Why I joined the Urban Change Lab – Sharon (Operations manager Kenya)

My name is Sharon Raburu. I’m 22 years old and extremely passionate about life. I’m passionate about growth, progress and being the very best version of myself that I can be. I’m attracted to ambition, curiosity, warm-heartedness, intellect and whatever the noun for easy going is ?. I also believe in continued learning throughout life and believe that the secret towards unlocking my full 100% potential lies in making the very best of every situation every day. Basically seeing the silver lining in every cloud.

By continuous adaptation and improvements I know one can be everything the could ever dream of. As the operations manager of Urban Change Lab in Kenya, I couldn’t feel any more blessed than I am currently; supportive colleagues (Aline and Noela) and a tireless confidant and mentor in the founder Jochen.

I’m a high achiever always striving for the absolute best for those that I’ve worked with in the past and currently at the Urban Change Lab. Being the big dreamer that I am, my biggest weakness is taking setbacks quite negatively. In the spirit of optimism, I actively engage in constructive criticism from the standpoint of both my shortcomings and those of who I work with. I’m very communicative and thrive on mutual respect when learning from everyone else’s and my weaknesses but being a twenty-something year old in a competitive job market and being as direct of a person as I am, this never played out well for me and sadly, my former employer and I parted ways. “Next time, play dumb and just do your job regardless of your surroundings. Take it slow, you’re only 22!” they said.

Growing up, I’ve assumed so many adult roles that have shaped my perception towards life; relationships whether personal or work related. My biggest weakness is I worry too much about the future and this spills over to my work life where I identify and address potential damaging issues.

The Urban Change Lab embraces this as a strength. Now I have been given my voice back! The Urban Change Lab has turned my life around completely with the amazing support I get from my colleagues and even our craftsmen. I’ve been given an outlet for a voice that has been constantly belittled in the past and I’m proud to say that my journey here has been nothing but a great learning and growth experience despite the minor challenges I face working everyday; from working with difficult craftsmen to learning about better quality assurance checks as per international standards.

Fun fact; when you run after what you think you want, your days will be a furnace of stress and anxiety. If you sit in your own place of patience, what you need flows right to you. From this, you’ll understand that what you want also wants you, is looking for you and is attracting you, be it the fact that you’re 20 years old, 40 or just a 10 year old obsessed with petting puppies and wants to open up a pet massage parlor. There you go; there’s a great secret here for anyone who can grasp it ?