Ben Gumo Priest is among adventurous Kenyans who ditched their professional careers to pursue other interests.
He transitioned from a successful journalism career to pursue entrepreneurship by establishing Priesthood Collections.
Gumo made the move after realizing a gap that needed to be filled in the expansive men’s fashion industry.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Following the completion of his secondary school education, Gumo joined Multimedia University where he pursued Mass Communication.
He later joined the job market and worked as editor, news anchor and reporter in top radio stations including Ghetto Radio and Radio Umoja.
However, the media station that he worked for underwent restructuring forcing him to take an early retirement.
“The company was undergoing restructuring and I felt the reforms did not augur well with my personal growth hence decided to settle for an early retirement payment plan,” he said.
With the financial compensation he received, Gumo ventured into entrepreneurship and invested in the fashion industry.
“I am a people person and having interacted with all manner of people, I saw a niche in the men’s fashion industry as the majority of boutiques only catered for ladies and women stuff,” he said.
He also works as a trainer at Human Resources Development Ingenuity, offering programs that equip sales people with essential customer service skills.
“I realised that the majority of sales-people did not have business etiquette while communicating to clients thus venturing into training business to train them on customer experience and human resources-related fields
“I also felt the need to empower people to acquire the right skills not only in business-related fields but also to help them relate well with others in their day-to-day activities,” Gumo explained.
In an interview with Standard, Gumo explained that he gets most of his work from pitching for jobs from local and international individual.
“We have an official rate card that we use to charge clients but we also welcome tailor-made rate cards depending on what type of client I am dealing with and their economic ability,” he said.
He further mentioned that he makes up to Ksh 70,000 on a good day.
“Right now, I am also venturing into tailor-made clothes, photography and voice-over business,” Gumo stated.
