Martin Ganda would like to thank:
Caitlin for changing my life.
My Zimbabwean family: Nation, Simba, Lois, George, and my parents, George and Chioniso; Alois and Sekai Munyaradazi; Peter Muzawazi; Brother Brito; and Phanuel and Tecla Mugomba. In memory of Grandma Majokwiro.
My American family: Anne Neville, Richard Stoicsitz, Dzmitry Alifirenka, Richie and Jenilee Stoicsitz, Bill and Joanne Neville, Jim and Kim Neville, and both of their families. Nan and Pop Neville, Grandpa Stoicsitz, and in memory of Grandma Stoicsitz.
My Villanova family: Michael Gaynor, the admissions director; Candice Keith; Valerie Furman; and Father Edmund Dobbin—I never would have made it to the US without your help. And Derik Rosa, Chris Hill, Jack Zawora, and Joseph Pantini, my first friends at Villanova who introduced me to America!
Mentors: Amy and Jeff Towers for believing in me. Tom Wilcok and Ken Farhman for friendship and unwavering career support and mentoring. Ali Naqvi and Linda Holliday for molding me into who I am today. Thanks to the following mentors for hand-holding and guiding me in my business career: Alex Dibelius, Keith Ferrazzi, Dr. Mthuli Ncube, Noah and Florence Ziumbe, Advocate Brenda Madumise, James Makamba, Mutumwa Mawere, Gerald Rem, Luke Ngwerume, Phil Heilberg, and Maureen Erasmus. Ben and Claire Spillard for their friendship and continued guidance. Thanks to Mark, Lesley, and Dirk Goldwasser, Jonathan Plutzik, Kenneth Allen, Michael Civitella, Bret and Marissa Rosen, Ashley Bendell, Cass Almendral, and Clive Ginsberg, for their friendship. And to the very many others who have played a pivotal role in my journey from Sakubva Mutare to where I am today!
Friends: Elias Mutambikwa, Karen Nyawera, Simba Mhungu, Simba Marekera, Edwin Mushambi, Kevin Portmann, Sam Njanike, Stephen Mutsongodza, Ronnie Rukambe, Tinashe Machaka, and Tapiwa Gurupira for their friendship. Shikshya Khatiwada for being an amazing sister from another mother.
I thank Peter Godwin, Sarah Burnes, Judy Clain, and Farrin Jacobs for their encouragement and guidance with the book. And lastly, Liz Welch for helping Caitlin and me tell our story.
Caitlin Alifirenka would like to thank:
Thank you to my parents, Anne Neville and Rich Stoicsitz, for their unyielding guidance, love, and constant belief in me. Without your assistance, dreams would remain unfulfilled and this story may have never unfolded. Special thanks to my grandparents, Bill and Marie Neville and Joseph Stoicsitz, for loving me when you were unsure of the paths I was taking! And to my brother, Richie, for allowing me to grow and supporting my passions, and to Heather Witta, for being such a constant and supportive friend. Also to my uncles, aunts, and cousins for readily accepting Martin into our family as a new nephew and cousin. To my mother-in-law, Irina Olifirenko, and my sister-in-law Diana Olifirenko for loving and supporting me and making Martin your family as well. And most important, to my beloved husband, Dzmitry, who supported me and was always my rock. And finally, to our dearest daughter, Mila, who listened to hours of me retelling this story. You are the future, and I want you to see the world as your playground.
And special thanks to my brother, Martin Ganda. We believed in each other. It’s impossible to imagine my life without you. You truly opened my eyes to a bigger, better world.
To Liz Welch, without whose thoughtful planning and execution our story would have remained in file folders. We lived the story, but you brought it to life!
Liz Welch would like to thank:
Martin Ganda and Caitlin Alifirenka for entrusting their inspiring story to me; to their agent, Sarah Burnes, for making the introductions; and to my agent, Brettne Bloom, for her always smart and thoughtful support. To Anne Neville, for her fastidious fact-checking and enormous heart—this book could not have happened without you. To Farrin Jacobs for her expert edits, to Judy Clain for her spot-on instinct that this story must be told, and to everyone in Karen Braziller’s workshop who read early pages and fell in love, as I did, with Martin and Caitlin’s story.