You don’t have to start out as an expert in order to run a successful business. From stories far and beyond, many entrepreneurs have started their businesses without money or financial backing. Similarly over the years, plenty of entrepreneurs have found success in fields where they had no previous experience. So whether you’re young and considering starting your very first business, or just getting started in a different field, we hope that Liz Kilili, Chief Mechanic and Founder of Creatives Garage and Sondeka Festival; Author and Director of Femmolution book and album, will give you that dose of inspiration for your new venture.
Liz Kilili started her first venture which would eventually become the most successful empire for creatives countrywide from scratch at a tender age. With no formal higher education or business training, she took on the acclivous task towards becoming a successful entrepreneur. A businesswoman at heart, Liz derives her inspiration from her mother who was a serial entrepreneur. At six years Liz happened to be the only one who owned a bicycle in the neighbourhood, and would charge the children 50cts to two shillings depending on the distance to ride her bicycle. In addition to that, she would spend her evenings making popsicles and sell to the neighbourhood the next day, thus earning her pocket money.
Creative Garage – The Journey
When Liz first began her journey, everyone thought that Creatives Garage was an actual garage, so it was only natural that over time she acquired the name “Mechanic”. Being the creative that she was, she took the name, rebranded herself as “The Chief Mechanic” and the name has stuck to date. Creatives Garage began as a dream. Founded in 2012 and registered in 2013. The main aim was to create a space where creatives from all walks of life could come together to network, collaborate and push the boundaries of the creative scene. Five years later, their dream continues to solidify partnering with approximately (and growing) 7,000 creatives who they guide into turning their craft into a source of livelihood. Due to its imminent success, in 2014 Sondeka Festival was birthed, another creative arm of the Creatives Garage. Sondeka is urban slang meaning ‘to create’. Sondeka Festival therefore brings all forms of creativity into one space to collaborate, co-create, and show skills and social innovations for sustainable futures, and has successfully run for the first three years (2014 t0 2016). Today Liz is one of the most sought after talents in her field. She has worked with over 17 NGOs and currently she seats on two boards; Mental Health Organizations and Mum, Baby and Love Trust.
Due to the strong brand that they have built over the years, Liz saw it fit to start a Creatives Garage Agency. What they do is partner with every creative in their database in any given project. With this kind of exposure, creatives have found not only a space to engage, especially when starting out, but also a way to earn income through collaboration, what Liz now calls market access; almost as if they had a staff of over 7,000 creatives! The Create Academy is another arm of the Creatives Garage brand, where master class programs are offered in varying angles. Examples of some of the masterclasses offered are Scriptwriting, Theatre, Film Production, Graphic Design and Directing for Film and TV. They also have Creatives Garage Radio, where they showcase the works of upcoming artistes giving them the much needed audience and market access. To date, over 400 creatives have benefitted from the venture, and for Liz that is just the beginning. In ten years from now, she aims to be a progressive change maker in the creative economy spaces. She has also benefitted hugely from organisations and NGOs such as Hivos and Africalia who are still her supporters to date.
The Rollercoaster Ride
But all has not been rosy for the 34 years old creative. Growing up, Liz suffered periodically with an illness her doctors could not put a finger on. For all her life, not a year would pass by without her being hospitalized. When she turned 16, a year supposedly said to be the turning point of one’s life, Liz found herself hospitalized, this time longer than she and her family were used to. As a result, the doctors ruled that she was severely depressed and prescribed anti-depressants and other medication to stabilize her. However when she got worse, a second diagnosis came into play; meningitis, the doctors said. Her ins and outs of hospital did not stop her though, because it was during these times that Liz was at her highest creative level. Every time she was in a hospital bed, an idea would always arise out of her, leading to a creative genius. On her 33rd birthday, Liz was in the office leading her team through a strategy meeting when her eyes began to lose sight. Slightly shifting her stance, she continued with the strategy meeting. Shortly she could see the words, form them in her head, but for the life of her she was unable to pronounce them. She was rushed to hospital and was in for two days. When she left the hospital, she was still unable to form words as she read, and two days later she was back, this time for a month. “I guess I was on a hospital midterm,” Liz says as she laughs. A month later the physician made a diagnosis on her condition as bipolar.
