 This estate you see right now represent the Africa that you don't see on TV And when I say Africa, it's super huge This estate that you see right now is the Kenya you don't see on TV And anytime we show you beautiful estates, you guys are trying to tell us that You know what, this is beautiful, this is in Africa But it's not made by an African You know what, this is why I'm here This estate that you see right here was developed and built by an African woman And I just can't wait to go and speak to her for her to share her story with me I know and believe that you will be inspired as much as I am going to enjoy this amazing interview Do me a favor if you're new to the channel, like this video, it's very important And since I'm going to speak to a woman, you know how we do it, you need to share So that it will inspire many young women out there And don't forget to subscribe and be part of the million family Let's hit a million And if you hit a million, which means that our stories will reach billions of people Thank you so much and come with me as I go talk to the young inspiring woman Who developed this beautiful estate that you see on your screen Thank you Liya, I want to know how do you feel anytime you come in here My eyes are filled with tears I remember the journey where it started from the dream, from the tears per heartache The doubts, is it ever going to be achieved And to come and see that what I dreamt of, what I prayed for That I will have houses that are filled with families With children playing outside Women enjoying their kitchens And husbands enjoying their spaces that it has come to be And I thank the Lord that indeed once he puts dreams in our hearts That we have what it takes to move forward, to go for it And those dreams are attainable And so when I come here and I see children and I see families living here I bless the Lord and I know that whatever we dream of, we can achieve it What inspires you? I'm inspired every day to become a better person To become a better me That my day to day is going to be better than it was yesterday To strive for better, to strive to do well To strive to be as an entrepreneur in this country To employ more people, to create more jobs To grow my economy And that the economy of Africa will be grown And the narrative of Africa gets changed And it can only be changed by us as Africans And does it feel like being a female entrepreneur? It's amazing We have potential whether I'm a female entrepreneur I'm a male entrepreneur We have the answers for Africa And I feel as a woman I'm a born natural I'm a natural We birth We bring up our children We bring up our families So we have what it takes to grow And bring up life And bring birth good Huge dreams and big dreams And take Africa to the next level Do you know that you're one of the most inspiring women That has ever lived in Africa? Wow That's very humbling for you to say Has anyone ever told you that? Yeah, I think a lot of my friends say that People need to hear you People need to know your stories It's inspiring You look so young I am not young But what you've been able to achieve I think it deserves a round of applause Can you all help me clap for her? Thank you I just want to know my first question When you hear the name Africa What comes into your mind? I think resources are resourceful I think beauty I think a lot of potential Yeah I feel like we have a lot of potential as Africa As a continent We are very resourceful We have a lot of resources within us And we also have resources in us as the people Africans are very hardworking We are very diverse And if we only look within us We have the answers for the world You have the answer for Kenya You know what you've done I think a lot of people need to know what you've done First of all, before I tell people what you've done My name is Wadamaya The one and only annoying village boy from Ghana I heard about you A lot of people are telling me You cannot go to Kenya without talking to Leia Is your name Leia? Yeah, Leia What is your full name by the way? Leia Wambui Leia Wambui And are you born and raised in Kenya? Yes, born and raised I'm a Kenyan girl Oh, a Kenyan girl Have you ever left Kenya? Never Just to visit business trips But I've never lived outside Kenya You've never lived abroad? No, never So whatever you've achieved You've achieved it right here in Kenya? Yes So does it mean that it's possible in Kenya? Oh, definitely We have all the resources We have what it takes to make it in Africa What we are right now This is an estate That was built and developed by Leia Wambui Wambui Wambui You know what Tell me something Let us know how it all started Were you born a developer? No You schooled in Kenya Schooled in Kenya After school, what happened? Like I said, I've lived in Kenya I have not left the country But growing up I grew up in an entrepreneurial family My father My mother was an entrepreneur My uncles My aunties That's what I saw They were business people And I really admired that But there is one particular person that I really admired throughout my life And that was my auntie She is the sister to my mother And when my mom passed on at the age of 16 She took me in And she brought me up But even when I