 Good morning. Welcome back to Why In The Morning Y254 channel. My name is Joy Mochache. You can find me on Twitter on joy underscore mochache. This is entrepreneurship Tuesday. Remember if you want to reach out to us, you can do so. Remember that the hashtags you have to use are hashtag entrepreneurship Tuesday and hashtag why in the morning. And please do so on our social media platforms that's on Facebook and on Twitter. You can find us on Y254 channel. On Instagram you can find us on Y254 underscore channel. Today, I've got authors on the set with us today, authors, their writers, their coaches. They are all these wonderful things and before I introduce them, there is a book in front of us which you had seen as we came in and we're going to be discussing a little bit about what's inside that book and who the author of that book is. If I can move now to introduce our guests. Karibu Sana, this is Mrs. Tabitha Kihaara. She's a director for Maple Brook writers. She's also an author and she's a writing coach and our other guest is Mr. Vincent Ogutu. He's a business coach and an author and as well as a mentor. Karibu Sana Tua in the morning. Thank you. Welcome to Tuesday Entrepreneurship. Thank you. Yeah, so those are many titles and all of them encompass around entrepreneurship, don't they? And so let me start off by asking Ms. Tabitha Kihaara. Can I just call you Tabitha for today? So Tabitha, I'm just wondering, how long have you been interested in your passion as an author? I've been writing for a long time. Actually my love for books started long time ago when I was little. Growing up with a father who was an education officer encouraged us to keep reading and writing. So at an early age, I was able to read the weekly review, the Mosa series, Fist for Q, Nancy Drew, those series that time. Nancy, did you say Nancy Drew? Yes, those days. Yes, so I grew up loving to read books and in 2012, I began writing. I began writing journal papers. That is a note pursuing my master's and journal papers actually you publish for conferences. They are called call for papers. A call for paper comes through a conference. A conference calls for the call for papers. So you send out your work and if they let your work, they accept it and then you get to publish it. So my niche for writing is technology. That's my background. I'm a 90-person and I also love family. So I write about family, children, marriages and I also write about technology. I write about education, I write about e-health, I write about cloud computing, virtualization. So I've written, I've been writing from basically let's say 2011. So I've published my work in international journals. I've traveled to Mauritius, Uganda, Tanzania to present my work. So I love writing. Yes. And Mr. Guto, how did your love and interest for writing and being an author begin? It actually didn't start with the interest of being an author. It started by the love of contributing towards the school magazine at Jamori High School. I was the features manager. Unfortunately that journey did not take long because I was very poor in grammar, although I really loved writing. So that forced me to change and focus in the sciences because I believed that this grammar thing might bring a problem. In future if I decided to follow the writing sages, the likes of Chinua Chebe, the likes of Gugu Hadyongo, because I really love literature. I read most of the African writers when I was in secondary school. And I didn't know what to write. I think that seed of writing was planted then. Then it went through a period of what we say incubation where nothing was happening much. Then after graduating with a degree in chemistry and working for some time, I decided to go back to school. So I went for a master's course in entrepreneurship. And there was a lot of writing and that triggered back the writing. And I could write time papers that were relatively very good quality. And I actually published my thesis. And that triggered something in me. And I said, no, Vincent. This writing thing is cool. So I enrolled again for a PhD. And I did a seminal paper that I also published in the international journals. But meanwhile I was writing my first book which was about life. It's called Life is Like That. Just to share with people life challenges and how I have managed to overcome the many challenges that I encountered in life. And after the first book, the people who read my first book will tell me, Vincent, when are you writing another book? So I wrote another book. After writing the second book, there are people who have consistently advised me, Vincent, we are waiting for the next book. We are waiting for the next book. And I think I've been sold into writing. Nowadays I write consistently. Daily. And we shall talk about the book that you've written in just a little bit. Let me go back to Mrs. Kihara Kedogo. Mrs. Kihara, you are a, actually, you have a club, a writer's club, that is called Maple Brook Writer's Club. What is this club all about? And what are the kind of people that come through to this club and can our youth be interested in something like that? Yes. Thank you for this question. Maple Brook Writer's is a writing club where we have both the young and also the elderly. And we encourage each other to keep writing because we know through writing we get to discover our purpose. We get to find healing through writing. We get to identify our talents. And it's also been come for some of us. So we actually encourage everyone to tell their story because we say the only story that you can tell and tell so well is your own story. And your own story will inspire somebody else because you are authentic and people want to hear from authentic people. They want to hear about your life and what you've gone through and what lessons have you learned. So in the club, we encourage each other to write. We motivate each other. We inspire each other. And we always having book launches. It's amazing. Yeah, it's