 Yes, we are back with my favorite segment of the week, which is strength of a woman on Queens Wednesday on why in the morning I go by the name of Barry Moses or it's by morning every social media platform. And in studio with me is a wonderful, a powerful woman and yes, I'd love to read this. She is passionate about supporting people to maximize their personal and professional potential through mentorship and coaching. And she has experience working with USAID in capacity building. She goes by the name Masi Karibusana. Thank you, Barry. All right. I should be using my mic. All right, yes. Thank you, Barry. All right. So if I missed anything, Masi, you can look right into camera four and talk to the people. All right. Yes. If I missed anything in your intro. No, you did not. And I'm sure as we go on, we will keep on capturing beating pieces as we move on. All right. Masi, your CV is quite extensive. You could say that. Uh-huh. There's a lot to read in there, but I'd like to start, say, in high school. Do you remember your life in high school? Yes, I do. I remember I went to Form One. I found people who spoke English. And I spoke the one from the village. So I was a really... Which village is this? I'm from eastern part of Kenya. Eastern part of Kenya. I'm from Embu. From Embu County. Yes. Embu County is represented on 1 in the morning. There's always... We have done this. We have represented Embu. So if you're watching from Embu, please interact with us. All right. All right. Thank you. So I went to high school. I found... Let me tell you my first day in Form One. I thought the floors were so clean. The lighting was so bright. I mean, I've never seen so much lighting. I was wondering, nights look like day. There was no power in your village. There was no electricity in your village. There still isn't electricity in your village. All right. This is the time that I call out the governor of the World's Fair. This time around. But anyway, so this is your first time having an experience with electricity. The cement floors. Yes. And thinking, this is wonderful life. And I enjoyed my days in high school. Holidays were long because we couldn't wait to go back to school to watch TV. Wow. This... This is actually the first time I'm hearing this. Somebody wanting to go back to school. Yes, because holidays is going to the farm fetching water. It's very hot. It's cool. You were fed for three meals. There was two teas in between. I mean, who wouldn't want to be in school? All right. So you loved your experience in high school? I did. All right. So I'm guessing you were quite a good student, maybe a teacher's pet? I don't know about the pet, but I do know I really enjoyed schooling. And especially English. I loved literature. I loved poetry. But most people somehow couldn't just find out how it works. I did. I really loved school. And by then I'm from the other system that did up to six forms, so you can start guessing my age. I went back to... Oh, just tell me the set books that you guys read so we can get in. Oh, set books. We did The Bardens. It's by somebody, Uganda. The Bardens. Yeah, The Bardens. Then we did a book from South Africa. I cannot remember what it was called, but it was something to do with the apartheid and the fight for freedom. But if you know, you know The Bardens. If you are in high school during this period, The Bardens, you know. All right. So you loved literature so much, you enjoyed the English language. What about Swahili? I love Swahili. But not as much as English. The old system did not really take us through Swahili. So we met with Swahili seriously in Form 1. So let me not say, yeah, so I wasn't really that good in it, and I regret that, but that's what it is. It is what it is. You're here now. First of all, you have achieved a lot in your life so far. Maybe it's not a lot to you. A lot is relative. Yes. After high school, what did you do next? And did you know you wanted to do whatever you're doing today? So after high school, what I remember is I did not get the cutoff to go to the university. That was devastating for me. I really had wanted to go to university. And so as most of us from the village do, we come to Nairobi to stay with relatives. And I did a bit of hustling here and there. So is this your first time in Nairobi at this time? Yes. I'd been visiting on and off where you come to visit your aunt, but now I had come to stay or rather to really look for work. What I knew I did not want is I did not want to stay in the village. Which neighborhood you lived in in Nairobi? I came to Buruburu. You came to Buruburu? Yes. Buruburu was Buruburu. Buruburu. Buruburu. Yes. Yes. All right. Yes. And what we were, I did a bit of, you know, the door-to-door marketing, you know, giving out sampling, sampling different people. That really helped me because I'd never known Nairobi. You would get in a van, you'd drop in Zimmerman, you'd drop in South B, you'd go sampling people home by home. So this helped you know the city? Yes. You know different cultures of the city, the diversity, the classes that exist. So you had a clear picture of Nairobi and you knew where you wanted to end up. Yeah. And also getting to know people, some open for you, doors-smiling, others are wondering what you're doing at their doors. So this was quite an experience for you. That it was. All right. Do you consider yourself, did you consider yourself as somebody who's good with people, with social skills back then? When I was shy, but I needed to make some money. So I would say it taught me because what I say is there's no job that you don't learn something. I learned that when I'm going to that door, I need to have a smile. I need to have something quick and that sounds interesting so that the door is not slammed on my face. And even if it's slammed, because I've got to go to the next door, I'd