Holiday Countdown 2020 - The lost days part 2 - Michael Kimathi - Jodi LeBlanc
Due to the article size limit, older days have to be removed from the main article.
Here are the days 2 and 3:
Song of the day: Rivers of Babylon by Boney M (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta42xU2UXLA)
This is Michael Kimathi. Michael is hosting Atlassian Community Events in Nairobi, Kenya. He already organized 24 (!) events this year and I'm proud to have him here as our Number 2.
Hello Michael, how and when did you become one of Atlassian’s Community Leaders?
This was just a coincidence. I was tasked to raise funds for Ruby Conference Kenya 2015 which was organised by Nairuby (Co-founder and Co-organiser) which a community with presence in East Africa. I wrote blind emails requesting for partnership to all tech companies in the world and I happened to write to Atlassian. The response I got from Atlassian is that they do not fund other communities but if I was interested I could start (AUG) in Nairobi. Back then I used BitBucket and Trello (It was not yet acquired by Atlassian). So when I researched what products Atlassian offered I was amazed by the dedication on Team productivity and efficiency tools like Jira family, Confluence and Statuspage offered. Coincidentally I was consulting for C4DLab (Computing for Development Lab ) at The University of Nairobi which is my Alma Mater, I was helping/consulting to build an innovative community and startup ecosystem, so Atlassian could not have come at a better time because I added the Atlassian stack into tools which I would recommend to the incubated startup for scaling. So I got back to Atlassian with an interest to take up the challenge and as they say the rest …
What motivates you being a Community Leader?
I love people and I consider myself as an opportunity creator and ecosystem builder. My purpose in life is to help others create sustainable wealth. Community has provided to me an opportunity to be part of the solution and generate a sustainable change. I come from a country with the most hard working, resilient, self-driven people, at the same time, the lowest in corruption perception index and significant percentage of unemployment which hinders the former. Recognising that true wealth comes from people with the same vision and drive, I have seen sustainable companies built, jobs created, hope restored, accountability increased, lives changed and more happier people. I have to mention I highly depend on ripple effect to keep going, I believe if I do good/right thing, you will do good/right thing to others or back to me.
Michael's first contact with an Atlassian product was in 2011, it was Bitbucket and this is his favorite Atlassian memory so far:
2017 Atlassian Summit San Jose, when I was recognised for running and growing one of the best communities in the world. I was on MCB (Mike Cannon-Brookes) -keynote, from time to time I go back on youtube and check it out because it was a surprise to me.
(I've been surprised in San Jose as well - I received an award for articles I wrote and I didn't even know before that there would be something like awards... It seems Atlassian loves surprises :-) )
Michael loves listening to music, ocean swimming, walking or biking - he’s passionate about good music and Community because both have an everlasting impact. His favorite 2020 songs are:
Fess Ka fe Bang by DJ Madness and Mob (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHd2c3hLlHs)
Jerusalema by Master KG (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCZVL_8D048)
Michael, Jerusalema is a big hit in Germany as well, I love this song - everyone who never heard the song: click on the link! Immediately! Right after Boney M has finished!
Did you have a New Year’s resolution for 2020? Did you achieve it?
Coincidentally I stopped doing resolutions in 2018. From 2019 I started living fully each day realising I do not own anything or have control of anything in this world but God does.
Do you have an everlasting Holiday memory?
When I was young and I was responsible for preparing chapatis after 12Hrs of movies, home grilled meat and chapatis are still my favorite holiday meal.
(I hope this picture look a bit like your chapatis... Found this online - I'm sure, yours are much better)
Think at your childhood. What's your favorite Holiday memory?
12 hours of nonstop movies which I had to walk for 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) to watch because by then we could not afford a TV set.
Which Holiday song do you love?
I love “By the rivers of Babylon by Boney M” - if you hear that play down the street you know it is Christmas.
Do you have a favorite Holiday movie?
Jesus (Original version 1969 which was translated to many languages). It reminds me what Jesus had to do for the world and with everything going on I can clearly see why he sacrificed himself.
Are there any unique holiday traditions in your family?
I am not sure how traditional this is, but Christmas we go to church to thank God for His blessings and eat good meals.
Please share a heartwarming moment from 2020 with us
When I resumed physical community events and got to see community members happy and with a sense of hope.
This is awesome - here in Germany, we are still waiting for that moment. I hope it will be in 2021, sooner or later.
What are you grateful for?
Life.
I asked Michel, if he usually has a Christmas tree. His answer: "Yes, but I'm a minimalist"
I like your minimalistic tree :-)
Michael, I think, plenty of us have never been in Kenya. What do you love about Kenya, what makes living there so special?
Kenya is the most beautiful place on earth, the wildlife, nature, wonder of the world and the list goes on.
Kenyans are generally hardworking, innovative resilient, friendly and accomodating.
This sounds awesome - we all will visit you next year in Nairobi!
How do you usually celebrate New Year’s Eve? Will it be different this year?
