On a mission to inspire
“You’re fired! He said and it sent a chill down my spine. Being fired by my own flesh and blood was too much to handle”, recalls young entrepreneur, author and global speaker Sabirul Islam. He’s 22, but that “horrific” experience happened when he was only 13. Being employed by his 14 year old cousin to aid in his “company” that designed calendars for teachers, Sabirul thought that life would be a walk in the park, but alas it was not to be. “Imagine being fired at the age of 13,” retorts Sabirul with a cheeky grin. “That’s when I thought I’ll get back at him, and started my own website designing business called Veyron Technology.” The young man was back on track.
Pic by Ranjith Perera
Speaking at an event held at Choco Luv Colombo recently, Sabirul spoke of ‘Generation Y’ and his mission to inspire “1 million” people worldwide. “It’s really about going against the tide and refuting the misconceptions of society.” Being a Bangladeshi growing up in East London, Sabirul faced a lot of challenges. What‘s more, he was told by his parents to follow a degree, but he was relentless about starting up a business and got it up and running. He realised he did not want to work for somebody else for the rest of his life and do whatever he would be told.
Today, he is a global motivational speaker having spoken at over 700 events worldwide and author of the bestselling books “The World at Your Feet” and “Young Entrepreneur World”. His books selling over 60,000 copies to date. Sabirul launched his Teen-Trepreneur board game at 18, to educate young people about business. The game has been sold to over 550 schools in the UK and in 14 countries worldwide and has been integrated into the BTEC Business Qualification in over 500 schools across the UK.
His company’s clients include Merrill Lynch, ABN Amro and Morgan Stanley and the company even won an award for “Best Inner East London Company”. He was subsequently given an opportunity, to learn the basics about investment and trade in New York City by Merrill Lynch. Sabirul was soon thronged by young people interested in learning how he had attained success at such a young age.
“I wanted to educate entrepreneurs and help create a platform where they are able to grow in stature and develop their own brands. It’s my mission to inspire and create success for both today’s and tomorrow’s generations. “You can be unique and extraordinary in life,” he said. “Inspire 1 Million Sri Lanka” is partnered with AISEC, Junior Chamber International Sri Lanka (JCI), and National Youth Services Council (NYSC).
Sabirul visited Matara, Trincomalee, Ampara, Jaffna, Vavuniya, Colombo, Kandy and many other main towns. After this series of motivational talks, Sabirul expects to visit Sri Lanka in September to continue his journey of motivation.
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