better... Fix your face again. Yeah. All right. Gather myself together quickly. All right. So fix your face before you get to the next door. All right. But this taught you some lessons. Yes. All right. At what point did you get to interact with USAID? Because this is quite a big deal considering what you guys were doing and how much difficult can you... The budget that you were working in. How did you get to work with USAID? Before we get to USAID, we have to pass through other routes that I passed through. So I eventually got a job in banking and I spent 10 years in the banking industry. And while there, I remember I said that I really felt bad I didn't go to university. The first thing I did when I landed at the bank was find out how do I get education loads. So I started with an associate diploma in banking. Those times, we used to do them from UK and your papers would be sent through post office and you would post things back. That's how it works. That's how you get your results. Yes. So your paper is marked by some English person. Yes. Then it's sent back or they send the results back. Yes, by post office. All right. That's how it used to work. Long distance learning. Wow. Yeah. Nowadays you just sit on your computer and do everything. Your books have to be sent to go to the post office. Anyway, it was what we knew so it wasn't hard that it was there. And eventually, I got a degree so I was very pleased, I was like my peers now. All right. But before you carry on, I'd like to understand why did you pick a British university over a Kenyan one? That time banking was being offered by, what was it called, internet. It was offered from UK. Oh, that's the reason. If you really wanted to do an associate diploma in banking, it could only come from the UK. It could only offer a certificate course. A certificate course. All right. Wonderful. So after starting banking, you got your degree, you're so happy, you've achieved something that you wanted in your life. It's a step closer to your dreams. Yes. Yes. What next? Around that time, I started feeling really restless. Is this all that is in banking? Is there something more I could do? I want variety. I want diversity. All right. What was your JD, like, what was your job description, like, that makes you say, is this all in banking? I did banking, let me just put it this way, you know, I have friends who are still bankers. All right. All right. Yes. If you're a cashier, you've already met cashiers. Yes, I've interacted with some, I'm related to some. Yes. All right. You see, every day, you find them at the account. From eight, giving out. To five. Yes. From eight, or from eight to four, and then after that, it's all about accounting in the bucket. And the bucket is in the evening. All right. So the whole day is receiving, giving out, receiving, giving out. You move from that department, you go to maybe another one called Clearing, and I'm talking about my day. I don't know whether it's become more interesting. You would find maybe somebody just stamping checks the whole day. And of course, when you recruited, you're a clerk in the beginning, so you're stamping checks the whole day. You move, so it's very specialized, let me put it that way. So wherever area you're in, whether you're even in foreign currency, it's one routine sub. That is what you do every single day. So you got sick of this. And did you have experience of frauds while in banking? Frauds are there. All right. Yes. That's the story for another day. Yes. I hope you do fall for the trap. That's the story for another day. That's the story for another day. All right. At what point did you, after you quit banking, what did you do next now? I quit banking. I took, we call it VR, that is a re-determined hard shake. I invested all my money back to school. I had thought, what I really need to do is work that has variety, work that has some travel, work that is different. So I went and did project management. And I came back to Kenya thinking, you know, banks would be wanting to recruit me. Now I'm a project manager with an MBA and shock on me. I'd go for interviews and they tell you, oh, I've been out of the system for the last two years. And I'm thinking, what is that so important to do? I could learn it. Anyway, it took a while to settle back. And that's when you start wondering, did I do the right thing? Your friends and relatives cannot sympathize with you after all, you left a job. Now you're asking them to help you look for another one. So it took a while to settle back. I did other jobs as I looked for the job. Were they satisfying the jobs that you took? No. To bring bread as I look for the job. To keep you... Yes. But what I always say is, any job you do, there are always lessons and there are always skills. Like the first one I did was actually volunteering. And I learned to write proposals. I learned to go for meetings to talk about the proposals we have. And that was a great lesson that I carried on when I eventually got that job. All right. So my first lesson of the day, whatever you are in every job that you do, make sure you live with something, learn something, at least. And do it. Go there, you've agreed to work, go work, and learn because these are transferable skills that will carry you through life. You remember, I went through door to door. I learned when somebody says no to you, it's not personal. After all, they don't even know you. Move on. Move on. Yes. So after hustling for around two years, I eventually got to work with USAID funded projects and I have worked with them for the last eight years. Did you apply for these jobs? Of course I did. All right. Yes. Did you go for interviews? Of course I did. All right. I'm very vigorous. That they are, but life prepares you for these things. You see, in the very beginning, I knew where I wanted to go to work. I