Insight 43 - Magazine - Page 30
HERTS ALUMNUS AND ‘THE APPRENTICE’ CONTESTANT
RETURNS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE TO
UNVEIL THE SECRET TO HIS SUCCESS
H
erts alumnus and contestant
on this year’s The Apprentice,
Frederick Afrifa, came back to
his former University recently to talk
to students, staff and alumni about the
importance of self-belief and networking.
During the specially organised talk titled
‘How to be a Go-Getter’, the former
athlete, motivational speaker and cofounder of professional training and
coaching company Believe in Greatness
shared his story of ambition, overcoming
challenges and major setbacks and
seizing opportunities. All of which, he
explained, led him to launching his
successful business and landing a place
on The Apprentice.
Hosted by Hertfordshire Business School,
his former School at the University,
Frederick – who studied accounting and
French before graduating in 2019 – started
by telling the audience: “Nine years
ago when I walked through these halls
at Herts for the first time, I had no idea
where life would take me. But fortunately,
I’ve been able to do some pretty cool
things.”
In fact, university wasn’t the place
Frederick had ever intended to end up.
An extremely talented runner – who had
competed at national level as a youth –
his dream was to become a professional
athlete, although his father wanted him to
pursue higher education. So, they made
a compromise: if Frederick failed to get a
professional contract within two years, he
would enrol at university.
Two years later he enrolled at the
University of Hertfordshire.
But Frederick wasn’t ready to give up yet.
“I continued training full-time around my
studies – and sometimes even during my
studies,” he admits. “There were a couple
of occasions when my tutor, Rex, emailed
asking why I hadn’t turned up for lectures,
and I ended up having to retake my first
year.”
Frederick persevered with both his
sport and his studies, and eventually his
hard work paid off. “Not only did I get
my degree, but in my last year at Herts,
I finally signed my first professional
contract. It had taken me seven years but
30
Frederick Afrifa
I’d finally achieved my goal – and a degree
to boot.”
Things were looking promising for
Frederick’s sporting career, with him
gaining national champion status the year
before the Olympics, opening up a “whole
new world of opportunities”.
“All of a sudden, American universities
wanted me to do a scholarship with them.
I didn’t have to pay or attend class, I just
had to run fast – which suited me perfectly!
I sold my car and said my goodbyes, ready
to start my new life in America.”
But then Covid hit, and Frederick’s dream
came crashing down. The American
university hosting Frederick pulled
out of the deal, his sponsor dropped
him, and his hopes of competing in the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) – one of the US’s biggest sporting
competitions – was gone.
He returned to the UK as a delivery driver
for Sainsbury – something far from the
career he had envisioned. However, ever
the optimist, Frederick continued to
search for his next opportunity.
“It was while doing seven-hour shifts for £9
an hour as a delivery driver for Sainsbury
that I stumbled across a YouTube video
on personal development that said, “You
need to work as hard on yourself as you do
on your job,” he explains. “It inspired me to
bIZ4BIZ INSIGHT MAGAZINE | APRIL 2025
attend a Professional Speaker Association
event where I discovered Roger Harrop,
who charged £10,000-£20,000 an hour for
speaking and who became my hero.”
This was a significant increase from the
£150 Frederick was charging at the time,
and – after also managing to convince
Roger to meet him one-on-one to provide
additional advice – inspired Frederick to
up his rates and truly market himself as
a top, professional motivational speaker.
Everything was going so well, he ended
up launching his own public speaking
company.
However, that wasn’t the end of his
setbacks. Frederick was initially rejected
from The Apprentice when he applied to
appear on season 18. Undeterred, he reapplied for season 19, currently airing, and
successfully secured a place.
Frederick concluded his talk by reflecting
on the importance of staying motivated,
seeing role models and believing that
success is possible even during difficult
times.
“It’s important to understand that things
in life will happen to us, but we also still
have choices,” he finished. “When tough
things happen, we can either complain or
decide what we will do about it. My advice
is to take action on your goals and don’t be
deterred by setbacks.”
