Lynn Ngugi was born at Nairobi’s famed Pumwani Hospital and raised by her mother following her parents divorce.
Following the divorce, they were compelled to relocate to a less expensive single-room property in Huruma Estate.
Lynn’s mother worked as a shoe hawker in Nairobi’s central business district.
“My mother was a small-time shoe vendor in Gikomba. She would sell her small collection of shoes just to get food on the table. She eventually became a clothes hawker in Nairobi’s central business district, and it was a hardship,” she explained.
Lynn attended Ndururno Primary School where she sat for her Kenya Certificate Primary Examinations (KCPE).
“My mother was strict on education. She always insisted on school, and even though I was out of class more than I was in class owing to lack of school fees, my mum always found a way to see me through school,” she said.
Lynn excelled in her KCPE and was given the opportunity to attend Moi High School, but due to a lack of funds, she had to retake Class 8.
“I passed my primary exams and remember getting admission to join Moi Girls School
“However, because of a lack of funds or bursary scholarships, my mum convinced me to repeat primary school. She couldn’t manage to support both my elder sister and I in high school,” she said.
After taking KCPE for the second time, Lynn enrolled in Magumu High School, a local school in South Kinangop, for her secondary education.
Despite enduring hardships in high school, she excelled, and despite being accepted to the University of Nairobi, she was unable to attend owing to financial constraints.
“Imagine that you have so much potential in you but couldn’t make it to university because of money. It’s tragic
“I wanted to pursue law at university and be like The Boston League or Harvey from Suits, but I didn’t get enough funds,” she stated.
With no plans to attend university, Lynn pursued a career in acting and auditioned at the Kenya National Theatre (KNT).
She would perform set books and be paid Ksh 600.
Lynn enrolled at the East Africa School of Media Studies in 2011 and received her Associate Degree in Mass Communication and Broadcast Journalism in 2013.
“After two years of college, I started job searching, and it was hard. My friend, Kate, and I used to do demo videos and clips and drop them off at media stations
“I dropped my videos almost everywhere with no callbacks. Kate got an attachment, but unfortunately, I didn’t get any. After six months of tarmacking, I gave up,” she said.
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Despite having offers to work with a shooting firm, Kiwo Films, she did not take advantage of them owing to a lack of funds to go to video production sets.
After exhausting all other alternatives, Lynn was given the opportunity to fly to Dubai through a friend she met on Facebook.
She flew to Dubai on a visitor’s visa and began looking for and applying for every job she could find. She later got a job at a restaurant that included housing and a work permit.
”Just a few days before the expiration of her visiting visa, Costa Coffee called me back. I explained to them my situation, and they offered to give me accommodation and a work permit visa. That’s how I began my work as a coffee barista,” she said.
Although she was generating enough money to send some home, Lynn became despondent due to a lack of purpose and decided to quit and return to Kenya after six months.
“Every day I woke up and started making coffee, I would get depressed. I was unfulfilled because I wasn’t following my passion
“I would see my classmates doing well in Kenya, and this reminded me of the dreams I wanted to chase. I had goals to pursue. This made me quit my job and come back home,” she said.
Lynn came home, but was unable to find a suitable job, so she returned abroad to work as a project manager at Qatar Foundation Research and Development.
She worked from 2013 till 2016. Lynn had saved enough money by 2016, so she returned home to try her hand at production again, creating The Kilimani Mums Show.
They shot the pilot episode and, after posting it on YouTube, received a copyright violation warning from a well-known media outlet.
Lynn ended up losing her YouTube channel.
While planning her future step, her former schoolmate Edwin Ochieng encouraged her to work as a reporter for TUKO.
Lynn pleased the top supervisors and landed a permanent position as a video producer and content development after a few months of work.
After a while, she demonstrated interest in reporting on human interest stories.
“I shared with my boss how I didn’t want to report on some issues. I wanted to take the road less travelled-I wanted to cover human interest stories,” she said.
Lynn worked at TUKO until 2021, when she departed to start her own company, Lynn Ngugi Network, which produces the Lynn Ngugi Show.
“I didn’t want people to manipulate the way I tell stories. I also felt the need to own my own intellectual property. I saw the stories I shared are beautiful and thus wanted to be the full owner of my content, answerable to myself and my audience,” she expressed.
