Nadia Mukami is one of the first rising female artists in Kenya. Besides music, she is an entrepreneur with a big dream not only for herself but also for the whole of society.

In an interview, Mukami revealed her entrepreneurial Life was inspired by American rapper Shawn Corey Carter popularly known as Jay Z. Jay Z is one of the top rappers with tales of resilience in entrepreneurship. He has built a strong kingdom in various sectors, including liquor, art, real estate, and stakes in companies like Uber and Spotify.

This is what inspired the Maombi hitmaker, who is already working on establishing herself as a female version of Jay Z.

“I follow Jay Z a lot with the intention of learning because we are in the same space. We are both entertainers. I mean, if you cared to listen to his chat on (American comedian and actor) Kevin Hart’s chat show Hart to Heart, Jay Z speaks of the importance of having multiple streams of income,’’

said Mukami.

Nadia Mukami: How I made my first million at age 23

Mukami noted that many artists go through sweat and blood looking for money, but after getting the hard-earned money, they end up splurging on fun rather than investing.

“We artists make a lot of money — sometimes more than a million in a good month from just a gig. But there is this mentality that there will always be more coming in soon; Life happens. Things can go terribly wrong. Who would ever have thought of a Covid-19 pandemic?”

In the music industry, Nadia is Kenya’s top female artiste. She boasts of the highest number of streams on Boomplay — a streaming and download service targeting Africa — standing at 37 million. That number places her in the third position in East Africa after Tanzanian artists Zuchu and Nandy. She has also ventured into offering experiential services. These broadly refer to services that focus on the customer’s experience when interacting with an organization or its brands.

Despite making a hefty sum from the industry, the 26-year-old said she has learned not to depend on music only but to explore opportunities in other sectors. She has various assets in the city under her name, including a nail bar and beauty parlour along Koinange Street in Nairobi’s CBD and the Sevens Creative Hub, a digital communications advertising PR & company located in Imara Daima.

Starting the Sevens Creative Hub

Starting in 2019, Mukami revealed that the journey was not a wake to glory. She started the company at a Servants Quarter, where she lived then as an up-and-coming musician, with just two employees. It took the company six months to land its first job. The first job was from a consultancy that paid Sh 3,000 before getting its first high-paying job of Sh 4 million in 2021.

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The company’s star was now starting to shine, and Nadia never looked back. She moved Sevens from her SQ to another space and began offering videography and studio recording services. She charged artists between Sh15,000 and Sh20,000 for audio recording because “some artists complain too much.”

She then ventured into the bulk SMS business, which helped her pay rent and salaries to her five employees. Bulk SMS business involves sending SMS to the client’s target audience at a fee.

“You could do your math from a database of more than 2,000. We charge 0.35 cents for each SMS. How much is that considering it’s a charge for a single message, and the minimum number of SMS you can sell for a client is 10,000?”

she says.

With these investments, the young millionaire has refused to rest, and she is looking to launch another “big project’’ as she continues building her empire. While Jay Z’s empire has over 2,000 permanent employees, Mukami has 25 on her payroll, with the number expected to surge in the near future.