How CBC was a blessing in disguise for doll making duo in Nakuru

Tess Kabue and Linet Wanjiku never imagined venturing into doll-making while they were focused on their knitting business. 

However, as they noticed the significant amount of waste materials they were discarding, they saw an opportunity to repurpose these materials and diversify their income by creating dolls.

Tess Kabue, co-founder of Tess and Lin Creations, shares with Mtaa Wangu that their decision to start making dolls last year was driven by a desire to minimize waste and expand their business income. 

"We decided to start making dolls last year to avoid wastage and also diversify income from our knitting business since we had the materials already," she explains.

Ms. Kabue notes that integrating doll-making into their business was relatively easy, as each doll takes only about two hours to create. 

However, convincing customers to buy these handmade dolls was initially challenging, given that many people were used to purchasing inexpensive plastic dolls. 

"We had to do a lot of marketing to convince people to purchase the dolls, but the fact that they were long-lasting gave us an upper hand since our dolls can be used for a long time," she says.

The introduction of the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) in schools opened new opportunities for Tess and Lin Creations. 

They began offering doll-making training sessions to students, charging Sh. 500 per session, which further supplemented their income. 

"We sell the dolls at Sh. 400, and with CBC, we have been able to complement our income through the school training, even individually," she adds.

As their business grew, they hired and trained three more casual workers to help manage the increasing workload. 

The 23 years old, says they're focused on refining their doll designs and expanding their product line to appeal to a broader audience. 

"We want to come up with a multicultural doll line that shows our culture as a country where we can be able to showcase our culture to encourage kids to be interested in the culture," she says.

Tess and Lin Creations is determined to continue breaking barriers in the creative industry and redefine the landscape of the toy industry in the county.