Before the salon, I pushed a mkokoteni

By Kelvin Kamau | 5yrs ago | 3 min read

Samuel Karanja almost gave up when his dad scolded him for ‘competing with women’ instead of securing manly and serious jobs. He speaks about his struggles and subsequent success

You can’t miss Sam D’Salonist in Nairobi’s Zimmerman estate. It is a vibrant and busy salon managed by Samuel Karanja, popularly known as Sam D’Salonist.

Before coming to Nairobi, Sam was based in Githunguri, where he transported milk to Kagwe town in his mkokoteni. He did this for four years hoping to save enough money to start a salon.

If he wasn’t pulling his cart, Sam would be washing cars in nearby rivers or working at constructions sites for Sh300 a day.

When he couldn’t bear the heat, he moved to Zimmerman to start a mobile salon using his savings. With no formal training in hair and beauty, Sam says he relied on his braiding skills and creativity even when his father wanted him to be a mechanic.

“I tried to set up a salon in the village but there was too much pressure for me to quit since the market was already flooded by female hairdressers. I almost gave up, especially when my father scolded me for competing with women instead of getting serious manly jobs like being a mechanic,” Sam told CityBiz.

When he dropped out of school in Form One due to lack of school fee, he knew he didn’t want to be a farmer.

“After dropping out of school, I began helping my parents in the farm, but one thing that struck me is that farmers in my village were always complaining of losses,” said the 23-year-old.

“I knew I wasn’t going to take that road and decided to try my luck in the hair industry, despite discouragement from my friends who associated the business with women.”

Unperturbed, Sam moved from county to county braiding and styling women’s hair. Within no time, he started getting referrals from as far as Mombasa.

“I decided to try my hand in hairdressing because men work so hard doing manual jobs only to be paid peanuts,” said the salonist who is very satisfied with his female clientele.

“On the contrary, feminine jobs pay well and clients are readily available,” he told CityBiz, adding that, “I get calls from clients based in Mombasa and Nakuru; all they do is facilitate bus fare and accommodation.”

Sam who has employed 19 people makes around Sh80,000 per month.

“I spent Sh100, 000 to start this salon and I have employed 17 women and two men. Sometimes I don’t believe that I made it this far without papers. God has helped me to relate with people well, I taught myself how to do this job back in the village and it has turned out to be my career,” he said.

“Most of my customers prefer pencil braids, but what has kept us at the top is creating different hairstyles.”