 Thank you so much for sticking to Y254 TV. My name is Sheryl Blessing and you are watching The Power Talk Show. Now before we went on our break, we were talking about rewriting destinies and embracing second chances. And joining me live in studio is Dr. Samson Misango and the current reigning champion of Miss Second Option Agency, Wanja Wanji Olasa. Wanji Olasa. So we were just discussing the philosophy and the experience that Wanji has had through the journey of pursuing the pageantry and pursuing the title that she is now holding. So I want us to discuss, you've told us about your experience Wanji and I want us to talk about, you were mentioning the philosophy. Not everyone shares the philosophy that you have about people being authentic because we have the traditional idea of modeling and pageantry where it's about your looks, it's about how you fit into the brand over the company but you have transformed it. You are giving people a chance to be authentic, to be themselves and come in and offer that. It's not about how they look, it's not about how they dress or what experience they have because according to Wanji she had no experience and she's now the current training Miss Second Option. So I want to talk about that philosophy. How do you get people? Because you've mentioned some people in your agency do not share the same philosophy that you have. How are you trying to implement that more and more as you progress so that you can ensure the interests of the models are being taken care of? Good. What I found very challenging in the industry since I went in, is I found there were so many mindsets, fixated minds about how things should be done in the modeling world and when I interrogated them further, because I'm talking to people who have been in the industry for some time, trying to come and give me ideas on how I should run the agency and the modeling and when you ask them what is the foundation for that, they just tell you, oh, even Junafani Kanga, you know, they will tell you something about a red carpet, ask them, where a red carpet? Oh, you know, that's how it's supposed to be. You say, no, something must have meaning. They say, oh, you know, the runway has to be this way. Oh, you know, you have to answer questions according to how the judges want, so I asked them, is it an examination you're going for or you're going to basically express yourself? So I found myself being very much divergent with the commonly held views of the people who are there. And I said, I have the advantage of having an agency and I don't have to let my models go there and have their minds brainwashed by these foreign ideologies about, I always find people saying auditions, you must be six footer. And I'm asking people, why do you want a girl to be six feeter, to come for an audition? And they say, oh, that's how it's supposed to be. You know, we are training them for the international world. I'm asking them, but what do they represent themselves? Because if she's going to go to the international world feeling like she's just supposed to do things according to them, then she loses her identity. And I said, no, I'm a very independent minded person in my thought, in my life. And I said, since I have an opportunity, I got thrown into this place where I'm doing CSR, I have a pageant, I have an agency. This agency will organize pageantry in a different way and we are going to redefine the world. So I said, three things we're going to change. Number one, during the pageant, none of the models will be performing for the judges. Because you know, typical pageants, models are there trying to impress the judges, then they go back and you wonder, is this just an exam? So he said, you will never know where the judges are sitting. People made noise, but he said, that's how it's going to be. So during our pageants, models go on stage, they do not know who the judges are. They do not know where the judges are sitting. The judges are among the audience. So you have to impress the whole audience. The other thing I said, I'm not going to do this bread-cuppet business because I don't understand what the cupping means. So I said, in our events, we're going to be having a black cuppet. People made noise. But I said, we'll be having the backdrop media, the media banner. We'll have a black cuppet. I know black stands for our identity as Africans. So initially, there was resistance. Then people were saying, oh, you know, we're chaffing on a kind of sun or something black. You said, we'll get people to web the chaff. It's OK. So we have been able to change that. And now we have black cuppets. We have no judges. You can see them. And the other thing which was very, I found very surprising in the modeling world was the judges made everything appear like. It's a kind of a club where they decide things on their own. The models never get to participate in how many marks. They don't know how you have been scored. So I said, if we can conduct elections in Kenya and say everything needs to be transmitted, you can see how you're scoring. Who are we to hide models from knowing how they're scoring? What are we hiding? The only reason why we see a lot of botched up pages and models complaining is because things are made so opaque. Then we just see it as one. So there are all scandals about, oh, because they know the manager. Oh, they know who. It's such a scandalous industry. But I said, make it open. Let people see. They'll get their marks straight off. They ask questions. They'll be told, this is how we, and they end it. They created you. And so initially, we used to have our managers coming from the industry. But I said, they are so fixated in doing things that way, they are not aligned with the vision. And I said, slowly, slowly, as we keep on now doing our auditions and going all over the country, because we've had auditions, we had the pageant in 2018. 