How I Started Blogging

Lifestyle By Ntha is (evidently) a lifestyle blog by Nthanda L. Manduwi, i.e. me. I have been a blogger/digital creator for 7 years.

But have you ever wondered how I started blogging?

I was in a relationship with my first love, and it was not working out.

He asked me to do something, and since 2013, I have managed to turn that singular ask into the most prominent blog in Malawi, a media company, and a corporation with 7 independent brands.

I started blogging in 2013. I was in a relationship of about a year with my first love. We kept fighting, because he was my entire world. That sounds dreamy to say, but it is not.

It was so much pressure on him, because he was an individual beyond our relationship. We were freshmen in university, and he was adapting to a new school and new friends. It did not make sense for him to spend all his time committing all his attention and time to me.

He asked me to find something I enjoyed doing, which did not have anything to do with him. At the time, I was hurt by his ask, but I later considered it, and started investing my time in it.

At the time, I was a hairdresser (my first ever business venture). I was transitioning my hair, from relaxed hair to texlaxed hair. I had been reading a lot of blogs on that, and saw a number of ladies sharing their journeys with their hair.

My little hair obsession

I decided to join the wagon, and started writing about my hair. My first blog was called “My little hair obsession“.

I did not have a professional camera, so my content was obviously not as great as the other bloggers. I however had very healthy hair. I also had a bit of a following because of being Miss Chancellor College at the time, which I managed to turn into a decent readership.

I blogged about hair for about a year – transitioning from relaxed to texlaxed hair, and from texlaxed hair to natural hair.

I later broke up with my then boyfriend.

My mother, during my heartbreak, reiterated similar words to me, and asked me to find hobbies I enjoyed doing alone. I loved to read, so there was that; but I needed more.

I had just cut my hair – so blogging about hair was not at the moment optional. I however had a supercool undercut that my instagram audience just loved!

I had been following kenyan style blogger Sharon Mundia for a while, and I thought, well, I could be a style blogger too.

We did not have style bloggers in Malawi at the time. It was such a risky decision, and for the most part, I had no idea what I was doing.

Chic Redefined

I knew what I wanted to blog about. I had been watching style network for years then. My handle was at the time @RockaChique, which I had adapted from the term “Rocker Chic” fashion. That was how I defined my style as a teenager. I was growing up, and looking to redefine that style – hence “Chic Redefined“.

I was grateful for my friends Walker and Benj, who were more than glad to collaborate and create some photos together. I was a style blogger for about 3 years, and managed to grow my audience from 3K to 10K followers.

Miss Malawi

I decided to partake in the Miss Malawi pageant – where I was the first runner-up. It was around that time when I decided to close my blog for a while, and created an entirely separate instagram page for my Miss Malawi journey. I wanted to shut the entire blog down – but my friend Yapi advised against it.

I got a bit of a following on my new page, but I later returned to my blogger instagram page when Miss Malawi was done.

By Ntha Blog

I however did not want to start style blogging again, and I started rediscovering my voice. That was when the “By Ntha” brand was born.

All my businesses prior had a similar suffix; “by Ntha”. There was “Hair by Ntha”, “Make up by Ntha”, etc.

I started writing about travel, as I was passionate about Malawian travel. That was “Travel by Ntha”. So “By Ntha” was a clear commonality.

My Malawi Show

My current boyfriend advised me to consider monetising my blog, and I tried for a while, with very little success. I pushed, and managed to get a deal with Zodiak to air a Travel Show. The “My Malawi” brand was born.

I started production, with very little knowledge about production.

We managed to produce a few episodes, but had a little luck getting sponsorship for the show. This has since changed, of course, with time; but I will discuss that later as I share on how to position yourself for sponsorship.

We aired for about a year, but I put a pause to production in around March of 2018. I was focusing on writing my first book, and simply wasn’t impressed with the returns from the show.

I had sent multiple proposals to work with some hospitality establishments and hotels, and most of them were not keen to sponsor the show at the time.

Thinking of Magazines

I was enjoying writing, and thought of starting a Lifestyle Magazine. It was in July of 2018 when I had just gotten a job, and I had a bit of a steady cashflow to spend (i.e. invest) in my creative endeavors.

I reached out to a few fellow bloggers I admired, to partner with me on covering stories towards this cause. Each one of them turned me down, citing that they were busy with other endeavors. I respected that, of course.

By The End Of Your Teens

I focused on finalising my book for the remainder half of 2018. I published my book in September of 2018, with a very successful launch, thanks to the German Ambassador to Malawi, and his lovely wife; who hosted the memorable launch at their private home.

Travel Blogging

Around November 2018, I heard back from Sunbird Hotels and Resorts on my travel content creation proposal.

They requested me to officially document their establishments around Malawi. I did that work and focused on travel blogging for the first half of 2019.

By mid year, I was entirely drained from all the travel and production, and I simply needed a break.

BBC, and other media features

I have been an advocate(activist) for pretty much the entirety of my career. I have always voiced my opinion on current affairs.

I had been doing a number of economic commentary for BBC and other major media houses in 2019, and thought about using my voice for more than just lifestyle and travel.

Nthanda Foundation

I established the Ntha Foundation (initially called the Nyenyezi ya ku M’mawa Foundation).

It is a Non-governmental Organisation which endorses the intentional use of creativity skills and innovation to champion change and development.

It houses the Nyenyezi ya ku M’mawa Collective, and runs the Nyenyezi Fellowships.

We have worked with two cohorts of students so far to create the Morning Star Newsletter. We are still developing that, and will launch later this year.

By Ntha Media

Having created that, I started thinking of creating more media products. I registered By Ntha Media as a business. I wanted to create brands about the things I love.

We have so far created, and are still creating 7 independent media products namely:

Digi Savvy
Kwathu Centre
Morning Star Newsletter
Malawi Wanga (formely known as My Malawi)
Picky Palate
Chic Redefined
WMU Malawi

We will be registering as a corporation limited company soon, and will be launching all these products later this year.

There is one more key brand I am still developing, which I will be able to share in due time. I am super excited for this one!

Having created all these products (which are independent for the most part), I realise now that I am stripped of most of what I have identified myself with; and have to find my truest voice.