 Welcome back to why in the morning I try to fight for channel is where you can find us across all our social media handles And if it's Tuesday, it's entrepreneurship Tuesday at Michelle. She raised or you can find me across all my social in this particular Session we dive into an interview that looks at exploring opportunities through education and it was a touch into the Hospitality in the stickers of my guest. My guest is miss Veronica and duta Kamau and she is she's the head of the department head of the department in Hospitality and tourism at Z Tech University. Thank you very much miss America for creating time to be with us You're welcome. Happy Tuesday. How do you feel in today? I'm glad I thank God. I am happy to be here I think you're so for finding time to host me. You are very much welcome. Thank you So tell us in details that you actually do briefly Let me start again by saying my name is Veronica come out. I am in Hospitality and tourism department. I have been there for quite some time Currently, I'm in the head of Department office in Z Tech University. I job. I love doing. I love what I do My day-to-day experience or my day-to-day activity is basically in lecturing and Dealing with the young people especially the students from morning to evening Forming these students because I believe in not only having a professional But I believe in having a no-round person as far as hospitality industry is concerned You realize that we are more of a people's car skilled a people service Industry not as much as we are hands-on. We are more of you need people's skills to be able to Manager and that is what I do in my day-to-day life I want my students to have people's skills as Apart from just having that a professional side of it all the academic side of it people's skills is very important And that is what I do every day I impart those skills and I love what I do And someone is watching this and they're looking forward to getting to campus and take but take in hospital And how can they ensure that when they get into Seeking education they go for the relevant skills For you to be able to choose the right course on the right skill for one I usually say there are two main things that you need to consider number one. What is your strength? What do you think you can be able to do what I what is your strength? What is your skill number two? What is your interest? For us especially in the hospitality industry it is about interest you must be interested in what you do Basically, I know even you as you are you're really interested in what you do. So you must be interested in what you do Are you able to deliver what is expected of you? Don't just look at her a skill and say I think this is going to bring me more money This is going to bring me less money. No, it must be your strength You must have that interest and the like to do what it takes why let us look for example the hospitality industry What do you deal with you deal with people day in day out day in day out you dealing with people mostly It is not actually about food. It is not actually about maybe drinks It is about the service that you offer. What is your personality? What is your character? Do you think you have the people's skills to be able to deal with people from morning to evening and Still maintain that smile and still in the evening tell people good evening How are you even after having a very rough day? So for me for you to be able to pick the right skill or the right course You must have the strength and you must have the interest those two are the main things and of course number three You must be able to look at the grades that for me comes to number three You must be able to look at the grades because the grade you can get a lower grade when start from down there and Climb up slowly by slowly. So grade for me is not number one But for me interest strength come faster than the grade After that now you can be able to choose what you really want to do Because I look at this particular industry and it's a service industry Personality plays a key role here. A key role character and personality is key character and personality is key because for us You must be able to maintain that smile Maybe just the way we see on the screens. However annoyed you are you must smile when you're reading news Isn't it? Yes, you must if I come for an interview here. You must smile Maybe however sad or whatever you you must the same case with that Remember in the hospitality industry we say we want to offer a home away from home How do you make somebody feel home away from home by being there by giving that smile by being very By having the right attitude towards that particular guest by having the right personality So for us people's skills is key So you've interacted Probably before you then ask this question to your background To the point where you actually fell in love with To a matters pertaining hospitality and tourism and you embarked on this journey to get to where you are right now Hi, it has been a long journey a long journey I think it was back in the village because I've grown up in the village and I Would say my mother was very strict as fast cooking was concerned up and we had to cook So by I don't whether it is by chance but I just happened to love a lot of cooking and a lot of Serving people because I think basically I was at home throughout. So after form 4 I that is when I started by doing a certificate course I did a certificate course in food and beverage production sales and service and those years Certificate course used to take three years Because it was a