Stella Mwende Kamuti is a corporate physiotherapist holding a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. She is also an alumna of Strathmore Business School where she studied healthcare business.
Mwende is also the founder and CEO of Stellar Physio Ltd, a wellness clinic that specialises in pain management, health and wellness.
She shared her Career Path with Sunday Nation:
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“I was born and brought up in Embu County. I am the last born of four children and the only daughter in the family.
“After completing my undergraduate studies, I started my career as a sports physiotherapist at Homeboyz and Mwamba Rugby clubs. I later served as a physio for Kenya Rugby Union for about six years then Brookhouse Schools. After practising underemployment for a while, I decided to venture into private practice.
“My journey has been interesting; some of the fondest memories I recall with pride and joy are: having worked as the Kenya 7s physiotherapist, and serving on the medical committee for the National Olympics Committee. I was young, and this experience really set me up for growth.
“My team is my greatest inspiration and the effort they put to see stellar physio steer ahead tops the list as one of the things that keep me motivated knowing my support system is solid. I have also learnt to take one day at a time, trust the process and be more patient with myself, as building a sustainable business, especially in healthcare does not happen overnight.
“We learn every day, more times through failure than success and my advice to the youth is: Don’t be too hard on yourself, no one has it all figured out. I go by Bill Gates’ mantra that ‘it’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.’
Positive attitude
“Along the way, I have adopted the attitude of always staying positive through and through. I am also very proactive and in the back of my mind, I always know that hard work pays, and this is the principle that keeps me going.
“On the people or relationships that I can single out to have been useful and influential in my career growth and trajectory, my dad takes it! He guided me through private practice, came into my business when I was starting off and managed me until I was able to stand on my feet. He taught me the basics of running a business from bookkeeping, pricing, understanding patients’ needs and always giving them value. Further, he taught me to always bank every small money I make at the end of each day and to reward myself once in a while—which is my favourite part.
“I am super proud of where I am today. I love being a corporate physiotherapist. It, really, is a big deal and worth every hustle. Going back to school to study business management made me more confident in the decisions I was making, and the journey made more sense as the end goal became clearer. Going back to school was one of the greatest investments I have done and I’m glad it paid off. My Dream is to expand and grow Stellar Physio regionally while improving the lives of my patients.
“For fun, I love travelling, hiking or simply taking a stroll in Karura after a long day. Frankly speaking, I am very comfortable with how my career journey has unfolded, hence I would change nothing.”
