Women in business filled a room in Juja on Friday to hear a founder tell them the truth about running a company: balance is a myth, frugality is not optional, and a “women led” label will never replace a strong product.
The Kenya Association of Manufacturers held the sixth Fireside Chat of its Women in Manufacturing Programme at Space and Style Limited, pulling together women from across manufacturing and business for a conversation on entrepreneurship, leadership, resilience and what it actually takes to keep a company standing when the market gets hard.
A Founder Who Built In A Field Built For Men
Winnie Ngumi, Founder and Managing Director of Space and Style and Chair of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers’ Building, Mining and Construction Sector, hosted the event. Under her leadership, Space and Style manufactures and distributes Asili stone-coated roofing tiles, Frametech light-gauge steel roof trusses, and ECO building solutions across Kenya’s built environment—demonstrating strong female leadership in a historically male-dominated industry.
Ngumi skipped the polished success story. She spoke instead about the parts founders usually leave out, and pushed the women in the room to run their businesses with discipline, courage and honesty. She also pressed them to join industry associations like KAM, arguing that the networks, knowledge and doors that come with membership are worth more than most entrepreneurs realise.
Money First, Balance Never Guaranteed
On finances, Ngumi kept it simple: watch every shilling. Entrepreneurs who treat spending as an afterthought do not last, she said, and frugality has to become a habit, not a crisis response. That habit now carries extra weight, as Kenya’s tightening tax rules push every business, including the ones run from a single desk, to keep cleaner records of what comes in and what goes out.
She was direct about balance. For a founder building something from nothing, an even split between work and life rarely happens. What matters more, she said, is recognising which season the business is in and staying deliberate about how that season gets managed, rather than chasing a balance that may not exist yet.
Build The Brand First, Wear The Label Second
Ngumi’s sharpest point landed on branding. She told women to stand behind what sets their products apart and to stay clear eyed about the value they bring to the market, rather than leaning on being a “woman led business” as the main selling point.
Recognition as a woman in business has real worth, she said, but it cannot be the only thing propping up a brand. Buyers respond to quality at the point of sale. A label can open a door, and programmes aimed at women owned businesses can help fund the growth behind it, but the product still has to earn the trust and hold its own once the door closes.
A Programme Built To Keep The Conversation Going
The Fireside Chat sits inside a wider push. Kenya’s manufacturing sector has been working to grow jobs and competitiveness, and the Women in Manufacturing Programme is one of the tools built to bring more women into that growth, through shared experience rather than theory.
That was the real purpose of Friday’s session: a space where women could talk honestly about what success costs, learn from each other, and walk out with something practical to apply. Through gatherings like this one, the programme keeps building a community where women in manufacturing find each other, trade lessons and draw confidence from people walking the same road.
By Rose Indekhwa Abuli
