In 2022, Anthony Muchiri, 33, had a fork-in-the-road moment with his career life.
He had worked in sports up to the national level, made a good name for himself and earned the prestigious OLY recognition for leading the Kenya National Seven’s Team to the 2020 Olympics as a strength and conditioning coach. He had just earned a PhD scholarship to study sports science in the UK when his job termination letter came.
“It is one of those things you don’t expect, at least not as soon as it happened. When you lose a job, it sets you back mentally at first, because this is like an indictment that you did not do a good job while you had the chance. I wrote fitness programmes for the national team and reviewed them to improve fitness. I put in place rehabilitation protocols and measures to avoid injuries. I thought I was good at my job. A termination wasn’t anything I looked at even with the rearview mirror,” he says.
Before the termination, he had toyed around with the idea of visiting the US for a break, then proceeded with a study sabbatical for his PhD and coming back to Kenya to serve national sports with a deeper understanding.
“Losing a job I loved so much threw a curve ball at me that caused a change of plans. I had to think quickly about my next series of actions. Remember we were just emerging from a global pandemic that had badly affected sports and largely my career as well. Besides losing my job, this was the toughest part of my career life. The return to work protocols did not favour team sports like rugby. What is social-distancing when it comes to contact sports like rugby?” Anthony poses.
To restore his sanity and probably take some time to map his way forward, he travelled to Washington State, US, a trip he says wasn’t meant to last more than six months.
“It is one of those trips you take to higher ground to get a better view of where you are coming from and to prepare for the road ahead. All my adult life, I had worked in sports. I started as an aerobics and gym instructor while at Masinde Muliro University for my undergraduate studies. I had done my 10,000 hours and there I was thinking that the only way was up,” he says.
Finding a purpose
When he got to the US, he found a purpose that would later unfurl into the formation of a company. Before that, he had to start building from the foundation up!
“In the US, I found systems that work. This was enticing especially because I was coming from a place of constant lobbying and many hurdles. In Washington, I was impressed by a mosaic of well-galvanised structures that allowed one to work. I started flirting with the idea of extending my stay and that marked the beginning of my life here.”
What happened to his full PhD scholarship in the UK? “Think of it as a tradeoff. Hard decisions must be made when you are met with hard times and circumstances. So, I put it aside and looked for work,” says the Health Promotion and Sports Master's degree holder.
First job and lessons
The general consensus would be, that a man of his acumen would find it easy to land a job anywhere in the world.
“Having working systems is both a curse and a blessing,” he says.
“On one hand it rewards merit and effort. On the other hand, everything has to be earned and it has to be tangible. That I had not worked in the American system, I did not qualify for the kind of job I wanted. My academic and professional qualifications had to be standardised to fit the requirements here and because I couldn’t wait for that process, and besides I did not have the money to follow it through, I started off as a truck driver’s assistant. What you’d refer to as a turnboy in Kenya. For months I did this, gained experience and graduated as a driver. When I look back I think it was an act of sheer grit to position myself well and never settling until I get to what I want that propelled me.”
He did truck driving for one and a half years before he changed jobs to become a shelter coordinator.
“A key lesson I learned while on this transition is that the American work structure majors mainly on availability. One can be trained to do what their job asks of them. ‘If you are available we will train you.’ I was what you’d call a night guard in a shelter for the homeless. To be honest, this was another humbling experience for me. This is not to demean the work done by shelter coordinators, but how do I explain to anyone that I once led our national rugby team to the Olympics and here I was working as a shelter coordinator in the US?”
For this job, he’d already made right his papers so, he was a state employee. “I like to think of myself as a bird or a ship on the sails. My natural form of existence is motion. I keep moving. I keep rowing and I keep perching on higher branches.”
This is Anthony saying he moved from the shelter coordinator job to a new job six months later.
“In April 2024, I became a correctional officer, Kenya’s equivalent of a prison warden. Again, I think this was a promotion from my previous job. I was there for four months before I left again.”
Besides sports, Anthony has another passion so close to his heart; data. “By this time I had saved enough to process my papers with World Education Services to regularise my academic and professional credentials to fit the the US employment ecosystem.”
He got an opportunity at Eastern State Psychiatric Hospital in Washington State as a management analyst.
“I analyse the hospital’s operations, identify problems, and recommend improvement solutions. I also oversee the collection and analysis of data, develop recommendations, and present our department’s findings to the organisation’s stakeholders. This often leads to the implementation of new policies and procedures. My job may involve conducting site inspections, interviewing personnel, and researching best practices.”
In the transitions, he registered and incorporated his consultancy firm; Crown Solutions LLC.
“We offer grant writing services to our clients, build dashboards for companies, and work with municipal and state governments, parastatals, and facilities to help them optimise their services while reducing their operational costs and promoting sustainability. Easily said, we help companies become future proof though solutions we’ve created by observing data and using data as a key informant of decisions making.”
Is Anthony settled yet? “For now, yes. I am giving my full attention to my job and business. We have already secured five partnerships with different municipals and facilities and looking forward to building a more solid foundation as we prepare for takeoff. We are currently working with five consultants. This number keeps changing as work dictates,” he adds.
Does he see a future in sports?
“My analysis in America is that rugby does not do well. So, if I were to ever go back to sports or sports management, I’d probably pick basketball or American football. Those two are highly incentivised by the commercial investment that backs them. It would be a lucrative career for me. Passion is great, but even greater is having a passion that converts into tangible benefits.”
His journey has left him with one crucial lesson, “In rebuilding yourself, you start by forgetting who you have been, and start focusing on who you want to become. The rear mirror must never be the only one you look at while driving. There is a reason the windshield is bigger, to widen your scope of view. To see more, to believe in yourself more, then you can rise higher and achieve greater.”
