(So) How's Business?

Alma Mabachi
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  • Entrepreneurship
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(So) How's Business? is the podcast for African women entrepreneurs who are figuring it out as they go. Hosted by Alma Mabachi, a bootstrapping founder and mother, this show trades polished success stories for raw, honest conversations. Every week is a candid look into the lives of women entrepreneurs and hustlers navigating the messy middle: the pivots, failures, small wins, big dreams, and what it actually takes to build something from scratch. Connect with us @sohowsbusiness on IG, X, Facebook, Tiktok, and Linkedin. Send us an email on sohowsbusinesspodcast@gmail.com

  1. 1d ago

    Ep 31- Hiring Wrong, Firing Late and Managing Gen Z | Juliet Gateri

    Why do so many founders hire the wrong people and hold on to them for too long? Juliet Gateri is the founder of Alternate Doors, a Kenyan HR consultancy that helps small and medium businesses hire, build and manage their teams. Over 13 years in business, she has seen the same people problems play out again and again, including in her own company. In this episode of So, How's Business?, Juliet shares how she started Alternate Doors with no plan B, a Gmail address and a round of cold emails after being pushed out of a startup she helped build. She talks about her first hires, who approached her clients for jobs and walked out after payday, and why that experience made her start paying herself first. We also discuss the most common hiring mistakes first-time founders make, what culture fit actually means in a small business, how she tells founders when they are the problem, mental health and addiction in the workplace, managing Gen Z employees, using AI in recruitment and why firing fast matters more than founders like to admit. A practical conversation about hiring, leadership, boundaries and the people side of building a business. This is So, How's Business? Follow us for more honest conversations with African women entrepreneurs and the realities of building businesses.

    Ep 31- Hiring Wrong, Firing Late and Managing Gen Z | Juliet Gateri

  2. Oct 13

    Ep 30- Burnout, Twins and a Bridal Business in Kenya | Ogake Mosomi

    What does it take to build a successful business without losing yourself in the process? Ogake Mosomi is the founder of Ogake Bridal, a Kenyan fashion brand specialising in bespoke bridal and wedding gowns. Over 15 years in business, she has experienced the highs of a growing brand, the challenges of managing a team, creative burnout and the realities of balancing entrepreneurship with motherhood. In this episode of So, How’s Business?, Ogake shares the experiences she has rarely spoken about publicly, including employee betrayal, depression and postpartum depression while raising twins and continuing to run her business. She explains why she chose to downsize, how she approaches pricing and profit margins in bespoke fashion, and why she is exploring consulting and training as new ways to use her expertise. We also discuss the challenges facing Kenya’s fashion industry, the importance of business skills for creatives, access to funding, and what it means to build a business that works for your life rather than consumes it. A candid conversation about entrepreneurship, mental health, motherhood, money and redefining success on your own terms. This is So, How’s Business? Follow us for more honest conversations with African women entrepreneurs and the realities of building businesses.

    Ep 30- Burnout, Twins and a Bridal Business in Kenya | Ogake Mosomi

  3. Sep 29

    Ep 29 - Building a Gluten-Free Food Business in Kenya with Anna Wanjiru of Home Chef

    What happens when the foods you grew up with, chapati, mandazi, bread and cake, suddenly aren't an option? Anna Wanjiru, founder of Home Chef, joins Alma to talk about building a gluten-free food business in Kenya after her daughter had to go gluten-free. What started as a mother's search for better food options became three years of experimentation, a bakery, a gluten-free flour business and a much bigger question: how do you build a scalable food company in a category that people are still learning about? Anna shares how Home Chef went from producing chapati, mandazi, samosas and other baked goods to shutting down the bakery and focusing on flour because the original model wasn't scalable. They also talk about getting rejected by retailers who thought gluten-free was too niche, educating customers, building trust, getting into larger corporate relationships, why investors can be cautious about category-building businesses, and what it takes to scale a food business across Kenya and East Africa. Anna also opens up about being a solopreneur, decision fatigue, being underestimated as a woman founder, running multiple businesses before learning to focus on one, and why entrepreneurship takes longer and more work than you expect. It's a conversation about food, entrepreneurship, category creation, resilience, scaling, investment and what it actually takes to build a business when there is no playbook. This is So, How’s Business?

    Ep 29 - Building a Gluten-Free Food Business in Kenya with Anna Wanjiru of Home Chef

  4. Sep 15

    Ep 28- The Business Behind Kenya’s Luxury Weddings | Naitore Mugambi

    Luxury weddings look beautiful. Running the business behind them is another story. Naitore Mugambi, founder of Luxe & Allure Events, joins Alma to talk about the reality of building one of Kenya's luxury events businesses. She shares the story of losing KES 600,000 of startup capital to theft, raising the money again, navigating the breakup of an early business partnership and eventually building Luxe & Allure with her husband. They also get into the numbers behind the business: investing millions in tents and equipment, how long it can take to recover that investment, constant reinvestment, losses and damages, pricing pressure and competition in an industry without clear standards. Naitore talks honestly about the hardest part of the business today: trying to build a company that can operate without her, while maintaining the level of personal service and creativity her clients expect. It's a conversation about entrepreneurship, partnerships, operations, money, creativity and what it actually takes to make a beautiful business work behind the scenes. This is So, How’s Business?

