 All right, welcome back. You are still hanging out with us right here on Why In The Morning. Remember, you can plug in on the hashtag Why In The Morning, everyone, all our social media platforms. That's on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter as well. It's at www.youtube.com for a full channel. And remember, on Instagram, it's www.youtube.com for an underscore channel. And personally, mine is at BrianSakwa101. And for those that are not seated in front of your TV screens, you can stream for free on www.kbc.co.k E4 slash Y254. Now joining us live with us in studio is the reigning Mr. Waal Kenya, Franklin Assoyo. We're going to talk about Martin's community service and pangentry. We're going to also get to know him a little bit. How did he get into that space? How was his crowning moment? What are some of the life-changing things that have happened to him as well as those that he has managed to do not only for himself and also others as well? So good morning to you. Good morning, Brian. Thank you for having me. You're welcome. Nice to meet you in person. Nice to meet you as well. All right. And now before we get to the business of pangentry and community service, which is one of the main things when it comes to pangentry, if you were to actually describe yourself, how would you describe yourself? I'm just a simple guy. So I'm outgoing. I like to explore. And I believe, like Elid, no human is limited. Our limits are boundless. And it can be anything you want to be in this world. So that's me. I see. Now, I'm trying to imagine your crowning moment before we get to how you got into it. I'd just like to know a little bit of your background. Where did you grow up in? Where do you come from? A lot of people would actually love to know because this is the reigning, Mr. Wat Kenyer. Like, I'm sure you've had a lot of successes as well. So it's funny, because I didn't grow up in like, I don't have one place I'd say grew up in. I was born in Eldoritz, then moved to Malindi, grew up in Malindi, then moved to Capsabit, grew up in Capsabit. And that's where like I spent most of my life as a child growing up. So then went to Capsabit High School, finished, went to Jombo Kenyatta University, graduated. Then that's when Mr. Wat Kenyer came. All right. So you have like a mixture of different experiences. Experiences and cultures as well. And funny, I've never grown up in my like, where our grandparents grew in my like, home, home. And we were grown up there. Right. So do you feel like it may be disenfranchised to you? Am I, it's like, it is what it is. It is what it is. Yeah, it is what it is. All right. Now, let's come now to the business of Pagentry and Community Service. What exactly is Pagentry for somebody who's watching? And like, you know, I want to also be Mr. Wat Kenyer. Like, the way Frankie is, how do I go about it? And it's all attributed to Pagentry. What exactly is it? So Pagentry is what you take it to be. If it's about looks for you, and you want to be a face model, you can be that if you want to be a nails model. You can be that if you want to be a feet model. You can be that if you want to do projects, which is what you do, be of service to the community. It can be that to you. So what's special about the Mr. Wat Kenyer and Ms. Wat Kenyer Pagentries is that they put much emphasis on community service and delivering projects that are close to your heart. All right. Yeah, so that's what Pagentry is to me as Mr. Wat Kenyer. All right. Before we get to the X factor, that made you got crowned for it, did you always like maybe gravitate towards that line of profession? Cause you know, I think at some point we had a conversation we were asking ourselves, is it such a so serious profession? And you said, yes, it's a serious profession. It's what it's making me money. And as much as you studied something different as well. So now I didn't see growing up and ever thought I'd be a model because I didn't even think there was, I didn't even know the Mr. Wat Kenyer platform existed. It's not until 2018 that then I saw the applications for Mr. Wat Kenyer were open and I thought I'd give it a go. All right. So it's not something really gravitated towards just something that came. All right. But you studied a different course. I understand you studied Electrical Engineering and Electrical Engineering and Pagentry. If you put those two on yourself, they are totally two different strengths, two different strengths, you know, avenues. How do you actually merge between that and what you are right now? So I'm growing up, I had a passion for engineering as a whole. So even in my fifth year project, what I did is we made drones. Drones, like filming drones? No, yeah, yeah, filming drones. Okay. Or even security drones. Yeah, they could do right about anything. All right. So that's where my passion was. But then in 2017, I changed my trajectory in life because like we had this discussion earlier, I lost my dad to breast cancer and it felt like there was a need to create awareness around breast cancer, especially in men. Sorry for that. Because men are not aware about it. All right. So in 2017, after I lost my dad, there was an opening for Mr. Jayquat because I studied in Jayquat. I did Mr. Jayquat and I won. So I became Mr. Jayquat and the amount