amazing. It sounds like fun. Oh my goodness. All right. And so please, if there are any youth who are interested in joining Maple Brook Writer's Club, please do feel free to do so. And I will ask you guys at the end to maybe share how they can reach you in whichever way possible towards the end. So please listen up for that. And remember, hashtag Tuesday Entrepreneurship, hashtag Y in the morning. Ah, let's get back to Mr. Vincent Togutu. Mr. Vincent Togutu. It's a beautiful book we have here on set. I can see. And I'm seeing something to do with millionaires on there. Billionaires. Billionaires. Yes. Can we please discuss the content of this book? This book is actually the product of three years of research. We're having studied entrepreneurship at the higher levels. I became curious. How come there are a lot of dollar billionaires in Europe, Asia, and the Americas? And I was wondering, do we have these dollar billionaires in Africa? And what is different from the likes of Jack Ma and the billionaires that we have in Africa? So I started to study the billionaires one after another from their childhood up to where they are now and what they have done. And I realized that all the billionaires that we have from Africa, they have made their money by solving the problems we have in Africa. And that is the motivation behind, yes. They have made their money by solving the problems we have in Africa. Yes. Because when you look at the bigger problems that we have, they're actually not problems, they are opportunities. Right. Yes. So when you look at the population of Africa is estimated to be about 1.2 billion, if all these people eat two meals a day, the farmers have a business, the restaurants have a business. So if you can tap into the supply chain, you will have a role to play, whether you're playing the transport role, whether you're playing the bankers role, everybody has a role to play in solving the problems of the continent. The other problem in Africa is that it is estimated that over 50, over 60% of the population is below 35 years of age. More than 60% of Africa's population is below the age of 35. Which means that these are able-bodied people. Yeah. They have quite a number of years in this world and they can actually work, they can go to school, they can build houses. So they can play a role in solving the problems of the continent. I see. That's wonderful. And that's the content of this book. Yeah. The content of... No, that's just one. If you take for example the person who started CELTEL or Airtel then, Mohamed Ibrahim. He's a Sudanese. And he realized having trained as a telecommunications engineer that Africa needs mobile telephony. People didn't believe him. He came into Africa, started CELTEL and he made all the billions. CELTEL. Yes. So the problems in Africa are actually opportunities. You look at Aliko Dangote. Aliko Dangote started by selling rice, beans, cooking oil and sugar. He still does the same. On a higher scale. Yes, at a bigger scale. He's actually gone into value addition. He's now milling rice, supporting farmers and changing Africa by creating jobs, creating opportunities. He's gone into cement and others. So every person who has succeeded in Africa has succeeded through solving the problems in Africa. And this story is actually included in this book. And remember you guys, if this is Tuesday Entrepreneurship and you're looking for some business ideas, please buy this book. There's a lot you can learn and I think there's a lot of ideas that you can pick up. There are actually 10 examples. Oh, 10 examples. Thank you for that. And please can we go back to Mrs. Tabitha. Mrs. Tabitha, what kind of books have you authored and what genre do they seem to take? I read non-fiction books. These are books. Yeah, these are books that talk about real life experiences. I've written a book about beauty of waiting. I wrote this book because I wanted to inspire women and not only women, people generally, to be able to enjoy their seasons of waiting, to be able to know that even when you're waiting for something, you can be victorious and you can be fruitful. Because all of us are waiting. Life is about waiting. And I wrote it because I got married in 2009 and we decided we were not going to get our baby in the first year of our marriage. So in the second year, we began trying for our baby. We didn't succeed the third year, the fourth year we tried again. And this time we succeeded and we conceived. But in the sixth week, we lost the pregnancy. And in the fifth year, we managed to get pregnant again. And in the twelfth week, we lost the baby. We got a miscarriage. So our hearts are broken because how can your heart not break when you lose a baby? But you know what? Broken hearts are what gives you compassion, they lead you to your purpose and you get empathy for people. And then in our sixth year of marriage, we're blessed with a baby boy. So I wrote this book to encourage people that even when you're going through your season of waiting, you're waiting for that job but for that baby. What should you be doing? So these are lessons from my own life. When I was waiting, I went back to school to pursue my master's. I traveled, I love traveling. I went to Mauritius, I went to Tanzania, I went to Uganda, I went to Zanzibar. I traveled in Kenya, I went to the world life, you know, Savo. I mean, redeem time because you'll not always have it. And seasons come and seasons go, no season is permanent. So I wrote it to encourage people that even when you're waiting, don't be depressed and writing is a way of finding healing. You know when you write, you connect with yourself, you connect with your experience. So you begin to find healing because we say the universe will always react to what you're doing, the vibration you're sending out. The universe receives them and acts towards them. So when you begin writing, you find emotional healing. So for me, it's a way of telling people