By Natachi Onwuamaegbu
with help from Dianne Saliamo and Carly Steyer
Photo courtesy of Moderne Studio
Over two years ago, Joanna Kinuthia posted a video about four thumb length birds floating across her collar bone on her YouTube channel. Her new tattoo is special to her, visible to all in headshots, videos, or interviews.
When Joanna posts a piece of art, she usually tags the businesses she works with – it’s a habit that’s been engrained even before she amassed her 167,000 followers (and it’s a fact that is important in her story.) The artist behind her tattoo was no different.
A few months later, Joanna got a call from her tattoo artist: dozens of people had gone to the artist and asked for the exact same tattoo as the 27-year-old.
“He said, ‘I know the design by heart at this point,’” Joanna laughed, shaking her head. “I don't want to say that something like this is normal, I guess it's normal to me, but it's not how people perceive it is. Because right now let's say I take [an Instagram] story, and 30,000 people see it, I can't comprehend 30,000 people. For me, it's just a number. I'm just going about my day.”
But those views change lives – and Joanna is aware of that. That’s why she continues to tag small businesses that don’t have the means to pay her; it’s why she showcases artists. It’s how she’s changed an uncountable number of lives, including that of one of the many hair braiders in Kenyatta Market.
Joanna’s story begins in her parents’ living room, weaves through her high school and college experience YouTubing and Studying, and lands at her current career as an entrepreneur and influencer. There are too many plot points we can stop at along the way, too many paths that will eventually connect her to the women of Kenyatta Market, so we’ll pick one to start: those Sunday evenings in her parents' living room.
Courtesy of Joanna Kinuthia
Typical African parents offer their children two career choices: doctor or lawyer. But in Joanna’s household, the main expectation was for their children to dream big, do what you love, (and still get paid, of course.)
On Sundays, Joanna and her seven siblings would sit on the floor of their living room in a large house about an hour outside of Nairobi, discussing hairstyles among one another and debating which hair-do to request when it’s their turn. It was the same every Sunday. Joanna would describe a style to her stylist (who doubled as her dad), who would then nod patiently, look at his customer’s hair, and get to work.
“I think maybe that's where I learned how to do a lot of DIY beauty because that's where I got started,” said Joanna. “I started showing people how you can do this at home. Like you don't have to leave your house to do this. You can just do it at home.”
As Joanna got older, she began taking the DIYs into her own hands – and onto her siblings’ heads. Seven people are more than enough to practice on, and when she got into college, she had dozens more peers to experiment on. In college, there was a natural hair revolution. Even Joanna, who kept her hair relaxed for all her life until that point, was influenced enough to commit to the “big chop” (cutting off your chemically straightened hair to grow out your natural ‘fro).
“That’s how I used to make money early on, I’d charge people for doing their make-up and things like that.”
And once she made that hard-earned money, one of the first places she turned to was Kenyatta Market. After all, Joanna was natural, and the one thing natural hair begs for is a protective style like box braids. What began in childhood as a fun style expression became essential to keeping her afro in line. So, while it wasn’t Joanna’s first time getting box braids, or her first time in Kenyatta Market, it was her first time taking herself.
“I went to Doris,” said Joanna.
She heard about the 42-year-old in the way most hear about their Kenyatta Market hairdressers: through the grapevine. A friend of her sister’s recommended Doris’ shop, and the services were right in her budget. After her first visit, Joanna was hooked.
“When I leave Doris’ chair, I know the quality is good and it’s worth the price,” said Joanna. “The quality of Kenyatta market braiding is unmatched. No one else compares.”
Which is why, when Joanna started her YouTube channel and FaceBook page, she was sure to shout out Doris – even though it was only to a few hundred followers. For her, it was the quality of the work that deserved a spotlight, no matter how small.
But Joanna doesn’t stay without followers for long. She starts her social media pages in college, and by the time she graduates she’s torn. Social media was a good side hustle, a good pastime, but surely it can’t be a good a career – or any career for that matter. So, in 2017, the Strathmore graduate turned to a corporate job in marketing. She loved it, she loved promoting businesses and being behind social media strategy – she just wished it was her own. After just three months, Joanna turns to her father for advice.
“He told me that if I’m gonna pursue something unconventional, then now is the time,” said Joanna. “If I wait for years and get into the job thing, that's how people get stuck for years and years.”
Her parents offered to support her in any way they could, let her stay at their house for as long as she needed, cook for her, take care of her. It’s their support that allowed Joanna to quit her job and focus on her influencing career fulltime. It’s their support that led to her creating her very own make up line, much like the ones she spent years advertising for free. It’s their support that allowed her to move out earlier this year and rent her own place in Nairobi.
And it’s the support of her fellow Kenyan women that have helped her get where she is today. Being a female entrepenuer – or frankly any entrepreneur – is hard in Kenya. Joanna remembers having the process be generally mystifying, trying to get your product in a factory, understanding what taxes to pay, and the government certainly didn’t provide any help. But Kenyan women?
“Kenyan women are very, very supportive and if you approach someone to ask them for information, what I’ve found is they're quite willing to share even before I was an influencer,” said Joanna. “I feel like [Kenyan women] have really have taken a chance on me because I moved from telling you how to wear your makeup, to asking people to buy my makeup. And they did and still continue to do so.”
Photos courtesy of Moderne Studio
And Doris is one of her biggest supporters. Last Christmas, the hairdresser sent Joanna 10,000 shillings to thank her for promoting her business over the years. For Doris,
“Joanna is one of the biggest blessings for my business,” she said. “I didn’t ask her to post and she did. Then so many customers came.”
Joanna wasn’t expecting any kind of present, let alone a gift of this magnitude. In fact, she had no idea how many people were going to Doris’ salon after her posts. But that doesn’t mean she’s unaware of the impact she has – I mean, dozens of Kenyans are walking around with bird tattoos on her collarbone because of her.
“Doris is someone who really appreciates what I can do for her,” said Joanna. “She's one of many small businesses I promote because being a small business owner myself, I know many people can’t afford to pay big influencers. So I'm very aware that if I help someone out, they'll definitely get something out of it.”
When Joanna got more recognition, she was sure to bring others with her, and to try to impact the lives of Kenyan women in the way they impacted hers. But Kenyatta Market isn’t a hidden gem Joanna discovered, far from it. It’s an institution in Nairobi, one that transcends socio-economic status, time and style. It’s nearly impossible not to talk about Kenyatta Market when talking about quality beauty in the city.
“It's like one of those things that's not about how much money you have,” said Joanna. “Like anyone goes to Kenyatta Market. I think we go there for the quality you know. It's one of those things that, whether you have the money or whether you don't, the quality is everything.”
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