But she just turned 50 earlier this week and that has a way of shifting perspectives and, in this case, sitting before a journalist, tracing the arc of a journey that started as a secretary to the late Mutula Kilonzo, typing 120 words per minute on typewriter, to becoming the Managing Director of Emergency Plus Medical Services (E-Plus) with two Master's degrees in Practicing Management and Management and Business Administration.
Along the way came a husband, two children and an enduring love for cooking and gardening.
True to form, she skims past many of her milestones, barely mentioning that she founded and still remains a director at Switch TV, or that she serves as Vice-Chair of the National Emergency Medical Care Steering Committee.
Yet while she may downplay these accomplishments, she acknowledges their significance and embraces this new chapter of her life. "I have no fear for this new season," she reflects on turning 50.
"Fear hasn't been the emotion driving me thus far, so it won't be the one steering my next chapter."
Of late, I'm getting more nostalgic about my childhood. I've been told I over-romanticise it. Maybe it's age. Do you ever go in the past and reminisce about the little girl you were?
Not always but reading about other people's childhoods reminds me of mine. I grew up in a small estate in Kisumu called 'Moscow'. There were no fences in 'Moscow'.
Your house ran into the neighbours house, which spoke to the community mindset. We were free to interact with each other.
We walked to different schools but the road to school was one. We would go down to a pond near Kicomi (Kisumu Cotton Mills), and fish for tadpoles.
We moulded clay. I enjoyed my childhood. There was never time to watch TV, and in any case TV programming only started at 4pm. My dad was a teacher, the headmaster at Victoria Primary School.
My mom worked for Kenya Post and Telecommunication. We were amongst the few people with telephones in their home. [Chuckle]. So, there was always a neighbour waiting for a call from someone calling from Nairobi or the US. Or waiting for a reverse call. Remember reverse calls?
We were always afraid to misuse the phone because we were sure my mom was listening in from her workplace. [Chuckles]
Did your mom's career influence you in any way, seeing as most mothers were teachers, nurses or stay at home moms?
Of course. Being a working mother, taking care of a large family; eight of us, six boys and two girls, was in itself a testimony on balancing work and motherhood. She was keen to nurture me and make sure I was responsible. And at a young age I started by taking care of my siblings because I'm the third born. I was like a second mom when she was not around.
Did that make motherhood easier for you when you finally became a mother?
[Laughs] Apart from preparing me to manage a home, it's very different. When I got my daughter at 24, I didn't know anything about raising a child. These are things you learn on the job.
Equally challenging was the transition to being a wife; meeting someone brought up differently, with different perspectives and socialisation, yet we had to work together, careful not to impose our ideals on each other.
What did you want as a young girl and has your life turned out how you anticipated?
I enjoyed Home Science in both primary and high school. I excelled in it, so I knew I would end up in hospitality. But getting into Utalii College those days was near impossible, so my mom suggested that I join Kianda College.
Women who went to Kianda College were highly respected. This was before it became Strathmore.
I did a diploma in secretarial studies, later did further diplomas in Business Administration at Strathmore College. Then I did my undergrad in Business Administration and then my Executive MBA at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
I did my Masters in Practicing Management at Lancaster University. It was a programme called International Masters in Practicing Management that was structured in five modules across five countries. I got a Masters of Arts in Practicing Management.
What did you do after Kianda?
I joined a law firm, Mutula Kilonzo & Co Advocates, where I started working as a secretary. Mr Mutula (late Mukueni senator) was one man that I really respect to date. He instilled in me the values I still carry with me today. He was quite meticulous, paid attention to detail. We used typewriters then.
I would type court documents and if I missed a full stop, I'd go back and typed the entire thing again. He won most of his cases because he paid attention to details. When I got married in 1998 I was still working for him. In 1999 I got my daughter Michelle who is a big fan of yours.
Emergency Medical Services Managing Director Susan Ng’ong’a during an interview at the Boma Hotel in Nairobi on February 11, 2025.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
How did you end up here?
I joined the Kenya Red Cross in 2002 as a personal assistant to the then Secretary-General, Maria Kuria, who left in 2005. Abbas Gullet took over in May and I continued working under him. So I will be 22 years old here next week. Mr Gullet who had just come from Geneva sought to transform the organisation.
As such he initiated several projects, for instance building of a conference centre to save the huge sums of money we were spending to training our staff in hotels.
With time, I moved up and worked in administration, building systems and creating a supply chain department. I was appointed as the supply chain manager. As the organisation grew, I was promoted to Deputy Secretary-General of Kenya Red Cross, doubling as Mr Gullet's personal assistant.
Meanwhile, Emergency Medical Services was formed in 2010 because one of the staff members was involved in an accident in Isiolo and we couldn't find an ambulance to get her back to Nairobi. I joined in 2013.
The ambulance service business modeling was 80 percent commercial and 20 percent corporate social responsibility in support of the mission of the Kenya Red Cross.
The new Constitution at that time also opened an opportunity for us because it mandated county government to have a provision for emergency medical services within their jurisdiction. I became Managing Director in 2015.
From five ambulances at the start, we have grown to 128 ambulances and a staff count of 300 spread across the country.
Is there a particular person or experience you'd credit your brand of leadership to?
[Long pause] There are many people that I can credit. My parents for one, because they believed in me. Mr Mutula Kilonzo, for sure. He showed me the importance of doing small things perfectly. Then Mr Abbas Gullet instilled the values of hard work, dedication, commitment and also self belief because he believed in me.
You mentioned that Mutula taught you the virtue of attention to detail, what part of your life are you giving attention in this season?
This is the season of self-care. My children are all grown. They finished school and are working. So it's just my husband and I. I want to take good care of myself, mentally, socially and physically. I walk. I meditate.
I like gardening and cooking. Lately, I have developed a reading culture, thanks to my daughter.
When you look at your life now, what are you most proud of?
I'm proud of who I have become, the journey I took to get here, the family I have raised and the people I have mentored. I look forward to giving back to society. I mean, what is driving me now is also looking at how I can help people to think, to learn and grow from the experience that I've had.
What do you fear now as a middle-aged leader, wife, mother?
[Pause] I fear poverty. [Laughs] Yes, I fear poverty. I didn't grow up poor, neither did we have a lot, but we lived quite a modest life. There were slums next to where we lived, though, and I saw what poverty looks like and how it can degrade.
Do you think of life after this place?
Retirement. I don't think people really ever retire. Retirement is a state of mind. You can retire at any time. I just turned 50 yesterday.
Oh happy birthday!
Thank you. I was reflecting yesterday. I remember my mom retired at 50 and that time we were looking at her like she was really old. But she wasn't. She was still energetic, and so am I. I have another 40 years to do something productive. I will work up to that point.
Were you fearful as 50 approached?
I was actually looking forward to it. What do I need to fear when I have done more than I thought I would? It's a good space. And I'm aware I'm not growing younger. I cannot dream of going back to being a young girl.
What did you do yesterday?
My daughter treated me to a birthday lunch. She took me to Jiko Restaurant in Village Market. We talked and bonded.
I know this is not her interview but what is a 25-year-old daughter curious about when it comes to her mother? What does she ask you?
She isn't curious about marriage, I can tell you that for sure. Girls nowadays aren't. She is curious about freedom, about financial independence. She finds it very wild that I was 24 when I gave birth to her.
She says, "you were a baby taking care of a baby." She can't see herself in that light. It's not in her line of vision. She is more keen on making investments.
