive 2.       Active 3.       Controlling (see, not all roses and rainbows!) What�s the best advice that someone has ever given you? �Use your head� If there�s an aspect of your journey that has surprised you so far, what would you say it is? How quickly we can adapt to change Now-Frazer meets early-20�s-Frazer. What advice would you give him? If I could give my early-20�s �me� some advice, it would be to not listen to my 42...

In  part 1  last week, we met my mentor, Frazer Buntin, and learnt about his early life and education background. Today, he'll talk to us about his career so far. Work background Right after school, I worked for my father�s company for about a year. I wanted to see if the business clicked with me and additionally, my older brother, with whom I am very close, was there as well. My plan was to work and live at home and eat Ramen noodles to save as much money as possible for an epic adventure. I absolutely love adventure. I love adventure more and more throughout my life and also regret not adventuring more along the way. This particular adventure was about 3 months of tramping around New Zealand and Australia with a back pack and a $500 car that I bought off a cork board advertisement in the first hostel I came to in NZ. I hiked and camped and climbed mountains and fly fished and sat in silence for long periods during the middle of the day. One rainy afternoon, I simply started ...

We�ve all heard stories about �self-made men or women� and marvelled at their stories, and wished we were them. The truth, however, is that very few (if any) people are truly �self-made�. Be they negative influences or positive ones, the people in our lives, from birth to old age, have a large part in dictating who we are. The people who surround you are the people who also influence who you will be. It is always a good idea to be selective about the people you choose to let into your inner circles! Among the people who can have massive influences on our lives are mentors and role models � I�d like to introduce you to one of mine. I first met Frazer Buntin when I attended my first Beyond the Gates weekend at Sewanee. Frazer is a Sewanee alumnus who was assigned to be my mentor for the weekend. While we were unable to connect over the weekend itself, as he had to return home due to a family commitment, we found some time to connect shortly afterward, and I was impressed by what I learn...

I spent my first 18 years immersed in an educational (and social) system that did little to encourage creativity. What subjects did I take for A levels? Economics, Chemistry, and Further Maths. That's not to say that I didn't do well in these classes, or that I didn't enjoy them, because I did. Heck, I loved Economics, and that's what I got my degree in, despite having the opportunity to change my mind (and the wisdom to know that it would be okay to). It was expected that our degrees and the careers we chose would follow certain paths that all those before us chose; thinking outside the box wasn't really encouraged. This wasn't just a problem localised at my school; indeed, it was a problem that was facing a larger community in Nairobi. Looking at my secondary school graduating class, I can't think of anyone who chose to pursue further education in something like art, creative writing, or philosophy. That's not to say that no one was interested in these...

I think it's a very small portion of the population who can claim that they're not afraid. For people like me, who're in a transitional phase of their life, fear can be something that we learn to deal with on an everyday basis. I had addressed the issue of fear in a shorter blog post  last year, but definitely felt like it was time to talk about it again. Where does fear come from? I think that if we dig deep enough, this fear comes from being lost, from being disconnected with our purpose(s) , from uncertainty. As I've mentioned many times before, so many of us get stuck in 'the rat race'. We end up doing things that we think we're supposed to be doing, while really being afraid to dig deep and explore our dreams and fears, and this ends up leading to unhappiness and a sense of not being fulfilled. Why is it that so many of us are afraid to dream ? And if we do dream , why are we afraid to follow through? Why is it that dreamers, those who have courage to ...

Sure, this might be weird comparison to make, but if you really think about it, you'll see that the steps in dating and the steps in job hunting are pretty similar! Looking out for potential jobs: Most of the time, you're not going to hear about one potential job, apply for it, get it, and have it turn out to be perfect. (However, you may be lucky enough to experience exactly that!) The same goes for dating; right at the beginning, you're meeting various people, and you may not even know that you're looking for anyone just then! Updating your resume/CV: Now that you know you're looking for someone, you're probably going to do some introspection; after all, how would you expect to meet someone who would work well with you unless YOU know yourself pretty well? Of course, the updating of the resume and CV also comes into play when you're trying to make a good first impression on your potential employer (significant other). Applying: Maybe you've noticed ...