The One with the Git Commit

From 20 Back-to-Back Interviews to Reviving Paired

Hi guys, and welcome back to yet another episode of random thoughts with Takura. Today has been pretty exhausting. As I type this blog, I am extremely tired. I mean, it’s a Tuesday, so that already means my schedule was packed with classes. Then, for some reason, I thought it would be a smart idea to schedule all the Cubicle interviews today. So here I am, after 20 back-to-back interviews. You can imagine—the price we pay to not be average.

Anyway, I had originally planned to select just five people to volunteer for The Cubicle, but after talking to everyone, I might just bump it up to ten. Everyone was so impressive in the interviews, and now I’m really having decision paralysis because I don’t know who to cut off. Side note: I thought the best way to start this blog was to complain about my day so that you guys don’t send your ancestors my way, assuming things are going too well for me.

Welcome to February—the month of love.

Speaking of love, around this time last year, I came up with the idea for Paired. To this day, we still have the packaging and branding for it. I don’t know what it is about February that makes Paired feel like it needs to exist. And now, the idea is back on the table again. Let me clarify—Paired was supposed to be a couple’s gift shop specifically selling matching jewelry. But that flopped when we bought stock from China and it started rusting. So now, all the logos and stickers we had designed are just sitting there, perfectly capturing what a failed idea looks like. It’s especially painful now because whenever I see ads from other people, I get that ‘this could have been me’ feeling. So today, I did something about it. My sister and I were bouncing off ideas, and we thought—what if we skip the whole jewelry thing and go straight for customizable gifts? You know, those glass plaques, custom calendars, and other personalized items.

Why not? I mean, I can literally set up an online store in five minutes, have it up and running the same day, and just repurpose content from other sellers until we start getting orders. The only issue is whether I can source the products locally. So I talked to my printing guy—someone who runs a business exactly like Frenies Branding here in Rwanda. The guy was like, "Say less, I can do anything that involves printing." He was even telling me about products I hadn’t even thought of. He said he could easily produce the items. So, with a product and a marketing channel ready, I realized this is exactly what Paired was meant to be. So yeah, we’re back at it again. Hopefully, this year, I’ll be the one profiting from love.

Now, let’s talk about last week. After years and years of trying, I finally coded a functional website. Who could have guessed? After finishing my school assignments, I was just challenging myself—thinking, if I actually focus on this coding thing, can I really produce something useful? It didn’t have to be the best website out there, it just had to work. So I kept practicing and practicing… and it worked! And the best part? It wasn’t luck. It’s replicable. I can actually code websites now. I built a 4-page website for OneChild, with interactive elements and even a contact form. It’s not live yet, but anyone who called me or visited me this week had to suffer through me flexing my new skills. I don’t say this often, but I’m genuinely proud of myself. This whole experience has sparked something huge in me.

I’m building on this momentum, using this newfound excitement and interest to see how far I can take this coding thing. Since I can do websites now, I’m moving to learning how to build financial gateways.I have big plans for this—billionaire plans. I’ve had this random fintech idea since 2016. I remember begging my mom and my aunts to connect me with their banking contacts so they could help me create a VISA card. But now that I can code, my path to becoming a billionaire is officially open. (Yes, I know I say the wildest things, but dream big.) This coding thing is game-changing. You only need one of four things to change the world:

1. Content

2. Capital

3. Code

4. Collaboration

And here I am, getting the ‘code’ part right. For those wondering—"Wait, aren’t you doing a software engineering degree?"—yes, but that doesn’t mean I can’t celebrate my own progress. This was definitely the highlight of my week. I’m still impressed to this day.

It doesn’t just end there. I also had one of the most productive weekends ever. I submitted applications for four funding programs. Side note: If you’re serious about securing opportunities for yourself, subscribe to The Cubicle—so far, I don’t know a single person in the group who’s complaining. Besides that, I also submitted three job applications. My jobs and opportunities tracker is just screaming "SUBMITTED, SUBMITTED, SUBMITTED." It felt like I was conquering the world this weekend. That was genuinely good progress.

And now, in the most unexpected move of the century (this is the part you do drumrolls), OneChild is about to release its first product. This past weekend, a select group of people got to test the product. It’s usable, it’s presentable, it’s beautiful—and they LOVED IT. It’s one of those things that, once launched, people will say, "I can’t believe they actually did this." I won’t give too many details yet, but just know something cooked is coming.

Honestly, a lot has happened this week. I don’t even know what to skip. I also officially have a landlord now—so if you hear me complaining, just know that today was the day I introduced this new character into my script. Everything else is on track. I think I’m marketing Frenies Studio pretty well. I’ve hit my content goals, I’m bringing someone on board to help with value-based reels, and we’re signing contracts this weekend. From next week, we should start improving engagement, since the reach is already strong.

We’re also getting into the second month of The Cubicle, and this is the month that will tell me whether all of this was worth it. Either we’re onto something great, or we completely missed. We’ll see how that goes. As you know, I wasn’t talking much about the debate organization in January because it was on pause, but now we’re proceeding. I’m already selecting the team and doing the necessary registrations. But since we’re talking about things on pause, Ambience is still on hold because the Chinese go on holiday in February, so there are no suppliers.

And I know I haven’t mentioned Smartel in a minute. But remember this standing policy: If you don’t hear about something, just know something crazy is happening in the background (smartel Zimbabwe).

So, trust the process.

Sayonara,
Takura✨

💜 Highlights of the Week

🎤 Rwandan President responds hilariously to a CNN reporter—nothing beats this!
📢 A guy argues with Christians about why God doesn’t exist—
🎬 Biaheza is back—and this one video gave me the motivation to restart Paired.