2017 Top 40 under 40 Woman-Mbula Musau

Today I turn my attention to a woman who has taken the less travelled road of entrepreneurship. She is an independent consultant and founder of Utake Coffee Consulting. She has personified what is popularly known as the 10,000 -hour rule. This principle suggests that 10,000 hours of deliberate practice are needed to make you world class in your skill; and world class she certainly is!

‘I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once... I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 TIMES’ Bruce Lee

She is a certified Q Arabica and Robusta Coffee Grader, the highest coffee qualification she attained in 2009 and 2011 respectively. She is one of the 40 certified Q Arabica instructors in the world, who conduct the esteemed Q Grader course, becoming the first African to attain such a qualification. Her company, Utake Coffee Consulting, is a company that specialises in coffee quality training, marketing, research consultancy and development management.

Meet the phenomenal Mbula Musau.

C: What do you consider as your greatest achievement to date?

M: Setting up and working in my own business, the first Specialty Coffee Association, SCA Premier Teaching Campus and Coffee Lab in Africa that has an in-house international certified instructor, and established throughpure passion and an effective business model.

C: What has your career path been like as you have navigated through your chosen field leading up to your current role/position?

 M: My career path was divinely inspired, I believe. I came across specialty coffee in my gap-year as I was waiting to join university and developed interest from the novelty of specialty fine coffee being offered in Kenya. I stayed the path, despite having many options and internship offers from the business world, as we often did having taken an undergraduate B-Com degree at the University of Nairobi. After establishing the wholesale coffee division at Java House Africa and doing Coffee Sales and Marketing for the company in and around Kenya, I came across the regional coffee association(Eastern African Fine Coffees Association, EAFCA), which I convinced my bosses that we join as a company. This led us to participate in several international trainings and national and regional coffee events as members, including cupping competitions such as the Kenya National Taste of Harvest competition.

I was selected to be a judge at this annual competition and while at it, the regional association spotted a skill in coffee quality assessment and marketing and offered me an opportunity for a regional position at the African Fine Coffees Association. I applied for the position, went through the rigorous interview process and thankfully, I went through. I headed the Quality and Marketing department, running national and regional coffee trainings and competitions for the 10 African member countries. I also represented the winners in international marketing events such as the Specialty Coffee Association of America, Europe and Japan every year. While there I took the Q Grader International qualification in coffee, and went ahead to train to be an instructor.

Five years ago I left the association and started up Utake Coffee Consulting, while taking my Masters Degree in Development Management at the Open University, UK. At the same time I worked as a Coffee Corps Volunteer and consultant at the Coffee Quality Institute, CQI. I was combining this with working with the International Trade Centre, ITC, an arm of the UN and WTO. My role here has been setting up International Women in Coffee Chapters in Africa as a vehicle to recognize and empower women in the coffee sectors in Africa. I was also finalizing my Q Instructor qualification and succeeded in 2013. I have since been teaching the Q Course to passionate coffee sector professionals all over the world.

This year I set up Utake Coffee Lab, an internationally certified Specialty Coffee Association, SCA Premier Teaching Campus, and registered it in Kenya, to serve the region and the world. I have plans to expand into the region, funds and logistics allowing. My Masters degree also helped with incorporating emerging real issues like gender equity, climate change mitigation and adaptation in the coffee sector and food security.

Why did I decide to set up Utake Coffee, you may ask? When I took the Q grader professional coffee training, these were funded programs. When the funding ran out, many stakeholders in the sector had no easy way to progress or even maintain their qualifications. The business idea I had was one that I knew would address this problem by ensuring that high quality coffee education is available right here at the coffee origin and accessible to all. Kenyan coffee, and African coffee for that matter is unique, and we should blow this trumpet, LOUDLY.

C: What advice would you offer to young people on figuring out the balance between work, family life and social life?

M: Have a plan to incorporate all three, and then give all of them your best shot. Balance is a moving target, but it will eventually take care of itself.

C: What is your greatest piece of advice to the young upwardly mobile individual?

M: Make a plan; break it down in years, months, days and hours. Follow your heart, and use your mind. If it gives you emotional and financial rewards, it is worth the pursuit.In other words know thyself and find what you love. If willpower fails you have a system (the plan) to guide you until you pick right back up.

C: What is the greatest lesson/ nugget that you have picked up in life?

M: Procrastination is the enemy of progress. The effort used in beating yourself up on unaccomplished tasks is the same it takes to actually do the task. So the sooner it gets done the faster you will grow, and surely blossom.

