Alex Nana Kwame Osei-Gyau. Say what?

We’re sad to see him go. After four and a half years Alex, one of zu’s Senior Developers, is off to Ottawa. But before he left, we had the chance to ask him a few questions about his time here and a few other random things.

What is your full name and what is its meaning?
You’d better copy that from the email I sent! My full name is Alex Nana Kwame Osei-Gyau. If you break it down, Alex is my father’s first name and was given to me. Referred to historically as one’s ‘Christian’ name, it is an English name attached to (or sometimes replacing) one’s Ghanaian name. Nana literally means chief (unisex for both male and female).  At one point it meant one was part of the lineage of chiefs for a particular village, but now is used more to reflect what one hopes their child to be.  So it means ‘one who leads’. Kwame means a male child born on Saturday from the Ashanti group of tribes. Osei-Gyau is my family name.

Throughout your life, which countries have you lived in?
In order: Ghana (where I was born), Nigeria, Kiribati (Gilbert Islands), England, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Grenada, and Canada. I’ve lived in Canada the longest, 8 years. After that the longest I lived in one country is Kiribati for 6 years. I moved around a lot because my father was a lawyer for the British Commonwealth. So he always had contracts in the various Commonwealth countries.

What will you miss about living in Saskatoon?
Well, a lot of things. But most of all I would say the ‘do it yourself’ attitude of the people. I think that exists because people here come from a past where they couldn’t rely on others to do things for them. I will certainly miss the survival attitude of Saskatchewanians.

What will you miss the most about zu?
Again, a lot of things but to sum it up, the work culture. By that I guess I mean the amazing work hard, play hard culture of zu. Oh, and also the approachability of the bosses. One of the things that has impacted me the most is the approachability of zu’s owners. It is such an incredible asset. You don’t get that everywhere. I’m not sure I will ever find anything like this anywhere else, but I sure hope I do.

I will also miss the themed parties! Even though I sometimes complained about the work and time involved, I always looked forward and enjoyed the group projects. They take a lot of work to prepare and are sometimes stressful, but they are always worth it. For example, we had to do a choreographed dance routine but in the end it was great to perform what we practiced and see what everyone else did.

What’s your most memorable zu moment?
Hmmm, ha. Probably when Albert and a friend of mine threw me a surprise 30^th birthday party last year. Al mistakenly thought it was my 30^th, so all the guests showed up thinking the same. When in fact, it was only my 29^th!

Why are you moving to Ottawa?
Oh, lots of reasons. Part of it is habit; it’s just the way my life has been, always moving to new places. I typically don’t travel a lot. I like to move somewhere new and stay there for a length of time. I’m ready to start something new in a new environment with new challenges. Maybe eventually I’ll settle in one place, but for right now I want to keep experiencing new homes.

What’s one piece of advice you would leave people new to zu?
Relax. Relax and be ready to be passionate about what you do because it’s going to involve working hard. And be open to the people because they will be open to you. If you want rules, order and structure zu is not for you. Things are intuitive and you need to be able to adapt. If you are an independent thinker that doesn’t need constant guidance you will flourish at zu.

Wherever your adventures take you Alex, we are sure you will flourish too! Happy travels and don’t be a stranger.