 Yes, welcome back to Why In The Morning, Queens Wednesday on Why In The Morning. And yes, you already know my name is Barry Moses, or it's Barry Monevy, social media platform. It's always a pleasure. So it's about that time for strength of a woman. And this is just a segment that we get to highlight how the Queens were doing amazing stuff, either for themselves in business or for the society at large. But today we have a strong business woman right here. She goes by the name Damaris Kamano, and she's in the fashion business, Kiribu-san. Thank you so much. All right, your camera is number four right there. And you can introduce yourself, tell them you're CEO and founder of this and that. Okay. Hello, my name is Damaris Kamano. I'm the founder and CEO of Vibrant Fashions, a lingerie shop that deals with unique bras, panties, vests, night dresses, lingeries, pluses, women, clothes. Yes. Pluses and cups. Yes. So this is only for women, I guess? Yes. No, we also have men, inclusive. Oh, we have boxers, we have briefs. Yes. We have vests as well. All right, so you deal with underwear or underwear? Innerwear. Innerwear. What is the difference between underwear and underwear? Innerwear and underwear, underwear is just below. Innerwear is everything we wear inside, you know? All right, so underwear is the whole something. Yes. Specific. Specific. Wow. All right, so what drove you to get into fashion first and this particular brand of fashion? Really, I decided to try lingerie to be specific because I've realized most people look good on the outside and they forget to look good inside, you know? I also realized there was a very big gap, especially in Kenya, because of our African, maybe... Culture. Culture and everything, you see? So people show away from such kind of things and we wear them every day. Everyone is wearing them. So nobody wants to talk about them in the open, but it's something we need. It's actually a basic need. Yeah, sure. All right, so you saw a gap, you felt it and now you're making bank. Yes, I'm making it. All right, before this you were in... You were still running vibrant fashion, but you were dealing in jewelry. In jewelry. All right, what happened with jewelry? Did you get robbed or what? No, I didn't get robbed. Jewelry was actually working very well until it was three years down the line and I felt like the job stagnated. It wasn't going up, it wasn't going down. I was just there. So you always knew, then of the month I'm going to get this. Tomorrow, chances are we're not going to get customers tomorrow. The matters will close. Yeah, I needed some growth. You know, I needed something that told me, challenge me. All right. At what point do you know it's time to move on? How do you know it's time to move on when it comes to business? Okay, you know it's time to move on when everything is just plateauing. There's no movement, there's no growth. Customers are not asking for different things, you know. The prices tend to be stagnant. People started venturing more on jewelry and especially fake jewelry. Yes. Business is rising, business is stagnating. Customers were complaining. Customers were complaining at some times. And this is when you know you need to switch up to solve it. Yes. All right. So thank you very much for the advice. I think there are some things stagnating in my life right now that I need to check. But remember we are on social media, Y254 channel on Twitter, Y254 underscore channel on Instagram, and Y254 on Facebook. We are talking to Damaris Kamano, who's the CEO and founder of Vibrant, fashion. Yes, back to you and back to the matter. Okay. I'm trying to understand. Your business is associated so much with nudity, yeah? Yes. People quickly think about nudity when they think laundry. Yes. So it must be really hard to advertise and promote your products. I know, I know. It was hard, especially when I began. But over time people have learned to embrace this. Actually when I started marketing this on Facebook, there was no other company marketing in our world. But now with time four years down the line, you can tell the other companies that have come up. Yes. All right. So you have found a way to showcase your product without the societal complaining about nudity and everything. Yes. All right. So it's very important to satisfy the society. Yeah, very important. All right. It's very important to check into culture as well when you're getting into a business. It's very important. But I think you should move ahead of that. Yes. We should get out of that bubble. Out of that bubble, you know. Because these are things we wear every day, you see. These are things we wear every day for sure. All right. So your greatest competition from where I'm sitting is secondhand clothing. Yes. In Tush, one item, Tumba. And first I'd like to know, what do you think about secondhand in a way? I think that's very sensitive. For me, my take is you shouldn't compromise when it comes to in a way. Reason being, you can get very different diseases out of that. So you should learn probably to buy new clothes. Yes, for your hygiene too. Yeah. So it's good for hygiene to buy new underwear. So you're anti-Mtumba