City girl who calls the shots at publishing house

Nancy  Karimi        Photo:( Joseph Kiptarus/standard and courtesy)

Cool, calm, collected are three words that capture the image of NANCY KARIMI, but as SYLVIA WAKHISI finds out, her thick skin has seen her rise through the ranks to be an MD at Jomo Kenyatta Foundation.

The pile of books neatly stacked in a cabinet in Nancy Karimi’s spacious office, furnished with black leather chairs catches one’s attention.

One wonders; why all those books, and where does a managing director get time to read?

“I am one avid reader. I have always loved books ever since I was young, and I will always have one with me, whether in the office, at my bedside or in my car,” she says.

Cool, calm and collected is the best way to describe Nancy, the 51-year-old woman who over the years, has risen through the ranks to hold the top position at the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation.

Nancy’s upbringing was a regular urban one. Born and brought up in Nairobi in a family of six siblings, Nancy went to Kibera Primary School where her mother was a teacher. Her father worked with the Kenya Railways until his retirement.

“My mother made sure we performed well in our studies. Getting into any form of trouble was an expensive affair with her, and none of us wanted to risk. She could punish us whenever we did something wrong,” says Nancy. “On the other hand, she is very religious, something that kept us intact as a family and helped instill good values in us.”

After completing her primary education, she proceeded to Moi Girls School, Nairobi for her O-levels, which she sat for in 1978. She also did her A-levels in the same school, and completed in 1980.

She joined the University of Nairobi in 1981 where she pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Linguistics.

Teaching career

Upon graduating in 1985, Nancy secured employment with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and taught English at Buruburu Girls High School (which was then a mixed school). Her stint as a teacher ended in 1989 when she landed a job at the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation as an editor. Since then, her career has grown from one level to the next.

At the foundation, she has served in different capacities —from editor to deputy chief editor to chief editor, a position, which was then changed to publishing manager.

“At that time, being an editor was quite a challenge since technology was not in use, and even if it was, it was not advanced as it is now. One had to do a lot of reading and take a lot of time editing scripts. However, as years have gone by, the work of an editor has become easier due to advancement in technology,” she says.

“Being an editor moulds you. It set my foundation in the line of books and publishing. Watching raw manuscripts become a book is an exciting experience.”

In 2001, Nancy became the sales and marketing manager, a position she held for three years before being appointed as the human resource and administration manager.

In 2005, when the then managing director left the organisation, she was appointed by the board as the acting MD until the time when the position was advertised. After submitting her application and undergoing the interview process, she emerged the best candidate to take up the job, a position she has held to date. She became the second woman to hold the position in the foundation.

Resilience

Nancy never imagined holding such a position. But her hard work coupled with a strong resilience, played a big role in equipping her to handle anything life threw her way.

“When I was young, I was motivated to be who I wanted to be. I always felt the sky was the limit,” she says.

Her role as MD at the foundation entails overseeing the day-to-day running of the foundation and ensuring that everything works out as required. She also ensures all targets and strategies are met at the end of every financial year.

“Running such kind of an organisation has its own challenges since you are competing with the private sector. Despite that, we have been able to hold our ground as a publishing house and I must say we are doing well,” says Nancy.

The foundation also runs a secondary school scholarship programme to assist bright but needy students to enable them continue with their education.

With a job that demands a lot of time and attention, and sometimes, travelling a lot, Nancy says she has cultivated a routine of balancing her time, and ensures that by the end of the day, she has done what is required of her. “As a career family woman, it is never easy to balance your time in such a way that you have time for everything, including your family. In some instances, it can be too pressing. I have established a routine of being at work early enough. I am usually in the office by 7am so that 4 or 5pm I am done with the day’s work. Discipline is important when one is in such a position and when you are a mother,” she adds.

Armed with such powerful affirmation and a love for books, once she exits from the foundation, Nancy plans to run her own consultancy firm where she will focus on books and publishing services.

Her greatest inspiration is seeing the foundation run smoothly and knowing that the more revenue they generate, the more children they are able to educate, hence give back to the society.

“In the course of my work, I have come across children who are looking for school fees and fulfilling their dreams empowers me to carry on,” she says.

Nancy describes herself as a dreamer who dared to venture where others haven’t. “I have worked hard to get to where I am today. Even when things seemed tough, I strived to carry on,” she says.

She encourages other women to work hard and go for whatever dreams they want to realise in life.

 “There are many opportunities for women out there, but the challenges are equally many; they need to go the extra mile to grab these chances and opportunities,” she says.