In Rainbow Gold, you share your losses, lessons learned, and the long-term effects of making meaningful choices as you transitioned from struggling restaurant owner to building a thriving aviation insurance group. Why was this an important book for you to write?

Rainbow Gold was important for me to write because it captures the philosophy that has shaped every stage of my life, that you can build something valuable and meaningful at the same time. During my early struggles owning a restaurant and retail business in South Africa, I made many missteps and got some hard lessons in business and leadership, and success seemed elusive and distant. Over time, I realized the real reward isn’t at the end of the road; it’s woven into the journey; the relationships, resilience, impact, and identity you build along the way.

When my teams surprised me one holiday season with deeply personal notes about why they loved working at our company, it crystallized what I now call Rainbow Gold: the belief that fulfillment doesn’t need to be deferred. You can build it into your business and your life right now.

I wrote this book to show entrepreneurs and leaders that the process of building something, or learning how to build something, even in its messy, imperfect stages, can be just as meaningful as the outcome.

I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?

The hardest parts to write were the chapters where I had to revisit failures, missteps, and emotionally heavy moments, both from my early ventures in South Africa and later, from navigating sensitive family partnership dynamics in our current business. Those years were formative, but they also involved painful mistakes and setbacks that I hadn’t revisited in a long time.

As a leader who values responsibility and clarity, admitting where I fell short required vulnerability. But leaving those moments out would have made the lessons less authentic. Readers don’t benefit from a polished highlight reel; they benefit from the full picture, including the chapters where the stakes were high and things didn’t go right.

Those candid moments ended up being some of the most resonant for readers, which affirmed why they needed to be in the book.

Did you learn anything about yourself as you wrote this book?

Absolutely. Writing Rainbow Gold reaffirmed that resilience is built in the small, daily choices you make when no one is watching, those “butterfly effect” moments, not in dramatic turning points. As I revisited years of experiences, I saw that it wasn’t one brilliant strategy or one lucky break that moved me forward; it was consistency, perseverance, and staying anchored to my values even in uncertainty.

I also learned that people, my teams, clients, mentors, and family,  have always been my true driving force. I learned from my father and I’ve said for years that relationships matter more than anything in business, but writing the book helped me understand how deeply this principle has shaped my identity and my approach to leadership.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from Rainbow Gold?

If readers take only one idea away, I hope it’s this: You don’t have to choose between building a successful business and building a meaningful life.

When you invest in people, relationships, and values-driven decisions, financial success will follow organically and it will be financial success that is sustainable and legacy building.

Rainbow Gold is about rejecting the idea that fulfillment comes only at the end of the journey. Instead, it shows that the “pot of gold” is much broader than profit alone. Making money and being financially successful is certainly an important part of it, but equally important is the legacy you create, the people you grow, the impact you make, and the pride you can take in the work you do every day. When you get your business to the point where you can both fill your wallet and fill your soul, you’ve struck Rainbow Gold!

If this book encourages someone to build a business with purpose instead of pressure, with sustainability instead of scale, and to enjoy the journey instead of waiting for one perfect moment, then it will have been a success from my perspective.

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