Patricia Mwalimu — transcript

Party Lounges Ltd

This transcript is generated automatically by YouTube and has not been checked by a person. It misspells names and mishears words, particularly around Kenyan English and company names, so read it as a guide to the conversation rather than a quotable record. Each timestamp opens the video at that moment.

0:05 Greetings ladies and gentlemen and welcome to episode 68 of the African do podcast. We are privileged today to have with us Patricia Mu Limu from Party Lounges Limited who will speak about her world of uh furniture and uh lounges in in in party spaces and entertainment spaces and learn a bit more about her business. Patricia, welcome.
Thank you. Thank you for having me. So yeah, please.
My name is Patricia Malimo. I am co-founder and CEO but chief experience officer at Party Lounges.
Excellent.
Yeah.
Welcome.
So Patricia, let's start with it's it's always interesting for me when I have um entrepreneurs or business people who are not in are not in traditional businesses or traditional career paths. It's it's good to go back and see where you come from and how you end up in a line like this. So, let's let's let's talk to a younger Patricia.

1:08
Where did you grow up? Where were you raised? And um then we go to your education and we'll come into the business and career side.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, I am born fourth in a family of four four kids. um my folks didn't really want to take me very far for school. So I grew up in Dori, born and raised at a village called Waka. And I was everybody's child because the difference between me and my the one I follow is 6 years.
Okay.
So she was always feeling a lot older than me, cooler than me. But yeah, I felt like an only child growing up. But when I went to high school, I became everybody's responsibility. My parents were then retired. Um my my elder siblings were all working and earning money. So I feel like I was really raised by the village. Um the village that is my family. So I went to school locally and then for high school I went to Giriamu in Kirinyaga.

2:15
Yes.
And then for uni I went to USIU. And what did you study at USA?
I studied international relations. It was supposed to be education to take us places. That was the mantra. The the moto. But yeah, so really running an unconventional business when you have been there thinking that you'll be a diplomat traveling the world. There's a lot of conflict, internal conflict.
But then with hindsight, it all makes sense why I had to follow the path that I
So what happens after university? What after graduation? What do you do?
So even before you know how you're required to do an internship. So I ended up doing an internship with a PR firm that was then launching the business daily.

2:57
Okay.
Yeah. So in that firm it was a huge office and then the lady who was the head of that firm hosted some people some planners from South Africa to come do a celebration for a very prominent family here. So it was like a 47th birthday
um milestone celebration stuff like that. No 37 I think
but the level of execution it was like they brought professionals from all over the world to come and put this thing together.
Mind you it was only 80 people. It was an event for 80 people.
So maybe walk us through what did you experience in seeing that.
So I experienced their overwhelm because they did not know their way around Nairobi. I am this girl who is in campus and I offer to help because remember I am working for someone else the person who's hosting them.

3:50
So I remember them trying to make some decorations. I was like I think I can do this and I can get these things from Masai market some glass beads and vifa. I put things together and they became such beautiful decor elements for for the event. At the event I was a an usher. Mhm.
We wore black. We were supposed to be invisible. So, we were like nobody's. The other errands I helped them run were the most critical thing about bringing professionals. They could couldn't bring their gear to Nairobi. So, we had Indians, we had people from the UK and we had people from South Africa. All these people came to put this event together. So part of what was very very critical for them and they thought was

4:36 important that this family they were having the event for had very old people who needed to be comfortable because they had a cocktail reception that was about 1 and 1/2 hours long between the entertainment, the drinks, the speeches. It was at the museum.
Um so the the owner of the event wanted to actually bring their furniture from home
and to have the elderly seat.
Okay. So after a lot of uh brainstorming they decided why don't we custom make these things. So we went through Karen we went toong road we went to Gcoma and in the end we made some pretty decent um furniture. At this point my boss has allowed me to assist in this other project because business daily we had launched everything was fine.

5:21
Um yeah so afterwards there was no thought of where that furniture would go. So we tried to distribute it amongst some of the guests. Um the bar went with the hosts. Um the lounge furniture I mean it was distributed amongst family but there are certain things that people kept wondering what will I ever do with this piece.
Um so we ended up storing and that's why uh that's how some stuff ended up in my home because some of those planners left.
Yes.
Yeah. and they left the that burden of storage with us.
Yeah. So we stored the stuff for quite a bit only that we didn't know that some of the guests were wondering where did that furniture come from? Is it something we can also have at our event?

