Meet 29 Yrs Old CEO Who Believes Every Job Seeker Can Be Trained

By Tabitha Makumi
When asked what she aspired to be, 29 years old Joyce Muthoni never said she wanted to be a doctor, pilot or a lawyer like most kids do.

“I’ve always wanted to be a business person. Whether it was buying a fleet of matatus or opening up kiosks, owning a business was always my lifelong dream,” she shares during an interview at her offices 14 Riverside Off Riverside Drive.

Growing up in Eastlands, Buruburu, the first born of four siblings admits that while she comes from an artistic family, she decided to venture into business.

“Mike Muthiga (Faiba famed Animator) is my brother, my smaller sister is into the arts as well but I ended up taking a different path altogether,” she adds that, “I celebrate Mike, he is extremely hardworking but I would have crashed and burned if I was to walk in his shoes for a day. It’s pretty exhausting what he does.”

With her interest in business, Ms Muthoni pursued a business course at the United States International University with a specialty in Marketing after working for her father at the Chiromo Campus photocopy bureau to earn little pocket money after high school.

“He once pointed that I was good in marketing after my little stint at Chiromo and given my daring and creative personality, this (marketing) blended well with my aspirations.”

Did she start job searching right after campus for her first job?

“I don’t like being told what to do which is what employment is all about,” she laughs at this and adds that, “This cemented my decision in what I’ve always wanted to do all along.”

She shares that right after graduation, she started doing research on the kind of businesses she could start with her marketing degree.

“I settled on PR and Marketing, Personal Branding and Event Management.”

Contrary to what most people believe that you need whole load of cash to start a business, Ms Muthoni admits to starting her lucrative venture with zero capital.

“My first client was a friend in the hotel industry who hired me to train his front office staff. She adds that, “The only cost I had to incur when I started off was the business registration fee which was a small amount given to me by my mother to organize a graduation party.”

The 29 year old who decided to put her dreams first at the expense of a graduation party became the proud founder and Managing Director of Proteque Consulting Firm.

But as she tells it, the journey of keeping her dreams alive hasn’t been all rosy.

“Just like any other business I have had to deal with my own bundle of challenges. For example, for two and half years, I worked from home since I couldn’t afford to rent out an office. I was also pretty green in the business scene that I ended up hiring a lawyer who did a shoddy job while registering my business.”

She also adds that at the beginning, she made a dire mistake of hiring candidates without job descriptions an idea which she says failed miserably. She also admits to being unable to delegate duties to her employees since she wanted to be involved in everything.

“I am very possessive of ideas and there’s always a particular way I want things done,” she laughs at this and adds, “But with time, you learn to let go and let others get involved.”

Speaking of employees, she admits that when hiring for her 5 years old firm, she is attracted to candidates with a specific personality.

“Marketing is all about people, so my people have to be people’s people. Of course they need to have basic education depending on the nature and level of the job. Their first impression is also always key plus being eloquent gives one a professional feel in the marketing industry.”

She quickly adds that, “I am also of the belief that anyone can be molded if they have passion in whatever industry they are in.”

And how is the business doing? She smiles at this and says, “I haven’t gone hungry and neither have my people.” She adds that with Marketing, there are high and low seasons. “It’s a very busy and unpredictable industry.”

And if her client list is anything to go by, then she sure is doing well for herself.

“I have been hired by individuals and corporate brands such as Safaricom, Kenafric, Craft Silicon, The Tribe hotel, Chase Bank and other organizations for event management.”

And what’s her advice to young people?

“You learn by making mistakes. For those who would like to start their own ventures someday, get the experience first even if it means getting an internship in the industry you want to get into.”

She reckons that this gives one the experience of getting to know the ins and outs of how things work.

She sums it up by adding that, “I don’t know how to do business without God. When things do not work out, God does it for me.”

Do you have a Success Story you would like covered by Career Point Kenya,  contact Tabitha Makumi at tabitha@www.careerpointkenya.co.ke

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