By Isaac Blessings
Women have proved that being a successful entrepreneur is not a preserve of men. One such businesslady is Terry Mungai, the founder of Ashleys Kenya Limited-the parent company of Ashleys Hair and Beauty Academy.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Terry Mungai Background
Terry Mungai was born in Nakuru County where she spent the better part of her childhood and teenage life. The entrepreneur, who was the lastborn in a family of three, was raised by a single mother who struggled to make ends meet. This made her appreciate the importance of hard work from an early age. After clearing her studies, she relocated to Nairobi in search of greener pastures. She was first employed at Diners Club International where she worked as a salesperson for eight years before the company was shut down. She lost her job and that’s when she got an idea of joining the business world by setting up a salon.
Establishing Ashleys Salon
She approached different banks to get financing but unfortunately her requests were rejected since she didn’t have a collateral. Her breakthrough came when one of her friends offered her an idle asset to use as collateral to get a Ksh 800,000 loan from the bank, hence the birth of Ashleys salon which she named after a daughter she desired to have. During the time Ashleys salon was the only premium salon built from scratch in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD). The salon began growing and picking up steadily and Mungai realized that in order to succeed in the business, she needed to attract male clients too. She opened up a section of a barber shop in the salon which became a success too. Currently Ashleys has 14 salon outlets spread in Nairobi, Mombasa and Nakuru.
Also Read: Dolly Mungai: The Kenyan Who Shops For Billionaire Aliko Dangote, Paul Pogba
From Ashley Salon to Ashleys Beauty Academy
While the salon and barber shop business was taking shape, she faced one of the most common challenges in the beauty industry. She woke up one morning and all her best and most talented workers were poached to work for her competitors in the field. Instead of fighting her opponents, she came up with an even better business idea out of this tough period.
She decided to establish Ashleys School of Beauty – an academy that offered beauty training and customer service at pocket-friendly prices. At the time, many people didn’t consider beauty a professional career hence there was limited expertise in the sector. She took advantage of the market gap and offered professional training services. The school grew and opened the second branch at Westgate mall and later The Mall in Westlands, Nairobi. Currently, she runs 4 academy campus, has employed over 400 people and trained over 7,000 people
Running Miss World Kenya
Terry Mungai holds the license for the Miss World Kenya and has been running the events for over 15 years. She invested into the business since she has always had a passion for modeling and fashion. Every year she organizes the Miss World Kenya modeling competitions. The winner walks away with a cash prize and gets an opportunity to represent the country in other Miss World competitions. The current Miss World Kenya is Sharon Obara having won the competition in a colorful event held at the Trademark hotel in August 2021.
Terry Mungai’s other interests
Apart from being in the beauty and fashion industry, Mungai has interests in the real estate sector through her company Temus Holdings Limited. The company recently completed its first development project, a Ksh 210 million estate comprising 32 units which are mainly two and three bedroom houses. The company is currently embarking on its second project expected to be complete before the end of this year.
