Weekend with the CEO
Faith Wanderi’s secret talent and statement tattoo
Saturday 17 June 2023
Faith Wanderi, Managing Director, East and West Africa for NielsenIQ. file image | Swimming pool
Faith Wanderi arrives looking nothing like Faith Wanderi. She wears a cowboy hat and cowboy boots, dexterity in her tongue and fervor in her gait, with the Mallandro charm of a Spanish matador, she brings a gun, a knife, and a bazooka to a gunfight.
Looks like it was going straight out of TD Jake’s book: “Woman, Thou Art Loosed.” She’s also eight minutes late – car trouble – but honestly if she had told me her horses needed watering, I wouldn’t have thought.
Small in stature but huge in personality – she is, exaggeration aside, what happens when you trap lightning in a bottle.
She wouldn’t let anyone steal her thunder though. Now 44 and Managing Director, East and West Africa for NielsenIQ (a data and analytics company) responsible for 19 countries on the continent — her career has been built on daring (or in industry terms, chutzpah).
Perhaps, after all, she is a Sagittarian fondness, undoubtedly in her beliefs, grounded not in what one can do with one’s skills, but in what one can do with one’s self.
We meet at lunch at The Social House in Lavington, delighting unabashedly in our delicious delicacies, our table strewn with stardust and scandal from an array of meats and I can hear my cardiologist stumbling over his bill-book – but it doesn’t matter, for you can’t tell us which is juicier. , meat or stories of faith that you tell with bouts of melancholy, this arc.
But it looks good. And bloody hell, it feels good.
That hat, are you a cowgirl?
No, I just have different types of hats. I’m a shoe lover – Imelda Marcos from Hats and Shoes. I love accessories. I like being me.
What does it look like to you?
I am the eldest of three. I was raised to be responsible and caring about people. I am a very loving and protective, loyal Christian. I have a close-knit family and my parents are like my best friends.
My father is my teacher and everything I do I consult him. I’m fun, I’m spontaneous, I’m a Sagittarius but I love having fun with the people I care about; But I’m also on guard because I’ve been hurt before.
I am a mother of three children – my son is 18 years old and I have twins – they are close to me. We talk to them about everything because that’s the same way I was raised. Did I mention I’m a giver?
How atmosphere there?
I tell people that at the top it feels very lonely. You have to deliver in terms of business goals but also have a team to look after because you never know who to trust. You can feel lonely.
Was there a point when you broke the glass ceiling, the shards cut you?
Yes. This time we developed a product and took some shortcuts in terms of compatibility. From a local perspective with the regional team, we agreed on the product and followed through.
At the time of implementation, we had a fallout — that led to a critical or breaking point. We spent the whole night building and justifying my business case. Today it is a Nielsen product.
What is your travel destination?
Of the countries I’ve been to, I think the most enjoyed is Amsterdam. Diversity is very unique and universal. They work hard and play hard.
What’s the worst advice you’ve received?
Funny enough I didn’t! I’ll tell you why. I was intentional in choosing my guide. I have mentors in different areas of life, from the corporate sphere to family matters.
You have to be intentional with the people you communicate with.
What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever spent money on?
An expensive pair of shoes. A pair of designers… about $2,400 (about NIS 334,752).
What unusual habit do you like?
Call people late. im Layla. My people know I can call them at 1 in the morning.
Tell me about your weekends.
hey no! haha!
please?
OK. I work hard from Monday to Thursday. However, on some Fridays, I finish my meetings by 2pm and will have some plans with friends or family. I will release him.
Go out and have fun. I play the piano – I used to play in a marching band at USIU. My house is full of music. My kids also play the piano. I’m having a good night, but politely.
Saturday is errands day, which of course comes with the maternity zone. Sunday to church, when, well, if you get up. It’s a habit I want to go back to. Are you going to write that?
I’ll put it in a way that Jesus would approve of…
OK. But I also like to eat out.
When you think of the weekend, what food comes to mind?
All bad things. French fries. I’m not a seafood person, so I’ll do the meats: chicken wings, steak, and pork chops. The more meat the better.
How do you keep all these paintings in the air?
You have to be intentional. Monday through Thursday is bonding time with my kids. We talk a lot and I’m there for them.
Don’t forget they are teenagers so they don’t really want me. Weekends are just for me to blow off some steam and let loose. If they’re free, they join me.
Do you have a special treat to give only to yourself?
I love massage. Hot stone massage especially. I only go once a quarter.
What are the most problems you have experienced?
I was telling my mom a story and I said something about her friend. She asked me if I was saying that she was, too.
Look, I’m very frank, so I told her the truth. She told me to get out of her car. But where do I go from Nyali Bridge? I let her talk about it
How are you like your mother?
We could be Siamese twins! First, she is a true leader. Likewise, I cannot sit still. I am always in good shape, working out or doing things.
You taught me how to do a side business. She is also very loyal and loving – yet protective and assertive. She’s my best friend, we talk about anything and everything.
What’s on your bucket list?
Bungee jumping, sky diving, and I gotta go to Bali. Oh Jamaica. You need to go to Jamaica. Everyone needs to go to Jamaica.
What secret talent do you have that no one knows about?
I love the interior design. I like to put things together. I must do something about it. I keep saying that.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve done?
I intentionally missed my flight to join a group of friends who were traveling by car.
What is your life path now?
(She proceeds to sing several songs) (Tabitha, her communications director, chimes in and says it’s a Burna Boy song. Faith firmly refuses.) (nanaaa nanan nanana naaa…) Well, the song I like to play is Nara Ekele by Travis Greene.
What is your superpower?
connect people. And get things done, no matter what.
What do you consider true?
When people show you who they are, believe them. Faith, hope and love. I even have a tattoo of the same thing. let me show you. (Leary continues)
Do you have a weekend getaway that can make your weekends better?
A glass of wine with a nice book. Preferably by the pool. or ocean. But I love movies, especially good romantic series.
I’m a hopeless romantic, my friends don’t like it when I touch their Netflix accounts. I will spoil their algorithms. I love drama.
are you happy?
very happy! Come to think of it, it would take a lot to piss me off. You know I’m a Sagittarius. I’ve never had an aha, I’m finally happy moment. But in the past few years, I have been very happy.
Who do you know that I should know?
You have to know my father. You will get a lot of inspiration and it will guide you along the Christian faith.
He has been a businessman for many years so knows his highs and lows. He will give you sound tips.
What do you think your father says about you?
This is my daughter, my firstborn. She’s loving, and she has an opinion—on certain things, not everything. But she is very loving and tender.
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