Klaudia N Kay, chief executive of Aveshe Consultancy
Klaudia N Kay is the CEO of Aveshe Consultancy as well as the director of many portfolio companies and has been seconded as CEO to Farm Access Limited in Arusha, Tanzania.
Monique Adams
Klaudia N Kay believes that there is no true leadership without challenges, but with humility and confidence she’s learned that by giving people power to own their jobs, there would be no challenges, rather a team journey destined for success.
Kay comes from a protective but very family-oriented space where family always comes first. She is a proud alumnus of the Okatana Combined School and Mweshipandeka high school. She graduated from the University of Namibia with a Bachelor of Accounting, after which she worked four years at several institutions.
At the age of 25 she went to Stirling University in the United Kingdom to obtain a master’s degree in investment analysis. In 2019 she had the privilege to be accepted into Harvard Business School’s Senior Executive Programme Africa for seven months.
“Being accepted into Harvard Business School was a game changer. My career, blended with a multinational family, is an interesting one indeed, but not for the faint hearted. It requires hard work, extensive travelling, many sleepless nights, excellent leadership skills, human resource management plus good time allocation. It has been ten years of Aveshe Consultancy and we look forward to the next ten years,” she says.
Starting a business venture on your own is no walk in the park; it takes a lot of self-discipline, sacrifice and determination, she adds.
“Covid-19 has been the test to absolute leadership quality. If we can grow through it, take lessons from it and transform it into future growth and opportunities for our people, that is triumph.”
One of her biggest accomplishments has been the ability to sustain a business for the past ten years against all odds.
“It has been amazing to see people walking into Aveshe for work in the morning and knocking off to their families late afternoons, even though the challenge of ensuring they earn to support themselves and families was left with me, it equally gave me a lot of motivation knowing that I am responsible for many people’s livelihood and that I have a chance to enable dreams,” she says.
When she started Aveshe 15 years ago, she was working for another company but had a vision of building a company that makes an impact in people’s lives. The Aveshe name itself is very sentimental to her as it is the silent name of her firstborn. When she first started the company, they were selling corporate wear with an intention of funding future projects.
“I have sparks that run from my deeper being and energise my ambition, especially when engaging with the unemployed youth, and that pushes me to work harder. To be where we are today is a privilege and I am filled with a lot of gratitude to have been able to transform Aveshe ten later into a PTY Limited with more specialised service portfolio.”
Waking up every day with a sense of purpose, she starts her day with a prayer before doing anything else. “If the day finds me at my children, I would always talk to my children before they go to school. I send them out as little soldiers every day, an attempt to help them face daily challenges. Before preparing myself for work, my husband and I would have a morning video call or a discussion if we are together which provides an update on all anticipated daily schedules. It is thereafter that I open my emails and start running with my day. My average active day starts at 06:00 and ends at 01:00 or 02:00. I would always read a chapter or two from my collection of books before retiring the day,” she says.
What she would tell her younger self is that the world does not create itself around you; you create your world around you and the privilege of choices is an access to power that allows you create your world. “The late Dr Reginald Mengi puts it so well: ‘I can, I must and I will.’ Go for it!”
5 Facts about Klaudia N Kay:
1. 39-year-old Namibian born in Okatana.
2. Married to an amazing husband and a mother of five.
3. Lucky to call Mount Kilimanjaro home.
4. She plays the violin.
5. Has travelled and explored 38 countries.
Klaudia N Kay believes that there is no true leadership without challenges, but with humility and confidence she’s learned that by giving people power to own their jobs, there would be no challenges, rather a team journey destined for success.
Kay comes from a protective but very family-oriented space where family always comes first. She is a proud alumnus of the Okatana Combined School and Mweshipandeka high school. She graduated from the University of Namibia with a Bachelor of Accounting, after which she worked four years at several institutions.
At the age of 25 she went to Stirling University in the United Kingdom to obtain a master’s degree in investment analysis. In 2019 she had the privilege to be accepted into Harvard Business School’s Senior Executive Programme Africa for seven months.
“Being accepted into Harvard Business School was a game changer. My career, blended with a multinational family, is an interesting one indeed, but not for the faint hearted. It requires hard work, extensive travelling, many sleepless nights, excellent leadership skills, human resource management plus good time allocation. It has been ten years of Aveshe Consultancy and we look forward to the next ten years,” she says.
Starting a business venture on your own is no walk in the park; it takes a lot of self-discipline, sacrifice and determination, she adds.
“Covid-19 has been the test to absolute leadership quality. If we can grow through it, take lessons from it and transform it into future growth and opportunities for our people, that is triumph.”
One of her biggest accomplishments has been the ability to sustain a business for the past ten years against all odds.
“It has been amazing to see people walking into Aveshe for work in the morning and knocking off to their families late afternoons, even though the challenge of ensuring they earn to support themselves and families was left with me, it equally gave me a lot of motivation knowing that I am responsible for many people’s livelihood and that I have a chance to enable dreams,” she says.
When she started Aveshe 15 years ago, she was working for another company but had a vision of building a company that makes an impact in people’s lives. The Aveshe name itself is very sentimental to her as it is the silent name of her firstborn. When she first started the company, they were selling corporate wear with an intention of funding future projects.
“I have sparks that run from my deeper being and energise my ambition, especially when engaging with the unemployed youth, and that pushes me to work harder. To be where we are today is a privilege and I am filled with a lot of gratitude to have been able to transform Aveshe ten later into a PTY Limited with more specialised service portfolio.”
Waking up every day with a sense of purpose, she starts her day with a prayer before doing anything else. “If the day finds me at my children, I would always talk to my children before they go to school. I send them out as little soldiers every day, an attempt to help them face daily challenges. Before preparing myself for work, my husband and I would have a morning video call or a discussion if we are together which provides an update on all anticipated daily schedules. It is thereafter that I open my emails and start running with my day. My average active day starts at 06:00 and ends at 01:00 or 02:00. I would always read a chapter or two from my collection of books before retiring the day,” she says.
What she would tell her younger self is that the world does not create itself around you; you create your world around you and the privilege of choices is an access to power that allows you create your world. “The late Dr Reginald Mengi puts it so well: ‘I can, I must and I will.’ Go for it!”
5 Facts about Klaudia N Kay:
1. 39-year-old Namibian born in Okatana.
2. Married to an amazing husband and a mother of five.
3. Lucky to call Mount Kilimanjaro home.
4. She plays the violin.
5. Has travelled and explored 38 countries.
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