Things I Wish I'd Known Sooner
I was the child labelled "slow." I failed a basic university module on Microsoft Word. On my first real date, I couldn't figure out how to open a KFC Twister.
This book is for young adults who've felt behind, underestimated, or like they're figuring out life without the manual they should have been given.
I needed this book when I left Bende, my Eastern Cape village, for Cape Town with one bag and no one to call.
If you've ever doubted your own capacity, felt stuck, or wondered if your background defines your future – you'll probably need it too.
The people who underestimated you are waiting for you to prove them right.
Don't.
Here are the quiet laws I learnt the hard way – so you don't have to:
Why telling everyone your dream is the fastest way to kill it.
How to make your money give you options, not stress – even if you're starting from scratch.
What Japanese philosophy and my village elders both understood about health.
Why leaving home might be the best decision for your growth.
And what to do when you have no idea what you want.
And how to disarm it.
I grew up in Bende, a village in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. My mother was a teacher. My father, a farmer. I had no mentors, no blueprint for how life worked beyond survival.
I moved to Cape Town, studied Marine Science, worked odd jobs, sold things door-to-door, was an extra in movies, fumbled through dating, eventually landed in tech. Made plenty of choices I regret along the way with money, career, relationships.
I wrote this book because there was a time when I desperately needed something like this and couldn't find it. A book that didn't lecture. A book that understood what it's like to be labelled "slow," to move to a new city with nothing.
It doesn't assume you had a head start. It assumes you're smart enough to use information – if someone just gave it to you straight.
Connect on LinkedIn →The chapter on money — how to make it give you options, not panic, even if no one in your family ever taught you what a budget actually is.
No spam. Just the chapter and occasional updates about the book.
This is where you start.