Waceke Nduati, Dale House, Rhapta Road, Westlands, Nairobi (2026)

23/09/2026

There comes a point where you realize you don’t need another course. You need a community.

That is why Centonomy Privilege community exists.

Privilege brings together like-minded Centonomy alumni who want to continue growing beyond the classroom. Because at some point, real-life learning has to take place.

It is not a poverty support group; we are not here to sit around talking about why there is no money or why things cannot be done.

We are asking a different question: how are people actually doing it?

How are they making money? Building businesses? Investing? Creating wealth?

These are the kind of conversations we have at Centonomy Privilege Connects.

At our recent session, Donald Wangunyu, CEO FourFront Management and Executive Director of Standard Investment Bank, took us deeper into investments and got us thinking beyond simply making money to how we intentionally build long-term wealth.

What makes these interactions valuable is that they don’t stop at information.

They make you think differently about what is possible and what you can actually do with what you’ve learnt.

I learnt that you can make money in the stock market even when share prices are falling — through short selling. (Story for another day)

That is actionable education.

The Privilege community is also about having people around you who are on their own journeys, but are intentional about growth. People you can learn from, connect with and be accountable to.

Because at some point, you say: I’ve reached here. What do I need for what comes next?

And what you need isn’t more information.

It’s the right community around you — one that challenges you to think bigger, act differently and keep moving.

22/09/2026

Recently, pride mixed with fear.

I’m out of town on a trip I had planned in advance, and coincidentally, this has been a particularly full season at Centonomy

And on this particular day, the 47th cohort of Centonomy 101 was graduating, our Centonomy Privilege Captains were meeting to review their circles, the Open Day in Uganda was taking place, and a Centonomy Entrepreneur class was underway.

Every one of those things gave me a reason to stay. I kept thinking about it. Should I change my dates? Should I change my plans?

After 17 years of building a business that has, for a large part, been running without me, I still feel that guilt.

Then came the fear. What if I’m away and something goes wrong?

But then I started hearing about what was happening on the ground.

At the Centonomy 101 graduation, the testimonials were especially meaningful. Graduates spoke about tracking their spending, managing debt, investing and learning how to manage, protect and grow their money. Most importantly, they were already beginning to put those lessons into practice.

Our Centonomy Privilege Captains were reflecting on their circles — sharing what was working, the challenges they were facing, the successes they were seeing and the solutions they could put in place.

In Uganda, people were showing up, asking questions and engaging, while the Centonomy Entrepreneur class continued.

I wasn’t there, but the work was happening.

The most scary and liberating realization an entrepreneur can make is realizing that the show goes on without you — and actually goes on well.

That made me think about the team I have built. There was a time when I felt everything needed my presence to move forward. Today, I can step away and trust a team that knows what it is doing, can deliver and create meaningful experiences for the people we serve.

That comes from having the right people, systems and culture in place.

One of the things I’m most proud of is building a team and an organization that can continue to move forward even when I’m not physically present.

As entrepreneurs, there will always be decisions to make, problems to solve and meetings to attend. It’s easy to think that being present is the same as adding value.

But taking time away is not doing nothing. Sometimes, it is part of the work.

For me, my favourite place to refill has always been by the ocean. There is something about being near it that allows me to slow down, think, breathe and see things from a little further away.

I’m learning that taking time away is not taking something away from the business.

Sometimes, I’m simply refilling the cup that the business needs me to pour from.

Musings from an entrepreneur, looking at her business from a distance.

16/09/2026

What does “enough” look like when you get to define it for yourself?

That was the question at the heart of our latest Soul Sisters gathering at The Creative Lounge, Karen Country Club

The theme was Enough: A Woman’s Most Radical Decision. It sounds simple, but this may be one of the hardest things a woman can actually do. “Enough” means putting herself first amidst the many demands we face as women.

And making that decision also means normalizing another word that we are not always given permission to normalize: NO!

We explored the expectations women carry, the pressure to keep achieving, and how easy it is to measure ourselves against definitions of success that may not even be our own.

