You Can Live On Less And Plan Your Future — Junior Mesamours
Junior is the Founder of Kasav an Nou, founded in May 2017. He has worked as a translator and managed projects for an NGO. He would go from place to place to speak to villagers on how to better organize their everyday lives. Junior recently sat down with us as he offers some practical business advice to our readers.
Junior enjoys reading; mainly reading about business literacy. He spent nine years working with the United Nations, and he did not save a penny. He did not know how to invest until he read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” which opened his eyes to many things when it comes to money management and personal finance.
His favorite quote is “The way you spend every dollar that comes your way shapes your economic and financial future.” Since after he read the book, he has been educating himself regarding personal finance.
In 2016, he lost his job with the United Nations. For three years, he learned the principles of savings for short-and-long-term projects because when he was working, he did not know how to preserve for later use. He used to give money to people and buy items online. As he ponders on his past, he realized that he could have saved $500 per month for nine years since he had absolutely no bill, most of the time.
Hence, he bought his first piece of land through temporary jobs and freelancing. “You can live on less and plan your future,” he says.
He now goes to conferences and shares his experience with young people as he encourages them to not act foolishly with their money, and teach them how to reach financial fitness through business.
He was raised as a church boy, and he majored in Theology while in college. “We were taught at church that we have to give out 10 percent to the church, but we never learned to save 10 percent for ourselves.”
Junior understood that everything starts with making it a habit. Most of his readings are leadership and business. He also does training for community leaders to help them become economically responsible so their communities can be sustainable.
“Poverty is a friend of ignorance. They are other outer efforts. You can be having much money, and your behavior leads you to poverty. You might not have much, but your behavior leads you to become rich. It’s how you behave about money.”
At a personal level, most of the money he earns now is either saved or invested in his business. He dreams of creating a new Miami in Haiti, somewhere where all Haitians can buy and learn everything they want in Haiti instead of going to Miami.
Junior hopes to earn his Master’s degree in Communication and Marketing to sharpen his marketing skills abroad the spectrum.
His role-models are first Henry Christophe for the vision he had to educate every Haitian girl and boy so they would not envy anyone else on the face of the globe, and second Martin Luther King Jr. because of his intelligence, and he was a man who thinks outside of the box. He also admires Jesus Christ for the care he shows to humanity.
For young entrepreneurs in Haiti seeking to break some doors open this year, his advice is to invest in Haiti. “Where there is darkness, a little candle can make a big difference. Be smart. Face the most intense situation. Change will never come by itself. People produce change. Change doesn’t just happen. We have the same capabilities as everybody else.”
Junior believes deep down in his heart that “THERE IS NO PERSONAL SUCCESS IN A COLLECTIVE FAILURE.” It takes a little drop from each one of us to make a change as big as the ocean.
