At Shortlist, we love building our team almost as much as we love building yours!
We have some pretty amazing people across our three offices who have a real passion for what they do and for the Shortlist mission.
The Mehndi Project
The next chapter of our Shortlister Spotlights features Mehndi Shivdasani, a talent advisor for our Shortlist search team based out of Mumbai. Besides channeling her inner Sherlock to hire high-potential talent for senior positions, Mehndi runs a blog on sustainable living called Conscious Chokri. Our environmentally-aware Shortlister shared some quirky anecdotes about her journey through life and more!
Tell us about your life at Shortlist
I am a Talent Advisor in the Shortlist search team. We help our clients (social enterprises, non-profit, SMEs and start-ups amongst others) recruit leading talent for senior-level leadership positions within their organisations. Last year we helped 14 different organisations across India and Kenya hire some tremendous leadership talent across different jobs ranging from CEOs to VPs of various departments, a feat I’m very proud of 🙂
How has your current role impacted you?
Playing adviser to board members and senior leaders of so many diverse and high-impact organisations is a rare opportunity. It’s given me insight into how different organisations are set up, how they identify priorities and develop strategies, services, and products. Directly interacting with high-achieving entrepreneurs and picking up a thing or two from them on how to operate efficiently and be resilient and focused is helping to shape me into a better working professional.
I’m also slowly building up a strong network within the social impact space that I hope to leverage going forward in my career 😉
Team Shortlist India
I’ve also made some fantastic friends! Interacting and working with an ambitious, efficient and warm team like ours inspires me to strive for better every single day.
What is your professional background and what made you join Shortlist?
I have a few years of experience in recruitment and talent management, and also hold a Masters in Social Entrepreneurship from Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Sydney, Australia.
I started looking out for my next job opportunity towards the end of 2017 and envisioned joining a social enterprise or a non-profit. I heard about Shortlist through my then-acquaintance, now close friend and fellow Shortlister, Pranay Merchant. I was looking to take on a role that would enable me to create some form of social impact, push me to pick up some new skills while building on my existing skills and areas of interest such as building high-value relationships with people.
What’s your professional superpower?
Over-communicating with people! I find that most of us are almost always distracted with so many things — emails, texts, calls etc. — so over-communicating my thoughts and ideas helps to make sure my communication is clear and consistent.
I’m also a master listener so if you need to vent about something, I’m your person!
What’s your favourite Shortlist memory?
I’ll always cherish the time I spent in Kenya with our team and meeting clients there. Also, almost every Pulse Check and team gathering is memorable in its own way.
Mehndi with Team Shortlist Kenya
What are three words you would use to describe Team Shortlist?
Fun! Supportive! Determined!
What’s your favourite Shortlist value and why?
I LOVE all of our values as they all hit home. If I have to pick one, I’d say that One Team is my favourite value. I admire how everyone on the team is always rooting for each other across offices and countries. We love sharing the credit for all of our wins, big and small, and don’t shy away from giving each other feedback. All of these reasons combined make me proud about being a Shortlister.
‘Conscious Chokri’ is one with nature!
Why is the Shortlist mission important to you?
Being able to offer organisations a platform to find the right people to join their teams and scale their work is immense! In a world where we’re trying to automate almost everything in life, our effort to blend the use of technology with a human touch to unlock professional potential is super relevant!
Anything else you want the world to know about you, Shortlist, our team?
Working at Shortlist is rewarding on so many levels! I couldn’t have asked for a better team to work with.
So Conscious Chokri, tell us about your life outside of Shortlist
I run a blog on low-waste living called Conscious Chokri. Using this blog, I’m trying to create awareness about the global waste crisis and encourage people to reduce the amount of waste they generate by making long-term yet convenient changes to their lives. I also deliver workshops for school and college students on this topic. I try to spend some of my time volunteering at beach cleanups and urban farms in the city as well.
And then there’s spending time with family and friends while gorging on some yummy food and cocktails 🙂
As you know, we like to give “high-fives” to recognize when our team members do something awesome. Now is your chance to make a public high five to a fellow Shortlister:
A BIG high-five to every single member of the team!
If you would like help building your team, let us help you. Shortlist offers a wide range of recruitment solutions that help companies build great teams.
Whether you are just getting started or at the peak of your career, insightful professional advice will not only help you excel in your day-to-day but also see you through career transition and advancement. At Shortlist, we are consistently inspired by our clients and partners who have made their mark in Kenya early on in their careers. We asked seven young business leaders in Nairobi to share the best career advice that has propelled them to rewarding and impactful careers.
