 So we profiled their content and on the other side we work with corporates creating their content since content is king, we make the king. All right, that's Maaz for you and you have so much lined up ahead and when I was looking at his profile it's quite an engaging profile that really details a lot and Maaz probably just to begin with Maaz Maks. Is it a corporation of persons? Is it a group that incorporates people? So Maaz Maks media group, the vision was to have many production targeted on different content under one group. So Maaz Maks media group is a private company registered in Kenya. So the vision is to change the phase of content creation and content consumption in Kenya because when we were starting we had so many ideas and as a land world country or a country in Africa we are very lucky to be able to be benchmarking or from other developed countries. So you kind of borrow that and localize it. So and then target different demographics depending on the reception of different content because what the youth will consume is different from what younger guys will consume. You mentioned about we, is this a group of people persons? I say we because it can never be Maaz Maks just me, it's about the clients, about the team that I work with so that's why I say we. You began the company alone or you had other persons? Yes, yes, sure. So they just came along later on? Yes. How did you begin Maaz Maks media as by itself? It's a journey, it has been a journey because I started off as a freelancer shortly after my tertiary level education. I did 3D animation for women multi-media but I focused on multi-media. So got again into photography, I had a keen interest in photography and a path opened to be able to work and engage with different media houses and production houses. So then from that I thought and said if I can be able to do this for others why not for a thing that is made by me, was started by me and that's how Maaz Maks made it. What defines your quality because according to you you produce something quality for your clients? Yes. What defines quality? Quality defines, what defines quality is not just the clarity of the content but the purpose. Has it served the purpose that it was intended for? Yes. Once the client comes to us and they feel that their purpose has been served, that's how we feel, that's what quality is. You can have all the best cameras, you can have the best pictures but if they don't serve the purpose then you'll be scoring below what is expected. So today we talk about entrepreneurship and you're one among them and I want to probably ask you, entrepreneurs begin because they see a particular gap in the particular industry, a particular place, what gap did you see? The gap I saw was a direct relationship. The gap I saw was inspired by frustration. Alright. So sitting down and listening to different people and also going for networking events and everything, there was this gap that big agencies take too long to deliver and also there is so much bureaucracy. Like even if it's for a short, maybe a profile picture of a CEO that will take days for the brief, two and four emails. So why don't we simplify the process so that it's easier for the client even to give us more jobs and also to be able to have a good view of content. So for example, I'll give you an example of what made us get into the market very well. Yes. There was this challenge called Manikwin Challenge where corporates used to nominate each other and take on the challenge. And you know for a challenge online, it's relevant for about three to four days. So let's say even a week that challenge is gone. You have seen so many challenges coming up. So within a week it's gone. So if you take time like if there was one company that had been nominated by a competitor to take on the Manikwin Challenge. So when they briefed their agency to come and conduct that, it took days. So and once you have been nominated then people are expecting some feedback from you because you're competitors. You can lose out on followers or even clients in the middle of that because it's about the game like who is there, who is bigger than the other. So we were able to undertake that in a day. Alright. How was it engaging when you're dealing with time because time to a client really matters? It matters because it's about let's say for a conference. If today you are covering a conference you need content in real time. You need those photos in real time. You need those videos in real time to communicate what is going on. So if you are launching a product and you start posting a day after that is not relevant anymore because you need it on real time. So one of our mantras is rapid delivery. So what exactly are you saying? You do not only deal with something like only the profiles. You also do live streaming? Yeah, live streaming. We were lucky to be among the first we were the first company actually to conduct a professional Facebook live. As a company? Yes. For your own company or for other companies? For other companies, for ourselves and for other companies. How many companies have you worked with so far? There are so many. There are different brands that we have worked for. And we thank them for supporting us. Yes, yes. How much would you charge for an event to do live coverage? Probably for someone who is watching? For someone who is here. If they come to you? It depends. But we can charge per hour or per day. So it depends. According to event? Yeah, according to the event also. It is about the value that you are looking for. So we will charge you according to the value you want and also the size of the event. How do you take the business right now? How is it faring on? Is it money making or it's loss? It's profit? It depends at what level you are at because you can't just start and expect to just go overnight. So it's a step by step. But generally they are good seasons and low seasons. And also it depends with the policies of the country and the government and everything and the environment also. Choice of a place and the choice of your targets. Looking at the demand and supply for your product or rather for your company, how would you rate the demand? The demand is so high but the approach is the challenge. For clients or for you? For even the creators because the demand is so high but where do both of you meet? Like for now people are looking for authentic content. It's no longer about buy this phone because it has ABCD. You have to profile that product according to the demographic you are targeting. How does maybe it's a phone? How good is it serving a teenager or business executive? What's your target? Who are your prime targets? My prime targets are corporates and public figures. So let me be precise. You don't do PR? No. Neither do you do marketing? It's part of digital marketing. It touches PR, it touches marketing but it's just a single unit in the wide PR thing. Yes, when you were talking about the way you launched into the marketplace what are some of the challenges that you went through when you are launching not even right now when you are launching out? When launching one of the main challenges was to get people to know what you are offering. And also when you are starting