Navalayo Osembo: Kenyan Woman Establishes Africa’s First Running Shoe Company

Navalayo Osembo is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Enda Sportswear, a company that is working with Kenyan athletes to share Kenya’s running culture with the world.

Despite training as a lawyer and becoming a certified qualified accountant, there was a time when she was trying to figure out what to do with my life. Navalayo told TAP Media:

“I’d say Enda is a series of many events that kind of just led to one point. I have always been interested in sports and once upon a time I started a sports academy in Bungoma that focused on helping kids who have really great talent in sports but without the economic background to support their talents”.

According to Navalayo Osembo, the program basically intended to put the kids in a place where they could just focus on being their best. That experience, mixed with her experience in international development forced her to start thinking about how to use sports as a tool for development.

How Enda Sportswear Was Born

Photo credit: TAP Media Ltd

Navalayo Osembo said she and her co-founder attended an event where they questioned why a country like Kenya with all its famous athletes who were recipients of award prizes or being used in marketing campaigns could not benefit from its culture of running. She saw how other economies have flourished based on their reputation. 

For example, if one says a machine is from Germany, everybody automatically assumes it is of high quality. She emphasised that it was the same thing with Kenya and running. “I was thinking, surely, with our reputation in running, how have we not monetized this in a way that actually helps the country move forward?” She asked.  

Navalayo Osembo explained to TAP Media: “Once  I was discussing with Weldon (Enda’s Co-founder) and we realized that we could capitalize on running as a sport in Kenya.

Then, from there, if you think about the runner, running shoes are just the one thing that everybody needs regardless.

You can run in tight shorts or whatever, but you have to have running shoes and that’s when we had that light bulb moment of, we have to make running shoes – and we did!”

From Light Bulb Moment To Having A Product

According to Navalayo Osembo, the shoe idea had just started brewing by the time she went to New York. She stated that she had just started working on the product remotely with her cofounder Weldon and just talking with different people. 

Navalayo explained that it reached a point where she couldn’t sleep and that was how she knew it was time to move.

“You sleep and you just feel like I’m not really supposed to be here. You go to work; you’re just feeling I’m not supposed to be here. I don’t know how to say it, maybe that’s what you call it”, she told TAP Media.

Navalayo Osembo shares her vision for Enda Sportswear

Photo credit: TAP Media Ltd

“I’d say our vision is to basically put Kenya on the map as a source of quality – not just the runners but also running shoes. So, I’d say our overall vision is to ensure that everywhere you go in the world,  whenever a conversation about top running shoes happens, Enda shows up.” She explained.

Navalayo Osembo confessed that she sees Enda as a channel of change. For every shoe they sell, a portion of it goes into a community fund which allows them to invest in local projects.

Navalayo Osembo added that as a running shoe company, their key competitors are brands in that niche industry. Navalayo stated that some people like to compare them to other big brands, but she always emphasises that Enda’s path is Enda’s path. 

They are not stopping and looking at the side and saying what’s that one doing and what’s that other one doing? They created Enda with a mission to bring the benefits of running back to Kenya.

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