MY HUSTLE: Why I’m fuelling my passions despite tough times

Liza Sagini is the founder of a movement called Street Kings and Queens that seeks to give psychosocial support to the homeless as well as rehabilitating street children. PHOTO| COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • From childhood through to my teens, my passion grew into this burning desire to explore the world of fashion. After KCSE, I thought about applying for courses in fashion design or art.
  • Liza started doing online jobs such as data entry and research. Occasionally the thought of reviving her fashion blog and monetizing it crossed her mind but she kept procrastinating the move.
  • The movement is hosted on streetart.com, a platform that allows donors and people of good will to interact with Liza as well as pledge support for this cause.

Liza Sagini, 22, was born second into a family of five children. She grew up very close to her elder and younger brother as they were almost age mates. They played together, showered twice a week and shared toys as well as clothes. She was raised like a boy. However, Liza secretly yearned for girly stuff. She wished she had dolls to play with or fashionable ribbons for her hair. She kept this to herself though, lest she got teased by her two siblings, Edwin and Ezra.

“From childhood through to my teens, my passion grew into this burning desire to explore the world of fashion. After KCSE, I thought about applying for courses in fashion design or art. I have an innovative streak which I hoped to explore through fashion. When I shared this with my father, he was not amused one bit. He gave me two options; to find a “proper” course or be ready to pay my own school fees.”

THE COMPROMISE

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Liza decided to put her fashion aspirations on hold. She researched extensively on a ‘serious’ course that still involved innovation and creativity. On her search, she stumbled upon Industrial Chemistry. It was not exactly love at first sight, but it helped ease the tension between Liza and her father. It was a serious-sounding course that would give her skills to manufacture and create.

That was close enough, she was game.

Liza recently launched a website for her blog, streetartke.com. Her niche in the vast field of fashion is street savvy designs. PHOTO| COURTESY

In her second year in campus, fashion begun gnawing at her heart with new resolve.

She decided to create a WordPress account and start blogging about fashion. Ideally the blog was to be composed of short articles on fashion tips accompanied with photographs.

Getting someone to do the photos at an affordable cost proved to be a tall order.

"You see, Maseno was a new environment for me. The campus was isolated from the town and we didn’t have the privilege of exposure to services such as professional photoshoots at the time. Without the photos, my blog became really dull. I quit.”

When Liza graduated from the University in December last year, she was convinced that the world was hers for the taking.

She enthusiastically sent out her job application to five companies including KenGen and KenolKobil. She was called in for interviews in all the five companies and she passed them all.

Liza chose to go with KenolKobil based on the projected growth opportunities that came with working in such a highly reputable company.
She signed a three month internship contract, rolled up her sleeves, all set to impress with the hope of securing a permanent job.

UNEXPECTED TERMINATION

“One day while I was out on a field trip, I got a call summoning me to the office. I was five weeks into the internship. It had been going so well such that I was already smelling the employment confirmation. When I checked into the office, I was hit with the news. My contract had been terminated. I pleaded with them to explain what I had done wrong lest I made the same mistake in my next job. The management kept mum and simply said that the decision had been made. I left as hot tears balanced in my eyes threatening to spill over.”

When Liza got home after her contract was prematurely ended, she decided to go back to the other four companies whose opportunities she had forfeited. To her disappointment, the positions were no longer available. She was back to square one.

Liza recently launched a website for her blog, streetartke.com. Her niche in the vast field of fashion is street savvy designs. PHOTO| COURTESY

“People say that I am a tough cookie. I always bounce back no matter how hard life knocks me down. In February this year, two weeks after the termination, I landed another job with Clean Energy. On arrival though, I realized that the job they had advertised for and the reality on the ground was as different as day and night. Two days into the job, I realized I wasn’t going to be of much use there. I quit.”

Liza started doing online jobs such as data entry and research. Occasionally the thought of reviving her fashion blog and monetizing it crossed her mind but she kept procrastinating the move. She describes this particular period as one of the lowest moments of her life.

TAKING A DIFFERENT PATH

He younger brother, Ezra, came to find out about her fashion blog by chance. He was impressed and pestered Liza relentlessly to revive it.

When he linked her up with an affordable professional photographer, Liza took the cue and started creating more content including photoshoots. She developed an impressive portfolio which she exhibited at Power 254 early this year. Her brother’s faith in her rekindled her passion, there was no stopping her now.

Liza recently launched a website for her blog.

Liza recently launched a website for her blog, streetartke.com. Her niche in the vast field of fashion is street savvy designs. PHOTO| COURTESY

Her niche in the vast field of fashion is street savvy designs. A blend of ruggedness and sophistication has seen her come up with uniquely resourceful blogs that are gaining popularity mostly with young people.

Her love for the streets doesn’t end with fashion. She extends it to street families whom she supports philanthropically whenever she can.

She is the founder of a movement called Street Kings and Queens that seeks to give psychosocial support to the homeless as well as rehabilitating street children.

The movement is hosted on streetart.com, a platform that allows donors and people of good will to interact with Liza as well as pledge support for this cause. Currently she is stocking up donations for this year’s Christmas week where she will be Street Santa and give presents to street kids.

Liza recently launched a website for her blog, streetartke.com. Her niche in the vast field of fashion is street savvy designs. PHOTO| COURTESY

At the moment, Liza is undertaking an internship at KEMRI. Although she has to pay Sh 5,000 per month for the internship, she views this as an investment in her career as a chemist. She is grateful for her parents support in paying for the internship.

“A young people, we cannot afford to limit ourselves in the face of today’s endless opportunities. I aspire to build a successful career as a chemist while running a lucrative fashion blog and changing the lives of street families for the better.

All this shall come to pass at God’s perfect time. In the meantime, am taking each day at a time and trusting the journey.”

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