Accomplished Zumba dance trainer quit a banking career to pursue his hobby
What you need to know:
- For Obuya, pressure was too much and he opted to quit the job to pursue his hobby as a dancer.
- He found out that there were some Zumba instructors in Nairobi and he enrolled for classes before resuming his work as a professional Zumba dancer.
- Nairobians quickly embraced Zumba which saw him start classes but still retained an interest in Nakuru, his hometown.
- Obuya says plans are underway to launch a dance studio at the Nakuru Players Theatre.
In this era where white collar jobs are highly valued, few people would ever imagine leaving a well-paying job as banker to venture into dancing.
But Mr Michael Obuya, 30, is proving pessimists wrong by making more money as a dancer than when he was a banker.
“It was a tough decision I had to make no one understood why I did this.
"My parents thought I was out of my mind when I told them I am taking dancing as my career,” says Mr Obuya.
For Obuya, pressure was too much and he opted to quit the job to pursue his hobby as a dancer saying though banking paid his rent and helped him meet other obligations, he did not like the job.
At first, he performed solo during weddings where he earned tips from elated attendants giving him the much awaited opening as an accomplished Salsa dancer.
“Thank God I got a house keeping job in one of the hotels in town and at the same time I would still do my Salsa classes and this way I would get some cash which would sustain me,” he recalls.
CAME ACROSS ZUMBA
To perfect his Salsa moves, he kept ‘rummaging’ through the Internet and by error or luck, came across Zumba – an aerobic fitness programme that he immediately got interested in and he did more research on it.
He found out that there were some Zumba instructors in Nairobi and he enrolled for classes before resuming his work as a professional Zumba dancer.
He developed a keen interest in becoming a Zumba instructor but that would require Sh150,000 for him to travel to South Africa so as to acquire his license as an instructor.
“I sacrificed every coin I could and even skipped meals so as to save money for my project,” he recalls adding that in September 2010, he applied for leave from his workplace and travelled to South Africa.
After travelling for 20 hours he arrived in Cape Town but he was not familiar with the city.
“I ended up asking some traffic police officers for directions upon arrival in Johannesburg who directed me to Ned Dorman High School,” he recalls.
Obuya, cleverly retained his job as a housekeeper upon his return to Kenya in October 2010 which enabled him meet his rental and other financial obligations.
“Nakuru was not really into Zumba and all I would do was to carry out demos in different gyms in town.
"I BELIEVED IN NAKURU"
My elder brother told me to relocate to Nairobi because there I would dance with stars and money would just come easily but I still became reluctant since I believed in Nakuru,” he recalls.
Nairobians quickly embraced Zumba which saw him start classes but still retained an interest in Nakuru, his hometown.
Currently, he has four classes in Nairobi on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at Parklands Sports Club and one at Samto Fitness Nairobi west, Thika classes take place at Changes Gym, two Wednesdays in a month.
He has also extended his services to Eldoret where he holds classes on alternate Tuesdays at Billy’s fitness depot and in Nakuru on Mondays at Health Quest Gym and at Slim Fit Gym at Racecourse estate where he charges every learner Sh300 per session.
He has faced some challenges which include coming up with new moves and selecting interesting songs.
Obuya says plans are underway to launch a dance studio at the Nakuru Players Theatre.
He will be training Salsa, Zumba, kids dance, pre natal exercises, Bollywood and yoga.
