About Me — Daniel Teklai
Long-time reader, new writer.
Hi there!
Cheers from California.
My name is Daniel Teklai and I really want to share with you something about me, but frankly, I don’t even know where to start. I actually mean I don’t know where to stop. Like most of you, I wear many hats and have an array of interests and experiences, but I am not sure about what is appropriate to share with an online audience or a particular platform. What is too much, too little, or just right? Is there a Goldilocks zone for this?
I am slightly confused about the etiquette of writing about oneself, a bit worried that I might bore you to death or worse, not have you follow me. Seriously … I have zero followers as of this writing, which means I am practically walking by myself.
When in doubt, better to trust the gut and keep writing, right? I hope you find something in the following paragraphs that triggers a conversation, and perhaps we can bond on something. As a new writer on Medium, I am here to learn from and connect with anyone the universe deems so.
For the past couple of years, I have been a regular reader of Medium articles and now that I have decided to jump into the pool and start writing, I am finding the exercise a bit awkward. You see, I still have to publish my first article, so I am not sure I can start referring to myself as a writer on this platform just yet. However, I can definitely say I am an avid reader. I just love reading good content; even the ones that make me cringe. I am such a sucker for beautifully constructed sentences that I often keep reading content that doesn’t serve my purpose. Some sort of guilty pleasure, I guess.
It didn’t take me long to become a paying Medium member. “A portion of your membership will directly support the writers and thinkers you read the most,” it said. What a great concept. Win-win.
Of Reading and Writing
I was born and grew up in Eritrea — you can Google it later — and my father (RIP), who was an English teacher for a few years before becoming a banker for the next 37 years, never really stopped acting like an English teacher at home. In our household, at least according to dad, the only respectable extracurricular activity we the children can do was reading — reading books, magazines, fiction, non-fiction, government propaganda pamphlets, prescription drug instructions, legal notices, and even obituaries. Yep, anything goes, so long as one’s reading. I remember, one Sunday, I spent the entire day reading the Oxford English Dictionary loud out to him.
Reading opened a whole new world for me, both for learning and escapism purposes. Escapism provided a healthy distraction from everything that goes on in a war-torn country and the boredom of being a teenager. While I was a good student, I couldn’t wait for the school day to be over so that I can run to the library and get lost in the worlds created by Victorian Era writers: Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Thomas Hardy, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Shelley, R. L. Stevenson, and many others.
It didn’t occur to me back then how weird it was for a young boy somewhere in Africa — who is learning English as a third language — to identify so well with characters and plots that were alien to his own world. The power of the written word to transcend barriers is simply amazing.
Reading everything that I could get my hands on led one thing to another and somehow, I subscribed to an evangelical Christian magazine that was spreading the Good Word — out of all places — in India. One day, I decided to write to the editors and praise their work. No email or internet back then, just a handwritten letter placed in an envelope and filled with childlike curiosity and innocence. Weeks later, the next issue of the magazine arrived in the mail. And they have published my letter! I was beyond ecstatic. Oh, my goodness, I am now a published writer, I told myself; a writer in the English language, nonetheless! I was 11 years old.
A few years later, in my high school years, I took it to the next level and started translating some of my favorite works of fiction from English to my native language, Tigrigna.
I even sent one of them, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, to the local radio station, and they broadcasted the episodes over several weeks. I remember loving the work of translating literature and bringing it to a whole new audience. Sadly, that was the last time I did it.
But I continue to enjoy reading in the three languages that I am proficient in. My bookshelves are always filled with great books written in Tigrigna, Amharic, and English — some read and re-read, others waiting to be cracked open. I especially love the ones that are translated from another language. Some things do get lost in translation, but some other things are also gained, giving the literary work — and by extension, life itself — different flavors and different frames of thinking.
In the next few years, my goal is to write a few books and make humble contributions to the collection of knowledge we all share. I better get on with it though; life seems to move at a faster and faster pace these days. Writing books has been on my bucket list as something to start doing after the kids grow and leave home for college. Well, one of them is already in college and the other one will leave the nest this time next year. There will be a void — the proverbial empty nest — and I would love to fill it with writing and traveling.
Come to think of it, that is why I am here at Medium. Time to stretch some brain muscles and rekindle the joy of writing. I am not sure what I will be writing about at this point, but I believe in the adage “Write what you know”. And like a good marketer I hope to hone my target audience by segmenting, targeting, and positioning but would hate the experience to be like a perpetual “optimized content writing for SEO purposes” as many would advise us, newbies, to focus on. Is that what it takes to get paid here?
