In our Quest to going beyond and know more about the women who won various award, last week we featured Dorothy Ahurira, this week we went ahead and got hold of Emily Asava, and there she goes below, enjoy the read
- Do you read books, what are you currently reading and why the book. I read books especially when I am traveling. Sometimes there are delays and long waiting hours in between flights and this is usually the best time with my books. I am currently reading a book by Haemin Sunim called The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down. I have a close friend who knows me well and one time she told me Emily are you aware your brain is always running ,thinking, worrying and coming up with solutions just in case something happens. She stopped there but I kept on thinking about her statement, I walked into a bookstore to buy something and when I was paying i saw the book and bought it.
- What will we find you doing when not working? When not working I spend my weekday evenings at the gym. I am also a church worker and Sunday I spend the whole day in church singing, listening to the preachings and networking with my church family π.
- Curious to ask, Why The whole Day Emily? We have three services spread throughout Sunday between 8:45 am to 4pm, I stay in church until the last one is over π
- Do you speak any foreign language apart from English? I am currently learning Dutch.
- Why learning a new language especially Dutch? Mmm I desire going back to school and currently in between independent and scholarship applications,
I felt I needed to do something and prepare my brain to go back to school and learning a new language was the only answer for me. I chose Dutch because there is a Dutch school in Nairobi, also Dutch is not yet a popular language for Kenyans π
- What motivates you on a day thatβs a bit grey? This is a hard one, on grey days, I normally crave going to the gym and try to make it work there. Usually by lifting heavier than I am used to or do more reps than normal somehow, I discover it gets moving with more trying and pushing. I come back home sure that a brighter day will surely come. And at the end of it all I will ask myself Emily have you done your best today, did you do your best for this week? when the answer is yes, the grey becomes luminous green π
- We do not know of any other but not so many African women are into selling games why? Over the years I have learnt that selling games In Africa is not easy, I have friends in other parts of the world that do sales, we talk from time to time, over and over again I discover surprisingly its easier for them than it is here. Amongst continents Africa is sort of a doubting Thomas π not easy to convince unless they have tangible evidence its working somewhere else. Also, Naturally No woman likes rejection and with selling sometimes there are rejections. There is a time you wake up with a no on WhatsApp, a no on email, a no on LinkedIn and phone calls not being answered :), not so many women will want to face rejection over and over, that is why many fear the job or many will just give up.
- Tell us more about a ward you won, how does is describe you, your past, current or future accomplishments? Its an award that made me reflect more on what I am doing, how I do it and my integrity while at it, especially on mentorship. On how it describes me yes, currently i have few friends that i am mentoring into the industry. In short at some point, I want to look back and at least see one of them walking behind my footsteps, if they are two great, if they are three amazing, if they are more than three Bingo, I will be fulfilled.
- Who do you see yourself as, I am someone who works hard, regardless of the outcome usually I give it my all. On character, I would say I am cheerful around my environment and incredibly kind to my inner circle.
- Who inspires you and why? I am inspired by a number of people for various reasons and the list keeps on growing, currently I am inspired by Talita Larcieda, she has built and continues to lead a brand in Brazil /Latam. Young Kenyan Cudra Mohamed an upcoming game developer who is training children and adults coding using different programming languages π. The two for now but off course the list keeps on growing π
- Did you always want to be in this industry, how did you find yourself in it? Not at all. I am a certified ISO auditor, I always wanted to be a quality management systems auditor and here I am π It is a long story to share here haha but I share it whenever I am asked to share about my story on panels, one thing is someone trained me into the B2B of the industry. She hired me when I had zero experience and trained me on the A to Z that I needed to know then.
- May we know her further? Yes! she is Ewelina Antonakos, she was my head of sales sometimes back. I am here because of her π. She became more than a head of sales :), i found a mentor, confidant and friend
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