WOMAN OF PASSION: Beauty made in the kitchen

Mugethi is 35, a single mum and CEO of Mugzie’s Naturals. PHOTO| FILE |NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mugethi graduated from Moi University in 2004 with a major in Information Technology. She relocated to Mombasa soon after graduated.
  • I was worried about cutting it (my hair) because I didn’t know how I’d look with short hair. Plus there was pressure from society to appear serious and professional.
  • By the time Mugethi was quitting her job in 2016, she was had good grasp of what shea butter can do for different types of natural hair, when mixed to the right ratios with oils.
  • I sell mostly through social media and at the K1 flea market every Sunday.

“As a little girl, I didn’t have the opportunity to keep my natural African hair,” says Mugethi Gitau. “When I was going to boarding school in form one, my mum put for me a straight kit because she said it would be easier hair to maintain. I relaxed it when I was joining campus. It stayed that way until I cut it and went natural in late 2011.”
Mugethi is 35 and is a single mum of a seven-year-old boy. She founded a business in October 2016 that makes products for natural hair care – she makes the products herself, in her kitchen at home. Her brand is Mugzie’s Naturals.

Mugethi grew up in Naivasha town. She’s the first in a family of four kids. Her father was a civil servant who bought her many storybooks and encouraged her to read for the simple joy of it. Her mother was a kindergarten teacher who owned and managed a school. From her mother, Mugethi learned the mechanics of running a business and the subtle art of DIY (do-it-yourself). I met Mugethi at her home off Ngong Road and she crocheted as we spoke. She told me she was making herself a demure cardigan.
Mugethi graduated from Moi University in 2004 with a major in Information Technology. She relocated to Mombasa soon after graduated. She was a college lecturer for five years and ran a string of side-hustles while at it: she ran a business centre, a simu ya jamii, a bar and restaurant, made wedding card invites. “Running these side-hustles made me happy,” she says.

RESILIENT, VERSATILE AND A DIVERSE SET OF TALENTS

Mugethi returned to Nairobi in 2009 and worked as an assistant on a government-funded research project. She had her son then took a six-month break. She returned to stints with a microfinance then a donor-funded trust. On the side, she brokered land. “I finally got into tech in 2013,” she says. “I worked with the iHub and with a coding school. My last job was as an assistant director with a tech start-up. The title was just fancy,” she chuckles, “because I was doing everything and anything – admin, finance, HR. I knew it was time to quit when I became stressed and I couldn’t do my job anymore. I actually started seeing a psychologist every Tuesday morning.” Mugethi sighs as she crochets.

I ask her what she learned about herself from her colourful career. “That I’m resilient, versatile and have a diverse set of talents,” she says.

Mugethi fixes herself a cup of tea. “I used to have long relaxed hair that went down my back,” she says as she shows me photos. “But it got weak. See it from that photo, right before I cut it – the old thin shiny hair and the new thick hair that was growing. I was worried about cutting it because I didn’t know how I’d look with short hair. Plus there was pressure from society to appear serious and professional, and it wasn’t by being natural. I made a conscious decision to defy these expectations.” She pauses. “There wasn’t much info about how to care for natural African hair. There were also no specifically made local products and hairdressers didn’t know what to do with it. All this was a disenfranchisement of the African culture. I wanted to get back our cultural pride.”

From 2011 to 2013, Mugethi experimented with oils she’d bought off the racks at beauty shops – olive, castor and coconut oil, essentials oils and beeswax. She’d mix them up and take note of how her hair responded. Some concoctions made her hair happy, she says, others dried it out. She weaved her personal product experience with extensive Internet research until she became a natural hair care guru in her own right.

Mugzie’s Naturals products include hair butter, body butter, stretch mark cream, beard cream for men, extra rich body/cocoa butter and lip butter. PHOTO| FLORENCE BETT

“In late 2013, a friend brought me shea butter from Ghana. It varied in thickness from the one I later bought from South Sudan. Sudanese call theirs ‘lulu’ and use it for cooking and as a body cream. Shea butter is grown along River Nile, so I was also able to get some from north Uganda. I’d use it to whip up hair butter and lip balm, give the products away to my friends then experiment again.”
So by the time Mugethi was quitting her job in 2016, she was had good grasp of what shea butter can do for different types of natural hair, when mixed to the right ratios with oils.
Since her first sale that October, Mugethi has listened to her customers’ feedback and majorly relied on it to tweak her formulations and expand her product range. Even her thoughtful packaging – the glass jars with the how-to-use tags, the pouches handmade from blue kitengee fabric – is in response to her customers.

“I now make hair butter, body butter, stretch mark cream, beard cream for men, extra rich body/cocoa butter and lip butter. Lip butter goes for Sh300 and the 250gm jar for the other products at Sh650. I also sell scented shower melts and bentonite clay. My cosmetologist and I are in the process of formulating leave-in conditioner, shampoo and spritz.”

From 2011 to 2013, Mugethi experimented with oils she’d bought off the racks at beauty shops – olive, castor and coconut oil, essentials oils and beeswax. PHOTO| FLORENCE BETT


It’s been an adventurous year for Mugethi and her young business. “I’ve grown fearless and resourceful. I’ve also become a negotiator – negotiating with my son’s school for fees, negotiating with my landlord for rent...” She laughs out aloud. “I’m at a crucial stage now because the business is rapidly growing; I have repeat customers and we sell at least seven items every day. I sell mostly through social media and at the K1 flea market every Sunday. Last April, I got a campus student to assist me with production and making deliveries. It isn’t easy but I must soldier on.” She sips from her cup. “I’m looking to go into contract manufacturing, and getting a grant for women and social entrepreneurs.”