Neema is a model, content creator, and the owner of Flora by Florence, a Nairobi boutique. But before any of that, she was sitting in a government office feeling something in her go quiet. This episode traces the messy, honest path out: a spa that failed on location, a modeling side hustle that grew from 5,000 shillings a gig to a real income in a matter of months, and a mother who insisted her daughter open her own store.

Neema loves the creative work. It is the thing that makes her feel alive. But she also knows modeling has an expiry date, and the business that lasts is the one she has to choose to focus on, even when it is the less fun option.

This is a conversation about choosing yourself, pricing your worth, and the quiet cost of giving everything to work. If you have ever wondered whether the leap is worth it, listen in.

Disclaimer This episode includes personal reflections on money, business decisions, and income. It is shared for context and storytelling and is not financial or business advice.

#SoHowsBusiness #AfricanWomenEntrepreneurs #KenyanEntrepreneurs #WomenInBusiness #ContentCreator #NairobiBusiness #FashionBusiness

That personal experience eventually became LactaMama, a Kenyan maternal wellness company supporting mothers through breastfeeding nutrition, education, lactation support, and compassionate postpartum care.

In this episode of So, How’s Business?, Alma Mabachi speaks with Angel about the realities of breastfeeding, building a business while raising young children, and navigating the pressure many women face to succeed professionally while caring for everyone around them.

Angel shares practical insights on nutrition, hydration, rest, maternal wellbeing, and accessible foods that mothers may already have in their kitchens. She also discusses building a women-led team, managing the rising costs of manufacturing, asking for help, and learning to give herself more grace.

This is not only a conversation about breast milk supply. It is about motherhood, ambition, identity, community, and what happens when women are expected to recover, achieve, care for others, and make it all look effortless.

Because when a child is born, a mother is born too.

In this episode, Lorna takes us through all of it: the 100,000 pads she brought in with almost no capital and sold shop-to-shop from a van, the investor who pulled out and forced a full shutdown, the 30 employees she had to let go, and the therapy that finally helped her process decades of grief and control. She also shares why she came back — with Mrembo, Kenya's first locally manufactured pad designed explicitly for the African woman. If you've ever had to pause something you love and wondered whether to go back, this one is for you.

In Episode 21, Dr. Faith and Alma go deep on the real cost of imposter syndrome for African women, not just the emotional cost, but the financial one. The promotions we didn't go for. The tenders we didn't apply for. The businesses we kept small. The apartments we gave up without knowing it.

They cover the five types of imposter syndrome, why the distortion of competence is the most accurate definition, whether women really experience it more than men, and what the $42 billion financing gap for African women has to do with self-doubt. Dr. Faith also shares her own story- from the village in central Kenya to a university in Minnesota, through divorce, racism, burnout, and a heart attack- and what it finally took to come home and thrive.

This is one of the most honest conversations on the show yet.

Find Dr. Faith:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drfaithngunjiri/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faithngunjiri/

Nominate a guest: https://shorturl.at/S0zue

Follow So, How's Business:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sohowsbusinessTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sohowsbusinessLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sohowsbusinessYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sohowsbusiness

#SoHowsBusiness #ImposterSyndrome #AfricanWomenEntrepreneurs #WomenInBusiness

In this conversation, Ritu talks about rising from bookkeeper to CEO, getting fired while pregnant from her first job, an arranged marriage she negotiated on her own terms, and what it's really like walking into investor rooms as an experienced woman founder. Candid, sharp, and not pulling any punches.

This is a story about grief and reinvention. About a woman who flew theworld and came home to build something that is entirely hers. 

So...how's business?

In this conversation, she gets into what it really looks like to be in a building season, the businesses she ran on the side while employed, having her first child in third year of university, and why she walked away from a clear path to partnership to build something entirely her own.

We also unpack the world of Alternative Dispute Resolution: what it is, why there is real money in it, and why Akoth believes it is the smarter, faster future of conflict resolution in business.

Honest, grounded, and full of practical insight. This one is for anyone sitting with a big dream and a very present reality.

So... how's business?

This conversation goes deep. We talk about what it actually costs to build a creative business, from the 3 million shilling mistake that took three years to pay back, to the client who paid two thirds and disappeared, to the friendships lost over work that went sideways.

Dija is honest about the evolution from artist first to business first, why creatives struggle to pitch themselves in corporate rooms, and what it took to stop being the person who let everyone have a piece and start knowing her worth.

If you are a creative trying to figure out how to take your work seriously as a business, or a founder who has ever felt personally offended by a budget negotiation, this one is for you.

Tune in every week for honest, unfiltered conversations with African women building businesses on their own terms.

In this episode, she opens up about building from scratch, navigating a market that doesn't take young women seriously, why she teaches entrepreneurship inside a culinary school, and what it really takes to bring international standards to the Kenyan market.

If you believe that education should transform you, not just certify you, this conversation will hit home.

From getting conned twice to taking six years to break even, Becky opens up about resilience, systems thinking, privilege, male bias, and motherhood.

This episode challenges the idea of “small business” and explores what it really takes to build big in Africa.

