About Herb
I am Herb Adkins. Husband, father, grandfather, pastor, and for more than forty years, a builder of leaders. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, served in the United States Army, and spent four decades leading people inside major companies before planting my flag in Nairobi, Kenya. I do not teach theory, I teach what survives contact with real life.
Mission
I believe every person is created with purpose, gifted for impact, and called to leave a legacy. My mission is to help leaders discover that purpose, develop their influence, and maximize their potential.
Whether speaking to a conference audience, training a corporate team, mentoring leaders, or serving in ministry, my goal is simple: to help people become who they were created to be.
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I did not start out as anyone's example of leadership. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, and the streets there do not hand you a clean start. I made mistakes early. I hurt people I loved. I went through divorce, lost custody of my daughter for a season, and had my own share of legal trouble I am not proud of. If you are looking for a speaker who has never been the problem, keep looking. I was the problem, more than once.
What changed things was simple to say and hard to do: I stopped running from responsibility and I let God rebuild what I had broken. That rebuilding did not happen overnight, and it did not happen alone.
The United States Army gave me my first real lesson in discipline and standards. It taught me that a mission does not care about your excuses, and neither does your calling.
From there, I spent more than forty years in mid to senior level management and technical training, working with companies like Cisco, SAIC, Aviat, Varian, and Ivanti. I built training programs, led global teams, and taught complicated things to people who needed them simple.
Along the way, I became a husband to April Adkins, a father, and now a grandfather. I became a pastor. I became a business owner, co-founding Jenisys Group with April.
Today I am based in Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya is not a detour in my story, it is the next assignment. I believe the next generation of African entrepreneurs, professionals, and leaders is one of the biggest opportunities of my lifetime.
Here is what I know for certain: What broke you does not get the final word. God does! And He is not finished with your dash yet.