2019, we had another phase of second option. 2020, there was a COVID. So that time, we couldn't have gatherings. We recruited in-house and came up with a phase of the agency also. 2021, we went now all over the country doing auditions. And we had our first bootcamp, because the other days we used to have a single day pageant like everybody else. But as I kept on understanding the industry and seeing the challenges, I began seeing the gaps and where we can define ourselves. So 2021, I took this contestant's finalist to Mombasa, a one bootcamp fully paid for by the agency, the MSU Center, the sponsor. And it was successful. The following year, we said now, instead of being in Kenya only, we'll go Africa, because we believe we have something and our brand, what you want it to be, a recognizable brand all over Africa. To be basically, because as we keep on talking to people online, they keep on saying, the same challenges that you have in Kenya in the modeling world, it's there in the rest of Africa, they just need a beacon of hope. So we are providing that beacon of hope. And I think it's also, if we're being realistic, that is the same challenge globally, because there is the traditional way of doing things. And we have to understand that trends have changed. In the early 90s, in the 80s, in the early 2000s, there was an ideology of you have to be six foot tall, you have to be skinny, you have to have this particular look. Singo, she didn't have a child. Yeah, and you know the world is changing. And right now we even see in even the fashion industry, they're being more inclusive. And people who are not inclusive are being left behind. The world has really transformed, because now it's not about the color. And also we have to be realistic. We're in Kenya, they're not many six foot tall people. So generally, we have to consider all these things. We have to factor in where we are and how we can make it personal to us. So I really admire that. And I want to get it from Wanji. One thing you said, and he's echoed, you never know where the judges are. So that was one thing that probably pushed you to even do better and be better. So you had your ideologies before you got into second option, before you had a conversation with him. You had your ideologies of what modeling and pageantry is. So once you got into this agency in particular, how did you, what are the differences that you've noticed based on what you thought and what you've seen. And not just for yourself, what did you see in the other contestants, the process that have made you feel like it's different from what you were used to? I have no experience first of all. So the modeling industry was just another industry I hear about. I didn't know anything about it. I was so ignorant. So me being part of second option, I'm learning with it. I'm in the process. So I don't have any like fixated mindset of we need judges here. I knew, I mean, I expect judges, but hearing, I wouldn't see them was not a shock. But the other contestants were them. And let me say some hours before the main runway, I went to the runway without makeup. Without makeup. And I'm telling you, this is a beauty pageant. People expect you to be glummed up, all of these things. And yeah, I want to tell you that one contestant, you know, everyone was doing their makeup at the time and everyone is pressured like two hours to the runway. We need to do this. We need to do that. I'm just chilling. I was just seated. Everyone is doing their hair. I went with my braids. I didn't, I didn't try much. Cause first of all, I, well, I had gotten some influence that I need makeup, but I knew, well, I don't have to do it. But you know, being influenced when everyone is doing the same thing, you're the only one who's not doing it. And it feels like you're doing the wrong thing. And one of the contestants actually told me, one G, you're not wearing makeup, it's a beauty pageant. Are you sure? No, everyone is like, we've done our makeup. Why, why is your face like that? And I was there feeding, inhaling the pressure the whole time. I remember before the runway, actually I was just seated cause I have nothing to do. People will have stylists, makeup artists, all of these things. I'm there with my suitcase and my clothes. Shirting probably. And so that is how I learned that the other models have a thing in their mind. This is how modeling is. This is how you're supposed to do it. While me on the other side, I went like I'm presenting myself and I'm here to win. I'll do my thing. And I think that's a thing to embrace. Just present yourself as you are. Yeah. And I like that because the truth is, being authentic to yourself is what will get you farther ahead than following the masses. And the fact that no one has an explanation of why we're doing makeup, we're just doing makeup because you're supposed to. It's been done