YellowCard Regional Marketing Manager in charge of East Africa, Florence Githinji. PHOTO | POOL
There is something that Florence Githinji likes to do when she is speaking. She pauses. Then gestures. Then speaks, slowly at first, then in ricochets, like a misfiring fun, almost as if she is pulling the words out of her mouth with her fingers.
Like a surgeon, she is precise with her thoughts, not a word wrong, not a phrase out of place. So, to understand her, you ought to be patient.
Patience is also what it took for her to get to YellowCard where she serves as the Regional Marketing Manager in charge of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda. YellowCard is a crypto company in Africa that enables its users to buy and sell crypto with various payment options.
Before YellowCard was her beginning at Rupu, where she was a community manager, later joining Ringier. Spotting a window of opportunity at Microsoft, she jumped ship to become Microsoft’s first Social Media Manager for East Africa, then later for the larger Middle Eastern Africa.
We meet at Ikigai, Lavington, along James Gichuru Road, where, watching her stride through the hallway is to be given a lesson in another Japanese koan: Kinstugi. The art of putting broken pieces back together with gold, built on the idea that in embracing flaws and mistakes you can create an even stronger, more beautiful piece of art.
Breaking the glass ceiling may have cut her here and there, not that you would know from the smile permanently plastered on her face, a smile that is sort of an origami of chipmunky and schoolmarish, mischievous if not Machiavellian, like she knows a secret and she can’t wait to tell you.
What’s it like being you?
It is an adventure. I am always looking for the next thing to grow. Whether as a person or at work, there is always another challenge. But I can also be very exhausted, so to speak. The journey is exhausting because I can’t miss it for five minutes to just sit and smell the flowers. I have to intentionally ground myself.
Have the shards of glass cut you while breaking the proverbial ceiling?
You know, you can’t play with glass and walk away scot-free? I guess the question then is how deep it cuts. Especially if you are trying to do something different. The risks will always be there.
For instance?
It can be lonely. To go through a journey that few people have been, especially if there is no clear path? Lonely. You meet people along the way, and you might seem too aggressive, open, or demanding to them. Those things sit with you and can cost you your progress in certain instances.
Are you married?
Not at the moment. The ring is just a decoy haha!
How do you let off steam?
I know I work hard, sometimes too hard. But I remember the grounding thing. I identify things that keep me grounded- yoga, long walks with my dog, and a bit of boxing. Anything that takes me away from work.
Why boxing?
When I am in a boxing session, I get mentally and physically engrossed. I think of nothing else. I really like it because it is stimulating but not in a way that makes me exhausted.
What part of boxing do you dislike?
The anticipation of starting the session, haha! Once I start, I am good, but just before, it's nerve-wracking!
What do you do just for yourself?
Hiking. And it has been a consistent thing for the past decade. It was the one thing I wanted to celebrate as a milestone. Drinking and partying weren’t all that. Hiking is how I got that extra high.
What is the one destination you hiked that has stayed with you?
Mt Kilimanjaro because I got to the summit. But don’t ask me which is easier, between Kilimanjaro and Mt Kenya. People who don’t hike ask me that question.
But what’s easier, though?
Kilimanjaro or Mt Kenya? Haha! I’ll say Mt Kenya, but you are coercing me. Kilimanjaro was brutal though the summit was worth it, especially since it was my first time.
That was a risk.
Yes, I take risks. But do I like taking risks? Do I think I am taking risks at that moment? Perhaps not. When I am doing it, I am never thinking about the risks. I just push on.
Florence Githinji, YellowCard Regional Marketing Manager in charge of East Africa, on Mt Kenya. PHOTO | POOL
Bush or beach?
Bush. After two days at the beach, I am bored. Have you experienced the sunset at the Mara watching hippos? You know I am a hopeless romantic. Those sun rays during breakfast? Bliss. Now that’s what I call romance. At the beach, the sand just goes everywhere. And the way your skin just burns…I mean, come on!
Do you travel a lot?
I travel often. I segment my year into quarters; so I can travel with people.
What is the first thing you do in a new place?
