Every Monday at 7pm singer Olivia Ambani has her fans all camped on her Instagram page to listen to her talk on money, financial management and investment. Just like music, financial management is a passion that she has cultivated since completing university and entering the job market.
Like many other young people starting their first jobs she says she would find herself living hand to mouth, and sometimes the salary she received would not last to the next paycheck.
Her passion for money started from personal experience. She said she lived from paycheck to paycheck.
“I studied communication in England, where I worked for a bit and then came back to Kenya,” she says. “My first job in Kenya was in graphic design. At the time, I was being paid Sh20,000.”
She soon realised the money was not enough to sustain her, and sometimes the company did not pay on time. She struggled to find money for food and transport and this became “a vicious circle”.
“I realised that I could take the easy route and blame my employer, but I asked myself what else I can do.”
This is when her passion for money solidified and she started researching and networking with people who were knowledgeable about finance management and investment.
“I found out about fixed deposits, market funds and I tried them out and it went so well. I realised the importance of saving from where you are. You do not need to wait till you have a certain amount of money. I started with Sh100.”
Realising that other young people like her had “a very bad relationship with money”, she decided to start sharing her knowledge and experiences. Creatives, she says, seem to be the most affected on managing money. This is because many focus so much on being an artiste that they forget that they need to manage their finances properly.
“This financial journey has enabled me to make better informed decisions about my music career,” she said.
When she was working on her album, she struck a deal with her producer to pay him in instalments for work done.
“There is a lot of shame around money, we are ashamed if we do not have it or when we have too much,” she explains.
As her knowledge about money grew, so did her music. In 2019 she was nominated for two awards in the All Africa Music Awards (Afrima) in the continental category for Best Female Artiste in African Inspirational Music, and Songwriter of the Year in Africa. In 2020 she was also nominated for Songwriter of the Year and Soulful Artist of the Year at the Café Ngoma Awards.
“I am a big believer in learning by yourself, being comfortable with who you are and so when it came to the type of music I wanted I always wrote and sung what is true to me,” she says.
“And when I performed my first single, ‘Better Than Just Fine’, and the reception was amazing, it gave me the courage to go on.”
In 2020 she released her debut album, “The awakening”, featuring 14 songs and all written and performed by her, including her inspirational single, “Better Than Just Fine”.
The following year she also got her first music movie placement when her song “Falling Star” was featured in the movie “Just in Time” that is on Netflix.
She said the album is “personal” to her because it reflects her experiences as an artiste.
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