6:09
We just didn't know that you know I was nobody knew that it would be that intern you know it was not traceable. the planners and yeah, so we met someone who was at the event and they're like, "By the way, where did the bag go to?" So, I told them where everything went and I told them what I was left with. The very next day I had work.
Okay.
From
And what were you left with out of curiosity? about seven couches,
uh 12 poofs,
uh 10 cocktail tables, uh four carpets,
um I didn't get the but yeah, just
And where do you store those?
So my dad had a rental house.
It was a one-bedroom house, so that's why he he gave to us to store.
Okay. Okay. Okay.
Yeah.
So your dad sacrificed his rent to to to [laughter] give you storage space. Apart from rent, the other thing my my parents uh sacrificed was

7:10
the belief that
you know you can after struggling to put you through this uni.
You're telling me that the next career line is
rental of furniture
to who? when and how
you know just
you coming from a very traditional home where they think that the career paths are like this and even me I had conflict I didn't believe that
this would be
something that we can do and leave out of it so I kept looking for jobs at this point I've found an internship at the UN
and I've been at the UN for 6 months
yeah and the party lounges is very silent so we don't know what's what's going on there. So, the fact that the folks now started to see, okay, let's accommodate,
I'm forgoing my rent, but we don't know where this is going. Your internship from the UN is only paying you about 15,000. Let's see. Let's see where it goes.

8:07
Where are we from a timeline perspective? What year is this?
This is 2008.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay. So, now that people find you, you have the furniture and the next day get a get a gig.
I get a gig.
Okay. How do you build for this gig? uh
or how do you quote you know what do you tell them I'll charge you what
so that's the thing I found a gig it was an old well a gentleman Indian origin you know how those guys are like they're like ah this one I'll give you su 20,000 this like this like this you know how they
like tell you this is what I'm going to do
um and because I didn't even believe I was like someone is going to pay me 20,000 for this 10,000 for transport whatever ever they build. We ended up with 55,000 in cash in a brown envelope that we brought home. Let me tell you, I was just throwing it on my bed. It was raining money.

9:00
You You are You are in awe. [laughter]
It was raining.
Furniture which you didn't buy.
Furniture that I didn't buy
that you kind of got left with. You have sat in storage for for a long time. Now you've rented it out.
You've rented it out. But here's the twist. At some point the people that put that furniture together, the planners, they came back to us and said, "We need to pay X amount of money for this furniture."
Mhm.
So that felt like the
But where have they come from now?
They wrote an email to say this is the value of the furniture that we think you are storing.
Um, this is a business and you need to buy it from us. So
you should tell them they should pay you for the storage

9:45
and the for rent. Yes. But I I you know
growth is a good thing. I could have pushed back then but I did not.
Um
lucky thing I was dating my now husband
so we came together and he was a graduate traininee at the time. So he also did not have the money
to to pay for it. But somehow uh perhaps it was just that thing of you know I'll show up for you. He found the money,
we paid it and then we were so comfortable to be legal.
And then after that um we still got a few more inquiries that made us build one more, two more, three more. So the inventory started to grow
and we had to move from this one house and we got some space at the show where we stayed for
about 8 years after that.

10:37
Now maybe let's speak a bit about
this thing that started
if I dare say
by accident you know it was not a plan. Yeah. So when do you then transition and register a company and now say we're formalized and how does that journey look like?
I think in 2009.
Okay.
Um Capital FM come to us.
Yes.
I remember Somina
uh I think Joe Mushiri they come to the showground and they're like you we are bringing in an artist
and we need to seat 1500 people on lounge.
Okay.
That time my inventory can't even do 70. M
um like how will I do a whole 1,500?
So what I knew [snorts] it was very easy to make poofs, Ottomans, ATC, stuff like that. So I immediately said yes. And I remember at that point I never said no to anything even the wrong things that I should have said no to.