of impact created around that was heavy. So I thought if I could do this with Mr. Jayquat, what could I do with Mr. World, Kenya? So after I graduated in 2018, an opening for Mr. World, Kenya came in 2019. So I was still job searching and Mr. World, Kenya openings came. So I decided to go for it and lucky enough I got it. Wow, congratulations. And here you are. Did you have like friends or people who are actually pushing you towards to apply? And if yes, maybe what are some of the things that they were making you to, you know, consider? Or what were the exact things they saw that, you know, Frank, if you do this, definitely you will win. So I have like three of my best friends in campus. When the opening for Mr. Jayquat came, they were like, Frank, what can you try this? I was like, why do you see me as Mr. Jayquat? And to them they were like, because you're tall and... All right. You know, such things. Like, okay, give it a go. There's nothing to lose anyway. So yeah, there's like three of my friends, they pushed me towards it. But then now for Mr. World, Kenya, it was solely me. No one knew about me applying for Mr. World Kenya until a few days of the competition when I was inviting my friends and my family to come for the competition. That's when they knew about it. All right. So that's how like now you got solidified into it. You got the passion and you started like having it now as a serious profession. Yeah. So I think my passion with modeling grew with time. I didn't, I can't say it came into it. With passion, I feel like it grew in me as I did it. All right, as you started pursuing it. All right, before we get to the X-Factor moment, maybe what are some of the trainings that you did go through that helped you along the journey to even get up to the crowning of the Mr. World? And were you initially going by your name, Franklin Nassoyo? I mean, you had like an a.k.a. like I'm Sonina. No, my name has always been Franklin Nassoyo. All right, so you've never, there's no a.k.a. in the field as well. It's just me. It's not like being an artist a rapper. I'd love to have an a.k.a. though, like artists and rappers do. What would it be if you had a rapper, by the way? I mean, what do you think it would be? I'd love to think about it. I'd love to be creative enough. I don't know. I've just never given it much thought. But I'd love to have an a.k.a. You'd love to have an a.k.a. I'll think about it maybe after. All right. But so yeah, to apply for Mr. World, Kenya, there's certain height requirements you have to have. Physical requirements such as like your height, your, your, for me, it's not as serious as for women. Women have like margins to the inch about, like, how your hips should be, how your waist should be. So you have to have near perfect skin for both men and women. Near perfect. This means you must have a very strange and skin care routine. Skin care routine. Unless you never step into the sun. The umbrella always in a car, always moisturising. So fortunately for those applying, they're still in their younger ages and their skin is not as damaged as maybe people in the older ages who don't have like a regular skin routine. So yeah, that's never a big problem for guys at that age. Yeah, so some of the trainings you go through. Good thing with Mr. with such a platform is before the competition, before you guys are crowned, two weeks before you go through third training, what we call a bootcamp. So you meet every day for two weeks where you are trained on matters, etiquette. In etiquette, you're trained how to walk, how to talk, how to eat, how to socialize. I think it is the most visible part. Just bro, grab a fork, I'm going to use your hands. But then a fork and knife. Using a fork and knife is not what most of us grew up knowing. Yeah, sure. Absolutely. It was like a white man thing or like more of an official, you know. More than. And for me, I never knew I'd even never used a fork and knife. You had never used a fork in life. I'd never used a fork and knife. One of those guys like Rochko Gali, you know, Kula Moga ITC. And that's it. But now you have to be so courteous and so perfect. And the reason is because after your crown, you are going to meet high-profile people and dine with them. All right. You'll need to have that sort of etiquette. All right. So aside from etiquette, you're trained on matters finance, how to manage your finances. So there is banks and finance gurus that come and talk to you. You're trained on on generally how to carry yourself because that's what matters the most when you're in this position that I am. Right. So those are the sort of trainings that are given to you. They expect of you to train yourself physically, you have to maintain yourself physically. There's no package like package. Oh, that maybe package comes after now being crowned. Cindo, like a package for like, let's say, self-care, how to maintain yourself, move with your projects. Now that comes after and what Ms. Wild Kenya does is they partner with people to give you these packages that enable you to carry through your ring. Right. Interesting. I love the fact that you mentioned finance. And this year we talk about entrepreneurs and I love that, you know, you mentioned financial training. We'll talk about how your relationship with money