Christopher Madison is CEO at Dentsu Aegis Network, a Marketing and Advertising company that innovates the way brands are built. Dentsu strives to make its clients’ brands win in a changing world. Chris shared the best career advice he’s gotten with us:
“The worst business advice I ever received was ‘do what you love’ at my New York University graduation-commencement. I have since learned “do what makes you money” works much better for me. I know, I know — it’s not exactly the stuff that makes a good Instagram post. And on one level, this approach goes against everything our culture tells us we should do with our careers. But there’s something to be said for financial stability.
To a greater extent than most of us want to admit, you’re only as principled and independent-minded as your bank account allows you to be. “Do what you love” is probably much better advice for someone who’s born rich, or holds a tenured academic position, than it is for the rest of us 99 percenters.
Besides, are we really so sure that the best thing to do with passion is attempting to monetise it, anyway? Why assume it’s easier to turn passion into money than it is to turn money into passion? Why not side hustle for love, and enjoy your career to make money?”
Lelo Koinange, Regional Operations Manager — Humanist Institute for Co-operation with Developing Countries (Hivos)
Lelo Koinange is the Kenya Regional Operations Manager at Hivos, an international organisation that seeks new solutions to persistent global issues. Hivos works on projects that are against discrimination, inequality, and abuse of power with the aim of moving to a world where all people have the same rights, irrespective of gender, beliefs or sexual orientation. Here’s the best career advice Lelo received:
“I had a great HR mentor earlier on in my career; she was both fire and wind on any given day. What resonates with me till today was her opening and closing statement at literally all meetings and that was, “Go the extra mile, never settle for what’s expected of you” by Nadya Salim.
I know you’ve heard it a million times, but the truth is if you want results you have to be willing to put in the work — and more. Develop a great personal brand that’s based on working harder than everyone around you. A few guidelines for this:
Get in early
Ask the questions no one wants to
Do more research than what’s requested
Understanding the business of the organisation no matter your position in the organisation
Take risks early on in your career
Identify your skills and utilise them
Acknowledge that mistakes are part of learning
…as long as you never ever settle for what’s expected.”
Wawira Njiru, Founder and Executive Director — Food for Education Foundation
Wawira Njiru is the Founder and Executive Director at Food for Education Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation in Kenya that provides heavily-subsidised meals to students in urban primary schools. The firm sources fresh food directly from farmers and uses a central kitchen model to deliver the nutritious meal. Here is the best career advice Wawira had to share:
“I was lucky to discover what I wanted to do early in life, but along the way, like any other young person, I found myself distracted by other interests I wanted to pursue. I started a Masters in Public Health thinking I wanted to get into the health system but discovered that I was not as passionate about that and decided to focus on building Food for Education and providing meals to more children.
It’s easy to get side-tracked especially if you’re talented (or think you are) in many things, but there’s a lot of value in mastering one thing and learning how to do it well.
There’s also a lot of value in consistency and learning how to do things excellently. It may sound boring but doing the same thing over and over will help you become better and a master in your field.”
Ariane Fisher, Managing Director, East Africa — Shortlist
Ariane Fisher is our Managing Director based at the Shortlist Nairobi office. Shortlist helps growing companies in Africa and India build and develop world-class teams. The Shortlist platform screens candidates using predictive chat-based interviews and online competency-based assessments, letting employers skip the most time-consuming and bias-prone phases of hiring. Here is the best career advice Ariane shared with us:
“Surround yourself with the right people — There is no single greater influence on who you are and who you will become than the people you spend time with. Surround yourself with people who you think are doing interesting and important work, who you can learn from, and who you can grow with.
Listen, listen, listen — Develop the ability to ask great questions, and truly listen to other perspectives. Build comfort with having your mind changed with new evidence, and for making everyone around you feel heard.
Learn how to give and receive difficult feedback — Developing the skill early to give critical and constructive feedback to those around you, as well as seek out and truly receive critical feedback yourself, will help you in your entire career.”
Christopher Mwirigi, Learning and Development Manager — I&M Bank
Christopher Mwirigi is the Learning & Development Manager at I&M Bank Ltd, a privately owned commercial bank. The bank is a dominant player in the Kenyan market and has been consistently growing by innovating the type and range of products and services it offers. Here is Christopher’s best career advice:
“For me, I remember being told that, ‘Always remember that integrity is something that nobody can ever take away from you. You always give it away willingly.’ That was from a professional mentor, and it is a lesson that has stuck with me for the rest of my career and life.
Another one I received from a very special leader I reported to called Hellen Akello was, ‘Never come to my desk with a problem only, always come with a problem and a solution.’