11:36
The answer was always yes we can do it and then we would work backwards and that's how we had started to grow the inventory. So we stretched I did the quotation and I think the bill was coming to 1.8 million. 1.8 million
for what? Just for what you show.
Yes.
At the point we I think Yeah. 1.8 million. And I was like, "Oh my god, what are we even ever going to do with this money if we get paid?" Because it felt like such a bill.
So So we said yes.
But before we get to the money, where are you getting this stuff
now? worth 1.8 million.
Listen, so we we [clears throat] say yes.
Yeah.
I we go to like all our sources, family, friends, fools,
we [clears throat] need x amount, x amount, x amount,

12:25
and then we
distributed the production between gigaong road, our car outside our our workshop there. So we just make make let me tell you we were all funies even me we'd go through days nights creating this furniture and we did
and the show had like 2,500 people.
Yeah it it was full but we delivered we got paid and yeah um we weren't registered at that point. So getting also that money was not as easy because then they needed to pay to two party lounges. So I think the very next year we got our registration and the rest of the payment.
Okay. Yeah.
Okay. Okay. Okay. [clears throat]
And now you have all these pieces.
And now we have all these pieces. But aside from that now that furniture was too much for the storage that we had.

13:23
So we started trying to sell
um some of it. We sold some of it off and we just retained what was necessary. Okay.
Yeah. But afterwards, yeah, we started getting gigs for 300. There were shows like October Fest that used to happen at Impala.
Yes.
There were shows like rugby.
Yeah. So, stuff like that now started to keep us going.
And when you're saying um I would assume that you're doing mainly the VIP lounges for the for for for shows like that. That that tended to be the spaces. Imagine VIP was not a thing then.
Oh really? So where where were you setting up?
We would set up for everybody and we just distribute
sparsely like everywhere that there was space. We'd have a kakona lounge lounge you know at that point it was for the host to show you that I care about you. Look at the extent to which I went. So VIP wasn't a thing then.

14:17
Okay. Okay. But now
your business as it started
is event based.
Mhm.
How do you live dayto day? Like now um [clears throat] if there's no work or do you make a lot of money in a season and then you now have to plan your finances first of all?
Not only how do you live, how do you staff a business like that?
Yeah. um just walk us through what your journey and learnings were
uh from the beginning
to to where where you are today.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think the biggest thing that has grown in me is my mind because we were very very focused on we needed to do it ourselves. I remember I had a a car a Mazda premacy which would carry like two couches and I would load them myself take them to Sar Center for an export aski give him like 200 and we survived like that for quite a while.

15:19
So when we were in the showgrounds the stand opposite ours was the KPLC one. There was a lady guard a daytime guard she was called Tabitha. Yes.
So I would leave her key just in case there was an order, I'd call her nto xx and x. So as she was doing her job, she'd also watch over my store and if there was anyone to come pick up um she'd open, give and whatever. One day I asked her, "Actually, Tabitha, how much are you paid?" And she mentioned, I'm like, "What? I'll give you double. Can you work for me?" The very next day,
she she was our first employee. So yeah, and she's with us to date.
Oh, wow. She was our longest she's our longest serving excellent woman who has evolved now. She's such a stylist with an eye. She knows our clients like she knows

16:12
doesn't like stuff like this or this other person doesn't like this or this one doesn't like this and she will be there even I think she's probably
she's well advanced in age but her memory and the way she can plan a thing
even with her eyes closed.
Yeah,
this is very interesting. So um [clears throat]
this this this this now you you started doing maybe let's call them high netw worth individuals private functions that's where the business was born out of yeah
with the capital FM project you transition into maybe entertainment scene but when do you feel when and how
do you break into the corporate scene
so that you're now doing you have corporate clients and and and and what how does that look like?

17:03
So the first time that now business started penetrating into the corporate scene is when agencies found us out.
Okay. Okay.
And agencies had worked to do activations and mall spaces needed to look like this. At that point activations were a thing.
Okay.
Um so one agency is looking better than the next. The other agency wants to look better. So we were being pulled forth back and forth by agencies and guess where they land us sometimes into the corporate offices.
Okay.
Yeah. So these corporates now start to see that they're paying
um they were called third party. We were always being carried by agencies. So there's a furniture element over there. They will mark it up by like 30 sometimes 20 whatever percent. Obviously the procurement wants to save a coin or two because they hiring furniture and every time you know the corporates work Sunday to Sunday. People just don't realize because you probably are setting up for a conference that starts on a

