Nass Aoun, the 270th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has crammed an awful lot of living into his 27 years.

Nass had always had an interest in business and personal growth. And he also knew he didn’t want to work for anybody else. So, straight out of school, he and his brother took out a six-figure loan to start an automotive supplies business.

Nass also has a burning drive to make the world a better place. That inspired him to co-found La Mer Charity, which supports children with congenital heart disease.

But the best was yet to come. Before the pandemic, Nass spent 18 months in Zimbabwe and Tanzania, trying to build an ecommerce business that would support African artisans. He networked furiously, meeting vendors, suppliers, bureaucrats, people who knew people, government ministers who tried to shake him down – and, by the end of it, had a business.

Flexi Africa is an online platform that gives Africans who make their own products (often mothers sewing clothing at home) the chance to sell their wares to a global network of buyers (mostly Westerners).

Nass’s drive and vision are incredibly impressive. When I was his age, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and hadn’t achieved anything.