before for years. Where are we having wigs and all these things? There is no explanation. And that's the same thing that you've said. No one could give you a clear explanation of why we're using the red carpet. Why the judges have to have this ideology and fix the reasons. So based on what you've come into the industry and transformed, how do you think it has impacted the models themselves? I'll tell you. When we first of all, because we have what is called Mr. and Miss, one of the contestants during this bootcamp, when he was giving his journey and how the agency has affected him, he mentioned something which we had during our first, because we have a task for some that comes up with how the year plan is going to be. When we first began having now, transiting from face of the agency into Mr. and Miss Second Option, we are going to Miss Second Option, Kenya. And one of the people asked, why don't we have Mr. also? And you said because Mr. doesn't bring any excitement. People want to see the leaders. Okay. And that was a fixation that was there. But one of our managers was very passionate about, no, if we want to define the industry the way you're saying Dr. Actually, he quoted me. If you want us to really change the way the industry is perceived, we have to go out of that box of Miss, only being the glamorous and be the first one to actually give the boy child an opportunity. And I was nodding as he was talking because he was talking to me the way I like for talking, coming up with something which is transformative and redefines. And he said, okay, we'll have it. And initially, we were having only maybe three, three, three boys starting up on additional one or none. And I can also imagine because of the peer pressure. If you're a guy and you tell your friends I'm going to go and test for Mr. Second Option. Yeah. And you see, then we were also thinking we should give the boys because they bring less glamour to the event. Their price will be less. Because you know, we are the ones who came up with a big price for modeling for a pageant. It was a grand prize of 500,000. Everybody went, it's a con. You see, because people are so much used to being conned in the pageant reward. That is something it's there in the grains of people. It's a con. So our reserve groups were filled by people insulting us saying, you guys don't even have, why are you cheating models? But you went ahead and delivered. Okay, after we delivered, people went down a beta and we said we're going to give the boys the same amount we're giving the girls. It was shock. Because one of the boys told us, they used to go for pageants. The girls are getting 10K, 20K, then they're being given a T-shirt. Thank you for representing. A Santisana, Baba. Yeah, so we've been told, the fact that we're actually giving these boys a platform, they actually, many other pageants are coming up now appreciating the boys. And so what you're saying is we're not in competition with those other pageants. We are actually liking the way the fact that we're actually transforming the industry, the modeling industry in Kenya. Okay? So, and this is for the first time, we had more male finalists than females at the bootcamp. Nice, that's being expected. And I said this was, and you see, it's something that is getting a life of its owner, okay? And the challenge of looking for managers in the agency begins going down because the same, same people that we are recruiting during our auditions, becoming our finalists, becoming our contestants, they believe in our philosophy and it's very easy for them to transit from being contestants to managerial positions within the agency. And that's what's actually happening now. So more and more of them are coming in due to the project that they defined. OneG also has a project which is going to make it now become one of the officials. And I wanted to talk about that next. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So basically we, from the last two pageants, we have had people who have transitioned from being contestants. Because the people who win, we don't allow them to contest again the following year. Okay? The either go somewhere else or they get something useful to do within the agency after the year of reign. So, but the more of them, the more that they come in, the more our project is taking shape because now we are all aligned in the same way that we are thinking. Because of the view you've trained those people and the fact that you're giving them the opportunity to also participate and take active part in the running of the agency and even nurturing the newer models who are coming into the industry because you have to give everyone a chance, you know? And that is one thing that's unique because we are used to, it's either money or you're being exploited. Sometimes it's even human trafficking in some cases. And the fact that you've probably won three times in a row, you already have the cheat code. You don't give new people chances. So I really admire that about your agency. And the fact that you said you're not in competition with other agencies, that's important because you're trying to transform the world. You're trying to make everyone move in the same direction so that the industry in general can be transformed. So I admire that very much. In fact, I'll tell you one of the managers tells us, the general manager says imitation