Woman of Passion: Everything I know about my business, is self-taught

Amina Abdulrashid, 26, runs a studio at the  expansive space on the Mezzanine floor of Next Gen mall

What you need to know:

  • She first set an online boutique but faced problems in getting good affordable locations for photoshoots


  • She came up with the idea of setting up a natural light studio out of the gap

It is a Tuesday mid-morning when I meet 26-year-old Amina Abdulrashid for the first time. In her studio, an expansive space on the Mezzanine floor of Next Gen mall, a photoshoot is underway. The space has a high ceiling and is flooded with natural light by a full wall window. One side of it has been set up to look like a living room of a luxury apartment and the other, a bright garden. Two photographers are snapping away at the muse of the hour, a local model.


“My idea was to create an indoor photography space that was different from the typical studio with plain backgrounds and bright studio light,” she says later. A studio session here costs Sh350 per photograph and lasts an hour.


When you sit down to speak with Amina, her soft spoken nature takes you by surprise. It is a sharp contrast with the bright and cheery persona of her business.

“Social media is an art I mastered on the job out of necessity. It has been my greatest business tool. Half of our customers hear about us from referrals and the other half first interact with our work on social media,” she says.


Finding a gap

Amina hasn’t always loved photography. In fact, everything she knows about the subject is self-taught, again, out of necessity.


“I grew up in Mandera. Having seen the social problems of the people in my community and the gender disparities, a Gender and Development Studies degree from Kenyatta University was a natural choice,” she recalls.


At the time, her ultimate goal was to work with the United Nations. When she graduated, she worked with an NGO for a year an experience she terms as eye opening. Then she found herself without a job and she fell back on her love for fashion.

“I have always loved fashion and I used my savings to set up an online clothes store,” she says.

The online boutique was well received but just a few weeks in, she had a problem. It became difficult to find a good location for photoshoots for her models. The locations she found were either not good enough or too pricey.


“That was how I came out with the idea of setting up a natural light studio. I was looking to help people with a problem similar to mine. People looking for a unique looking photography space without having to go out in the park or pay and arm and a leg for a few hours of photography,” Amina who is the owner Moderne Studio, a new-age space, explains.


Thriving amid Covid-19


In October 2019, Amina opened the doors of her studios. Soon after, she faced her first business challenge.


“I had used almost all my savings on rent and setting up the space and I couldn’t afford to hire a photographer full time so I had to learn photography. I also had to do this quickly which meant spending hours every day online and practicing my skills,” she says.


At the time when she set up, most Kenyan photographers opted for outdoor locations or the traditional studio space. When her images began doing the social media rounds, others began copying. The copycats were not looking for inspiration for their concepts but actually replicating her studio space.


“Kenyans can be quite unoriginal,” she chuckles. “But I have learnt to love the competition and others watching my every move because it keeps me on my toes. No one can execute an idea in exactly the same way as you.”


Six months into her business, the first case of Covid-19 was announced in the country and for a while there, she braced herself for the blow this was bound to deal her business. The first month was quiet and then, tired of staying indoors and looking for something to do, clients began calling to book for shoots.


“My business has thrived in the pandemic. I’ve had families just looking to get out of the house and then content creators who no longer feel safe outdoors but still need to shoot content to earn their living booking sessions with us,” she says.

The bigger dream is to have an even bigger space for her business. At the moment though, she is content shooting birthday, graduation and family portraits.


Amina’s nuggets

  • I have heard complaints that social media influencers are not worth it. People who say this are those who used influencers in a different line of work from them. You can’t successfully use a beauty and fashion enthusiast if you are trying to sell land, for instance.
  • It may sound cliché but do what you love. If you do not, when challenges come up as they must, it will be easier to give up.
  • In business, your patience will be tested many times. Be ready.
  • Running a business is a learning process. Be ready learn.