underwear. No, no, no, I'm not for that. You're not for that, for sure. All right, but Mtumba clothes, Nisawa maybe. Yeah, Mtumba clothes, but in a way is very sensitive, you know. All right. So I'd like to know, how do you source your products and where do you get them from? I source my products from different countries, different suppliers. I tend to try different people for me to bring different things to their market and I see how the customers respond to that. So far, so good. So far, so good. I can't complain. How many people's bills are you paying now? How many people have you employed to? So far, I got a number. You got a number? I got a number. Some of them are working at the shop. I have others working door to door every day. You have door to door? I have door to door. Like a politician. Like a politician. I also have online marketers. I have people seated somewhere right now, marketing for the page. Marketing for the page. Yeah, which creates employment for young people. For young people. You love to work with young people? Yeah, I like to work with young people. Why young people? Because I realized, OK, my story is different, though. When I finished university, it was really hard for me to get into business. I didn't know the pros and cons of business, you see. So when I'm working with young people, I'm able to mentor them. I'm able to train them. Yes. So you don't have a problem when one of your employees or one of your prodigies comes and says, I want to do stuff on my own. I'm done with this. You don't catch feelings. No, I don't have a problem with that, because that's why I'm actually doing this. You let them fly? Yeah, I want them to grow. Yes. You want them to grow? And I get others that I train them to. Oh, you want them to grow and fly? Yeah. I like that you talked about the internet, because that was our next topic of conversation. How have you taken advantage of the internet now that we live in the information age? OK. So I've been using internet to market, and I actually get most of my clients from online. Yes, I have Instagram. I have my Facebook pages. I have Twitter. Yes, this is where I sell them in different groups. So I'm able to reach a bigger number of clients. All right, so even outside Nairobi? Yeah, even outside Nairobi. I have so many clients from Mombasa, Kisumu, Naivasha. All right, having done this for a while, I'm guessing the younger people have a different, they have different choices when they come to the shop, from the older people. Sure. All right. So what do you think excites the younger people when it comes to anywhere? Young people like fancy things. They like vibrant colors. They like new, unique styles. They are compared to old people who will just cut on. And their fabric is less. Yeah, I know. They love less fabric. All right, what about the older people? What is common about the older people? The old people are very specific on cotton. They keep saying they want cotton. And what I do, especially for my lingerie when I'm sourcing outside there, I make sure every product that I buy, may it be lace, may it be silk, may it be whatever, it has cotton in the middle. It's very important, especially for ladies. For ladies' health. For ladies' health. What is the importance of having their cotton? If you can make them understand. Oh, cotton is very good, especially for women. It's good for hygiene. You don't tend to sweat a lot as compared to other fabrics. As much as it's lace, it has cotton in the middle. Yes, cotton. So it helps with the perspiration, sweating, and it also... What else? Is it another pro? It's another pro. It's good. It's comfortable. Compared to other fabrics. All right. I feel that so cotton is nice. It's nice. But when it comes to sleeping, what do you call them? Pajamas and... Pajamas. I think silk is the most... Yeah, it's the most preferred. It's the most preferred? Yes, but we have other different... People prefer different fabrics, by the way. There's the soft, fluffy cotton. There's the silk. There's the lace. So you have to think around what the customer wants. When the customer asks for this, they just give them. All right. Your line is very specific. You work with lingerie or underwear to sleeping gowns and pajamas. Have you ever been tempted to be greedy and start bringing skirts, dresses, and other things? Yes, I did that before. Before, when I had a jewelry shop, I actually used to sell clothes and to sell shoes, but I actually realized my niche is in the lingerie world. All right. What is the importance of focusing on that thing? Because I see you're focused on one thing for four years now, and it's working out for you. If you compare doing being a jack of all trades and being a jack of one trade, which one would you prefer and why? You're able to grow around... You're able to grow around that industry. Like when I began lingerie, I actually began with panties. With time, customers started asking for bras. Customers started asking for boxes. You're able to grow around the same field. And with time, you're even able to make more money and do something for the community too. Focusing is very important. Focusing is important. And