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She exudes charm, sophisticated elegance and cuts an image of 100 professional chic. In the public relations world, where image really matters, her persona and gift of the garb have played a significant role in her success. However, Gina Din Kariuki admits to having gone through some low periods in her life.
For one, her father, Shamsu Din, died of a heart attack at the age of 58, when Gina was 201 years old and life was never the same again. “Suddenly daddy he wasn’t there any more and had been like the most precious thing in my life. So I went through pain for a long time,” she recalls.
“It affected everything and changed who I was.”>>
Today however, at 44, the founder and chief executive of Gina Din Corporate Communications (GDCC) epitomises success.
The company she founded has several awards to its name, the latest being the Best 2004 PR Campaign, awarded last November during the Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK) PR Excellence Awards. GDCC retained the top prize for the second year running. The company also romped home with the second runners-up prize in the Overall PR Campaigns category and a runners-up prize in the PR Consultancy of the Year category won by Tell-Em.
GDCC’s PR campaign, titled Safaricom Cares For You, Wear A Pink Ribbon, for mobile phone service provider Safaricom, was adjudged the best 2004 PR campaign. The company’s second runners-up prize came in yet another Safaricom commissioned project, Safaricom Matatu Poa campaign.
Established eight years ago, Gina Din
Corporate Communications has established and nurtured a formidable client base in the competitive public relations sector and managed to retain some of the leading blue-chip firms in the country. The agency has also secured affiliation status with the Arcay Communications group, a leading Pan- African integrated communications consulting firm based in South Africa.

EARLY LIFE

Brought up in Nanyuki, where her parents Shamsu and Malek Din owned and ran the Sportsman’s Arm Hotel, Gina attended St Christopher’s School in Nanyuki, Greenacres High School and the London School of Journalism.
The youngest of four sisters, Gina says that growing up was lonely. “My three older sisters, Yasmin, Nargis and Salima had grown up and left, and I only had my parents to hang out with,” she explains. As such, she spent a lot of time with her father. “He was a strong personality and he defined my world. We would read and talk and he left me with a huge interest in world events and politics. His death traumatised me. I was full of grief.”
Gina’s mother continued running the hotel until her death in 1993, when it was sold. “Mum was an incredible lady. She was very simple but had enormous compassion and generosity. Her death was very hard on me as we had grown so close and had been through a lot together. I would have loved my parents to see how their rather worrisome daughter turned out,” she says reflectively.
Yes, the worrisome daughter has come far. She first made her entry into the corporate stage in 1985 when she was employed by Barclays Bank as a communications director. She had just graduated from the London School of Journalism with a degree in journalism.
Coming in at a senior level had its share of challenges. Some of the old, traditional bankers found the young woman a threat, but most people were dazzled by her professionalism and charm.
At Barclays, the hours were hideously long but Gina worked hard and had fun. She worked under two “wonderful CEOs Bob Bird and Peter Geer, who gave her a free hand to do what she loved. “I was young and didn’t know a damn thing about banking, but the bank took me under its wings and gave me an opportunity to prove myself,” she says with gratitude.
Success at an early age, she recalls, brought on feelings of anxiety and emptiness, and instigated a spiritual search. Gina read lots of spiritual material and finally found her calling – to serve people through public relations.
When the time came to leave Barclays for private business in 1998, she was in a quandary. Her boss, Peter Geer, did not want her to leave. “My boss kept increasing my salary but it was not about money. I mean, I was very well paid but I wanted to have time to pick up my children from school. My little girl, Natalya, was five years old and Naythan had just been born.”

SETTING OUT ON HER OWN

When Gina decided to go into private business, her former boss Bob Bird, husband Chris Kariuki and her friend Joe Nyagah, currently the Member of Parliament for Gachoka, encouraged her to make a go of it. “Hon Nyagah gave me such inspiration,” she explains. “He had been in international business and was able to put me in touch with a number of PR companies abroad who gave me pointers on how to model my company.”
On first setting up her company, Gina wanted to do everything. She confesses she was a control freak but later learnt to be more accommodating. “I grew up wanting to be perfect and I micro- managed everything and everyone. I was a complete control freak but I now appreciate that mistakes give us the opportunity to leam,” says Gina. “One of the hardest things I have learnt to let go is my business, but it has also been the most rewarding. My general manager, Desiree Gomes, has turned out to be so much more efficient than I. She is such a star!”
Gina modelled her company on an idea she had for a long time – a one-stop PR shop. “We are the only public relations firm with a media department, and that was my vision. We have our own cameras, journalists and studio, etc,” she says beaming.

