By Prudence Minayo
Lynne the Brand is an award winning publicist, digital strategist and brand influencer. Her journey to the top has been full of challenges and a lot of difficult moments.
Today, her story is an inspiration to many
who feel life has dealt them an unfair blow. In 2021, she was given an honorary award as the industry influencer of the year and her company was awarded second in the brand promoter of the year category.
“This has definitely placed my brand in another space, has lifted my brand even more. This wouldn’t be possible without the input of my Pr agency Foli Pr and marketing.”
“We have worked with different celebrities both big and uprising and today I just want to appreciate them for always trusting me with their brands,” she told Kiss website after getting the award.
Background and Education
She was raised in Nakuru as the firstborn of three siblings. Her parents separated when she was in class six leaving her mother to become the breadwinner. She attended Nakuru nursery followed by Langalanga Primary School.
Afterwards, she joined Afraha High School before enrolling for a fashion related course in college. She could not complete college due to the dire situation at home.
Hence, after dropping out she resorted to looking for jobs to assist her mother. She got employed to make and sell popcorns with a monthly salary of Sh2000. The money was little and the job was not easy. At times, her salary would delay for about three months.
Finally, she decided to move to Nairobi in search of better prospects. Her mother was not keen on the idea since there wasn’t a specific thing she was going to do. The determined young lady, however, insisted on going since staying meant there was no money.
City struggles
Upon arrival in the capital, she stayed with an aunt. Every morning, she would go out to look for a job. One day, she secured a job with a supermarket. To her horror, she returned home that evening to find all her clothes outside.
The aunt didn’t even tell her to her face. Instead, it was her younger child who told her through the window that she had overstayed.
A good neighbor came to her rescue and connected her with a relative. She stayed with the neighbour’s relative and moved out as soon as she received her first salary.
The supermarket job would later come
to an end and finding other prospects became difficult. Once again, she found herself out on the streets after her landlord kicked her out over arrears. She continued looking for a job and would even visit homes and offer to do laundry.
Building her brand
As she was going through all this, she got heavily involved in Facebook. She would re-share posts advertising for events. All she was interested it was pushing her name out there. She promoted various events despite not knowing the artists.
One day, she met Christian Dela in an event her friend had asked to be accompanied to. The celebrity admitted to knowing her name and challenged her to open an Instagram and Twitter Account.
She took the advice, learnt how to get on trending topics and soon got 1,000 followers. She continued pushing events and soon artists reached out to work with her.
This turned everything around as it
opened doors she hadn’t anticipated. She started earning from publicizing events.
Today, she runs a publicist called Foli Agency.
She has also had the opportunity to work as a digital strategist and head of digital at different companies, including: TNC records, Groove Awards Digital, Kubamba radio, saldido International, Skoth Transcription company and Y254 TV, where she also served as a host.
She is also the head of digital at Fema awards and a digital strategist at KTN Home. In a recent interview with KTN Home, she said that having a mentor is very important. She has had people who have held her hand and taught her a lot and she also does this for others.
She also said that she wanted to inspire women that they can make it through sheer hardwork and consistency, without cutting any corners.
