My childhood ended at nine when I was brainwashed into playing the role of La petite main in one of the largest revolutions of the last century.
From 11 to 18, I spent my teenage years in a war zone, under constant bombings, spending nights with my family in air raid shelters.
At 19, I was drafted into military service, spending three years in the horrors of war, losing many friends along the way.
In 1992, I fled to Germany as a political refugee, spending a year homeless on the streets of German cities—unable to speak a word of German—until my refugee status was accepted.
In 1997, after earning a high school diploma for the second time, I was admitted to the University of Applied Sciences in Frankfurt, where I studied architecture until 2003.
That same year, I started my first small business, eventually building it into a multimillion-dollar firm.
Now, after all these years, I’m here to share this message:
It’s for those with no family support, for the lonely who feel lost, for those who have yet to recognize their own power, and for those ready to transform their lives and start anew.
I understand you. I’ve been there.
I had no mentor, no supporter, at any point in my life.
Everything I know—right or wrong—I learned the hard way, through trial and error, falling and getting back up time and time again. Without guidance, everything took much longer.
Whenever you feel like you lack the confidence to keep going, remember the words of Rumi:
"You are not a drop in the ocean; you are the ocean in a drop."
Rumi, with this beautiful quote, says that every person is a part of the universe and carries the entire universe within them. It reminds us that we all have the potential for greatness and wholeness inside ourselves.
Your past doesn’t define your worth—it reveals your strength. Every scar, every fall, every rise has shaped who you are today.
You are capable of more than you think. The fire you've walked through didn’t burn you—it forged you. Now it’s time to lead your own path.
You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to begin. Every small step is part of something greater.