#WomenGive; Building Communities Through Voice and Legacy

A Glimpse into Jennifer Kanari's Background and Impact

We asked women to share moments when another woman made a big difference in their lives, and the stories we've received are truly inspiring.

We heard from Nwegbo Ifesinachi Crystal, who spoke about how her mentor's guidance was key to finding her drive and purpose. Then, there's the tale of a passionate linguist who started Hey Bonjour, all because a friend named Adaobi believed in her and offered support. Sonayon Thomas shared how she focuses on creating images that encourage self-love, thanks to the emotional and financial backing from her sisters, keeping her dream alive.

We also got to hear from a Creative Interior Designer who talked about a simple act of kindness that redirected her career path. Pamelagold from Smile Outreach shared the significant impact her mother and sisters had on her purpose-driven career.

And there's one more story you'll hear more about: a Voice Coach and Founder of VALK in Kenya. Her journey from homeschooling to becoming a leader was significantly shaped by her mother's strength and wisdom.

These summaries are just the tip of the iceberg of their amazing journeys, but Jennifer's story stands out. Take a look below!

Your Legacy: Can you share your background, what drives you, and how you are making a mark in your community or field?

When I decided to home-school my children back in the 2000s, I became an intentional educator, learning on the job! (bless my exceptional children), and loving it...and the results. A home-schooling field trip to a recording studio introduced me and my children to the world of voiceover acting, talent casting, and management (my children :-).

My educator mind and the absence of structure and voiceover trainers led to my developing a one-on-one voice coaching program for my growing casting agency members, and eventually, in 2012, birthed a voiceover community that we called The Voice Actors League of Kenya (VALK). VALK has become a robust platform for networking and equipping our growing member VO enthusiast community with workshops and resources to better understand the industry and the opportunities to succeed. It provides a space where new and veteran talent can interact freely, allowing for mentorship and giving back to happen organically.

We support one another's Beyond Voiceover pursuits, pray for each other when we are down, and have become a family. We have developed some pretty incredible talent, too, that grace narrations and adverts online and on Kenyan radio and TV! And there's so much more voiceover-related work to do and produce in the pipeline. It can get heavy sometimes, but being able to give hope, give back, to empower people, young and young at heart, and to use my voice to enrich others, both behind the mic and in the many conversations far from it, makes it all worthy, and worthwhile.

The Investment in Your Journey

Could you reflect on a time a woman invested in you through mentorship, education, resources, or moral support? How has this investment contributed to who you have become today or shaped your vision for the future?

This was an interesting one. Most of my mentors and moral and spiritual guides and supporters in my adulthood have been men! Go figure, maybe because I am 'une fille unique', the only girl of my siblings, or from being a tomboy growing up, perhaps, I gravitate towards male input? Who knows?

Still it makes this an easy question to answer - my mother is that woman who invested selflessly in me. A strong, self-assured, assertive woman and a pioneer family health nurse and trainer of nurses in Kenya. An instinctive and intuitive teacher.

An unapologetic advocate of justice and progress and self-sufficiency, and love. She is the one steadfast woman in my life whose example shaped me, whose counsel directed me, and whose choices thrust me on an educational path that allowed for music, elocution, sports, travel, and acting, which honed the skills I use today. In the home she provided, voiceover commercials and animation entertained us as a family, making the world that I now contribute to familiar. And in our relationship today, where I enjoy all her bigness as a mature daughter and friend, she is a steadfast beacon by which I can measure my own progress.

I carry her legacy and light, forged into me, to my own children and grandchildren, my friends and family members, to the voice actors I 'mother', and beyond. My mother is the powerhouse that has influenced the woman I have become and am becoming yet.

Jennifer Kanari
Speech Coach, Voiceover Acting Coach, and Founder-Administrator of The Voice Actors League of Kenya (VALK)

Your Message: What would you like to say to inspire, thank, or motivate others to invest in women and accelerate progress?

What a unique opportunity and appropriate time to say...thank you, bless you, and more love and health to you, to the most significant woman in my life. My mother. The path of womanhood is beautiful by design. And I have in you the example and wellspring of wisdom to watch, learn from, and pursue, for you walk that path ahead of me, Mom. Blessed am I for I am because you are. 

To every woman, I say, there is *no being on earth that is so uniquely positioned as to have the irresistible ear of men, women, and children as you. 

We are the epitome of intrinsic beauty and the barometer of the balance and harmony in our spheres of influence. We anchor fathers to their children, raise children to relate responsibly with their siblings and others and relate to one another's needs and emotions like only another woman can.* When we inspire, encourage and lift each other up, there can only be progress where we are. Exponentially. 

Excerpt from my E-book, The Hidden Power of Softness - Discover the Hidden Working of a Woman's Voice. Inspired by my mother and all the amazing women whose voice mastery journey, I had the privilege of coaching.

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