Yikes!
I will try to optimize my writing for joyous expression and communicating with people instead and see what happens.
Writing What I Know
My journey so far can be summed up as a first-generation African immigrant in America, husband, father of two wonderful teens, banker, marketer, activist, and one who straddles two different worlds as he attempts to climb the economic and social ladders. In my brief bio for Medium, I tried to narrow it down to “African & American. Marketer. Banker. New Writer. Interested in the adventures of trying to achieve success as an outsider — with a bit of a contrarian viewpoint.”
So, what do all these say about what interesting things I should focus on?
Coming-Of-Age
I know what it means to be born in a war zone, to grow up surrounded by fear, scarcity, drought, curfew, AK-47 wielding soldiers at every corner, the fervor of red book brandishing communist revolutionaries, land mines, and the piercing shrill of low-flying MiG-39 war jets. Yet, somehow, intertwined with all these, the joy of playing street soccer, watching Bollywood movies, reading literature, fantasizing about the outside world, dedicated teachers, close-knit families, loving neighbors, cafeteria joints, and gelato corners made my childhood joyous and extraordinary. Life is multi-dimensional; happiness and misery do coexist.
Coming to America
I know what it means to leave everything you know behind and start a new life as an immigrant; from one of the smallest countries in Africa to Delaware, one of the smallest states in the US. Moving to America was not only about the trials and tribulations, the hilarity of fish-out-of-water mishaps, the hardship of culture shock and assimilation, but also the wonderful feeling of relief from political persecution, the economic opportunities, and the freedom to do and be what your heart desires. Again, life is multi-dimensional.
Speaking of Delaware … (Name drop alert!) how many of you can say you went to the same university as the President of the United States? Yes indeed, I am a University of Delaware alumni. And also, I was a student at Delaware Technical Community College, back when First Lady Dr. Jill Biden was a teacher. (Name drop #2). 😊. But most importantly, I am forever grateful for the assistance then-Senator Biden and his office staff provided me when I first arrived in the country. More on this in the future…
Career Journey
I know something about the challenges and triumphs of entrepreneurship. 5 years after coming to America to start a new life, I launched a printing business and for the next five years, the rollercoaster of ego-boosting wins and humbling failures taught me life lessons I use to this day.
I am now in the banking profession, 22 years and counting. Bank marketing to be exact. The American Bankers Association said that I am now a Certified Financial Marketing Professional (or CFMP). Yep, those pesky invitations to apply for a credit card that keeps clogging your mailbox are written and orchestrated by people like me. Sorry! They are not so pesky when they arrive at the exact time when you could use the credit line, are they? So, you’re welcome as well.
I love the world of marketing and its ability to create a better world and help businesses achieve their full potential. On the flip side, marketing can also be weaponized for unhealthy goals such as excess consumerism and widening divisions that create social angst. Having said that, I am a proud marketer. When people ask me what I do, I usually say I am in marketing before mentioning banking.
Over the years, I had the privilege of working on projects I was passionate about and made many lifelong friends along the way. I was even lucky enough to be part of a team that organized and prepared a start-up bank for launch. Nothing like coming up with a list of possible names for a new bank, creating a marketing strategy, and designing its logo that would be plastered everywhere over the coming years.
For many years, I was a board member of a local chapter of the American Marketing Association and served as its president. I enjoy connecting with other marketing professionals, bouncing ideas, and helping businesses achieve their sales goals.
Other Interests
Here are a few more topics that also pique my interest. If you address any of the following, I am most likely to follow you.
· Positive psychology — Ideas that make us humans happy and thrive.
· Anything related to marketing. Let’s face it, marketers rule the world!
· Inspiring stories of the 2 million+ African immigrants in the US.
· The future of banking, currency, and payments technology and their potential to uplift the developing world.
· Africa in the next 25 years — Africa’s economic and population growth will shape our future like never before.
· US Foreign Policy — Done right, I believe it can still be a global force for good.
· Quantum mechanics — Anything that can help me understand this mind-boggling, yet awesome science a little bit better.
· Philosophy — Both Western and Eastern philosophies as well as the least understood and underappreciated ‘ethnophilosophy’ of indigenous African cultures.
· Any content about ant colonies (oh, yeah!), The Simpsons or Jeopardy.
Thanks for your interest and let me know in the comment section what your advice to a new writer is.
Regards!
~Daniel
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