is the best form of flattery. Okay? So in somebody who imitates what you're doing, it means they're basically complimenting you for what it is that you're doing and you should not fight it, you should actually embrace it. Embrace it. Because we're actually doing something that people are looking at and liking. Because that definitely means you're doing something good. If people want to imitate what you're doing, it's very admirable. And the fact that you've made gender equality a thing. It's not about at you wanna put a t-shirt, wanna put a towel, you get the same prize money, you get the same opportunities as the ladies because with the women, we're more glam. We'll show out, you have different outfits, you can do different looks. With gentlemen, it's a bit restrictive. And the incentive of giving them the same, same platforms, the same opportunities, the same prizes, will definitely make more and more people want to join. So I want Fungi, just tell us briefly what you're doing. Now that you're the reigning Miss Secunda option, what are you planning to do for the next year? Because you're going to be reigning for a whole year. What is your project personally? And what do you want? What is the one change you want to make? By the time you give the crown to the next person, what do you want to be remembered for? My project, and it's the one I presented, is opening a branch, a second option agency branch in Kiambu. We have Mombasa, Nairobi, Eldorette, Nakuru, and? Kisumu. And Kisumu, right? So I find a gap not having Kiambu. So I was like, yeah, let's have a Kiambu branch. And so that is what I'm working on. I'm supposed to manage the branch. Well, not for the year, but like for the long run, but the project is for the year. But so yeah, I'm trying to work on that. So I'm trying to bring some models in because we need models to sign up for it. And yeah, I'll be the one, no, I want to be the one training, I'll be the one managing the branch. We like that. And the fact that she's 19, I hope you took note of that, she's 19 years old about to manage a whole branch of the second option agency. So definitely, I know there's so many people out there who are interested in modeling and pageantry because the ideology of what we've had in the industry in the past has probably made more people want to not put themselves out there and the fear of failing do not fear that. Just put yourself out there, be authentic, and try to audition and reach out to second option agency. If that is what you want to do, if you're male or female, do not be held back by any fear. So I really admire that because you're so young and now you're being nurtured into being an entrepreneur and being a manager. So it's not just about the crown that you're wearing, it's not about how you look and the fact that you're the brand ambassador, it's more than that, you're being nurtured to have skills that you can apply in life. And I want, before we conclude, you'll tell us the journey now, the influence it's had on you and your personal philosophy because you mentioned you weren't being fulfilled in the industry of mass communication. You tried that, you studied it and you actually worked in the industry and it did not fulfill you. So how are you right now finding yourself? How are you making those small steps to find yourself and find what industry works for you? So let me begin by that previous question of what mark I'm trying to live and I'm trying to make the agency more popular, to be honest. I feel like I have the capability to make it known to more people and so I'll also try and work with the agency on managing social media and that's how I'll try and make it more popular. So to come to your question, what was it again? I want you to tell us how you're finding your way, how you're pursuing, actively pursuing what you think is your passion and what you think you're going to do in the long run. How are you learning through this entire journey? Right now, modeling is something that I'm loving and I'm taking it day by day. It doesn't mean next year when I'm 20, I'll be in Miss Universe. God knows, I don't know, but at least I'm loving now. So I'm trying to take it a bit more step by step because when I was doing media, I was more, I wanna be a journalist I wanna sit there in front of the camera and when I did it, it was just like, what is this? So this one, at least I'm getting like, I'm loving it. I'm loving working as a model. So it's a journey that I'm learning to love and yeah, hope. It's just progressing, like slowly you're working your path and eventually you'll get to your destination. And I really admire that because so many people get fixated. You're told by your parents, go do engineering and you get fixated on that, knowing fully well that you're not passionate because I've come across so many people who are in university confused about the course they're doing. They'll jump from one course to the next to the next and I truly encourage young people, you have time. You have time to explore and discover what you want. You have time to pursue your dreams if you want to try 10 different skills. It's okay to do that when you're young because when you get older, your options are more restricted and you have responsibilities and commitments and you don't have the freedom and the luxury. So I want to just get from you, Dr. Misango, you've talked