Part 4: Pact World Inc.: Where the Hustle Was Born (Becoming The Dotted i)

Pact was the first place I ever worked where a program ended... abruptly. Okay, maybe I’m being dramatic—it wasn’t that abrupt, we knew the program would end and were preparing for it for about a year! But we had high hopes for an extension that never came through, and soon enough, the whole team was laid off. Tough break, right?

But here’s where it gets interesting. Our Country Director (CD) had this wise approach. She said, “I can’t stop the program from ending, but I can teach you how to fish.” And boy, did we learn to fish! We had sessions on writing business plans and dreaming beyond donor funding. Pact hired consultants to teach us how to start businesses, that’s when the idea hit me: a clothing business. China, here I come!

I applied for a visa, did my homework, and booked my ticket to the unknown. Destination: Guangzhou. Landing in China was... let’s just say, dramatic. I got interrogated like a scene from a spy movie, i literally stayed in the airport 4 hours after arriving answering several questions and my bags were checked like a million times – the Key suspect i tell you! The were looking at all my past visas in my passports using a magnifying glass it was James Bond for real. I thought I’d need to call my ancestors for backup.

Picture of Guangzhou CBD.

I was finally let in and made a beeline for my hotel—I was completely wiped out. I crashed on the bed, ready to sleep off the long journey. At first, I thought I was dreaming when I heard loud bangs on the door. But the banging didn’t stop. I scrambled up, still half-asleep with my short pajamas having slept for about 2 hours with much jetlag. I was convinced if I didn’t open, they would break it down. And just like that, I opened the door to find… the police! Yep, the actual police came knocking on my hotel door. Turns out, the police in China routinely do drug sweeps on new visitors. Later that same week, I learned that a group of Kenyan ladies had been caught “dining” with some Nigerian guys in their hotel room (no offence to my Nigerian friends!)—who, unfortunately, were involved in drugs. When the police raided, the Nigerians heard the loud bangs and jumped out of a window. I guess they figured it’s better to choose how you go. They escaped into the unknown. The Kenyan ladies weren’t so lucky. It was their first time in China—just like me—and tragically, they were hanged within 24 hours. Let’s just say, those signs plastered all over the airport warning about drugs and the death penalty. Very, very real. As for me, since I was half asleep—and half naked—the police sent a female officer to check my room. She asked for my visa, gave the place a quick scan, and then questioned why I took so long to open the door. I explained my entire travel day in sleepy Kenyan English, and though she didn’t look fully convinced, there was no evidence of anything suspicious, so they eventually left. Thank God!

I started small—bought some clothes and handbags to test the waters. Funny enough, the handbags sold like hotcakes! That little spark pushed me further. Despite the drama, I focused on the mission. After buying the things i wanted over a period of a week, it was time to ship. I found the shipping company—after a suspiciously long tuk-tuk ride that had me mentally drafting a ransom letter. Turns out, the place was just really far but it was a Kenyan Somali shipping company that had an office in Nairobi, so it anything got lost i could easily just sue them from Nairobi, this was my mentality at the time. I explored the legendary fake phones market, picked up some “designer” handbags, and even took a peek at uptown/affluent China. All of that in just one week!

Then—because why not—I hopped over to Thailand for two days. I was hoping to find some good clothing to add to my collection, but that dream died quickly. Most of the clothes there were actually from China anyway. But two things stuck with me from that short trip. First, while shopping one day, I met someone I’ll never forget. A half-man, half-woman—literally. This person had undergone surgery, split right down the middle. One side was fully male, the other fully female. I swear, I stared the entire time I was in that shop. I had never seen anything like it in my life. ‘Kutembea kwingi, ni kuona mengi’— The more you travel, the more you see/experience! The second thing that stayed with me? The food. Oh, my goodness, the food! To this day, I’ve never tasted noodles as good as the ones I had in Thailand. As my one and only would say, it was “super yummier.”

I came back home after 1.5 weeks, I waited forever for the rest of the stock to arrive. Thankfully, I’d carried a stash in my suitcase and started selling right away. Entrepreneurship? Weuh! It’s not for the faint of heart. But the handbags did really well, and guess what? I broke even and even made a small profit. 

Lessons Learned? Oh, plenty:

1. Sometimes when doors close, they’re just redirecting you to your gate at the airport.

2. Research is your best friend—especially when traveling to places where the death penalty is a real thing.

3. Entrepreneurship will test you, but it will also teach you.

4. Exposure is priceless. I saw the world, made a little money, and caught a vision for what's possible.

One day, I’ll return to the business, but for now, I’m just grateful to Pact—for ending that program and unknowingly launching my side hustle era. Sometimes a layoff is just a plot twist in disguise.