In the high echelons of corporate culture, characterised by ostentatious symbols, Catherine Musakali’s handbag offers an interesting physical allegro of life. The handbag—a modest, bijou lump of unobtrusive leather—says so little, it says so much.
A few years ago, she embarked on a journey to carry less clutter with her, a decluttering journey of her possessions and of her life because clutter takes one away “from the moment of the day.”
Catherine is a co-founder and chairperson of The Women on Boards Network (WOBN), an initiative aimed at promoting and encouraging women into board leadership.
WOBN now boasts over 1,000 members, channeling female talent into boardrooms where decisions shape national commerce. She sits on four boards and views these roles through the lens of service rather than status, suggesting that influence, like her modest handbag, needs no elaborate packaging to make its presence felt.
What are women in corporations most curious about on boards?
They want to know how to get on a board, who to speak with. They want to know about the next opportunity and if they can get on a board at the stage they are in their careers. If they are already on board, their questions would be around; do you have a better board I can get on? A bigger board.
Why do you think people want to get on board? Is it validation, self-actualisation?
Those two reasons are valid, but there is more to it. When you sit on boards, you suddenly realise that being on a board is about service because however much I am paid to sit on a board, the potential liability is huge.
Assume you're paid, for argument's sake, Sh200,000 every session for a board meeting. Do you know the discussions could lead to a potential liability of millions of dollars? The board fees are never enough to take care of the potential liability you carry as a board member.
And so, for me, the first thing should always be service. Secondly, I want to make a difference, to be part of the sustainability of X Company. Just seeing the company thrive is reason enough for me to be part of that journey.
Service. That’s a word you hear a lot. Would you say that for most people getting into a board is driven, not by service, but by ego and financial drive, a chance to position themselves professionally?
That’s also true. Boards open up several opportunities for people. It could be the networks. There is also the money that helps sort one's needs. Boards could also be the opening to the next opportunity as an employee, or even in business.
But at the end of the day, what boards do mainly is focus on strategy, that is what should energise a board member.
Look, if I sit on a board and my motivation is how much money I am making, do you know what I'll do every day? I'll be in management asking 'When are we going to this place for training? When are we going to this place for a board meeting? What are we doing?' That's because every time we do, there's something for me.
Do you want to be known as the Board Lady?
[Laughs] I want to be known as Catherine. The position should never define who we are. If I’m defined by my position, what happens then when I lose the board position? Who am I then?
How many boards do you sit on?
[Laughs] Right now? I try to avoid boards and I will tell you why. Because I am also in consulting In three paragraphs, what do you do for a living?
I'm a lawyer by profession, but I have focused on corporate governance because that's what kicks me.
Corporate governance is really about consultants consulting for boards, advising senior management teams on their governance arrangements, and practices, and developing their frameworks.
We do board evaluations and governance audits. We develop board charters, and all that. So, that's what I do for a living. I've been at it since 2023 when I stepped out of formal employment. My last role was as Head of Legal and Company Secretary of Shell. It's still a governance role. I was there for 15 years. It was a good run.
What I learned in Shell positioned me for what I'm doing now. Before that, I was at UAP Provincial Insurance. I was also their Head of Legal and Company Secretary. I've only had two employers in my entire life.
Where did you get the idea that you could be a lawyer?
From my father. My father was a teacher and loved governance. He had structures for everything in our home village home in Bungoma and I admired him for that. As I grew up, I was told that those sorts of structures were mainly done by governance people.
When time came to pick a university course, the closest degree to governance was law. I had done some research and established that if I became a lawyer, I could work as a company secretary, I didn't need to take any other exams, hence my love for law and governance.
Dorion Associates Managing partner Catherine Musakali poses for a picture on January 27, 2025 at The Social House in Nairobi.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
Do you think about money a lot in this season of your life?
[Pause] That’s an interesting question. I think about money only when I need to purchase something. However, in the past, I would think a lot about money as I tried to invest to make sure that I'm okay in future.
