GOOD things come in small packages,” the adage goes. They are all fairly young, pretty and well-educated but most importantly, what is most common amongst these young women is the fact that they are all petite and yet holding positions of power at their workplace.
Their physical sizes could have worked against them, but they have beaten the odds, challenged stereotype of “big is powerful”, and risen above their heights. They now hold positions of muscle whether they are working with large companies or running their own businesses. Their jobs and names are much bigger than they are. They are the new breed of petite power. Hardly above 5’5, they have responsibilities people twice their sizes can only dream about.
Dorcus Inzikuru, gold medallist Small in size and only 23, she is currently Uganda’s hottest asset. She just brought home gold medals and reinforced her position as the world’s fastest steeplechase runner. How much bigger and yet petite can one be? Inzzi, as we fondly call her, didn’t make it big. Raised in a humble home in Arua, she has had to literally sprint her way up the ladder and shake off poverty. She has not only put Uganda in a positive limelight internationally after a lot of scum, but is also the breadwinner for her family. She redeemed them from a grass-thatched dwelling to a modern brick and iron-sheet house at just 23 years. After a 33-year starvation of gold in Uganda after Aki Bua’s 1972 move, Inzzi finally broke the spell in Helsinki in June last year and brought an even more precious stone from Melbourne Australia.
And, looks, Inzzi is here to stay. She not only plans to build another house, but also says she plans to start helping young athletes to ensure there is someone after her.
Sophia Mukasa, engineer MTN Described by her colleagues as “very pretty, very intelligent”, at 42kgs, and dress size 6, Mukasa does fellow womankind proud. The shock and surprises she draws from people she meets are part of her everyday life and she talks about it with a laugh. “Everyday of my life, I find people who are surprised about my size and the fact that I have a job bigger than I am,” she says. Mukasa has been an engineer with MTN since 2003. “I don’t look like my age and my size adds to the surprises from people,” she says.
According to Mukasa, the toughest part of her job is convincing people that no matter her size, she is good at her job. “Even if your performance is good, you have to convince people. It takes making them look beyond the physical part of you, especially since there are very few ladies in this position,” she adds.
Susan Nsibirwa, CFI marketing manager If you met her by the roadside, you would easily dismiss her as a young girl at the university. But Susan is bigger than herself. Her first claim to fame was when she was singing with the gospel group, the Black Sisters, alongside Ken Serukenya. Her debut in the corporate limelight came with MTN. Or several years, she was the advertising manager at MTN, the biggest mobile telephone network in Uganda. Her abilities earned her a juicy job at Capital Finance Institute as marketing manager. Before Susan, the company was literally unheard of. At CFI, she was charged with setting up a marketing/PR department. Now we have CFI splashed all over the town because of one petite but powerful woman.
Fujee Atuhwera, sales manager, LM Ericsson International At just 22 and fresh from Makerere University, Fujee moved right to the top of LM Ericsson International. While many of her classmates she finished with her Bachelor’s degree course in electrical engineering may still be padding the streets, Fujee is at a pivotal position in a male-dominated field. How did she make it to the dizzy heights of a renowned mobile telephone company?
She was the best student in her class at Makerere University, with first class degree. Fujee says she grew up with the philosophy, “If boys can, why not girls?” Did she have to battle any males to get up there?
Boys have never been her fear. All she had to do was work hard at the university and her grades spoke volumes for her. She didn’t have to burn her soles on the streets looking for a job, as LM Ericsson International identified her and saw a potential leader in her while she was still at school. As Kampala’s youngest manager, Atuhwera says, “I am working hard to prove my worth. Integrating my lack of experience with the expectations of the system is the only challenge I face.”
Barbara Yata TV host WBS One look at her and you would think the next wind will carry her away with it. She first broke into our lives in the WBS gospel show, Gospel Soul. A calm, passionate presenter she was. Then good karma paved way for her to another level. When Doreen Kayongo left Showtime Magazine, there could never be a more competitive replacement. Yata took Showtime Magazine with all the passion. Growing up, Yata had wanted to be a lawyer (and what a lawyer she would have been!), but she changed her mind at the thought of having to spend hours cramming court cases. She opted for a degree in journalism at Mukono University. “I actually think for my position, my size is perfect,” Yata says. She, however, says hard work got her where she is. She has met people who, when she asks to interview them, take a glance at her and their facial expressions tell it all. One guy she had to interview later admitted to her he didn’t think she could do a good job because she looked too tiny. He was, however, impressed with her skills by the end of it. You could say she is a TV presenter, but she gets countless calls from top corporates begging her to cover their events. Talk of being petite and powerful.
Tina Byaruhanga, PRO MTN-Uganda At MTN, work mates fondly call her Tiny, a pet name that originated from her size and has stuck. They also told her jokingly that she needed a special office chair for her feet to touch the ground. But that has not deterred her from climbing the corporate ladder. Calm and quiet, the beautiful Tina Byaruhanga is the voice of MTN. She first deputised Philip Besiimire before being appointed PRO MTN. Besiimire has always been heard saying, “She knows what she is doing and you can depend on her”. Whatever comes out of her mouth has the lethal ability to make or destroy the largest mobile telephone network in the country. Did it come easy? Did she have to fight any guys to get her way up there? She says just like anybody else, she had to work hard. “I know I look younger or smaller, but I don’t think it is a problem. It shouldn’t be a problem unless you are going to carry heavy things,” she says chuckling. With all that in her hands, Tina still remains a meek and laid back lady.