18:07 Monday. So you started setting up on Saturday. So we became like very busy very quickly. There was nowhere you'd see a business photo
and our furniture isn't featuring in the scenes.
Yeah. So it became we became busy very very very quickly. Okay.
Yeah. So agencies I believe were the ones that took us to the doorfront of corporates.
Okay. Okay. But it's an interesting business because
um interesting in the sense that it's not a top of- mind business.
Yeah.
If you come to my party Yeah. Mhm.
And it's let's say in the backyard of my house
and you have done the setup party lounges limited.
The assumption for most of my guests is this is my setup.
Yeah.
You know,

18:58
so then how does how do you then
from a branding perspective? How do you then put your stamp and get your name out there other than the corporate side? Yeah. Because even when I'm sitting in let's say a local bank and I see their activation [clears throat] in a lounge first of all it's in their colors.
It's a simple assumption to assume that this is their stuff you know and this is how they maybe they have brought furniture from their offices. So how do you then it it be nice to hear how does this
how do you then become a name
such that people know you and can look for you when they need you. That's very interesting because I think I sat with that for quite a bit and u my partner and I we decided you know what let's go to China.

19:44
So when we went to China we bought unconventional pieces
that would be very difficult for to associate with a home.
Okay. Like what just to help us understand? Um, so we would bring light furniture that lights up, the B is lighting up, you know, um, stuff that floats on a pool, chairs that are so high and so, you know, statement things that are just statement pieces. Yes.
Um, sculptural and you know, China can really just overwhelm you with awkward looking things. So at the we even brought clothes for waiters that would light up. So we come to your thing LED clothes and everyone is wondering how like where would you get this? You can only lie so much to say it's from my store. So at some point you start saying yeah we hire

20:32
and yeah that's that that set us apart.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
So um outside when we were speaking you're telling us that this been a 17-year journey. You're now 17 years old.
Yeah we are. So you've um by virtue of your age or the age of your business,
you've had a front row seat
to the evolution of Kenya's
entertainment space.
Maybe let's speak about that a bit
where how how how do you see the transition from what it was when you started in 2009, you know, to what it is today? M
um how how do you see where where is it where was it and where is it now?
You know the more things change the more they remain the same.
And I can tell you even from with hindsight from that very first event that I helped create. The thing that stayed with people was the emotion.

21:30
Yeah. what they felt the the excitement was palpable and to date people are still chasing experiences only that they're chasing them in a very different manner.
Um so we're looking for a high after the other high after the next high.
So now um because of price you'd find sometimes now you have a VIP lounge, a VVIP lounge. So everything gets better now because depending on how much money you're paying to get that experience.
However, the thing that has evolved is that the the host or the the event um the event curator would want the experience to remain with every single person. When we began it was okay to do nice things at the front and then you're like perhaps those are the people who come late or maybe they won't even come. So you didn't really care about quality control.

22:28
Yes.
But the minute you get into the corporate,
they're like excellence
across the board.
A customer is a customer and the experience of customer A and customer Z has to be the same. So we put ourselves there. That was difficult to to comply with because it means you need 500 identical things if you're going to satisfy customer X. Um, I didn't even tell you. Uh, my my partner and I, um, co-founder, we feared loans.
So, when someone is telling you, buy 500 identical chairs, you're first starting to bite your nails wondering where you getting this capital. How are you going to um, finance for? And because a chair will need a tablecloth and a nin, you realize why quickly you're filling a container. You're filling two containers just to have an equal experience for everybody. Yeah.

23:28
Okay. Okay. Okay.
Yeah.
Let's speak a bit about um the staffing side of the business. Yeah. You started this business straight out of university.
Mhm.
And uh at that time you were younger than you are today. Yeah. And you of course much smaller outfit grows. Tabitha was your first uh staff member. But how does your staffing journey evolve from there?
How do you grow? Um what are you doing? Are you are you getting permanent staff? Are you getting a a casual stuff? Is it a mix of permanent and casual? And how does that side of of the business look like? So very quickly I think before Tabitha um my co-founder my husband resigned for job you [laughter]
No he didn't resign party lounges he was employed remember he started yeah he left his formal employment

24:27
to join the business
yes
so you know me I had never really been employed and just to know how systems run so he's the one who put systems in this is how we hire, this is how we run finances, this is how we run our books. So after Tabitha, we got um I think two client executives.
Um then Tabitha would eventually we got a driver.
We got a driver because we eventually got a truck and then those drivers would come from either Kawanguare. They'd come with their peers to be the casuals for the day. So to date we hire quite a few casuals and then but staffing we have store managers, we have workshop um technicians. [clears throat] So for permanent stuff we have about 30. Okay.
And then we can get up to 40 casuals depending on the outfits.