is, which is a constant question on this show. Now, let's get back to your crowning moment. And before that moment, what exactly was the X factor detail that led you to be crowned, that made you to be so outstanding, so unique and different from the rest of the contestants that you say this is what exactly the judges were looking for. And this is the reason why I still deserve to be the still reigning Mr. Wild Kenya. Yeah, so Brian, it's crazy because around 200 people, men, apply to be Mr. Wild Kenya and around 600 ladies apply to be Mr. Wild Kenya. Oh, that's a huge number. After the applications are made online, what you do is they select like a hundred of you for both men and women. You're called for a physical audition, right? And then out of that, they pick 20 ladies and 20 men who now go into the bootcamp for two weeks. And during the two weeks, that's when they really make the observations on who deserves this crown. Because it's not it's not easy to to put on a face or pretend to be someone you're not for two weeks. Yeah, for one week, it's possible. But for two weeks, it's not people pretend for years, bro. People pretend for years. If you sing each other for two weeks, trust me, it becomes difficult. So what what you see is people put on a face for like a week, then one and a half weeks later, they're tired. You see the mask coming off. They're tired. Right. Yeah. And so for you, so for me, for for Mr. Wild Kenya in general, Miss Wild Kenya in general, and those weeks, those two weeks are what really matters because now they strip you down, they strip everything down because you have to meet every day from like eight a.m. to nine p.m. in the evening. And you have to maintain that is Monday to Friday. Monday to Friday, Monday to Friday. That's like a job. That's a job. So, yeah, everyone, by the time you're getting to top 20, you you are the cream de la cream. Everyone deserves that crown. OK, so it's it's a matter of like picking up the really neat, small thing, neat gritties in everyone. What are some of these things, though? What are the neat gritties they look at? Apart from you mentioned even physical beauty is part of that. Physical beauty is part of it. Height, which we don't have control over, is part of it. Unfortunately, because it just allows you to stand out. There's a standard height for every model. Yeah, because for when you go to the international competition, you get really tall models as well. So you want to be just as competitive. Now they put a standard height for models as well in Kenya. Right. Yeah. So for many, it's like five, five, ten or five, eleven. They are about now for you, you are five. I'm six, three, six, three. That's extremely tall, extremely tall. Yeah. And then and then the physical beauty, your physique, how you're able to articulate matters is one of the things that really matter, right? How you're able to interact with people because during the two weeks, you're interacting with these other contestants as well. You have leadership traits as well because they'll easily pick out who has leadership traits and who doesn't. So those are the things that really, really matter. Right. So for you, what was that X factor that you'd say, this is the one that actually exactly made the judges look at me and say, Mr. Franklin Ossoio, here you are, Mr. Al Kenya. So I didn't love to know, but I wouldn't say really know because I'd say they were guys who had better physics than me. Fortunately, enough, I was like the tallest guy. Oh, you were the tallest among them all, right? They were guys who, in my opinion, I would articulate issues better than guys. So I believe that's one of them. But these other guys had their game as well. So it's an accumulation of all these things put together. I wouldn't say there's one thing that made me stand out because if it looks, by the time you're getting to the top 20, everyone is looking good as well. Everyone is killing it. Everyone is killing it here. Right. Now, before we get to the recognition and even your beauty, you call it beauty with a purpose project. You have money to actually be recognized by a lot of people because of the project, but let's give us to the finance part. In this show, we talk about money a lot. And I usually ask my guests, what is your relationship with money? Do you attract money? Is money attracted to you? Do you chase money or does money chase you? For you, are you attracted to money? I love money. You love money. I love it. I love it. I think money loves me as well. Wow, amazing. So I try to attract it. I don't like to chase money. Okay. I do things that make money want me. So I get a set of skills that make me special and then now people with money want to come to me and give me the money to just put my skills aside there. So that's how I like to think about money. Right. So in short, your money first, you know what I say, money first can become and attract. And work. And work. You don't just money first and sit and sleep. You work and money first. Part of money first station, I think is just thinking about the things you want. I think that's what people like to label as money first station. All right. Thinking and not working and not putting into action. But then everything starts with a thought if you think about it, even having KBC, someone