even when you're going through a season of waiting, you can begin to write, you can begin to redeem time, you can begin to do the things that you've always wanted to do. You know, go back to school, buy that car, travel, you know, do whatever you want to do. Don't keep sympathizing and feeling sorry for yourself. So it's about my journey. And the second one is 40 weeks of pregnancy devotion. When I got pregnant, I began to journal my journey. So I would actually write, like for week one, what is happening in my body in week one, and then I would write the experience. And then I would write a love letter to the unborn baby. So it's actually a journal guide for mothers, for women who are pregnant to be able to connect to pray for them and to walk the journey. And also praying about their pregnancy as they are working through that journey. So I advise women who are pregnant to just work, connect with their babies from that time when they conceive to getting the baby. So they are basically books about my own journey. Yeah, they are real authentic stories. And before I go back to Mr. Guto, I'd like to ask you one more question because you've identified your niche as nonfiction. Yes. You're a writer, an interested young writer. They don't know where to begin with. They don't know what they're good at writing. How can they go about discovering their niche? We say a niche is an area of specialization and it's an area that you love because you have to write about what you're passionate about. You must love it because before somebody else loves it and before somebody else connects with it. So we use what we call a shape tool. A shape tool is a acronym. S is for spiritual giftings. So you begin to discover what has God given you. Is it training? Is it wisdom? And then there is the heart. What do you love? Is it cooking? Is it writing? Is it music? And then we have A, the abilities. Those are the skills that you've gained from school. Like for me, my skills are in IT. So I write a lot about technology. And then we have the P, the personality. Are you melancholy? Are you phlegmatic? And then we have E, the experience. Our good and bad experiences shape our writing. They actually help us to write and I'm writing from my own experiences and giving people lessons of what I learned. So a writer can actually use the shape tool to discover what they want to write about. Yes. And we say that when writing, you need to write something that you're passionate about that will add value to people. Then once you do that, then people will be able to buy your work and you'll be able to earn from it. But you don't start writing for money. You start writing to be able to add value to people and then they can connect with your books. They can now buy your books. Yes. Thank you for that. When you were talking earlier before, you talked about how you started writing in high school. Was it just very high? Yes. Let's go back maybe to your younger years, just a little bit. I'd like to know, do you think that a writer is born or made in high school? And I can imagine, the people maybe even younger than that who started to write in 1960 to write their very first book. Do you think writers are born or made? I would say that writers are made from this aspect. The drive to write comes from experiences, especially personal experiences. My style of writing is telling stories and I tell real life stories. There are a lot of things happening in the world. That affect each and every one of us. Either a loss due to death, either something tragic in the family and writing is a way of healing or relieving or helping others with your experience so that if they are going through the same, they know that they are not the only ones. Others have also gone through the same and they have overcome the same problem. Writing is a way of expressing yourself. It gives you the freedom of communicating. You might be communicating on paper, but in reality, you are actually talking to the reader or the target audience. The writing is actually customized. It is not generalized. You actually write for a specific purpose either to inform or to entertain. My style is to combine that and tell stories in a way that they are plattable. It might be something so serious, so sad but put in a little bit of humor so that when you are already down, the story does not actually make you worse. So that way, you are able to communicate and people actually love it because when they go through the story, they go up, down, up, down and then they wonder, oh, the story is ended. Today is Tuesday Entrepreneurship. We are going to discuss a little bit about the monetary benefits of writing towards the end. For now, I would like to ask Mrs. Tabitha in Kenya, I hear that people don't like to read very much. We are not very good readers but when we are doing something, it is probably a newspaper or magazine. How can we change that when it comes to Kenyans? How can we get Kenyans to start to love books again? By the way, Kenyans read. We know they read because we have many rating clubs coming up. We have initiatives like Story Moja who have reading events. We have also digital online stores. So Kenyans are reading. Kenyans are now reading. So there is no problem in that area? Yes, Kenyans are actually reading and that's why we even have book shops. Although we are still not there, to be able to encourage them to read more, we would especially want to encourage parents to begin encouraging their young children at an early age. Even two or three years to begin reading, buy for them books, put them at strategic places. When they wake up in the morning, the first thing they should see is a book. They should develop the love for reading instead of waking up and then watching television and cartoons. I think if you begin from an early age, then it's going to be good for the rest of the generation. I do like what you've said and actually I hope to be a future parent and I do not intend to