about expanding. Through the years you started as the face of second option and you went to Miss Nairobi and now Miss Kenya, Miss Africa. Miss second option Africa, yes. So I want to get it from you. Where do you see yourself five years from now? Where do you see your agency five years from today? I'll tell you, we have a motto in the agency and our motto actually is Africans for Africa, adding valid society. From where I sit, I have this vision where I see us as second option agency conducting this annual events that will be defining what Africa stands for. We will be the bridge between the politics, the entertainment, the serious and the small talk because I have seen an avenue where I can be able to reach to different people that previously I had no place where I could reach. As a doctor, my work is humanitarian, okay? But I only deal with people who are sick as a doctor. And those are the ones I change but they're in a desperate situation. So through the agency and the pageantry, I'm able to touch other people in my life. It's like I'm continuing my humanitarian work as a doctor but now dealing with people who are not physically sick but they need an opportunity to be better people. And so for me, that gives me a drive and especially with the project that I've taken of Africans for Africa, I'm an Africa trying to add Valentino society as defined by Africans. You know, in the African context, not somebody coming and telling you it needs to be this way, it needs to be this way, it needs to be this way. It is us who are defining the industry and I'm seeing us occupying that space in Africa. I don't look at expanding outside Africa and going to the second option world because for me then it will lose meaning, okay? I want it to be confined in Africa. As we go on in the next few years, we'll have several more contests within Kenya but I see us now going, as you expand outside Africa, when you get representatives from like now, we're having a South Sudan branch forming out of this year's contest and depending on how things go, we might just begin now having annual contest agents rotating around African countries that have embraced our philosophy. So that's why I'm seeing ourselves. And more importantly, I'm seeing the pageant reward being defined by ideas where people actually stand for something when they have in that crown. Let me tell you, okay, you are miss one so, what do you represent? And you can tell me for this one year, this is what you're going to do without hesitating. Right now you ask anybody to say, let me see, let me see. Because they don't have anything. They're just looking for that glamour as what you call it and having their picture and when the music goes down, then what? Yes, I really like that. I totally admire that because I'm pro-African and the fact that you really want to make it defined by Africans ourselves. You know, in our history of our continent, we've been told by Europeans, we've been told by foreign influences, who we should be, how we should be, how we should dress, what our culture should be. And I like that you want to make us as Africans, define ourselves, for ourselves. We do not need someone else to come and tell us, this is what you should eat, this is what you should do and where it should come from within us. So I truly admire that and I pray that it works. Can I add something, can I add something? Yes. During this last pageant, we were privileged to have Honora Babu Namwamba as our chief guest. And when we were having a side chat, I remember mentioning to him, because I've been seeing our pages dominated by the last event being the evening wear. And I asked people, what does evening wear represent to an African? People have got no idea. But they said, oh, it has to be there. Next year we are removing it. And I told the minister and he laughed and he said, actually, I also find evening wear very colonial mentality. But it's because we have such interesting ways of dressing that define us, that when you make, but we are changing poli poli poli poli. So next year we have actually identified that is something I'm going to have a chat with my managers. As I say, anytime I come up with something which is very different from how the modeling industry does, initially they fight, but we have a discussion and do you agree with me somewhere? And I totally love that because the truth is, we've adopted foreign cultures and foreign ways of thinking. Because evening wear came from the Europeans. With us, we need African wear. And that's the thing. So many people can't explain why they do things a certain way. It's because it's always been done. This is how the industry has been. I love that you have innovation and you are accepting new ideologies. So I wanted to wrap it up because we have less than four minutes left. You can tell us briefly about the CSR work that you've done. What charity work have you been involved in? Because he talked about looking at children who are in public schools who are from unfortunate backgrounds. And he talked about so many other projects that you're doing. So personally, Wanji, what projects have you been involved with? And tell us what you're looking forward to doing, maybe in the next year and just in future. I am part of the Presidential Award. It's a club that people hike and also we attend different children homes. That's the kind of CSR we do