Why American investor John Burns is betting big on Kenya

With a portfolio of establishments under their holding company (Burns Brothers), John is now betting on Kenya.

Last week, he opened HQ Kenya House, a private membership club located at Tatu City, a mixed-use development in Kiambu County. At a fee of Sh206,500 annually (with a Sh650,000 initiation fee), the club, he says, leans toward the social aspect, because there are many business clubs.

Impact is the word that pops up several times in our conversation. And for good reason. His mother was his first impactful presence. His father was a severe alcoholic.

“We used that as fuel,” says the 42-year-old. That fuel has propelled them across industries—hospitality, events and talent management, and restaurants.

Mr Burns, was this part of your dream growing up or was business something you stumbled into? Growing up, my brother, Mike, and I went to military school. Our mother is an entrepreneur and community activist. We learned that you can be enterprising but you also need to be impactful.

These are our core principles. I became a lawyer, in Washington DC and the first black partner in my law firm, Krooth & Altman LLP.

We’d been doing business in Africa through CCI (Call Centre International), so we ultimately quit our jobs and launched The Burns Brothers, which we’ve grown to be a holding company with three businesses—a hospitality company, HQ DC House, I have a restaurant in Washington DC, and now HQ Kenya House.

We also have an event production company and have done some jobs at The White House for former president Joe Biden. As a child growing up, it wasn’t about being an entrepreneur, but how can we be impactful? How can we connect specifically black Americans to the continent?

Having worked at The White House, why did you specifically settle on Kenya?

It is the economic hub of East Africa. It is the only African country that has a strategic partnership with the US, which just smoothens things. Plus, it is a beautiful country—the people are great. Kenya has been positioned as the Singapore of Africa.

We are living in a postmodernist society—people are about experiences. What experience are you trying to provide with HQ?

We are black American entrepreneurs. I have been an entertainment attorney so we can bring American celebrities and talent to Kenya. We want to be that bridge.

We launched HQ with actor Omari Hardwick, and we want to bring more American entrepreneurs, celebrities, and business owners. We want to be the connective tissue. Last year, in partnership with CCI, we had a concert with about 25,000 people.

Now we want to bring more American acts to perform here—everything has to hit in all senses of the word.

25,000 people doesn’t feel exclusive. How do you make it an “exclusive member’s club”?

The concert is for the larger public but for our members, it will be a very exclusive experience within the larger experience. I don’t like an “excluding” experience, it just doesn’t sound harmonious, but we are intentional about an environment that drives values to the members.

This is not a space that you take from—what does it do for me—but how can I also add value to the community? It is about collaboration.

Read:  How investor broke barriers in Kenya's craft beer industry

We are shifting away from demographic separators in the sense of age, class, colour et al., and into, say, mindset. What is the mindset of a HQ member?

I like that. The mindset we believe in is the concept of the double bottom line—you can be enterprising but adaptable. We want entrepreneurial members, and global change-makers who also care about their impact. We want people who want to give back.

You are a foreigner, how was it investing in Kenya?

Red tape and local competitors? Because we are in Tatu City, it was easy to set up business here. Partnership is critical for any business, especially in a country that you may not necessarily live in.

Competitors will always be there, but I think we all can work together; people want optionality and choice. Therein lies the opportunity as opposed to seeing it from a competitor lens.

Club memberships have been predominantly for older, rich men—how are you planning to shift against?

My value proposition is not food or cocktails or space, the value is the community, and people, as opposed to the beauty of the space. But the international component makes us different, we want to be where everyone goes.

You have accumulated a lot of global experience, what was the moment you realised HQ would be a hit in Kenya?

It wasn’t my idea. It was pitched to me to bring it here. When we did our first open house, it was quite well received. Before President Biden left the White House, he told me, “People are looking at what you are doing in Africa.” We felt we were onto something.

Many people tend to come to Africa and give them solutions, telling Africa, “This is what you need”; rather than listening and hearing from the people, “This is what we need.” What was your experience?

Brilliant question. Africa is the solution to the world’s problems. I think it is a messaging thing that people need to understand. There is no way people from the Western world will come here and think this is Africa, they might think it is Detroit.

I believe it takes education and engagement, to meet people where they are.

What has been the hardest part of setting up this business in Kenya?

When it is 5 o’clock here, it is 8 o'clock there—how do you create an ecosystem of people getting to know each other from a cultural standpoint? Also, it is different doing business here—you have to adapt to the cultural nuances. You have to take a beat and adapt. In the US, I am sprinting, here it’s a bit more chill—you are more graceful, patient, and practical.

What has been the fine balance you have had to trade between expanding to a new market and the cautiousness of said market?

