Just completed another entrepreneur's class. 4 young, talented Kenyan ladies had the great opportunity to be a part of this. We had FUN! Isn't it amazing that we can learn and have fun simultaneously especially when we find inspiration frrom people we admire like Beyonce? I think she's a great example of a female entrepreneur. She's super hardworking, humble and beautiful. I like the way she creates music that is empowering to women, music that makes you feel that you can be, do, have anything you want in life. Her single 'Run the World' is just one of the many that I appreciate. It's always fun to learn from such and this is a key part in our class.
The next part is even better. Everyone needs to dream about what their life could be. It's even better when your doing it together with others. The energy is amazing! I ask each student to have a list of:
- 30 things they want to do
- 30 things they want to have
- 30 things they want to be
Side note: For some students their list doesn't make it to 30 things in some aspects and it's fine.
Personally, I got excited when I was doing my list for example when I think about standing in a stadium with 10,000 plus women who I have helped achieve their dreams or that feeling of meeting Oprah and Beyonce because I already got to see (not meet) Michelle Obama last year ;) and that made my year. I think about travelling to New York for something related to my work or to concerts of my fave artists or fashion week or to work with top fashion designers like Victoria Beckham or wear a Roberto Cavalli dress. Even as I type this right now i'm getting more and more excited. Funny thing is I had written down in my journal and also twitted about meeting Michelle Obama last year and somehow I got to see her speak at a conference I attended. I have not met her but one of these fine days God willing we will have lunch together ;) I am so inspired by her, I absolutely love everything about her especially the fact that we share the same interest in empowering girls with her Let Girls Learn initiative which helps reduce the barriers that keep girls from going and staying in school.
The next part of the class we talk about current news that is relevant to entrepreneurship. In this class it was about the 'Photoshop queen' Seve Gats who made international news by photo shopping herself at China's great wall, with Barrack Obama's family, in Dubai among other places. She made news because her photos clearly looked photo shopped and also because she actually got sponsored by Kenyan businessman Sam Gichuru to travel to China all expenses paid! Amazing huh? We took a lesson from this whole situation. This girl was bold enough in putting her dreams out there in social media and somehow she achieved what she desired. This girl wanted to go to these places soo bad she put her image in all of them. For me the lesson is you need to put your dreams out there, they shouldn't just be in your mind and it may not necessarily be on social media, it could be in your journal by simply writing down a list of what you want or even going further to find images that represent what you want. It's important.
We then got creative and I showed the students how to make something that has and is still making me money and that is branded bracelets a.k.a name bracelets. One of my students actually made Ksh 9,650/- in less than 3 weeks after receiving a Mdada kit. The kit contains everything needed to make branded/name bracelets. It's not just about making money but also about learning how to create a product from start to finish and then selling it. The approach taken here can be applied in the student's entrepreneurship endeavors in whatever field they aspire to work in. I have great students, look at what they created
Last but not least, we checked out Wangari Maathai's Humming bird story which is another inspiring video that shows us that you should never look down on yourself or your talents and that it doesn't matter what people say that you can or cannot do. You only need to do your part which is the best you can do. In life a little goes a long way. Haba na haba hujaza kibaba (swahili proverb meaning a little goes a long way). It's a great feeling to see someone achieve their dream because of your support and guidance. This is all I want to do and I look forward to training more students. I have limited spots available for my next class in August. Each student get's personal coaching from me and therefore I can only have a few students in my class every quarter. Next quarter being Aug -Nov.If this is something you feel will benefit your child, you can book a spot by contacting Mdada on 0717832311 or email lila@mdadaforgirls.com.
Stay on your Grind!
Lila