was a little girl I always wanted to be like her I admired that she would travel the world And she looked nice She had very nice things And I always wanted to have nice things Everything nice Like in a nice house In a nice car Looking nice She always looked very nice So growing up with her Holidays I would go She had a shop I would go to the shop And she was a distributor For various things So I would go to the shop And I think I honed Some business skills from her So when I went to When I finished school I was to go to campus But I dropped out Because there were no resources And I got a job as a receptionist So I started there And I remember within the first few months I realized that I think I did want that I would want to get into the business Because what I dreamed of And when I looked at my colleagues there The amount of money that they were making I felt maybe that's not what I want For the rest of my life I wanted more and I wanted much better So I Immediately I asked I talked to my auntie I said I would want to start out something Like what she was doing in Mombasa I would want to start it in Nairobi But the amount of money that she could get Was only enough to go Start out somewhere in a small town In Kiambu Just outside of Nairobi So I went to Kiambu And started a wine and spirit shop And so I would try and sell As much as I can My business was not picking up And I joined a lot of women group In Kenya So I joined a lot of charmers Where you do table banking You do your savings Then you lend money Like that And so one particular time I got to be able to borrow A hundred thousand shillings And I have had some of my Charmer people say that Somebody had borrowed the money And borrowed a car I asked how much does a car cost And they said He bought it for 140,000 I said okay When I borrowed my money I want you to take me to go buy a car Yes So I went When my money got out I went And we borrowed a car I added 40,000 And we borrowed a car for 140 And when I drove that car home I told myself Oh my goodness This car has to make money for me Because I mean I was 24 and I thought I got to do something And I was always very hungry I always wanted more and big And I felt like I was Not reaching my potential During that time So I talked to a couple of people Who used to Bit distributors outside Nairobi And I talked to one particular And he said He can show me A route that he takes So I went with him And he took me around the route And when I came back I said I think I can also do it So I came back I didn't have money to buy stocks So I took them on credit And I told the lady Who was giving me I told her I'll pay you back When I come back So she gave me the stocks I put it in my car And I got somebody Who just showed up on my shop And said I can take you We go around and try So he came And he got into the car We tried We went selling But by the time We reached the destination That we had hoped to Finish selling We had not even done A third of what That we had taken So I said He said let's go further We'll go So it took us like Around a week Going around Trying to sell We drove We drove around town Went to the Rift Valley region And by the time We were coming back It was a week Who are you sleeping then? They have some cheap lodges Out in Nairobi So you sleep there And we didn't have enough clothes We came back with dust everywhere There was dust Like the ones were really bad at that time I mean these houses are pretty beautiful I never imagine That this is what I'm going to say in here You know Because when you told me That real estate I mean I've told a lot of real estate In Africa But this one stands out I feel like when women Developers Let me know now Which means you became A real estate developer in the year 2015 End of the year 2015 I started actually November 2015 November 13th 2015 That's when I Stunk the borehole here I started with the borehole I mean we were in the middle of nowhere We needed water So I stunk Started sinking the borehole On the 13th of November Was it difficult Acquiring the land in here? Yes it was first of all a challenge Because I actually drove the sides And I don't even know what led me To get a gala But I thought I wanted some big land I do want a small plot And I wanted something I wanted to bring people from apartments Families I thought like myself Why would I want to live Why would I want to bring up my children So I shied away from apartments And I wanted some nice land I wanted a family setting Where kids can go out And play And you know You as a mother in the house You feel safe that your children Are outside playing They can mingle with other children So as I drove here I saw this land And actually I had gone to look at some other land Which were plots And the plots were like I don't know four of eight plots And that is what I could afford So I started conversations with the owner Of that land And He We were almost going to the place But I just I felt in my heart It didn't feel It just It didn't click in my heart In the process Of having conversations with that Is when we met The land owner for here And he first of all dismissed me He didn't think I was serious Or I was going to buy I don't know I said Okay fine We can't afford