She was a brilliant leader I must add, and that lesson has been with me ever since and will follow me for the rest of my career.”
Isis Nyongo’ Madison, CEO — MumsVillage
Isis Nyongo is CEO at MumsVillage, a vibrant online village in Kenya that enables mothers to access and share locally relevant content and products through peer-to-peer communities. The parenting website provides resources, support and expert advice for pregnant women and parents for them to relax and express themselves among a community of like-minded friends. Isis shared her best career advice with us:
“As I reflect on the advice I’ve received over the years, I consider myself quite fortunate to have a diverse pool of people in my life to seek advice from. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned along the way is to understand the perspective of the person giving the advice and how they perceive you.
For example, if your high school friend works in an industry completely different from yours, it may be more helpful to seek advice on navigating office politics (since they happen everywhere!) as opposed to advice on which graduate program to choose. The person giving the advice must be giving informed opinions and not just an opinion because you asked them for it or it was shared unsolicited.
That said, one of the best pieces of advice I received was from my brother almost a decade ago when I was deciding whether or not to accept an offer from a company for a senior role. He works in academia, and I work in tech so our fields and work environments couldn’t be more different. But this is what he said that helped me then and continues to help me to date:
“Know what people want you to do and if that is work you want to do.”
He shared examples of how when you get to a certain level of expertise, you’ll attract opportunities that want that expertise, but perhaps you no longer want to keep doing an aspect of what you’ve been doing so well.
For example, you may excel at building strategy documents but may get so tired of doing them that that’s the last thing you want to carry forward into a new role. This has helped me make so many decisions, big and small, about how I spend my time and also enabled me to open up opportunities to others.”
Fiona Mungai, Managing Director — Endeavour Kenya
Fiona Mungai is the Managing Director at Endeavour Africa Limited, a not-for-profit organisation that supports high-impact entrepreneurs around the world. Endeavour offers advice to entrepreneurs from a network of world-class business leaders with the aim of breaking down economic and cultural barriers to entrepreneurship. Here are the words of the best career advice that Fiona consciously tries to live by and have this far healthily manifested in her life as a young woman in corporate leadership:
“There is no truism or realism in the pursuit of WORK / LIFE BALANCE — it’s a myth. In order to thrive, we should strive to integrate what really matters into ONE LIFE with harmony — everything you do complements your life’s work.
I received this advice from a Harvard Business School Professor — Prof Lynda Applegate during an Executive Education Program. I initially thought this applies more to women as there’s a lot of discourse on working women trying to balance life and having it all together. As I reflect more upon it, it definitely applies across the board.
An example I can draw from is when I decided to go back to Graduate School — I had attempted to combine both school and work but found that at any given time there was always a casualty to my juggling and that tended to be school. And because I was aware that the networks and top tier education were integral to where my career was headed, I opted to enrol to a full-time program at the London School of Economics (LSE) and quit my job at a leading Private Equity firm.
Looking back, that was probably the best decision of my life as the LSE created amazing opportunities and ultimately turbo-charged my career in ways that I would’ve never imagined.”
Thanks to the seven leaders for invaluable advice!
What’s the best advice you have received in the pursuit of your career goals? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section or on Twitter @Shortlisthires.
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Zydii is a platform offers online courses and instruction, with focus on African customer base. It was founded by Joyce Mbaya, a Dynamic Entrepreneur driven passionate about championing empowerment using digital learning.
Diana Gichaga is a frontier markets, private capital professional providing business advisory services that focus on deal origination, investor readiness, capital raising, investor relations and portfolio company support in Africa. She will work with Zydii to develop a fundraising plan, including determining the right amount to raise, reviewing and recommending improvements to Zydii’s pitch deck and financial model and assisting Zydii in preparations for possible introductions to potential investors.
Young Engineers Kenya
Building a digital STEM training service for Kenya’s youth
Young Engineers Kenya is an online enrichment training platform that offers workshops and programs promoting STEM for Youth. They’re looking to increase the impact of its program for schools throughout the country by creating awareness on the importance of STEM in the 21st century, and creating partnerships and collaborations through offering value proposition to other businesses.
Nivi Sharma is currently the COO of BRCK (brck.com), the onramp for frontier market internet users. She will be helping Young Engineers to rethink its business model, product offerings, and go-to-market strategy to boost sales and subsequently increase profits.
Wazawazi
Data-based decision making to sell ethically-produced leather products
Wazawazi is a leather fashion wear that’s ethically sourced supporting local Kenyan craftsmanship founded by Chebet Mutai. Through this initiative, Kavingwa Keya will support Wazawazi develop ways of analyzing and using their data to make more informed decisions on operational areas of the business.
