I believe I will be Africa’s Oprah Winfrey

Briefly tell us about yourself? Currently, I’m the coordinator United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Youth Action Hub, Kenya. I’m also a Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Alumni and Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society. I’m also a Wowzi Nano-influencer Ambassador. Nano influencers are content creators with a social media platform following below 10,000; their smaller size means their audiences tend to be more active and loyal, and their recommendations perceived as more genuine. I have a YouTube channel – On the Move with Linda – to reach more young people with conversations that can have an impact in their lives. Where did your interest in communication, development and advocacy matters come from? I attended Buru Buru Girls Secondary School, Nairobi before proceeding to Daystar University for my undergraduate in Mass Communications. Buru Buru Girls Secondary School taught me how to be tough – waking up early, having to perform various duties, fighting for showers and having to carry water in buckets due to rationing was not a joke. All the while, I had to stay focused. Daystar exposed me to the world of possibilities – where people from different walks of life meet to get an education, but inspire each other for the better, and to succeed particularly in the field of journalism and communications. While studying at Daystar University, I was a member of the Kenya Model United Nations (KMUN) press team. That’s where my interest in youth and development was sparked. While still in university, I attended a conference at the United Nations where the youth issues affecting the African continent such as poverty, war, and poor governance were addressed. The discussions turned my mind to focus on being part of the solution. Now, I am a communications and development enthusiast who has been enhancing socio-economic transformation for about six years in the micro-finance, government, business acceleration and advocacy space. With so much on your plate, how is your typical day like? I work between 10 and 13 hours every day – starting at 9.30am until about 10pm. It’s a mix of my day job and my impact influencing job where I work with young people to empower them to fight for their own space as well as creating content for my YouTube channel. What does the phrase work-life balance mean to you? Honestly, I don’t think it exists. Growing up, I used to say that having an 8 to 5 job is what constitutes work life balance, now I desire to have quality life – whether I work two hours or 10 hours a day, it needs to be fulfilling, satisfying and of impact to society, while allowing me to have time for what matters most – myself and those I love most, ensuring good health and well-being. Tell us more about your YouTube channel... On the Move with Linda is meant to reach more young people with conversations that can have an impact in their lives. My vision is to grow the channel to be a one-stop shop for real-impact and life-changing topical conversation, with relatable content from across the world. Why the interest in impact influencing? Many young people around the world are disconnected from their communities and are faced with rapidly changing economic and social challenges. And our world is slowly nurturing a youth population gearing to just survive. To change the trajectory of youth, the reality is that we must expand social protection and enforce a system that allows for financial and behavioural incentives. The youth, who are the backbone of economic growth are constantly exposed to vulnerabilities, but the majority can’t access structured guidance to build themselves, develop the right attitude and mindset or even use their creativity as an asset to address social challenges and for thriving in the global economy. Africa now more than ever needs to harness its own reserve of resources and skills to offer solutions along value chains for its youth to discover their ambitions, fortitude, and appetite for soaring. So, I am passionate about creating opportunities that will enable youth to actively engage in issues that affect them at local and regional levels through mindset and behavioral growth. How has the reception been so far? Impact influencing, especially as a nano influencer is never easy. Change is one of the hardest things in life, people are used to the status quo and are comfortable in this space. However, for progress to take place, there needs to be people with courage who can stand up and fight for those who cannot. Tell us about Wowzi Nano-influencer ... Wowzi’s goal is to create one million jobs for nano influencers in 2021. Its mission is to create creators. So far, it has over 30,000 nano influencers in the platform spanning Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It continues to offer nano influencers collaboration opportunities using smart technologies while also giving them an alternative income stream. In addition, it offers them training and grooming sessions to make them more seasoned content creators. I leverage my creativity and networks to encourage more brands and development partners to support nano-influencers. As a nano-influencer myself, I know how hard it easy to break through the influencer space, especially as many brands focus on working with influencers who have thousands or millions of followers. Who is your role model? It will sound odd, but I intentionally choose to learn from everyone. Whether I know them or not, whether I have met them or not, from someone who serves me in a restaurant to my mother. So, I admire the best qualities in all the people I meet in life, their work and moral ethics, and believe that by striving to be the best version of ourselves, we could possibly be better humans being. Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years? I believe I will be the next Oprah in Africa! It’s all about disrupting the industry, changing the status quo and drafting a new narrative that allows an integrated approach to influencer marketing by using nano influencers. I believe the current issues facing the world should be an indication that more needs to be done and it requires walking the talk.

I believe I will be Africa’s Oprah Winfrey

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