Sabirul Islam rose above the traditional norms of education to become an entrepreneur at 14, author at 17 and many more to inspire one million…writes Saad Hammadi
SOURAV LASKAR
He wanted to tell his story of success and perseverance first to the young people in Bangladesh, so they could feel inspired. Irony is that it became the last country where he found his way in. In between, his stories have inspired hundreds of thousands in different other countries. The first organisation in Bangladesh – a leading international development organisation – he reached out to host his event was the last organisation that turned to him. By then, he had inspired one million people!
Sabirul Islam, a Bangladeshi young motivational speaker born in Britain, became an entrepreneur of a web designing firm at 14. While managing his firm, his exposure with an investment bank got him into the experience of investment banking. But nine months into the work, he became bored of the job. ‘Running a business was not quite a thing’ for him, he says.
Born and raised in Tower Hamlets, the second poorest community in the UK, Sabirul grew up to become one of the successful young entrepreneurs at an age his peers would barely even come across such an idea.
‘Most people in Tower Hamlets love to live on state benefits. It was a very negative environment to be brought up,’ he says. After his advanced levels, Sabirul did not go to any university not because he could not afford but because he was not sure what he wanted to study.
Sabirul was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was 11. He would have six seizures a day that would have him shaking for half an hour every time. Although his conditions have improved, he still has to put up with it. ‘People need to embrace the kind of conditions they live in,’ says the 25-year-old young achiever.
His experience coupled with curiosity among his neighbours got him into the idea of writing a book but it was rejected by 40 publishers until one of them chose to publish it. His first book ‘The World at Your Feet’ sold 42,500 copies and also paved way for him to become a motivational speaker.
It still was not so immediate. Sabirul paid 600 pounds to be on a magazine to promote his book and his work. The magazine went off to university students. ‘For six months there was no response,’ says Sabirul. Six months later, former first lady of Nigeria, Professor Uche Azikiwe rang him up with an invitation to visit Nigeria and inspire young people in her country.
An entrepreneur, investment banker and author at 17, Sabirul wanted to put his experience into a board game for school students as his next venture. ‘Things that I personally learnt, I tried to incorporate them in this board game,’ says the developer of the financial board game ‘Teen-trepreneur’.
Like his books, this young talent did not find any retail outlet interested even in his board game. He had approached every major outlet including Hasbro, the publisher of popular board game Monopoly without luck. Later, through academic resource institutes such as ‘Tutor2U’ which the British schools subscribed, he got his board games rolling. His game has become part of the curriculum of nearly 600 schools in the UK.
Efforts eventually started paying off for this young man, who did not give up on his aspiration to leave a mark for his existence. In 2010, Sabirul became the recipient of ‘JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World’ award which was previously entitled to likes of US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, actor Jackie Chan and musician Elvis Presley. It was in the same event that he initiated a campaign to ‘inspire 1 million’ people with his experience.
To launch the campaign, Sabirul traced back to his ancestral roots, Bangladesh where he had been only once as a three-year-old. ‘I did not know anything about my roots. There was nothing more touching than seeing my home for the first time.’
Yet once more, no one in his country showed interest in his campaign. He had reached out to 1,536 people and organisations in three years through emails, LinkedIn and personal communications within the country to host his campaign. The first country that hosted him was Maldives and the last to be was Bangladesh.
It took 867 events in 26 countries in a span of four years to reach one million audiences that Sabirul Islam sought to inspire with his story.
Reflecting his road to become a public speaker, Sabirul recalls, ‘first time I ever did a speaking event, I was holding cards and I was shaking.’ It was a school event with 250 head teachers from different schools coming to hear him. As invitations continued to come his way, his confidence developed naturally. ‘The content needs to be drawn up’ from an area where the speaker has experience and knowledge, he says as a first tip to young speakers.
His ideas and arguments conflict with the norms and traditional practices in a society, and like he puts, ‘sometimes being traditional is not the best solution.’
Sabirul is currently managing director of everjobs.com, a venture of the German company Rocket Internet in Bangladesh. The company reached out to him to become its brand ambassador but he offered to lead the job portal himself and was hired too.
A motivational speaker and head of a leading internet company without a proper university degree is quite an influence to pull off in the society and Sabirul is all of that. ‘If you want to become a doctor or engineer you need to study. A person who has experience in 10 different areas as a volunteer outweighs the CGPA anyone has,’ believes Sabirul, adding, ‘Trial and error is the best form of learning. It is about finding your own ABC.’