Weekend with the CEO
Carol Koch: I love my books with an herbal tea twist, but I hate air fryers
Saturday, July 15, 2023
Carol Koech is the Country President, East Africa, Schneider Electric. photo | Swimming pool
The air fryer epidemic is spreading in Kenya. If you haven’t drunk Kool-Aid yet, save your throats and coins.
At least that’s what we concluded during a shootout with Carole Koech, Country President at Schneider Electric East Africa, a French multinational company specializing in digital automation and energy management.
she bought one. I used it once. And that was it. She warns us, both as an aunt and as an air fryer (restorer): “Don’t buy an air fryer.” What I bought though is that she has a singing voice, so she sings really loud.
Like a show bullfighter, she galvanizes me with stories of her herbal formulations. Every now and then you sip from a bottle, hastening to acknowledge its contents, it’s not whiskey. It is, instead, hibiscus tea.
She sips and refills this bottle up to three times a day. Ms. Koech has studied extensively and has a tertiary education, Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Nairobi and is also a qualified accountant along with shadowing as a STEM Champion guiding young women in work and in secondary schools.
Surprisingly revealing as the Venus flytrap, she’s a fighter who’s spent her life acutely aware of that age-old enemy: age.
We meet at the Power Technics complex on Nairobi’s Mombasa Road, in the dead of winter July, as you alternate between the hustle and bustle and struggle of Nairobis trying to get into the city.
She won’t admit it, but she pulled it off, unofficially. Or is it in the process of being made? With her skin clean as rain, she knows something we don’t — and it’s not just about the air fryer.
What weekend hack do you know that can make your weekends better?
My Saturday morning walk. I never miss them. Instead of coffee dates, I go on dates. If you’re looking to spend some time with me, let’s go.
It gives me strength to drive the weekend. I do 10-20km!
What does it look like to you?
I am alone because there is no one else like me. I am one of a kind. I myself.
When did you know that you are good at what you do?
I’ve always given my best. Since I was young. Growing up, I was one of those people who was counted on. There was no point in me “knowing”. I did my best and I think it showed in my work.
Do you have a favorite failure?
Some failures become blessings. I had moments when I was about to lose my job in organizations. It happened twice.
I was able to get another (job) during the redundancy notice period. It changed my life and I know things can happen to you but you can choose to make it positive and adjust it.
She taught me to appreciate that it’s not always rosy. I learned to never be comfortable. I am always on my guard, knowing that things can go wrong at any time. This is my mentality now.
How can one reach your whereabouts?
Sometimes I look back and there is no formula. More often than not, it is a preparation encounter for a lucky encounter. I also took a lot of risks from a career perspective. I made some moves that could be suicidal.
For example?
I studied engineering and worked for an auditing firm with no idea what they were doing. This set me on my journey in finance, where I had to quickly obtain an accountancy qualification.
I went back to school for my master’s degree and started looking for a job in the commercial department, moving from finance to sales.
I didn’t sell anything in the first year. But they kept me because I have a very unique skill set, and as I leveled up it became more important because I could see things from a much broader perspective with a business and financial background.
What is interesting about you?
I am a lifelong learner. I absorb a lot of information. I kind of find myself into topics that are relevant and also general to me.
I’ve spent a lot of time reading and trying to understand human psychology, trying to understand human behavior, motivations, and so on.
Do you read a lot?
I read a lot.
Where did you pick up this habit?
I grew up in the village. My dad loved to buy newspapers, but I also read a lot of fiction books, incl Is it possible By HR Ole Kulet.
I remember reading about a Maasai boy who tended cows but then got the chance to go to school. In high school we weren’t allowed to read story books but I always hid one in my textbooks.
The likes of Sidney Sheldon and James Archers. My kids have picked it up, and I can’t handle their demand for books.
What was the last book you read and what did you take away from it?
I just finished Burning Boats: Toss Plan B into the sea and unleash your full potential (Written by Matt Higgins). He challenges you to ditch Plan B because you will not focus on Plan A.
The only essential thing is, how can you focus on building something without looking the other way?
You mentioned your father. Are you daddy’s girl?
I lost my father eight years ago. But I was daddy’s girl. He was my hero.
What do you think your father learned from you?
He may not have learned but what did he do to me. He was my hero. He’d ask for all the report forms—I was quite the clever girl—and he’d just smile and laugh and organize a party with my brothers too, and kill a goat or a chicken or two.
It motivated us to work even harder. Maybe what I didn’t learn from him was how to party. Oh, and he also loved his drink.
Carol Koech is the Country President, East Africa, Schneider Electric. file image | Swimming pool
Once my cousin was getting circumcised and my dad saw they were cooking beans and got angry! He found his way to my uncle’s boma and removed a goat that had been sacrificed for the ceremony. Never misses an opportunity to celebrate haha!
And now you’re a father too?
Yes, I have four children. Every time people like how do you manage? And I’m as if they were already here haha!
What do you think you learn from your children?
They are very independent. My daughter just graduated last year and her perspective on life is completely different.