thought about let me have a station then all the puts, they work to have it. All right. Every thought, which is now manifestation counts, then now putting the work towards manifesting your manifestations. All the way you manifest another manifestation. Now let's get to your projects. Let me just shine the light on them a little bit. You are accelerated the COVID-19 vaccination campaign following reemergencies and then you also did tackle vaccine hesitancy among these that was during the pandemic time. And then you also sensitized the youth on the importance of COVID-19 measures and also organized and spoke to a panel of discussions together with health cabinet assistant secretaries at the National Youth Council. All right. So that's why when you mentioned about COVID, when you asked how it was that it was easy and not easy because as much as things went south during COVID, it was an opportunity for growth for people. And for me, it was one of those opportunities to come out and present myself as a leader. So unfortunately enough, we worked with the Ministry of Health and I was part of the youth team, I was the youth lead to promote, you know, vaccination and preventive measures against COVID. All right. So we managed to work with the ministry, with the cabinet assistant secretaries at that time. My name is Masim Mungangi, a very brilliant and beautiful lady. So to create awareness around COVID prevention and the importance of taking up the vaccines. All right. Now let's get to now the beauty of the PAPAS project. You highlighted and we talked about before we come on now, you are passionate about breast cancer awareness. What exactly makes you to be so passionate about that? So like I mentioned, I lost my dad to breast cancer and until that moment, I was in the university by the way at that time. And until that moment, I didn't know that men had breasts and could get breast cancer. All right. So I thought to myself, if me who's in the university taking an engineering course doesn't know about this, then how many other people in the country and even in Africa don't know about this. So I thought I'd take it up as a course to create awareness around breast cancer in the men. So we've managed to reach a lot of people and every time I mentioned to a man that they have breasts and can get breast cancer, I see they're all in them. They never even believe it. Sometimes it comes off as awkward. They were like, what are you talking about? What are you talking about? Why are you talking about what breast? We're a breast actor. But it's true, right? Yeah, it's true. And I love the fact that October is breast cancer awareness month. And I think that was yesterday where we talked about it is necessary to go for a checkup. And as much as you're just OK, but at least just once, just once, at least at the end of the year, end of the activity for a checkup. But I don't know when it comes to men. It's usually like our checkups are a little bit awkwardish because they mentioned other parts. I don't know. For men? How has it been since you started advocating? Breast cancer checkups for men are really easy to do. It doesn't take more than 10 minutes to get screened for breast cancer. So what they do is they just touch your breast and feel for lumps. See if there's any lump in your breast, and that's it. So they recommend that you do that once a year. If you decide to do that in October every year, you will certainly get the service for free. Because during breast cancer awareness month, there's hospitals that offer that service for free, a lot of them. So part of my awareness campaign is just ask people to go get screened every October. It's as easy as that. It's not as difficult. So I think what you're talking about that was awkward is screening for prostate cancer. Exactly. That's awkward. I've never done it myself as well. But would you advocate for men to go and get screened for prostate cancer? Because it's the deadliest of the cancers, though. It is important, I think. Because if the earlier they get it, the better the outcomes will be for you. So I think it's really important. It's really important for them. Which is your beauty with our PAPAs project? Now, in terms of even choosing that, how exactly is it done in the pageantry that somebody at least must come up with a reason or a course that they are going to pursue? Is it part of the test? So during the two-week boot camp, you guys are asked to just articulate out what you think will be your beauty with the PAPAs project the moment you're crowned. So every person during the boot camp at that time has a project in mind that they're willing to undertake in case they're crowned. It's mandatory. It is mandatory. And it's part of the test, actually. So I just articulated my project that this is what I want to do and this is why. And I feel like the why is more important than the project itself because it's what pushes you. Because this community service and there's no money you get out of community services, especially if it's coming from your heart. You have to do it passionately. And the why is really what matters. The why is what matters the most. So for every model, you asked for someone who wants to be in my place, what is it they have to do? I feel like they have to have a passion for what they're