How did yours start? I mean the journey to where you are in your life at this moment. It all makes sense when you look backward.

For me, it all started with my love for cartoons,

which led to my love for drawing said cartoons. This, in turn, led me to take art classes in high school after which I took a detour and studied Business IT in University. All the while doing commissioned portraits for my classmates on the side.

The following is an account of my own experiences and how they have turned out well, in spite of me feeling like I had taken a wrong turn a couple of times such as in University. I know many of you have felt like this one time or another.

1.) Look back and identify that thing you've loved doing since childhood then pay attention to how life is nudging you to get back.

My detour introduced me to the world of Technology and Business which would then lead me back to the genesis, which was my love for cartoons.

How? well, I always had a wanting attitude towards computers and had avoided taking computer classes in favor of my art in High School.

I came to realize that it was because we were mostly taught theoretically and did not get to interact with the computers as much. Why? well, we had just one computer lab in a boarding school with close to 1000 students.

Fortunately, I got to enroll for IT essentials and Cisco Certified Network Associate classes right after finishing High School. The courses had lots of fun visual aids and were hands-on so I fell in love with computers as a result.


Once I got over my funk with Technology, I went on to graduate with a degree in Information Systems Technology from USIU-Africa.

My Tech background came in handy when I finally got back on track by enrolling for a certificate course in 3D Animation at Shang Tao Media Art College. I later met a lady that would end up changing my life in ways unimagined.

2.) Ask yourself who is doing the thing you love and succeeding at it.

Her name is Ng'endo Mukii and she is an Independent Filmmaker and Animator. I met her at a speed mentoring session called Match Mentor organized by The Arena Kenya.

When I first saw her that day, she was on the panel dressed in a lovely colorful African print jumpsuit. I loved her style, confidence, and I was impressed by what she had accomplished so far.

 After the panel discussion, a timer was set for us to go for our rounds of speed mentorship. It was like an intricate dance: one step forward, two steps back, turn to your left then go towards your right. This is the way we moved around in groups of 4-7 from one mentor to the next.

Maintaining a keen eye on her table, I continued with my dance around at the mentors stationed close to her. This continued until I eventually got the chance to go to her table. Our session felt super brief, but I remember leaving feeling so inspired, it had been worth the complicated dance.

3.) How can you be of help to them while in their presence as a mentee?

I got her contacts and right before I left, I asked her if by any chance she had an internship position in her company. She replied that she did not have any at the moment but I should email her and remind her I was the lady with a head wrap so that she could remember me.

I did as requested knowing too well that if I did not, she might not have remembered who I was considering she had met dozens of new people on that day. She was friendly in our conversations online and I kept tabs with her thereafter for close to a year. She would later contact me while I was

doing the internship I wrote about here in India. 

4.) Count your blessings and remember that everything is always working out for your good.

Funny thing is she was also in India at the time of contacting me, only in a different state. What are the odds?

The universe is truly interesting and I am in complete awe at how things unfold in life. I told her  I'd be delighted to intern for her when I got back home.

This is how I was blessed with an opportunity to work closely with Ng'endo who is not only an amazing human but also a multiple award-winning Animator. I got to see how she goes about her daily activities and it was amazing how easy she made all of it seem.

5.) Cultivate a strong relationship with your mentor and be as helpful as you can even after your period of working together.

My internship with her was such a great experience. She would later trust me with her extra work which I did remotely after the internship. And since we had built a strong relationship, she knew about things I was interested in and would send me links and email forwards on the same.

6.) Heed to their advice and be open to trying out the new things they recommend. After all, you have to be willing to change the way you do things in order to be like the people you admire.

We finished our 2 years as members of the Enter Africa project last year. I even compiled a list of gratitude messages from the team members below.

During my stay in Germany, which I was fortunate enough to extend to one month, I got to meet a Kenyan doing his PhD there. I first met him at the Munich Media Days Conference where I was speaking and later on we set a meet up with him, my father and myself a couple of weeks later.

Coincidentally, he had already met my father a year before. When I informed him of what my father does for a living in Germany, he asked me for his name. And when I mentioned "Mutisya", he retrieved my father's contacts from his phone like magic.

Thanks to this meeting, I am currently preparing to pursue a Master's degree in Game Development and Animation for Film. My first love Animation has found herself a new partner and I'm totally fine with that.

 I am currently studying German on Duolingo

and looking forward to enrolling for German classes later this year. All the while reminding myself that whichever way it goes, all is well. After all, at the end of the day, I will have a new language added to my arsenal. And every experience counts. Now it's your turn to look back at your own life and remind yourself how every experience in your journey counts.