From flight cabins to weddings

“I was one of those young girls who dreamed of becoming an air hostess, and actually became one. I had applied for a cabin crew job for three years in a row with no success. I had given up on it. Then in 2001 (at 23), they called me and gave me the job.

“I was newly married when I started it that October. It was all so exciting – the uniform, the flying, the new and exotic destinations, the hefty salary. But I knew this wasn’t a lifetime career: There was the practicality of ageing on the job, and getting replaced with a younger crew. Kenya Airways (KQ) had not yet amended its rules on cabin crew having children (they would later allow it).

There was the constant time away from my husband. It worsened when we had our daughter in May 2003, and I started flying international routes. This meant I was away from my family more frequently, and for longer. It was unbearable. By 2008, I desperately wanted out.

FOREVER BEAUTIFUL

Ever since high school I had an interest in organising events. I considered going into wedding planning full-time but my husband asked for my patience – he had just left his job to start an IT company. His business was still young. For the financial sanity of the household, we agreed that I would hold off on quitting until his business stabilised.

“I gave myself a window of four years.

In that time, I did what I needed to prepare for the journey ahead: I enrolled in an events planning class, and graduated in August 2009 as a certified wedding planner. I took an entrepreneurship course to learn the fundamentals of running a business – basic accounting, strategy and vision, HR management and whatnot.

I also registered my business, Forever Beautiful, in June 2007. And I started to save more money. “I had my second child in August 2008. Now I was convinced more than ever that I needed to leave my job. It had seemed OK to leave one child at home with my husband. But two?

At the start of 2012, I was counting down the months to my resignation date. It was a coincidence that that year, KQ announced its restructuring programme to lay off a huge number of staff.

I remember celebrating when others were moaning the loss of their jobs. I opted for the early retirement package which came with a generous cash payout that I redirected to my business. My plans were going well.

“In August 2012 – after 12 years as a cabin crew member – I jumped ship to pursue my passion. I had been running the business as a side gig for four years, but it wasn’t until I got into it full-time that I experienced first hand the challenges of being an entrepreneur and switching careers. 

“I had to learn personal time management. At an airline, your flying schedule is timetabled to a tee. Now here I was – an entire day with the responsibility of planning my own hours while running a business and managing a team. It wasn’t a challenge I had anticipated.

The entrepreneurship course I attended helped a bit but it was the pressure of the weddings itself that truly taught me how to manage time, while  a company called Passion Profit helped me fine-tune my passion into a profitable venture.

NO SHORTCUTS

“I also had to overcome my shyness. I am naturally a behind-the-scenes kind of girl. I keep to myself a lot.

I realise the irony, given that I was working in an industry which involves dealing with people all day. What made it different was that with KQ, I wasn’t pitching a personalised product as I am now.

With wedding planning, people open their lives and let you in. It is your job to reflect what they have shown to you, in their weddings.

There is no shortcut to this. I had to be taught how to network: I attended a business networking class with an international organisation where I learnt to build a strong rapport and widen my network.

“Adjusting to this new lifestyle that revolved around tightened purse strings and a skinny bank account took time and called for sacrifices. The life of a cabin crew member means the comfort of a fleshy salary, shopping sprees in fine destinations, five-star hotels and high-end fashion. Pursuing my passion asked that I forget all these niceties. It would be several rough months before I settled into this lifestyle. I even lost some old friends during this adjustment period.

“Running the business on a tight budget was also a challenge. Money was going out and not enough of it was coming in. Panic set in often. The mentorship I received from my business partner and from my husband helped me appreciate that such challenges were usual to the young entrepreneur in the first years of business. I had to toughen up.

“The business has been growing since: Through referrals, I have managed to build a portfolio of local and diaspora clients. I am also raising my two kids as I wanted. It’s rewarding. My passion sustains the business, and the business can now sustain me.

“My plan is to expand it to include support after the wedding in marriage, parenting and family counselling. It is my family that motivated me to pursue my passion, it’s only natural that my business strengthens the family unit.” 

WHAT SHE ADVISES               

• Assess the viability of your passion before you pursue it for money, because not every passion can be turned into a business – hat will you need to turn it into a business?
• Have a mentor to guide you in your journey, and be a mentor to somebody who is starting out. It completes the circle of giving.
• There is a rewarding power in your passion that you won’t understand until you pursue it.
• Be prepared to make sacrifices for your business, and to pay the price for pursuing your passion.