went back to school. And even as you get these jobs, let me tell you, in the UK, I banged supermarkets. Even now, when I go to supermarkets, I tilt things. All right. I know how they're supposed to be tilted. All right. So it's not a case of OCD or something. It's just something that you picked up, something you liked in your line of duty. Because to me, it helped me be more detailed. And as you talk about the interviewing process and all that, it is more detailed. Just because I banged jam and biscuits, it means you learn to see details in the physical items and also in your life. So when you're applying for these jobs, you become very detailed in trying to find all the transferable skills you're bringing to that JD. All right. So somebody who has traveled, before we talk about your post, after you got the job at USC, I'd like to know, as somebody who has traveled, how important is it to expose yourself to different cultures and the rest of the world? Do you think it's something important that people should actually save for or plan for? I think so. Number one, you know, that's why it is saying something about if you don't travel, you think your mother is the best cook. You think so? Lesson number two, if you don't travel, you always think your mom is the best cook. I like that. Nothing against mothers. All right. Nothing against mothers. I know mom is watching, right? Traveled mom, you're still the best. Great. But anyway, let me give you, as you talk about Katya, something I learned. When I got to UK, that's the time before Mishuki Ruzia on Matatus. And I was on Oxford Street. And there was a bus. And when the bus stopped, I ran and held the door and looked like I held the bus, walked it and sat. And then people just, I realized later, people just sat back. I mean, they stood back. I mean, this is a crazy woman. Let me through. Culture show. And then because they are filed up in a queue, they just walked in. In order. Exactly. It's, I'm very black. I mean, the blushing, I must have been doing that. I mean, you feel hot. What did I do? It's quite embarrassing. It's embarrassing. And then realize, it means people follow order in other places. And you start thinking, this looks better than the one I elbowed my way through. It's more reliable, more convenient. It saves a lot of time. You save yourself from pickpockets as well. Yes, if they're there. So this is something that you learned in your first trip. So exposing yourself to other cultures, to different parts of the world, it's very important. It's something people should plan for at least. And just to add to that, when you say that, what I know is people think travel is very expensive. It's not. It is planning early. Planning. Like, I know there are very few Kenyans who know what they'll be doing in August. Including myself. Apart from celebrating my birthday. I think you're back there. Yes. If you knew you wanted to travel August or September, you start looking for tickets now. Having a lot on the cheapest months, on the cheapest, you know, tickets. You start thinking, you don't have to stay on the high street. I don't know you're young. So you might know things like coach-saving, that you can actually stay with people, which is the best way because you're immersing yourself in people's culture. So don't think about, I have to pay hotels, find people, tame people's homes for free. We have A, B, and Bs as well. Yes. So if we plan better, travel is not as expensive as we think it is. It is expensive because we buy the ticket last night. Last night? We want to go to a hotel. Exactly. We want to go to eat in the best restaurants in that particular country. And if you can afford that, still fine. But don't feel limited to travel because of budget. That's why we are called budget travelers. All right. So travel is not for each people. No. And it's important to travel. I would say it is because it will teach you things that happen there. But I always say that also makes you appreciate home. Yes. So much. Because home is still the best. Home is still the best. Home is still the best. Back to USAID. So your first job description at USAID, what was it? I started as a logistics, a training logistics. Was it a manager or officer? Something like that. And I tell you, buddy, it's good I did not know what I got myself into because, you know, sometimes editor-in-chief would be like, God, did I do all that? I would coordinate people in the East Africa and Southern Africa region to come for trainings in Kenya. Every single week I would have a class of 25 people from minimum six countries coming for training. That means you get them to agree, you invite them, you make them, you get to get the RSVP that they are coming. If they say like for Rwanda that the government must give them authorization, you send data to the government so that they are authorized to come to book their tickets. If it's Rwanda, they have to travel in Rwanda here so you book their tickets through Rwanda here, you get them here into a hotel for five-day training. Every single week for 13 consecutive weeks. That was my baptism by fire. And I think I go back to having learned some skills in detail, in being very detailed because people will call you on a Sunday to tell you, oh, the ticket says what to travel yesterday but they missed their flight. I'm like really, you're in Zambia. You missed your flight. What am I supposed to do? But again, going back to being the people person, you always have to ask yourself what is it that you want to achieve? It's not the bits that have to be done earlier. Bottom line, I want to say that my class was full. So on Sunday, I have to cook in our airways and get ready to change tickets, have conversations with fly-fly 40 because we need our people to come. All right. And you learn that next time I'll need to send the time in block letters. The