In the bustling digital age, where every other person with a smartphone claims to be a social media guru, Kennedy Karanja is busy proving that true mastery takes more than just a catchy bio and a ring light.

As the founder of Upbrand Digital, he doesn’t just run social media pages — he orchestrates full-scale digital strategies, from Google ads to content creation, making businesses shine in the crowded online space. Karanja’s journey into the digital world wasn’t planned with a neat, colour-coded vision board. It was 2019, and he had just transitioned from media to the corporate world when whispers of a mysterious virus began dominating global headlines.

Coronavirus (Covid-19) was still a distant rumour, but businesses were already murmuring about digital transformation. While most saw an impending disaster, Karanja saw an opportunity.

“It was actually a crisis,” he recalls with a chuckle. “I had just left the media for corporate, then boom—Covid hit! Suddenly, everything had to shift online. The organisation I was with could only function digitally, and I had to lead that transition. That’s when it clicked—everyone wanted to go digital, but nobody knew how.”

Thus, Upbrand Digital was born. At first, it was just Karanja and a close ally, hustling to establish themselves while networking like their rent depended on it—because, well, it did. The business grew, and today, he runs a team of four, with one member on a part-time basis.

Balancing his new business while holding onto his corporate job was no easy feat. “I had to train my team so well that by the time something reached me, it had already been handled with precision,” he explains. “But I also have personal clients who trust me directly, so I make sure to be hands-on where necessary.”

“I specifically wanted to do digital because I realised there was a gap. Everybody was doing digital, but they didn’t know what to do.” Since that point, he managed his business with the help of a close ally, while at the same time networking, a factor that has also fuelled his business success currently working with a team of four where one is on a part time agreement.

While running his venture, he was also still in the corporate world, balancing multiple sources of income as the uncertainty of the future of businesses was very pronounced since most businesses were halting operations. He explains how he was able to juggle between the two.

“The incredible thing is I’ve trained my staff or my people such that I’m confident in what they can deliver. Then there are structures in place that ensure before something gets to me, it’s like extremely, you know, been attended to but there are clients I handle on a personal basis simply because they know me and what I personally do,” he explains.

However, as more people continue to tap the space, this kind of venture tends to get diluted, meaning less profits and at the same time the surgency of “quacks” tainting its image. Luckily enough, technology for him is an enabler, bringing in the aspect of self-investment.

“I spend a lot of time and resources learning and improving on my skills because at the end of the day, what you offer your clients is what matters. I always ask myself what difference can bring in the industry and that pushes me back to getting new skills which of course I have seen translating to business growth.

Upon hearing the issue of upskilling many tend to get downhearted because of the numerous challenges of securing the tuition fees. Kanja, however, sees this as no excuse.

“So, one of the interesting models I personally have is I try and train the people that I have in terms of skills but right now, it’s even easier to get these skills because Google offers workshops for digital marketing for free,” he says.

So, all you need to do is do a Google search and you’ll receive a free digital marketing course.

That’s one of the requirements or one of the things that if you’re coming or if I’m trying to onboard you, I’ll just tell you, kindly take some time, do a Google workshop seminar to get accredited certifications from Google so that at least you have a basic understanding of what it means,” he suggests. With this aspect his staff continues to become better at what they do leading to more client satisfaction. He has managed to work with seasoned artists in the country and cementing his position as one of the people behind their successful music careers.

“ I have worked with a couple of musicians and I still am. There’s one amazing experience involving music production where I was given one week to run a digital ad for a music video, for this kind of work you actually need a lot of time because it involves a lot of planning, research and how to package the whole ad,” Karanja says. “So, I just had to burn the midnight oil, getting everything I needed and within the stipulated one week I was able to do the task and it actually became a huge success contrary to what I was expecting,” he narrates.

“With this kind of work, for you to be successful, you have to go an extra mile. This has also enabled me to build a good relationship with my clients and as result I cannot go home empty handed.”

With the wide portfolio his business has, namely, photography, videography and graphics designing, Karanja is able to cater to a variety of clients further making his business venture viable.

The young entrepreneur further explains why his business has room for scalability.

Karanja emphasises on being unique, like in the case of adverts that they usually offer, they are now focused on the value and triggering emotions rather than just marketing the brand.

“We look at what the consumer will feel when interacting with the brand, it is what I call experience marketing. This has been a success story for most of our clients as they also do offer referrals. Then this is a digital space, meaning that we improve on a daily basis. We come up with new ideas and products that make us stay relevant in the business,” he stresses.

To spice up his earnings, Karanja also offers digital marketing clients to interested parties having attained a certificate on the same.

“I should have mentioned I’m a certified professional digital marketer. So, I’m allowed to actually teach people at school. The reason why you go to school is to be a guru or a master at it. So, now I can offer a class.”
Just like any other venture, he faces a couple of challenges but he sees them as opportunities. He explains this.

“I’m now faced with an interesting struggle where everybody can do it. So that means, what is your niche? What is setting you apart from everybody? So that’s why you have to go and learn. That’s why you have to go and get better, keep updating yourself and understanding the trends. How can I improve? How best can I handle my clients? So right now, it’s not only digital marketing, which is interesting,” he explains.
For him, resilience, self-investment and consistency are the leading factors driving his growth.