Why Lynn Wambui ditched her degree for a business idea she loved

Question, have you ever caught yourself daydreaming of a birdcage lamp in matte black? Or a chopping board in olive wood? No?

I’d never dreamed of either until Lynn Wambui showcased a select few under her brand Santana Africa. It was something of a forbidden reverie for me.

Lynn, 24, handmakes custom home furniture and accessories. She uses mostly metal and wood. Sometimes in combination.

Her pieces are a modern form of sexy functional art. Pieces that’ll appear in your dreams.

This is Lynn’s story:

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I did a degree in project management at Moi University. I never liked the course, it wasn’t even my choice. I’d wanted to do a degree in civil engineering. I desperately needed a plan B, so in my final semester in campus, I wrote down one business idea every day for 30 days. The idea for Santana Africa was one of these 30. It was the winning idea.

WOOD

I use different types of wood for our products — mahogany, cypress, teak and olive wood. Each of these woods has different properties that favour our products. Mahogany is hardwood and has a natural rich-red stain. Cypress and teak are softwoods with beautiful grains their smooth surface paints better.

There’s a home-office desk I made for a client where I combined cypress and mahogany. Combining woods ultimately lowers costs. Mahogany made for a durable desktop, cypress allowed me to paint the legs and drawers white.

I’ve learnt a couple of things in these last 12 months of running Santana. I triple-check items before they leave the workshop. And that fundis are the cog in the wheel of your business. They specialise. Now I have a fundi for woodwork, another for metalwork, for carving the bowls and for the chopping boards.

BUSINESS

On the day I decided to go into business full time, I called my grandmother. I’m an only child, she raised me in Nakuru. I told her I can’t pursue project management into a career anymore, my heart had never been in it. She was worried for me. I was scared witless, to be honest. Would I nail this?

You can see more photos of our work on our Instagram page, @santanaafrica_

Our wooden bowls are exclusively hand-carved by a traditional wood carver from Kitui. And, just like the popular chopping boards, they’re made from olive wood. Other softwoods absorb water then mould, olive wood doesn’t. Varnishing the wood with cooking oil makes them safe to eat from.

People usually say their high school years were good but their campus days were a blast. It wasn’t like that for me while at Moi University because I wasn’t sitting the degree my heart desired. Then, Eldoret to me is too far and too small a town. I had a better time in high school because from Form One, I worked toward making the grades for a degree in civil engineering. Which I did.

CONSTRUCTION

I’m happier now, in Santana. I have a feeling in my bones that it’s a stepping stone to running my own construction firm someday. Doing fit-outs for restaurants and things like that, like what contractors do.

Twelve months of running the business, I’ve also learnt not to chase money anymore. If I can’t deliver your sofa in seven days as you want, then I won’t take your money. Lastly, I’ve learnt that customising furniture is a difficult way to build furniture for sale, but … it’s the path I’ve chosen.

We were selling some time back throws handmade from 100 per cent pure silk. The silk worms were bred in Machakos. I bought one throw to see how my upper and middle-class market would respond. The prices were not friendly. The sisal rugs from India didn’t do too well, either. I’m searching for cheaper alternative sources.

Three words that best describe our products: unique, beautiful and functional.

SELL CLOTHES

I personally make the deliveries to our clients so I can take photos of where — and how — they place the pieces. These photos go up on our Instagram timeline. They show best how to style the pieces in your home. I never use photos from Pinterest or downloaded online — a local setting speaks better the familiar language of relatability.

Some of the business ideas that went into my 30-days-of-business-ideas list included a kibanda for food, a construction firm … I crossed these out because they needed a lot of money to start up, I didn’t have any. Another idea was to sell clothes. I’d sold thrift sweaters from Toi Market for over a year online. I crossed out any clothes idea because the logistics of sourcing and delivery turned the business unsustainable.

I’ve been selected as a sponsorship recipient for an entrepreneurship programme. It kicks off in a few weeks. Only 20 of us were selected, I’m the youngest. The programme will run for one year, switching between online and classroom sittings. I can’t tell you how excited I am to go back to ‘school’ again.