I’m firm and a snob, but she believes there must be more to life than just an eight-to-five job. She graduated from an Ivy League school but moved to the farm to build a “soil dressing culture”.
My other daughter just finished high school, went to college and explained that she “didn’t dream of giving birth.”
haha! I have boys age 11 and 9 who teach me patience. They want to understand your reasons, why, and you can’t say “because I said so.”
All of my children are avid readers. I had to sign up for a four-book-a-week library service because I couldn’t handle book-buying.
Do you have a special treat that you do as a family?
I did it with my dad but I still think about it with my family routine. We pray before we go to bed. We go to church together, and one or two dinners.
For my father, we should get a nyama-choma from a goat killed “alive”. He had to see the goats die haha! My mom kept up the tradition.
When you think of the weekend, what food comes to mind?
I used to love cooking a couple of years ago, but now not so much because when I have time to slow down I have to think about where I’m spending that time.
I started being health conscious six years ago realizing what food was doing to my body. I am calculated, so much so that I completely stopped buying food in my house.
One day, we went with my children to a neighbor’s house and I saw how they were eating sausages and I felt a little embarrassed.
I started buying them (processed food) in moderation. I try to fill my plate with half of the recommended serving of veggies, and I do a few diets with success.
I even bought an air fryer haha! Don’t buy one. Because the chips I made weren’t. I bought any tool you can use for food, even a spiralizer that you can use to make spaghetti out of carrots. It looks pretty in the picture but eh… haha!
It doesn’t sound tasty…it’s an acquired taste haha! I also drink a lot of herbal teas. all types. Even my youngest son has adopted him but he’s in it for the drunkenness. I don’t do sugar.
I am sometimes a mitti champa type. I have a tree outside my house, and do many herbal remedies.
What’s the dumbest thing you’ve bought?
Lots of these in my kitchen. IUD. And a rice cooker.
Does Working for an Electrical Company Make You a More Tech Buyer?
Ten years ago, I was a buyer. I’ve since come to understand that sometimes we buy things emotionally. Now I think about the things I want to buy, whether I need them.
What purchase under Sh10,000 changed your life?
I spend my money on a lot of herbal remedies. As you get older, you start to think about what your skin looks like, and how you can help your body.
I spend a lot of money on supplements, especially collagen which i take in powder form. It’s not cheap though haha!
What is your superpower?
my morning routine. I call it my time. I get up two hours earlier than everyone else. I spend the morning just focusing on myself, meditating, listening to a muse, writing a journal, reading, doing some yoga…two hours isn’t enough. This is the basis for me today.
Are you part of the Robin Sharma 5 am club?
I get up at 5 in the morning but I want to move it to 4 in the morning. I don’t know what they do at five in the morning.
What is an unusual habit or silly thing that you love?
I walk a lot and listen to books as I walk. That’s how I was able to read more, almost as if I were chatting to a friend.
But you have to be very selective with the books. I can’t listen to a book sitting down, I have to be on the move, and associate reading with something else.
What are the most problems you have experienced?
I went hiking Mt Kenya last year. There were three of us and on the last camp before the summit one of the hikers got very sick and we had to decide to forgo the trek. We were rescued by a helicopter.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve done?
Maybe I’m boring haha! I am a very good girl. haha!
What’s on your bucket list?
I would like to go to Thailand or those places where they ride elephants. And also to take a cruise.
I have to tell you my latest problem: I recently went with my children to Borodani Park in Limuru. I did the cycling thing. Do you know what happened? (He laughs). Look, I learned how to ride a bike a year ago.
So when I was there, the bike detached, and I was left there hanging in the air. My kids were just laughing at me haha! I didn’t even realize I was afraid of heights.
Do you have a secret talent that no one knows about?
I started writing and blogging. It is no longer hidden. I also think I can sing. (She begins to sing.) I can also milk, is that a talent? haha! There is a Swahili song that I love, of Saint Kizito, let me sing for you. This is the soundtrack of my life.
Like Abraham, I seek blessings. (kama ulivyo wingi kama nyota za angani) This is my prayer to be blessed like Abraham, and his blessings like the stars.
What is the most boring part about being a CEO?
Every day has different things. Making tough decisions isn’t boring, but it’s hard. Sometimes he can be lonely.
There is a way people see you and think you’re perfect. Some people don’t want to interact with you because they are drawn to you. Here, you’re making more of an effort just to keep your social circles alive.
What is one question that people never ask you but wish they did?
‘How can I be of assistance?’ People never ask me because they always imagine I have the answers, which isn’t always the case.
What do you have that money can’t buy?
Emotion. A fire in my stomach burning constantly, a drive to realize my full potential.
Who supports you?
I have a very supportive tribe. My family, my children, my husband and my brothers. I have a strong group of friends who keep me down to earth.
Lately, what have you become so good at saying no to?
events and speaking opportunities. I’m more careful about where I put my energy because when you say yes to many things, you say no to others.
Who do you know that I should know?
my maternal grandmother. She turns 100 next year. She is still a strong woman. All our passion and energy is because of her. She raised her children to grow up strong. I was raised by strong women.
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