How ex-alcoholic built a vacation empire in Coast

Life. You cannot define it or bend it or over-plan it. But where you find yourself at, make use of that moment. Enjoy the positives, learn from the tough times, but in every situation, keep moving. At least that is what Graham Karingi, or Gray to many, has learnt over time.

His near-decade battle with alcoholism, which saw him get rehabilitation in a number of institutions in Nairobi, would come to a good end in 2020, when he opted to stay at Eden House Rehabilitation unit for a year as opposed to the normal three months.

“I remember one counsellor called Mary Wainaina who just could not give up on me. She reminded me over and over that I can overcome this monster,” Gray says.

It was not a breezy experience, because along the way when he was in the halfway house, Gray relapsed, making an already precarious journey  devastating.

“I told my mom that I am willing to go in for the next three months and work on myself again. I was very determined. I did not want to go back to the life of crime and homelessness. I really needed to be clean,” he said, as he interjects with calls from clients.

He operates a busy, and successful travel agent business from his base in Diani, in the South Coast of Kenya.

For him, 2020 may have had the world locked down, but he needed that time away to change his life. He stayed in the rehab for the next nine months, celebrating Christmas in the centre.

The former student of marketing in United States International University (USIU) was then sent to complete his counselling classes in Diani, Kwale county, where the specialist who handles his specific needs is based. It is while in Diani that, quite by fluke, a friend from Nairobi reached him, needing some assistance.

“She wanted to get a holiday villa for her vacation. By then, I had no idea what a villa is. She even sent a location pin of such a place, and I went to look it up. It was not a convincing destination, so I took up the responsibility of getting her an ideal place for her stay,” Gray says.

He walked around Diani, asking to see different kinds of villas, and then landed on one that offered a very good rate. He immediately called his friend and gave the news, plus a quick virtual tour of the house. The woman sent her booking fee, out of which Gray was given his commission on the spot. And voila! His business was born.

BUILT BY REFERRALS

“She was so impressed with the location that she ended up spending a month on holiday. I was also making more business through referrals as I introduced friends to South Coast through my social media platforms.” Graham remembers making his first Sh15,000 from these connections, and this was part of the capital he used to register Gray’s Stays as a business.

Over the months, and as the Covid-19 restrictions ease, more Kenyans are reaching out to Gray to help with logistics for their vacation plans. Gray has not disappointed.

“The local market is still my best connection, and they are keeping me in business,” says an optimistic Graham. It is through the small margins made from commissions charged to clients that he has managed to purchase a used vehicle to enable him do the rounds and check on his clients.

Among his unique offerings are linking travellers from the airport or train station to the destinations they want to be in. He also ensures that while on holiday, one can have their meals made to professional standards by chefs who offer their services to private holiday goers.

“I had to vet the chefs. From a pool of 30, I chose only one. He is chef Ndegwa. He believed in my idea of offering private vacationers top-notch services, and at competitive rates,” remembers Graham. The venture is proving lucrative because of the numerous requests coming from those who did not embrace the idea but have now seen the benefits of the ideas that he had shared earlier. For now, he only refers such enquiries to Ndegwa to vet who to work with.

“Our aim is to offer each client excellent service, regardless of how much money they paid for their holiday,” he reveals his secret.  His customers range from those who want very cheap outings to the high-end customers who will cough millions of shillings for a nice holiday.

The marketing student has also weaved a network bringing together a transport company to pick his guests, a tour guide in each destination or excursion where his guests pay to visit, and the collaboration with villas to give great prices and service to clients.

The efforts are bearing fruit, he says, because before he began these sorts of arrangements, the ground was a free-for-all affair, where a person had to individually market their services to guests. This was tougher when these service providers compare what Gray’s Stays is offering because he usually pays them before the service is offered.

“Our contract with service providers is very straightforward. They must offer the level of service we have agreed on. I follow up with the guests to find out if they got the kind of service they paid for. If it is not up to their expectations, then the service provider may lose their contract, which is usually very well remunerated,” he comments.

CHALLENGES ARISING

Of course, as with any business, there are challenges, and Gray has been faced with those as well. He has met clients who do not want to pay earlier and opt to come all the way then start bargaining with villa owners for lower prices. He has handled those who have difficulty parting with the agreed amounts and these are the ones who bring confusing moments once they get to their destinations.

“I have had experiences where some guests come to talk down at me or ridicule the destination, and all this is a way of deflecting attention from the balances that they still owe,” he says. For such, he pulls out the entire communication from when they started the booking process, and asks them to pick out where they feel they were short-changed.

So far, the social media handles of Gray’s Stays are enviable, with very high ratings given by his clients. There is a reason for that, he says. He is hands-on and works along with his teammates. You will find him transporting guests from one point to another, or checking up on guests in whichever villa they are at, or coordinating transfers from the various vehicle and train stations. His are long hours of work and eventful outcomes.

For a young man who battled alcoholism for seven years, which sent him to the lows of crime and homelessness, Graham has spent time in rehabs around Nairobi, most of which had bad endings. He even tried to quit alcohol on his own, but the monster was bigger than he imagined.

But it is his resolve to stay clean, and to make great use of his new life, that has seen hundreds of local travellers seek his services to experience the coastal expanse, whether North or South Coast.

His business is not only offering travel service but bringing a humane, personalised touch to each experience. He is also on a mission to change the mindsets of businesses linked to his work by offering service providers top dollar for their work. To learn more about his work,  see his ever-active social media channels.