    Ep 28- The Business Behind Kenya’s Luxury Weddings | Naitore Mugambi

  5. Sep 1

    Ep 27- From Journalist to Founder: Building the Uber for hair braiding with Natachi Onwuamaegbu

    What's the difference between believing in an idea and knowing how to build it? The founder of Braiding Nairobi found out the hard way. A journalist by training, she came to Nairobi for a National Geographic storytelling fellowship, noticed how many skilled braiders struggled to find clients in a city where nearly every woman pays regularly for her hair, and decided to stay and solve it. Then she spent two years learning that most of her first instincts were wrong. In this conversation she's refreshingly honest about the parts founders usually hide: launching to silence, the survey that proved demand, and the tiny WhatsApp button that ended up driving most of her orders. She talks through her decision to go to business school a year in, why she's grown disillusioned with VC funding, and the reality of running a business she can pay her team from but not yet herself. It's also a sharp look at a market that's obvious to Black women and invisible to the investors holding the cheque book, and what it takes to keep going when the honest answer to "should I keep doing this?" is still unfolding. A candid one for anyone weighing a pivot, questioning whether business school is worth it, or sitting in the messy middle of building.

    Ep 27- From Journalist to Founder: Building the Uber for hair braiding with Natachi Onwuamaegbu

  6. Aug 18

    Ep 26- She Quit Government Twice to Bet on Herself: Neema Moraa on Modeling, Content Creation & Building Flora by Florence

    What does it actually take to walk away from a stable government job, twice, for a creative career nobody around you fully believes in? Neema is a model, content creator, and the owner of Flora by Florence, a Nairobi boutique. But before any of that, she was sitting in a government office feeling something in her go quiet. This episode traces the messy, honest path out: a spa that failed on location, a modeling side hustle that grew from 5,000 shillings a gig to a real income in a matter of months, and a mother who insisted her daughter open her own store. Neema loves the creative work. It is the thing that makes her feel alive. But she also knows modeling has an expiry date, and the business that lasts is the one she has to choose to focus on, even when it is the less fun option. This is a conversation about choosing yourself, pricing your worth, and the quiet cost of giving everything to work. If you have ever wondered whether the leap is worth it, listen in. Disclaimer This episode includes personal reflections on money, business decisions, and income. It is shared for context and storytelling and is not financial or business advice. #SoHowsBusiness #AfricanWomenEntrepreneurs #KenyanEntrepreneurs #WomenInBusiness #ContentCreator #NairobiBusiness #FashionBusiness

    Ep 26- She Quit Government Twice to Bet on Herself: Neema Moraa on Modeling, Content Creation & Building Flora by Florence

  7. Aug 4

    Ep 25- Breastfeeding, Motherhood and Building LactaMama | Angel Nderitu

    After losing her job while seven months pregnant, Angel Nderitu entered motherhood carrying uncertainty about her finances, her future, and what came next. When her breast milk supply changed unexpectedly after giving birth during the COVID-19 pandemic, she began searching for answers through nutrition, traditional foods, herbs, and lactation support. That personal experience eventually became LactaMama, a Kenyan maternal wellness company supporting mothers through breastfeeding nutrition, education, lactation support, and compassionate postpartum care. In this episode of So, How’s Business?, Alma Mabachi speaks with Angel about the realities of breastfeeding, building a business while raising young children, and navigating the pressure many women face to succeed professionally while caring for everyone around them. Angel shares practical insights on nutrition, hydration, rest, maternal wellbeing, and accessible foods that mothers may already have in their kitchens. She also discusses building a women-led team, managing the rising costs of manufacturing, asking for help, and learning to give herself more grace. This is not only a conversation about breast milk supply. It is about motherhood, ambition, identity, community, and what happens when women are expected to recover, achieve, care for others, and make it all look effortless. Because when a child is born, a mother is born too.

    Ep 25- Breastfeeding, Motherhood and Building LactaMama | Angel Nderitu

  8. Jul 21

    Ep 24- Shamim Quresh, Koro Gaia: Building African Skincare

    Shamim Quresh is the founder of Koro Gaia, an African skincare brand built around African botanicals and research for melanated skin. She talks about the realities of manufacturing in Kenya, including 60 to 70% tax on imported inputs, what happened when funding stopped and she shut the business down in 2023, and how third-party manufacturing helped her generate income while rebuilding. She also shares why founders need to ask more questions, even when they feel like “dumb” questions, and her vision for African beauty.

    Ep 24- Shamim Quresh, Koro Gaia: Building African Skincare
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About

(So) How's Business? is the podcast for African women entrepreneurs who are figuring it out as they go. Hosted by Alma Mabachi, a bootstrapping founder and mother, this show trades polished success stories for raw, honest conversations. Every week is a candid look into the lives of women entrepreneurs and hustlers navigating the messy middle: the pivots, failures, small wins, big dreams, and what it actually takes to build something from scratch. Connect with us @sohowsbusiness on IG, X, Facebook, Tiktok, and Linkedin. Send us an email on sohowsbusinesspodcast@gmail.com

Information

  • Creator
    Alma Mabachi
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    32
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Alma Mabachi
  • Show Website
    (So) How's Business?