At the age of 40, Carole Nderitu is the finance director at Minet Kenya. This is an insurance brokerage firm with dozens of employees. Carole’s late father always thought she would make a great judge. However, she found herself immersed in the world of finance after witnessing the kind of life a neighbor doing the same lived. Today, she holds a position admired by many.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Education
The former cashier at the now defunct Uchumi Supermarket undertook a Bachelor of Commerce and specialized in finance. While in campus, the avid reader tried modelling and gained considerable success including being featured in a magazine cover.
Career
After joining the career world, she was hungry for success. She would volunteer to take assignments and ask for feedback. As the last born in a family of seven, it also meant that she got exposed to knowledge at a very young age. Hence, even to date, she is friends with people ten to twenty years older than her.
She worked as the head of fund accounting at Alexander Forbes Financial before joining AON Kenya Insurance brokers as head of fund accounting then rising to chief accounting. When Minet advertised for a finance and administration director, she was ready for a new challenge .
This was three years after she had become a chief accountant through a recommendation from her boss. Initially, she felt she was a bit inexperienced for the role but she was encouraged to go for it by her mentors and bosses. She applied and got the job.
Although, there are many women in executive positions, she says a few are in the same role as hers. They encourage each other and talk about strategies and challenges.
For Carole, she begins her day with morning mass before going to the office early in the morning. Whenever she feels like taking a break, she delves into reading.
Challenge
Speaking to the Nation, she said that one of her major challenges was ensuring productivity and efficiency and communicating with departments.
“One challenge that I faced in hindsight is ensuring productivity and efficiency, communication with other departments on deliverables and expectations on both ends which would sometimes create conflict, but I have been very intentional on talent development and retention. I look at my team and I can’t help but smile because of the accomplishments they are making partly because of the positive impact that I added to their lives,” she said.
Life at forty
The mother of two said that turning forty gave her a new perspective about life. While it brought to light the glaring reality of retirement, it made her more intentional about her life and spending time with family. She also understands life is short and there is no need for comparison with other other people.