Kavingwa Keya is a highly experienced data scientist, who develops data analytics and machine learning solutions by aggregating disparate data sources to bring creativity and innovation in the management of any business. Keya will assist Wazawazi to analyze, process and interpret data, understand customer behavior from analyzed data and implement the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to help management make better and informed sales & marketing decisions.
Key outcomes include
-Moving the business towards a fully data driven approach where management relies on data provided to make informed decisions on operational areas including sales and marketing. -Wazawazi’s improved understanding of customer behavior, and increased leads-to-sales conversion on their platform.
The Nanjala Company
An online shop to connect Kenyan artisans with local and international buyers
The Najala Company is an innovative online shop for gardening, gifting and home design that supports local Kenyan artisans. It was founded by Teresa Lubano, an experienced creative director. With Elizabeth Karanja’s support, they will work to create more robust digital marketing strategies to increase online traction.
Elizabeth Karanja is an entrepreneurial leader passionate about scaling organizations for success. She will be helping Shop Nanjala create digital marketing strategies that will result in online traction, impressions and ultimately conversions. Elizabeth will also help support development of a strategic roadmap to becoming a world class e-commerce brand, and advise on improvements to operation system efficiencies in logistics and marketing communications.
Soi Design Studio
Enabling skilled artisans to be matched with buyers online
Soi Design Studio makes hand crafted interior design and furniture from recycled pallets. They are based in Kisumu, and operate with a digital customer outreach model. It was founded by Catherine Soi and together with Philip Odino, they will work to build management systems that can help the organization be more efficient and scale.
Philip Odino is a seasoned entrepreneur and will be helping Soi Design build more robust management systems through:
Accounting System: Philip will help set up and organise the existing financial records, including Quickbooks installation and offer a basic orientation training to the accounts clerk.
Operations: Philip will advise on how to eliminate bottlenecks that will improve efficiency and save costs by first conducting an Operations Management Assessment on the business.
Corporate Policies: Lastly, policies that govern the firm’s operations will be developed and clearly outlined and matched with its growth strategy.
Sister Speaks Global
Facilitating digital connection and engagement of future female leaders in Kenya
Head Of Communications & Public Affairs, Sub-Saharan Africa at Google
Terms of Reference Summary:
Sister Speaks Global is a female-centered events organization that curates events geared towards women empowerment and wellness. The organization was founded by Angela Waweru a digital content creator and host. With the help of Dorothy Ooko, they will work to curate a brand strategy to help position Sister Speaks Global as a leading female empowerment brand
Dorothy Ooko is a Communications Executive with extensive experience with global brands across multiple regions. She will be supporting Sister Speaks Global to identify the ideal road map to shape the organization’s own brand and establish itself as a female leading brand that increases engagement, empowers girls & women and inspires positive action.
Nyayo Moms Sokos Ltd
Creating a digital marketplace to enable small-scale artisans to access the mass market
Nyayo Moms is a vibrant community promoting women cottage businesses, encouraging trade and collaboration among women via digital platform.
Angela Muigai is an expert Product Manager. Angela will support Nyayo Moms on technology-based solutions to help manage Nyayo vendors and buyers through improved digital platform capabilities that enable vendor directory searches and improved displays for products and services. She will help them develop a technology strategy that enhances its e-commerce marketplace.
Mwangaza Light
Selling technology-driven clean energy products to the masses
Independent Management Consultant at Ataare Advisors
Terms of Reference Summary:
Mwangaza Light is a clean energy company focussed on pico solar and clean cooking last mile distribution. They are on a mission to use clean energy technology for social development.
Nelly Wamuyu is an independent management consultant who is passionate about helping start-ups, SMEs and NPOs articulate and implement their strategies. Nelly will support Mwangaza Light in achieving its social mission of using clean energy technology for development by:
– Formulating and articulating its company strategy (the ‘what’)
– Identifying critical drivers for executing the strategy including sales, marketing, and distribution (the ‘how’)
– Mapping and sequencing priority initiatives (making it happen)
Majik Water Technologies was founded with the goal of creating a new source of affordable, clean drinking water for water scarce communities. They are looking to expand production capacity and with the help of Andrew, they will be working on raising funds from capital investment funds to achieve this goal.
