Style Observer (SO): Describe Kemal Brown in a few sentences.

Kemal Brown (KB): I’m a stoic, wordsmith, philosopher, and catalyst for positive impact, intensely focused on my goals while maintaining a liberal and open-minded spirit in other aspects of life. I believe in personal responsibility and embrace the principles of Pan-Africanism and Garveyism, seeing capital as a tool for empowerment and a means of addressing historical inequalities. I’m passionate about personal development, reading, and continuous learning. I’m also a retired rapper with a catalogue of 30 songs, an avid timepiece and art collector, and a boxing enthusiast. In my spare time, I enjoy travelling and have recently taken steps to fulfil a lifelong dream of becoming a pilot, all while being a devoted dog dad to my two-year-old Akita, Kona.

SO: And a venture capitalist! When, where and how did the relationship with wealth start?

KB:
At the ripe old age of five, on the playground of Holy Childhood Prep, where I sold ball bearings as marbles after my Cub Scout meetings. My product lines soon grew to include pens, erasers and eventually snacks. As you can imagine, the lunch ladies weren’t too keen on me diversifying into their market! My sisters used their lunch money, but I was always keen on saving mine. Capital gave me comfort even in my younger years; I guess I saw the importance of a rainy day fund even then. My early entrepreneurial ventures, while small, gave me an outlook that has continued to evolve with different asset classes and cement my belief that opportunity is everywhere, but it is often disguised as hard work.

SO: Is enough being done to get our population involved in wealth creation?

KB: There has been a widening of the moat regarding financial literacy. I’ve seen conferences, workshops, courses pop up, and articles shared in the Observer and similar mediums seeking to educate. However, more can be done if we begin earlier in the financial lifecycle.

Financial literacy and its older sister, wealth creation, should have curriculums in prep and primary, traditional and non-traditional schools through to university. This will help to create a culture around wealth building. I’ve seen some persons who earn extraordinary sums, yet are always without capital. It means a gap exists in their ability to preserve and grow what they have. We must learn to become savers, and investors, and stop buying things to impress others. The only person we should seek to impress is our future selves.

SO: What are your earliest memories of Kingston?

KB: Driving with my family on Sundays after church through neighbourhoods looking at real estate that we couldn’t afford. My mom has a love for real estate and has style right out of
Architectural Digest. It was a really fun Sunday activity and something I do to this day. I remember getting together with relatives at our home and theirs, and my grandfather playing dominoes, (we called him ‘di teacha’ before Vybz won the title). Devon House ice cream with my sisters on the weekends, and my dad taking us to Port Royal for fried fish. Waving at friends and family from the now-defunct sky deck of Norman Manley International Airport, when travelling for the first time. The lights and festivities of Grand Market Night, and driving up to Lookout to check out the view of the city, on any given night.

SO: What do you miss when not in the city?

KB: My couch, bed, guitar and the convenience of everything being close by. There truly is no place like home.

SO: Were you Mayor of Kingston for a few days what would be your immediate fixes?

KB: The roads aside, I would commission a detailed city plan and architectural vision to put us on par with places like Singapore and Dubai, not only for aesthetics, but functionality, sustainability and a healthy balance of green spaces. National pride isn’t only about our prowess as athletes, but how we feel in our city. I would also impose a $50,000-fine for littering; it’s one of my pet peeves. Finally, I’d inject a bit of good clean fun, by incentivising the recreation of entertainment products like mini-golf parks, bowling alleys, and a mini-theme park/fair, to encourage more diverse activities among our youth. Emphasis would also be placed on cultivating more cultural tourism related to our rich history. Finally, I would also create a skills training programme and job placement for all window wiper gents. They are persuasive salespersons, and the skill should be nurtured to more productive ends.

SO: What upsets you about Jamaica?

KB: Our untapped potential and lack of productivity. We can be so much more than we are.

SO: What are your current projects?

KB: On the communication side, we are about to launch an innovative new website for our marketing subsidiary, optimised with AI and forward-thinking functionality to better serve our customers. In the real estate realm, we are in the final stages of approval of our 30-unit luxury development. Our production facility aptly named Studio D, will be launched in the coming weeks. On the venture capital and private equity side…wait and see!

SO: What would your advice be to a first-time visitor to Jamaica?

KB: Prepare to feel at home! Take a trip to Ocho Rios, Dunn’s River Falls, or Portland, for Frenchmen’s Cove and San San Beach, to see the natural beauty that the land of wood and water is known for. A quick visit to Miss T’s Kitchen in Ochi is always a good time. We also have the best KFC in the world and the jerk chicken vendors on Red Hills Road are legendary! Remember to grab breakfast at Sonia’s and some fried fish at Gloria’s, Port Royal, chef’s kiss!

SO: What are you drinking?

KB: El Presidente made with Appleton Estate Signature Blend

SO: A night in or out?

KB: Both! Chill nights are great, but there are times when doing a bit of road running is needed. I also appreciate speakeasy vibes with some good music.

SO: Live concert or surround sound?

KB: Surround sound, because I like listening to songs in their entirety.

SO: Finally, what’s your personal philosophy?

KB: I have many!

1. “Make work your best friend”, because everything you ever want is going to come through hands that are not your own, and there will have to be a value exchange.

2. “Amor Fati”— Latin for the love of fate. Essentially, it means embracing all experiences that come our way because they were meant to be, even the ones we don’t like or find painful.

3. “Whether you can or can’t you’re right” is another one I live by.

4. Another one that has given me solace is: In a world of low standards, the principled man is the villain.

5. Finally, Kaizen, which is a Japanese phrase meaning continuous improvement. I live Kaizen daily and I count it as a cornerstone of my success and my desire to grow and develop into the man I’m destined to be, day by day, thought by thought, step by step.