In April 2014, while studying for her bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and Management at Uganda Christian University (UCU), Shivan Komugisha attended a workshop for entrepreneurs in Arusha, Tanzania.
“The aim of the workshop was to prepare us to discover our talents and skills so that we would be able to create our own jobs, as opposed to becoming job seekers in a world of unemployment,” Komugisha told This is Africa.
On her return, she pondered what she could do to escape from joblessness after graduation. Realising that she had a love for art and deciding to channel that in a practical way, she started applying make-up to her face, shaping her eyebrows and eyelashes. She kept practising until she realised that she had moved a step closer to perfection.
Eventually, she invited friends to her hostel room for a free make-up session. She bought the products she was using from her pocket money. Komugisha continued offering free services to friends until she realised she had mastered the skill.
Today, Komugisha works on all types of client and the application depends on the event they are going for. For example, she has worked on brides and grooms, graduands, children for birthday parties, musicians, actors and actresses. She can accommodate groups and individuals.
Komugisha is one entrepreneur who has successfully taken advantage of social media. It was not until April 2016, when she started posting pictures of some of her clients’ faces on her Facebook and Instagram accounts, that people started contacting her for gigs.
“My clients have also done a lot of marketing me. For example, when I work on a group and they are satisfied with my work, they pass on my contact details to other people who are interested in my services. So, the chain keeps growing,” she says.
Komugisha admits that her sweat is sweet because her work is raising the tuition fees for her master’s degree at Uganda Management Institute.
“I decided to go back to school and study management as part of my business journey,” ambitious Komugisha says, adding that she will also study cosmetology further.
“My dream is to set up a studio with enough room for me to train more make-up artists. I want something more and that is why I have decided to invest further in my education so that once I start the journey, I should not look back,” she says.
male@ugchristiannews.com/ Photo Credit: Arthur Matsiko/TIA
