I Could Not Resist The Urge To Follow My Passion – Here’s Where It Got Me

What happens when you get an overwhelming urge to quit your job and follow your passion? Do you immediately leave work and hope everything regarding your passion goes well? What if it doesn’t?

Meet Lynkie, whose urge to follow her passion was too strong to resist…

She has always been passionate about event management. Before she formally ventured into entrepreneurship, she had worked as an informal events manager.

In her third year of university in 2008, she decided to move out of her hostel and rent her own house. For her, moving out meant she would have more freedom and space to start a business. True to her thinking, she realized she had more free time. She decided to start doing events management and selling clothes from her house. While at it, she also participated in the Miss Universities beauty pageants as a stylist and planner. The pageants helped her hone her events management skills.

Shortly after graduating in 2010, she started looking for a formal job.

In 2011, she was recruited by Old Mutual and left the following year to join another company, Motion Pictures. Three years down the employment route, she concluded that employment was not the place for her. She describes the urge to leave employment as overwhelming – something she could not ignore.

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She got a start-up loan of Sh500,000 from one of her early customers who had believed in her work. Also, Lynkie got a generous offer to use the customer’s already established fashion business brand. This was a boost for her, and to date, she is grateful to her.

Her main challenge was managing the fashion and events management as she was riding on her friend’s fashion brand. With the help of a mentor however, she was able to create business processes and structures that ensured a smooth flow for both businesses.

It has been four years since she launched her business. Her greatest source of business she says has been referrals.

Challenges

There are times when she has doubted her resolution to venture into entrepreneurship.

“Business is a roller-coaster ride. The highs are so high and the lows too low. In those low moments, when heavy bills start making demands, I have at some point wished I was employed. The constant worry over how employees whose livelihoods depend on the business is also not easy to bear. Today, though, my challenges are in ensuring timely deliveries from suppliers.”

Take Away…

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“Over and above, I have kept going, knowing I am in a field that I am passionate about. Each day I rise to go to work, I am inspired and challenged to innovate and offer better services that can ultimately make my business the events company of choice in the African market. This is not just a pipe dream. With professionalism, excellence and constantly exceeding our customers’ expectations, I believe my business will be spreading outside Kenya within the next five years.”