Sustainability has evolved from being merely a trendy buzzword into a genuine lifestyle, and there are trailblazers who are not only embracing eco-consciousness but also turning it into a remarkable journey of change. We sat down with Nelly Gesare, a remarkable woman who wears many hats- wife, mother, and the visionary force behind Greenthing, a sustainable brand that makes eco-friendly products as a creative medium to start conversations around climate change and sustainability. Prepare to be inspired, enlightened, and captivated by her entrepreneurship journey, her passion for sustainability, and her commitment to conscious consumerism. Nelly Gesare is definitely on a mission to redefine what it means to be a force of change in today’s world.
Who is Nelly?
What sparked the fuse that called you to fight for sustainability and the environment?
I am a trained journalist by profession, and when I was doing stories back then, I realized that Africa’s climate stories are not told by us. I started advocating for the environment and climate change because of the elitist language that was used when communicating about this topic which inevitably was difficult to comprehend among various community members.
If you’re going to share information and provide solutions, then you better make sure that the community that is supposed to be acting upon those suggestions understand what you are talking about. I wanted climate change talk to be more layman, more relevant, more reasonable, and more at reach because as it is at the moment, I still feel it’s out of reach for most Africans and for most Kenyans to take action.
Tell us who Nelly is, where you grew up, and the life that led you to this point in your journey
My name is Nelly Gesare Oteki, I am 35 years old and I come from Nyamira County. I grew up in the village and left there when I was around 19 years old. I had a fairly nice childhood; my mother was a primary school teacher and my father is a businessman up to now. Through business, he is still able to impact a community and I think I’m really inspired by both parties in the sense that I can use a little bit of education and a little bit of business to create an impact in my community.
Nelly on all things self-care
Self-care to me means taking a pause and really looking inward, that’s more the abstract bit of self-care but there’s also the tangible bit of self-care. Buying products that don’t contain toxins, pampering yourself, a little conscious retail therapy, and even having a photoshoot are all forms of self-care. But I think it’s truly about taking a pause to look at yourself and evaluate what you need in order to be able to face tomorrow properly.
What is your go-to self-care practice?
My go-to self-care practice is as simple as pausing. In a capitalistic society, we are constantly working, moving, and trying to keep up with deadlines that we rarely remember to pause in order to truly reflect on where we’ve come from and where we’re going. If your mind is constantly busy, there’s no way you can clearly create a roadmap of where you want to go so yes, pausing is my go-to self-care practice.
Self-care to me means taking a pause and really looking inward, that’s more the abstract bit of self-care. I think it’s truly about taking a pause to look at yourself and evaluate what you need in order to be able to face tomorrow properly.
But also, I believe it shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to take care of yourself. You can look into your pantry, there’s a lot of DIY ingredients there that you can use to make yourself look and feel good. You can step outside, get an aloe vera plant, scrape the gel out of it, and apply it as a face mask. I read somewhere that the more you do stuff with your hands, the more your mind relaxes. I think we should have an attitude change towards what self-care truly means and do what feels good to you as an individual. If it makes you relax, then you are truly taking care of yourself.
What’s a self-care hack you have and think everyone should try?
I have three favourite pantry-inspired self-care hacks. The first one involves using oats, I feel that if something is good enough to eat, then it’s definitely good enough for your body. I love my pedicures with a cup of oats in them. Oats help to soften your feet, all you need is some warm water and a cup of oats. Soak your feet for a few minutes and then use a ‘Longonot popcorn’ aka pumice stone to scrub your feet. I promise you, your feet are going to feel remarkably soft after.
The second one is a hair hack and it involves using cloves. Cloves have been used traditionally as a way to ‘awaken’ hair follicles. All you have to do is put a few cloves in a spray bottle, add about 500ml of water, and let that mixture rest for an hour. You can then use this clove water to occasionally spritz your hair. I actually use this mixture on my daughter’s hair because it’s completely nontoxic. Another haircare hack I can share involves making a vinegar rinse to act as your conditioner or pre-wash. All you need is one part vinegar and three parts of water, put this in a bottle, and voila! You have a very effective conditioner/ pre-wash and this works for any hair type.