I find out where the quickest bar is and where the best wine is haha! I always want to know where I can hang out, whether alone or with somebody. That becomes my safe space in a sense. When I get bored, I go to that place as my whoosa place. It makes me feel at home.
Tell me about your me-time?
There are two ways to my me-time. There are days of a cup of coffee and a lot of nature. If that means me being in the most expensive place that would furrow the eyebrow of a finance guru, then so be it. I am willing to make compromises for a serene place that has nature. It just doesn’t have to be bourgeoise. But as long as I can leave the house and see a river, or trees, I am in paradise. The other is that I like going to forest sanctuaries for walks.
What is it about nature that calls you?
I grew up in shags (the village). We were very privileged because there were acres of land and we would wake up to see the moon. Now that I think about it, we are working so hard to afford it. I grew up surrounded by nature. It became part of me.
How long have you been with your dog?
It'll be three and five months in December. His name is Lawi, a dachshund. I got him at the height of Covid. I had always wanted a dog, but the world pre-Covid was too fast-paced. With Covid and working-from-home arrangements, I could now get a dog..
What does Lawi say about you?
Outside of how much he loves me and that we never spend enough time together? He’ll probably say that I should loosen up a little. And then maybe I should see the world with his eyes a lot more. He is the smallest dog in our compound but he pretends that he is the biggest.
What’s the soundtrack of your life right now?
I am clueless to music. I am not the person who wakes up and puts on music. I don’t have that deep intimate relationship with music. Are there other people like me out there?
We should start a support system. I feel very judged right now haha! I know a song though that was playing today. [ I've been drinking more alcohol for the past five days. Did you check on me? Now, did you look for me?] Great song, but I have not been drinking haha!
What food comes to mind when you think of the weekend?
A lot of pasta and some chips somewhere. I love exploring restaurants, a very expensive hobby.
What is that one book that has stayed with you?
Man’s Search for Meaning by Franz Kafka and Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande. Being Mortal stayed with me because presently, a lot of our parents are getting to the age where they will not be able to take care of themselves in the next 20 years. Are we doing enough to prepare ourselves for that responsibility of being their caregivers?
What is an unusual habit or absurd thing that you love?
I watch a lot of reality TV—with the exception of The Kardashians. It is just mindless television. Your brain might die a little but that’s why you read haha! Balance, no?
Yes. What’s the dumbest thing you’ve spent money on?
I spend money on random things. Could be just a bottle of wine that looked nice. There is a wine I bought from Cape Town just the other day, and it looked so nice! I don’t even have any intention of drinking it but it just called me. And I answered.
What is a weekend hack you know?
Time with friends and family. It is easy to get lost in your own world. But there is nothing as rewarding and fulfilling as friends and family.
Lately what have you become good at saying no to?
Fear. It’s a cliché answer, but I don’t like doing safe stuff. See, this is very nerve-wracking for me. This is my year of being bold over safe. When I get to a point of making a decision and I have two options, I ask myself, "Which of these is the bold decision?" I take that one. Do you know I had said no to this interview? Haha! Bold over safe!
What’s on your bucket list?
[Thinks long and hard] I see a world where I build something to do with children. Maybe a foundation. One of my favourite things is Food 4 Education, something along those lines. It’s one of those things that burn in me. I need to start figuring it out.
Do you have a secret talent that nobody knows about?
Is sarcasm a talent? Because I can use it in numerous groups to pass a message.
Who do you know that I should know?
My grandmother.
Why?
She is the epitome of all the things I admire which are love, courage, and her ability to fight for herself and her descendants. We are privileged that she is our grandmother. To know her is to love her.
What do you think your grandmother has learned from you?
That she did a good job when she watches all of us succeeding in life. That her genes stuck somewhere.
Tell me a special memory between the two of you?
Now you will make me cry. I should go see her next weekend. I am named after her, Florence Githinji. I knew that she always had a soft spot for me, cognisant of the fact that grandmothers generally just have soft spots for their grandchildren. It’s the way she holds my hand, and now that she has dementia, how she will randomly remember my name. It’s a lot of things combined that remind me I am deeply loved and special to somebody.
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