What I appreciated most was the honesty in the room. We spoke openly about our experiences, challenged some of our assumptions and reflected on what it really means to build a life that feels fulfilling — not simply one that looks successful from the outside.

For me, “enough” has also come to mean creating space in my life to hear myself. With children, family, work and all the things that pull at us, it is possible to get to a point where you no longer know what you want because you can no longer hear yourself.

So, I find myself asking: What do I love? What do I want? Where do I go to listen to myself?

As Chair of The Creative Lounge, I’m grateful to be part of creating spaces where these conversations can happen. There is something powerful about bringing women together to think, question and see things from perspectives beyond their own.

08/09/2026

Survival can become a way of life without us even realizing it.

It’s easy to get used to borrowing, spending, upgrading and keeping up. Even as we earn more, somehow the pressure never seems to ease. One debt gets cleared, only for another to take its place.

At some point, it becomes worth asking: what are we actually trying to maintain?

Because our financial decisions are rarely just about money.

They can be shaped by the need for approval, pressure to fit a certain image, cultural expectations or the belief that earning more should mean living a certain way.

And when those patterns go unquestioned, more money doesn’t necessarily create wealth.

It can simply give us more room to repeat the same patterns.

For me, building wealth also means becoming curious about the thoughts behind our financial decisions.

What have we stopped questioning?

What thoughts keep us in the same financial loops?

There is financial work that happens in our bank accounts, and then there is the deeper work that happens in our minds.

It’s time we stopped making survival normal.

Centonomy

03/09/2026

A business can be growing, profitable and successful — yet still not be creating lasting wealth for its owner.

It’s a conversation I’m looking forward to exploring with fellow founders and business leaders at The Great Leaders Lab, exclusive to the Stanford Seed Transformation Network.

This year’s theme, “The Founder’s Advantage,” brings together five areas that matter deeply to anyone building for the long term: purpose, founder brand, resilience, wealth and legacy.

I’ll be speaking about wealth — not just making money, but understanding how to create, preserve, grow it and ultimately, how the businesses we build can become vehicles for creating lasting wealth.

Beyond the stage, I’m also excited about the questions, experiences and perspectives that come from being in a room with people building very different businesses, but wrestling with many of the same questions.

Looking forward to being part of it.

01/09/2026

Who is responsible for making sure people know about your work?

I’ve come to see visibility as a structure, a role that has to be done.

Just because you worked somewhere and were good at your job does not mean those customers will automatically walk with you when you start your own business. You have to build your own brand.

I’ve seen people leave employment thinking, “My clients loved me. They’ll come with me.”

They don’t always.

For me, that was part of understanding why visibility cannot be left to chance. I’ve never convinced myself that I can do social media, so I had to think about visibility differently. Who is responsible for it? Where do people hear about the work we are doing?

When we were in survival, people would come to me and say, “Waceke, we can see the amazing work you are doing. But how are people hearing about it?”

And that is the question.

Sometimes people know your product. But do they know what your product has done for somebody else?

That’s exactly what I saw happen during the Centonomy Entrepreneur Chats.

Some of the speakers were Centonomy alumni who stood up and shared their own transformation stories. They were willing to put their own stories behind the work Centonomy was doing.

That is visibility.

It’s not just about throwing things on social media. It’s about having the confidence to say, “I’m doing amazing work. But are people hearing about it?”

Because you can be doing amazing work.

But are they hearing about it?

25/08/2026

Proud mom moment.

We graduated 75 teenagers from the Centonomy Teens Bootcamp, and seeing them in the room with their parents made the day even more special. It was a beautiful reminder that financial conversations can become a bridge between generations.

My son was one of the teenagers who went through the bootcamp, so I experienced it in a very personal way.

I teach money every day, but watching my own child go through it in a structured way was different.

The dining table in my house has now become a place to talk about business ideas, money and the choices we make. I’ve heard him talk about his vision, career choices and ideas in ways I hadn’t heard before.

The other day, he was heading somewhere and chose to take an Uber Boda because it was cheaper. Such a small decision, but I noticed it.