25:25
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
Given the space that you're in.
Yeah. You must be looking at the evolution of this meetings mice space [clears throat] with a lot of
um give us your thoughts. Uh Kenya is finally making a serious investment in in a mice facility.
What does that mean
for businesses like yours? And what are you looking forward to
uh when we finally have a worldass facility?
Uh what's the opportunity there for for a business like yours? the opportunity sometimes when something like that comes and the government finally sees this sector because it always looked like a thing that has no barrier to entry whatsoever. In fact, I used to really, it never sat well with me when people say, "Oh, is true. I'm a tent." You know, I'm like,

26:21
um, no, we are the experienced people. We are the people who actually put together the beginnings of very many things. If it's your wedding, it's the first thing. If it's a product launch, it's the first. So, you can't afford to really mess up. So I'm looking forward to regular regularization of this industry just for people to start taking this business seriously because even I have come such a long way before thinking that
this can be a multi-generational business. Um, it took me waking up to seeing that Warren Buffett
has like 30% of his investment in a rental business. I'm like, wait,
if you look at the the businesses in the states in Australia, they are fourth generation in the in the same same industry. So if the government starts to see us, if there are rules that govern um this trade,

27:23
I really look forward to people starting to see this as careers and proper careers, not not things that you pick up just because you had nothing else to do.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
So tell me when you're pioneering a space like you have because you did pioneer a space. Yeah. before we would get and maybe that's why you're called what he is because that's what we know you know you had a function at home it was I get a tent I get some plastic chairs but you took that several notches up
so when you don't have um a peer because you're pioneering in a market
then where do you get your inspiration from where do you get your learnings who do you turn to to to to get inspiration to get lessons

28:09
how did that look like how did that journey look like for you?
Very lonely.
It was very lonely in those days. Searching the internet, AI, that stuff didn't didn't exist. But I really thank God that I'm a dreamer.
Yes,
I really dream. I really fantasize. I really see a world that perhaps not many people see. Okay.
And so many things and I'm good at drawing.
So I craft a lot and I draw things and I craft away. Mhm.
However, I realized that inspiration comes from anywhere.
Yes.
So now this plant I'm looking at can easily inspire me to create a backdrop and I can create out of it. Just sketching and whatever. And then you realize, wait,
this is what it is.
However, in terms of running the business, we've come to learn that every business, regardless of what it is, is the same. the same way we are different humans but our system that's that's um controlling us is the same our digestive same similar similar so that understanding just settled us into the business and we agreed that you know what we'll continue because I feel like it's a burden that God put on our shoulders that we need to path find for

29:23 everything so many things that have coming to have come into this market we've been the pioneers the different tents lounge furniture, LED furniture. So, we're always looking to go into expos and around the world, traveling also really is inspiring. And just coming to this space, I'm already inspired by something. But I came in, I was like, "Oh, wow. I like that."
And I know I will use it somehow
nice
with a cat twist. So, just keeping the eyes so wide open
because for how long can you copy?
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Good. So um we spoke earlier about your your husband and co-founder coming and joining you in the business and bringing structure.
How has your experience been with uh with um

30:11
compliance you know from a structuring perspective? Yeah.
So, um, running that business, have you had any challenges in terms of, you know, the tax understanding, you know, because you you buy pieces and then you you you uh rent them out uh multiple times. Yeah. So, maybe let's speak about your compliance journey in a business like that. again from the same same lens of pioneering you know um
sometimes you walk into the regulator or the the tax man and you say what you do and then they say ah
if you you import a lot of things and if you are importing something that is not known you then go and someone doesn't know where to categorize you or how to which bucket do you fit in because you don't quite fit or you're applying for a license

31:05
and you look at all the descript of the business and you're not there. So what does that look like? Your journey of compliance for you.
Yeah.
Because even so many times you're filling a form and you're you're trying they're asking you which industry
you're like where do I really is it entertainment? Is it hospitality? Yeah. So really I hope mice will start seeing this as as a product. However
for in terms of compliance with the government I think they also learn on the go along with us. pieces of furniture so that we were so many screws.
I remember the tax was different because like you you're going to do to build I'm like it's if it was a chair you would not have counted those as screws.