government course and I did the three years of my certificate course and After that I got a job. I worked in a sports. We hotel Kasarani for quite some time a job I really enjoyed and after that is when I learned I think my interest is in serving people My interest is interacting with different people different personalities because in the hotel you get to meet Very many personalities and different people and you engage with them and I think I felt content So after some time I decided maybe I would want to further my education and I went to technical University I furthered my education. I got my diploma. I later after some time after technical University I changed now from the hotel. I went to teaching or rather to training I went to training and now that is when I think I got to interact with the younger people and I felt I think my satisfaction is more on transforming the younger ones on making them Transform from point A to point B and I felt so motivated. I would want to I really yearned to see them become better people So that is how Nagina went back. I continued with my education. I did my degree. I did my master's and Here I am. I love what I do. I love making a difference in the young people. I love Teaching them. All right. And through all this process to getting where you are right now, did you have a mentor? Yes, I do Yes, I do. Each one of us requires a mentor and I would say a mentor is somebody that you admire. A mentor is somebody that you pick virtues from because you wouldn't want to pick vices. You pick virtues from and Currently I have I would say I have two currently I have one who is who used to be my lecture in Kenyatta University called Dr. Mary Mutissia She has been my good mentor and my good advisor and number two is my boss Dr. Alice Joguna. She has been a good mentor to me. She She has all it takes her that Encourages me to be able to move on So those two people have really made an impact in my life and I I tend to pick the virtues from them And coincidentally they also in the line of education. So we're on the same line. Okay How important is it to when coming to choosing a mentor like the relevance of mentorship and What should we look out for in the in the space of education? You should look out for somebody who has maybe I would say who has What you want to be let me put it like that for example, mostly we ask what you what would you want to be and Somebody who dance I would want to be a musician. So if you somebody would want to be a musician It would be very harder for somebody to Take me as a mentor if they want to be a musician because I'm not in that line Correct. Yes, you pick somebody who is in your line And as I said there must be something you admire in that person There must be a virtue you admire in that person For example, you would admire maybe their character. They are the way they carry themselves They are the decision-making their attitude quite a number of things. So look at those things and pick that person of course As much as maybe they might not be a public figure You find that you get to know how people do things by just watching them and seeing how they carry themselves Let me give an example of Dr. Mary Moutizia she has been my lecturer and I admired one thing about her. She was never late for class She never missed a class and have me have learnt whenever I am a mother She never missed a class. She and when she came she delivered her She considered all of us the slow learners the first learners We are all on the same level and I really I think I admired that aspect of I have so much that I really said Surely when I get to that level, I would really want to be a lecturer like her Let me also take an example of Yeah, who is my boss the same case with her I She is she just does things very nice. She's she's very good And I admire quite a number of things about so I would want to be like them And I usually try to emulate them as much as possible I say choose a mentor from the same lane of industry or most probably yes Okay, that you like to get into yes, miss Veronica You interact with a lot of young people from different you've interacted with a lot of young people from different high institutions and What I would like to find out is what is usually the gap between just the relevance getting the relevant skills and Going out there in the job market just to fulfill those particular needs Huh For example, you find that especially when we are training we might not be able to train a hundred percent of what the industry expects Because for example, we will train. Maybe I would say we will give a lot of theory classes But now when you come to the industry, you must be able to put those skills that we taught in theory Into practice and I think the gap is there whereby you've learned things theoretically But when you go to the industry they become practical It is usually very hard especially for the young people to be able to transform from the theoretical part of it to the practical part of it That is where the gap comes in However, we try as much as possible and that is why we are always encouraging our students to go for internship and attachment I basically I would want to say quite a number of our students are usually engaged in different Establishment over the weekend so that they can get on their hands-on Experiencer of how to transform the fury part of it to the practical aspect Yes, the students should be able to adjust to from the institution to the industry Okay. Yes, I think about that I think that's very quite very important because at the end of the day I'm going