 Hello, and welcome to Why In The Morning. If it's Tuesday, it's Entrepreneurship Tuesday at Y254 Channel. You can find us across all our social media handles at Michelle. Ashi Rezo, you can find me across all my social, in this particular session, you dive into an interview that looks at youth empowerment, youth economical empowerment. And in studio, I am joined by none other than Farhiya Jama. She is the founder of Holby Training Solution. And she'll be telling us more about what Holby Training Solution is all about and how impactful it is to the young people, and especially the marginalized community in our country. So I would like her to introduce herself way better, because I believe you have a couple of other titles. Thank you so much, Michelle. My name is Farhiya Jama. I am a social entrepreneur, an author of your entrepreneurship journey. I am the co-founder of Holby Training Solution. And in my background, apart from being an entrepreneur, I am a lawyer and a tax specialist by profession. So how Holby started, we realized that there's so many people who want to do entrepreneurship in Kenya and in Africa, but they're struggling to get the fundamental skills. So we had a couple of people in the marginalized communities who are non-literates and they were struggling to just find a way they can put meals on their tables. And what we did, we started a pilot project to help these communities learn entrepreneurship skills and business support services like legal and tax in their own languages in Kiswahili, in the shang that they understand and make it simpler for them because everyone knows how to earn the money, but they just don't have the right skills. So that's how actually Holby started. She started what? Yeah, and then now once we had like 12 people enrolling and actually we were called by a community, at that time I was in law school. So I didn't know it will work out. I was just trying because I was tired of how communities are very dependent on begging or asking for help. So we were like, how can I empower this person to be able to get that 200 Bob or 500 Bob a day and survive without asking for donations or all that. So that's how it started. We started just training them and then I knew it might fail or it might succeed. So I just tried it out and then these ladies who I trained in Park Road became, they were streets ladies. They were just begging. Sometimes they were dependent on the mosque and stuff. So I started with my own community first. Because instead of way back at home? Yes, I had to start way back at home because I mean, if I'm starting out something, I need to help my people first. Absolutely. And I have to go home and really help my people. Then now if it works out, then I can launch it to the public. You can reach out to the whole community, to the public. Before we get into details on what whole training actually does, allow me to take us back to where the passion of entrepreneurship, where it all started, because Faria, you're very young, very young. And looking at your bio and a couple of things that you've achieved at this particular age. So take us back to where the passion, where it all began. So my passion began when I was 18 years old. I was just at home and I had finished school in 2012, high school. So I was just thinking, how can I get extra pocket money? Because you know, when you were from high school, your parents stopped now giving that pocket money because they're like, now you're at home, you're back from school, there's nothing you're doing. And most high schoolers don't think about starting a business. Yes. And that's the thing. For me, actually, I didn't start thinking about the business. I was just thinking, what are the skills that I have that I can use, then sell those things, then, now, and money. So what I started with, I started selling pizzas and cakes at our gate there at home in Langata. Then our neighbors used to buy the pizzas. At that time, pizza in had not come in Kenya. So pizza was learning pizza, making pizza was just, how to make pizza was just a big thing then. So people liked it in the Mandazis. And that's why you'll find most of my friends used to like the food I create or I make. So I used to sell that. And then once I started gaining traction, the cakes, the 50 Bob, I used to get the 100 Bob, all that now started making me think like, what I can do a business? So at that time, I didn't know what fundamental skills I needed. I was just doing it for the fun of it at 18. So I started the baking business. Then it grew. Then I got tired of it. And also people used to take advantage. You know, they'll make you bake a whole cake and then they wouldn't pay you or a neighbor will come and then they eat, but then now they haven't paid you. So friends will come and take my birthday. Yes, and then if they come to your birthday, you make for them and then you don't get the return. So my parents were already frustrated. They're like, you're really using a lot of our resources, but then you're not making profits. So I left that business. Then I still went to venture into other businesses. I tried, I was trying Matatu business because there was a neighbor who was having this. It's not Matatu as such, the tour buses. So I asked him, how can I rent you a tour bus? Because he was thinking, I'm so crazy at 18, who wants to do that? I told him, I've done a lot of businesses. Can I just try it out? But I'm not sure. Then I actually didn't venture fully into it because I was so scared. But I also did chicken business and farm business. At that time, my mom was a bit sick. And since you're a first born, I had to take up roles, responsibilities. And I have to continue with what she used to do before. So at that time, she had left for surgery in India. And then now for me, I had to run the business. I didn't know how actually, so some books I used to calculate, all those amount of chickens I used to sell. Then I actually out of that project management of my mom's business, then my own businesses, then I learned a lot of skills. I failed in a lot, but then again, that's how I kept on doing more businesses. So I never stopped after that. There's a couple of businesses actually. So before now we got to whole bit training solutions. So how many business in counting? Right now, seven business. Seven of them. Seven of them. Before I joined actually university. So you can imagine, even within university, I was learning low about