people look at your experience how good have you worked with before? How are we sure that we are not going to fail with this or are we going to succeed with this? And also with clients they look back they look into the behavior of a certain industry. Like for example if you are a photographer most photographers are seen as if someone worked with maybe not a very good timekeeper they will tell you to be at an event an hour before you will be there an hour before just for the event to start 3 hours later because the previous photographer or the previous person failed them. So you have to come and convince them that you are able to deliver quality on time and professionally. So one of the challenge again is when you are introducing something new something that has not been there it was a challenge introducing profession of his book life but you try and convince people but it's too late by the time they are learning because you made an investment with the equipment to do that. So it's funny locally we are not consuming enough of virtual reality content yet that is the main thing that's going to change the industry. Like for example if you want to construct a mall you have 3d generated images and you have your virtual reality glasses and you are able to walk through a mall before even it's it's done so it creates a new image like for example even selling tourism you can use virtual reality you go shoot Masaimara in 360 degrees and then like for example if you are having a conference on tourism in New York we just go there and people will experience Masaimara in New York but it feels like you are in Masaimara already. When you mentioned that you told me that you also do documentaries you have done several I believe so what was one of your challenges when you were doing a documentary here locally in Kenya? Locally I think the government has worked to ease the process of getting the permits and everything but people are still not very camera friendly when you are either camera walking in town or you are doing something in town I think it's not very friendly so we need to ease in that the other challenges the stories you come across on location the heartbreaking you know you can come from 100% joy to zero you find a very inspiring story but as you continue there is another frustrating story so it's a mix of reaction you have done two documentaries from Kamerun and Mogadishu what led you to go to Mogadishu to do these documentaries? So Mogadishu I never thought of it was it something business wise it was just an opportunity that came and I applied you were not into business at that moment I was doing freelance work so I had network sent out my profile everything and so an opportunity came I didn't know where I was going so I received a call and the first thing when I met the MG was I went to Mogadishu sounded like a good adventure and it was the start of so many great things because I first went there in June 2013 when you were beginning? Yes so I had begun in 2010 3 years down the line that's when I went to Mogadishu so I was a lead consultant for Honkonect Broadcasting Service so you have worked in a media house? it was an agency so what we used to do is produce news and documentaries for major TV stations in the world was it really earning as per you anticipate? it was good because I had never earned as much by that type in 2010 so it was a good start and also it was a good exposure and a good source of experience because I was responsible for both technical and artistic you know I was responsible for technical part of the images and the transmission so we were transmitting signals to Al Jazeera, CCTV Africa and editing hundreds of you know news packages you mentioned 3 things early on about professionalism time how do you bring these 3 together? sure how do you bring these 3 together? I bring them together because first we understand what does the client want that's the quality part of it yes and also get it it's a no-round thing it will touch on every part of it so if you get the brief right then you have a seamless production production have a seamless time in production yes probably for someone who is young and wants to venture into what he has ventured into what would you advise in terms of marketing themselves? no one knows what you do it's just you definitely it's just an idea it might be the most amazing idea in the world but if you don't put it out there no one will know you exist and even if you put it out keep it the best brands keep on talking about themselves over and over again until it sticks on in one's mind it becomes part of your life from a freelancer to now the CEO what would you say if someone asked you your biggest challenge right now as a CEO? finding employable staff finding employable staff is the hardest thing you know when you mention that I'm thinking we're talking about an employment and then you're saying finding employable staff why do you say that? I don't think there is a shortage of jobs or I think it's a shortage of employable people because they come with some expectations someone might be in need of a job to create income but when they come to your organization they need to support your dream and vision for it to generate income that translates to their salary so someone who just get a job and they are promised a certain amount of cash by the end of the month so they relax so the expectations and the product given they don't much and it's very rare 10 people will just find one person who will be able to to understand your vision and support you fully so according to you the market place is flocked with people who are not employable? yeah that's why you get there are so many companies that will be making lots of income and changing most of people's lives but because they have the wrong team so the wrong team in your company complete a mega loss that's the key thing that I've noted from you what you said how do you deal with such kind of a person who comes to your company with such kind of an attitude you'll notice it because you have been able to you have come across other people who are like them so you'll notice that so you just need to take them through training and that's why even probation period before you sign up a longer term contract to be able to understand it's also good for the employer to be able to understand their staff it works both ways they are also good employees but bad employers all right of course both sides you must give someone some space to be creative and to express themselves in terms of creativity like in our creative industry it doesn't work it's not like engineering like positive and negative positive goes with negative it's not very specific so it's a creative work there is a different concept there is a different idea that everyone has can change more income to your business so you must give space to each and everyone to be able to express themselves looking at the industry currently where do you stand as Mausmans we stand at a very promising future because it's an industry that is not dying anytime soon yes so it's going to be there for some time and the good thing is that people have started understanding and using our platforms to kind of put their brands out there and online