We know that you are an advocate for green beauty. What’s your favourite green beauty brand at the moment?
Whenever I’m exploring different green beauty brands, I tend to prefer ones owned by women. For a very long time, men have been making things for women so when I see products made by women for women, I definitely tend to favor such makeup/beauty brands. The one I am experimenting with at the moment is Lelu Botanics, but I have also tried Bu.ke. Those are my two current favorite green beauty brands.
Entrepreneurship journey & building Greenthing
Can you share the story behind the inception of your sustainable brand and what inspired you to start this journey?
Sometimes we tend to assume that somebody else is going to take action, and then it eventually ends up being too late to initiate any change. If you feel like something should change, take the initiative and be the first to start that transformation. Greenthing did not start as a home care products brand, I just wanted to use journalism as a medium to create more awareness around sustainability and climate change. I wanted to shoot content around climate change that would be easy to understand. However, it was quite challenging for me to get access to the capital I needed to shoot that kind of content. One thing we don’t really talk about is how difficult it is to have access to capital as an African woman because oftentimes, we are analyzed based on risk instead of growth.
In 2019, I really got into conscious consumerism; questioning my everyday purchasing decisions. It was then that I started using things like a bamboo toothbrush, dry body brush, and metal straws and documenting this shift. That thought-provoking nudge around shopping for everyday products with sustainability in mind is truly why Greenthing is what it is right now.
What was the first product you ever made?
The first product I ever made was a reusable nursing pad which is not part of the collection of the over 30 products that I currently have at Greenthing. I remember I was out working on a freelance gig when my son was 5 months old and the milk was just leaking out of my white blouse. I wanted to create something to fix that problem not just for myself, but for other women as well. The nursing pads may not be part of Greenthing products, but the ethos behind my brand is to create products that solve a problem or start a conversation on important matters.
You’ve created over 30 amazing products, what would you say is your favourite product so far?
It’s difficult to pick a favourite but I like products that are multipurpose. The whole basis of going green is to have products that are multi-functional, save money, and reduce waste. For that reason, my favorite product has to be our reusable cotton unpaper towels. I use them for cleaning after my children, removing excess oil from food, and they can also be used as hankies.
My proudest moment so far with Greenthing is meeting people who have changed their lifestyle based on the information I share rather than the products I sell.
Business challenges & triumphs
What were the most significant challenges you faced as a female entrepreneur in Kenya, and how did you overcome them?
There are so many reasons why most African-owned businesses never go past the start-up phase, access to capital is one of them. As I mentioned earlier, we are usually analyzed based on risk, we will never be on the same scale with men because men are always perceived as the ones capable of scaling a business. In terms of capital, I guess women just don’t look like they can deliver.
I started Greenthing with just KES 8,000 and I remember the first product I had sold out in two days. I had to gradually start putting back money into the business for two years straight and I didn’t have a salary. I also didn’t have any stuff per se but as the brand grew, I started having people coming to join me.
Could you tell us about a particularly proud moment or accomplishment that stands out in your journey?
My proudest moment so far with Greenthing is meeting people who have changed their lifestyle based on the information I share rather than the products I sell. When I randomly see people taking oranges and vinegar and using that to make a cleaner for their house or office and then tagging Greenthing, it means the movement is there. We don’t always have to be buying things.
Balancing Womanhood & entrepreneurship
As a role model for aspiring women entrepreneurs, how do you believe your journey has empowered other women to pursue their dreams?
My journey as an entrepreneur started at the lowest point in my life. My daughter was born sick and we had to spend everything we had to basically keep her alive. There was no time to even deal with my body after giving birth. Our focus was on ensuring she had a better chance at life like any other child or like our son did. I think this is something that a lot of women go through, but they go through it quietly because there’s the notion that if a child is born sick, the mother is to blame. I hope that having gone through that difficult phase and still being able to speak my mind while advocating for the planet inspires other women. No matter what you are going through, your voice matters and change starts with you.
