Beautimatics – celebrated Beauty and Brilliance, in business and public life are becoming a subject that many women are mastering across the continent of Africa. Corazon Kwamboka from Kenya, is one such master.
She is an Influencer, with over 700,000 followers on Instagram, and has shaped businesses around her influence on social media, and in business as a lawyer.
For years now, Corazon took Kenya by storm as she is not only known for her pretty face and her voluptuous structure but has proved her intellect by earning herself a law degree, and getting admitted as an advocate at the Supreme Court in 2016. Additionally, her entrepreneurial skills have elevated her to a global level as Corazon not only represents her name but an international brand.
The majority of millennials can only dream of the life that the young advocate, model and entrepreneur has achieved at such a young age. In 2014, then 21-years-old, she bought her first eight-bedroom mansion. Two years later (at 23) she purchased her second home.
The curvaceous plus-size model was listed as one of the richest top 10 socialites in Kenya though she does not consider herself a socialite. Cora is an epitome of beauty and brains and has gained many skills to guarantee her financial freedom unlike the old tradition African women.
Back in the day women lacked confidence, were uneducated and not formally employed. They suffered at the hands of men who were traditionally expected to be the educated and the income earning ones. This made women dependent and vulnerable to all forms of abuse as they felt stuck and had no option but to stay in such abusive relationships/marriages.
Gone are the days when women were confined to the home, gathering berries and childbearing while the husband hunts the meat of the day. Now women have taken over the board rooms and innovation and strategy have become their new set of chores.
Back to the current reality, the new millennium gave birth to multi-facets of power for women. The pain and suffering led women to grow balls to fight for their emancipation. The paradigm shift has made women self-sufficiency and they have become more and more aware of the need for them to become financially stable hence creating multiple sources of income to secure their financial freedom.
We have taken a magnifying glass to look deep into the life of Corazon Kwamboka. Her beauty and brains ought to be celebrated. The beauty wears many hats as she takes on multi-income earning roles making her a power house.
Corazon has always been known for her wits. At the age of 17 she got hired straight after high school after scoring an A (plain). She completed her law degree and got admitted as an advocate. Though some haters tried to pull her down by claiming that she slept with lecturers to get good grades in university, her intellectual track record from a young age speaks for its self.
Over the years the legal field “has been described as an old boys’ club”, Braff reported. However, gender diversity has been believed to provide broader insight to solve the most complex legal issues which is why many women are being accepted in the field. Many women across the globe have completed law degrees, demystifying the notion that women are both beautiful and intelligent.
While many consider it, a dream come true to get admitted as an advocate, Corazon has plenty of financially sustaining gigs to choose from and chose to focus on her clothing line despite being good at her well-paying job as an advocate. The hotshot said, “I started my law practice, even register a firm and went to court a number of times but now I can confidently say at the moment it´s not for me, maybe in future. I have defended and won a number of times, but of course I won’t go into the details.”
Just like Corazon, women like Tebello Kutoane (South African), Lisa Folawiyo (Nigerian), Folake Afindele-Coker (Nigerian) and Raychelle Tasher (African American) have all traded their wigs and gowns as they ventured into business which is also male dominated.
The women mentioned above are all young, beautiful and intelligent and have built empires showing how their intelligence works to their advantage in any field. Though their beauty can never be missed, these women boast with their brains as their most valuable assets.
Cora flaunts her voluptuous body unapologetically in pictures and exudes confidence and self-love which many curvaceous women have been lacking. The consumption of Western content has led many Africans to adopt the idea that being slender is better than being a fuller-figure yet many of our African sisters are blessed with curves.
The model has very wide hips, humongous bums and a very small waist with a much smaller upper body. Giving her that hour glass look that many women pray for. Her unusually beautiful body has made her gain a lot of followers, many women want to know her secret to the beautiful “hipylicious and bootylicious” body while man drew over her.
Her semi-nude pictures which made her famous have made her booty the hot topic in town. In an interview with Hot96 she mentioned that the semi-nude pics were all for a good cause. Her intention is to help promote self-confidence and encouraging plus size women to embrace their bodies.
Africa needs more plus size models in the industry as many young girls seem to go through depression trying to fit the world view of a “beautiful body” instead of embracing their unique shape and size.
Realising her influential power Cora uses Instagram as her main point of contact to reach her target market for her brand and to gain popularity. The content creator has different accounts (personal and business accounts) which serve different purposes.
