Business with Purpose Podcast EP 242: Jenny Nuccio, Imani Collective

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My guest this week is Jenny Nuccio. She’s a dear friend of mine and founder and CEO of Imani Collective, a social enterprise and holistic women’s empowerment program in Kenya, committed to breaking generational poverty. 

9:44 – Jenny 101

• Most people know her as the founder of Imani Collective. She is married and has three children.
• Jenny has some cool projects coming up, but she can’t share what they are just yet. She hasn’t even told her parents about the projects yet.
• She has been in Kenya for the last decade of her life and plans to stay there.

14:14 – Swahili

• She speaks Swahili, but she’s much better at understanding it. 

19:23 – What led her to Kenya

• She saw a church bulletin about going to Kenya. There was a peace that resonated in her soul, and she realized she needed to be on that trip. 
• She kept coming back to Kenya and doing what she calls “radically listening.”

27:50 – Doing it all

• Jenny says she gets asked all the time how she does so much, but she says no one is doing it all. 
• She believes God is using her as a vessel to help others.

38:14 – Pivoting her business

• Jenny does a lot of custom orders and creates beautiful products, but she has made some changes to her business during the pandemic. 
• She wanted to be an e-commerce business, so she started leaning into it. She also wanted to diversify her line more.

44:39 – Getting her EdD

• She’s getting her doctorate. She partially wants it for credibility, because she wants to be taken more seriously. She felt annoyed after meeting with mostly white men at investment meetings and being treated like a little girl. 

51:58 – Get to know you

• Favorite TV show when she was younger? Friends
• Something people would never guess about her? She didn’t travel outside the country until she was 18

FEATURED QUOTES

“I have some really exciting projects happening this year that I can’t even share with you guys. Just be looking out for that … Not even my parents know. That’s how behind-the-scenes it is.” – Jenny

“There was just this peace that resonated in my soul, and it was like, ‘You need to be on this trip (to Kenya).’” – Jenny

“I did go on a mission trip, but not with the mentality or intention of like, ‘I’m coming to serve and I’m coming to make things better.’ It came of like, ‘I’m coming to learn and grow and see what else is out there in these beautiful cultures.’” – Jenny

“I’ve always just said, ‘God used me as a vessel. I’m just a vessel for this.’” – Jenny

CONNECT:

https://imanicollective.com/

About Jenny Nuccio:

Jenny is the Founder and CEO of Imani Collective — a social enterprise + holistic women’s empowerment program in Mombasa, Kenya committed to breaking the generational poverty. Having lived as an integral part of her Kenyan community since 2013, she is committed to the collaborative advancement of equitable opportunity for the friends she works with every day, as well as for marginalized populations world-wide.

She also is the Co-Founder of the School of Ethical Impact and brings a unique intersection of both classroom + real-world social entrepreneurship expertise.  But this is only part of her identity: Most days you can find her laughing with her kiddos, wondering the streets of Mombasa, or simply enjoying a great cup of Kenyan coffee. She wears many hats, but some of her favorites are being a wife and mother of three who is passionate about spreading joy and helping inspire women from all walks of life to pursue their dreams and step into their true potential.

Thank you to our partner of the show:

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