‍By TopUp Mama

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Tell us a little bit about yourself. How would you describe yourself other than the usual Head of Growth title that we all know you by?

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(Laughs) Wow! How do I describe myself? I am Emmaculate, a Sales professional, a mother of 2, and an avid go-getter! 

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What does a typical workday look like for you? 

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I don't really have a typical work day/week because having recently shifted my focus from Country Manager to Head of Growth, I interact with all the company’s stakeholders. I wake up at 5 am and stay active until 8 pm, with a brief break over lunch sometimes. I always adjust my schedule to what’s needed of me at the moment to keep things going. This includes meetings with customers, internal meetings, supplier meetings, or sometimes I am at the office reviewing the performance of different aspects of the business. 

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Working at a startup is crazy - sometimes you need to put in much more hours to ensure everything is going swiftly. I am grateful for my most significant support system - my family. They all understand how it can get and have adjusted to my crazy schedule. 

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Is this your first experience at a Startup?  

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Oh no! I was at an ISP company in Kenya first before I joined the team at TopUp Mama so this environment is not so foreign to me. 

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Why TopUp Mama?

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I was hungry for a different challenge when I came across the opportunity to join TopUp Mama. I had worked at my previous job for about  5 years and was looking for a different challenge. 

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What’s exciting about what the team is doing at TopUp Mama? 

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I am a big fan of how the whole team is always striving to improve the quality of the products and services offered to our customers. The fact that we are all always open to change and quick to adapt to new directions in an ever-changing environment is admirable. 

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What has been the most exciting achievement this year? 

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The growth we have witnessed this year has been tremendous! From redefining our target audience to one that actually brings the company revenue to launching our own app! We have built a team that is aligned with the mission of the company. This has been one of our biggest achievements this year as we have had to bend backward to attain some huge objectives. 

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Any major challenges? How did you overcome those? 

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We had to switch our focus to a market segment that actually grows the company. This meant we had to understand this new segment and their behaviour so as to adapt to serving them in the market. This phase cost us a lot of money and time as we had to implement different strategies and fail at them before finding the right fit.  

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What kind of leader are you?

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I am a coach and mentor who despises micromanaging. I explain the direction to my teammates and ensure they get to what we agreed on. 

I am decisive and tough, but also a great listener. 

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Favourite feature on the TopUp Mama app

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I like the concept of the whole platform - a single source for all your supplies. We are saving our customers so much time by sourcing the products they need, and delivering them to their business premises at no cost! Procurement managers in the hospitality industry spend a lot of time sourcing products, waiting for price confirmations, and then anticipating deliveries. Our platform shows all the prices in real-time, thus saving these professionals a lot of time they can use to be innovative. 

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When you’re not working, what do you like to do? 

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I am introverted but tend to adapt to new environments and groups quickly. The nature of my career forces me to speak up but I am rather reserved. Therefore when I am not at work, you will find me at home with the family, either watching a movie, sharing a meal, or having any other intimate family moments.

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Favourite Kenyan restaurant? 

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It has to be CJs. Anytime my family wants to eat out, we always find ourselves heading to CJs. 

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Emmaculate is TopUp Mama’s Head of Growth with experience in sales and distributorship, growth, strategy, and operations. Connect with Emmaculate on LinkedIn 

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