Her personal Instagram page pulled an amazing 700,000 followers. Genio and Corazon World also record over 25,000+ followers each. The Corazon Show has up to 9,000+ subscribers with some videos reaching over 150,000 views. Genio, Genie Effects and Corazon world pages are mainly used to advertise her cloth line.
The beauty has been considered by many as a socialite but she refutes it saying being a socialite is for shallow people of which she considers herself to be intelligent. The young business women decided to use her fame to her own advantage by strategically starting her own clothing line called Genie Effect and a sports wear clothing line called Genio. The young entrepreneur models in her own cloth line designed for her specific body type. How clever!
She runs a boutique business, Corazon World, that operates at an international level, a health, fashion and beauty brand on Instagram and Facebook, selling female apparel, shape wear and accessories. Unlike many online stores, Corazon World sale products that are exactly as they advertise them online. On Facebook, CorazonWorldOfficial posted a good review from one of their clients on their Instagram page. The client was happy to receive her order which was exactly as it looks online. Now that’s the way to build a business!
There is no better way to retain customers than creating a good reputation for your business. Providing beliefs of safety, honesty and reliability about your brands to consumers, will subsequently generate brand trust which will in turn make customers resist competitors marketing efforts. According to Kabadayi and Kocak, brand trust influences brand loyalty through brand affect. It is the customer experience that can guarantees brand loyalty no matter the cost.
Genie Effect is sold in her Corazon World boutique. This brand is made from high quality material making it as expensive as US$140 (est. Ksh) a dress. The businesswomen now promise lower prices as she has changed suppliers to give her customers the best for a much affordable price.
The clothing line is a mixture of imported pieces and pieces that she makes. The imported pieces are costly but guarantee customers high quality and a unique style. Cora’s precision in the quality of her products and services create the brand affect that make her consumers prone to pay more as they perceive an excellent value in the brand.
This creates marketing advantages for her brand as it will reduce the marketing cost as her products will benefit from word of mouth which will help her gaining more new consumers.
The gym rat also came up with a brilliant idea to create her own brand after realising a gap in the industry which failed to cater for bootylicious women. The international brand caters for all sizes and it is high quality, high waist, super stretchy and anti-cellulite. The brand is a dream come true for many curvaceous women.
When asked how she came up with the idea, she said:
“Being a lover of sport and gym and a curvy size 16/18 girl, my main struggle was finding sport wear that fit me. The international brands don´t cater for us and the available local brands were either very low quality, see-through or low waist. [Low waist would pose a challenge when you have to be active jumping or running at the gym]”.
‘Genio’ is Italian for Genius, and the brand has not failed to meet the standards. ‘Genio’ Instagram video posts show ‘Genio fit gals’ (brand extension) working out, it clearly shows how the sports wear keeps in position even during exercise. Therefore, meeting the intended genius standards that Corazon was trying to achieve.
The brand has taken a more aggressive marketing approach on Instagram. Posting more than one pic a day. The Instagram pictures have highlighted every positive aspect about the brand which in turn draws traffic to Genioactive.com.
Genioactive.com has a modern feel with bright appealing colours and even has an option to open an account. Genio is playing on an international level, selling its products in American dollars making it easier for anyone from anywhere to purchase them.
Cora strategically cuts costs by modelling in her own cloth line which fits her like a glove. Showing her forward thinking and giving her a competitive advantage. Having different cloth lines not only helps her by having a variety of products to supply but also increases her economies of scale and scope. This means that her company is able to save money by expanding and producing more products at less additional costs
She created the YouTube channel in 2013. The show is mainly centring on her life as she talks about anything from relationship advice to cooking tips. This is a smart personal marketing move and will get her the exposure she needs to get her brands out there. There is no doubt that Corazon will go places. Her strategic and innovative skills together with her pretty face and curvaceous body will help open doors that many have never really expected.
Corazon has and will continue being an inspiration to many young girls. Her exceptional strategic skills in business and her calculative personality will guarantee her success in the business world. This will definitely set her apart from many socialites who are only known for their beauty while they carry their empty heads and can hardly use smart ideas to use their beauty to their advantage in the business world without degrading themselves.
Her story has to be spread wide for all girls to learn from her exemplary life achievements. Women should all know that beauty is not enough to get you far in life but brains will. However, a combination of both will make you reach the pinnacle of success.
Sources: Tuko, Braff, Corazon World, Doney, P. M. and Cannon, J.P. (1997), Nairobi Wire