You Never Really Know Who You Are Until You Fail

 I have always been a bit of a misfit.

I accepted that a long time ago, but for years, I struggled with direction. I knew I was smart. I knew I had potential. But I also knew I didn’t fit neatly into one defined path. And every time someone tried to put me in a box, I felt like I was suffocating.

“If you want to kill me, put me in a box.”
That has always been my personal slogan.

What I didn’t realize then is that this “restlessness” was my gift, not a flaw.

Law and writing came naturally to me — I always knew they were part of my future. And yes, I pursued them, built them, lived them. But who would have thought I would also become:

• An SME Expert

• A Product Designer

• A Financial Inclusion Specialist

• A Strategy & Execution Professional

I certainly didn’t plan it that way.

I tried many things — and I failed at many things too:

• I built apps

• Launched my own design line

• Ran market storefronts

• Started ventures I believed would become the “big one”

Some succeeded a little. Some failed completely. Some taught me more than any certification ever could.

But here is the surprising part:

Every single one of those experiences eventually flowed back into my current work.

The creativity from designing.
The resilience from entrepreneurship.
The analytical discipline from law.
The storytelling ability from writing.
The empathy from working at the grassroots side of business.
The strategic thinking from solving real business problems under pressure.

Today, all of those roads have converged into my 9–5 — where I thrive in ways I never imagined.

I didn’t become an SME expert by reading a manual.
I became one by living it, stumbling through it, learning, unlearning, and daring to try again.

So yes — I welcome my failures now.

They’re part of my toolkit — my side pack — and I deploy them quietly in rooms where people don’t expect it. Because the truth is:

All knowledge is powerful — if you know when to apply it.

If you’re in a season where nothing seems to connect, where your journey feels all over the place — don’t rush to define yourself too quickly.

You are still becoming.

And sometimes, the path only makes sense when you look back.