CRIS NJOKI TALKS 15-YEAR FRIENDSHIP WITH JOY KENDI

Founder Ikojn Live, Cris Njoki opened up on her long term friendship with content creator Joy Kendi. While speaking to Buzz Central, Njoki said they met when they were 18 years old, “We met through her cousin who was my friend. I was 18 years old and she had just moved to Kenya from the states, literally we met the same week, we just clicked and we became friends ever since. We’ve been friends for over 15 years.”

Njoki who recently opened her second physical outlet at Imaara Mall says she started her business with Sh200, “My journey in fashion business started with Sh200, that’s the money I started with in thrifting and then I was able to save up. If I didn’t have thrifting I wouldn’t have Ikojn. At the time, most fashion designers in Kenya were doing custom made or made to measure clothes. For me, I knew that was not what I wanted to do. I wanted to offer women a chance to shop locally off the rack and I needed a big chunk of money.

The thrifting really helped me save money. Once I saved up enough money, I just went for it. I didn’t have a big launch. I didn’t do anything fancy, at the time, I was really keen on E-commerce so it was more online but as the brand grew, our customers expressed the need of a physical location. They wanted to interact with the brand more and be able to try before buying.”