Wabi Gĩtaũ alias Wabi Sherie is the Executive Director of Siri The Brand Group of companies which provide leadership, educational, corporate trainings and consultancy.
These companies include Siri Education, Imani Siri International Academy, Siri Ya Muziki, The Siri Online Campus, Siri Therapy and The Siri Consultants. She is also the founder and director of Soma Siri Afrika.
Soma Siri Afrika is the world’s first Afrocentric Innovation Incubator for kids and youth aged 3 to 19 years. Interestingly, Soma Siri Afrika was actually midwifed by a documentary by NTB dubbed ‘Degree of Doubt’ that got me asking myself that if problems are indeed opportunities, then shouldn’t Africa be the real land of opportunities?!
I then decided to launch Soma Siri through which we go a step further than simply training or skilling, to actually training children and youth how to solve problems. Using the “Siri Philosophy” and the “Soma Siri Curriculum”, we professionally identify their talent and then guide them to learn how to use their gifts and talents to solve problems.
I cannot over emphasize the power of social capital. I started out in 2013, with nothing but a dream, passion and a lot of social capital. I remember googling how to edit videos and created my first marketing advert for a training event we organized. After lots of marketing which I now know was poorly done, we got 2 attendees, but that did not kill my morale.
My friends were there to support and my mum (a trained educator) and I run the training. The owner of Bethsaida Park in Kikuyu gave me a good deal, and that event became the beginning of Siri The Brand Group business. The next time I needed significant capital was in 2015 when I needed to buy a piano and furniture for my music school, Siri Ya Muziki.
I started my Shamba business with Sh. 100,000; didn’t make any money in first season
My family and friends supported me and to date I still have guitars and drums given to me by friends. For corporate trainings I remember my boyfriend (now husband) taking me all the way to the site and being my co-facilitator so that I didn’t have to pay someone. Social capital can take you places raw capital never will. Make good use of it.
Because my business is mostly service based with little initial capital, I broke even with the first set of trainings I did. Also, I never purchase items unless I am doing it for a specific client – this is my bootstrapping rule. Challenges however, come mostly in balancing being a wife, a present mother to my two boys, keeping my larger family happy, having a social life, being able to pick calls, and still running multiple companies.
I keep wondering how Julie Gichuru had been doing it for so long! So for me, breaking even isn’t necessarily about profit, it’s more about finding a balance between all these facets of life. That balance sheet is still a work in progress.
I have never been formally employed. I started Siri while still in University. I was however working as a peripatetic Educator for many schools, training French, Chinese, Spanish, Piano, Guitar and Voice.
I also volunteered for a couple of organizations, one trained me advocacy for mental health using music and the other trained me in facilitation skills and using art for behavior change communication.
During the Covid lock down when schools closed abruptly, I had about 17 Siri Educators who had been working and we had not been paid by a majority of our partner schools. I decided to take an overdraft loan that I would repay once schools paid. At the time we didn’t think schools would be closed for so long. The bank’s app then had a glitch and gave me the overdraft twice, in small increments that I didn’t notice because I wasn’t being vigilant.
I was a new mum too and my mind was all over. When it was time to pay the loan, schools still hadn’t paid, and there was now little hope as most schools were barely surviving and I had a crazy amount to pay! The repayment became a serious strain.
The lesson I learnt is to stay focused particularly on finances no matter what. And if I am completely unable to do so myself, to set up systems that work and have people who can be vigilant on my behalf.
Learning how to pitch my business and explain our strategy clear has been the greatest moment for me because it has opened a myriad of doors. This happened when I joined the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs run by the US Embassy. They trained us on how to pitch and I went ahead and watched so many videos on Shark Tank and Lions Den and crafted a great pitch.
I won 1st place in the AWE competition, then got selected among the top 540 Women in Africa by WIA 540. After that I was also selected as a winner by the Tony Elumelu Foundation in collaboration with USADF and to crown it all, I also managed to get Soma Siri Afrika a partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. Proper pitching is the secret (The Siri).
If I could start all over again, I would learn how to manage business funds separately and pay myself. I tried it in vain over the years, but… It’s an important skill to have. I would also learn how to market my business better. Honestly though, I have no regrets about my journey thus far. It’s been God guided and guarded. I’m so grateful.
I am big on reinvestments. I mostly save through purchase of assets that are easy to liquidate if need be. Of course I also use the regular savings schemes like the money market funds but my top most method is assets that appreciate, and there are a number in my industry. Previously, I used to save in banks as we were taught while growing up.
When it comes to entrepreneurship versus employment, I don’t think one is better than the other. It depends on your personality, your skills and your goals in life. There are people with my skills who are employed and make a lot more than I do because even with a large contract or partnership, I still have other things to plough money into.
Real entrepreneurship is not glamorous. It’s lonely, it’s difficult and it’s very emotionally draining. So not everyone is cut out for it, and that’s okay. However, I’m sure though employment seems safer, it is also difficult to be a good employee. Both require a different type of discipline, it’s important to know which one you have.
If you’re an entrepreneur, have a friend or two who can lend you a lot of money for your business, no questions asked. And when they lend it to you, give it back a day or two before the due date you agreed on. Social capital and business honesty will bring favour to your venture. Add the favour of God and you will go far.
A version of this profile feature on Wabi Gĩtaũ was also published in the Saturday Magazine. The Saturday Magazine is a publication of the Nation Media Group.
