Marini CEO’s Michelle Ntalami has paid tribute to her late dad, Edward Ntalami, who passed away in 2014 after a long battle with cancer.
Pouring her heart out in a lengthy Instagram post, Michelle described her father as a meticulous scholar.
“I wore my dad’s lapel pin from the University of Sheffield to work. A pin he got 40 years ago during his Masters. My dad was so scholarly, intelligent and extremely meticulous about his work. The biggest perfectionist I’ve ever seen, and yes, more than me! He would lock up my siblings and me in the study room and force us to read one storybook per week. Then come home in the evening and ask us about it. I’d usually read only the first and last page of a chapter, (coz obviously I was too busy stealing his VCRs to watch the Octagon by Chuck Norris) then make everything in between up. But he’d always, always bust me.”
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Michelle Ntalami on horseback
Michelle Ntalami on horseback
She stated that she often finds herself buried in books a powerful tool that her father instilled in her.
“Three decades on, here I am locking myself up in my office, writing my life story. No making things up, no skipping the chapters, no faking the story. I now apply all the lessons he instilled in me every day. Education, hard-work, discipline, etiquette, honesty, eloquence, excellence in everything you do, having high standards, taking no-nonsense, bossing up and dressing sharp. As I wear his lapel pin, I feel so proud knowing I continue his legacy in the way he would have wanted me to. I smile up at him because I realize of all the things my Dad ever did for me, ensuring that I remain a woman of integrity, high value and good moral standing is by far the most priceless gift he ever gave me…especially in today’s world. Thank you, Papa. The chapters are finally coming together.”
