of Gold

Umutoni: The Kenyan-Rwandan Beauty Entrepreneur with a Heart of Gold

Umutoni Thuku-Benzinge is half Kenyan and half Rwandan but was born and raised in the UK. Umutoni has always had a strong affinity for her East African roots despite her birth and childhood circumstances. That connection is what has sparked her interest in empowering Kenyan communities.

However, she did not want to establish a non-profit organisation as a way to create a more sustainable model to support local communities.

Fast forward to the birth of her luxury jewellery brand, Kaleidoscope Beauty, which was later rebranded to her name, Umutoni. She defied economic reasoning of producing her jewellery pieces in China or elsewhere outside Africa, where they could be cheaper. Instead, she deliberately left the production in the hands of talented Kenyan artisans and invested in them to produce the high-standard pieces ensuring the value add remains on the continent.

Umutoni says these artisans have families to fend for, which is the impact she’s always wanted to make in the communities.

In this interview with Business Elites Africa, she talks more about her work with the local artisans, struggles, and driving commercial success for the Umutoni brand.

Did you start your brand just because you wanted to start a business or were you more driven by your interest in empowering Kenyan artisans?

Honestly, it was a combination of both. I had always wanted to have my own business or brand. When I became a teenager, I realised I wanted that business to be about beauty, but hadn’t decided how and where. As time progressed, I think I was inspired to launch my business after seeing the Black Panther movie. I actually used to sell jewellery as a teenager during my summer holiday in Kenya. I’m originally from Kenya and Rwanda, but I spent many of my summer holidays in Kenya, especially during my secondary school days.

One thing I used to do was get souvenirs for friends and family, typically in the form of jewellery. So I’d go to the Maasai market in Nairobi, where different artisans would come to sell their art and buy jewellery pieces. That’s one part of the story.

The other part of the story came into play through witnessing that unfortunately when there is a charity model in place there can be an overreliance on the giver to provide. As a young woman myself with limited resources, I knew we had to have a more sustainable model to create jobs within the community. That way everyone has a sense of responsibility.

So when it came to launching the business, I was like, I really wanted it to be an element of giving back, but I don’t want it to be like the usual charity system. I wanted it to be a bit more empowering and make it sustainable. That’s why I was really keen on working with these talented artisans. They were super determined to do that. They gained experience by the day but had some limitations regarding international connections, so I decided to launch the business.

As someone who schooled and lived in the UK, and only visited Kenya, how did you get around the know-how of starting a business in an environment you were not so familiar with?

In 2014, I was involved in a beauty pageant called Miss Scuba International. It took place in Malaysia, and I represented Kenya. That caused a paradigm shift in my head, seeing that the organisers used a beauty pageant to push for the marine conservation cause. So because of the role I played, I was featured in some magazines, newspapers, radio, and television channels. The exposure introduced me to the public domain and ultimately taught me the importance of building relationships. In addition, I’m also blessed to have a huge family in Kenya, and I just started asking questions. I reached out to aunties and uncles.

One particular aunty of mine is key to helping me build some of my relationships in Kenya. I told her what I wanted to do because she’s really great with people. She actually set me up with my first artisans, and then I just went through building relationships from there. I started meeting artisans, inspecting samples, and it went from there, but I would say it was definitely a try and error time for me. The Scuba experience showed me that I had to go and learn how things work in Kenya. I can’t come with my own mentality and think I could do a copy and paste. It is a sure way of getting frustrated. There is a system that works, and I was the new one in the environment in Kenya. So that’s basically how we started.

What year did you launch the brand?

I launched in December 2018. I made the initial trip in October 2018. I took two weeks off from work, I was working in the I.T industry in the UK, and that was how we launched. Since then, we have made several changes

Looking back, would you say you’re making an impact?

Great question. In retrospect, I would say I wasn’t it running like a business in the beginning. I had a great idea and a great mission. I think I was very intentional, and I also had my 9 to 5, so this was definitely like a side gig. If I were to go back in time, I would have changed a number of things.

I started by having a product and then building my market and audience. What I would have done instead if I was to start today is to build my audience and market first, then refine my product and service. So that is one mistake I made at the time. Entrepreneurship is all about failing forward, identifying your failures, rectifying them as they happen, and making changes. But we did have an impact; we provided job opportunities for Kenyan artisans.

Are you running the business in Kenya now, or do you still shuttle between Kenya and the UK?

