Last week's Daring Abroad featured a Kenyan entrepreneur who has managed to be everything she can be while in South Africa. In just 7 years of living in South Africa, she has built a name for herself. This is Liz Ogumbo.
She has successfully managed to penetrate the fashion and entertainment industry. Liz was born in Kenya and at the age of 16, found herself living in the USA and this exposed her to numerous cultural and unique experiences.
Liz Ogumbo is also a radio presenter in South Africa. PHOTO|COURTESY
Due to her beauty and stature, she managed to join the fashion industry as a model. Here, her passion for fashion was born. In 2005, she moved back to Kenya to start her own business.
“When I moved back, I set up a modeling agency called ‘Imani International Model Management’ and that was my way of bringing fashion back to life,” she says.
In 2 years, the business evolved to a fashion company named ‘House of Imani’. She eventually relocated to South Africa in 2011 to live her dream. She easily managed to establish her fashion house, ‘Liz Ogumbo, the fashion brand’.
TALENT
In addition to her passion for fashion, Liz also managed to make use of her talent in singing that she had for a long time wanted to put into good use. She branded her songs ‘KenSoul’ in 2010 and has since then been able to partner with a lot of musical artists.
Liz Ogumbo is an artist inspired by her culture. She is proud of where she comes from and would like everyone to know of her homeland. Every moment in her life is a creative moment for her that she can include in her music. She claims that she has learnt to balance her time in entertainment and fashion.
As if that is not enough, Liz now is making her own wine.
“It was about time to come up with my own wine,” she explains.
Liz believes that Africa has a lot to offer culturally and would love to see other Africans turn this culture into business.
“If you can afford it, expose yourself and experience the world.” She also has a supportive family and believes that they too have contributed to her success. Still, despite her busy travels and businesses, she loves her homeland, Kenya.
Finally, she concludes by saying that if you put your heart to something then go all the way.
“Dream, and let it come to life.”
We witnessed Liz Ogumbo's passion for her work in fashion and music away from home when we attended the Africa Food Festival 2018 in Johannesburg in September.
