Woman beats all odds and joins the shoe-making industry

Rose Nyokabi William. [File, Standard]

After seeking a job with little success, Rose Nyobaki from Nyeri County decided to venture into shoe making and repairing, a male-dominated field.

Nyokabi gained training from male colleagues who willingly passed the skill to her.

“I started the cobbler job back in 2021 after seeking a job for a long time. Initially, I hired a working stand which I was charged for Sh2, 500 per month but after one year I bought mine for Sh1500,” Nyokabi said.

She added that she bought the second-hand stand with brushes, needles and threads as the seller was a shoemaker elsewhere and wanted to sell to her to join another profession and she was lucky to buy the stand.

“On an average day I can earn at least Sh500 during the dry season when it’s too hot since the customers only come for shoe polishing but on the wet rainy season the business is high as the customers come for shoe wipe, polish while others want repair,” Nyokabi said.

The cobbler added that in the rainy season, she earns more than Sh1000 a day.

She explained that apart from wiping and polishing shoes, repair the outsole of the shoe and bind the shoe with the recommended thread.

“Repairing of a shoe and putting a new outsole for a customer charges Sh350 to Sh400 including the labour,” Nyokabi added. 

Nyokabi noted that to reinforce a shoe by binding costs Sh100 to Sh150 and she can do it within 30 minutes and per day she can mend seven pairs of shoes translating to more than Sh700 a day.

The mother of two said that her three years of business have helped her pay her bills, take her two children to school and live a better life.

“Before venturing into the cobbler industry, I could not afford a meal for my children who sometimes went to school hungry,” she said.

Establishing such a business, Nyokabi noted, requires Sh3,000 and will enjoy high-profit margins due to the imperishable products such as shoe polish, and brush threads among others.

She cited harassment by males as one of the challenges she has to contend with in her line of duty.

“During the rainy season we are usually displaced by flood due to poor drainage within the lower bus station,” the female cobbler said, urging the devolved unit to consider unblocking it.

Nyokabi regretted that women cobblers are yet to be embraced by the members of the public saying it has to create customer trust.

 “I would encourage fellow women to join the sector and not be choosy on the available jobs to put food on the table,” she advised.

To upgrade her skills, she intends to enroll in a school while opening a wholesale shop for leather shoes to generate job employment in Nyeri.

Nyokabi warned shoe making has its challenges and hazards such as sharp needles that if one is injured can lead to the risk of being admitted to the hospital.

She said the shoe shiners at the lower bus station area who are male have been very supportive of her in growing her business.

Nyokabi said her business is at a peak during the back-to-school season since many students bring their shoes for repairs.

She called for youth and young mothers to embrace manual jobs and not to choose any job citing that this is the only way for one to become self-reliant.

One key lesson Nyokabi learned was that identifying space for any business within the town is tricky as her business requires a busy place with high human traffic.