There are lessons Kieran Godden tells about his life. Don’t go to a foreign country if you don't know exactly where you're going. Food at Cinque Terre in Italy is best served outdoors, in the heat, with the late-afternoon Mediterranean sunlight twirling through the stem of your wine glasses. Make only the promises you are willing to fulfil. That last one, especially, used to irritate him—the double speak, how people can say this and mean that, the exact opposite.

But as life goes, he got daughters, and they remind him, “Dad, it’s not that deep.” Now he labours away as the Group CEO of Liberty Kenya Holdings Plc, but he doesn’t take himself too seriously. “The job will still be there when you come back to the office,” he says. “I can work tonight, but I can't be present for my child tonight.” Even at work, he remains a good sport—which is perhaps the only way he survives as a Tottenham Hotspur town crier in an office full of Arsenal devouts.

What moment of your children's lives passed faster than you were prepared for? With small children, they say the days are long but the years are short, and I think as they get older the days aren't quite as long. I don't think we missed anything, but it feels like it went by really quickly. Having adult children with opinions is really entertaining. You can't tell them what to do anymore. But I have good children.

How has it been to be a father? I've really enjoyed being a dad to girls. When they were born, we didn't find out what we were having, so it was a little bit of a surprise when they arrived. I was very happy that they were both girls. With the third one, we decided to check the gender because by then the novelty had worn off. I’ve never had a burning desire to have a boy. It is amazing how the same recipe can bake three different cakes!

What would you teach your father about fatherhood? Haha! My dad was a lot older than my mum, and he got married quite late. He had very little contact with his dad because he was in boarding school. My dad was not quite as hands-on as I have been with my children. Perhaps it is the era he grew up in.

Which one has exposed your weaknesses more, fatherhood or leadership? Fatherhood [chuckles]. There's no doubt about that. It is important to me to be myself, but I think you control your reactions in leadership. I've definitely lost my temper more with my children than I have with anyone I've ever led. They see me at my real core when I get home at the end of my energy levels. My wife has criticised me about this multiple times.

What kind of father are you trying to avoid being? I don't want to be a helicopter parent. I've tried to set my children up for success, but I don't want to meddle in their lives or make decisions for them. If they ask for advice, I'll give it. If they make a decision I don’t like, I accept even if I don’t agree with it [chuckles]. I strive to love them for who they are and not who I want them to be.

Do you feel guilty for not being available for your children? For the big things, I'll put them first. My eldest graduated in May, and with me, if it's in my diary, it happens. If it's not in my diary, it doesn't happen. My children’s things go into the diary early, and I plan my life around it. If my middle one has a play at school, I'll do my level best to turn up. Work matters, but you won't get the time with your children back. The job will still be there. I can work tonight, but I can't be present for my child tonight.

Surrounded by women, how do you show yourself, love? That's not on top of my agenda. It can be a very lonely existence. I'm an off-the-chart introvert. So, at the end of the day, I'm very peopled out. I need me-time, which means disappearing into my own thoughts by myself. Other people can be physically present in the room; we just mustn't interact. I need a few hours to reset.

What's a spontaneous thing you've done lately? Spontaneity is not my thing. Recently in London, I sent a friend who lives in the Middle East a picture of a beer I was drinking, and said I was chilling with my daughter. He happened to be in London at the same time, so we met for breakfast, which was quite nice.

What do people often get wrong about you? I think people think I'm grumpier than I am. People are almost afraid to engage me. While I'm not naturally gregarious, I'm not unfriendly. My youngest daughter always says her friends are scared of me, which will help when the boys start coming [chuckles]. I think people underestimate the strength of my resolve. If I've decided something, the decision is made. I'm worse than a mule. I will not change.

What has been the best part about growing older? Haha! I think you're more carefree. You worry less about what people think, and whether they like you or not. Because of my introverted nature, I've learned the value of relationships and interacting with people. My default position would be, I'm not going to chat to this person, but I've tried not to let that stop me because there's huge value in maintaining relationships with people. Another thing is that those relationships are not always transactional, because maybe when you're younger you tend to think about relationships as such. The true value of relationships is when you don't need something from someone, but you maintain the relationship with them.

Liberty Kenya Holdings Group CEO Kieran Godden during an interview at his office in Nairobi on July 16, 2026.

Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group

How are you remaining like a child so that you keep saying yes to life? Fortunately, my wife is really good at this. I am a creature of habit and routine. I love to do different things, just not everything. My wife has been a great influence. She is a free spirit. She loves to explore and try new things and travel. And having children in the house, there's always something going on anyway, but if you break my routine, it kind of upsets my apple cart. I heard a saying, “You have to think to yourself at the end of the day, have I earned my salary today?” Routine is how I focus.

What's your top travel tip for long haul flights? [chuckles] If you can afford it, don't book economy class. I have long legs, so I've always hated it. The most important thing is to be organised. Just knowing what's coming, when it's coming, what you need and when—it just makes the experience smoother.

Do you have a memorable travel meal? Twenty years ago, my wife and I visited Italy's Cinque Terre, a region comprising five villages in a row, situated within a national park or reserve. You can walk between the villages, making it a unique experience. The idea is for the walking to earn the meal. We were wandering down the park over lunchtime, and there happened to be this little restaurant perched halfway up the cliff above one of these villages. You walk through this door and onto the little patio, and you're looking out over the Mediterranean. We sat there and had a beer and a glass of wine and just ate Italian food; tomato, cheese and pasta. The view in that sunshine and the amazing food? I can’t forget that moment. It was that good. I’ve also learned that as you grow older, your metabolism slows down. [chuckles]

What's your biggest travel regret? Croatia. Phenomenal place. We were flying from London, and my wife was doing some work to earn some pounds so we could pay for the holiday. We decided we had time, flew to Budapest for 24 hours, then caught the train to Split in Croatia. 24 hours in Budapest is just seriously not enough time. It was rainy and cold, and we didn’t have a great time [chuckles]. Later that same holiday, we went from Croatia across to Italy. We had arrived in the city of Ancona, got a rental car and drove out of the city. But in Italy they don’t mark the freeways, so we had no idea how to get out of the city. What they do is put the biggest city on that long highway on the sign. We spent about an hour and a half driving around the inside of this city, trying to figure out how we would get to the freeway. I was driving, and she was navigating. It wasn't pretty. This was pre-GPS. Lesson: Don't go to a foreign country if you don't know exactly where you're going [chuckles].

What dreams have you let go of? Oh, wow. I've always wanted to teach, and it's something I used to do at university. I want to go back to it in my next phase of life, because I like to explain things. But don’t ask my eldest daughter that, because I've tried to explain maths to her, and she threatened to hurt me [chuckles].

What's your pet peeve? When people don't do what they say they will do. If someone says, I'm going to call you, and they don't, it really irritates me. If you're not going to do it, then just say so.

What has life taught you about life? My daughter has a saying: It's not that deep, and I think that's a truism, right? I think you shouldn’t take yourself so seriously. It doesn't mean that things can't be right, or that there aren't bad situations or whatever, but it's important to hold lightly to things. And two, people who sound convincing don't always know what they're talking about. Be wary of them.

If you had a dessert named after you, what would it be and why? Oh. Look, comfortably. My favourite dessert is a baked cheesecake, New York style. And don’t put fruit on the top of my cheesecake, especially granadilla.

What's your screen time? Honestly or what I want it to be? Haha! It’s far too much, about four and a half hours a day. And that’s just the phone. I spend my whole life on the laptop. What I really try to do is to get away from the screen if I'm away on holiday or even on the weekends. Luckily, I am not big on social media so I don’t doomscroll.

How are you stopping to smell your roses? My wife and I haven't gotten away, just us, for too long now, but we do try and get away for weekends. I like to cook and will bake the occasional cake for her birthday. Sourdough bread is my thing; I bake it, and that process just allows you to slow down because baking sourdough bread takes 24 hours, from when you take the flour out of the cupboard to the bread getting sliced. In the mornings, I spend time reflecting and praying.

What does balance look like for you? I think it depends on the time frame you're measuring it on. Weeks are typically work, so my family suffers Monday through Friday. But if I stretch out the period, the balance is better. You have to be deliberate. Work isn't something you prioritise, because it just exists. It is important to actually flick a switch on the way home for family. I am deliberate about my six friends, about sending a WhatsApp asking “How are you?” My wife's got a great habit of phoning people on their birthdays. I try to copy that.

Give us some good advice. Haha! Always ask why. Never take the first answer as the truth. People will give you their perspective on something. It doesn't mean that they are being dishonest, but you need to question till you hit the bedrock.

eashioya@ke.nationmedia.com