Alpesh Vadher: The self-made CEO who shuns luxuries

How does a Gujarati boy, son of a humble Dukawalla with a small textile shop in Nairobi’s rumbustious downtown, get to meet the Queen of England?

He plays in the Cricket World Cup. However, Alpesh Vadher didn’t just represent Kenya in The Cricket World Cup once; he played twice. The second time, they pulled him off ‘retirement” to play.

That seems many moons ago now. Another lifetime because today, the right-handed batsman’s name is on the door at PKF as CEO, leading a staff of close to 1,000.

He has led PKF East Africa’s network of firms in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda since 2019 upon his promotion from being the firm’s Managing Partner in Nairobi and Executive regional partner for East Africa. As with everything he has ever achieved, he pulled himself up with his bootstraps from the bottom of the auditing food chain of the company, making his way to his position in 40 years.

His office is a gallery of framed testimonies: a wallful of World Cup cricket photos, grainy photos of the firm’s former partners, a handful of his wife and children, one of him meeting shaking the hand of a former president and of his deceased father, the man who raised him.

Why is it important to have all these photos in your office?

Most people spend a lot of money on big houses. But people like us don’t spend much time in those houses, and when we do, seven or eight of those times, we are asleep.

If you are a workaholic like myself, you will spend your entire life in the office. I want to see happy memories in my office. It’s some kind of mental yoga. It’s good to look up and remember where you have been and what’s important.

You earlier mentioned the deadlines here at work, but what are your own personal deadlines?

I have daily deadlines that revolve around my family, such as dropping my children at school. I don’t have a driver, and that is the best half an hour of my morning.

Generally, I don’t have personal standards or goals. I take things as they come. I’m lucky God has given me so much talent in my academic and sporting careers. I made the right choices at the right time.

I’m a self-made man. I come from a very humble background. I educated myself from home because my father couldn’t afford to. 

And I was fortunate to join this company early, when I was 19 years old while playing cricket for the national team. I had partners who mentored me, and as I developed my career, I could make big decisions, learn, and change.

My biggest satisfaction is that there were about 25 to 30 people in Nairobi when I joined the firm. Now, as a group, I’m looking after 750 plus staff.

How was your childhood?

My mother passed away when I was only one and a half years old. Being the last born, I was raised by my father, two brothers, two sisters, and sisters-in-law.

The only things I was good at in my childhood were playing cricket and educating myself. Whenever free, I'd play cricket at Premiere Club on Nairobi's Forest Road.

On school holidays, I would help my dad at his textile shop on Accra Road, where we sold towels and shirts, among other garments. That was my first business training ground.

I would buy from suppliers, make payments, and help my dad write cheques because he had an eyesight problem.

I picked up mail from the post office and did banking. He paid me with bhajias from an outlet on Latema Road.

How is it growing up without a mother?

It’s tough. When I got my own children, I realised how important a mother is. Mothers care for and nurture children.

I’m grateful my sisters and wonderful sisters-in-law ensured I never missed my mother. We’ve never talked about what happened because she died in a road accident.

My dad went on to live almost to the age of 91. He left behind 13 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Did your dad ever remarry?

Never. He sacrificed his life for us.

That's crazy. Now that you're a grown man, when you look back, how was he meeting his needs for love, and need to be cared for?

I think what motivated him was his children’s wellbeing. He wanted us to have better lives. I’m the only one who got the farthest in education.

When I got good grades, I wanted to go to university in London, but I had to destroy all the documents because I knew it was impossible for him financially. I cried the whole night because of having to make that decision and because he felt embarrassed that he couldn’t give his son what he wanted.

I told him, “Don’t worry, Dad, it’s okay, I’ll educate myself.” And I did. For me, 1993 was a great year. I had just finished my A-levels and got good grades.

I was enrolled in the Kenyan National Team [cricket] and was working. My dad made me respect money and family. So, I think those were the things he focused on.

What would your dad be least proud of you for right now?

It’s a difficult question because he was always proud of me. [Pause] Maybe I should have spent more time with him as I built my career and later in his years.

But I tried. I attended family events. I visited him every fortnight. We celebrated Diwali together…But maybe he would have preferred me to spend more time with him as he aged. He would tell me, “You haven’t visited me” after almost two or three weeks. I would apologise to him.

