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Wishing she left Kenyatta Market earlier, Stella creates a new life

by Natachi Onwuamaegbu

with help from Dianne Saliamo and Carly Steyer


Photos by Carly Steyer


It’s hard for Stella Mwende to recall one exact moment, one exact trigger that caused her to pack up her combs, give away her chair, and leave Kenyatta Market without turning back.


According to Stella, her exit was spurred by a sign from God. Stella got a feeling, that after 19 years of braiding in the market, it was time for her to move on to other ventures. She got that same feeling in 2001 when she considered entering the market for the first time. She was done sitting at home, being the doting housewife. One day, she just decided enough was enough. Later that month, she began work in Kenyatta Market.


So it’s not surprising that her decision to shift from the market to a salon deep in Nairobi’s Central Business District came in a flash, in a wave of sorts. It started as a thought and within a month she had a seat at a new business.


And now, sitting in her bright fuchsia salon getting her hair blow-dried by a coworker, the only regret Stella has is not making the move out of Kenyatta Market sooner.


“I wish I had moved here earlier,” said Stella. “I could’ve been so far today.”


But there are the braiders who don’t move and who don’t consider moving. There are the braiders in Kenyatta Market struggling to make ends meet. So, why don’t they move? And why did it take Stella 19 years to finally see that there are other opportunities past the oversaturated market?


The answer is two-fold.


One, Kenyatta Market is seen as the hub of hair braiding in Nairobi. To be a hair braider and to work in Kenyatta Market used to mean success – just not anymore.


Two, many braiders sink their capital into the market, buying store fronts, hiring employees, getting lines of credit at beauty supply stores. There is not enough time or money to diversify their portfolio.


Stella is not unique – by her account, dozens of braiders have left the market in the past decade. But that doesn’t negate the hundreds of hair braiders that have since moved into the market. If Stella had not trusted her instincts late last year, she’d still be one of them, struggling to make ends meet for herelf and her five children.


“I left without having a destination in mind,” said Stella. “I had nothing. I just wanted a change.”





While many of the braiders in Kenyatta Market blame Covid to their decline in customers, Stella says it’s been happening long before then.


“People started moving one by one even before Covid,” said Stella, “Kenyatta market has been hard for awhile now. We are just surviving there. For someone like me, I have school fees to pay, I have my bills and I have so many things to do, being a single mother.”


Stella’s divorce was finalized long after she decided to start braiding professionally – which meant she had a job before she made the shift into single motherhood. Still, her kids were all enrolled in school, needed uniforms, food, a new place to live. All of a sudden, Kenyatta Market was a little too unreliable, a little too competitive for Stella’s liking (“there is a lot of quarreling and gossip,” she said). But she didn’t think of moving then, not until the will of God struck her five years later.


In her new salon Stella is better able to provide for her kids, sure, but there are more benefits in moving from Kenyatta.


Shop number 75 is on the second floor of a building deep into Nairobi’s central business district. Every few feet, there’s a mirror and a white plastic chair. The one to the very left is hers. It’s only hers. She doesn’t have to share her space or share her clients, which is practically unheard of in Kenyatta.


Mwende getting her hair blow-dried at her station.


Stella has been sharing for her whole life. Growing up with seven siblings, then moving out only to share a home with her husband has meant she hasn’t had a lot of space. At work, she operated out of someone else’s salon, was someone else’s employee, worked on someone else’s timeline. Now, no one takes a cut of her pay check. She controls her own hours and doesn’t have to get to the salon early to compete with other braiders.


With her new salon being in town, customers just waltz in. In between meetings, after going to the bank or picking up groceries, the traffic is much, much greater compared to her former workplace.


“Because you see Kenyatta market is far from town, very few people just go without already having an appointment,” said Stella. “Here I get one or two clients a day and they’re only my own.”


The way Stella paints life outside the market is shockingly easy. There’s more money, less competition, less of the petty fights of a marketplace. Stella’s transition was also a bit simpler than most. She didn’t own her own shop in Kenyatta, never did. She didn’t have employees or a line of credit. Her capital wasn’t sunk into the market so she had the flexibility to move.

It took her about one month to move into her new place – she worked as an assistant to a braider in another salon in town, helping wash hair and learn new styles and techniques before she heard of a chair opening up in her current salon.


If you ask Stella, she’s not sure why more braiders don’t move. But she does recognize that moving is a privilege, as is being able to support her kids.


As we talk, Stella tucks her hair into a neat pulled back bun. Her coworker is done blow drying and Stella needs her hair away from her eyes and face. When asked questions, she speaks softly and simply. She doesn’t have all the answers, and she’s certainly not pretending to. The only thing she knows for sure is herself.


“In coming to this new shop, I changed because I find myself in a peaceful environment,” said Stella. “When you find yourself in a more peaceful place, you find more peace. You have peace of mind. You don’t have anything to do with anybody. I don’t know why other [Kenyatta] braiders don’t leave but I do know that everyone is different. What I did isn’t right for everyone.”


Visit Stella at her new shop at Best Lady, Ronald Ngala street, 2nd floor. Shop number 75.


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(you can also reach us at natachi@ndezacollective.com)

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© 2023 by Natachi Onwuamaegbu

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