THE AWARDS

“As you know, the PR Excellence Awards recognise and showcase the best in the profession in Kenya. It’s a great joy for me and my team to be recognised as the best for the second year running,” Gina says.
Gina submits that any PR campaign is a relationship between the agency and the client, adding that the relationship between her company and Safaricom contributed to the success of the campaigns. “1 admire Michael Joseph. I really admire his business style and think it was that chemistry that led to the matching of ideas-his and ours – and getting to a stage where the ideas were recognised.”
She adds: “If a client gives you room to work without stifling your creativity, it is easy to achieve results.” Gina credits Safaricom with remarkable ideas. “They are our most flexible client with some of the most amazing ideas, and they have allowed us to develop them,” she says, a winner’s smile playing on her lips.
For Gina, the awards motivate her to aim even higher. “I’ve always wanted our consultancy to be the best and it has finally happened. This motivates us to get even better.”
She cherishes the teamwork in her firm. “Previously I used to micro-manage and that is a mistake many entrepreneurs make. I don’t do that anymore. I just let people do what they are best at.” This system has shown her that she has many talented people around and she just needs to let them be- and they are doing a great job. Her duties involve leading the team and giving them direction.
Gina’s passionate but liberal leadership style is what glues her employees together and to their jobs like a family. “I like to have sessions with all my employees, just to bond. There are no formalities; I address them by their first names and they just call me Gina because I like it that way,” she says.
No international company won anything at the PR Excellence Awards. “For me it was great that local talent was recognised,” says Gina. She is of the opinion that companies need to focus and specialise on PR, not run it as part of advertising. “If you are good in advertising. just concentrate on advertising, don’t just add PR because it’s a good thing to do,” declares Gina.
She adds that GDCC’s clients have always asked her to go into advertising but she won’t hear of it. “I don’t know the first thing about advertising, so we can’t go there. Our core business is PR,” she asserts.
It is not only PRSK that has recognised Gina’s work. Two years ago, she was awarded the Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS) by President Mwai Kibaki. “It was great to be given a presidential award. I got it because of my contribution to society. I am motivated by a desire to ease the burdens of others, to let them know they are not alone in their struggles.”

GREAT MOMENTS

Gina has had great moments in her life.
Among them is meeting one of her heroes, Nelson Mandela, when he visited Kenya recently. When they met, Mr Mandela remarked: “You look like you are a special lady. The meeting had been hurriedly arranged by Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o to whom Gina had mentioned that she would love to meet Mr Mandela.
Gina was in the middle of a meeting when Prof Nyong’o called her and said: “Can you come quickly to the Intercontinental now? Mandela is here.” Minutes later, she was sitting next to the African statesman at lunch.
“It was an awesome experience. That man has so much wisdom to share, although he is now frail and everything. We talked a lot about forgiveness. This is a positive trait in him- he was able to forgive everything and move on after being jailed for 27 years.”
Gina learnt a lot from her short meeting with Mandela but top among them is: “Don’t let pain in your life hinder your progress.” Gina says she has experienced betrayal in her life but has the strength to move on. “One thing I am not afraid of is failure because, you know, not everything you do is going to work. You might try something that might not work, but if you never try you will never know if you could have pulled through, so you just have to pick yourself up and move on.”
Gina’s other heroes are Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Theresa. Their spirits took charge of their physical environments and the environments changed to accommodate the power of their spirits. It is important that our spirit takes command and the world will also yield to its force.”
Locally, her hero is her personal assistant, Christine Wambua. Christine has worked for Gina since their days at Barclays Bank. “I admire Christine because of her courage and trust. When I was leaving the bank, I cautiously asked Christine if she would come with me and, without any hesitation, she agreed.” explains Gina. “There was no telling at the time that we would be successful and I still marvel at her courage of giving up a well paying, secure job to take a risk with me. It was really a case of her spirit taking charge of her destiny. Today, Christine is in charge of everything I do and she is part of my family,” Gina says with pride. Gina adds that caring about the people she works with is important. “For me they are more than just staff. I care about their families, how they are doing. their business and I spend a lot of time just talking to them and I think by so doing I can mentor and develop them.”
A member of Gina’s staff says: “Gina is so warm. When you are having a conversation with her, she totally engages you as if no one else exists. Her gaze is intense and she gets straight to your heart. It’s cool. She is always genuinely interested in other people – she’s the sort of person that asks taxi drivers the names of their kids!”
The one thing Gina loves about her job is that every day is different. “No two days are the same and the learning that comes with it,” she says. “Today we could be dealing with Safaricom and tomorrow it’s Emirates. It’s completely diverse and I just love it.” She is not good at routine and would not have made it as, say, an accountant, because she likes being involved in lots of different things.