The whole land He was selling five acres I could only afford Three acres So I Talked to him And What happened It took long The process of talking took long So I would pay him some money As we were continuing To have these discussions I pay him some other money So by the time we were finishing I finished buying The five acres Then now we added another three So we got A total of eight Eight acres From now That end of the year That is when we sank the boho And I sold my house I sold Oh my husband had Given me his blessings So he agreed that We sell our house We sold our house And we sold some shares That we had And some little savings That we had So I thought To start up this To start up this Even though you don't know What are you going to succeed Let me tell you So what we thought Because there is no bank That was going to give me All the money That were required So we thought Okay fine Let's work with what we have We can sell our house We can sell off Some of the shares that we had And some of the little savings That we had And figured Maybe we can Finish the first ten houses Because in my mind I thought it's going to Take X amount of money So we hit the ground running We do the boho Do the boundary wall And we started The ten houses So I thought that Within a particular time I'll have finished selling I'll have finished Building the first ten houses And sell them I thought I mean I'm building beautiful houses We travelled To go buy the finishes And when I I went with my architect then And I would pick The things that I was picking And he kept telling me This is not your house This is not your house These are houses for selling And I said I want to pick things That I would want in my house If I can live in that house I don't want to sell it To anybody else So by the time we were coming And we did the calculations We thought we would sell the houses At 15 million It was not possible So we said Let's try and sell at 17 million And I had I finished the show house The first house was house number seven And we invited people to come And I was very excited People are going to buy I thought I thought once we Show the house The show house We are going to have clients I got into a road shock People came, yes Of course The people who come Are your friends, your relatives Not the actual buyers If they are They are quite few And the questions I was Have you done any other project before No You have done the show No Are you an architect Are you an interior designer Are you No So the The biability first of all Was very questionable Are these people They are doing ten houses I am telling you We only had ten They look like five Because they are semi-detached So they look like five blocks So even people Are driving down the road They say What is going on there Are they building like a hotel Or what is that Let me tell you I would stand here And people drive in Somewhere along the way They just turn They don't even get to the show house They just turn and go back Go outside So In the first year The 2016 year We did not even finish Building the first ten houses You didn't finish The money got finished We have not finished building We don't have any money And we have not told any houses Stress Check team Serial stress I have a contractor on site I have workers I cannot afford to pay him I cannot afford even to pay My own workers People that have employed directly I Every time I would go To the altar and pray Please God Please God Now When I call people to the Open Open day to come and see They kept saying These houses are beautiful But this is the wrong location It can be done You can't sell a house In Kitengala for 17 million It's a very beautiful house But who's going to buy a house For 17 million in Kitengala? No, it can be done I remember I met a friend of mine Who had come We met at a mall And he said, I was actually wanting to see you He said, okay, how are you? Thank you for coming He said, yes, you have done A good job, the house is beautiful But we are just worried Who's going to buy Who's going to buy A 17 million house in Kitengala? I said, I'm going to sell Oh I said, I'm there in God I told her, I'm there in God When she had that one She said, okay Let's wait and see So I actually looked foolish And stupid to everybody But that time I was filled With zeal Like I'm going to sell these houses I had the conviction in my heart That I was going to do it So I continued I actually went to London To try and sell the houses I moved to churches in London I talked And trying to Convince people Trying to convince people to buy I came back, of course From London without even a single sale So by the time we are getting to September now I'm stressed out We don't have any money Zero resources I didn't even have money To fill my own car Zero resources So I thought It was a good dream But it's not possible So that particular Sunday I went to church And I prayed I used to pray I used to pray I used to pray I would lock myself in the office And pray And cry the whole time Stress People need their money Suppliers were calling me Because I would take credit And suppliers would call And say We need our money We need our money And I didn't have any way Of paying them So that particular