This episode covers a lot of ground. We talk about how she lands large corporate clients through cold outreach, her exact process, step by step. We talk about the year one client accounted for 60% of her revenue and what that anxiety taught her about building a sustainable business. We talk about the moment she stopped giving free advice and started charging for everything, including 15-minute consultations, and how she had that conversation with friends who expected it for free.

We also get into digital strategy for small businesses and founders, why posting every day is not the answer, what the algorithm is actually doing, when paid ads work and when they're burning money, and the biggest mistakes she sees founders make with their online presence.

And then there's the story about the time her name trended on X for something that had nothing to do with her. That one is worth listening to alone.

Melanie is sharp, generous, and genuinely funny. This is one is a favourite.

Hosted by Alma. New episodes every week.

They explore how fear of being seen, identity shifts, and survival mode shape our behaviour, especially for women in business navigating confidence, visibility, and growth. This conversation breaks down why discipline isn’t the solution, how identity-based habits create consistency, and what it actually takes to break the loop.

If you’ve been delaying the things that matter most, this episode will help you understand why and how to move forward with clarity and self-trust.

Topics include: procrastination, self-sabotage, trauma, survival mode, fear of being seen, identity shifts, imposter syndrome, women in business.

🎧 Listen, reflect, and break the loop.

In this episode of "So How’s Business," we sit down with Nanzia, the founder of Roro's, Nairobi’s go-to fast-casual healthy food brand. Nanzia gets incredibly real about her journey, from launching her first salad shop in Dar es Salaam to securing prime real estate in Nairobi’s top malls.

This isn't just about food; it’s a masterclass in resilience, systems thinking, and the "unfiltered" side of scaling a business in an oversaturated market. If you’re a founder, an aspiring entrepreneur, or a working mom, this episode is your blueprint.

CONNECT WITH US:Instagram: https://shorturl.at/TElffTikTok: https://shorturl.at/8MwGhLinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/GW5Wu

Don't forget to follow the show and leave us a review if you enjoyed this episode!

#NairobiBusiness #AfricanStartups #FemaleFounders #RorosNairobi #RestaurantBusiness #ScalingUp

In this episode of So, How’s Business?, Lucy, founder of a Kenyan manufacturing brand built around purple tea, shares an unfiltered look at the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.

We talk about scaling too fast, cash flow traps in retail, the realities of manufacturing in Kenya, and why fundraising can actually make problems worse if done at the wrong time. Lucy also reflects on how a major health crisis reshaped her approach to business, leadership, and growth.

This conversation is for founders navigating growth, burnout, funding decisions, and the pressure to “scale fast”, especially women building businesses in Africa.

New episodes weekly. Follow So, How’s Business? for real founder stories and practical insights.

Emotional intelligence isn’t a soft skill, it’s a leadership advantage.

In this episode of (So) How’s Business?, host Alma Mabachi speaks with Vicky Karuga, psychometric specialist and EI master trainer, about why self-awareness is the foundation of effective leadership and how low emotional intelligence quietly costs businesses through burnout, disengagement, and poor decision-making.

Vicki shares her journey from architecture to psychometrics, explains what emotional intelligence really means (beyond buzzwords), and why founders and leaders must do the inner work if they want to build sustainable, high-performing teams, especially in fast-growing African businesses.

We discuss:
• Emotional intelligence (EQ) and leadership effectiveness
• Self-awareness as a core founder skill
• Psychometric assessments vs gut instinct in hiring
• The real cost of low-EQ leadership
• Women in business, invisible labour, and leadership guilt

This episode is for founders, managers, and professionals navigating leadership, growth, and people management.

Follow (So) How’s Business?
Instagram: https://shorturl.at/TElff
TikTok: https://shorturl.at/8MwGh
LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/GW5Wu

Emotional intelligence podcast, leadership podcast, women in business Africa, African entrepreneurship, founder mindset, EQ leadership, business psychology, people management, leadership development

In this episode of So, How’s Business?, Alma sits down with Eunice Migwi, founder of Her Legacy, for a candid conversation about tax compliance, entrepreneurship, and what it really takes to build a sustainable business in Kenya and similar emerging markets.

Eunice shares how she turned her expertise in tax, accounting, and finance into a business after closing a previous venture, and why starting over forced her to rethink systems, pricing, partnerships, and long-term vision. From the realities of running a business with a friend, to the importance of building beyond the founder, this episode goes far beyond tax.

They unpack why most entrepreneurs don’t actually have a problem with taxes, they have a problem with confusion, poor communication, and lack of education. Eunice explains why compliance is less about fear and more about protection, how systems matter more than capital, and why many businesses struggle not because of taxes, but because of weak foundations.

The conversation also dives into motherhood, responsibility, fear, and starting again, highlighting how personal growth and business growth are deeply connected. Finally, Eunice breaks down what business owners and creators need to understand about VAT, turnover tax, withholding tax, record-keeping, and the common mistakes that quietly cost people money.

This is an honest, practical episode for founders, freelancers, creators, and anyone building a business in an imperfect system and learning how to do it anyway.

