Meet My Mother - The Original Shooting Star
Before I teach you what it means to be a Shooting Star, I want to introduce you to the woman who showed me how to be one. The one who lived it, long before I had words for it.
Her name is Naomi Nyokabi, now resting in Peace.
She was more than my mother.
She was a movement.
The Night She Chose to Shine
It was 1976. My mother was heavily pregnant with me while caring for four young sons, all below ten. Her marriage had become unbearable, and although she had no money, no clear plan, and only her courage to guide her, she made a radical decision: She left.
She boarded a bus to her ancestral home five hours away, promising the driver she’d pay upon arrival. She didn’t have the fare, but she had faith. And somehow, she found a way. Upon arrival in her little village, she still had an hour's walk home. After a long walk in the dark with her boys, she finally arrived at her parents’ home, exhausted. I was born a day or two later.
Years later, she showed me the exact spot on that road where she nearly gave up.
When I asked her, “Why leave at such a vulnerable time?” she said:
“If I stayed, my children would not have had a future.”
That was my first lesson in boldness.
She Didn’t Just Survive—She Built a Legacy
My mother didn’t just raise children. She raised possibilities.
She:
Turned a modest plot into a thriving agricultural business
Paid farmers in advance for crops that hadn’t been planted—trusting first, always
Planted over 10,000 trees, now used to build homes and businesses by her children
Became a landlord, mentor, and financier, helping others start their ventures
Modeled faith like it was a leadership skill (because it is)
She created a real estate empire before vision boards were trendy. She knew how to see possibilities and act on them.
Even after a life-altering accident that resulted in the loss of her arm, she said:
“This must be God’s way of telling me to rest.”
She was made of grace and grit, and her praise never wavered—even in pain.
She was a Shooting Star Her Whole Life!
Looking back, I now see that she naturally lived many of the very principles I coach through the Shooting Star Success Framework™:
✅ She believed
✅ She knew she was meant for more
✅ She released limiting beliefs
✅ She took 100% responsibility for her life
✅ She envisioned the future and pursued it relentlessly
✅ She aligned her daily actions with her goals
✅ She trusted, persisted, and lifted others as she rose
She didn't read the books I now quote. She was the book.
The Faith That Fuels Me
When I stood beside the president receiving a national award in 1989, the photo made it to the front page. My mother, still in the hospital recovering from her accident, saw it and said:
“What is my know-it-all daughter doing with the president?”
It wasn’t sarcasm. It was pride and prophecy.
She saw something in me, and now, I see it in you.
Reflection
Have you ever made a bold decision without knowing how it would turn out—but knowing you had to?
What legacy do you carry from someone who believed in you before you believed in yourself?
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