have a television in my house at all. There will only be books. Please do, feel free. There is a program that we've launched to be the writer's guild. It's an organization, for young writers, that also mentor writers. And now we're actually partnering with primary schools to start writing clubs. Writing clubs and reading clubs in primary schools. So we are starting with 6, 7 to just create that reading culture because you cannot write if you don't read. So you start by reading and then you start writing. So the students who will be involved in the club will read the books and start writing reviews or what they have learned from the storybooks that we have already donated. So we intend every school that would have partnered with to have some form of library where the students who are interested in improving their English, improving their writing, improving their grammar, that they are comfortable. It is their environment and they will be able to learn the reading and the writing. Yes. I'm Ms. Tabitha Kihara. In Kenyan Commemoration of World, sorry, World Book Day, excuse me, Kenyan Commemoration for it, I see that you're going to be speaking. What is this event going to be covering? What does this invent and compass exactly? What do we as Kenyans expect from this? Okay, so this is the World Book Day. This is an annual event that is organized by the UNESCO and its aim is actually to encourage people to read, to publish books, to actually encourage reading culture in Kenya. So today we will be meeting at the Baza Plaza at the American Space. It's on Fibre floor and we'll be having many writers talking about their journey of writing, the challenges they've gone through. And they can also earn from writing. Yes. I see. Well, you know, is there anything you would like to add before I ask my final question? Because there are two things I would like to discuss. No, see that writing is fun. Yes. And our Nigerian brothers have actually been ahead of us for quite some time and it's time to cut up and tell our stories. Yes. Because we have enough stories, we have enough heroes within our setup, within our local setup. We have heroes who have solved the community problems. We have heroes that have mentored and provided direction to the youth to be useful to the society. So we need to tell these stories. Yes. And we can only tell these stories very shortly and quickly because we need to also leave a word behind for our youth and then we need to sign out. Kindly, I'd like to know this is Q's entrepreneurship. We do focus on this being a business also. We have seen the benefits of writing and reading but people, I guess we need to know is it something that can put bread on our tables? Is it something that we can survive on if I decide to be a writer here in Kenya? Yes. We have people like Oyugapala. He lives through writing. We have bloggers who live through writing. So you don't necessarily need to publish a book but writing and people, if you write things that people love consuming, reading and connecting. And once you have a fan base they will continue consuming whatever you do with them. So look for your place and south. Do you have the same mind? Yes, there are many opportunities like in digital marketing. If you find your place you niche then you can begin writing for companies that are in your niche. You can create websites, you can create blogs for people, you can write books. Opportunities are so many. You can hold conferences and get paid for it. You can create the area that your niche is in. Opportunities are many. Thank you for that. And guys, remember that you can also always hashtag entrepreneurship, hashtag why in the morning. And please, how can they reach you if they're interested in reaching you? And then after that kindly share a word to our youth to encourage them to read more and write more. I would like to invite them to our meeting today at the Bazaplazite American Space on Fifth Floor, that's on Moy Avenue. And I would like to invite them to come for a meeting. They'll be able to network with other writers and also they can find us on Facebook Mapo Brookwriters. Mapo Brookwriters, yes. How can they reach you and what would you like to say to them? They can reach me through Facebook, or they can reach me through my mobile. I can give it. If you're comfortable. Yes, 0722-171-838. 0722-171-838. Okay, right. We are there to help. Thank you. Would you like to say a quick word to our youth to encourage them to read more and write more? Yes, it's good to be youthful. And being a youth at this time in the world is actually a blessing. It is a blessing because first, the changes in technology, the access to information through the internet, the access to smartphones that actually brings the world to your phone. Now, what needs to change is our approach to life as young people. We need to start looking at what problems are the society experiencing and what can we do to change because that's how successful people have changed the world. By making solutions to everyday problems. Creating solutions, yes. Creating solutions. Thank you so much for that. And just to add, majority of the people who are successful in 18 years. Thank you for that. That's a perfect way to end this interview because I know a lot of views are around that age. I'd like for you to... How am I repeated? A lot of people who become successful started writing at below. No, just writing. Doing anything. Whatever they did, they started at below the age of 18. 14, 16 years. Okay, so whatever age you are, if you're younger than 18, you can do anything. And thank you so much for tuning in and thank you so much for coming to discuss the values of reading and writing. We do appreciate it. This is why in the morning, this is why 254 Channel, remember, you can watch us on DSTV Channel 376 on YouTube. You can watch this interview again and please subscribe to our channel. Thank you so much for watching. My name is Joy Machacha once again.