Meet Young, High Achiever CEO in Her 20’s With a Radio Station, an NGO & Marketing Company

Meet Beatrice Ndugu the high achieving CEO of several entities among them Global Essence, a media marketing company, SEMA a youth oriented radio station and the NGO, Young Media Foundation.

Barely out of her twenties, Ms. Ndungu is a good example and a great role model for the many who wish to be so successful at such a young age.

So how did this all start out?

From a tender age Ms. Ndungu says she always knew that she was a creative and wanted to work in media. “I always knew I would be in media from when I was a child. I used to watch TV and tell my folks that I want to be like the people reading news. I even remember my dad taking me for a media tour in all media houses in Nairobi including Voice of America when I was 12. I felt so good, more like a queen, and I knew there and then that I wanted to own a media house,” She told Biz4Africa in a past interview.

But life hasn’t always been so easy for Ms. Ndungu. At one point in her life she had to drop out of college since her retired father could not afford to cater for her fees. Unperturbed, Beatrice went home and used her kin interest in media to write several articles which birthed the concept of an online magazine. Two weeks later, she showed her parents her concept, and they encouraged her to take it to the next level. Cash strapped, her father phoned his friend in Belgium to sponsor the magazine after he saw the impressive designs.

Not satisfied with the magazine’s outlook Beatrice decided to rework it and give it a better look. Once she re-launched it, she realized she didn’t have the necessary funds to help run it efficiently. After a rather unfruitful quest in asking for funds she took a rather bold step and called up Raila Odinga’s son Fidel for assistance.

“I got his number from a friend but I had never met him before, and I was very afraid of what the outcome would be, but I was desperate and I had no other options.” Surprisingly, he took the phone call well and Impressed by her young age and ambition, he wrote her a cheque which she used to rent out office space and computers,” She revealed to The Standard

With funds now at hands she decided to embark on a mission to market her business. She would do this by attending events where she knew certain VIPs would attend. One in particular she attended, she got to meet PLO Lumumba who was so impressed with her determination that he offered a job, which she declined since she was eager to get her business off the ground.

All her hard work has eventually bore fruit as today Global Essence has expanded to include a creative department, an online magazine and a production department tasked to create adverts for various companies. Beatrice is also pleased with the fact that her ever expanding company has managed to create a lot of job opportunities countrywide, among them free lance writers, producers and even managers running the their production department and media unit; R&B.

After seeing the massive success global essence has achieved Ms. Ndungu saw it fit to give back to society by starting her own NGO, Youth Media Foundation, which imparts the youth with relevant tools and skills to make their lives better. The foundation aims to play an effective role in the development of communications as a major instrument for continental building and a vital element in the socio-economic development process.

They do this through visiting sick children in hospital and enabling them to express themselves through art through a process called art therapy. They also build schools for rural areas and have a radio station called SEMA to air out youth problems and solutions as well as reduce poverty by giving training opportunities in different fields of media.

And what lessons has she learned so far from her vast experience? “Many people think that women cannot get far. But doors are open for you; all you need to do is take the initiative. Be determined and ambitious; know what you want and do not apologise for it. Everyone can do something, the difference is that some people take the initiative and others don’t” she is quoted by Biz4Africa.

Any words of advise to the youth? “I want to make people especially the youth see that it does not matter how old or young you are but if you have the determination to work and excel in what you do, then you can be the best that you can be,” she tells Standard

And what does she see for her future? “I want to have the best marketing company in the country, and give Gina Din and Scanad a run for their money as well as impart the youth with skills and opportunities to ensure their voices get heard.”

In conclusion, young people need to realize that you don’t have to be old to be successful, Beatrice ndungu is proof enough. So long as you have your dream and know what you want to do with it, work hard and let everything else fall in place.

Compiled from The Standard and Biz4Africa Blog

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