and cleaning around the compound. I have not been able to be part of the CSR in the agency simply because I was not available. I know it happened in the Nairobi branch where I was training, but I was not available for it. But generally, every single month, there is always a CSR for different branches. And I truly admire that. I wish I could give you more time, Dr. Misango, but it's very brief as we wrap up also as you give us your parting shot as well. The CSR, the value of that, because you started from your personal history and now you've involved it in the agency and in the workings of it. What is the value of that? What impact has it had? And maybe it's just your parting shot for anyone who's interested to join your agency. Very well. As I said, we began with this cool project which we used to go and give uniforms every month. And then COVID came, we had to break it up. When we came back, we were now in different branches. Due to economic constraints, it was difficult for us to have a CSR in each branch every month. So now what we've done is we've spread the CSR across the branches. We have different things every month. You can have this month being a CSR in education, next month being on our environment, next month being on health, and then being on awareness campaigns. So we have a calendar that's paid off for the year and we have a budget for it. So we get the models in those areas to go for those CSRs voluntarily. When they come from those CSRs, they normally have a very different way of looking at life because initially they thought that they were coming from very disadvantaged places, but when they get a chance to go and share, they realize that they're actually privileged and people look at them as a platform, as models, as indeed they should be, that can actually make a change. So the challenge you've been having CSR, of course, is the fact that now we have to spread ourselves across the whole country, but we do it by rotation because we have a limited budget. We get all our sponsorship through the MESU Center, which is me. That is something that I do as my personal project, but we invite sponsors. We reach out to different people who can be part of the project. Only other funding is from the membership subscriptions. Members call the agency. They get in touch with the branch managers. Our telephone number is 0758-082-865. There is one general manager who is able to link you according to which branch you want to be in. Once you become a member, we'll give you all these benefits that I talked about. Training every two weeks, you get photo shoots every three months now. Photo shoots, we build for these models, portfolios, that they can go and share out to the public so that they're available for jobs. When you get a job, you take 80%, you take a 20% as your management fee. You get to participate in our pageants, right? And you go for a full bootcamp without any pay. So these are the benefits we give and we invite people through your station who are seeing us, who are willing to be part of this project. We are going to transform this industry. We are doing it once a time, but we need all the help that you can get. Thank you for that. Thank you so much for that. So if you're watching, please reach out to second option there on social media as well. You've gotten the number. So do not hesitate. Reach out to them. So maybe we can get a parting shot from U1G as well because our time is running out. Tell us just something briefly to someone who wants to pursue this and what you've learned, what you take away from their whole experience. My message will go to the person who wants to compete next year and they want the crown. I want to tell you that you need to play your cards, right? You need to do your best from the beginning to the end and you need to present something solid in a way that when you present it, you believe in it and people will have to believe in it as well. And be confident because with confidence then you can do anything really. Yeah, so. Thank you so much for that. That was very brief, but very concise. I like that. Be confident. Do not be afraid to pursue what you want and actually work for it. Don't just think things come easy to you. You have to apply yourself. You have to push yourself. So I think that is it for today. I hope you've truly enjoyed this session and I hope you've taken something away from that. Even if it's not just about the page entry industry, there's so many lessons we have learned from this conversation. You have to be persistent, resilient, authentic, confident and innovative. Don't just do things that have been done in the industry without explanation. Have an explanation. Have a reason behind something and pursue it authentically. Even if you're the only person who's going against the grain. That is it for today. Thank you so much for sticking with us through the entire show. This has been the Power Talk Show. My name is Sherry Blessing and I hope to see you again next week, same time, same place. I repeat that this is going to air tomorrow between 1 and 2 p.m. and will also be on YouTube. So you can look up this episode or previous episodes and we will see you next time. Thank you for the entire team, our producer, the station controller, every single person who's participated in making this a success. I truly appreciate you and I hope to see you again next week.