When The Standard team arrived at Shosh Sound Systems in Kariobangi, Nairobi, workshop owner Cecilia Wangari, 80, was sitting outside with her daughter Mary Wambui.
Ms Wangari is happy because it is a weekday afternoon, when most car owners, her clientele, are at work.
Her four workers, including her grandson Samson Kamau, are busy as the latest music, from Drake's “I'm Upset” to Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect”, booms from a speaker in the shop.
Over the last few hours, Wangari has been getting accustomed to her new status as an internet sensation, which is interesting considering she has generated a buzz for something she has been doing for three decades - installing and repairing sound systems in cars.
Wangari is not your typical granny. Aside from listening to modern music, she speaks slang.
Although her national identity card states she is 78, Wangari says her actual age is 80. And she knows what every vehicle, no matter the size, needs just by glancing at it.
Buy parts
She opens the shop at 8am daily and closes when the day's work is done. Sometimes, she has to go into the central business district to buy parts.
During the interview with The Standard, Wangari was able to fix a car stereo within minutes.
Her customer base is not limited to Nairobi. This week one of her employees is setting up an entertainment system in a Kisumu night spot. Her grandson says the returns are quite decent: "At the end of the day, you have something."
Wangari says fixing sound systems in vehicles is more than just a way to earn a living. She describes it as fun and fulfilling. She has trained and employed many young people over the years.
It was however not easy for her to settle down in her current job. Wangari reminisces on the 1960s, recalling how her family protected her father's operations as a Mau Mau fighter.
"My father worked for Kenya Railways. When he retired in 1950, he opened a bar in Ngara with some partners, in the building next to where Equity Bank Ngara now stands," she says.
Her father later moved the family back to Othaya, Nyeri County, before he joined the Mau Mau. After independence, Wangari returned to Nairobi, this time as a hawker.
"I sold vegetables in Parklands and Kibera. I have tried so many businesses, I cannot even count. I have also operated a supermarket."
Wangari's husband died during in the Mau Mau war and she never remarried, instead choosing to focus on business and raising her daughter.
