Born in Susan's Bay
Abdulai Kamara was born in Susan's Bay, a community in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Both of his parents were petty traders, selling goods on street corners to get by. He was later adopted and grew up in a children's home.
When his adoptive mother came back from the United States, she'd bring clothes and books. The books were what caught him. Chicken Soup for the Soul was one. The Four Agreements was the first he really read, at 17, and it hit him so hard that he memorized it word for word.
Nobody around him had a word for the kind of person he wanted to become, so he assumed the dream was wrong and let it go quiet.
The gift that kept coming back
At university the dream woke up again. Abdulai found himself encouraging classmates and giving advice, even to people who'd treated him badly.
Even if you hurt me, I will not hurt you back. I will just advise you. That is my disposition. That is my calling.
Ten years of rejection
Abdulai earned two master's degrees and then spent ten years unemployed. He carried his certificates and CV from office to office and heard the same thing again and again: your CV is nice, your qualifications are good, sorry, we can't employ you. There were seasons of homelessness too.
Somewhere in those years he stopped asking where he'd be hired and started asking what was actually inside him. He came to believe the unemployment was telling him something: that he was meant for more than the job he was chasing.
Finding a name for it
Then he found Les Brown on YouTube, and for the first time he knew that what he'd been doing all his life had a name. It was motivational speaking.
From 2015 he took it everywhere he could. He spoke in primary and secondary schools, community groups and radio stations, and travelled to the provinces to run youth job readiness training. His message to young people was simple: you may not have the resources, but you can become resourceful.
The phone call
During the COVID lockdown, Abdulai was invited onto a radio station to share a message of hope. About a week later his phone rang. The caller started blessing him. He told Abdulai that on the day he heard that broadcast, he had been about to give up on his life.
If I can talk and change somebody's decision, can empower somebody's life, then there's something greater behind this.
That call is why he never stopped.
Hungry to Speak
Abdulai followed Les Brown for 11 years with one goal: to be mentored by him. When a contract job finally paid, he saved what he could and invested it in joining Les Brown's Hungry to Speak family. In July and again in August 2026 he was a featured speaker at The Les Brown Experience: Hungry for Greatness, sharing the virtual stage with Les Brown and Les Brown Jr. In August he spoke on "Live Your Purpose" on a lineup that included Coach Ken Carter. In September he was a special guest on Dr. Donald D. Toldson, Sr.'s Don't Stop, Won't Stop Global Show.
At home he keeps building. His columns on child welfare, character and leadership have run in the C4D Media Newspaper and The Nature Newspaper. In March 2026 the Gender Equity Society at Fourah Bay College, where he earned his MSc in Educational Leadership, presented him with a Certificate of Recognition for advancing gender equity and supporting women's empowerment. In 2025 he organized the Discover Your Purpose motivational seminar, which drew more than 50 young people who wanted help figuring out their future.
What he's building now
Abdulai is the CEO of AK Motivation & Consultancy Ltd, based in Aberdeen, Freetown. He's launching the Clarity Purpose Path™, a four-stage method that walks people through the same journey he took: discovering his purpose, awakening the gift that had been sleeping in him, transforming it into service, and making an impact. His first book is in editing.
His bigger dream is to bring live motivational events to Sierra Leone, where people gather to hear words that can change their lives, and to show a new generation that speaking is a real calling here too.
