WOMAN OF PASSION: A touch of Kenyan time on your wrist

“I honestly don’t know where the idea to make my own brand of watches came from, it was all God’s favour, nothing else. Even the first time I sold a watch was purely by chance. I was in my second year at Moi University. I was pursuing a degree in business management with a major in marketing. I had wanted to do law, but I missed the cut-off by two points. I went to Moi with a hope to transfer credits and get into law. But I grew to love marketing because it was a natural fit for my boisterous personality.

“I’d always loved watches and had a good eye for the simple and sleek. I have family members abroad and they’d gift me original brands like Michael Kors, Daniel Wellington, Rolex and Omega. I remember a time when I had 18 watches, none of them knock-offs.

“Back to the first watch I ever sold; I had bought it in the streets of Nairobi’s downtown. A friend in school asked to buy it off my wrist - I’d bought it for Sh200, and sold it at Sh500. From then on, more requests started coming.

“Just like that, my campus side-hustle began. I called it Sue Watches. I would travel to Nairobi to buy watches downtown, take photos of the watches, upload them to my Instagram page and sell them at a profit.

“Your audience creates their own image of you when you have a business online - my audience knew I was female but they didn’t know I was a 22-year-old student based in Eldoret; my selection of watches was also reasonably priced yet it appeared posh.

“I sold the watches to my schoolmates, and to people in Nairobi and Kampala. I got a supplier downtown to be sending them over to Eldoret.

“Having a reliable supplier meant consistently meeting my clients’ orders and doing away with the need to hold my cash in stock.

“I’m from Kitui, the firstborn in a family of three girls. My family cheered me on because the little I’d make eased some of the financial burden off their shoulders.

THE BREAKTHROUGH

“Sometime in 2016, Safaricom had a mentorship summit under BLAZE called Be Your Own Boss (BYOB). They toured our campus. I went to the entrepreneurs’ tent and the host - his name was Barry - asked me what I wanted for my business. Off the cuff, I told him I wanted to start my own brand of afro-centric watches. Barry was wowed. The friend I’d tagged along had me audition for BYOB and that December, I was shortlisted to participate in the first season of its reality-style TV show. The call came at the right time because we had completed our final exams and were waiting to graduate.

“My entire life changed after BYOB. It was turn-the-page-and- flip-the-script type of change. We were 12 contestants battling it out for a cash prize of Sh5 million. I was the sixth to be voted out of the show, I left with Sh160,000. I was also voted the favourite contestant and bagged an extra Sh500,000.

“Safaricom took us for a financial management course before they released the cash to us. The most important lesson I picked up from class was how to prioritise and plan for business expenses.

“The show ended in March 2017. God’s favour had had things fall in place for me. The watch I had designed had everything I liked and wanted in my brand of Sued Watches - simple face with a diameter of 40mm; gold case; white or black dial; hour marks, no second hand; no date or month window; Quartz movement; a strap or cuff in locally-sourced pure leather. The cuff is where the bold voice of my afro-centric theme speaks most. I customise the cuff to my client’s wrist size and accessorise it with Maasai beads. Every client has his own unique design of Maasai beads, to reflect their individuality. Customisation takes eight to 10 days. Designing has shown me that I’m more artistically creative than I thought I was. Plus, I enjoy it a great deal.

“The samples arrived in August. The wait was nerve wrecking. I was content with everything about the watch samples, I even got pre-orders when I uploaded the images to my Instagram page.

“The pre-orders reassured me because not all my clients were amused when I announced that I would no longer stock any other brand but Sued.

“Communicating with suppliers and the importation process for our first batch of 150 watches called for a lot of patience. I’d never realised I could be that patient or have such strength of character.

“Running your own business as a one-woman show reveals a side of yourself you didn’t think existed. There was also a time in mid-2018 when we had a stock-out, the maturity I’d mastered helped me manage my apprehensive clients.

“Our watch battery, like any other type of watch battery, needs replacement after six months.

“We replace batteries and also repair watches from other brands, like replacing straps. I ultimately want Sued to be a one-stop shop for watches.

“I also want us to be the first thing people think of when they think of an afro-centric watch for keeping African time.”