Joan Mazimhaka cofounded one of Rwanda’s most successful creative agencies.

Since starting one of Rwanda’s most successful creative agencies with four partners in 2010, Joan Mazimhaka from Illume Creative Studio has been passionate about growing the creative sector, promoting women in business, and telling new stories about Rwanda.

We talked to Joan about the importance of holding on to your passion, using curiosity to fuel your creativity — and not letting anyone tell you that you are less capable than your male counterparts.

Editor’s note: Akilah’s “Women We Admire” series highlights women leaders across East Africa, including innovators, entrepreneurs, activists, policymakers, and businesswomen.

“We wanted to change what comes up when you Google Rwanda.” That is how Joan describes the vision of Illume Creative Studio, which she founded seven years ago with her sister and three others. Today, Illume is one of Rwanda’s most successful creative agencies and the engine behind events such as Dinér en Blanc, the creative partner to CollectiveRW Fashion Week, and much more.

Illume uses storytelling, strong visuals, and innovative strategies to help other brands and companies tell their story and contribute to a new narrative about business in Rwanda. “For a long time, people just knew Rwanda for genocide and gorillas, and we wanted to show that there is so much else that defines Rwanda,” Joan says.

According to Joan, one of the biggest challenges of running a creative agency is ensuring that people understand the value of creative services and branding.

“In the beginning, people think they can do these things themselves. ‘I’ll just ask my cousin or our IT guy at work to do it,’ they’ll say. It always takes a while to explain the importance of a consistent brand. But slowly, people start to understand the impact it has on their business — and on the overall image of the country. We are now seeing several new creative businesses coming up. It’s great to see how it is becoming more of an industry in Rwanda.”

“When you are running a business, you have to prepare yourself for a lot of challenges,” Joan says.

Creatives must also consistently prove the value of their work, Joan says.

“People think it’s easy. But getting the value for what you create is one of the hardest things. So you need to make sure that your product is worth the value, every single time. Compete with yourself, and be distinct. Make sure what you deliver is the best you can do.”

Before Joan and her partners started Illume, she was working a stable government job. Taking the plunge into entrepreneurship has provided plenty of ups, downs, and lessons learned.

“When you are running a business, you have to prepare yourself for a lot of challenges — although you never fully can. People think the creative industry is relaxing, but you really need to know what it is to run a business: how to manage staff, manage clients.

Entrepreneurship is not doing what you want, when you want. You’re running a business; you’re building a livelihood and reputation.”

As a female entrepreneur, Joan sees Rwanda as one of the best places to be. Women are promoted across all levels of society, so the glass ceilings are not as thick in Rwanda as they are in many other places. But that doesn’t change the fact that sometimes, as a woman in business, you need to work a little bit harder to gain the recognition you deserve.

“There are still meetings where people will talk to my male colleagues, even if I’m the one leading the meeting. They automatically assume that the man is who they should talk to.

My best advice is to just work around it: Don’t stop talking; continue to voice your opinion and expertise. You have every single right in your business to speak up and move forward. It is definitely interesting to still run into these challenges even though we feel we can do anything as women nowadays.”

The fast-growing STEM sectors of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math can benefit from creativity and need more entrepreneurial, original female voices, according to Joan.

“The perspectives of girls and women have been missing in these industries. Girls and women can perceive the world differently than men. That perspective and voice is important for innovation across industries. Otherwise, we only get half the story.

We need to continue to tell girls that they are inventors and creators themselves. We are able to do just as much as our male counterparts. It’s important for our story.”

Joan’s best advice for girls and women dreaming of a career in the creative entrepreneurial scene is persistence.

“The world will hit you with being intimidated lots of times. Remember all the things you have already done and accomplished and focus on where you want to go. Let the positive intimidation fuel you in your way forward. You are incredibly capable — and you are ready. You just might not know it yet.”