The Nokia Network Automation Specialist on self-worth, resilience, joy, and a life shaped by bold choices
Today in our Letters to My Younger Self series, we spotlight Winnie Nakimuli, Senior Network Automation and Standardisation Specialist at Nokia.
Her journey from Nakazadde village in Lugazi to advanced PhD research in Spain to working across Italy and France is a story of courage, healing, academic brilliance, and a deep, evolving understanding of self-worth.
Winnie’s letter is raw, affirming, joyful, and deeply human.
Mistakes I would avoid— “No one is watching you as closely as you think.”
Winnie opens with a tender truth that many young women need to hear.
“You spent far too much time worrying about your body.”
“You hid what you thought were imperfections, not realising that everyone else was doing the very same—hiding theirs.”
Her reassurance is liberating:
“No one is watching you as closely as you think. People are too wrapped up in themselves.”
“Live in the body God gave you… cherish it, and love it.”
“You only get one in this lifetime, don’t waste a moment in shame.”
On risks taken, and the ones she wishes she had taken
Few leaders speak as openly about failure as Winnie does.
“I am proud to say I once became a failed start-up founder,” she says, adding, “Yes, I failed, but the journey taught me lessons that remain etched into who I am today.”
But her biggest regret is not professional; it is deeply personal:
“I wish I had taken another, smaller risk—dancing for Mum when she asked me to.”
“She passed on without ever seeing that side of me. That, I regret.”
And then she delivers one of the most beautiful lines in this entire series: “Not every risk is about business or career; sometimes, it’s about joy.”
Self-worth, burnout, resilience & ambition— “You don’t need ambition; you need self-love enough to try.”
Winnie writes with striking clarity about identity:
“Remember this always: you are worthy simply because you exist.”
“Out of all the probabilities in the universe, you came into being — you.”
“You don’t need to be successful, beautiful, or liked to be worthy. You just are.”
She reshapes how to approach life’s pace: “Life is not a sprint. It’s a marathon with no fixed finish line.”
“Pace yourself. Rest when tired. Travel, meet people, try new things, live unapologetically.”
On burnout: “Burnout only comes when you forget to live while chasing goals.”
On achievement: “Success doesn’t require brilliance; it requires staying the course a little longer than most.”
“Resilience matters, but so does joy.”
Letters to My Younger Self: Robinah Siima — “Success Is Quieter, But Richer”And on unlocking potential: “Discover your natural talents. That is where your edge lies.”
“To deny myself a PhD would have been a betrayal of who I am. Once I leaned into that gift, the journey became unstoppable.”
Her final instruction is transformational: “Find what comes easily to you, nurture it, and let it carry you forward.”
“You don’t need ambition; you need self-love enough to try.”
Success then and now— “It is about how many young lives I can touch.”
Winnie’s childhood definition of success was wonderfully simple: “Fried eggs for breakfast and chicken whenever I wanted.”
Later, success meant lifting her siblings and travelling the world.
“By God’s grace, I achieved those dreams.”
Today: “Success is no longer about what I eat or where I go.”
“It is about how many young lives I can touch, how many people I can mentor, and how much I can give back to my community before my time is done.”
On leadership—”True leadership is quiet, calm, and respectful.”
Her understanding of leadership transformed over the years.
“As a child, I thought leadership meant being feared.”
But maturity reshaped her philosophy: “Now I know true leadership is something else entirely. It is quiet, calm, and respectful.”
“Leadership is influence rooted in authenticity.”
And she leaves room for growth: “Though I’ve grown, I remain a work in progress.”
Regrets, redirections & revelatory moments— “I live grateful, I live hopeful, and I live still becoming.”
Winnie narrates the pivotal experiences that reshaped her life.
Losing her mother in 2008: “It broke me, and life was never quite the same again.”
Choosing Italy over a prestigious job at Uganda’s Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA): “I chose Italy, and it changed my trajectory.”
Pursuing a PhD in Spain: “Working as a technical researcher on an EU project transformed how I saw the world.”
“Graduation was one of my proudest moments.”
Choosing France over Finland for work: “It has opened doors beyond imagination.”
“Sometimes I still ask myself, ‘Who am I?” A little girl from Nakazadde… living a life beyond her dreams.”
She also admits her humanity: “There are days I get depressed, when the weight of it all presses down.”
And then offers the gentlest coping strategy: “My therapy is simple but true: bushera porridge, popcorn, roasted groundnuts, and binge-watching my favourite series.”
Her closing line is a signature of grace: “I live grateful, I live hopeful, and I live still becoming. The journey is far from over.”