Sometimes the biggest signs of learning aren't the big declarations. They are the small decisions that show you someone is beginning to think differently.

And that, for me, is what makes the experience so meaningful.
Not just that they learn about money, but that they start looking at their choices, future and possibilities differently.

It also gave parents an opportunity to hear those thoughts and have conversations with their teenagers that might not have happened otherwise.

75 teenagers graduating is a milestone for Centonomy, but for me, the real win is knowing that the conversations don't end when the bootcamp does. They come home with them.

We had different cohorts over the past few weeks, including a group that went through the programme in partnership with Karen Country Club . The learning also went beyond the classroom, with the teens getting to visit GTBank Kenya and explore saving through Chumz.io

To all the parents, look out for the next Centonomy Teens Bootcamp. You may be surprised by what your teenager comes home talking about.

18/08/2026

Throwback Tuesday!

A reflection from my keynote address at the launch of the Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC) Founders Collective.

Are you self-employed or are you an entrepreneur?

I started asking myself that question around year 10 of building Centonomy

At the time, I realized my ambition was changing. I wanted to do more of the creative work, and I knew the business no longer needed me at the center of the operations.

So, I hired a CEO who was at the helm of Centonomy for seven years.

The season of success led to succession.

But stepping away from the business became more than a strategic decision. It gave me the space to separate my identity as Waceke from the business I had built.

I began asking myself: what can I do outside of this business?

That's actually when I wrote Making Cents.

I also experienced burnout, and it has a way of confronting you with your own limitations. It reminded me that before I am an entrepreneur, I am a human being.

We talk a lot about building businesses that can grow beyond us. We don't talk enough about building lives that allow us to remain whole while we do it.

So, as you build, ask yourself: how do I refuel myself?

There isn't a strategy for that. It starts with knowing yourself and understanding that you will need time to step back, recover and come back with something to give.

What does refueling look like for you?

13/08/2026

Income is not the same as wealth.

I remember the comfort of knowing that a salary would come in every month. Leaving employment meant letting go of that certainty and it changed the way I thought about money.

My focus became less on how much I was earning and more on what I could build with what I earned.

Income can stop. Wealth needs to keep working.

That was at the heart of our recent Centonomy Open Day. We explored what it really means to move beyond the paycheck: building assets, making intentional financial decisions, investing and creating systems that allow your money to grow over time.

I was joined by Donald Wangunyu, Angela Kariuki and Kingori Muito, and I loved the questions and conversations that came from the room.

Because the goal isn't simply to earn more.

It is to build a financial life that isn't entirely dependent on the next paycheck.

That is the work and it is work worth starting!

So, what are you building with the income you earn today?

12/08/2026

One of the greatest joys of building Centonomy is watching entrepreneurial journeys unfold.

Our recent Centonomy Entrepreneur Chats brought together three incredible entrepreneurs— john kageche , John Kagai and Yvonne Kanyi.

What made the conversation particularly meaningful was hearing John and Yvonne speak about how their time at Centonomy has influenced the way they now run their businesses.

John spoke about learning that growth does not mean doing everything yourself. When he encountered challenges around the financial side of his business, he recognized that he needed expertise and brought in an accountant to help. He applied the same thinking in other areas, identifying where he needed support and bringing in the right people.

Yvonne spoke about learning not to be afraid of increasing her prices and knowing the value of what she offers.

These may sound like simple decisions, but they can change the way a business grows.

Both once walked into Centonomy as participants. Today, they are building businesses and sharing their experiences with others who are still on that journey.

And that is what makes these conversations so special. Entrepreneurs at different stages of the journey come together—some just starting out, others finding their stride, others with decades of experience and yet all are still eager to learn.

This is why at Centonomy, we don’t just teach financial literacy, we build a community where people continue to learn, grow and encourage one another long after the programme ends.

There is something incredibly rewarding about seeing that journey unfold!

Waceke Nduati

23/09/2026

22/09/2026

16/09/2026

08/09/2026

03/09/2026

01/09/2026

25/08/2026

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