Nelly Mwikamba: Turning passion into business

A lover of all things luxurious, Nelly Mwikamba loves adventure travel. She has been to most of the world’s enviable bucket list destinations. She is hungry for more and the opportunities come - better with business deals to butter them up.

A contented real estate professional, Nelly has turned what she once cherished as a hobby into a business. And although she is now thriving as the CEO of her own company, she says it hasn’t all come on a silver platter, but rather a resilience that has seen her break down stereotypes. As a woman working in an environment where women are not expected to compete with men, she has learned to work twice as hard to keep her dream afloat. And with so many hard lessons along the way, she has now turned her story into an inspirational narrative that she shares through coaching and mentoring other women to achieve whatever they dream.

“My parents come from Taita Hills and we grew up in the ghetto, Bombolulu, in Mombasa. Growing up in a humble beginning where I as the last born had four of five siblings who were boys taught me to deal with life the harsh way. In the ghetto, the environment is all about drug abuse, early unplanned pregnancies, prostitution and youth gangs. Such an environment can’t be so inspiring for a young girl wishing otherwise,” says Nelly.

“Our father seemed to separate us from all the ghetto offered. He took us to relatively better schools away from the ghetto and heavily invested in our education. Everyone in our family loved sciences and it was that narrative of everyone becoming a doctor. Ironically, I was into arts, broadcasting media to be specific. I ended up in radio but that was short-lived.

Describing it as one of the darkest times of her life, in 2019 she drove to the office of her FM radio station in Mombasa only to be met with bad news. The station had folded, leaving her unemployed and her dreams shattered. Something she was so passionate about had come to a sad end.

“I have always had an eye for good things in life. I love luxury and all things fine. I love fashion and from my dressing, people started asking me to get them fashionable wear, something that opened me to entrepreneurship mind. I also loved luxurious houses and fine finishing and I had contemplated venturing into real estate. That is how Tajiri Luxury Properties was born in 2022.

“I believe that one must not have a huge capital to start a business. You can start small with a good growth plan and this is what I am teaching other women aspiring to go into business. After transitioning from radio, I used the cash I was making in my clothing business into a property agent business and that seemed effortless, aside from the stereotype problems I encountered as a woman CEO in an environment where women are not expected to run businesses and for that matter indulge men thanks to the culture and religious beliefs,” says the 34-year-old.

Nelly’s passion for starting a luxury property company was born out of her love of fine things. She started working with developers and using her social media platforms, she would share videos and have customers call in with enquiries. This way she would earn a commission on each sale. Soon she was working with property owners before becoming a full-time real estate agent, buying, selling and building property.

“For one to thrive in this market, you have to build the proper networks and as well be trustworthy. Property owners like working with honest people. There are no shortcuts when it comes to matters of integrity here. At the same time, one needs patience and resilience as well as utmost professionalism. There are very good people in the business but once in a while, you can come across fraudsters and quarks who can destroy your reputation and mess up your business. You should have a big heart,” Nelly, a married mother of three says.

Nelly encourages more women to get into property investment, saying that more trust can be placed in female property agents than in their male counterparts. She says that when it comes to finances, women are better managers as she notes that the days when this business was left to male dominance are gone.

“I know that the women in this business are like a drop in the ocean. I think in the entire Coast, we are like three satisfied real estate women agents. Now the irony here is that we have more women investing in property. A study has it that 50 per cent of the people investing in property on the Coast are women while 20 per cent are couples. Even in times where a couple makes come invest together, the women will possibly come back alone as a return client investing as a sole client,” says Nelly.

“I have had male business partnerships that went south and left me depressed. But I didn’t stop moving on nor did I stop seeking business partnerships. I keep investing and expanding because that should be the nature of business. I am cutting my niche as an all-round luxury property investment guru offering real solutions and so for the local and international market,” she says.

More gregarious and modest, Nelly advises women to be goal-oriented if they want to succeed in business. She says women should push for their rightful place in jobs that have traditionally been labelled as men’s jobs. She also says that women should not become complacent with ‘compromise’ career offers, but rather strive to grow to the highest level possible in their given careers.

“I always advise those I mentor to know the value of their networks, which by association determines their net worth. I empower them on financial literacy and bookkeeping as well as table banking, which I am good at. For me, it is not really about telling my hardship story but rather offering practical solutions they can use to meet their dreams. We should all keep on learning and gaining skills through enrolling in programs that make us better in our fields too,” says Nelly.

Nelly says that even as more demand comes with her Tajiri Luxury Properties business growth, she still strives to maintain work and family balance as “family comes first among those in your support system”.

“The real estate business is alive and thriving on the Coast. We are seeing many new and return clients as well a lot of investors from the diaspora. I haven’t met some of those many clients from the diaspora that I have been serving. The truth is being an entrepreneur is not easy and one should be ready to pay the price. But this does not mean you don’t make time for yourself, your family and your loved ones. Always create a balance and enjoy the little treasures life offers. Besides, I have made my adventure travels into business. It is the literal meaning of turning passion into business and mixing business with pleasure,” says Nelly.