to school to acquire knowledge so that I can be able to help myself and also help other people around me and Probably start a company or even from gonna get into employment. I'm just gonna add value in that particular space So, let me ask you. Yes, are there particular Programs that are set aside just to ensure that if I'm at the Institution when I'm when I'm taking my course that let's say I'm into hospitality Yes, hotelier so that I may equipped like I totally equipped to just be in a position to start a company of my own Yes, yes, yes for let me what we do for example in Zteca Apart from the theory classes that we do when the practical classes we really emphasize on an all-round student We have our mentorship programs number two We have carried a lot of career advice from our staff and number three We have a guidance and counseling office these three offices work hand-in-hand with the lecturers to ensure that the student has All they need so that they prepare them for the job market number two We have an entrepreneurship club Which is headed by professor Kimber's and it really facilitates and helps the students to prepare them for Entrepreneur not necessarily that you might have to get a job. You can start your own job So the enterprise is entrepreneurship skills are a must for all our students It is a common unit and it is not just a common unit taught just like that It is a common unit where but we put a lot of emphasis and guide our students to some extent They even write business plans of what would you want to do then we able to guide them So there skills that we impart on our students so that at least the way when they live When they finish their courses not necessarily that you must get a job But you can be able to you can actually be an employer and we've had students who've done that I quite a number of them I have especially my tourism students and although times are harder who have started tour companies And I am usually happy about that they've started tour companies And they're actually able to take some more students and even for internship in their companies So at least I know in Z-Tech we really impart skills Entrepreneurship skills to our students and they usually set for the industry alright and in your background you Talk to me about the fact that you've also worked in a couple of restaurants Still in the hospitality sector So I would like to hear from you for someone who's watching this conversation And they probably run a restaurant or even a hotel during this The revisit of the COVID-19 rules by the government when it comes to matters pertaining Restaurants and the issue of takeaways and how the whole the whole business how it's running What would be your advice just to ensure that businesses that they stay afloat Right now we are badly hit I would say by COVID although everybody is badly hit But I think the hospitality and the tourism industry we are worse However, I will not say that we're going to give up because people must eat people must eat people must drink people must travel So we must be able to continue if you're running a restaurant for sure we can't close down What do we do because basically if you're running an Establishment the highest costs are the overhead costs So I would advise that you reduce the overhead costs and reduce costs by Costs that are not necessary For example, you would go to an establishment and find that it is a midday and the lights are still on which is not necessary Switch the lights off that will reduce a cost in one way or another for the Employment reduce maybe labor costs just maintain the people that you need to do the job that is required Then let us look at the current trains. What are the current trains not necessarily that I have to go to the hotel to have lunch We can look at home deliveries. We can look at office deliveries because now that is the right now Yes, because instead of having people come to the hotel, which are the MOH is discouraging Why don't you start on home deliveries on office deliveries instead of waiting for people to come? Let us look at the current trains and look at what we can be able to improvise and do for much better We are seeing we have other ways apart from maybe the deliveries We have other ways may be over. Let me call it track catering whereby I don't have to wait for put to come to my hotel I can have a truck and Do it a very nice way cover my small kitchen head and I do take a ways I don't so that people don't have to come to where I am. I go to where people are and with that We're going to keep going and as we wait for things to come back to normal, which we are praying and hoping that they will be back to normal and as we just Be hopeful that things will go back to normal. Yes, I'm very much sure that we will go back to our new normal I'll have to find out what a couple of elements that this but in this particular space when he talks about we talk about the Hospitality industry a couple of key elements that the operators should look out for Go back to the drawing book going back to the drawing board. That is just immediately after we resume to our new normal of operation For any for anybody especially is running a business or the new norm requires us to go back to the drawing board on Everything we have to review our menus. We have to review the way we do things Whatever it is that we do we have to review. Maybe initially. I used to do buffet Is it still marketable? We have to look at our market again We review literally everything. We review our menus. We review our market. We look at the what is the current? What