Lily Oketch is the president of the Kenya Women In The USA (KWITA) organization, which is comprised of over 14,000 women who are living in the diaspora.
She has been living in the US for about 13 years. She relocated to the US in 2007 when she won the coveted green card.
In a recent interview with Alex Chamwada, she narrated her journey in the US, including how she landed her first job and eventually started her own business.
This is her journey as told by WoK:
When Lily relocated to the US, she thought she was going to work in a restaurant or a hospitality-related field because she held a diploma in Hotel Management.
However, as she would soon learn, Uncle Sam did not care two hoots about her Kenyan academic papers.
“I even had to go back to class to learn basic algebra,” she said.
Luckily, she had a good host who accommodated her well and helped her integrate into the American system.
The first thing she did was apply for official government documents, which included a social security number and a driving license.
Without these, it would have been impossible to get a job.
As she explains, seasonal jobs are the easiest alternative for people with no academic background in the US. She applied for one of these jobs and was hired at a mall as a cashier.
There, her greatest challenge was learning about the foreign currency, especially coins. In the USA, there are a variety of coins, such as the penny, nickel, and quarter.
Sometimes, smaller coins can have greater denominations than larger coins.
“I had to learn about all this. I also had to be fast and give the correct change. It was very hectic,” she said.
Her second job was as a caregiver in a group home for the elderly. Most of them couldn’t walk, shower, or eat, needing 100% assistance.
As her first assignment at the home, Lily was assigned to wash an old man.
“I just froze. I had not known what I had gotten myself into,” she said.
She quit the job after the first day, thinking she would soon land a better one.
However, after boring weeks of staying at home without a job, Lily decided that washing old men was better than no job at all.
With her proverbial tail between her legs, she went back to the caregiver home, seeking another chance. Fortunately, the director of the home was a fellow Kenyan who understood the challenges she faced.
“She asked me whether I was sure if that was what I really wanted to do, and I said yes,” said Lily.
After two months, she came to love the job. Her duties involved cooking for the elderly patients, feeding them, showering them, dressing them, and accompanying them to church, malls, and other places.
According to her, the job not only fulfilled her emotionally but also paid more than her previous position at the mall.
Driven by the desire to continuously grow and explore new opportunities, Lily decided to pursue an undergraduate diploma in finance through part-time classes.
She soon got another job at a bank as a part-time teller. Two weeks later, she was promoted to a full-time teller.
She was now juggling two jobs and her studies, waking up at the crack of dawn to assist clients before heading to her banking job and evening classes.
Naturally, the tight schedule caught up with her health.
“When I went back to Kenya, my mother took one look at me and burst into tears. I looked thin, older, and worn out” she said.
In 2014, she quit her job to enter into private practice.
She founded her own errand company in Kenya, dubbed Premium Errands. She also launched Lavish by Lily, a cosmetics brand.
Reflecting on her journey, Lily shared a couple of valuable lessons.
“When you come to America, you have to work your way up and set your priorities. Otherwise, you can live in the US for 20 years, and someone will come for one year and do even better than you,” she says.
She adds that everyone who immigrates to the US starts at ground zero, regardless of their previous status in Kenya.
She reiterated the importance of having a good host who will not only accommodate you as a newbie but also tolerate you as you navigate different careers until you find your passion.