Diligent in making the business make sense—is there a demand?

What is a challenge you have faced both in Kenya and other markets you haven’t been able to solve yet?

Bias.

What we are doing, people in the Western world do not understand it because their bias is so deep, especially against what Africa “is.” If I wanted to set up HQ in Europe, I could get a lot of Washington DC money to set up in Spain or Greece, but because of the naiveté, funding has been a challenge.

People talk about downward and upward opportunities, like if Henry Ford had asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse, not a car. That was the downward opportunity then. What is your car, or iPhone?

Exposure to what you’ve never seen. Our hospitality will have a cross-section experience around the world—I cannot create an iPhone if I don’t know what it even looks like.

Tupac said, “I don’t know if I will change the world, but I might spark the idea that will change the world.” If I can spark an idea that someone can take, based on something we did or showed to them, we take that very seriously. I don’t want to be an innovator; I want to encourage people to be innovators.

How are you quantifying success? I want to make money, that’s number one. But we also want to create jobs. Success is my friends and colleagues coming to Kenya. Opening people’s eyes to the world they never knew existed.

Read: A third of Kenya's super rich seek second nationality

What is the price of your ambition?

You give up a lot. It is not for the faint of heart. You are not sleeping; you are missing family time. It needs grit, determination, and belief that there are going to be more challenges than victories.

That is the mindset. I believe I am walking in my purpose, and due to that there are some crazy days. There will be challenges but it works out.

What did you grow up believing in business that has since changed?

My mom is an entrepreneur. She made it look so easy (chuckles). I never knew how hard it was.

The amount of decisions you make every day as an entrepreneur is fatiguing. I wasn’t prepared for that. And they are not small decisions, they all come with consequences.

Is she still alive?

Yes! My mom built the biggest hospital system in Texas, she is a serial entrepreneur, and a community activist, pushing things forward to change the outcome for black people in America.

What would she say if I asked her about you?

She will say she is proud. But she is prouder of the work and impact we are making, than the money. She likes the camera that one haha!

Who is the mamma’s boy?

I am! We are just two boys.

You haven’t mentioned your dad yet. Was he not in the picture?

Nope. He wasn’t. He was a severe alcoholic but he was a good father. We took some of the hurt to use as our fuel. To know what the good days look like, you have to go through the bad ones.

How does that affect how you lead your life?

The blessing of it is that I am working with my best friend, my brother. For me, I have learned to bring my world into what I do—my best friends and family. That allows me to spend time with them because ultimately that is the most important thing in life.

How do you envision your succession plan and where do you see the future of your brands?

My brother has two sons, an 11- and an eight-year-old who already call themselves the Burns Brothers haha! We want them to come and take over the business.

We don’t know the future, we just want to continue to do the work. From a financial standpoint, we have the trust and financial structure in place to ensure our children will be good, but the next step of this evolution has to be through the same lens of where we started.

Who’s the head and who’s the heart?

My brother is the head and I the heart haha! He served in the military for 13 years! I just went to military school. When there are tough conversations with employees, he does that. I am the nice guy haha!

Have things turned out the way you expected at 42?

No, I never envisioned this. I don’t think dreams are dreams, but I never dreamed of this.

What do you believe about yourself that helps you withstand the hard times?

I believe I am the best. You have to find out what your secret sauce is.

What have you finally come to terms with?

Typically, if you caught me doing this interview 60 days ago, I would be in a rush. But now, slow is fast. Just take a beat.

What tips do you have for surviving in Kenya business-wise?

Team. You can’t be everywhere. You need to hire the right leaders in place and create a culture that people want to be a part of.

What still keeps you up at night?

I love it when things don’t go right because that gives us something else to figure out. I used to be anxious about that, but now it gives me a good challenge to try and sort.

What is a piece of advice you hear thrown around in entrepreneurship that you think people should actually ignore?

I have heard the misnomer that everybody should be an entrepreneur.

Not a lot of people are set to be entrepreneurs. I don’t think people should do that. People should have a skillset and if they find it upon themselves to create a business around that, they have to be prepared to go and do the work and the challenges that come with that.

But if you really want to be an entrepreneur, you cannot moonlight it.

This rapper Fabolous told me, "if you have a fallback, you fall back." Make your Plan B to make your Plan A work. That is the mindset.

What is the most important question one can ask a CEO?

How are you doing? People ask me business questions but they don’t ask me that human question. No one wants to be used, humans want connection.

How are you doing?

I’m good. I am headed to Europe today. I can’t wait to sleep on my bed.

Are you smart or lucky?

I am smart and lucky but I am highly favoured by God.

→ [email protected]