ONE ON ONE: Michelle Ntalami loves to win

Michelle is a friend, sister, life-lover, traveller and business lady, pretty young and vibrant. Besides everything I do at work I love spending time with family and friends. I love animals, especially dogs. I love the wild. I love animal print. I’m generally an extrovert. I’m a social butterfly, I really like to socialise.

I’ve always been a child of excellence, as you can tell from my accolades. I’ve always been top in whatever I do. In high school, I was the top student in arts in the whole country. In my undergraduate studies of Communication Design, I got First Class Honors and was the 14th top student in the country. At Chartered Institute of Marketing, I was the youngest chartered marketer at the time, and the top student in the world.

I am never content with second place. In Marini Naturals, there’s a feeling of being the premiere hair care line in the natural industry. We have already won a number of accolades and achievements, which I accredit to my dire need for excellence. I love to win.

My inspiration every day is to be the best that I can be. To be on top, I do not look at competition as such, I just keep outdoing myself. If we had different packaging for our products last year, this year would mean striving to have products looking like the L’Oreal of Africa.

Balancing out my work and my personal life has not been easy. It was frankly difficult in the beginning: I would have a 80:20 ratio of work to personal life.  I got a team and the company grew, and it was able to manage the day to day running of the company. I was able to delegate work and get some free time for myself.

These days, weekends are strictly for myself. I try to leave work by 6pm, from where I put in a work out. I exercise every working day, and this keeps me mentally stimulated, refreshed, looking good and feeling good!

I am big on supporting local brands. I have done projects with Vivo Active Wear, Peperuka, the trendy urban fashion line that promotes Kenyan culture, Yaka Yeke, an African inspired fashion line, Kaka Empire, Safaricom, as the brand ambassador for Blaze and Pauline Cosmetics.

We are the process of revamping Marini Naturals’ look as a company. We are switching up packaging and improving formulations. We have been in the market for about two years and the feedback is overwhelming, both good and positive criticism. We have a huge demand from people with dreadlocks, so plans are already underway for that specific line. We have many plans that we are going to roll out in the next two to three years. We want to be Africa’s leading line in hair care.

Conceptualising the business idea from start to finish was the first challenge when I started Marini Naturals. I wanted to do everything at the beginning: start it, walk through the journey and see the end, but it’s not possible. I decided to relax and take one step at a time. You can only see the journey as it unfolds.

Getting the capital was another challenge. It’s not easy to get money to start such a business, it’s really capital intensive. I however managed to collect some funds from family and also my brand consultancy firm, which I consolidated and put into a savings account and used to roll out the business.

The stereotype by some women about natural hair not being beautiful also proved to be a psychological challenge. We had to convince them that their hair would look beautiful before selling the product to them. More and more women are however going through The Big Chop, which is what going natural is called these days.

My business idea came to me around four years ago, when I saw the need that was in the market. To the young entrepreneur: You are your biggest cheerleader. No one can keep cheering you on, except you. It’s tempting to let self-pity, doubt and lack of self-confidence cloud your judgment. Believe in yourself despite the fears and doubts you may have.

I’m in love with Italy. I lived there for a while. The Dominican Republic also tops it for me. I went there on holiday a few years back after I literally opened an atlas, closed my eyes and pointed to a random location, which happened to be it.

I only watch stuff that educates and inform me. I love autobiographies and documentaries. For the few films I watch I love comedies, romance and films based on true stories. As for music I love Afro Beats, EDM, which is attributed to the time I lived in Europe, and Kenyan music. Brand Sense by Martin Lindstrom is the last book I read. I read when I get the time.

I’m not a morning person. I work best from midmorning onwards. My day begins at about 9am. I check my emails and schedule for the day when I wake up. Most of my meetings are scheduled for the afternoons. I meet my staff every Monday and leave the office at around 6pm, from where I hit the gym for about an hour. I then have my dinner, then watch something informative or read before sleeping.

I like making plans with my close circle of friends. I really like hosting house parties which I think are fun for playing indoor games, laughing and talking about everything with my girls. I also like doing barbecues in the park. I don’t go out as much as I used to when I was younger, mostly because of the responsibilities I now hold. I love Privee, Kiza and Onyx. Mercury ABC is still an old time favorite for me.

I pride myself in cooking. I’m a fabulous cook. I can cook anything from European dishes to Italian dishes and Kenyan dishes. I’m really good at sauces, gravies and stews. Plus I can cook a mean steak. I’m however, not good at baking. I love vanilla milkshakes and cappuccinos. Strawberry mojitos do it for me, in terms of cocktails.

It’s important to stay grounded, be humble and never let the hype get to you, in as much as you have dreams and are making them happen. I have seen a number of people get to that point. At the end of the day, we are all really just human beings who are trying to make it in this world.

The small things always prove to be the big ones.