Have you found any strategies or practices that help you strike a balance between your personal and professional life?
That’s a tough one and I think we’ve been very unfair to our parents, because we always thought they were superhuman. We always assume that they have stopped growing and they know everything which is not the case. One thing I tell my kids is that as much as they are growing, I’m also growing so I hope I have raised them better to cut me some slack when I’m not perfect. Don’t work yourself up too much, to strike a balance between motherhood and work I’ve just had to make peace with myself that I am not a perfect human being and I’ve taught my kids to know that I am not perfect or superhuman.
Who or what inspires you to keep pushing forward in your entrepreneurial journey, especially during times of uncertainty?
I’ll have to say my husband, in this world there are people who are so balanced and objective and he is definitely one of those people. I am a very creative and opinionated person so I tend to get caught up in my creative bubble where I could have five answers for one question so I end up being exhausted due to overthinking. Sharing my creative ideas with my husband and having him push me to do more really helps to center me; we’ve been together for 13 years now. The second group of people who push me to do better and continue to grow is the Greenthing audience. I never expected that we could have a social-based business. If I take too long before launching a product, they check up on me and this constantly keeps me on my toes.
Lessons learned & future vision
Looking back at your experiences, what key lessons have you learned about entrepreneurship, womanhood, and sustainability that you’d like to share with other aspiring women?
There are three pivotal lessons I’ve learned over the last 4 years of running Greenthing and probably 10 years of fantasizing about Greenthing. One is that you need to start! Whatever business venture you are thinking about, just start. Perfectionism and comparison steal joy and hinder us from taking action. As I mentioned earlier, Greenthing was supposed to be a TV show. I wanted it to be like a proper BBC feature where I would interview somebody in Australia about solar panels or inverters. Or talk to someone in Turkana about wind energy and how it’s impacting their lives but as you know, that didn’t happen. I had to pivot and find another way to still speak about the things I care about.
Don’t compare yourself and be realistic about where you are. If you only have 8,000 shillings to start your business, start from there and then build up on that. The second thing I learned is the importance of finding joy in the things you’ve already achieved. I know that’s a cliché statement but when you truly stop and look at least at three things you have achieved over the last 10 years; you will definitely have a mindset shift. Taking stock motivates you and acts as an encouraging reminder to stop getting worked up because eventually, your goals will come to fruition. But this won’t happen if you don’t put in the work.
The third lesson is that nobody is coming to save you, absolutely nobody! The retail space in Kenya can be vicious. Somebody once told me that “if it works in Kenya, then best believe it’s going to work in most places”. Our country is one of those places where if you are trying to do a proof-of-concept, everything can either work for you or work against you, and nobody is going to guide you. Nevertheless, you have to continuously keep pushing yourself.
What are your aspirations for the future of your sustainable brand and its impact on both the community and the environment?
After running Greenthing for four years as a business which is mostly retail, it doesn’t impress me as much. I would want to have a community and a sustainable living hub where people can learn about remaking. A ‘shoe hospital’ for instance where cobblers can come together…because there’s a certain way we look at sustainability as this nice, fancy wonderful concept when in reality, it shouldn’t be just a concept, it’s the ideal way of life. If something still has life in it, why are we throwing it away?
Can we instead come up with a space where we empower all these people who have always been repairing? Can we have classes where we learn how to sew our own clothes? We don’t always have to buy a new blouse for work or for a wedding simply because it doesn’t have a zip or a button. To have a space where we truly can break down what living sustainably means, that would be a dream come true! To have Greenthing more of a community project, rather than a business is the ultimate goal.
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us, this conversation is so important because it has the potential to inspire and empower countless aspirational women looking to make a positive impact through entrepreneurship and sustainability.