31:54
Oh wow.
Yeah. But because the screws were I think each chair had probably 12 12 pieces and you have 500 chairs.
Wow. So there were g of screws. So it looked like um screws hardware like inkia [laughter] hardware.
Yeah. So I remember that attracting a different thing and we delayed by like 9 days before we could clear that cargo.
Um so they learn with us on the go. However, in terms of VAT and eatings and all these other things, it's just normally
charge your VAT.
Okay.
Uh submit to VAT.
We've gotten in trouble.
Yes. We've gotten in trouble because when business was very low and we had to move out of the showground um because they had oversold the stands
in 2017. I remember we we we were late with our taxes. Oh my god. And the fines and the stuff and you never ever want to get

32:52
into that situation. But yeah.
Okay.
Thank God for amnesty.
Yes.
Yeah.
Does your fear of loans still exist?
[sighs and gasps]
It's not a fear.
Uh but we're happy for it to stay there and we stay on this other lane.
So you still know debt is not something that you look at we consider really.
Okay.
Yeah.
Don't you find that a bit heavy on yourselves?
Heavy
heavy a weight you know to uh so you you you 100% fund your business.
We fund our business. Yes.
Wow. Then that's a beautiful business.
It is a beautiful business. Yeah. However, um I think obviously if we really want to grow to where our dreams are currently, we definitely need
to confront that thing at some time.

33:36
We'll face it. We'll we'll just now we're learning there's so many different types of debt. It is
Have you reached there?
We're there. We're having conversations.
Excellent. Excellent.
From the equity side, you just remained you and your co-founder or did have you ever taken on external shareholders?
Not yet.
Is that a consideration for the future? It is. It is. Yes.
Yeah.
Okay.
This I'm I'm I'm really
Have you ever doubled in the tent side or do you just come in specifically for the furniture side?
So, our core is the furniture.
Okay.
Yeah. But, um over time, we've had to invest in some tent pieces that also support the kind of furniture that we have.

34:20
Okay. Unique tents.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They are very very different. were the only ones that have them. Um, they're called sail tents. Sale cloth tents. They're absolutely beautiful. They could be white uh whitish, they could be old money looking because we've never really gone for the very shiny things. We and that's the unfortunate thing of doing something that you love because it's very hard to sell something that you don't love. Okay. So if and also our audience being corporate, you'll find that shiny might not really appeal appeal to them. So we're very muted, very high taste, very high quality that we have to look for tents that
align with the product. Yeah.
Because you're a rental business and a furniture rental business,

35:09
trends come and go. Fads are in, something's in, it's hot this time. Yeah.
So now looking at back at your 17 year journey,
what happens to the older furniture? Are you able to is it is it or this has outlived its rental life? It's it's more than paid for itself based on the purchase price. How does that side of the business what do you do
with your older pieces? You know, do you repurpose them? Do you reap out the upholstery and, you know, make them look different? How does that journey look like?
Yeah. So it's different for every product and we have uh very many channels through which we either upcycle
um one of them is our corporate social responsibility.
So we look for organizations that might be requiring furniture and we donate

35:58
um
we keep first of all we donate to our staff because we keep saying if these people are coming and maybe they don't have sofas they only sit on their sofa when they come to the event. So we first start who has furniture needs. this is what is available for you because charity begins at home and then afterwards then we go into which corporate organizations are we supporting which children's uh children's home churches this is what we have available [clears throat] for for donation and then we open it up to the market guys do you want to upgrade your balcony your garden this is what is available so there are so many channels where we upcycle
are those fixed cycles or it's does that happen what every two years or it happens based annually. Every year you take stock and say okay this is what we want to retire and then we'll we'll we'll we'll see how we'll replace it.

