The how in the vision is what changes but the what does not.

I thought long and hard about how to introduce this piece. I could have described the day as I prepped for the Zoom interview: an unusually cold Tuesday morning in December but a noisy one, nonetheless. The neighbor’s Pomeranian was being a nuisance with its incessant barking. Or I could have described our guest entrepreneur’s background as I saw it on my computer screen: she is sitting outside her kitchen surrounded by all manner of plants and nature. She calls this her happy place. Her creative space. But I feel that I should mention that this is the second time I am interviewing Ciiru Waithaka. This is not because Zoom and technology failed me the first time but because I botched our initial interview several months back. For some reason, I did not press the ‘save’ button after recording the interview. Our focus then was on FunKidz’s promise to provide funky functional furniture to children. But the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that she had to transition quickly into something new and different. Ciiru was kind enough to offer me a second opportunity to chat and share her story.  

You are an innovator, a manufacturer, an educator, and a mentor.  How would you title your autobiography?

Helplessly in love with Africa.

Do you mind expounding on that?

Being helplessly in love with something or someone means not finding fault in them despite whatever contrary perspectives you might hear about them. A constant for me is my love for Africa. I have committed to making her better by rewriting her story.

Where does this love stem from?

From me being African. Africa is referenced and talked about in not so pleasant terms and words, and it is important to be part of changing this narrative. Africa has and is still being taken advantage of to this day and that is why I will defend her with all that I have.

What does the term “circular economy” mean particularly in the African context?

The whole idea is to be more responsible. Circular means to repurpose, reuse, and, where possible, upcycle: To create something new out of an existing material which is considered waste.

Traditionally we were always circular in how we did things. The banana tree, for instance, had several uses and so did the pumpkin which after removing the seeds and the flesh, would be turned into containers for carrying water. We did not need plastic.

Is this how you manufactured your products at FunKidz?

Certainly. The circular economy model was an integral part of our manufacturing process. We desired to always be a responsible and sustainable business. We upcycled whatever was considered waste. For instance, we used the pallets which are considered as timber waste once the shipment has been unloaded to make furniture. We also used a lot of textile waste such as secondhand belts and ties to make some of our products.

But then, enter the pandemic…

Sighs…

FunKidz was up until the pandemic. We were doing the whole circular economy quite well as was with the dignified and sustainable furniture for schools. That was our promise to the children not just in Kenya but the continent. We were innovating our building materials as mentioned before. We had done quite a few prototypes of our boards using agricultural waste and we had also done some good samples of furniture.

But then the schools closed and that was it for us…

Ciiru had spent 11 years building the FunKidz brand with a presence in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. She says that It was a no brainer running a brand for children at the time because Africa is the fastest-growing continent with the largest number of children and youth. And so, when the schools closed, one can only imagine the pains and uncertainty they had to deal with as a business. But even as the universe pushed her off the cliff as she puts it, it still held out its hand to break her fall.

Talk to us about how you then pivoted to FunHomes…

FunKidz shutting down felt like falling off a cliff. But as we fell, we had to somehow turn our clothes into a parachute. And that we did. FunHomes was our soft landing. It was our pivot as we shapeshifted into something new. We had to quickly pivot our design skills, how we use our machines and our product offering so that we could go back to work for peace of mind. Shutting down was an option but we chose not to do it. As a business, we needed to be adaptable.

What guidance, if any, did you receive in deciding to ‘shapeshift’ as you put it?

We had a three-month hiatus and during this period, I kept asking myself “My skill set is design, what else can I do with this skill set?”

I was candid enough to tell my team that I did not know what we were going to do. What was however clear in my mind was that we would be back to work but I had no idea in what shape or form. When we got back together, we discussed how best to pick ourselves and get back on the grind. I assumed the role of the chief innovator and ‘stepped down’ from the chief executive position. I decided to steer the ship through innovation and creativity. It was a collective decision but as the captain of this innovation team, it has been quite challenging focusing the team on this new course because changing mindsets particularly when you are under pressure is extremely hard.