If I am not entertaining people through music somewhere, I just meditate and make a prayer.
If you could change something about the way we celebrate the last days of the year, what would it be?
Shift the focus to led a hand to those who are less fortunate in our community. (The homeless, the sick, the destitute, orphans and widows)
What was the most unsual thing you did this year?
I resumed meditation and learnt new skills in cooking and lots of reading.
Here’s your chance to give a special shoutout to someone - who is it and why?
Shoutout to my Summit buddies from day
@Justin Witz for the positive vibes.
Marlon Palha leadership to emulate.
@Daniel Eads for welcoming me at my first summit, selflessness and 24/7 assistance to the community when need be.
@Darline Auguste for always listening to the leaders.
@Susan Hauth _Jira Queen_ for always saying it the way it is.
Michael, thank you for telling us so many personal things about you, you're a very spiritual person and I love this! A wonderful and peaceful Christmas time to you, your family and friends, stay healthy and have fun - and see you soon, in Kenya or somewhere else!
Song of the day: Letzte Weihnacht (Last Christmas) by Max Raabe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8re8FBpLIdU)
Do you know that you can reach different levels in the Atlassian Community? At the moment, the highest level is 10 - and just a few people reached that level up to now - Jodi LeBlanc is one of them. And she is not only level 10 but also number three in our countdown.
(You can find more about the other level 10 leaders - there are only three of them - in a few days)
Jodi comes from the beautiful Prince Edward Island, Canada. She is not only an Online Community Leader, she’s hosting Trello Community Events as well.
Jodi, I’m so glad to have you here in the countdown. How and when did you become one of Atlassian's Community Leaders?
I was active on the Trello slack community for a while and when the new community was being formed the amazing @Erica Moss recruited me.
What do you love about being a Community Leader?
I love sharing my love for Trello with others, the Atlassian communiteam is extraordinary, and being able to connect with awesome Leaders and members from across the globe is spectacular.
What was the first time you ever used an Atlassian product?
I was introduced to Confluence 10+ years ago through my organizations wiki, and discovered Trello in 2015 and been a super fan ever since.
Let’s talk about the upcoming Holidays. What’s your favorite Holiday movie?
My favourite holiday movies are "Love Actually (2003)"
and "The Holiday (2006)".
My Mom and I have a tradition to watch these together every year, the last 10 years we have watched them via facetime as she is a snow bird and spends her winters in Florida. This year due to Covid she is staying in PEI and we can watch these together in-person, which we are really looking forward to.
Sometimes, even the worst things have a nice side-effect :-)
Do you have a Christmas tree?
Here's my Christmas tree, it is always a trip down memory lane with all our ornaments. We don't have that perfect tree where everything matches in two colours, our tree is made up of ornaments that were given to us over the years. A collection of memories that all come flooding back each year when we open up the boxes of ornaments. My Mom gave me an ornament every year, they are dated and have either a daughter theme or a mother-daughter theme. Her goal was to give me an ornament each year in my childhood, so that when I grew up and moved out I would have a collection of ornaments for my own tree. She knows how much I treasure them so she kept up the tradition even to this day.
Wow, nice ornaments and a very glittering tree, Jodi, awesome - and obviously even the dog likes the tree. My cats like our tree as well. From the moment on when the tree is set up, it is occupied by one of our two cats. A new cave, hooray! I always have a bad conscience when we remove the tree and steal the great sleeping place for another year.
Think about your childhood. What are your best memories?
When I was a kid my parents got my brother and I a chocolate advent calendar, every morning we got to open a door and have a chocolate, until all the doors were open on December 24th. When we got a bit older my brother started eating all my chocolates and closing the door back up so when it was time to open it, I would be heartbroken that there was no chocolate inside. Once my parents caught on to what he was doing, that was the end of the chocolate calendars.
Oh no, what a terrible reason for ending the era of chocolate calendars in your family. I hope your heart will not break with this calendar!
Did you have a New Year's resolution for 2020? Did you achieve it?
I sure did! Here's my article from last year on new year's resolutions, and my words of the year were "Thrive and Execute": Despite the pandemic I still managed to complete my New Year goals:
https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Trello-articles/2020-Thrive-and-Execute/ba-p/1274758
https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Trello-articles/New-Year-s-Resolutions-Annual-Reviews-Past-Year-Reviews-or-none/ba-p/1242608
What was the most unsual thing you did this year?
Cold water swimming! My friend and I have been doing social-distancing swimming since April in -2C water to 15C. It is so exhilarating, an experience I can not describe, a sensory overload/feeling alive! It really broke up the monotony of the pandemic, and has been something to look forward to each week :)
Thank you Jodi, thank you for letting us be a part of your life. What would the Community be without you? Have fun watching your favorite movies with your mother (in person, finally!!) - Merry Christmas to you, your family and friends and a Happy New Year 2021!
Was this helpful?
Thanks!
Thomas Schlegel
About this author
Administrator
HanseMerkur
Hamburg, Germany
615 accepted answers
4 comments