This is how you know Dr Paul Kaumbutho is around. Everyone is scrambling for him. Daktari!
The voices linger along the hallway. Since 1999, Dr Kaumbutho has run Omega Opticians from the boondocks of Kimathi Estate in Nairobi’s Eastlands to the backwaters of a 10 by 10 stall in town to a craning metropolitan whose sky is pushed farther and farther away by the stiff arms of this and that new steel frame.
On 5th Ngong Avenue, he takes up three floors, running a business with 30 branches and over 120 employees. Daktari himself is salubrious—in both personality and magnanimity. Perhaps it comes with the job.
Being a father, that is. Of four girls, his latest addition seven years old, “who keeps me young”, he says. His current mojo is golf, but even then, one figures he’d rather swing by the office first. Work is a route to everything, and golf, a route to everything else.
He may be a doctor by calling, but storytelling is his true profession, dishing out axioms here and there: Something disarming about his grandson.
An anecdote about hard work. An aphorism on motherly wisdom about ‘eating the chicken first’. The good old days, supplying potatoes and carrots “with his young wife in their small car”.
Now a wolf on top of his hill, he is still as hungry as the wolf climbing the hill, because golf, too, is at best a classification of those who have made it, and those who are in the process of making it.
How does it feel to live your dream?
I started with almost nothing. I realised I needed to understand the business side of healthcare, so I joined an optical firm to gain that experience. But even with knowledge, without capital, you can’t move. I asked my elder brother to partner with me — that didn’t work out.
I tried someone in Arusha, but that failed too. So in 1999, I decided to go all in. I opened a small outlet in Kimathi Estate with another doctor friend, but it struggled to pick up. To attract clients, we ran outreach programmes.
I did everything to make rent — even sold meat at one point [chuckles].
Eventually, I found a tiny space in town, set up shop behind a cybercafé, and slowly started building a client base. When the cyber closed and I moved up to street level, I knew things were finally turning around. From those first few employees to where we are now, it’s been a journey.
What’s the best part about being CEO?
Charting an organisation’s path and having a clear vision of where you want to go. It’s important to stay focused and build a team that believes in you. That’s how I’ve managed to retain employees who have been with me for 21 years.
And the most boring part?
I genuinely enjoy what I do, so I can’t say it ever feels boring. When I’m at work, especially in the clinics, I feel energised.
What’s the one question people never ask you as CEO?
How did you get here?
What do they ask instead?
"Hey, umebarikiwa!" You are blessed. Blessings come your way, but you can't just sit and wait. You need to be driven. So the input and the drive matter a lot. And self-belief.
Which has been easier—bringing up your daughters or a business?
It was easier to raise my four daughters because in a family setup up you are not alone, unlike in a business. In this seat, you have to make some hard decisions, which can be rough. You have to take risky steps, because the business world is dynamic.
What do your daughters know about you that the boardroom doesn’t?
I am very loving [chuckles]. But I can also be ruthless when things are not done my way, especially when people who want to take shortcuts and get-rich quickly.
Has being surrounded by ladies—your wife and daughters—made you a softer man or stricter?
I'm strict, but accommodative and understanding. I have a listening ear. My daughters have taught me patience. I don’t just brush people off. I can assure you I am not a know-it-all, every day I learn something, even from my juniors.
What do you wish you were better at as a father?
I wish I had spent more time with my family. Sometimes I look back and think, maybe I should have been more involved in their school, homework, and such.
I feel very young. If I told you my age, you’d be surprised [chuckles]. What keeps me young is the fact that I am surrounded by young people. My eldest daughter is 28, and I have a seven-year-old too who keeps me on my toes, jumping on trampolines, haha!
A 28-year-old and a seven-year-old, that’s quite a big age difference…what’s the difference between parenting then and now?
To be frank, when we started I don't think we knew much about parenting. Unlike today, when you can Google things as you prepare for the birth of a child, back then we were just learning as we went.
But with out last lastborn, we were prepared and able. She is a digital force, and my eldest is a millennial, and of course, discipline-wise, my eldest walked the straight and narrow path; now, with the lastborn, we are a bit flexible, and tender. I am just softer now [chuckles].
Do you think your family sees the same man that the world sees?
