A CEO’s lessons on taking the path less travelled

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

In Bhutan, South Asia, she could have become a monk. In Australia, where she was born, she realised that nothing would happen unless she made it happen herself. In Latin America, she learned Spanish so she could work in a non-English-speaking country. She lives her life as if she were answering a survey about it; if someone asked, “Where next, Nikki?” her answer might be, “Spin the globe. Pick a spot.”

That’s how Nikki Germany, the CEO of Moringa School, has lived her life, guided by the philosophy of picking the road less travelled. “Everybody can choose their own life, rather than the life that society expects of them,” she says. Nikki is no stranger to brave choices, like choosing not to have children or trading the relentless chase of status for the deeper currencies of freedom, health, and community. You can spend your days trying to ‘make it’ in life, but to Nikki, it is much more important that life is what you make it.

Well, I like to do interesting things. And obviously, what's interesting to me is different from what's interesting to everybody else. But in my professional career, I love what I do: making sure that young people have the technology skills they need for the future. I have a wonderful partner, great friends, and family, so I'm really lucky. I recharge by being in nature. I do a lot of hiking—some walking in Ngong Forest with my partner, meeting friends in Karura Forest, some cycling, some running. Triathlon sometimes [chuckles].

In what ways have these sporting pursuits transformed your life?

It's been a great way to meet people. Because I've moved around a lot in my life, being part of sporting communities has been a great way to meet people.

Having travelled and lived in so many places, what’s your golden rule for travel?

Be open to meeting people. Talk to people. When people travel, they're often open to conversations. You can meet interesting people who you might not necessarily meet in your normal life.

What’s a travel experience, good or bad, that has stayed with you?

I was travelling in Bhutan with a very close friend of mine. We were hiking with our guide and camping on the top of a mountain, and we convinced our guide to let us go for a walk on our own. We came across a monastery, and there were hundreds of monks playing volleyball because it was the end of their season and they were just about to go home. We spent the afternoon playing volleyball with the monks. And then they said, "Well, we're having a big party tonight; you should stay for our party." We stayed for the party [chuckles].

What's one rule you live by?

It's up to me to make my own opportunities. I don't think that things are going to come to me. I actually grew up in a village in Australia, where nothing was going to happen unless I made it happen. I put my hand up for jobs when I'm not even really sure if I'm comfortable doing them. I learn languages so that I can go and live in other countries. So, I'd say the rule I live by is creating your own opportunities.

Did your career unfold according to plan, or was it happenstance?

Haha! When I was 20, I would never have thought that I would be living in Kenya, running an educational institution. But I did think that I would travel the world and do many different things, and so I've created that path that's led me here.

How has your worldview been challenged or changed?

People laugh because I'm Nikki Germany, from Australia, living in Kenya. The thing that's been so great about so much world travel is that you just really get to understand other cultures so much better and appreciate other cultures.

What have you become less certain about as you've grown older?

It doesn't all have to be about success and achievement. I recently did an exercise around values. When I look at my values now compared to my values when I was in my twenties, when I first did that kind of exercise, they've completely changed. I used to value achievement and success and those types of things, and now it's much more about contribution and freedom. I've become less certain that there's one right way to live life.

What has become easier with age?

You don't beat yourself up so much. When you're young in your career, everything you do seems to be so important. You say the wrong thing in a meeting, you make a mistake in a presentation, and you're like, "Oh no, my career is over." As you get older, you're like, "It's okay, right? We're all human.”

What lie has success disabused you of?

I used to think it was very important to follow the career ladder. From a young age, I really wanted to be very successful and to have a lot of achievements in my professional life, and that has happened. And so, that was a lie I told myself: that success was important, when actually, that's not what's important. What's important is that you're doing something that has meaning in the world, that helps others, and that you're contributing by developing young talent.

What's your definition of success? My definition is having people around you that care about you, and that you care about. Doing something in life that is meaningful to you—whether that's paid work, entrepreneurship, or volunteerism—and being healthy. That's the other thing as you age: you really start to think a lot more about, "Am I healthy?" And I'm so grateful that I'm healthy.

Over the course of your life, is there something that you wanted but, with retrospection, you are glad never happened?

I wanted to be a journalist because I wanted to travel to war zones and tell the stories of what's happening there and, sort of, off-the-beaten-path places. But I think it's very good that I didn't become a journalist, because even though I like to write, I like to write on my own timeframe about my own things, not on other people's deadlines. I would not have made a very good journalist [chuckles].

What part of your personality do people underestimate the most?

I have a different personality outside of work than I have inside of work, and I'm not proud of this. But I think in each sphere, the people that I see at work underestimate one side of me, and the people that I have in my personal life underestimate the other. In my personal life, I'm actually quite laid-back, fun, quiet, "let's do interesting things." I'm a very good listener, a very good supporter, and not very Type A. So people who know me personally can underestimate me because I actually don't seem to have a strong personality. At work, I am the opposite: Type-A, high energy, and high standards.

What habit has best improved your life?

Being willing to ask for things. Saying, "I'd like to do that." Being willing to say, "Can I do that?" in a professional environment. "I see you're working on that interesting project. I'd like to be part of it. Can I join?" Sometimes people would say yes, and sometimes they'd say no. But at least I asked, and sometimes you get things that you don't think you can get just by having the guts to ask.

Has ambition made your life simpler or more complicated?

Honestly, it's probably made it more complicated. I grew up in a village, literally, and so many people stay there and have a very simple life: a family, a job, and they're very happy. When you have ambition, you're always wanting the next thing, and I'm really happy with the way I've lived my life; I wouldn't trade it for a simple life. But always wanting the next thing can mean that you're not always as content where you are. You're always thinking about the future and thinking about, "Okay, what's next, and what's next, and where am I going, and where am I getting to?" And so I think that makes life harder in a way, but in an interesting way. And I wouldn't trade it for simple.

What's the weirdest piece of advice you've given yourself?

Take the road less travelled. So, when I've had big decisions to make in life, I've had a tendency to choose the option that's been more challenging, that's been less certain, and I think that has enriched my life in many ways—even though it can be very scary at the time.

How does that look in your personal life?

I don't have children. And that was a choice I made because I was so interested in exploring the world, and having all of these experiences; I felt that was a better path to take than the road of having children. And that's a decision that I don't regret at all. For many people, having children is the right road, but some people have children just because society expects it of them.

How would you like to be remembered, if at all?

I would like people to say I impacted their careers. In a previous role, I had hundreds of young people here in Kenya working, and I was working very closely with all of them. And they often reach out and say, "You really impacted me. I learned things from you, and my career is progressing because of some of the things that I learned from you." And that's really meaningful to me.

What do you miss about your younger self?

Haha! I don't feel much different than I did. You feel more confident in yourself and who you are, and that your choices are fine. I think I miss most... when you're young, the whole world is open to you. There are so many doors that you can walk through, and there's such a sense of possibility. And as you walk through some of those doors, the next time there aren't as many doors, and then you walk through one of those, then there's even less. I feel like the number of doors that are open to me is less. And I miss that feeling from being 20.

What does your weekend plan look like?

It will probably be a quiet weekend because my partner has been away for a month, and he's just coming back on Saturday morning. We'll probably go for a walk in Ngong Forest and go out to dinner with friends.

What's your most controversial opinion?

Oh. Everybody can choose their own life rather than the life that society expects of them. And the fact that I chose to have a life without children, I think, is controversial. It certainly causes a lot of concern here in Kenya [chuckles].

Reporting originally appeared via Business Daily. Read the full source for additional context.