I was still doing business. Going back, let me take you back. In that environment, whereby you're starting these particular businesses, what was the relationship with your parents? Did you have, your mother is a business woman, clearly out of the chicken business. And what about your father? Was there like a supportive system whereby they held your hand and they showed you the way when it comes to business? So when I was starting business, they weren't supportive. Actually they were, I didn't have a supportive environment. My parents were business people. My dad is a business person. My mom is a business person. But then again, I wasn't getting that support from them because they thought I'll drop out from school. So they were like, this girl, if she starts getting money, she will never go to study or she'll never learn anything. So actually they were against all my business the first time. They were actually blocking each and every business. So they will go, I'm going to this client and they're like, don't buy from my daughter. And I'm like, why are you guys doing this to me? And like, you won't go to school. That's the thing. We want you to go to school first learn and then you can do all the businesses later on. Then I was like, okay, fine, I'll go to school. But then I used to do secret businesses without their knowledge. So they found out when I was in fourth year that I actually used to still run the business in school. All right, so now you've graduated. You're studying law. Yes. So you're a lawyer by profession. Yes. What is the reaction now after graduation? You're a holder of a law degree. And you're yet practicing law. Yes, I'm actually practicing. You're practicing, of course, in business and all that in a different aspect. No, actually in the morning. So my businesses, it was like a side hustle. Okay. So in the morning, I work in a law firm. All right. So I am a lawyer in the morning and everything about business lady. What about now? Yeah, I still do that. Okay. So what was the reaction then? So the reaction was one, once you've done law, law comes with a big prestige, this kind of thing. A certain status now. Status in the society. So the first time, okay, my parents now started supporting the businesses later. But then again, the community or the people I used to meet or the lawyers I used to meet, they were like, will you become a lawyer or a business lady? Are you really confused or something? Why? So a couple of friends who are making fun, doing business and you're a lawyer, looks like you're selling onions on the streets or doing other activities on the side. How will you be a professional? And also how will you be able to balance and buy? And then actually when they actually used to mock me, it made me now more confident to run it and still continue because the law firm I work for, and I thank the boss I have, he actually incorporated my business, the law firm I work for. So I told him, okay, you know I run a business. Allow me to work for you and also, so I negotiated my time in the law firm. So allow me to work for you in the morning, but in the afternoon I need to live. I need to run my businesses as I need to do. So my boss was accommodative of that because actually he knew how Holby grew, how Holby was nothing at first in his, you know. So that actually really helped. I got mentorship from the same law firm. That's why I stick to the same law firm that I work in because they knew how I grew in business and also in the legal field. They actually give you a space where you can actually grow your business. Yes, so they allow me to grow my business. And so that's the kind of future employers that we need who are accommodative to learn that this person has like multifaceted skills. So you can't lock them from doing other side hustle just because they work for you. Okay, yes. Gemma, I'd like you to find out from the, just the story from your parents and how they try to block so that you can focus in school. And now you're also in a workspace and you had the confidence to talk to your boss and be like, give me time to also run my business. What drove you from day one when you, you know, from the parent aspect were still pushing for what you want. What was that push you towards just still following your passion into business? Because you see first, I actually really loved entrepreneurship and that love for something, you know, the way you have like someone you really love, you get so addicted to them. It's the same way I'm so addicted to the business. So at every time I really fall, I remember why I started. Remember why you started? Yeah, and it hasn't been a smooth ride. Sometimes I used to cry. Sometimes I used to be like, why is the society against? I actually got into depression at some point, but then I needed to pick up my pieces and they say, okay, listen, I fought hard for this thing. I fought against my parents. I fought against my friends. I fought against all these people not to give up on it. So even when I finished low school, actually I had stopped doing it for a while because I was seeing like the whole society was really against it. Then I picked up later after I finished low school and said, okay, I know so many people who are against it, but let me pick up the pieces and start afresh. Yeah, I know the support is not there, but the thing is you need to learn to live within yourself, to accept something from within without looking for affirmation from people. And that is actually what pushed me all through because now I'm seeing I need to develop myself. I need to develop my business. And if I believe it can happen, then it can happen. Then later on is when now the people, like my parents now started accepting it because they started seeing results. They started seeing what change I was bringing. They started getting their friends, telling them, listen, your daughter is really doing well. Actually don't stop her from doing it. She has helped my business. So a lady was approaching my parent and said, if you torrent for your daughter, I wouldn't have done a business. So my parents are like, what? What have you been doing? So until you push yourself, people wouldn't sing to your song. You need to go, yes, it might be hard, it might be, but you need to prove yourself. So all this time I needed to prove, to always prove that my business is working. I am doing something. So before you even ask for help or any sort of investment, how