Founder Story

FOUNDERS STORY

James Gitau

James Gitau founded Peak Performance International in 2000 after he underwent a soul- searching and a life transformational journey.

Growing up in Eastlands in the in the 1970’s and early 80’s was exciting and a great opportunity to nurture a resilient warrior spirit. There was never a dull moment in my life. When not in school, I lead a group of neighborhood lads in playing football or practicing martial arts.  I got involved in many fights.

 My folks were chronically broke. My 6 siblings and I learnt to live a day at a time, never asking for anything other than what was absolutely necessary.

 As for education, I didn’t care much. I was doing so badly in secondary school that my dad decided to move me to a boarding school with the hope that I could be more focused. A major pivotal point for me.

At Lenana School I discovered being broke was not a normal thing. At times I got teased about my unrefined Eastlands habits and my family’s dire financial status. (I beat up a few boys for that and also to earn some respect- old habits are hard to die).

I made myself a promise that I would work hard and be super smart to make lots of money. I wanted my future children to never experience the feeling of shame because I was broke.  My belief system that school was not for me changed and my grades improved big time.  I qualified for admission to the University of Nairobi which was then the only University in Kenya.

Life at Uni was fun. We got paid to read.  Yes, they gave us cash to buy books and pocket money. It was known as “boom” and many of us partied like rock stars.  With some of the savings from “boom” I bought a big music system and became a part time DJ.

While at Uni, I joined the University boxing club “The Walking Bangers” and contested in the featherweight category.  By 3rd year of college, I was the captain of the team.

After four years of college, we were ready for the job market and I was fortunate enough to secure a job after only 3 months of “tarmacking” with Plan International and later the International Labour Organization (ILO). In both places I worked as a Small Business Coordinator. My job was to train people on how to start and run small businesses.

Having worked for a total of 7 years, I realized I was far away from achieving the financial freedom I really desired.

I went into several businesses and two became big hits. Within a short time, I was living the life I truly envisaged. Big house, the latest models of the big cars, travel to many parts of the world with family- the works.

 

However, there was another small problem. I was smoking like a chimney, partying like there was no tomorrow, I ate like a truly rich African man would eat in those days. I also had an anger issue. 

As time went by, I became more aware of how some of my habits were affecting my health and other areas of my life. I knew for sure that all would not end up well.

All attempts to change these habits failed miserably. Fortunately, I was introduced to personal development and shortly afterwards, I was on a plane to the USA where I studied at the feet of some of the best turnaround experts such Tony Robbins, John Asarraf and many others.

By applying some of the techniques I learnt, I quit my 26 years smoking habit without any withdrawal symptoms. Lost more than 25 kgs within less than 6 months and became more athletic. In 2003, I got a group of friends and family to join me on a run from Nairobi to Mombasa, a journey of 486 kms which we accomplished in 8 days.

What I had learnt that makes a huge impact was that to change any habit you must reprogram the mind at the subconscious level. A chemical and physical transformation must happen in the brain. This is part of what some people refer to as the neuroscience of change and success conditioning. In other words, you must grow a new brain and strengthen the neural connection to create lasting change.

Inspired by the huge transformation I had made, I decided it was time to share my new found skills with Africa and in 2000, Peak Performance International was founded. I closed my other two very successful businesses.

We initially worked with individuals helping them reprogram themselves from any disempowering mindset and habits. The impact was so huge that companies wishing to transform their culture started requesting for our services. Many companies we worked with reported huge growth in their bottom-line as a result of improved staff performance. See what some CEOs have said below. We have had the privilege and honor of working with people from all over the world.

PERFORMANCE ACCELERATOR PROGRAM

We started mentoring students and training children on self-reprogramming. All of a sudden, students who were performing poorly improved their performance and a couple of them topped their classes, their counties and one topping the country. listen to some amazing stories. This inspired us even more.

In 2012, we wanted to help students become globally competitive. Our research led us to finding out which countries had some of the smartest students. It turned out the Asian countries took the prize. As of 2022 according to World Population Review site  of the smartest countries, the top 6 were from the far east.

Together with my late wife Esther, who was also my business partner, we traveled to the far east where we found some amazing brain development programs, initially developed in Japan and now taught in many learning institutions in that region. We were licensed to be the sole provider of some of these techniques in Africa. We sent a team of our trainers to the far east where they learnt how to administer these skills.  We keep receiving some amazing feedback from parents whose children have can through our programs.

I believe we all came into this world for a very specific purpose. Sometimes it is hard to figure out what it is. I think I have figured out mine. Certainly not make a huge ton of money. Been there, done that, and I never found the happiness and fulfillment I imagined I would derive from achieving that.

I believe my life purpose is to help equip the youth of Africa with the best tools possible so that they become the best version of themselves. We need to prepare them well enough to become the true solution providers for Africa and the world.  This can be done successfully in partnership with parents, schools and other likeminded people/ partners.

Our children/ youth continue to face many unprecedented challenges. They will be required to develop an extraordinary mindset with a high level of resilience and creativity in order to thrive. Unfortunately, our current education and other forms of support system have not produced the desired results.

We all must play full out to make a difference so that we can create a better future for our youth.  We must think differently. We must act differently.

So, I urge you to join me in this movement of supporting our children to live to their fullest potential.

What I can promise is that as a firm, we will do whatever it takes to support your child to become the best version of him/ herself.