DAY IN THE LIFE: Life as one of Kenya’s top models

“I wasn’t one of those little girls who dreamt of modelling. I was headed on a different career path when Lindsey McIntyre of Surazuri Casting and Consultancy discovered me and encouraged me to pursue modelling as a career 10 years ago. Now, I can’t think of anything else that I would rather be doing.

“I am not really a morning person. I prefer nights but I always have an early start to the day. Health and fitness are essential in this industry. Like most days, I started today off with a jog to the gym as a warm up.

I had a great workout that involved circuit training and then I jogged back home where I had a fruit salad breakfast. I then checked my mails and replied to the most urgent ones before heading out.

‘The day’s schedule depends on what I am working on. It could be either modelling, or entertainment. Most of my days however entail a lot of meetings, emails, camera work, photographs, drinks, dinners, clubs, radio stations, television stations, airports, hotels rooms and photo shoots. Most of today was spent in front of the camera.

The camera isn’t even the best part of my job, it is the fact that I get to interact with all sorts of people ranging from models and musicians to politicians and mama mboga.

“If there is something I have learnt along the way, it is to treat people all people the same. Something interesting happened to me a while I was in London at an after party and we were having drinks with the deejay at the VIP area. I just kept telling him, he looked familiar but I couldn’t remember where I knew him from, but he just brushed it off. The next morning when I met up with my friends for brunch, I realised that the mystery man was a certain famous actor in Hollywood!

I remember how the journey to get here was peppered with exploitation, low pay and sometimes working for long hours for free. When I look back, I feel that it was all worth it. I am glad I believed in myself.

“I make an effort to get home early to bond with my five-year-old daughter; she is the reason I get out of bed most mornings. I also like to cook my family dinner. Sometimes though, I have long days and my day ends when it ends.

“After tucking my daughter in bed, I watched a light movie to unwind. I am also a social butterfly. When I get the chance, I like to party. If not, I have friends over for some good food and a glass of wine.

The most valuable lesson that I have learnt so far is to turn my mistakes into lessons learnt. For this reason, each night I go through the day’s events to see what I can pick from it before moving on.”