it starts from you? Yes, it has to start from you. So what are solutions when it comes to the problems in the society, in the market space? What is the solution that Holby training is offering into the market? So Holby training solution is a social venture that is in trying to incorporate a platform where all entrepreneurs are able to get the business support services that they need. And this is not only for Kenya, it's actually going across Africa. And how it started is because we're trying to redesign the entrepreneurship journey because I came to realize when I trained people in Malawi and Nigeria and Ghana, all of them had the same challenges as Kenyans have. So when I was developing this thing, I was looking at if Africa is facing the same challenges, they have a close mindset around entrepreneurship because the schools that we went to or the education systems have trained us to always just think about jobs, not to get out of our comfort zones and create an innovative product or go to entrepreneurship because entrepreneurship is seen as for losers. So I wanted to show that I am also educated, but I am also doing business. I have all the education, the legal, the tax, but entrepreneurship is something that people can venture into right from high school, right from university. Even at that time you're in school, you can still do your business. That is what the song I wanted to sing so that people can know that entrepreneurship is not for losers. Entrepreneurship is for every educated person and you don't need to be unemployed just because you don't want to get creative or innovative. So that is the kind of redesigning the entrepreneurship world that we're thinking about and Holby is trying to create that hub for everyone, that hub for entrepreneurs. So providing skills, it's all about skills. So we provide skills, we provide the community because an entrepreneur needs support. I lacked support. So I created the support that they needed and also apart from support, you also need other support services like legal. You need a lawyer stand by for you. You need a tax specialist stand by for you. So that is the kind of community we're developing. It's not only skills training, it's that support that I enter. An all-rounded platform where an entrepreneur feels at home. Okay, if I need a lawyer, I can get a lawyer. I can get marketing. There's a person who will help me in marketing. Is it okay if I say it's a space where I can get coaching for my business? Yes, you can get coaching, you can get support. You can get stand by consultants to guide you all through. So what we do, we walk through the whole journey with you. All right. So that's how simplified we can make it. Okay. So let's look at a couple of courses that the company offers and the programs. Yes. So some of the courses that we offer, one, we offer entrepreneurship skills, the fundamental of entrepreneurship. We also offer investment skills. You see, you've gotten money from the business. Now you need to sustain and maintain the wealth, right? So you need to learn how to invest. We also offer financial literacy skills. Then we also offer tax, legal, digital marketing. So all these skills are all the skills that an entrepreneur needs. So from soft skills to technical skills, to vocational skills. So vocational can come, maybe you want to do manufacturing. Maybe you want to create, you want to learn how to make shoes, how to make tomatoes. So we have experts who are already ahead, who have done the business, coming to help you. All right. Yes. A very fundamental question is, I believe you work with a team. Yes. How credible are they when it comes to offering these particular skills and who vets them? So we actually vet them based on have you tried something before? Because we only hire people who are multifaceted in the skills that they have and they have implemented. So most of the people out there, they only have the theory. Like you're a lawyer, you just have the theory. You've never practiced before. So we cannot hire someone like that. We only hire people who have two to three skills. And the other thing is, you need to have done business before or you need to have an idea of how a business works so that you're not misleading and entrepreneurial. That's how we actually select our consultants. Okay, so if a client, what is the process like if I come approach you that I want to start a business when it comes to probably making soaps, bar soap? So what is the process like? What are you going to, what is the process going to look like when I approach you? So when you approach us, you go through an assessment first, but it's called a talent assessment. So we have a partnership with a company that does talent assessment. They give you a report in where your strengths are, what you're good at and which kind of business you might venture into. If you already have a business idea, then now we help you grow your business ideas. We actually help you fill in the forms. Then now we enroll you into now the cost that actually we think is fit for you with your permission. And then now after that, we take them, if you're, we have two blocks of people, we have the Masinani programs and the other programs. So our Masinani programs are only focused for the marginalized community. So if we find out you're coming from a marginalized community, you are non-literate who does not know how to read and write. So we take you to this program. In this program it's more different because you have to go through counseling, mindset changing, and we have to change your whole thinking. Then now for this other entrepreneur who has the ideation, who has the ideas or has already learned or has gone through school, then now it's easier for them to just enroll for a course than we assign a trainer. And this trainer or a consultant will be with them on that course. Then we offer one month coaching. One month coaching is we enable you to explore the business that you've started, then we give you a chance to come back to us. So that because an entrepreneur makes a lot of mistakes, so they come back and they're like, okay, I did this, but I don't know if it actually worked out. What will you think about it? Then now we incorporate you now to the community of other entrepreneurs who have gone through the training, who you can sell your products to and network with them. What I like is the aspect of how considerate your team was and coming up with.