Jamiel, a great man in words, friendship and an amazing husband, father and grandfather.

When I was introduced by Kip to Jamiel, the first thing he said was that “a friend of Kip is a friend of mine”.  This speaks volumes about Jamiel, and the trust he put in those close to him.  During the 5 yrs that followed I had the pleasure to get to know Jamiel better on both a professional and personal basis.

I will never forget a 7 course meal with 7x truffles going from the starter to the dessert.  After this royal meal we went for a drink.  I was amazed to watch Jamiel transition from the high class French dinner crowd, to socializing easily with the blue collar worker next to us at the bar.  And the following day, he transitioned right back to the senior business leader talking to a CEO in our meeting the following day.  Amazing.

Despite the distances, Jamiel and I called one another on a fairly often basis to check up on one-another.  When he and his beloved wife were in Belgium, I had the opportunity to take them to a Michelin star restaurant and what I remember is not the dinner, but the warmth, love and care for his wife, family and beloved ones.  This was Jamiel 200%, both the hard worker and the ever caring man.

I feel privileged to been able to call Jamiel a Friend.

Jamiel, the one thing we pledged to one-another never happened – working together in this life.  But know one thing, the moment my time comes to join you in heaven, the first one I’ll send my résumé to is you.

Thanks for giving me the honor to call you my friend,

Roeland