For Charity Thuranira, the journey to where she stands right now has not been a rosy one, but one that is worth the wait.
Speaking to Eve Woman, a magazine segment by the Standard newspaper on March 19, 2020, she revealed that her road to entrepreneurship started after her boss withheld her four-month salary.
Thuranira is the CEO and founder of Samara Homes, an interior design business in Meru town, which has also morphed into a brand producing fashionable bags.
Thuranira told the publication that when she was in high school, she developed a love for stitching and always stood out as the best Home Science Student, but instead of pursuing tailoring after high school, she opted for a catering course and worked in various hotels.
After a few months, however, she felt like the decision was wrong and tried her hand in sales and marketing where she was tasked with hawking insurance, a time at which her entrepreneurial spirit was ticked.
"I sold insurance for about a year until I quit in 2011 and decided to go back to tailoring. I had this particular item that I would stitch and sell -- the bedroom handbag holder.
"I made a lot of sales from it and, while at it, I got many inquiries from clients asking for help on house finishes. That is how my interest in interior décor developed," she recounted.
Thuranira further added that the interest from people sent her to research and to read more on how to develop her skills, after which she came across her future employers who liked her ideas and gave her and employed her.
After working with them for four months, the boss allegedly refused to pay her the full salary as agreed and instead paid her Ksh5,000, forcing her to quit and give up on employment in entirety.
"This experience changed my mind about employment. I had reached the point where I felt enough was enough. That was an affirmation that I had backup, and I could follow my dreams and set up a business. With the little cash I was paid, I founded Chetkuba Samara (now rebranded to Samara Homes)," she stated.
She further narrated that in 2016, she rented a shop in Gakoromone, Meru County, and soon after got a client who tasked her with doing an interior finishing on his newly constructed house, leading to the start of her business.
Thuranira confided that besides here hugely success in interior décor, her company also specializes in making bedroom handbag holders, canvas handbags and organizer bags from materials such as kitenge, canvas, jeans, resin, and leather.
While she did not reveal the actual figure the company is making, she stated that she was rebranding to Samara Homes Kenya and was targeting a turnover running into millions of shillings in 2020.
