 My god, this is the house name. Oh my god, the memories. They didn't have a television to watch, so she would come to our house to watch one. They used to sneak to their room to watch TV. Now they are watching you on their TV. This is Ms. Trudy. She is currently trailblazing YouTube in Africa with over 300,000 subscribers on her main channel and one of the most engaged fan bases in Africa. But it didn't exactly begin like this because behind all the glory was sadness, determination and a dream. From growing up in Nairobi, Kenya with her single dad Was it not for my dad? I really don't know where I would be. Dropping out of university after two years and working in retail supermarkets to starting a YouTube channel from her bedroom using only a phone, she's somehow gotten to... Hi, my name is Raymond Kahuma. I'm a YouTuber from Uganda and this is a new series where Wodemaya, myself and so many African creators are gonna collaborate to bring you guys even better African stories than we can individually. And we really hope you like them. For example, how using only a phone Ms. Trudy's somehow gotten to the point of travelling the world buying property and giving back to the people in her life. I paid Ms. Trudy a visit to find out exactly how she got here. Hello. Hi, welcome to my apartment here in Kilimani. Thank you for having us. Can I just start by saying that we're all just very inspired by your work? Honestly, the me four years ago wouldn't even believe this is possible. Most people thought I was crazy doing what I was doing. I also thought I was crazy. I was like, what am I doing with my life, you know? But sometimes you shouldn't despise the days of small beginnings because sometimes they lead to great destinations and I'm not there yet, but I'm heading there and I'm grateful for this tip. I'm just so happy, you know? Wow. Could you just at least show us around? Okay, so this is the sitting room. I'm coming with me. Let me show you the bedroom. This is the bedroom. A bed fit for a queen. You know, I used to sleep in a really bad bed for the longest time and my brother used to tell me, you need to buy a better bed. And I was like, oh, I'm saving for a house. So I sacrificed a lot. So when I bought the house, I was like, I'm going to get myself a really comfortable bed and now when I sleep here, I don't want to get up because it's so comfortable. How do you keep motivated and how do you even stay motivated when you are in a more difficult situation? Number one, it's God. I pray to God to help me be the truest and highest version of myself. I just feel like there's greatness inside me and it wants to come out. I can't say exactly what it is, how I'm going to do that, but it wants to come out and it's going to come out. Seeing Trudy talk with such passion just made me feel like, was she always like this? What was work like? What did she even do? I did promotions for like three years. It was all over the place. Ngong Road, Kasarani, CBD. How much were you paid? 300 Kenyan shillings. In a day or in a month? In a day. 300 Kenyan shillings? Yes. It's actually crazy with this land because I used to market or more in sunlight. I used to do this every day. You enter the supermarket like at 7 and you leave at 7 at night and you're given a 30 minutes break. You're not supposed to lean. Don't get tired because you're not allowed to lean. I did this for three years. It got to a point where my legs started swelling up because of standing every day from morning to evening. You know, they started swelling. I started feeling pain. It got to a point where my dad was telling me, you know what you don't have to do? You just stay home. Hi, how are you? I'm fine. What's your name? Dorca. Dorca. So nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too in person. I used to do your job. He used to do your job. It's so exciting to talk to you. That's a good thing actually. I know, right? I know. So that means in the next three years I can also be somewhere like you. Yes, it's so possible. And I just want to encourage everyone that nothing is impossible. I don't know if yours are different but for me when I was doing promotions it was so hard. I used to stand from morning to evening. It is. It is. It's hard, right? It got to a point where my legs started aching. I tell you my back right now. Oh, back aches. Don't even get us to the back aches because you stand so long. Is this something that you really wanted to do? Yeah, actually I want to own my own spa and I also want to be a vlogger someday just that I don't have enough content to do but I'm sure one day one time we'll be in this together. It's possible. No, I did not quit. I was fired. You're fired? At a time when I thought I was going to get promoted. I was fired by someone because of my tribe. Yes, I was working in the supermarket. The manager came and asked me what tribe are you. He came and asked me my names. I said my name. He told me the other name. I said why? He insisted. Tell me the other name. Where are you from? I told him my dad is low. My mom is Kikuyu. Then he told me what's your name. Then I said my name. Gachudawino Juma. The next day I was fired. Wow. Yes, because of my name and some people are so tribalistic in China. What happened after you were fired? After three years, you decided to quit working in the supermarket? I went home, you know, and I was home for three months. I didn't know where my life was going to go. I was so confused and I used to ask God, why, like, why did you let this happen to me, you know? So this is where I used to live. On this block, the last house, on the first floor, brings back so many memories, you know? All my childhoods, born and raised. My God, this is the house, man. Oh, my God, the memories. Babe, all the people are friends. All these kids here, these guys I told you used to play. Used to play a game called