Successful people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They stay focussed on their past successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps they need to take to get them closer to the fulfillment of their goals rather than all other distractions that life presents to them-Jack Canfield.
We are seated in her office at the Pride Inn Paradise reception area, Serena, Mombasa. She calls her personal assistant to request her presence, and few minutes were enough to get her to her general manager, who intimated being a time freak during the exclusive interview with luizquincy.blogspot.com
Ann. M. Safari, who has since rebranded to Ann Peggy narrates how her life growing up was hitchy. She was raised in Eastern Kenya, in a humble family of six. She is the third born. The hurdles she endured while growing up saw her loved ones miss out on basic essentials, and the shelter was much pathetic.
"Well, I grew up in a very remote area in Machakos county, Eastern Kenya. I went to a normal village primary school up to class eight and cleared my primary school in 1988. I was lucky to find a place in a provincial, village primary school-Precious Blood Kilungu," she said with a hospitable chuckle.
"My parents were not very well off. I come from a very humble background. I grew up in a family where we used to miss even basics, which is food, clothing and the shelter was nothing to write on about," she added.
She saw her docile status elevate her to the place she is today. According to her, it was a privilege that she was able to reach the helm of her career path in hospitality and tourism management industry. She almost lost it all but managed to gain from the fact that her well up colleagues made her constantly look back on her then dysfunctioned family and tumoultously brace to rewrite a different story.
" I remember one time I took a friend of mine into our house and she was scared because she came from a well up family. And so I was privileged to rise up from that humble background to what I am today," said Peggy.
Her parents did not have a stable means of livelihood. They were thus unable to offer her the support she required to triumph academically. Growing up, she missed the basics as a girl and being in a good secondary school, she interacted with girls from rich backgrounds, whereas she would miss out on essential necessities that any girl would crave in a Kenyan secondary school.
"Of course through high school, I struggled a bit. Because my parents were not able to support me adequately through high school and so I missed out on basics as a girl.... And I mean basics in high school. And so that makes you feel disadvantaged," clarified Peggy.
Her life took a different course altogether and she believes that had she not gone down the road that fate threw at her, she wouldn't have made it to where she stands now. Being on her final high school year, she underwent the ordeal of being sent home for fee arears on a regular. Albeit this, she managed to feign her coy during her final year in high school, but in reality, the challenges she endured then were much more intense.
"In a school with the rich, I would get sent home for school fees and when I was in form four for instance, I had a huge fee balance. And I think when I was sent home, that was the point of breakthrough for me. I knew I was a good girl on matters academics. Moreover, I missed University slot by two points. I believe because of the periods I was sent home since this distabilizes you towards exams," said Peggy.
" Did I regret missing out on campus? It is not bad that I missed a spot en-route higher education, because looking back, I think if I had gone to the varsity then, I wouldn't have been what I am today," said Peggy.
Four years after she had cleared her secondary education, life coerced her into stalling her personal, economic and social development and also forced her to deffer from the 8-4-4 curriculum. She later got an opportunity into a technical training institute where she took a 3-year diploma course that enabled her begin nurturing her profession that has to date cost her an arm and a leg, but whose cringe-worthiness she can not sweep under the carpet.
"I cleared my form four in 1992. After that, I had to dangle around home until 1996 September, when I would find my way to a technical training institute where I took a diploma in food and beverage management. And that's how I got myself into the hotel industry, said Peggy with a broad smile, garbed in a black, stripped suit that gave her a unique sartorial elegance.
" Not because I had a dream to become a hotellier. But because it was the only thing I found myself doing and when I found myself doing this, I purposed because I needed to write myself a different story," affirmed Peggy.
Raised up in a family of six, she grew up under jeopardizing circumstances which saw her elder brother-the first born, drop out in form two. Her sister was yet another subject of unfortunate fate, pulling off as prematurely as class seven only to get married because the family was in so much dysfunction and patience was just not her cup of tea.
" Countered with quite unfortunate circumstances while growing, I saw my elder brother and sister give up in life. My sister on the other hand got married after class seven. She couldn't put up with the trouble at home. My elder brother; our first born, dropped out in form two because he could not cope with being sent home for school fees every now and again. As the third born, I had endeared up to form four and had missed campus by a shear two points, unable to write a different story for our family. I looked up to myself as the only person that could bring favor to our siblings below me and thus purposed to set a good example," said Peggy.
"At one point, I found myself as the black sheep in our family and so when I got myself to college, I decided to give it my all. I believe this also significantly played role in getting me where I am currently," said Peggy.
Her stretch towards becoming a lady general manager was much harnessed during her industrial attachment in Mombasa County, at Nyali beach. By then, Block Hotels, Nyali beach was one of the leading service providers in the hotel, hospitality and tourism management industry. And their faith in her then budding potential proved pivotal in her march, eight steps up the hierarchical ladder to place her as the incumbent general manager, Pride Inn Paradise hotels across Kenya.
"After the three year diploma in food and beverage management, I managed to source an internship with Block hotels at Nyali beach, which was one of the leading brands when I went on Industrial attachment in 1997 and this gave me the opportunity to see women in leadership. I remembered I admired particularly three ladies that still ring in my mind. I would mention their names but I don't have permission to do so. But I admired them. I admired and said wow! It must feel so good to be a manager...to be a lady manager in the hotel industry and I think this was a major fulcrum point in my professional life when I was on field attachment at Nyali beach, where managers would attend meetings, summits, attend cocktail events and all other stuff managers do. And I got inspired," explained Peggy.
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