I ditched my prestigious degree to pursue art

They say creativity takes courage and art is a way of survival. While the perception among artists has changed over time, there are many who still hold on to what they consider ‘prestigious’ degrees like medicine, law and business management.

There are those who also still hold on to art as a side hustle, while universities and colleges have evolved to accommodate those that want to be self-employed through art.

In light of this, Saturday Nation speaks to women who dared to park their degrees and studies and pursue their passion in the art and crafts industry. The women open up about how they owned their journey and changed the perception of those around them.

They dared. Gave their artistic side a chance. They never once doubted themselves but pushed through despite the hurdles that came with their choices. They persevered to the end and are now proud business owners.

What started off as simply styling her hair for class became her career

Anita Makanye, 27, is a law student turned hairstylist

When Anita Makanye, 27, enrolled at the University of Nairobi in 2015 to pursue her Bachelor’s Degree in Law, she knew she wanted to be a lawyer.

Her passion for law was ignited by her late dad who practised as a lawyer. However, in order to save up some money, Anita started making her own hair, a skill she learned from her mother even though she was not a hairdresser.

When her work spoke for herself on campus and word went around, Anita started receiving job offers from her classmates and college mates. She then created an Instagram page to promote her work.

Now with some extra coins in her pockets and a marketing avenue, Anita started doing house calls and perfected her skill thanks to the many breaks at university.

However, she made the call to pursue hairstyling as a career while in her second-year thanks to an attachment that opened her eyes to what the situation would be like once she was done with school.

She says, “While doing my judicial attachment, I learned that things were so different. Working there was never exciting and I constantly felt very overwhelmed. That is when I knew working in law was not cut out for me.”

Even though she continued studying until she graduated, Anita shares that she stuck through to get the academic certificate.

“Finishing school was not my backup plan but for my personal validation.”

She perfected her craft and fell in love with the work as she strived to learn more from other hair stylists and YouTube.

All along, Anita’s mother was very supportive and open to her juggling both school and her side hustle. In 2019, after graduating, Anita decided not to proceed to the Kenya School of Law (KSL) but instead run her business.

“My mother passed on right before I graduated but the support was there,” she says.

With close to nine years of experience specialising in natural hair, Anita shares that she has learned so much on the job. She reveals that at first, she never knew how to price her work, she could be conned by clients and even be exploited but she learned and became wiser.

She notes that while being a businesswoman in such harsh economic times is a hustle by itself, delivering good work has enabled her business to withstand the test of time.

Though she parked her degree, Anita advises people to secure their academic certificates before exploring other possibilities.

“Not everyone who drops out has the grace to see her passion through so when that fails and you do not have another plan, you put yourself in a more difficult position,” she notes. 

‘I felt the course was not in sync with me’

Christine Nteere, 27, Actuarial scientist turned makeup artist and micro bladder

When Christine Nteere, was growing up her love for mathematics carved the way for her career-wise. When she joined the University of Nairobi in 2014, she had already made up her mind that architecture would do it for her.

However, from time immemorial Christine has always been girly and loved being in the beauty industry. She would do her make-up, hair, and nails and enjoy the whole process.

On the other hand, architecture is a demanding course and quite involving and Christine could not multitask doing beauty and school.

After a year and a half semester, the then 18-year-old felt the course was so intense and was an impediment to her love for beauty. She opted for a ‘less-intensive’ course, actuarial science.

“I applied for inter-transfer then changed from architecture to actuarial. One month in, I still felt this course was not in sync with me. It was boring and not technical. So, I took a break to figure myself out,” she reveals.

While on the break, Christine still continued earning and perfecting her newfound skill thanks to referrals.

She then requested her parents to allow her to travel to the USA to learn about the making of sisterlocks instead of joining another course and then dropping in between.

“A year later, in 2017, and after negotiations, they paid up for my sisterlocks training for four days then came back.”

On getting back, Christine did her mother’s hair and posted and clients started streaming in through sisterlocks were not that popular in the country then.

While working in the saloon is very exhausting especially due to standing for long hours, Christine had to learn another skill that would enable her to sit.

“Since the business was booming in Nairobi, I could not just leave for the USA to learn micro blading so I took up an online course,” she says.

Christine paid up for a six months course with a tutor and juggled the different time zones balancing work and the course.

She had her first client, created a separate Instagram page, and posted her work. Towards the tail end of 2019, microblading had started picking up pace and even when Covid struck business was okay, though a bit slow.

“I opened up a stall in Westlands for my microblading clients and would still do crocheting but not as much as I did when starting up,” she explains.

Moreover, her legs would swell due to standing up for long making her less productive. While she now enjoys doing microblading, Christine observes that the creative part of her work and the mathematics used in ensuring the eyebrows are perfect remind her of architecture.