doing. I know it's a cliche statement having a passion, but it's really important. It should be impactful, life changing, not only to yourself, but even to the community and the people around you. Yes. And it doesn't have to be the whole world or a lot of people. If you can impact 10 or 20 people, that's still important. Or even just one person. Even just one person. So one of the stories I like to tell is one of my best friends. It's a lady. During one of the screenings that we had created, they found cancer cells on her breasts. And it was early. They were just starting to form. Early screening. Yeah. And as a result, they caught the cancer early enough. So she's okay right now. So she was treated and they managed to do her well. So that's like one of my most proud moments because I was able to impact a person. Yeah. Amazing. Amazing. Now, this whole crowning thing and the whole entire career has gained you a lot of recognition. I understand you've met all the presidents and I just really liked, you know, like what was the criteria and how did it happen that, you know, you ended up meeting president, Hulu Kenyatta. And now you've recently met the new president, William Samoia Ruto. Is it because of the projects you have there's usually like a process for pangents to, you know, go and get into a certain package that will allow them to meet some of these influential profiles. So it comes with it as well. Yeah. So we're lucky enough to have a really amazing franchise director. Her name is Madame Teri Mungai. She is the franchise owner for Miss World Kenya and the CEO and founder of Ashley's, Ashley's Kenya. So through her, we work under the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Youth Affairs. So once you work with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and they see the efforts you're putting towards your projects and they see that you deserve recognition, they give you the opportunity to meet these presidents and for the presidents to acknowledge your work as well. So I'm meeting the presidents as a result of my work and our connections to the Ministry of Youth. And what the presidents did for us is acknowledge our work and commend it. Right. I think there's a photo right there of you and that's President Horu Kenyatta, former president and then that is Sharon Obara. That's Sharon Obara. Just next to Sharon Obara is Madame Teri Mungai, our franchise director. Oh, wow. Right next to the president is the former CS for Youth, Amina Muhammad. All right. What was happening here? That's when we went to state house and met the president and for him to commend us on the job we're doing. And then now this first photo is during the inauguration for the now president, William Ruto. Right. How did it feel, by the way, meeting both of them? Like, do you have maybe a different experience? Like, let's say, meeting Ruto and now previously, you know, meeting outgoing president Horu Kenyatta. Yeah. So, funny thing, and I think this is what everyone does. When you're told you're going to meet the president, you kind of have this picture of how formal you're supposed to be. All right. And how composed you'll be. And then you meet them and they're all chatty and they all want to fist bump and you're like, okay, now I have to drop this. Everything I had in mind and I'll be chatty as well. So the interactions become really easy. Organic, right. Yeah, organic and easy. Right. They speak to you about the issues that you're carrying out and they're passionate about it. Right. And they're always willing to support it. So it's been great. And especially with President Horu Kenyatta, he's so charismatic. Like, he's very charismatic. Very charismatic. And with the now president William Bruto, it's easy because we went to the same high school. Oh, amazing. Gapsabit boys. Gapsabit boys. Now that's a really good entry point towards starting the conversation. To start a conversation. Does a conversation start at four? Yeah. Right. So who is the easiest in terms of personality and even the aura between Ruto and Horu? Who would say had an easy aura? I mean, I think it's both of them. It's really difficult to say who. I think both of them are really charismatic because President William Bruto has his own chatting style and same to President Horu Kenyatta. And it's difficult to compare the same because they're different. Right. Did that make you, did it elevate even your status? Because somebody meeting a president, a lot of people have lived and died. Even our ancestors, some of them have never met their president or even seen them. Was it a life-changing moment for you? It was because for you to be called to state house or the president's office and for the president to tell you congratulations and thank you for the work you're doing is a really big achievement. That's why I like to say some of the achievements I've had as Mr. Wild Kenya, I wouldn't have had them if maybe had gone into my engineering career straight. Okay. Right. Yeah. It does, it elevates your status, it makes you feel good about yourself and it keeps you going. Right. Apart from that, which other life-changing event that you've experienced where you say, hey, this one changed my life for good? Apart from, you know, meeting, of course, meeting the president is like, both presidents