Rosemary Kimunya: Trust the process in all you do

Rosemary Kimunya is a PR professional with a passion for events management. She is the founder, Kenya Flower Festival – a social platform that brings together and celebrates local flower enthusiasts.

After nine years of being employed and her role eventually being declared redundant, Ms Kimunya decided to take what she had leant in the nine years of employment and start something of her own as she shares with Life&Style.

“I am the firstborn child in a family of six siblings. My mother is a farmer, and my dad, a retired Defence Forces Officer. I grew up in Limuru, where flower farming was and is still huge. Growing up, mum would pluck flowers daily and organize them in a vase something I loved doing and would that came to inspire me as an adult.

After high school, I joined Daystar University, where I pursued a Bachelor of Communications under Public Relations. Later I pursued a Higher Diploma Level 7, in Digital Marketing under Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

My career journey started a while back while in Campus in 2008, where I would do on-campus sales campaigns for companies like Safaricom and would earn 800 shillings a day. Later in 2010, I interned with the then Interbrand Sampson, now Brandscape.

I joined  an events and logistics family business and worked for my cousin in Mombasa, who introduced me to event management as a profession. I later joined a few sales and marketing agencies.

They say if you have not worked in an agency, you have not experienced the pressure that comes with meeting deadlines and the very high client’s expectations. You have to always think off your toes, not forgetting the many working hours.

It is the ultimate learning ground for PR, Marketing and Communication careers; most people will testify to that. So, I worked for almost five agencies in three years. The truth is in every agency I learnt so many hacks in the industry. While I never enjoyed or appreciated most of my life there, I later realised that just like gold, I was being prepared to shine.

I later joined the athletics events, worked at Athletics Kenya, Nairobi County and then at Paul Tergat Foundation, where I managed significant events including the Safaricom Sports Personality of the Year Award (SOYA). I eventually joined a multinational, Oxford University Press, the largest university press in the world and the leading publishing firm in Kenya as a Mid-Level Manager. Finally, ladies and gentlemen, my dream came true.

I joined Oxford in 2015, and this to me was a pacesetter among the organisations I dreamt of working for. I must say, I was now quite stable and comfortable, work-life balance was now experienced, pleasant working environment travels, I gave my A-game.

DECLARED REDUNDANT

Unfortunately, last year in March, our positions in the Sales and Marketing department were declared redundant. I could not imagine that a job that I held so dearly, and now I was being let go. For a few seconds on receiving the redundancy letter, I was mad at everyone in the organisation, including myself. I had never in my wildest dreams thought of ever being let go. Redundancy is like that line in relationships, ‘We are breaking up, but I want you to know that it is not about you, you have not done anything wrong, it is me’ so annoying, right?

I somehow remembered that I was already considering events planning in a more elaborate way and with my consistent interest in flowers and this right here felt like I needed to stop with my excuses and finally start the flower business. I am glad that I did not allow this low moment to break me, made peace with it and decided to serve my notice and leave the organisation with the same attitude as I joined.

 I had planned to spend the weekend, time alone in the house not to strategise but to throw a pity party for myself, cry, eat many tins of ice cream and wine it down on Netflix all weekend. That Saturday morning, I woke up to the bell ringing, and it was the flower delivery guy, a huge bouquet of scented roses and some summer flowers in the right proportions just how I love them.

Later that Saturday evening, the more I looked at the beautiful bouquet and the effect the beauties had on me, the more the whispers to start something with flowers grew louder. As I was researching online, I figured that in as much as Kenya is a leading flower exporter globally, locally, we still render flowers as a Western culture thing.

 That night I never slept a wink. I called one of my friends and told them that I was about to do a mega festival in flowers. The more I researched, the more my purpose, my oozing passion for flowers grew.

From that day, I pressed the START button and spent the next three months in a shared office in Hurlingham, where I spent writing, rewriting, reviewing, second-guessing myself, looking for sponsors, getting so many Nos yet a few bold YESes.

Consistency is everything, and when I finally set the date; October 26, 2019, I already had my dream venue garden, the Lord Erroll. I did not care how much I was going to spend, but I took a big risk. I went, booked the venue and things went rolling. I could not hire employees since I was operating at a very low budget. However, my dreams for a flower festival were quite high. I hired one intern when the event dates got closer and even formed an organising committee that constituted a few of my close friends in various fields and gave them roles befitting their experience and comfort. They did a fantastic job to the end.

 For the first event, it was a success; we had a positive turn-out and exhibitors, we hosted two ambassadors in the event, managed to do a flower awards ceremony dinner and an exhibition show, participated in support of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month in partnership with MP-Shah Hospital, and the flower growers in Kenya.

I set a record in a year that I had lost my job; I held the first-ever flower festival in Kenya’ The Garden of Europe” A venture I hope to eventually grow a culture of exchanging flowers in Kenya and most importantly in partnership with Kenya Flower Council, lobby for the availability of good quality flowers for the local florists in Kenya at a reasonable cost while growing the industry’s creativity through capacity building.

LESSONS ALONG THE WAY

What has been consistent in my career journey are the lessons learnt along the way and the realisation that indeed it is darkest before dawn. And in all the instances I lost jobs, just when things looked really bad, something came along the way.

My biggest celebration was being featured on, TV, papers, magazines and news about Kenya holding its first-ever flower festival. As I made my speech as the founder on the same podium with the British High Commissioner and the Portugal Ambassador, among other dignitaries, I knew that I was on the right track and was headed somewhere.

My short and long term plan is to build a culture of giving and receiving flowers in Kenya and become a renowned flower enthusiast who is bold enough to stand and lead the local market florists while inculcating a culture of exchanging flowers in our motherland. There is so much in the kitchen for Kenya Flower Festival, you can only wait and see, and when you find the caravan of flowers along the way, I pray that you will be boarding with me because it is such a beautiful world and journey from where I sit.

The critical lesson for me is that one should never burn bridges; you might need it along the way. Always ask for help where need be. Offer assistance, too when called to, especially in matters career and startups. In the little time, I have been self-employed,  I have leant that businesses are not a piece of cake, be ready to work even harder, pushing yourself off-limits. But the beauty is, it is so fulfilling. In terms of relationships that have been useful in my career growth, I would say my parents have stood by me through the journey and potential business partners that I have met along the way.

Well, the phrase when I grow up, I would like to be an air hostess was my jingle until it had to fade away. My dad gave me this dream of becoming a pharmacist. So, all my high school years, I had this written somewhere in my cute pink floral notebook that doubled up as my RnB songbook. Although my Biology performance was great, I knew sciences were never going to be my thing. While my brother aced all sciences, I was doing perfectly well with literature, both English and Swahili. By the time I did my KCSE, my dad had asked me again what I wanted to pursue; Media, Communication was my best option.

In as much as I had selected media as the option, I still had a chance to change. I remember as a freshman speaking to a lady in her 3rd year who seemed to have it all together, she told me how she combined PR and Marketing major, and I felt like jumping ship. I did. I have never turned back, it’s an exciting combination.

Message to my younger self would be that the process, although long and tedious, every baby step eventually make a big step.

To the youth of this beautiful continent, don’t compare yourself with your friends who have better-paying jobs than you. Comparing can mess up your attitude and spoil a good learning opportunity, take your time, be patient, trust and respect the process, this is not a cliché, and it’s true.