On that note, I've been thinking of taking some of these financial products that can help me in the future when I move back to Bungoma in the next 10 years or so and live the rest of my life there. I'm about 50 now and my wish is to have a comfortable life in the village farming on my little farm.
Farming is challenging. Sometimes you put a lot of resources into it and yet you don't reap. I want to be able to do farming and not be anxious about making money. My farming will give me something to eat and take care of my medical bills. And yes, maybe enable me to go on one holiday a year.
Do you think about retirement a lot now that you are in your 50s?
No. I wouldn’t say I do. I think this is because I’m having the best of both lives now; I stay here but I go to the village each month.
Right. So, when you go to the village I assume you are going to your parent’s place? Where is your husband from? He’s from Bungoma. [Chuckles].
Oh, didn’t graze too far, did you?
[Laughs] No. But he’s not from the same village. So when I go to see my mother ( my father is deceased), I also find time to go see my mother-in-law. My father-in-law is also deceased, so I find time for both. Because we are so big on family.
What do your children think of village life?
They don't mind it. We made sure that our village home was comfortable for a city child. At the same time, we have kept them in touch with their relatives in the village. So they know their aunties, uncles, and cousins.
They like it there. My eldest is my workmate, by the way. He was born in 1997. The second-born one is three years younger than the first, about to finish college. My daughter, the last born, has just started medical school.
What would you change about you if you could?
I would have started governance earlier because one needs that experience. You need to grow through the ranks of corporate life because you're going to sit at the policy and strategy-making table to advise and to correct and handhold the management.
So, if you haven't gone through that experience, you can really struggle.
What do you do when not sitting on these boards?
I love a good read. I love nature. I like to travel, see, and experience new places. Someone like Dr Wala (Amakove), I admire that spirit of traveling and exploring.
Who would you like to have tea with if you had a chance?
Mother Teresa. I would like to know what drove her to detach herself from personal needs, from the world, and find purpose in service to others. I think it’s fascinating to have that level of dedication and detachment from all these things we depend on or think we need. I think people who lead such lives are happy.
Are you happy?
I am very happy. But I am not as detached as she was.
What's attacking you?
The need to survive. The need to have. I think Mother Theresa had only one outfit. She was completely detached from owning anything worldly. Most of the things we have are excesses that we can do without. I'm starting that journey of decluttering.
Look at my handbag [It’s a tiny one], it’s very modest, isn’t it? That was intentional because I have found that many times we carry baggage that takes us away from the moment and we start living in the past. My handbag is small so that I can carry very little.
Your handbag is a metaphor for your life now.
It is. I want to carry very little in my life. I keep telling people to be a rolling stone, a smooth rolling stone. You know what that means? It means it doesn't gather things on it. It just moves on. So just move on. Just go.
Don't have too many hang-ups. So, I try to declutter, go through my wardrobe, and see what I don't need. I go through my house and give away things I don’t need. If you come to my house and see a chair you like, a chair I haven’t sat on for long, I will give it to you.
Really?
[Laughs] Honestly.
When did you decide to reduce the size of your handbag?
About 10 years ago. It’s something that I have been trying to achieve; not to have hang-ups.
What triggered this shift?
Being a perfectionist, I realised that when I made a mistake, I would spend days on end talking at myself, scolding myself, being very hard on myself. And I said, but this is not going to take me anywhere.
I need to focus on when the next opportunity is so that I don't miss it. I felt lighter for it. I see opportunities where I’d previously spent too much time scolding myself. I stopped being blinded by grudges. I started traveling light through life. To live for the moment. To be present in the room I am in, the seat I sit on.
What's been your toughest year?
When I had to leave my family here to work in the UK. They were enjoyable years, yes, but they were tough because I felt like I was alone and I had abandoned them. My daughter was just a year old. Thankfully, it wasn't too long.
