Loise Akinyi started from the bottom, collecting metal scraps for a paltry Sh200 a day.
Big Break came in 2013 after meeting a metal fabricator who added value to the metal sheets and made them into stoves.
Biggest Step has been taking a big risk and sinking her savings into the male-dominated sector. Over time she has invested in new skills and joined a women group that lends her soft loans.
Growth of her business has been propelled by spread of word about her quality products.
Kibuye Market in Kisumu Town is usually a busy market with traders selling all kinds of products. It is here that we meet Loise Akinyi in a white and black apron.
Beside her is a heap of scrap metal with which she models jikos, which use both charcoal and firewood as fuel. In her trade they are called improved jikos owing to their ability to use both forms of fuel and efficiently.
She is one of the few women thriving in the male-dominated metal fabricating sector and has not let the associated stereotypes put her down.
Before she ventured into the business of making jikos, Ms Akinyi, 36 would spend her days collecting metal scraps for sell to smelting companies. On a good day she would take home Sh150 to Sh200.
Then in 2013 she met a fabricator who would turn the scrap metal into well jointed frames and sell complete jikos in the market.
Not being one to let a good opportunity to pass her by, she invested Sh10,000 of her savings in the business. Today, not only is she self-employed, but is providing employment as well.
In a day, Akinyi and her workers can fabricate at least ten complete jikos.
Her income has grown more than ten fold to earn her an average Sh70,000 per month and Sh100,000 during the rainy seasons.
Most sales happen in within Kisumu, but as word spread about her products, buyers have come from as a far as Kakamega, Kisii and Bomet.
To grow her business, Ms Akinyi says she takes every opportunity to attend workshops to sharpen her skills and business acumen.
“We have table banking system amongst women groups doing the same nature of business. This way we can borrow soft loans to expand our businesses,” said Ms Akinyi.
The enterprise has its share of challenges. She says working with dishonest workers can be drawback.
“Previously some of the workers would steal the metal claddings and sell them elsewhere. However, I found a safe place to stock my products,” she says.
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