ANNE MWAI

Anne Mwai: Merging My Business With My Calling

Ann says Bama Diaspora Realty was birthed from her desire to empower women. The idea was developed when she watched her mother doing business .

BY INVERSK TEAM

Ann Mwai’s journey of e ntre pre ne urs hip is a testament that it always seems impossible until it's done. Ann Wairimu Mwai is the ow ne r of B ama D ias pora Re alty L imite d, Acce s s E nterprises Limited; a U.S based company, and a marketing manager and broadcaster at Diaspora Media Max (D Max), an online TV and Radio broadcast for the Kenyan Diaspora. She was born in K anunga, Kiambu County, and grew up in different parts of Kenya since her father was a Civil Servant. It is through this experience that she attests that she can adapt to any new environment. Ann does identify herself as a village girl at heart despite her many life achievements. After she finished her form four examinations in Mary Leakey, she went to work for her uncle who had opened a computer bureau. At the age of 18years, she started working in the bureau printing documents, doing assignments for college students, doing small graphics among others. In fact, when she went to pick her K CSE results, she already had a stable pay check. In 2001, she started her computer bureau in K iambu town, where she worked from home. Her customers were mainly her friends, and college students from the K iambu Institute of Science and T e c hnolog y (K I S T ). De s pite no educational background with the skills she acquired, Ann Mwai says this was made possible due to her thirst for knowledge and was determined to get a better life than what she had. In two years, her business was booming and she was earning K sh.50,000 a month. However, she got an opportunity to go to the U.S.A. She took the opportunity despite having a well-paying job and made the best out of the situation. Ann recalls that when she arrived it was a childlike beginning by relearning a language, having to know and follow a new system, and familiarizing yourself with new things. She worked day and night, to

build capital and secure her stay within the land and at the right market price. “My new country. “I didn’t take any vacations calling merged with my business, my or take a day off, I worked from Monday calling was helping Kenyans and investto Monday for five years as a cashier in a ment was my DNA therefore real estate gas station and would double up with was just automatic,” she adds. other jobs,” she says. Today Bama Diaspora has 95% Her mindset at this point was to of their clientele living across the globe change her life, she worked hard and and the rest being K enyan residents. saved. She covered for her colleagues as The company stands out since its main they went on vacations and added up her priority is customer satisfaction. Anne capital by being paid for overtime. In that Mwai says that business is giving clients spirit, she frequently sent money via the value for their money. E quity bank to help her family and her As a female entrepreneur, Anne fellow villagers back at home. Contrary to Mwai says it’s a challenge to venture into the perception of others, Ann raising a male-dominated field especially in funds was not her love for money but her K enya. However, she narrates that that passion for people. should not deter any woman. Her advice Ann, therefore, came back to K enya after five years. However, she went back and has stayed there for 14years. Ann Mwai then began her entrepreneur journey in the U.S by opening Access E nterprises Limited which is a cleaning service business and also a truck business company. Business was so good that she could be able to travel more than twice a year. “It took a lot of focus, discipline, and not doing many things to reach where I am today,” she says. How e v e r, A nn s ays B ama Diaspora Realty was birthed from her desire to empower women. Ann says that she was inspired when she watched her mother doing business and also her grandmother. Before she left K enya, at the age of 20, Ann chaired a small group for Kenya Women F inance Trust (K WF T) in Muthama which constituted of her mother and her mother’s friends. Through this, she was able to take her skills into another Sacco she was a part of in the U.S.

The Sacco or the Chama named K enya North America Diaspora Sacco (K NADS) was started and was focused on helping the Kenyan Diaspora to acquire and invest in land. Ann was a very active recruiter and became a super brand ambassador. She also served as one of their board members. Through this, she had to do a lot of research and due diligence to help the Sacco acquire lands in K enya especially in K iambu and Laikipia counties which led to her passion for real estate.

When she would come to Kenya, she would help countercheck lands for K enyans living abroad who were afraid of being swindled. K enyans would buy pieces of land at a very expensive price on a piece of land that has low market value or buy a piece of land in a location, not promised by the seller. The injustices Ann saw with Kenyan emigrants being lied to prompted her to action. In December 2019, Bama Diaspora Realty Limited was therefore birthed to help the Kenyan diaspora to purchase and invest in actual for young entrepreneurs is to get the education that you require however if you are in a position not to like herself previously, she advises you to work. “Start your business with what you have not what you love, if not, you will work for someone for the rest of your life! F or there is power in the mind.” Anne says. She advises that with what you have been ready to put in the hours and you will be able to empower people. Anne Mwai has been able to turn Bama Diaspora into a contender in the real estate diaspora market in a year. Her life story is a symbol of hope, faith, and determination.