"The RHO Nairobi helped my wine business grow”: Dr Catherine Masitsa

In Season 2 of The Real Housewives of Nairobi, which airs its finale on Friday 26 July on Showmax, Dr Catherine Masitsa, popularly known as Dr C, is showcasing a bigger and better version of herself, and her business that she has built for 20 years. “I have lived life, changed careers, built a business, created my own table and now, I’m sitting at the head of that table and thriving,” she says. “I am done living my life with society's expectations of me.”

Binge-watch all 12 episodes of The Real Housewives of Nairobi S2 on Showmax from Friday 26 July.

Your mantra this season is “bigger, brighter and better.” What does that phrase mean to you?

I mean, look at me, I look good, right? But also, I moved to a new house that is bigger and better. I’m launching new products because my business has grown and that is part of the impact of The Real Housewives of Nairobi S1. Kenyans welcomed me, they welcomed my products - Samantha Wines – and doors opened that I never imagined. Therefore, this season I’m growing my business by launching more products and increasing the Samantha brand SKU. As part of our brand, we now have champagne, prosecco, sparkling wine and even Dr C gin. Away from business, I’m enjoying life, together with my family, and just living the Kenyan dream.

How does it feel to see this positive impact that the show has had on your business?

I like to jump into the fire and then learn as I go. Having built my brand, Samantha Bridal, for 20 years, I needed to do something to reignite the brand and attract new people and that’s what The Real Housewives of Nairobi S1 did for me and my business. The show gave me an opportunity to put my brand out there when people can still buy me because they can really see who I am. And not only in Kenya, the show has helped me across Africa. I’ve received feedback from distributors in Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa wanting to stock my wine. Because of The Real Housewives of Nairobi, we have managed to get our brand name out there and extend it beyond Kenyan borders.

You are celebrating your anniversary this year. How has the relationship with your husband and daughter been since The Real Housewives of Nairobi premiered?

I’ve been with my husband for the last 28 years, so celebrating those years of friendship and marriage is a big milestone that I do not take for granted. He is my best friend and my cheerleader. Most of the time, he’s in the background but he will observe and advise me. We actually launched my champagne brand to celebrate our relationship but more so, we’re celebrating the business Samantha Bridal, which I launched after our wedding.

Our daughter is very happy to be on the show; she’s really enjoying the limelight. One of the things I like to teach her is to stand up for herself. She makes her own observations and she tells me off when she needs to and she’s proud of me when she needs to be proud of me. You get to see that when you watch Season 2.

This season you’re also going big with your matchmaking business despite the controversy in S1 about you being a matchmaker. Could you please clarify what it means when you say you’re a matchmaker?

In S1, we received such unwarranted attention regarding my matchmaking business. I have helped bring together lots of happy couples now, and we now even have an app that is doing extremely well. But we’re still a very boutique entity because it’s not something I started doing for money. Sometimes we have a lot of people on the waitlist who want to be connected to someone, and it’s also one of the biggest inquiries I’ve received in my company’s inbox. It means people still want to get married. I only deal with people who are serious, which means I’m matchmaking people who actually want to get together in a real, loving, long-term relationship because I am really old school.