Contagious Belief

Emmah Karue’s family business, Aspendos Dairy, is providing livelihood for nearly 10,000 families in Kenya. As Kenya’s seventh largest dairy, they represent 9,000 farmers, 450 factory workers, and 150 people distributing the milk. Emmah credits her time at Sinapis’ Entrepreneur Academy and Fast Track Accelerator with helping her realize that the marketplace is actually a mission field.When Emmah gave Sinapis a tour of her company, she said “I could show you our product in the factory or supermarket, and it would look glamorous. But I want you to see the change we are creating in people’s lives through business.” She took us to Kasarani, a low-to-middle-income neighborhood on the outskirts of Nairobi.Aspendos Dairy is providing more than people’s daily milk. They are providing a new mindset. As Emmah stood with two of the Kasarani distributors, Muiga and Gachanja, she told us, “Our passion is assisting these young men. We want them to have something they are waking up to do every day. We are working on mindset.” She believes God has created them for a purpose and wants to see them live it out. Turning to Muiga, Emmah told him, “Change is not going to be brought by someone else, it’s going to be brought by you. You are an agent of change.”Emmah tells her distributors to take the market seriously because small changes have a ripple effect. Selling more not only benefits them and their families but also prospers the farmers. She shared a story of a distributor in Kayole who was making so little that he was distributing milk by a bicycle but moved up to a motorbike and then a large truck. He has hired his own team and become the best seller at Aspendos Dairy. “And as you sell more, farmers can sell more, and we can source from more. Over 9,000 farmers can be guaranteed income at the end of the month.”Emmah knows that as an entrepreneur, she must inspire those who work for her. As she believes in others, she is helping them believe in themselves. As a result, the lives of nearly 10,000 families are improving thanks to her vision.

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