are the current trends that are trending right now as far as hospitality is concerned as far as tourism is concerned right now? Maybe international tourism is not as much as per se. So what is the catching now the domestic tourists? So what can I do to be able to catch the attention of my fellow Kenyans so that they become more active tourists than before? What can I do to? Maybe my customers maybe my niche market is the young ones What can I do to the young ones so that I can be able to capture the attention so that I can be able to deliver? Maybe food or my products and services to them as far as the guidelines that are set are concerned So we have to go back to the drawing board sit down and look at everything our costing our market Our prices everything so that we retain we remain relevant Because we must remain relevant in in the business if you know if you don't if you're not relevant Then you close down. We must remain relevant. I usually like the informal sector The informal sector by the way is going on very well go to industrial area. Mama Kibanda Mama Kibanda is still going on very well. Why because I think for them they review things every day every morning every day They review or how they do their things and that is how we are supposed to do review review and we remain relevant in the market And what is the future looking like when you talk about this particular space hospitality and tourism the future is bright Bright Yes, why because we are seeing the current trends Our people want to go out more. That's the current people want to go out more than before actually People want to feel away from feel home feel at home away from home more than before So the future is bright as much as we have the kovid-19 the future is still bright Right now there must be a bit of hiccups here and there But the future is very bright because the tourists are still coming people are still eating functions will always be there Events will always be there. They are not stopping So the future is bright. Okay. So as we wind up and this question you've worked in our in a restaurant What makes the three-star hotel and what makes the five-star hotel? The facilities, sir The three-star that we actually we start from one star two star three star four star Five star in Kenya. We've gone up to five star in Dubai. We have to seven star and it is the facilities that are in the hotels What do you find in different hotels? We have the hotels that offer fine dining for example Where by everything is just finely done So the facilities that a hotel offers is what defines whether it is a one star a two star a three star a four star or a five star Let me just give a brief example Maybe you have hotels that have swimming pools. They have a spa. They have a gym. They have All that they have a business center. It is all in one inclusive. You can get everything in that hotel And the class of that particular. What is your class? What is there? Wow, is that how do they do the things? So the facilities how they run their things how they do they do their things is what determines whether A hotel is a one star or a five star Okay, yes So as we wind up, what is the one thing that you can tell a young student in preparation for the job market? You must be that person who always goes an extra mile in the job market. It doesn't need the normal person You must be that person who is always wanting to go an extra mile You must be that person who points out an opportunity before your boss does That is a kind of a person the job market requires that your boss doesn't have to say remove that spoon You have already seen that that spoon needs to be removed from there. You've kept it where it's supposed to be Ender would not be even being Told number two you must be able to work at the minimum supervision And the minimum supervision be that person who tells themselves what to do despite of everything Don't wait to be told always go the extra mile in your job Do the extra duties then work under minimum supervision And finally make sure you have the people's skills your attitude Attitude in capital letters must be right Make sure you have the right attitude for whichever job it is whether you become an entrepreneur Whether you're employed you must have the right attitude to the job and love what you do Thank you very much. All right. Thank you very much miss veronica Yeah, we'll be creating time to be with us today and talking about is pertaining exploring opportunities through education And also touching on the hospitality industry. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome The people who are watching if they want to reach out to you, how can they get to you? They can get me uh in my Maybe my email or my facebook page. Although it is not related to ztec. I have my facebook, which is a veronica Why veronica and duta? I am on facebook. Maybe my email veronica dot dot ztec dot c dot k e They will get me there. Okay. Thank you very much miss veronica. Thank you, too Thank you for having time to host me. Absolutely. So thank you very much. So that is miss veronica and duta kamau she is the head of the department of hospitality tourism and hospitality and Tourism at ztec university. We're talking about exploring opportunities through education and also touching on to Into the hospitality industry. So make sure you stay tuned. You have so much coming your way right here on y254 channel. Try to find your channel. That's where you can find us across all our social media handles at michelle ashira That's where you can find me across all my socials. So we'll be right back