time and date in block letters and send it twice or twice. So you learn in the process as well. Yes. My favorite thing is the learning process in Bali. I don't know whether anybody can see Nimefika in whatever area you're doing because I will tell you that to digress. My thesis for MBU was learning organizations. And learning organizations are made of learning people. So in everything you do, it's always, is there another better way I would have done it? So yeah, it's always learning. Now this week, I call Barry. You've seen your ticket is for midnight. Midnight means tonight, not tomorrow night. All right. I understand. So after this, after this, we'll take a role in logistics and everything. Did they give you a different role after these 13 weeks? You said 13 weeks? Yeah, 13 weeks. Then we were done with the trainings. Yeah, so I got to also be in charge of procurement. Then I moved on to be the technical project manager, meaning that I was managing country managers in the eastern and southern Africa regions. And should I be modest? No, we are told that you should also see the things you've done. I think having been really good at what I've done in the past, it helped me get the role of the technical project manager because now I'm managing country managers to manage their work better. Yeah, I would call it the quality assurance manager. All right. I like that. So looking at this brief right here, I see until September 2018, you were the country director and eastern African regional manager for US dollars 22 million. This is a lot of money. Having talked to my friends in the NGO world, most of their bosses are foreign. And then the other roles are given to local. But the overseas is always a foreigner. And one of the things they've told me is the reason for this. They don't trust our integrity so much. Being at the top and serving in your capacity and managing such an amount of money for a project. What can you tell us about this? Well, I would say, Buddy, it's not always about the money. It's about the people. This project was a youth project, Mandela Washington Fellowship, which I'm very proud of. It was a youth project. We were taking youth through a leadership program. I've always said, and even my colleagues would attest, I've always said, every dollar that you save brings somebody else on board. So it's not about me. It's about somebody's money. By the USA it's called From the American People. That money is from taxpayers. People who don't even necessarily have as much money but they are willing to give to this project. So how do you go take that money and put it in your pocket? Because you know what it means? When I take that money, somebody deserving will not get into the project. At least I have a job. I have access to other opportunities. Opportunities and resources. This is the other version of me in the village that is really trying to get out of a village. And I eat her money. Alright. So being somebody who understands the story, maybe it gives you a different picture altogether. But would you agree that Kenyans have been notorious before of squandering money from donors? Now that is putting me in a whole new perspective, buddy. But I think it's yes and no. But I think I'll leave it to the researchers who've done it and put the fact together. Because if I answer, you might ask me to give you percentages. Give me facts. But anyway, it's something that happens. But it's something that we discourage at 5 to 5. 4 at 1 in the morning. We're encouraging integrity as much as possible. So moving on swiftly. I saw you worked on a food security project. Yes. How was this experience first? And where was it in particular? It was in the eastern and southern part of Kenya. Because these are regional programs. The experience, I'll tell you, when I was running away from the village was to run away from farming. All I knew is I have to leave. This is not the life I want to lead. And shock on me, I get myself in a food security program. And being aware of the needs actually makes you start looking at farming as a whole different, with a whole different aspect. That we need food. And we are eating all the time. That you realize that people get stunted, I mean children by age 5 because of lack of nutritious food. And it's really a sorry state. And some of it is around policies that policies need to be put in place that allow food to move through the region freely. Other issues around our cultural practices. I think if I'm from where we eat, if I'm feeding my child with potatoes and rice I'm doing really well. So some is lack of the food. Others is also lack of knowledge. So you are focusing on the two. Yes. And giving knowledge to people who like it. And also giving food to those who like it as well. Not so much giving food. But sensitizing people that they could have better farming methods. They could diversify what they grow. And also lobbying the government on the policies. For instance in Tanzania I remember working around you are taxing the farmers so much that they are not making much. So those kinds of, working through the AU framework. AU has a framework for agriculture for the next, they've been there I think now for the last 14 years or so. It's being implemented. Yes. Are we feeling the effects without knowing maybe? You are. You are. So it's another case of teaching them how to fish rather than giving them fish. Yes. The reason I delved into food security is because the president has the big four agenda. And one pillar is food security. So as a professional, as somebody with experience, what would be your approach for food security for a country such as Kenya with different climatic patterns in different areas, geographical areas? What I know Barry is a lot of research has been done. Some has been implemented. Some has not. But what I also know is about the youth dividend