Sunday I just went to church I said, you know what God I know I've tried I've done my best I told people That I'm daring you Please give me grace To carry my head To hold my head high That I tried At least I tried And I will not be ashamed Give me the strength And I'll move on I accept It cannot be done And I think that for me Was the turning point When I made that prayer That day It was the turning point Because the coming week I got a client Who deposited The first deposit Of eight million shillings After another day I got a client Who paid a million And would pay every million Like every two days By the end of the week I got another one Who paid 7.5 In actual Before the end of that week I had received over 16 million In deposits An account that had not seen Anything I couldn't believe it So we went back full swing And I told my contractor Let's do it Let's get moving And we moved By the time we were closing that year We had houses ready To give Yes Going for Christmas And come January I told my contractor Excavates We're building more We're building more Yes Mama Mama you know him Mama Like mother He said mama How many houses I said 28 He said what I want to do More than double I said do it Excavates Do we have the money We have the money We didn't have money I just said The way you broke those clients To come and buy those houses You are going to bring Other clients to buy And that's what We did So how many do you need Did you build in here 78 78 We built them in faces The first We built 10 Then the second we built 28 And then the third We built 40 And all of them Are sold out right now Yes We thank God We sold them all out I'm kindly working With a billionaire I'm not It's expensive To do such a project But wasn't really worth it Was it worth it I actually Really asked myself That question a lot of times Because this was a project That we got to learn a lot We I fired There was a day I woke up and fired everybody Because the syndicate of Thuggery That were happening I would ship Tiles And they come And bring trucks In the night They take out the tiles And The Architect I believed to be Like the project manager Would collude with Subcontractors And Inflate their invoices And he would He would be receiving money So In the end I have no regrets I don't have any regrets That I got to build it We didn't burn our fingers But we Barely You know So We blessed the Lord And I thank the Lord For the journey Because the learning Has been great What was the major Challenge Establishing these properties in here Cash flows We didn't borrow from the bank We didn't have money Cash flows was Our greatest Greatest problem And the business model That we took That we're going to build We We sell And selling off-plan So we are hoping That once we start Building We'll get clients Who come Buy And we continue building But What I thank God Is that I delivered For the people Having to see Clients who bought these houses Buying the other project Is Is such a blessing to my heart That they still believe in us And they ask What other project are you doing? Oh wow You're building another project Yes Please Is it possible to go And check that one out? Of course Thank you Yeah Welcome Maya Thank you This is Royal Gates So this is the sequel Of Royal Finess And how many units are here? In total we'll have About 78 houses But we have finished The first phase Of the 24 houses The same 78 Is always the lucky number I know I didn't even plan for it That's the number that we got When we tried to plan The land So are you still selling? Yes This we are selling Yeah This estate we are selling Royal Finess we are sold out We have no houses to sell So how many houses do you have? To sell here Yeah We have 39 houses left now In total In total Do you believe that I can sell the 39 houses? I know God can do amazing things You know We have to do this It's by force Yeah I'm not even going to beg you That oh please buy a house Or whatever You know how we do it It's by force for an African To support an African If an African woman is doing something You know that African women Really know how to I mean take care of things They are doing nature So you know what If you are a Kenyan If you live in the Daspera How much is the house? 16 million Kenyan shillings 16 million Kenyan shillings This is roughly around $158,000 Okay See $158,000 You can't buy this in Ghana So if you are even from Ghana Different African countries You can invest in Kenya Buy one of these houses today Please let them know Let me know If they finish buying the house I just need 39 people But I know 60 people are going to come But get the people who have the money Can you show me the showroom Definitely Thank you So when I It's by force When I was starting to build houses I wanted to build a house That I can live in Okay So I started with world finance And the people said They could not relate to it Because they felt like it was very grandiose We had the chandeliers and all that So here I thought To try and get into the Lifestyle of many other people And so this is what we came up with Welcome to Real Gates Thank you Oh wow This is the showroom This is the show house So beautiful Wow Cheets I always wanted to have spaces That are very warm