2017 Top 40 under 40 Woman- LeAnne Peris

Happy new year! Would you believe it’s 2018 and we are already midway through January! This year feels like one of those where you blink and it’s June and you blink again and you are counting down to 2019 (haha!) I hope you've had a fantastic start to the year, and I wish you nothing but a brilliant year ahead.

I hope you enjoyed the Top 40 under 40 women series from last year. I will be completing this series by interviewing a few more women this January.

After this, I have a really exciting interview series I want to begin..

(Drum roll..….)

The 2017 Top 40 under 40 men!

The list of the 2017 Top 40 under 40 men came out in late December 2017, and the list is nothing short of exceptional. I am very excited about this and I look forward to rolling out interview after interview with Kenya’s men to watch J

Kicking off my first interview for 2018 is a fabulous lady who has worn several hats in her lifetime. She was once a tea girl with absolutely no money and no connections. Today her life is reading from a different script. She is under 30, as business savvy as they come and an all round go getter!  Every year she hosts Kenya’s most chic of picnic parties called Diner en Blanc that attracts people from all over the country and has been a phenomenon in other locations globally.

Introducing LeAnne Peris, owner of Diner en Blanc Nairobi.

L: What do you consider as your greatest achievement to date?

C: Interestingly, I do not feel like an accomplished individual. I have moments in my life where I look at things I am doing in comparison to my peers and I think, “Wow! That’s a lot!”. However even in those moments, I am unable to look at them as achievements per se. Possibly because my vision is so great that I feel I have barely touched the surface of what I need to do to get there. There are moments which I can say were great and that I was proud of and these were:

1. Taking KShs1,000 on two occasions and turning it into a 7 figure income in less than a year at age 24. 2. Building an award winning entertainment brand Diner en Blanc Nairobi in 2 years from nothing! 3. Being nominated for the African Youth of the Year Female award in 2016. 4. Being listed one of the winners in the Business Daily Top 40 under 40 women 2017 awards. 5. Consulting for some of Kenya’s biggest brands and companies 6. Running a successful concierge high end wedding planning service. I do not think these are achievements, I like to call them blessings..I am blessed!

L: What has your career path been like as you have navigated through your chosen field leading up to your current role/position?

C: My journey has not only been long, it has been arduous. I decided not to be choosy as most people my age are. As a result I have done it all. I started working right after high school. My first job was as a secretary/admin at a photocopy and documentation centre. I was fired after 3 months. I then worked as a sales girl in a movie shop for 1.5 years as I waited to join university. 

Whilst in campus I worked as an untrained high school teacher in a school in my home area in Kiambu. I have also worked as a tea girl/receptionist during one of the lowest moments of my life. Prior to which I was head of business development for a multinational company based in Washington DC. 

Eventually, I decided to start a business. I started with HR consultancy, and management consultancy, before venturing into events and weddings. Currently I have invested in about 4 start-ups and I am trying to cement my place as a billionaire serial entrepreneur over the next half decade. The sky is not the limit! I think I can actually do it all.

L: What advice would you offer to young people on figuring out the balance between work, family life and social life?

C: I would say this is something I am yet to figure out; I am definitely a work in progress. I find myself getting carried away by work. I definitely do not have much of a social life. But then again, I am an introvert, so this is by default. 

My advice is to try and figure out what is really important at the end of the day. For example, my policy is to not take or make personal calls in the middle of my working day unless it is from my husband. I also try to go out for lunch with one friend each month, but if that is not possible I try to keep in touch through WhatsApp.

I believe no single template works for everyone. One has to make a deliberate effort to build and maintain relationships with the people who are closest to you, and one must hold in the same regard, their work.

 

L: What is your greatest piece of advice to the young upwardly mobile individual?

C: The two most important things in your life are time and your self-worth. These are the two things that one has utter and complete control over. If you manage your time properly and efficiently and avoid wasting it, you will find that you have full productive days and it will be very easy for you to achieve your goals. If you respect your time, it will respect you. Avoid wasting time on activities that do not add value to your life. Be productive all the time, and this will be the difference between success and failure. 

The second thing is to know your self-worth; defining honestly what you are capable of and being confident in your strengths. When you know your self-worth then you never wait for people to validate you and your dreams. You go for them, with every bit of energy that you have. Be confident. No one can execute your dreams better than you can. Always believe that, and the world will fall at your feet.

L: What is the greatest lesson/ nugget that you have picked up in life?

C: Be your damn self! Stop looking and listening to what other people think you should be. Set your own standards based on actual role models and not your peers. Most people like to pretend they have a bird’s eye view of what you should be doing in your life, but they are projecting their own insecurities to you. So set your own goals and standards and then live up to them to the best of your ability.

‘You’ve got a new story to write, and it looks nothing like your past’ Anonymous