Who
Hi there, I’ve always had a palpable disdain for the header, “about me”.
By now you know my name, so what I want to share with you is my story. Why? Because stories are powerful, they motivate, inspire and help draw lines of connectivity. It is through our stories that we grow closer together, and I hope you love growing as much as I do.
If there is one word to describe me, it would be, ‘entrepreneur’; because to me, entrepreneurship is a quality, a unique blend of passion, confidence, insecurity and the drive to overcome it. It’s a mental toughness, the desire to do great things and change the world. It’s the desire to leave this shared soil better than how we found it, each of which I’ve always had a desire to do, and more.
In the beginning there were marbles...
The Early Days
I launched my first entrepreneurial venture when I was about four years old. I visited a metal workshop with my dad, himself, a small businessman. I saw some metal balls (learned later they were engine bearings) that resembled marbles and being a marble champ on the playground (biases owned and accounted for) I figured, “hey, I could sell these as the secrets to success.”
I asked the owner if he could bag them up for me at the end of each week, he accepted saying “he had no use for them.” One man’s trash…well, you know the rest.
I took them to school in my shiny Dragon Ball Z branded tote bag (where are my anime fans) and by the end of the day had none left. I realized I was onto something. I expanded my product lines to pencils, pens, erasers and soon became a one man mart. In a few months, I had made US$100.00. I felt very proud and like any great upcoming entrepreneur, I spent the profit from my sales on Pokemon Cards while on summer vacation that year- don’t judge me I was four.
Not the ending you were expecting right? In truth, it was only the beginning.
The Entrepreneur
Since my days of peddling makeshift marbles, I have founded three businesses and four companies. My first business was ‘KLB Gizmos & Electronics’, a retail service selling tech to university students- everything from laptops to flash drives and headphones. I was a student myself, and the extra cash helped me to purchase books and took care of my expenses, but it eventually failed due to changes in government policy (an early lesson); I simply couldn’t compete with the additional import taxes. ‘Acquiloan’ was a microfinance business supporting the unbanked and the general public for varied life events. It too was short lived.
Like someone obsessed with pain, I decided to start again more intelligently, after, all persistence is one quality all entrepreneurs need.
My current venture is Digita Global Group, and its subsidiaries, Digita Global Marketing, Digita University, and Digita Properties, and Digita Finance. The first and most well known of the Group is Digita Global Marketing, born from my passion for digital technologies, sales, creativity and serving others. The Group has one goal, to create wealth for the region, which I define briefly, in line with Investor Paul Graham, as “something that people want”.
Motivational Speaker
While lecturing at a few universities, I realized I liked to motivate and inspire my students more than teaching them about politics, international relations and other governance related themes. I founded my third business, ‘Accume International’ as a vehicle for inspiring nations and individuals to greatness, helping to unlock the latent potential of the region, and the world.
Inspiring others is my purpose. I love speaking and feel at home in front of a crowd. A far cry from the shy guy I used to be. Experience has showed me that life is a process of deciding who you want to become and pursing that person relentlessly. I choose excellence daily, and so should you!
A Few Interesting Facts About Kemal
He loves what he does and his passion will shine through and leave a mark on everyone in the room.
He has spoken at the largest events in the Caribbean, and some of the most revered internationally.
Kemal is one of the Caribbean’s most engaging and dynamic speakers.
Kemal always delivers and has spoken at many fora and will definitely be a great fit for your audience.
He is a Global Shaper, recognized by the World Economic Forum as a leader making a tremendous impact in the global community.
He has a basket full of testimonials demonstrating the immense value he delivers.
My Companies
