WOMAN OF PASSION: Telling the Kenyan story through pictures

When Alice was abruptly fired from her job as an interior designer six months ago, she was relieved.

“It was quite unexpected so I was surprised. But after the surprise, I felt freed. I felt an odd sense of calm,” she says.

In retrospect, Alice she thinks that her job loss was nature’s way of telling her that it was time. A way of pushing her to her passion. Growing up in Sagana in Kirinyaga County, she remembers being a nimble-fingered child. She loved making things with her hands.

“I studied interior design at the University of Nairobi. I wasn’t particularly taken with the course at first, but I soon found my footing,” she recalls.

She reckons that the reason she was able to settle in something that she wasn’t very passionate about was that she found ways to indulge her creative impulses. All through university, she spent her free time with a group of friends traversing through the country taking photographs.

They took photos of nature, landscapes and of people expressing their culture. She was lucky to get a job in design soon after graduation.

“It was exciting to earn my own money for the first time. I also wanted to prove myself to my bosses so I gave the job my best shot.”

FEELING CONFLICTED

For four years, Alice spent her time bringing buildings to life. Together with her team, she did space planning for offices, hotels and banks. She describes interior design as a lifestyle. It isn’t something that you just throw away.

“I enjoyed doing design but most of the time, I felt conflicted because something inside me was calling me to do something different.”

She tried to fight this feeling by seeing more of the country and taking more pictures. About a year ago, she realised that she had dozens of neatly stacked photographs in her hard drive which no one else got to see.

Sharing them would give her even more satisfaction so she set up a photography blog. Positive responses drove her to use her savings to invest in a professional camera. She also started teaching herself on all things photography.

FINDING FREEDOM

“All this time, the universe was preparing me for my job loss and when it finally came six months ago, I was not stranded. I already had something going for me. I only needed to turn it into something that could earn me money.”

Picha Journal is an online portal where Alice tells the stories of Kenya using photographs of the land and its people. She highlights both the small things and the big things. Her first task following her job loss was changing her mindset from that of someone indulging in a hobby to that of an entrepreneur.

When you are good at something and you give it your all, it is bound to pay back. This has been true for her because just six months in, she has a list of clients who have contracted her to tell their stories using photographs. These have been mostly companies and hotels working with communities around them.

“It hasn’t been easy. To be able to afford all the travel, I have had to cut back on my spending significantly. Luckily, I have supportive friends.”

Alice wants to see more of Kenya. She is working at being part of the team that is forming a positive image for Kenya. But she also wants to tell stories beyond Kenya. She wants to use her camera to tell stories of Kenyans who have built lives for themselves outside Kenya. At the moment, she is using her shop on the online portal to reach out to Kenyans outside the country.

“There are many people out there who just miss home. I sell them pictures of Kenya,” she says.

By using the resources that she already had, Alice has been able to turn an otherwise depressing situation into a success. She has an even bigger dream.

“I want Picha Journal to be a point of reference in the years to come. I want to build a museum filled with the history of Kenya.”

ALICE’S BUSINESS TIPS:

• Before your business breaks even, you will need to learn to live on less.
• Building a business from the ground up requires a lot of discipline.
• There is no right way or time, just do it.
• Communicate. Talk to the people you know. What they know may be just the resource you need.

•   Pick someone up along the way as you go.