He would say, “I’m very proud of what you’ve achieved. I grew up in a two-bedroomed flat, the six of us.” He would say in Gujarati that the more you wait for your career, the sweeter it gets. I waited.

There is a feeling that a man’s choice of spouse is influenced greatly by the kind of mother they had, that we eventually marry our mothers or their opposites. You didn’t know your mother. What do you think influenced your choice of spouse?

I played two World Cup games and the Commonwealth Games. I was famous. I got almost 35 to 40 marriage proposals, becoming a joke in the family.

My dad was like, “Are you really going to get married?” And I actually delayed my marriage. I got married at the age of 30. That was late in the Hindu customs in that era.

It was vital for me to be stable financially before getting married. And I also wanted to make sure that the person I was marrying didn’t marry me for my fame.

When I married, we had two plastic chairs and a table. We didn’t have a TV set for the six months we lived in that apartment.

I started from zero. She [my wife] comes from a slightly wealthy family, and she adapted, and we have grown.

Family is important to her. She’s very close to her sister and parents. She grounded me. That’s the person I wanted.

I think I’m very grounded. I still drive a very old car, and people laugh at me. They say, “You are a CEO, you need a better car…”"

What car do you drive?

I have a 1997 old Prado. I have another car, a 2007 model, but I still drive my old Prado. My children love it. They say, "Dad, we just need a car to travel." We have a decent house. My wife is happy. We can afford a lot more luxuries in our lives, but the way I want to bring up my children as well is to understand specific values based on how I grew up.

Education is important, religion is important, respecting human beings is important, and helping out at home is important. They don't go to a high-end school.

They go to Premium Academy, which is a reasonable private school. So, I've kept them grounded as well. We are trying to inculcate those beliefs and values our parents taught us.

How long have you been married for?

Uhm…19 years now?

How do you keep a wife happy for 19 years?

The most important thing is to understand what she wants to do. You need to give her the freedom. And time. Seven years ago, I made the decision that I was not going to work weekends. It has not hurt my productivity. Because I don’t take work home, we spend a lot of time together.

I started golfing but haven’t played for two years because I feel guilty playing while my children are at home. She [wife] wants to ensure the family’s together, so we’re always together. I go home for lunch and have dinner together.

In the evening, we watch movies together. On Saturday mornings, I go and play badminton with my children. Sunday is a whole family day out. These things make her happy as much as they make me happy.

Briefly describe what it takes to play on the world’s biggest stage - the World Cup - and what that feels like.

It’s a long journey of hard work. I started playing cricket at the age of six. I made my first division career in 1985. I was 11 years old at that time.

I enjoyed playing the game and gave it my 100 percent. I was very disciplined, only missing my league games when I had exams.

During the 1999 World Cup, Maurice Odumbe and I were the highest averages. I never thought I'd achieve that in my life and I attribute it to my brother. He wanted me to play one World Cup.

We were lucky Kenya had a good team and therefore qualified. But it was never a goal to go and play for Kenya or to play for the World Cup. I think success is just a journey.

It was never my goal that, as a 19- year-old when I joined the firm, I would become a CEO.  I've stuck around for 30 years and whether it's luck, talent or hard work, I don't know. But I just continue working.

You are turning 50 next year. What are you going to do differently in your 50s?

I think as you age, it’s crucial to give more back to society. My other priority right now is to educate my children, to toughen them up to face the world. Because the world is very different now.

They both want to become pilots, so I’ll try to fulfil their wishes. But even more importantly, I want to ensure that despite their achievements in their careers and personal lives, they remain modest. The most important thing is that they’re happy.

As someone in the money business, what is enough money?

I read a book that said that if you look at your expenses for the year, multiply that by 25. If you have that kind of money, you should retire.

Are you thinking about retirement based on that?

I don’t think I’ve made that much money yet, right? But it’s not only my immediate family I’m thinking about, I also want to see what I can do for my extended family.

That is important for me. But if I feel my children are on their two feet and progressing well in their life journey, I may consider early retirement.

Is there something you fear right now?

How fast the world is moving. We may have more wealth now, but we have less happiness. When I was growing up, we had less wealth, but we had more happiness.

Trying to find the right balance is important, right? Teaching my children to become more positive is important. I don’t know how the world will be in the next 10 to 15 years because when we start talking about artificial intelligence, and we talk about wars, the power struggles, we talk about the economic challenges, we look at unemployment, you know. Those are real fears, but you have to prepare them for life.

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