Connect with Eunice Migwi
Instagram: @herlegacyconsulting

Listen to more episodes of So, How’s Business?
Instagram: @sohowsbusiness

The conversation opens with an important discussion on menopause and perimenopause, why these transitions are often misunderstood, how they can affect women physically, mentally, and professionally, and why women need better awareness, language, and support around their health. From there, the conversation widens into leadership, mentorship, community-building, and what it takes to create spaces where women can grow without competition or performance.

Debra shares the journey of building Positive Circles from a small gathering into a thriving ecosystem, the realities of running a purpose-driven business, and the lessons she’s learned about resilience, alignment, and sustainability along the way.

They explore:

• Menopause and perimenopause, and why women’s health conversations matter beyond medicine

• Self-advocacy and understanding your body at different life stages

• The difference between networking and genuine community

• Mentorship across generations and supporting younger women

• Building Positive Circles and the pillars of money, career, business, personal growth, and impact

• Navigating leadership, identity, and purpose as a woman

• Balancing impact-driven work with sustainability and alignment

If you’re a woman navigating change, in your health, career, business, or identity, this episode offers perspective, reassurance, and a reminder that you don’t have to do it alone.

New episodes every Tuesday.
Nominate yourself or another woman founder to be a guest: ⁠https://shorturl.at/S0zue⁠
Follow the show on Instagram & TikTok: @sohowsbusiness
Subscribe for more stories amplifying African women in business.

From lecturing at Strathmore University at just 22, to co-founding an EdTech startup during COVID, to coaching and mentoring founders across Africa, AnnRita breaks down what resilience really looks like for African women in business.

They explore:

• What resilience actually means in entrepreneurship

• How mindset shapes confidence, fundraising, and leadership

• Burnout, boundaries, and building systems that protect your wellbeing

• Why African women must unlearn suffering and embrace supported success

• The tension between motherhood, ambition, and identity

• Why resilience sometimes means letting go, not pushing harder

• How she’s transitioning into coaching and building a purpose-led career

If you’re a founder navigating a tough season, a mother balancing multiple roles, or a woman stepping into your next level — this episode will meet you exactly where you are.

New episodes every Tuesday.

Nominate yourself or another woman founder to be a guest: https://shorturl.at/S0zue

Follow the show on Instagram & TikTok: @sohowsbusiness
Subscribe for more stories that amplify African women in business.

In this episode of (So) How’s Business?, we unpack the real story behind the viral video where Grace celebrates her first-ever sale, and why that tiny moment meant everything after days of zero customers.

Grace and Alma dive into:

• How a simple WhatsApp status turned into a viral TikTok moment

• The emotional rollercoaster of starting a female-led hardware business in Africa

• Learning pricing, suppliers, and stock the hard way - including almost getting scammed buying cement online

• Being funded by her dad, why she sees it as a rare privilege, and the pressure of “not being allowed to fail”

• Building an honest, founder-led brand online with “unsexy” products like pipes, cement and chuma

• The cost of entrepreneurship: long days, lost social life, constant mental load

• Why Gen Z founders “jump first, cry in the middle, then keep going”

• What older founders and mentors need to know about supporting young women in business

If you love female entrepreneurship stories, African business interviews, and authentic founder journeys from African women success stories, this conversation will speak to you whether you’re on your first sale or your fiftieth.

This episode touches on:
African entrepreneurship podcast • Women founders in Africa • Women in business Africa • Female-led startups in Africa • How to fund your startup • How women run businesses in Africa • Women empowerment Africa

Follow (So) How’s Business? for more real, unpolished conversations with African women building businesses their own way.

You build it.

Grace Muritu is the founder of Elite Gymnastics Academy in Nairobi. A former pediatric nurse who returned to Kenya after 12 years in the US and created a competitive gymnastics training facility from scratch. No blueprint. No investors. Just land she was willing to sell and a vision she couldn't let go of.

This week on So, How's Business?, the real story behind Elite Gymnastics. The build, the coaches, the children, and the Olympic dream she's quietly working towards.

So, How's Business? is a weekly podcast documenting African women entrepreneurs — the real experiences, hard lessons, and the stories behind the business. New episodes every Tuesday.

Nani's Cafe Party started as a free pop-up. 150 unexpected guests showed up. Now it's 11 sold-out editions, major brand sponsors, and a community that keeps growing.

But behind the branding is a founder who hit rock bottom, lost herself, and had to start over. In this episode she gets honest about the kitchen floor moments, the napkin contract, and what it really takes to bet on yourself after you've already failed.

For the builders. The creatives. The ones going against the grain.

For more real, unfiltered stories of African women building, breaking, and becoming, follow and subscribe @sohowsbusiness

https://linktr.ee/sohowsbusiness

For African women, it runs even deeper. We’re building dreams while raising families, managing expectations, and learning to thrive in the mess

Hosted by Alma Mabachi, So, How’s Business? is a raw, unfiltered podcast spotlighting the untold stories of African women entrepreneurs. Their pivots, failures, comebacks, and lessons from the messy middle of building something real.

Every week, Alma sits down with bold, brilliant women rewriting what success looks like on our continent.
These aren’t just business conversations- they’re human ones.

New episodes every week.
Follow and rate the show to join a movement amplifying the true nature of entrepreneurship for African women.