That are very homely Look forward to come to every evening When you're tired at work And you're feeling like You know life is not going the way you want it to When you come home you relax And this is I wanted an ambience that is very calming That is very inviting For you to come And for your children to just come And be in this space And enjoy each other's company How many bedrooms are there? Four bedrooms house Master in suits And guest bedroom on suits This is our kitchen I really want to know Why must one buy one of these houses? I feel every space is very well thought out The lounge The bathrooms The bedrooms All of them Because when I get to build I build as if I'm going to live in that house And I try to put my shoes Into the person living in that house And to try and think through every space And what are the most important things for me When I go into a house I want to go to a house That I would have to change anything I don't want to change the doors I don't want to change the kitchen The tiles I don't want to change anything And so when I get to buy The finishes that I'm buying for them I try to get as much The best quality for that price For the price that I can achieve My objective is to build a house That is going to impress you so much That when you hear your sister Or your brother Or your colleague Looking for a house You're going to recommend Sherry's properties Go with Laia Whatever houses she's building You buy And that is how by God's grace We've been able to get buyers From the royal finesse Buying here And even asking If they maybe are not able to afford this house Asking What cheaper option are you coming up with next We want to invest in you We want to buy your properties And that's That is what makes the difference for us I just want to say congratulations You've done something that I believe it's going to inspire The younger generation And if you have a message for Africans Or will that message be The message would be Believe in ourselves Believe in yourself The Bible says If you can believe All things are possible To them that believe Believe that you have what it takes To get out of the mess that you may be in For me It was to get out of poverty In every way Was I going to provide for my siblings Was I Am I able to provide Am I able to help others It's not about you It's not about me How much money I can get In this world How many years do I have to live We are here for what 70, 80 years If we are lucky Even get to that hundred After that I'm gone So what can I What impact am I able to do And we can only do that If we are able to create wealth For ourselves We cannot be beggars We cannot keep boring people Our answers are not with others We have the answers ourselves The resources are within us Work hard, dream big Believe that you can achieve That's what you dream And the world is going to We can achieve All that you dream that you can achieve The world will be a playground See, there are so many people who say That it's not possible in Africa And you know why I'm so proud of it Because you never left the continent You managed to achieve whatever You've achieved right here in the continent Do you think that There are opportunities for Africans To grab on the continent Absolutely, absolutely So I write a book that once said If there are no opportunities Create those opportunities, right We have to believe that We have what it takes To do what other people have done People dream, they looked at bugs And they invented the plane Imagine that So something that has not been done Was unthinkable Somebody dreamt of it and achieved it What are we not able to achieve We have how many resources in this Africa What don't we have We have the land We have the numbers So all we need to do is believe in us Believe that those results are in us We can do it Whatever skills that we need We can employ it We can bring even people Who have the skills to come and help us But we have to know that That responsibility lies in us That responsibility is not with anyone Nobody is going to come to help Africa We have to help Africa That's our responsibility on Earth If you had the chance to change one thing in Africa What would it be? I'm sorry to say But I'll change the leadership of Africa I'll just change the governance of Africa Where we have leaders Who have the best interest of Africa In their hearts When she's trying to say That we don't have leaders That have the best interest of Africa In their hearts I'm not the one who said it She said it I want to say thank you so much For talking to me I really appreciate your time And thanks for sharing your story with me Thank you And I want to tell you guys That this is such an inspiring story And for us to help her Build what she started It's by force for us to buy the property See, if after I release this video I call her in 10 days And she tells me that the property is not sold out I'm going to be mad at each and every one of you Help me share this video Let the world hear his story My name is Mr. Gana Baby The one and only annoying village boy from Ghana Do me a favor, subscribe And be part of this awesome family And let's reach a million Thank you And I'm going to see you in the next one I am Maya Peace out