John Gitau Kimemia established the Rift Valley Institute of Business Studies, a renowned business school located in the Nakuru County area.

He has always clung to his natural ambition to provide education to a large number of children. As the saying goes, knowledge is powerful. During his childhood, he walked barefoot for 7 kilometres every day to attend school.

Despite these long distances, years later, John’s village friends shared their struggles since they were unable to proceed with education. Most are illiterate; unable to read or write.

Moved by their hardships, he vowed to contribute to fostering educational growth in Kenya.

During his upper primary school years, Mr Gitau engaged in manual labour on farms. His ability to read and write led to occasional assignments in supervisory roles.

“Growing up in a village, I observed firsthand the transformative power of education. The contrast between the lives of the educated, primarily teachers and those of the peasant farmers around me was striking,” he said in an exclusive interview.

Following high school education, John Gitau took on a role as a data entry clerk, and he was responsible for training others on computer usage.

“This unexpected task taught me more about the power of education. During my times in college, while juggling work and studies, I got promoted three times in just three years,” he remarked.

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After completing college, his plan was to establish a primary school and provide education. However, he took a different path and launched a cybercafe and a cosmetics shop in Nairobi before founding a hairdressing school in Kericho.

“Facing challenges in my early retail ventures in Nairobi, I found myself drawn back to the beauty industry in Kericho. This move was not just a business decision; it aligned with a longstanding personal aspiration to venture into education.”

The post-election violence of 2007/2008 compelled him to close down his hairdressing college in Kericho. Subsequently, he decided to relocate to Nakuru for a fresh start.

“When I restarted in Nakuru, I faced two major challenges; adapting to an unfamiliar environment and the need for more investment capital for a larger town setting,” he said, adding that he got financial aid from Equity Bank.

Prior to establishing the business, John Gitau conducted extensive research and feasibility studies. The findings revealed a gap in cosmetology training, with only a few schools offering hair and beauty courses, and those that did were priced for the rich.

“I saw an opportunity to step in and fill this void. We began with just two courses, hairdressing and beauty therapy, and expanded our offering gradually in response to the growing demand,” he told the interviewing correspondent.

“This approach allowed us to cater to a broader demographic, making quality education in hair and beauty more accessible to a wider range of students.”

Eventually, the small hairdressing school grew to become one of Nakuru’s most prominent business schools; Rift Valley Institute of Business Studies.

John Gitau noted that he opened the cosmetics school so that he would prepare students for the job market by equipping them with a skill.