Growing up in Kirinyaga, Samson’s greatest fear was bullying that was prevalent in secondary schools. This pushed him to work hard and earn a place at Alliance High School where he was taught to be strong in body, mind, and character.
His life is set to precision like clockwork. He wakes up at 5am, has a 30-minute gym session, feeds the dog at 6am, and leaves the house to be in the office just before 7am.
“It’s important for you to focus your energies on the day. Lack of focus consumes all opportunities that you have. Being in the office early allows me not just to focus my energies but also to prioritise well.”
He studied commerce at the University of Nairobi and is a holder of an MBA (Accounting, Finance, and Economics) from the University of Bradford, a certified public accountant, and a certified information systems auditor.
"I believe that people have great ideas and as a leader, you get to see and learn these ideas when you listen."
As his auditing career started picking up at PwC Kenya, he threw his hat in another ring: management. “As an auditor, you come in after things have been done. I told myself that maybe I needed to be in the arena where things were happening, as opposed to waiting for things to happen and then offering advisory.”
Samson has worked for Citi Bank, KK Security, Old Mutual (Tanzania), Centum Investments, and The Nairobi Hospital and has been Equity Afia’s Managing Director for 14 months. Quite ostensibly, the nomad’s life.
“I have moved across industries because there have always been opportunities to grow and add value. Moving has also aligned my interests and given me a chance to practice the leadership skills I’ve gained over time.”
At Equity Afia, he operates with an open-door policy. “I practise a lot of listening, I believe that people have great ideas and as a leader, you get to see and learn these ideas when you listen.”
He is a 10-handicapper on the golf course. The sport has taught him what loss looks like, but most importantly, how to bounce back from it.
“You’ll have a bad shot; you’ll have a bad break, and you’ll have a good break; you’ve got to be patient, learn from your failures quickly enough and emerge out of it. Don’t allow one bad shot to affect how you play the rest of the game.”
Outside work, Samson has dichotomised his focus into two major areas: Impacting his children’s lives and leaving a legacy.
“At the end of all this, I don’t want to have been the man that just walked through life. I am deliberately spending more time with my children. My presence is crucial in the shaping of their lives. About legacy, I am leaning towards coaching, and I have a few people whose hands I am holding. They are doing great things in various sectors, and I can’t wait to see them on the Top 40 Under 40 list soon.”