Inspiring Story Of Chasing Your Dreams As A Woman

Many women have been sharing their stories of going after their dreams to inspire other women in the world.

Biashara leo Magazine talked to Kola who quit her well paying job to start her own business.

Why did you take this risk

Last year I quit my well paying job and people thought l was crazy. In fact my father thought l was ruining my life, but l did not care. I felt suffocated and stuck at my former job.l am not built for office life.

I get extremely restless when trying to sit still for eight hours a day, and that feeling of being trapped at a desk always made me less productive. But freelancing has freed me to follow my wandering spirit.

Was it easy making such a decision?

It was the hardest and easiest thing to do.The hardest because I chose myself.Every day l make my schedule, decide who to see, what to do, how l move and where l work.There is nothing more satisfying to my soul.

I felt like my creativity was suppressed. I enjoyed working in a bank but I wasn’t completely happy I needed a new challenge.

In my spare time after work, l would practice different makeup techniques.l would do my mum’s nails.

I have always been arty and had done makeup before, which people really liked. I was a third year student at the university of Nairobi when a certain lecturer asked us to come up with topics that we could do presentation about. I wanted to do something different so l presented on how to do your nails perfectly. The lecturer really liked it and advised me to venture in to beauty industry.

Who has been your biggest mentor?

One of my biggest mentors was – is – my former boss as an intern. She just gave me so much wonderful advice while I was an intern and it still impacts the way I do business today. She was really into making sure that her juniors would make a difference in the world after after internship.

What advice would you give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps career-wise?

It’s a lot of things, really. The most important thing is that this isn’t a part-time job. When you leave the office on weekends, It is really challenging. It may appear really great on the outside  amazing, peaches and cream. I think that you need to be aware of those things, and you need to be ready for the sacrifice and if you are, then that’s great. I tell myself that a lot, that you know, that this is what I’ve chosen – so, I just need to find the best way to tackle these issues, as opposed to being upset about them. That’s very important, because it isn’t easy to be the face of your brand, and the founder, and be running it. It’s not easy, and you need to be ready for the sacrifice, for sure. And if you are, full-steam ahead.