in this country. We've got a lot of youth and the farmers are growing older. So they are farming less. You will go home and your mom will tell you, ah, no, I'm not farming the five acres anymore. I'm farming two acres now. Then you will find other farmers have decided, you know, with this climate change and all, I will sell my place with people are building high-rise buildings. In the state. Exactly. I will make my money from real estate. I mean, I don't have to hustle anymore. But food is a reality. We need food. So for me is also asking, putting it together with the youth. What are the youth doing around food security? And that is one of the biggest areas that can employ them. That is, that should be the biggest question. What are the youth doing towards food security? So the youth should be incorporated in this particular plan. And they are incorporated. They are incorporated. In what sense? As the consumers or as the producers? I think in all ways. But what I've always also thought about is, sometimes you really do not need to be so cognizant of what the agenda forces or what are the SDGs saying. The point is you in, I'm imagining me in my village, if I've decided I can do agriculture, hopefully not the me who was running away from it. The youth with more knowledge and exposure and the rest of the complement of the adjectives. I should be looking in that space that we live in, in my community. What can we do? Because in my time, I thought that the problem with agriculture is I have to go till the land. There are many things you can do. Nowadays everybody has some gadget and internet from very early. As a youth who's come to university and studied, let's say software engineering or something, is there an app you could develop that maybe could show prices, farmers could go to see prices, maybe for pesticides. In short, what is it that your community needs? Don't go do the app and come to tell them this is what you're going to use. What is it that they need? You understand the needs of the people first. So what I'm getting from you is that in whatever field that you are in, from whatever village that you're coming from, coming to the University of Nairobi, for example, whatever you're studying, there's something you can do in that particular field towards food security. Exactly. Because remember we talked about transferable skills. I think the other thing we have is we don't take some of the skills we have, we take some of the skills we have for granted. We don't see how we could transfer them to different aspects. Like now what we're talking about farming. You might have come to university and studied marketing, but because you studied marketing, you haven't thought you know what in my community people grew mangoes. If I collect his, his, his, his, I will be able to sell this to some tracker at a good price. So your marketing does not have to keep you tamaking in Nairobi. There is something you could do around the marketing where you come from. All right. I get that. So just understand the needs of your people. Exactly. All right. I think we can call it the multidisciplinary approach to food security. Yes. Where everybody, it's about what you're doing. Yes. Not what the president has planned. Yeah. Because that's why there is a whole value chain in agriculture. All right. So it's about you finding where your niche is in that value chain. And you can be the farmer. You can be the one who aggregates. You can be the seller. You can be the transporter. You can be the app person. There is a whole chain. There's a whole chain. Yes. In the, in the agricultural industry. So don't feel like farming is all about me going into the chamber with the whole and sweating the whole day. All right. I'd like to go to another aspect as we, as we wind up. Another aspect of your, of your, of your skill set. Yes. So you're a life coach and take me through this. How is life, what is life coaching? So life coaching, I will start by telling you that after doing eight years in project management, I really started feeling restless. I felt I've done food security and worked with the youth. What do I do with this face of my life? Yeah. So I found out that I've been doing mentorships. I've been doing coaching in some haphazard manner. And so I went again back to school, started coaching professionally. And what I do as a coach is basically meet people who are restless, meet people who are having issues with their life. For instance, you could be saying, I want to change careers. You could be thinking I want, I don't feel like I'm advancing in my career or this is not where I should be at. Or I can't seem to balance my life. Or you're just feeling overwhelmed. Every day you wake up, there's so many things to do and you cannot prioritize. So as a coach, I work with people to ask, through questioning, really, to help them find clarity in any issue of their life. So the best approach is getting to understand the needs of this particular person. Yes. So there's nothing like a group life coaching? They are there, but that is general. But there is individual coaching because this really drills into you because we need to find goals and timelines for what it is that you want to do. Group coaching also applies, especially in organizations where again there is maybe a marketing goal to be arrived at. Masi is a blogger as well, life coach. She has experience in food issues, food security issues. So maybe you can share with them your blog and your social media handles so they can interact with you after this because I feel like we have left a lot out. There's a lot to talk about. Your camera is number four. All right. So I'm very proud to be becoming a blogger at my, I call myself a woman of a certain age. My articles can be found at masisfireplace.com. I am on Facebook on Masi's Fireplace and on Twitter at Masi Mayro.