Being the child of a billionaire is often a guarantee to a brighter future. But not for Mary-Ann Musangi, 46, the little known daughter of Kenyan billionaire and industrialist, Chris Kirubi. Below are some amazing personality attributes revealed in an interview published in Business Daily on July 14th, which make her different from other billionaire children.
Entrepreneurial
Like father like daughter. In the interview, she reveals that she is great with people and she’s also learning to be great at being a restaurateur. Olpul — a Maasai name meaning ‘celebration’— is her second restaurant, after Secret Garden, a continental restaurant cafe in 14- Riverside Drive, Nairobi.
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“Part of what I’m doing with my brands like Olpul is to show the richness and the beauty of Kenya. We don’t have to import brands from America or England or South Africa or Dubai. We can develop and create them ourselves. We have meat that is very high quality that can be exported. We have ingredients that are first class. My belief is that we need to showcase Kenya a little bit more. We as Kenyans need to be proud of Kenya a little bit more,” she says.
Educated
Most sons and daughters from rich parents abandon school, only to realize their mistake later in life when the chance is gone. Mary-Anne went for books and now she holds an MSc in Management from the University of Surrey, UK. Following her education, she had for 15 years, been in branding management at Coca-Cola, KCB, GlaxoSmithKline and Ogilvy & Mather before quitting to be a mother and take a stab at entrepreneurship.
She’s also a director at Sidian Bank and sits on various boards.
She admires Oprah Winfrey
She(Winfrey) is the person she would like to meet either dead or alive. This is what she says about Winfrey, “She’s a strong woman. I’d ask her how she copes with the bad days and how she keeps going. I’d also ask her how she ensures that success is not just your own, but for the people that you work with, the people you encounter.
She is married, and a mother
“I’m a mum. That’s my first job and priority; being a mother and a wife, and then a daughter. I’m proudly Kenyan. I love to work hard. I’m very passionate about what I do,” she says.
She is a patriot
Despite having studied abroad, she came back to spend most her time in the country, as well as doing business with Kenyans. “Part of what I’m doing with my brands like Olpul is to show the richness and the beauty of Kenya. We don’t have to import brands from America or England or South Africa or Dubai.
We can develop and create them ourselves,” she says. “We have meat that is very high quality that can be exported. We have ingredients that are first class. My belief is that we need to showcase Kenya a little bit more. We as Kenyans need to be proud of Kenya a little bit more.”
READ: Seven lifestyle changes you must make to become successful
Her parents are divorced, but she loves them
“I’m from a divorced home so I never got an opportunity to experience family life in that respect. My father was an orphan. He grew up on the streets. Yes, people say he’s proud, but he deserves to be proud considering where he’s reached, from where he came from,” she says. “My mother is a lovely lady. She’s very low key. She’s very hardworking too. She’s retired now. She loves her kids. Her life is her children.”
She is faint-hearted
She calls herself softie, to mean faint-hearted. She says, “I’m such a softie especially when it comes to my staff. I’m a ka-madhe. If they come to me with a sob story I will feel for them. I guess being soft on your people can sometimes…hurt your business. But I like to see the best in people.”
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