💡 War Teams

Twenty-eight years ago today, I landed at Washington Dulles airport to start my new life in the US. I flew from Senegal via Paris to DC.

• A Bosnian immigrating to America.

Laura picked me up at the airport and we battled through holiday weekend DC-Baltimore traffic to get to her apartment in Baltimore.

Only 6 weeks earlier, our love story had another twist as we navigated the coup in Sierra Leone. This included an evacuation to Guinea, a temporary duty station in The Gambia, and a conference in Benin.

I travelled with

• A Bosnian passport.
• A carry-on bag. (I did not own a pair of long pants – I lost everything during the evacuation in Freetown, Sierra Leone.)
• $1,450 in my checking account – earmarked for an engagement ring 💍.
• No job waiting for me.

While at a conference in Benin, Laura gave me the keys to her apartment, the spare key to her car and, most importantly – her love and a promise of a better life that we get to build together. ❤

I was not alone anymore.

Freedom is Not Free

Every year since then, America’s Independence Day has been a very meaningful day to me. I am fighting tears as I write these lines today.

Freedom is my number one value.

• It is like breathing air for me.
• The freedom to express myself in my own genius, and be myself, is inspiring.

Responsibility is the price of that freedom for me. I have a responsibility to do everything I can to provide that same freedom to others.

• It starts with Laura.
• Then my kids – Oscar, Stella and Kosta.
• Then my partners and my team.
• And our clients.
• Through leadership I work to empower as many people as possible to have the same freedom.

Our Independence Day Ritual