Fashion and Style

As some of you may know, I sit on the Board of the Young Women Social Entrepreneurs (YWSE) Nairobi network. We host monthly dinners - "How she does it" - where we have women speakers come and talk to us about their professional journeys so far. April's speaker was Rita Laibuta. She is an Electrical Engineer by training and the Energy Consultant for the French Development Agency on the DFID /EU - funded Green-mini Grid (GMG) Kenya program. She is implementing Mini-grids and productive use projects in Kenya therefore providing electricity to more than 13,000 households and businesses and supporting more than 10 privately owned Kenyan energy companies. Rita is a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow and a 2013/14 Tullow Group Scholarship Scheme beneficiary. She loves promoting the development of renewable energy projects and advocates for entrepreneurship in Renewable Energy including participating in the British Council Entrepreneurial Africa London Showcase in 2016. Rita shared a...

Don't put me in your box, don't assume that because I'm a 24 year old Kenyan woman of Indian origin, I must fit a certain stereotype. I'm ambitious, and I want a lot more out of my life than you think I'm aspiring to. No, I don't need to 'think about settling down' because 'women should start planning their family around the age of 28'. Marriage, a family, all that- they're not unimportant, but they're not all that a woman can have. Don't measure my success by where you/your daughter/your neighbour's daughter were/are at 24. That's their story. And I'm writing my own.  When you look at me, then find out what I studied/where I studied/where I've worked and say something like "Wow, I had no idea you were smart!", don't expect me to take that as a compliment. If you're willing to judge someone at face value, then I'm more than entitled to judge you for the person you just showed yourself to be. When ...

I first met Vava at the Sankalp Forum in Nairobi, a little over a month ago. We were at one of the sessions, a 'service provider speed dating session', designed to put entrepreneurs together with service providers. I was there as a service provider, and she as an entrepreneur. While we spoke for no more than 5 minutes, I was impressed by her, and wanted to know more. I heard great things about her from others too. Naturally, I spoke to her about the YWSE (Nairobi) network, and thought that it'd be great to have her as a speaker. Little did I know how soon this was to happen! This past Monday (the 4th of April), was our monthly "How She Does It" YWSE dinner. Despite the rain and awful Nairobi traffic, Vava showed up, and managed to captivate her audience very easily! Vava Angwenyi, Founder of Vava Coffee Vava aims to make bold and badass (her own words) decisions in all that she does- a phrase that quickly caught on and proved to be quite inspirational to the rest ...

What exactly is personal financial management? A quick definition: "The efficient and effective management of money to accomplish objectives." Definitely a skill I wish I had picked up 6 years ago! A few months ago, I attended a training on the topic hosted by the Young Women Social Entrepreneurs (Nairobi) network (of which I'm now a board member). The trainer was my eldest sister, and I really wish I'd thought to ask her about this before! Since attending the training, I've become much better at saving, which is especially helpful now that I'm working as an independent consultant. Who knew it could be as easy as this? What do I want you to take away from this post? Learning how to manage your finances is an achievable goal- not in the distant future, but soon. Financial independence is not something you need to worry about. What are some of the mistakes we make when it comes to managing our money? Not prioritising savings Having a very vague idea of where you...

Muthoni and I at the 'How She Does It' dinner Those of you who know anything about Sewanee know that it has an abundance of empowering people to connect with, and networking events galore! I can't even begin to count the amount of times I sat down with a group of amazing men and women and had meaningful conversations about anything and everything. Since coming back to Kenya, I've definitely missed the ease of access to people I could have such conversations and connections with. This is why, when a friend of mine suggested I attend a dinner and a talk that was part of a monthly series hosted by a nonprofit organisation in the area, I jumped at the chance. Connecting with fantastic, motivating women AND a great guest speaker? Of course I went! (And took my sister with me too.) I had a wonderful time, and definitely plan on going back. Luckily for me, I was seated right next to the guest of honour, Muthoni Gathecha (psychologist, motivational speaker, actress and presente...