“I’d advise people willing to transition to go for it because you never know how it could turn out. If you fail, you use it as a lesson. The worst thing is regretting why you did not do it,” she advises.

Boredom with my course led me to crotcheting craft

Grace Kanja, 29, Human Resource practitioner turned crochetier

When Grace Kanja was pursuing her Bachelor’s in Commerce, Human Resource option in 2012 at Kenyatta University, her heart was not in the course but in tourism and hospitality.

Though she never had any difficulties learning, Grace shares that the course was not her first option and she was pressured into it since then it was the talk of town.

Specialising in the human resource option in the third year, Grace says that she still leaned more toward procurement. “Learning for me was not as adventurous or exciting. I just wanted to secure the papers and venture into business,” she admits.

One day in April 2015, while studying for her third-year examinations in the library, Grace got bored and decided to peruse Pinterest to relax her mind.

She stumbled upon a crocheted off-white scarf. She clicked on the link and it directed her to YouTube.

“I had not seen a crochet hook before so what this lady was doing seemed like abracadabra to me. This excited me,” she says.

Grace downloaded quite a number of beginner tutorials and when she left school for home that day, she passed by the supermarket and purchased yarns.

Though she had never seen her mom crocheting, Grace’s mother had a crochet hook. That night, Grace spent it learning how to crochet.

“The first time to crochet something functional, I made a coin purse. Initially, I wanted to make a scarf but I made a wrong turn which then turned the whole project into a circle,” she recalls laughing.

Before going for her internship in July, Grace had learned the basics but was not good with patterns. Unluckily, her phone and laptop broke down around the same time leaving her with no option but to follow through with the tutorial using a kabambe.

While doing her internship, Grace perfected her pattern skills and even learned so many techniques. After the internship around August, Grace stayed for a month brainstorming on what value-added crocheted products she would make.

Grace decided to make crocheted hoop earrings and hairclips to sell in school once they resumed. Business boomed and in 2016, she decided to concentrate fully on making crocheted items and selling them.

She even opened up an account on social media to promote her business. By this time, she had decided to grow her business and not seek employment.

“When I was on internship, I realised I could not survive in employment. I had a terrible experience,” she admits.

Upon graduating, Grace would be pushed to apply for jobs and even drop her CV in different organisations. “Tired of not getting a response and the tension plus stress that came with applying for jobs, Grace decided to grow her crochet business.”

This was without a fight, especially from her father who subscribed to the old-school way of life.

With bulk and small orders, Grace shares that immersing herself fully in her crochet business has paid up despite the challenges that come with every business.

“So far I have shipped my crocheted products to the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Sudan,” she notes.

For Grace, passion is at the heart of transitioning. “You have to trust the process and be patient as you learn the hoops of what you are passionate about even though it is not what you did in school.”

YouTube and Pinterest have helped in getting new ideas

Jane Mary Obaso, 58, is a teacher turned decorator

Growing up, Jane Mary Obaso, loved art from when she was in primary school. She would make some bags with yarn, a craft she learned from her big sister.

When young, Jane lived with her sister who would crochet after her teaching job. Her interest was piqued by how she would watch her crochet sweaters and table mats.

Learning through apprenticeship, Jane notes that the experience was quite a hustle but her determination saw her through it all. After clearing her secondary education, Jane left for college where she studied Child Development Community (CDC).

During her free time, she would attend other colleges and learn about drama and music. To her, art was inborn and it just needed to be nurtured through school.

Specialising in teaching lower primary learners, Jane requested the school administration to allow her to teach art and music in both lower and upper primary.

To boost her creative juices and get unique products, Jane learned how to transform waste products into decorative pieces. As she strolled, she would pick some used bottles, wires, and wool and make wall hangings and flowers from them.

This she says was enabled by the use of YouTube and Pinterest to get new ideas.

“The internet is very helpful for creatives. You see something and modify it to fit what you want. I’m able to make pen and toothpaste holders, light fixtures, flowers, and wall hangings,” she says.

Jane, a Kisumu-based resident also shares that life had been going on smoothly at least shuffling the two until four years ago when she was let go by the head teacher of the primary school she was teaching.

“Though I had the option to get another school and work there, I decided to hang my boots and focus on art,” she reveals.

She adds that making the call had its own challenges especially positioning herself in the market and promoting her products. However, she admits that she does not regret quitting her employment for art.

“Currently, I have a Facebook account where I showcase and sell my products besides networking with groups of people who are in art.”

To Jane, transitioning to art was a safe caution for her retirement since it would be soon knocking. She notes that while the artistic nature of someone is engraved in them, there is the freedom that comes with being your own boss.

“Art makes you active and taps into your creative mind. It can be done at any age and anywhere. It deters people from being lackadaisical,” she affirms.

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