do something for the community. For the community. Are you doing something for the community? Yes, I'm doing so much for the community. I have families that we feed. We tend to give back to the community every April holiday, every August holiday, and during the December holidays too. Alright, so this is a project of Vibrant Fashion. All Vibrant Fashion. So you have a department of giving back. Yeah, we give back. Wonderful. I love that so much. When are you giving back next? So maybe in a couple of years or so. We are giving back on April. We are planning to go see some kids somewhere and we give some shoes probably, some innerwear. Yes. Alright, especially for the young girls. Yeah, for the young girls. For the young kids, boys and girls too. I like that she included the voice as well. Alright, Valentine's is coming. And I see you're already in the mood for Valentine's. Right there. And this is, I think this is the most popular gift of Valentine's, if you ask me. What are some of the offers you have for, our viewers, why do I vote? Okay, Valentine's happens to be a very good season for us. We are making gift packages during this season. We custom make them actually. We have chocolates. We have bras panties. We make them as a package. We have dolls. Yeah, so everybody has their own preference. So when they call us, we think together and we come up with something. We come up with something. Yes. Alright, discounts are there for white to purple viewers only. If they say, till you go now, white to purple, we'd like this and this and that. So will you do something for them? Yeah, there's some discounts for them. Alright, you were involved, something people don't know about you. You were involved in an accident. They really changed your life. And even changed how you view life in general. And you are sharing the story with me. I almost fainted. Yes. Can you take me through what happened? You were involved in a crash and then? Yes, it was an early morning. I was opening my shop, vibrant fashion. And the door happened to come down on me and it's chopped off my two right hand fingers. How long was this? Like, it was the 4th year? It was the 4th year. It was opened for 4 years then? Yeah, it was open for 4 years then. 4 years, it was the 4th year. It was the 4th year. Like, for a reason, right? Yeah, it's very reason. So your fingers are there, your hand is here bleeding. What do you do next? I just picked them up and I ran to the hospital. Wow. Yes. Do you have military training? No, no, no, I don't have any. So you picked your fingers and went to the hospital? Once you're an entrepreneur, you have to think very quickly. On your feet? Oh yeah. Think on your feet? Yeah, you have to think very quickly. You rushed to the hospital? I rushed to the hospital. I took myself to hospital after. Yes. And then they tried to bring them back? Yeah, it was impossible because it was a crash. But I took it positively. You took it positively? Yeah, it happens. Life happens. These people, the chances are they're not going to believe them. Just say hi to them. They're waiting for you. Wow, that is quite strong. And then you say this experience really changed your view of life in general. Tell me more about this. It changed my view of life. It helped me take a day at a time. It helped me not to take life for granted anymore. And I got a passion. This is where the community work began, actually. Because they realized there's so much stigma around the people with disability, if I may say. There's so much stigma around it. And I wanted to stop that. I wanted people to come out and know it is when, even if something happens to you in future, it is well, just take it up and move on with life. It's always about how you get back up and what you do next. Please share with them your social media handles for the business. And maybe your personal, if you don't mind, DMs. OK. My personal page is Damaris Kamanu. Then we're on Facebook that is Vibrant Fashions with an S at the end. And in Instagram, it's Vibrant Fashions. No underscore, nothing Vibrant Fashions. You found a version, a handle right there. All right, so if they'd like to buy something for the loved ones of four Valentines in the long run, how can they do that? They can reach us on our online pages. There's always somebody there to reply for you. You can also call us on number 0721-664-791. And place your orders. Yes, and if you start with Y254, she'll be nice to you for sure. All right, thank you very much for coming through to our end of the morning. Thank you for what you're doing for yourself and for the community at large. Thank you. All the best. Thank you so much. All right, we have come to the end of strength of a woman. And today we had Damaris Kamano, the CEO and founder of Vibrant Fashions. And she has such a story. If you think this story might touch somebody, I'll tell them we have a recap at 2 PM and we'll be uploading it on YouTube at Y254 channel. So Calamival is coming up next with Galstock, a hot topic. If you don't want to miss it, then we'll be taking you guys to Kabarak for the final send off of the former president of the Republic of Kenya, Barry Moses signing out.