Betty’s story: turning the tide for women in sports

Betty Matharu is Operations Director of Swim Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. She’s passionate about coaching swimming and leading the way for women in the male dominated sports industry. Our Road to Leadership programme supported her to boost her communication skills so that she can uplift more women in sports.

“My name is Betty Matharu, I am the operations director of Swim Africa in Nairobi. My journey to becoming an entrepreneur started when I joined by husband who was working here. I became his assistant, but eventually I took over.
 
Starting out as a woman entrepreneur is hard. You have to really prove yourself in what is a male dominated environment. The challenges are vast. In swimming, there are far more male coaches than female coaches. Sports generally is very male dominated and male driven. But much more women are joining the space and exploring how they can get involved with sport.  

I joined the Road to Leadership programme as I really enjoy learning and I think adult learning is very beneficial. We all need to continue growing and developing ourselves. I love doing courses that will help me improve both professionally and personally, as the programme at the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women certainly did.  
 
The most useful part of the programme was the communication module. I began to understand how important effective communication is. I now know that effective communication is not just saying things. It’s bringing people on board, so that they really understand your passion and motivations. We also learned about the different methods of communication – whether by email, text, phone or in-person meetings – and thought about the uses of these different methods.  

I think it’s really important for women to communicate with other women, to motivate each other. Swimming is an individual sport, it’s not a team game. You swim for yourself. But as an entrepreneur I know how important it is to have a network around you. Women can support and encourage each other and that’s vital for our success in business. I would really encourage all female entrepreneurs to take part in the Road to Leadership programme.