They don't think that I can be serious at work because at home I am a jovial man. I like dancing and cracking jokes. Two of them have joined me here, and now they get to see the other side…and hey, the other day I became a grandfather.
Congratulations!
Thank you. It’s been about six months now.
How does that feel?
Things have changed. I now have to play a bigger role. You see, my seven-year-old is an auntie, haha!
Has that changed your relationship with your daughter?
Of course not. You become much younger, running up and down. You don't have time to grow old.
If you are always giving, what do you do just for yourself?
Building the company the way I did all along, I felt I was denying myself quite a lot, because the company had to grow. Lately, I have started wanting to spoil myself, and not just the children, but my wife as well. We are enjoying life a little bit.
How does that look like?
I enjoy travelling and playing golf. And when I travel, I think things through and plan ahead.
What’s a place you’ve travelled to and thought, ‘I could live in this place’, and why didn’t you?
Cape Town. I find it very scenic.
What kind of traveller are you? Heavy or light packer?
I don’t pack much. I’ll buy things at the destination. With a large family, you go with a small briefcase, but you come back with two, haha! Whenever we go with the children, I always shop for them, and now for my grandson as well.
Are you a planner or a let’s-see-how-it-goes?
I am a planner, I like structure.
How then are you remaining spontaneous?
I plan, but I am not so good at sticking to said plan [chuckles], which gives room for spontaneity. Sometimes, someone calls me, and I will go and play golf, without too much thought. Also, sometimes I shop without thinking too much…[chuckles].
What is it that drew you to golf?
It was incidental, actually. A friend asked me to follow him somewhere, and we ended up on a golf course. This was a while back. I spent four hours with him on the course, and amazed by how big that place was. I liked the walk, the field, the connections…I knew I had to get in, because you can get some good deals there than finding them [CEOs] in their offices.
To be frank, I fell for golf because of the business angle and the culture of just going for it. When you think you’ve made it, you realise some people have made it 10x as much. It gives you the impetus to work harder and try to achieve more.
Is there a lesson you learned on the golf course that you apply in your daily life?
Integrity and doing what is right, even when no one is watching. Do it right.
You seem very composed, what do you struggle with?
I am not a good public speaker. I admire people who can quote Bible verses, because I struggle with it [chuckles].
What’s your insecurity now?
The Kenyan culture is changing and people are becoming lazier by the day, especially with AI coming in. Now you don’t know how things will pan out. And of course, one always wishes to have good health.
What is one thing people often get wrong about you?
They think I am proud. Perhaps because I got busier with work, and old friends felt left behind. I am accommodative and I hate it when people perceive me differently from who I know I am. I am a simple person.
What has been the biggest loss of your life?
Losing my mother.
Sorry. Were you close?
I am the lastborn. For a whole two years, before she passed, she stayed with my wife and I. It took a toll on us when she died.
How did you move on?
The fact that I did the best for her made my burden lighter. I feel she is in a better place. If I were to do it again, there is nothing I could do better.
What is the funniest advice she gave you?
Haha! Growing up, she’d serve me food, say chicken, and I would always eat the chicken leg or whatever part of the chicken last.
She’d say, eat the chicken first because that’s what you love most, because if somebody comes and finds it, that’s the first thing that will be shared, haha! So, eat what you like first, don’t leave it for last [chuckles].
What do you think of when you think of the weekend?
A relaxing moment. I plan most of my weekends. I know what I will do this and next weekend. Nowadays, most of them are taken by functions, weddings, funerals et al. And now I have to juggle it with my golf time. I reserve Sundays for family.
Who do you know that I should know?
Haha! My wife. She is very friendly, and has a warmth about her that puts people at ease. You’d find yourself comfortable in her space [chuckles].
Are you happy?
Don’t I look happy? Haha! I try to put anything that will bring stress at bay. Even if it’s friends who are not adding value to me. But generally I am a very positive person, I don’t want to look at what is driving me back, but what will propel me forward.
When did you know you were happy?
By the fact that I sleep well, and I have a loving family. I don’t have much to stress me. Happiness is only something you can bring to yourself, and you have to work toward being happy. That’s your job.
Paul Kaumbutho: CEO who works on his own happiness