And how is FunHomes faring even amid all these challenges? How has the experience been?

Our creativity has been our food and fuel. We are working with partners from different industries such as the textile industry who produce our designs to our specifications. This has enabled us to have a bigger product offering in a short period.

It has been interesting because we have changed how we work and who we work with. We also now understand that we do not have to do everything ourselves.  There is a lot of goodwill and this is the model we are going to use going forward.  We are going to have to work with partners and diversify completely.

How would you describe the impact that COVID-19 has had on you as a creative?

COVID made me dig deeper and wider to survive.

I got into survival mode and I became more intentional about hunting for survival.  To do that I had to then look around to define what it was that I needed to survive. But since it was a pandemic, this was not just survival for self.  It was survival for others as well. Like Noah and the ark, I needed to make sure that as many of us could get into that ark. But it did not just stop there, I needed to figure out what kind of ark to build and who I needed to bring into the ark for us to sail this storm together.  That is what I did. Literally.

What have you learned about yourself with this experience?

First, the admission of what one is feeling even as a business leader.  That I admitted to the team early in the day that I did not know what to do was important. I was candid with our clients and told them that we needed a timeout: to be still, to listen, to watch and then recalibrate. Being open and candid to your stakeholders is of utmost importance. It was important to acknowledge the fear element and the uncertainty of it all because we were all watching it happen globally.

I have also learnt that I am resilient. As an entrepreneur, you will get the temptation to give up, but you have to keep going.

We have drawn so much strength from our customers. A lot of our FunKidz customers have become FunHomes customers. A lot of them, I feel, appreciated our openness and candidness from the onset of the pandemic and have been willing to support us even as we ventured into something new. And despite the pandemic, we have not compromised on the quality of our products and our vision of becoming a global brand that is unapologetically African. The how in the vision is what changes but the what does not.

Besides the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, what other directorships do you hold or have held?

I sit on the board of Columbia Global Centers.

Is it about time organizations embrace and invite creatives like yourself to sit on their Boards?

Everything is creativity. The reason we have different models of cars in the automotive industry is because of creativity. Diversity is not only about gender but also in terms of thinking. Organizations that embrace creative thinkers on their board and even in their teams will have better and stronger businesses.

You desire to inspire a continent of industrialists by impacting positive change on young entrepreneurs. What do you think is holding us back in the “small roadside trading” as you put it?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with small side trading, it just needs to move on to the next level.  It is a mind shift thing, and a policy issue as well because I do not think we are creating an enabling environment for these traders to transition. Why are these policies not being implemented as they should be?

Do we not love ourselves enough to want better for our collective selves? If we did, we would want to see the next person doing better and as Africans, until we are in love and want better for each other, viewing my win and my neighbor’s win as a win for the country, then we will never progress. We need to ask ourselves, “Why have the people who trade on the roadside been there for a long time? Why are they not scaling?”

If an artist were to paint a picture of you that captured your true spirit, what would the image look like?

Absolute sunshine.

You may feel that Ciiru should have unpacked her answer. Well, she did but my Pomeranian neighbor decided that I should not get that on record.

 

Ciiru’s story is one on resilience and adaptability. It is incredible how she managed to reinvent herself in the face of uncertainty and in such a short time. She says that she did a catapult moment: she pulled back, became still, listened, and then launched herself with great momentum.

Here is the Inquisitor’s take: A business is an ecosystem. But it is one thing to know this fact and it is another to appreciate it. Appreciating it means being forthright with the stakeholders in this ecosystem as Ciiru did in expressing her fears and uncertainty. Her vulnerability meant that her employees and customers could relate to her situation and the resulting trust and goodwill meant that Ciiru was able to get back on track albeit with different running shoes. Ciiru’s existence on the African continent is embodied in her truly African spirit of tenacity and conviction of enduring sunshine even on the cloudiest of days.

The Inquisitor