36:51
Correct. Because every year we're also bringing in new consignments. We're making we're building. So we have
and I'd assume that your new consignments are a mix of local fabrications and imports.
Correct. One of the things we've invested heavily in is a workshop to even maintain what we bring we bring in. So we have artisans um inhouse and some who come on consultancy to help us build and maintain.
Yeah. But we build a lot. 60% of our inventory is locally made. Yeah.
Okay.
So um we recently had a family function where one of my nieces was uh um is getting married and uh in KA it's called Angia. It's a function.
Yeah. But I as they were setting up for that function, I realized that there's there's quite a significant bit of construction, you know, that comes into your world nowadays.

37:47
Um joinery work, carpentry because you're doing backdrops, you know, people want, you know, Instagrammable places to take photos and showcase where they are, you know. So um so let's speak a bit about that which is again a very unique and niche side of the business and probably not a side of the business that the layman
thinks about you know you think about I'm going to hire but now it has become a big thing you know even for me in my in my day-to-day heart of restaurant operations and design
um now uh a restaurant you have to you you have to build it
with an Instagrammable wall somewhere, you know, where people can take photos and say that this is where I am and it's recognizable without saying

38:34
without necessarily having a sign saying that you're at this restaurant.
Um,
so that brings you into a new space kind of, you know, you're now talking about uh you become uh like you said, you invested in a workshop. So let's speak about that workshop a bit
and what do you get to put together and what kind of challenges and what did you have to learn
as as the proprietor of this business and getting into this new space where
you kind of have to create you know that's not um exactly
um run-of-the-mill kind of stuff. Yeah. M. So the internet exposes you to so much and part of what we used to see is some bills that Russians used to do, Lebanese weddings used to do. You're like why would you do such an installation just for a few hours until you realize it's becoming a requirement this experience this high that people are seeking um for their guests. So in 20 2019 into 2020, I looked for a course

39:37 online because another thing that used to really bug me was for example, why is this coffee table 18 in high? Why is this depth of this chair like I can tell this is not 20 in? This is probably 16. Why is it 16 and not?
Um so I came across a course in Latvia called man and design. just learning how to design around the human body regardless of height, age. That's when I learned that's why worktops are this. That's why cocktail tables have to be this high. That's why etc. because I kept finding myself in spaces where it's a cocktail and then everyone is on a high cocktail table. They're standing with their wine glasses etc. Then come three people on a wheelchair.
So are you going to have them there speaking over them? So again, we were the first people to decide, you know what, we need high cocktail tables and low ones. So that if you have people living with disabilities, then they're there. So that began a very a very interesting journey for us as a company into just seeing what the needs of the market are and how we build and how we fabricate. Again, I found another course, University of Arts in London,

40:50 where we really really dissected the chair and why the chair is like this and what you can do with design and what you cannot do. And that went such a long way with [snorts] me trying to now fabricate like good quality chairs that would last like I have chairs that we fabricated, we designed and fabricated I think and we've used them for like seven years and for furniture rental that's unheard of. We've never had to repair that chair or whatever, but it is the knowledge that we gathered there. But the most interesting one that I did was with some Russians. Um we actually I did that course in January this year. Some Russians have put together a very nice course that is fabricationheavy because when you look at the output of the events and it's you just don't say you know you can't go on Pinterest to say it's very it's a very different language because the material like what

41:47 can you install what can't you because I've witnessed a chandelier falling on someone and the crystal like really um causing a really huge cut. So installations are not just installations. You can't come to me and say nakamah what goes behind what mechanism what is reliable to to hang with harnessing proper safety um measures. So these courses and this investing in self over time really goes a long way that now
because that seed is in us when we look at that that leaf we know we can get inspiration and fabricate because we have the fundamentals but it is definitely not anything that's going away. We must we must create for ourselves. I I I love that you have an ethos of self-education. But when you speak about Latia, UK, Russia. So are you physically going there for the courses? You're physically these are not online courses

42:47
in class. Okay.
Okay. And what what timelines are like this Latvia courts? How long? And the UK goes
Latvia was a couple of months.
Yeah.
Um Malaysia was I think 10 10 11 days.
Okay.
Uh Uganda Ugandans you'll be surprised. I'm very good with um installations. Uganda was uh five days.
So you went for a course in Uganda.
I did.
And and and that is that is you've built that as an ethos of your business. But are you are you sometimes going with members of your team?
Unfortunately not.
Okay.
But you're going there
because you still haven't borrowed this money.
You're heading there once give you comfort that some debt can be good. Okay.
Excellent.
But we come and teach the team.

