George Wachiuri – My Entrepreneurship & Philanthropy Journey

I thank God for His favour and blessings for all the years that I have been pursuing the vision of economically and socially empowering and Transforming the society. It has been a life of ups and downs, but in a big way, we have continued to achieve resounding success through prayers and reliance to God’s providence.

I have also learnt along this journey that it is important to keep a persistent passion on a well-articulated vision, to be persistent, to respect the people that I always encounter in my life and to always keep a positive attitude.

My entrepreneurship journey started when I was only thirteen years of age. Pushed by both poverty and a need to make a living, I embarked on a journey of being an ardent entrepreneur.

Having started over 15 different businesses which ended up folding, Optiven was the 16th company that took off and since then, we have not been looking back.

Optiven is now one of the most trailblazing organizations in the region. The Group was recently singled out as one of the companies that will inspire Africa in 2019, by the London Stock Exchange.

Under my stewardship, Optiven Group has continued to grow from one level to the next. It currently has a number of successful subsidiaries focusing on job creation and empowering the communities.

Optiven Group is inspired by a drive to economically and socially transform the society. The Group aims at creating over 30, 000 jobs by the year 2030. I have a passion for empowering Kenyans both in the country and in Diaspora to invest in the real estate sector. I am also passionate on creating over 1 million entrepreneurs whose net worth is over $1M. I do this through groups’ mentorship, TV shows and doing an FB Live that happens every Friday from 3pm to 4pm. I also author business books to mentor upcoming entrepreneurs. Among such books include soaring like an Eagle and How to start small and build an Empire. My next book is to be launched in 1st quarter of 2020.

As we continue to grow, Optiven has been receiving numerous accolades both locally and internationally.

This includes scooping the best employer in East Africa 2019 by East Africa Best Employer Brand Awards. Optiven was also the overall winner in Top 100 Mid-Sized Companies Survey, 2014/2015 by KPMG and Nation Media Group. The firm also scooped the Best Company in Customer Orientation & Marketing in Kenya (COYA AWARDS) – 2015.

As a person, I have won several awards across the globe, including the African Business Personality Award, 2018 by the Voice Achievers Award, Netherlands and Best Entrepreneur in Africa, 2017 – Diaspora Entertainment Awards & Recognition (D.E.A.R) awards 2017

I also won Best & Most Innovative Entrepreneur, Business & Entrepreneurship, Mashujaa Awards 2015 (USA), among others.

Recently, I was appointed as a member of the International Leadership University (ILU) Governing Council. I got a chance, through this, to join other senior and experienced leaders in public and private sectors who participate in exercising general oversight over ILU and its affairs.

I hold a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing Option) and is a Certified Public Accountant CPA (K). Besides this, I am also a motivational speaker, a lecturer and I also serve as a church elder.

I am also a family man and an author with two bestselling books under my belt, that is; ‘Soaring like an Eagle’ and ‘Unleash your full Potential’.

Philanthropy Works

One of the dearest things to me is the works of philanthropy. I am a passionate humanitarian and as such, I am the Chairman and Trustee of one of the most vibrant Foundations in the region, Optiven Foundation.

The Foundation, which is an offshoot of Optiven Group is involved in philanthropic works on the key areas of: Poverty alleviation, Environmental protection, Education and Health. It runs under the mantra of ‘compassionate eye on the Kenyan society.’

As a passionate philanthropist, it has always been a great honour and privilege to take charge as the Chairman and Trustee this most vibrant Foundation which was recently named the Foundation of the Year 2019, by the Netherlands based Voice Achievers Award. This is a good sign that we are on the right course in terms of our mission and vision.

One of the Foundation’s most successful programs is an education scholarship known as – Soaring Eagles Sponsorship.

So far, the initiative has overseen successful scholarship to hundreds of young children from Soaring Eagles Scholarship Programme (SESP) to needy KCPE candidates in counties all over the Country. SESP has so far assisted hundreds of deserving Kenyan cases from poor family backgrounds across all the 47 Kenyan counties.

The Foundation is currently engaged in assisting hundreds of Kenyans with free wheelchairs, courtesy of one of its life-touching programme dubbed, #MobilityThatBringsSmiles.

Mobility that Brings Smiles is a programme that seeks to transform many disadvantaged Kenyans who are physically challenged and without financial capacity to purchase a wheelchair for their mobility.

To date, the programme has succeeded in helping hundreds of needy cases with wheelchairs that have transformed their lives. Some of the beneficiaries have come from among other So far,

This programme target to donate over 1, 500 wheelchairs across the 47 counties. So far, we have succeeded in helping hundreds of needy cases with wheelchairs that have transformed their lives. So far we have had beneficiaries from among other places; Kisii, Loitoktok, Muranga, Nyeri, Kiambu, Kipkelion, Machakos, Nairobi, among others.

At the same time, Optiven Foundation is now engaged in supporting the fight against cancer in Kenya. On this front, the Foundation has partnered with Kenyatta National Hospital’s Hope Hostel Project and currently this is one of the dearest things to me.

The Foundation is also involved in poverty alleviation, restoring the dignity of the senior citizens by building free houses for them and supporting HIV kids through the Mercy Project at Soweto Anti-Aids Children’s Home in Kayole, Embakasi District in Nairobi. This Home accommodates over 100 children, most of who are orphaned due to AIDS.

Wisdom Nuggets that people can apply to rise up from failure

1. Learn to always treat failure as a temporary condition. Whatever comes your way in live, never give up on what you truly believe in.
2. Importance of principles learned and applied along the journey
3. I have learnt that in life, you must have a vision that makes you wake up every morning. And for us at Optiven, we have a vision of Creating over 30, 000 jobs by the year 2030 as well as creating 300, 000 homes by the year 2030. This is what drives us. We are extremely intentional on our purpose of economically and socially empower and transform the society.
4. The relation between Faith and work in the achievement and consistency of success
5. As an organization, we have an ingrained culture of always starting our day at work with devotion every morning. This is the fuel that drives us throughout the day at our work places.
6. Again, one of the key attributions to Optiven’s success has been our commitment to transform the society through our Optiven Foundation, whose programs have touched many lives across the Country.
7. Best Business practices that a believer can apply in the market place to rise above the myth of corruption as a need to thrive
8. It is imperative to always uphold the value of honesty in all your business dealing. Here at Optiven, we are also always intentional on our core values that include among other tenets; professionalism and honesty.