Andrew Thinguri is an seasoned Investment Banker with extensive experience across various sectors in East Africa. In line with Majik Water’s expansion goals, Andrew will offer his support to :
1) Review and provide comments on the cover letter, pitch deck, and business plan
2) Advise on valuation of Majik Water
3) Advise on possible grantors/investors, investment structures, and terms and conditions of potential investor/grantors
4) Advise on strengths and gaps in the areas of governance, operations, financial management and team capacity to deliver
Chiswara
Developing an e-commerce platform to sell fair trade Kenyan coffee to the world
Chriswara is an eCommerce platform that offers an equitable coffee experience for our farmers & consumers. Inspired by Alibaba’s Rural Taobao initiative in China, Chiswara aims to have a similar impact in the coffee industry in Kenya. The organization was founded by Catherine Mahugu, a tech entrepreneur with solid background and experience in strategic planning, operations leadership, and management.
Farah Esmail is a corporate/commercial legal and business consultant with experience across North America and Africa. She will be working with Chriswara to to identify new sales channel opportunities locally and abroad, including strategies to penetrate the US market. The ideal outcome will be diversified retail outlets, increased annual gross sales, and a successful closure to Chiswara’s pre-see funding round.
Machakos Orthopaedics
Leveraging data to improve care for people with disabilities
Machakos Orthopaedics is a healthcare provider focused on best-in-class surgery, treatment and care for persons with disabilities in Kenya. The clinic was founded by Speciosa Mbula an experienced Anesthesiologist and social entrepreneur. They are looking to increase the ways they leverage data to improve care for persons with disabilities.
Wambui Kinya is a technology executive passionate about working with mission driven global tech businesses. She will be helping Machakos Orthopaedics use data to build customer profiles, improve understanding of service users, and develop evidence-based marketing campaigns to help scale business. She is also supporting to build data collection processes with Machakos Orthopaedics that allow for deeper customer understanding as well as assessing systems and processes to build the company’s expansion strategy and position Machakos Orthopaedics above its competitors.
Emeden Kenya Farmers
A digital platform to connect and mobilise smallholder farmers
Emeden Kenya Farmers – Organise and connect small-share farmers to market by use of ICT, based out of Eldoret. They are looking to improve their platform to increase responsiveness to their customers.
Stephen katingima is a supply chain specialist and leadership & strategy consultant. He will help Emeden Kenya Farmers improve their online platform by making it more responsive to its customers. This will include, an assessment of current operations and functionality, suggesting improvements for usability to increase use and ownership of the application as well as increasing access and resource opportunities for Emeden members.
Bunson Travel Service
Digital transformation of a reputed travel service
Bunson Travel Service is a leading travel management company looking to expand digitally and is in the process of digital transformation. The company is seeking to tap into the digital space by using technology to streamline the booking process, making it more efficient, for both Corporate and leisure clients.
Priscilla Muhiu is an E-commerce enthusiast, proud mum and a servant leadership advocate. She is currently the General Manager – Kenya at Glovo. Priscilla´s role will be to guide Bunson Travel Service on their platform development process, ensure the product requirements are clear to the developers as well as defining the product roadmap.
Be Well, The Happiness Club
Developing a digital platform to connect and engage female leaders
Be Well, The Happiness Club is an online peer mentorship and networking support group focused on wellness for women in leadership positions in professional or technical fields, based out of Laikipia. They will work with Lucy Oduor to develop an operational strategic plan addressing the growth of key focus areas within the organization.
Lucy Oduor is a highly skilled brand, marketing and communications professional with a track record of achievement in B2B2C marketing working for leading global, regional and local corporate brands. Lucy will be providing Be Well, The Happiness Club Company with advice and guidance on an operational strategic plan (outline) that will address the following:
● Product definition – review existing product proposition and assist in clarifying the product strategy.
● Audience targeting – review existing audience.
● Revenue modelling – provide topline probabilities
● Tentative roll out schedules.
Angel Wings Hospice
Innovating around the digital delivery of health services
Business Advisor at Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies
Terms of Reference Summary:
Angel Wings Hospice was founded with the mission to provide safe access and delivery of hospice services by using innovative technology to safely improve the quality of life for patients with life-limiting illnesses. With Michelline’s support, Angel Wings Hospice will work to seek funding for working capital, renovations and purchasing equipment required for current operations, to initiate operations at the Inpatient Center (IPC) as well as provide hospice services to the community at large.
Micheline Ntiru offers advisory & investment for early and growth stage companies. She’s is a polyglot, with extensive experience across 5 continents and is also an executive coach and board director. Micheline will help Angel Wings prepare for applications to gain entry into an incubator/accelerator program for assistance to develop and implement innovative telehospice applications and scale up operations necessary to increase hospice access and safe delivery of services.
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