43:31
Okay. Yeah.
Very good. Now let's let's maybe dream a bit. You said you're a dreamer and let's let's talk about the future. Yeah. Where is it going? Where is this landscape? Where are we as a nation? Yeah.
Uh I one of the things I
I think that is great for me about Kenya that I feel we don't celebrate enough.
You know Kenya is very very unique. Whichever line you pick,
people go into detail of niche specializations
that are really quite intriguing and I really hope that academics will study this as an ethos of entrepreneurship.
I'm always intrigued and you were speaking earlier about this podcast and what I've learned from it. One of the things I've learned is that it's amazing what people have turned into businesses. So, what does the future look like for party lounges? What are your ambitions? Where are you going? Where are your dreams taking you as you continue to dream?

44:30
Yeah. So, Party Lounges has big dreams and one of it is to make it a tech business. Believe it or not, I want you to just take a photo of your space, pick stuff from the catalog, place them and see if it works, like a DIY. Um, I told you about the warehouse that we're building, like a really big experiential space where people can come and make it and make it feel like a rental supermarket that you can come with whatever say I want this that that, the other, do an experience and know if it if it works for you. So, turning party lounges into a tech business is
um one of the closest goal that we're already working on. and of course like expanding the inventory to fit anyone in the in the country who obviously is as aspirational as us.

45:21
Okay.
Yeah.
Do we see party lounges become a regional business?
Um we have presence in Kegali. Okay.
But we were not able to really uh push through and Yeah. But we have inventory in Kegali. Okay.
Yeah. Yeah. Which once in a while brings in some income.
Okay.
Yeah.
No. Wow. I I this is this has been a very very interesting conversation.
Yeah.
So speaking about this growth that maybe I I just want to to plant a seed, not really ask a question but plant a seed.
Yeah.
Um I'm really inspired and intrigued uh when I meet entrepreneurs like yourselves with business like yourselves.
But I also inquire encourage you Yeah. to dream even bolder dreams.
Yeah.

46:13
Yeah. Because I think that signature businesses like yourselves
which are existing with a very strong element of local context are priceless for a nation to have
and I think more people need to see you, hear you and feel you.
And that sometimes requires us as the entrepreneurs to push past fears that we may have. uh so that we can begin to explore spaces. There's so much happening and I'm seeing just from this conversation I see so many linkages you know I'm wondering you know why why should places that need to evolve like co-working spaces
why should they have h why should they buy furniture
you know they can they can get into long-term leasing agreements where every 3 months or every 6 months the space is being reinvented so there's no monotony of furniture without having to buy

47:08
even um places like this where we are, you know, why should someone who's doing a pair as you go podcasting studio have to buy furniture and keep on buying it get into
Yeah. We actually have clients like those.
Nice.
Where they take our furniture monthly.
Okay.
Yeah. Per month and we agree on a rate even for homestaging.
Okay.
Yeah. So there are many people developers. They're not furniture experts. So, we just come and spruce up the space and when you're done with your showhouse, we take our stuff back because we're good with building. We're good with putting it together and you don't have to look the same
for through every project.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Excellent. What a fabulous fabulous conversation. So Patricia, I'll now give you a chance to maybe speak to the audience and tell them where where can they find corporates, individuals who may want to speak to you, who having functions or conferences or events that they may feel they need their services. Where can they find you?

48:06
Yeah.
Yeah.
Thank you for listening this far. Um you will find us on our website www.patylounges.com. Physically we're located in Karin along Marulin. Um so we have quite a few warehouses there where you would come and feel and touch and get demos done for you. Our workshop is in the same place. Um you will you can call us through 0718613655 and we will be so happy to serve you.
Thank you.
Yeah.
So wow. Uh thank you very much Patricia. That was a fabulous conversation.
It was. So ladies and gentlemen, that was episode 68 of the African podcast uh featuring Patricia Madimu of of Party Lounges Limited, an exciting excellent business around the rental of furniture and events um equipment and and uh things to stage and set up events that is also now growing into different lines. you know, they can set up and stage your your showhouse if you're in construction and a whole host of other

49:10 uh spaces that you may want to look exceptional and good. So, I hope you enjoyed that conversation and we look forward to having you in future episodes. Thank you very much and have a good day.