“Being who I am and standing for my values really helped me to be where I am today.”

Fiona Kamikazi is a Communication and Outreach Manager at I&M Rwanda, a trusted digital marketing advisor to several companies across Rwanda, a social media enthusiast, and a part-time poet. Allen Ingabire recently hosted Fiona as part of our Insta Live series, to understand how she juggles her many roles and what advice she would give to others looking to build their personal brand. Watch the full interview here or read highlights from their conversation below.

Allen: Fiona, how do you define a personal brand?

Fiona: In my opinion, personal branding is about figuring out who you are and determining what you want to be known for. For example, as you mentioned, people know me as a social medial enthusiast. Also, knowing your audience, how you tell your stories, the language you choose to use, and identifying the medium that you’d like to use is very crucial in building your personal brand.

Allen: As one of the best social media influencers in Rwanda, can you describe how you got there and how you built your own personal brand?

Fiona: I don’t call myself an influencer — I think that’s a strong word! But I think I got here by just being myself. People who know me in real life can see that I am the same person on social media. When I started partnering with different brands to sell their products or to talk about their services, I had always chosen brands that I would actually use or that had a mission which resonated with me. When you promote something that you genuinely like, even people who don’t know you become interested in your account and follow you. But if you keep promoting everything that comes your way, people will mute you because they don’t relate to your posts. I think being who I am and standing for my values really helped me to be where I am today.

Allen: If people are hoping to build their brand, what channels do you recommend them to focus on?

Fiona: It depends on people’s individual circumstances. Personally, I use different channels for reading and keeping up with different trends because I’m in digital marketing. It’s an industry that changes all the time and you have to keep up with the latest trends. For example, now we are using Instagram Live and that’s something that was not possible four years ago. Today, people spend a lot of time on different platforms discussing different things, like iPhone users on Clubhouse. I learned about this the other today when I saw people talking about it on Twitter; I downloaded the app and now I find it very useful because people talk about different pressing issues our society is currently facing. So, I think people choose different channels for different purposes, such as how they want to build their brand or what they want to be known for, and also comes down to understanding their audience.

Allen: How do you manage to be on social media so often while juggling all your other work?

Fiona: I have three apps on my phone that constantly remind me of things that I have to do. I usually take some time every few hours to go on social media and see what’s trending. I try to balance the two as much as I can.

Allen: How can someone work on building a personal brand and stay lowkey?

Fiona: I don’t think building a personal brand necessarily means becoming widely known or a public figure. It’s important to be clear about how you want to be known. Understand what you share, how you share it, and your audience. Also, it’s important to keep in mind what’s worth going on social media and what you want to keep to yourself.

Allen: What do you like most about Davis College and Akilah?

Fiona: I like how Davis College and Akilah have a different approach to education. It’s not always just books like some other universities. Your students get involved in extracurricular activities, which help them to have an open mindset. If there is someone who is looking forward to joining a university, I would encourage them to join Davis College and Akilah.

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