Margaret grew up surrounded by coffee. So much was the influence of her surroundings that she now identifies as a coffee evangelist. Margaret is a trained economist from the London School of Economics with an MBA from Harvard University.
Had things followed her plans, Margaret would have studied medicine at the University of Nairobi after being among the top hundred students in the KCSE exams during her year. Dropping the stethoscope for economics was a trade-off that paid off well later in life as she went on to work at the World Bank and other reputable financial institutions in the US.
The coffee culture in the US and her love for community service helped build a bridge between production and consumption.
“There is no telling the story of coffee in its entirety without telling the story of the women that work in the sector,” Maggy, as her friends call her, says. She travelled to Western Kenya to establish industry networks and find her business.”
"There is no telling the story of coffee in its entirety without telling the story of the women that work in the sector."
Margaret has sacrificed a few things to stand on the coffee pedestal. About five years ago, she quit a well-paying job in investment banking in corporate America to set up the Kahawa1893 brand with savings from her corporate stint. Kahawa is the Swahili name for coffee, and 1893 is the year the commercial growing of coffee started.
“Family and friends worried that I was leaving a sure path to gamble my future with a business idea we were all not sure would succeed,” she says.
But as with many things in her life, she says, she has learned that sacrifice is the price you pay for success. The reward is bigger than the sacrifice, though.
“We have worked directly with about 200 women. Our products come with a QR code that buyers can use to trace the origin and tip the specific farmers that made production possible,” she says. Her motivation is to achieve fair remuneration for women working in the coffee industry.
In 2023, Margaret appeared on Shark Tank, where her pitch secured a $350,000 (Sh45 million) investment from one of the sharks.
What keeps Margaret in check? “Mentors. Having people you can be accountable to while at the same time learning from is a great asset not just in business but also in life.”
Where does an economist find fulfilment in all this? “The women we work with have set up a scholarship fund for girls. Seeing the girls get through school and knowing that this moves them closer to their dreams for me is enough.”
– By Ndugu Abisai