I am still shuttling between Kenya and the UK. Last year, I refined my production processin Kenya. But I have a system in place that sees to the management of the artisans. We have also introduced gold plating. Again, I wanted the value-add in Kenya in line with our ethos. So, where I could have exported our base brass pieces to China or elsewhere, I wanted to ensure the value-add was in Kenya, which is probably a slightly longer route. That meant I bought the machinery in Italy and imported it into Kenya.

The first time we wanted to use the equipment, we could not get experts in Kenya to operate it successfully. So in early 2022, I had to travel to Italy myself, and I asked the experts there to teach me how to handle the machinery and the chemical combinations. After I was trained, I returned to Kenya and trained the team, and now we have control of the entire production process. Then, about quality control, we have several layers of quality control built into it, which then gives me a bit more focus on being between Kenya and the UK. So our products are produced in Kenya.

What lessons has failure taught you?

Number one, it’s part of the process for anyone looking to be an entrepreneur in any field. It’s always important to surround yourself with people who are doing similar things as you. As an entrepreneur, I think you

should have entrepreneur friends because there are days, like during the pandemic, when you feel things are not working. You feel like this is the end, and then you speak to a friend or a fellow entrepreneur, and they could be like, ‘oh no, this is just part of the journey. I had that issue last week, and this is how I resolved it.’ So I think it’s part of the process.

Number two, it builds a level of resilience about failing forward and also probably identifying your failures quickly. There is a level of accountability and a level of honesty that you have to build with yourself. I might launch a product that I love, and it might not be received well on social media and down to sales. Depending on how quick I am to notice what does or doesn’t work, it could cost me to invest in the wrong product, which will eventually result in a huge financial loss.

Were there times you were so frustrated and felt like giving up on the business?

Oh yes. Honestly, I have that thought, often. I used to work 9 to 5 and get my salary at the end of the month, and once it’s 5pm you close from work and no more troubles, and you continue with the rest of your life. Whereas in entrepreneurship, I don’t think it ends. Even if you are physically not working on your laptop, your brain is still processing. But again, my ‘why’ is the impact we have, the fact that we are working with local artisans, and the fact that there are men and women who can provide for their children’s school fees because of the work we are doing. It’s always beyond me. It’s beyond my emotions or my sentiments. As we grow, the impact will also grow. I think it’s really important to identify and remind yourself why you started in the first place.

Where do you see your brand in five years?

In five years, our mission is and will be transformative, sustainable luxury.

We just went through a rebrand. We used to be called Kaleidoscope Beauty but changed to Umutoni, my name, in May 2022. We rebranded because we wanted to move into the luxury space. My experience with the capabilities and scales we have in Kenya and the community is vast. We started with brass and beaded jewellery, but we are now doing gold-plated pieces and will continue to evolve.

When we started, I asked many of our customers how they saw our brand, and many said they saw us as an African jewellery brand. On a surface, there is nothing wrong with that but ultimately, what that meant to me was that people did not see our jewellery as pieces they could integrate into their day-to-day lives, which was a problem. I was still working at my I.T job at the time, and I realised I wasn’t even wearing my brand day-to-day because, at the time, they were statement pieces. You don’t want to wear them to work and not look like a serious employee. It was something customers saw as wearing to an event, traditional wedding and all. I didn’t want that to be the case. That has also led to some of our changes going forward.

The right jewellery can perfectly compliment and elevate your look. I see our pieces on red carpets as well as worn everyday. We really want to push a message of elevation.

Beyond the luxury positioning, Umutoni brand is here to serve a bigger purpose.

ABOVE AND BEYOND

Tricia Ikponmwomba also known as Tricia BiZ is a business fixer.

She helps businesses define their brands, and develop customtailored marketing and sales strategies to grow into sustainable businesses.

Yemisi Isidi is an award-winning entrepreneur, best-selling author, international public speaker (who has spoken at a TEDx event), trainer and business growth strategist committed to the success of businesses, youth and communities in Africa. Nelly Agbogu is the brain behind Naija Brand Chick and Nellies healthy food & snack company in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria

She started her business as an employee of a multinational oil service company and then transitioned from being an employee with a side hustle into full-time entrepreneurship with a customer base daily expanding and her business gradually being purported as one of the fast-growing healthy food brands in Nigeria.

Yewande Jinadu is the Founder of CareerLife Nigeria(careerlife.com.ng), Head, People and Culture for a leading Tech Startup and the Author of The All Inclusive Career Handbook.

She’s a Senior HR Professional passionate about shaping the culture of an organization towards improved productivity and a positive employee experience.