The first builder in my life was not an entrepreneur, a teacher, or a public figure.
It was my mother.
Before there was Funds & Galore, before I spoke about discipline, systems, or markets, there was a woman quietly building the foundation of my life through sacrifice.
When you are young, you rarely recognise sacrifice. You only see the results. Food on the table. School uniforms ready in the morning. A home that somehow keeps moving forward even when life feels uncertain.
But behind those results is usually someone carrying more weight than anyone notices.
For me, that person was my mother.
She did not understand the systems I talk about today. She did not understand capitalism, trading, or the philosophies I write about.
Sometimes I would try to explain what I was building, and she would look at me with confusion.
But there was one thing she understood deeply.
Responsibility.
And sacrifice.
The First Builder In My Life: The Cost Of Education
Private School Sacrifice
My mother made a decision early in our lives.
She told herself that her children would receive the best education she could possibly provide.
And she meant it.
We went to private school.
For many families, private education is simply an option. For us, it was a sacrifice.
Almost every cent in our home went toward school fees.
Growing up, we were not rich. There were times when money was extremely tight. Food could be scarce because most of the household income was going to ensure that we remained in good schools.
But my mother refused to allow her children to feel less than anyone else.
When other children went on school excursions, we went too.
When other children had spending money at school, we also had money.
Every morning when I left for school, I carried twenty rand.
It may not sound like much, but that twenty rand meant something deeper.
It meant my mother refused to let her children walk into school feeling small.
The First Builder In My Life: The Things She Gave Up
The Invisible Sacrifices
What people outside our home never saw were the things she gave up to make that life possible.
My mother did not buy clothes for herself.
She did not spend money on personal comforts.
There were times she could not even afford simple things for herself.
But every Christmas, my sister and I had new clothes.
Every single year.
She made sure of it.
She carried the sacrifices alone so that we could grow up feeling normal.
Looking back now as an adult, I realise something that I could not understand as a child.
Many parents love their children.
But sacrifice at that level requires something deeper than love.
It requires commitment.
The First Builder In My Life: When I Almost Lost My Way
The Streets Almost Took Me
There was a period in my life where things could have gone very wrong.
The streets almost took me.
I spent time with people who were involved in dangerous things. I would leave home for days. Sometimes two days. Sometimes four or five days without coming back.
Imagine what that does to a mother.
Imagine the fear of not knowing where your child is.
But even during that time, my mother never stopped believing in me.
Even when my behaviour made it look like I was losing control of my life, she kept fighting for me.
She believed in a future for me that I could not yet see for myself.
And that belief mattered.
Because eventually I found my way back.
The First Builder In My Life: The Foundation She Built
University and Opportunity
Because of her sacrifices, I was able to recover.
I finished matric with strong marks.
I went to university.
She paid for it.
Not because we were wealthy, but because she was willing to carry financial pressure if it meant giving her child an opportunity.
While I was studying, I had food in my fridge.
I never went to bed hungry.
I had electricity.
I had a place to live.
And I did not have to work while I was learning.
Those things might sound normal to some people.
But they existed because my mother sacrificed her own comfort to make them possible.
Many of the ideas I explore today about education and economic systems were shaped by experiences like these, which I later reflect on in Capitalism vs Curriculum.
The First Builder In My Life: Why I Keep Going
Everything I know about discipline, resilience, and building something meaningful began long before I ever opened a trading chart.
It started with a woman who refused to let her family collapse under pressure.
The philosophy I later wrote about in The Room Where I Met Myself began with observing strength in real life.
My mother was not building businesses.
But she was building people.
And that is a much harder job.
When people see the ideas behind Funds & Galore, they may assume the journey started with entrepreneurship or financial thinking.
But it did not.
It started with a mother who invested everything she had into her children.
The First Builder In My Life: The Next Generation
Soon I will become a father.
And one day I will sit down with my son and tell him about the woman who made our story possible.
His grandmother.
I will tell him about a woman who carried responsibilities without applause.
A woman who sacrificed her own comfort so that her children could stand on stronger ground.
I will tell him that before systems, before businesses, before philosophy…
There was sacrifice.
And that sacrifice built the foundation of our family.
If anything meaningful ever grows from the work I do through Funds & Galore, part of that foundation will always belong to the first builder I ever knew.
My mother.