Rachel Mugarura, editor-in-chief Uganda Radio Network She may be daughter of Uncle Ben and sister of someone big up there, but Rachel is a force in her own right. First with KFM, then to American Embassy as communications manager and now with Uganda Radio Network as editor-in-chief, she has a considerable amount of power in her hands to cause a revolution. Rachael, however, modestly insists she isn’t powerful at all. She says that her title sounds bigger than it actually is and is misleading. “I don’t have any interesting stories to tell…I have had it easy,” she laughs it off. Rachel is also big on fighting for the feminine cause and is one of the people that were slated to feature in the controversial V-monologues.
Stella Atal, artist Just 27, Atal has managed to get “there” in the art world. Not only does she run a flourishing art business, she is also charged with managing her art workshop, employing young artists and marketing and selling her artwork both locally and internationally. Atal’s works are exclusively sold at Banana Boat. She recently featured on MNet’s Studio 53 as Uganda’s top and budding young female artist. But to say that her size has been an obstacle would be an insult. “Being small is not an issue. What matters is knowing what to do and doing it well. That is how I have managed to get to where I am, at the top,” says Atal. It is therefore no surprise that she says most times, her name and her work are bigger than the person. “I meet people who say they have been hearing about Stella Atal and they always thought she was taller, older and bigger. They are always surprised.”
The toughest part when it comes to size, Atal says, is dealing with clients who do not want to pay. “Sometimes clients make orders, without deposit, and sometimes they just refuse to pay probably because they think I am small and so not a threat,” she says.
“Then there are those who do not want to see young people come up and I have encountered that,” she says. They see you as a threat, achieving dreams they should achieved at a certain age.”
Charlotte Kukunda, Media and PR manager, Vantage Communications Even as a business journalist with The New Vision, Charlotte says her name was always bigger than her. “You would see it in people’s expressions; sometimes they said it, other times they did not, but the shock, the surprise was always there when I introduced myself. People always thought I was much taller and bigger than I really am, but that was never a problem,” says Kukunda.
Having left the journalism world, Kukunda joined Uganda Manufacturers Association as an information officer. She is now the media and PR manager for Vantage Communications.
“It has been challenging to get where I am today and my size has not in any way stood in the way,” she says. “At times you have a few difficult people but you hang in there and do a good job. I have gone for meetings and seen people’s facial expressions and knew they expected someone different — someone bigger and taller but that is no problem.”
Charlotte says she actually rubs it in with clients whose facial expressions are telling. “Sometimes I go, ‘I am Charlotte. Did you expect someone different?’ This has helped me break the ice so many times,” she adds. However, she says it is easier at Vantage than it was at UMA. “Then I was dealing with much older people, businessmen and women and in their minds they always expected a much bigger person.”
Halima Besisira, external affairs manager, Shell Uganda By her own admission, her job is a bit complex. Interestingly, there is nothing complex about Halima. She sure is petite for such a big job, but she is equally powerful. Halima is the external affairs manager for the multinational company, Shell.
“In Uganda you are expected to be of a certain age, size…..to be in certain positions. That does not work for Shell — here it is merit. And I am in this position because of merit. At shell, age or size does not matter,” says Halima.
Perhaps that is why, unlike others, Halima says she has felt no pressure for being small in size and holding a big job in a large company. “No one has come right up to comment about my size and the fact that I have a job bigger than me.” For Halima, as long as she does her job well, size does not matter.
Belinda Namutebi, PR, Moringa Ogilvy Her position as public relations manager sounds louder than the real Belinda Namutebi. Running into people who always ask her twice if she really is “Belinda” is no new thing to her. “It happens to me all the time. Somehow because of my show, people used to think I was bigger and taller,” she says. But while her radio job seemed much more challenging and much bigger than her PR position at Moringa Ogilvy, Belinda says otherwise. “Our role as PR in an advertising agency is to make our clients look good so we are always behind the scenes. It is very hard to notice that we even have those posts. We make the PR managers of companies that are our clients look big.”
Sybella Mangalawa, director, Silcon Travel/DNA Cable and Challenge “The stereotype of big and mighty and success does not work anymore. Today it is about implementation and it depends on what you want to do as an individual, being petite and being a woman does not mean you cannot succeed in what you choose to do,” says Sybella.
At 5’5, professionally, Sybella is an accountant and currently she is pursuing an ACCA course. However, this never stopped this petite lady from venturing into tour and travel. Today she is one of the three directors of Silcon Travel on Kimathi Avenue. She also manages an event management company DNA Cable and Challenge.
Sybella does admit the fact that her size has had a few setbacks, but quickly adds that it has not stopped her from getting to the top. “Sometimes you meet clients who are bothered by your petite nature but in the end it is what you do and what you offer that counts and soon they forget you are a petite woman,” says Sybella.
Adding; “Most people think if you are petite, you cannot get to where you want to. You have to go a long way to prove to them that you can do what they least expect you to.”
Florence Kabahweza Hashaka, MP elect for Kamwenge Also a founder of HIV/AIDS Community Initiative project in Kamwenge, Kabahweza has made it into politics now. In Kamwenge, she is known for encouraging women to set up groups to help improve their household income, a factor that could have won her favour during the elections. “Two of my opponents were much bigger than me in size and many people said: “No she is young,” Kabahweza says, “but I told the people, I may be small but am smart… Look at what I have done, not my size.”
The new MP, who weighs only 59kgs, says it is because of her determination, faith and her late father’s encouragement that she has made it thus far.