Katty where you're running. So there's three people, two at the ends and someone running in the middle. And then another game we used to play is we ring someone's bell, then you run and hide. They come, they look, they don't see anyone. Then when they close the door, you run again and ring it. It used to be so much fun. Come, come, come, come. Come. Would you all look for a camera? I told you to capture her face. Oh, my God. She wants to cry. Look at her eyes. Don't cry. If you cry, I'm also going to cry. Come. He was a baby. And then he only used to put his finger in his mouth like this, like he was a kid when you were growing up. So now he's really grown in the university. Man, it's crazy. Like he's really grown. So the whole story of Trudy, we know it better. You know. Then tell us, tell us then. How to tell us? What do you remember about her childhood? They didn't usually have a TV. So she would come to our house to watch one, to watch TV. That's true. So she would sneak down to our house, watch TV, then go back. Yeah. When you see her here, it's true God's grace. It used to be fascinated by TV and everything. And inside I was like, maybe one day I'm going to be on the TV, you know. He used to sneak to their room to watch TV. Now they are watching you on their TV. My mother tells me that there is a pan which her father gave to her. Yeah. And we still use it up today. Oh my gosh. Wow. So many memories. Oh. There are some pictures thing that you can look. Oh, let's take. Oh. You got her photos of me. Photos of Trudy. Oh my God. Oh wow. This is me. Yeah. Oh my God. And Lynn and Rosetta. Oh my God. And Arnold. See, guitar. This is guitar. Yeah. Wow. Jerry. Wow. See Blay. See how he was so tiny. I'm telling you, he used to play all the time. This is him. This is him. Yeah. This is the TV? Yes. Oh wow. Nick to watch. That's the TV. That was so cool. But how was life growing up? You know, what made it difficult is the fact that my mom passed away when I was 16. So that is what made it difficult. But I have the best dad in the whole world. He did his best to give us an education. And he made so many sacrifices for us. Was it not for my dad? I really don't know where we would be. How was life growing up without a mom? It was very difficult because as a girl, you need a mom to tell you stuff. You know, when you're becoming a woman, you're starting to grow. You know, when you're starting your periods, your body begins to change. You know, you don't have a mom to tell you, you know, you just learn from school. You know, and from friends. And some friends don't even have the right information because they are your age, you know. So you pick as you go. You know, so many embarrassing moments. At what point did you drop out of school? Um, it got to a point where there was just not enough money for fees. So I had to drop out. To summarize, I had one last sit-down with Miss Trudy to talk about her YouTube journey. When I started content creation, I had to start with what I had. I had a very bad phone. God, Infinix something, I think. I wouldn't let that stop me, you know. I just did what I could with what I had. So just use what you have, you know. Don't want a big camera that you can't afford. And be like, when I get this expensive camera, I'll start. Then I'll start. When I get this, I'll just start with what you have and step by step, it's gonna take you there. So I kept improving my phone. What was the breakthrough point on YouTube? After being so depressed, I got a DM from a random guy and I checked him out and he's Maya. His name is Maya. He's like, here I'm coming to Kenya. I saw you on YouTube. I'd like to link up and create content. And I'm like, you know, well... But the time I responded, it was three months late. He had already left. So then he's like, okay, I'll be going to Ethiopia. Do you wanna come? And I'm like, no, leave me alone. I'm depressed. I don't wanna talk to anybody. You don't know me, I don't... You know, just leave me alone. But then something told me, Trudy, just take the risk. What's the worst that could happen? You know, at this point, after doing promotions and all my life, I had saved about $400. I decided to, you know, pay the flight to Ethiopia. It was about $250. I paid the $250. I was like, I'm gonna survive on $150 somehow. In Ethiopia? Yes. So I went to Ethiopia. I met with Maya. It was amazing. And the best decision I've ever made in my life because I met Maya. He told me how to work smart on YouTube, upload more content, how to put tags, how to be creative, how to be confident in my own skin. I didn't think I was good enough. I used to put crazy things in my tags. I actually used to put other content creators. Maya went through the tags. What's this? Who are these people? I'm like, other content creators. So that means people search them? Yeah, they can see me. So he's like, no, get this off. Believe in yourself, you know. And it changed my life. For the first time ever, I made $1,000 on YouTube. In one month? Yes. And that's the least I've ever made ever since that time where I was truly God sent, you know. 350,000 people that clicked subscribe to your channel. The lowest month that you ever made. When you started making real money from YouTube was $1,000. You don't have to say an exact number, but about how much do you make each month just so people could be inspired? So it varies, you know, depends on, you know, the month how it went. But, uh, $10,000, sometimes $8,000. Thank you so much, Miss Trudy. I hope people find you as inspiring as I do. Thank you. And thank you for everything you do for Africa. Yeah, I just want to say that no matter what, nothing is impossible. Nothing is impossible. Whatever you think of can be a reality if you put your mind and your hands to work. I'm just a girl who wants more in life. I just believe there's so much more to life than this.