is the first, is the first, which other life-changing experience have you gone through? That you would say, this one has changed me till right now. I'm different because of that. Okay, for me, it's really little things. Okay. One of the cabinet assistant secretaries went to Twitter and made a whole thread about how good I am at the work I do and how brilliant I am. Amazing. That was humbling and really life-changing. And then one of my best moments during my reign has been when we went to visit one of the breast cancer survivors. All right. What we do is we visit breast cancer survivors, talk to them, and we build corn gardens. Corn gardens are really little gardens that spiral upwards. And on that garden, you can have like six or seven things just planted on that really little garden. So we set those up for them. And just talking to this person and getting their perspective on life, and they've had cancer for like 20 years and they're still going strong and they're happy about it. All right. Those moments are really life-changing. They make you see a part of life you wouldn't have seen normally. All right. Now, on that note also, what was that lowest moment that you know, broke? You'd say, this one, I cried. I'm seeing you on A-V-N-L-E-L-E-A, by the way. Now Mr. Waad, me with L-E-A. He'll say, he'll if I don't cry L-E-A with B-A-S-E-N. I never cry. Wongo, wongo, insert, insert L-E-A somewhere. Wongo, wongo. I never cry. I get touched though. I get moved by things. But I don't know why I never cry. So a lot of things have moved me. But most of them have been the interactions I've had during my, as I carry out my projects, during my reign. Those interactions have moved me They've made me want to give more and they've made me want to elevate more so that I can be able to elevate others as well. Right. Lowest, I wanted exactly lowest moment. This one, Nilek Wachini, I was depressed. I was down, I needed a motivation to gas me up and then I got back up. Or it could have been something you battled. Cause of course we are no more, bro. I feel like we all battle with imposter syndrome. Right. I look at myself sometimes and I think, am I really doing the best in my position? Do I really deserve to be Mr. Wilde Kenya? Right. Yeah, so we, and I think it's generally what everyone has. So I was talking to one of the cabinet secretaries at some point and this imposter syndrome topic came up. Right. And it intrigued me that they too had the same thing going on for themselves. Sometimes they think, do they deserve to be a cabinet secretary? Right. It's like doubting yourself. Yeah. And having to battle thoughts and emotions of whether, am I really the one? Yeah. When you wake up or when you sleep at night, do you like sleep with, you know, they're like, hey, but I miss taking Mukunya person. You guys might hurt me. I'm already Mr. Wilde Kenya. Does it come with that sort of a feeling sometimes and you're just extra cautious who texts you, who calls, where do you hang out? Some of the people that come to you, does it also come with that as well? So there's a pressure to be, so once someone hears you, Mr. Wilde Kenya, I want to hold you to such a high, high esteem or high place. So there's the pressure that comes with that. Now that sort of pressure, I never like to deal with it. In fact, I know it totally because I like to be myself. I like to, I'm a really chatty person when it comes to being like real and one-on-one. And I don't like to put on a facade. All right. So you're real and short. Yeah. What you see is what you get. What you see is what you get. Oh, okay. Yeah. I can see this, this is a photo shoot? This was during last year's crowning of Ms. Wilde Kenya, now Sharon O'Bara. Oh, the Sharon O'Bara's reign now. So I was a judge during that event. All right. Now this was during that, the red carpet for that event. And I love that outfit. It's yellow mixed with, you'll also tell us about the one you've got. It was, that's almost like yellow. I don't know. It's gold. Oh, that's gold mixed with some good and sampled shoes right there. So what's the name of this outfit now? There's a designer called Bolo Bespoke. Or Austin. Yeah, Austin, you know, he made that outfit. And the shoes are from Elofidia. Wow. They are hands. Similar to this. The same shoes I'm wearing. The really expensive shoes. How much? Speaking of expensive, Bolo. How much are these? I was planning to go see Peter Gates. I was going to go see Peter Gates. Sometimes I'm wearing them like, should I sell them or should I? Why am I stepping on money? Yeah, bro, please. Oh man. How much? Just roughly. They were given to me and I was like, I wish, I wish. This was a present. Elofidia gave them to me. Oh, gift? Yeah. Wow. So they cost like $50. Wow, there's a lot of money right there. Yeah. The advantages this guy is enjoying, bro. Bro, you have so many advantages and privileges. But do you like to get people, gift you stuff from the UK, US, you get emails from even international organizations saying, hi, we'd like to meet you, blah, blah, blah. Yes, I do. You get a lot of that? Yeah. But then now they have to come, they have to meet my criteria for who I work for because I'm under contract. Oh, you're under contract? Because it's an organization. And they have a management. So every contract.