and internet penetration in our country it stands at a good position even if there is much more that needs to be done but I think we are at a good position because even when you look at the data YouTube is consumed is the second there is just one TV station so meaning and that's just in Nairobi so I mean out of Nairobi and you know out of Nairobi there are internet challenges but in Nairobi YouTube leads in terms of viewership looking at some of the companies you have worked with I see Lifeboy, KCB how does it feel having worked with such kind of companies does it give you the morale to keep on moving on yes it gives you lots of work to convince such big brands who have been in their respective industries for a long time and they have met each and every kind of supplier so convincing them to be able to take on their project and them accepting it's not just a good thing but a blessing when working with KCB let me not mention the name when working with these big companies do you feel like it's becoming more challenging because it demands something quality each and every that question I understand where it comes from because many suppliers give quality selectively because it's a big brand oh then I need to have the best camera it doesn't work like that you should serve the minority the way you would serve the majority why? because the minority are growing towards being the majority but the majority have already hit the central stage they can never grow anymore so they are there just to sustain themselves and to be on the balance so that they don't go down but there is no space to grow more or even if there is they will not grow as much as those small and medium companies are growing everyone equally and when you mentioned that I'm prompted to ask this if I come with my company just beginning and I want you to do some services for me would you charge the same with such kind of companies? I charge according to what you're looking for so for a CEO profile it can't be the same like covering a conference so it depends with the brief but if they came for the same thing that would be the same rate because it's about the value you're giving it's not about who you're serving it's the value that you're giving so you're selling your value for corporate events what pieces do you look at? we a good brief a good brief that entails like for instance entails each and every each and every type of production you must tell us what you're looking for what are your target audience what are the platforms that you want your content to be live and things like that what new do you think you're bringing on board? we are bringing a fresh range of ideas that targets each demographic differently because before we used to have let's say like a general general content for different demographics yet this is not the way to do marketing or even to put up content because each and every demographic is different and consumes things differently probably just when you're looking at the shooting location for your events what precisely do you look at and do you value the cost more than that place itself? we value the if the end result are favorable and are excellent we'll be able to cover the cost in terms of your needs in terms of our needs it also depends with the budget client so we are the client what are you comfortable with then we can be able to create well that is directly that can match the budget of the client so we will give the best of the client's budget and if it's way below what we can be able to produce then we we just say we can't be able to pick up something that won't work for you and for us do you think money is the leading point in the beginning of any company? it's not it's just the idea and the target result if the idea is right and the target result and you get the target results they are partnership, they are people who can be able to approach and they will support your vision you mentioned something that is quite critical especially for young people, partnership it's quite a challenge to most young people right now how did you get to partner with companies and yet you're still young I believe so how did you get to do that? partnership starts by networking or talk to as many people as possible and there you will be able to get the right people to partner with and you will find someone who has a certain resource and you have a certain skill so for you you are looking to have that equipment because you have a skill and you are looking to have that equipment so why don't I go and approach someone who has the equipment but doesn't have the skill and then we come together works towards the projects with the returns that you are going to get work on more on getting more equipment and developing our skills so by the end of the day you have a place or an entity that serves the purpose the respective purpose that you want to I want us to look at your Instagram page I happen to see that you have got someone that you have been really working on and that is your Instagram page so you do photography for events even for musicians sure those are some of the influential people that we have been able to work with and you know profiling their contents on Instagram and YouTube so among them are Janet Boogway Jeff Kuria working on different projects like these projects that are better for Kenya we are able to work with King Kaka Delanyango also other influences like Shila Binda let's have a look at this picture this one that looks like a city how did you take even money to take that shot that is Nakuru Matatu Terminus so that picture you can see there is a certain order with the Matatu from anerio view so we captured that with a drone that picture communicates that there might you see when you are walking like through that terminus you might think that it's chaotic but from top you see some order you see how the Matatu are packed, how people are able to work but when you are walking it's very chaotic so you can see the power of an image able to put two different perspectives I'm prompted to ask something about drones because I understand that still illegal to be used in the country is this quite one of the biggest challenges that you guys are facing in the industry because we have tried to advocate for it I think in terms of in Kenya the problem is if it's legalized some people might use it for might use it wrongly might abuse the use of drones like spying on other people's homes and everything but that's why if you are content creator you have to go check with the security and have you cleared to use it what purpose are you intending to use it for alright because of time allow us to finish from there but before we do that I want you to share your instagram pages and of course your social media platforms that people are watching so among instagramers most moniki there is also that corporate part of most max media group but my name is most moniki across all social media hands thanks very much for making it here and really appreciate even for sharing with us your ideas and how you came up all the way that has been most max the CEO and it's great to have most moniki he's the CEO of most max I know that Barry and Joy are coming along so don't go anywhere keep it Y244 see you in a few