Knowing that she was bipolar came as a relief for her. 33 years later, a diagnosis had finally been made. Knowing what the problem was made it easier and today she can finally sleep. “For all my years before the diagnosis, sleep was a constant problem. I was always active at night, and no matter how hard I tried, sleep always eluded me,” Liz says. Bipolar is a mental disorder marked by alternating periods of elation and depression. “I am better now,” she says and focuses much better on her projects and work. As a society we have become more open about depression and mental illnesses, and Liz did not feel a need to shy away from the condition. This is what made her join the Mental Health Organization Board, where she helps increase awareness about bipolar syndrome and mental disorders, being a living proof that what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.
Besides sickness, in the course of her work, she has received a backlash for championing for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) rights mostly when it comes to sponsorship of their events. This speaks to the fact that cultural spaces have consistently been perceived as disrespectful to past regimes in the country. However she believes opportunities abound to reclaim these spaces, if only they (the creative community) organise themselves to counter ingrained mind-sets.
Lastly, the creative industry has been suffering for the past two years, as most NGOs are no longer doing funding for creative business. Liz has found herself affected by the new move as she is unable to do as many projects as she would wish too.
Reclaiming the Glory – The Femmolution Way
When Liz got sick in 2016, she suffered a major setback. She had been in the process of planning their biggest event yet, the Sondeka Festival – third edition when all hell broke loose. It had been a slow year, and with the festival they had hoped to regain some of their losses. As she lay on the hospital bed, struggling to breathe and stay alive, she asked for her laptop. Concerned, the doctors first denied her having it, for her sight and her ability to read long sentences had been affected. But upon insistence, they gave it to her. Liz began to document her life journey, recording various stages in her business, personal and social life. She then reached out to her friends on all social media outlets and asked them to send her 300 – 500 worded texts of their various journeys to add onto hers. Their instant cooperation propelled the launch of her first book “Femmolution”. All this in a span of one month, and in the hospital bed, might I add!
Femmolution is a female movement coined from the two words ‘femme’ which is French for ‘woman’, and evolution. It is a call for the evolution of the woman. Femmolution is all feminist. Gender in Africa is an uncomfortable conversation to be had and for centuries, the woman has been oppressed and pushed down. Both men and women avoid the gender topic because we are brought up to believe that both genders have their specific roles to play and the woman’s role is always at home or inferior to man’s in the workplace.
“As females, to be taken seriously, we should tone down our femininity and a true female must be girly, love makeup, dresses and high heels. Why can’t we be both? Why can’t we love politics, sciences and run businesses and still love our high heels and adorn our curves? As one of our role models Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi so aptly put it, ‘We say to girls, you can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful but not too successful; otherwise you will threaten the man.’ If you are the breadwinner in your relationship with a man, pretend that you are not, especially in public, otherwise you will emasculate him,” Liz tells me, and I can see the fire burning in her eyes. She is passionate about this, no denying that. Femmolution works with different female artists from different countries in Africa, through music, poetry and visual art. It talks about what it’s like to be a woman in today’s society. Femmolution is all about self-expression and self-love. And so what started out as death for Liz eventually gave her life!
When she is not spending time in the creative space, Liz loves to spend time with her daughter. “I derive my inspiration from her,” she says as she removes a photo under her glass covered table to show me her gal who looks just like the mother. When her daughter is fast asleep, Liz likes to troll the internet, for all sorts of amazing things can be found there. It is her favourite pastime. She also finds her creative juices flow mostly at night.
“2017 has been slow,” Liz tells me as we conclude our time together. With lesser donor funding and the political instability, the creative industry has really suffered, and so she has not engaged in as many projects as she would have liked. However, this has also given her and her team time to re-strategize as a company, and adjust to the ever changing needs of creatives. Now they are in a new direction. They hope to hold Sondeka Awards, an awards ceremony under the same brand that will recognise the underdog creative, in December. I hope to see you there, as I for sure will be present.
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