Truck driving is often perceived as a profession reserved for men. However, Rosemary Mokaya, 55, has defied societal norms, proving to the world that anyone can do trucking and still excel, with sheer resilience.
The Kenyan woman breaking barriers works as a truck driver. In addition, she co-owns a trucking company with her husband Joseph, who is also a trucker.
The good life doesn’t come easy. This is something that has now forever been engraved in Rosemary’s mind and she embraces it wholeheartedly.
In a YouTube interview with Lynn Ngugi, Rosemary shared that to see the success that she has had in a span of 5 years, has taken an enormous amount of sacrifice and God’s favour. She admits to finding strength in prayers and always seeks inspiration from motivational stories.
Rosemary’s upbringing in Kenya was under the care of a single mother. She began her career at Kenya Prisons at a young age, starting from the lowest rank. Years later, she was deployed to work with the UN, but she unfortunately quit with PTSD.
In 2018, the family was selected for a green card. Her husband relocated in September, while she followed suit in 2019. Upon arrival at age the of 50, she started doing delivery work as her husband transitioned to trucking.
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After some time in the US, she took a second job and would work from 3 am to 7 pm. Furthermore, an ambitious Rosemary decided that she would be attending trucking school every Saturday & Sunday, from 7 am to 4 pm.
She shared that she failed truck driving exams severally despite spending Sh. 1.6 million ($11,000) in the learning process. Nevertheless, she persisted and eventually passed the exams and obtained her license.
In November 2022, Rosemary’s husband for 37 years, was diagnosed with cancer. He was the family’s breadwinner and they had recently purchased a house in the US.
Rosemary had to take the bull by its horns and step up to help pay the house bills as Joseph went through cancer treatment. Fortunately, he survived, returned to work, and is now in remission.
This was the most trying moment in her life. In the midst of all that sadness and crying, she found solace in Tiktok. That was how she came to create her popular TikTok account with over 210,000 followers.
She also noted that the world is in a global recession, including the US. Rosemary said that the cost of goods in the US shot up ‘twice as much’ compared to Kenya. The only major difference is that in the US, opportunities to make money are sufficient, unlike in Kenya.
Rosemary highlighted that residing in the US takes a lot of bravery as one should be ready to give up a life of comfort so as to chase the bag. She has taken risks, some frightening, but acknowledges God’s divine grace as her guiding lamp.
She concluded the LNN interview by expressing her desire to live a life of helping people.
Additionally, she advised people to give tithes without any derogatory thoughts on how the tithe money would be spent. She outlined that God blesses those who give with a cheerful heart.
