From Kampala to Geneva, by way of Bono.

Two homelands before I was ten

I was born in Kampala, Uganda, to a family from Ghana’s Bono Region. My father’s village is Basakrom. Growing up between cultures gave me two things I still rely on: an outlook that does not stop at borders, and a deep respect for where people come from.

Geneva, and a company that turned 25

Switzerland became home. On 20 October 2000 I co-founded InterHyve Sàrl in Geneva. Twenty-five years later we look after the IT and security of small and medium-sized organisations, international bodies and foundations, with a team across four continents (Switzerland, Kenya, India and Australia) and an ISO 27001-certified way of working. I learned most of what I know about business there: keep promises, keep systems simple, and keep the client’s worst day in mind.

A family, and a second company

I am a husband and the father of four, and we live in the Canton of Vaud. Together we started Dwennimmen, a family property company. Its name is the Adinkra symbol of the ram’s horns, which we chose for our wedding: humility together with strength. Our first building, in La Chaux-de-Fonds, has been our school.

Getting back in the cold water

For years I took a cold plunge religiously – it’s how I practised resilience on a personal level. Our trip around the world broke the habit, and I’m now getting back in the water. Writing it here is my way of holding myself to it.

Cold water makes you breathe slowly when everything in you wants to panic. That skill transfers: to a cyber incident at 2 a.m., to a difficult tenant, to a hard conversation at home.

Why resilience

Look closely and my work is one job done three ways. InterHyve helps businesses withstand attacks and outages. Dwennimmen helps a family stand firm while money loses value. And cold water, which I am getting back into, is how I practise staying calm under pressure myself. Resilience is not being unbreakable. It is being able to take a hit and keep going.

Legacy is not what you leave behind. It is what you build into others, intentionally, every day.