The Co-host of the Style Project On NTV says he became a talent manager specifically to nurture talented Ugandans so that they can be professional in their work execution.
Rama Kizito, a former professional model and the CEO of Izi Apparel, a clothing brand that produces and sells clothes, said he realized a gap in managing talents apart from musical ones.
“I have researched and found that it is not common here in Uganda. We have people with amazing talents, but they have issues with time management, negotiation for businesses, and placing themselves for potential clients. I noticed the gap and said why don’t I do this?” he narrated.
Rama admitted that the job can’t be done solely by one person because different people have different personalities and act professionally.
“It’s a challenge for most of our celebrities to detach their celebrity status from their actions and be professional. There is a reason we will advise a celebrity to make some decisions and not others, to deals they should accept or decline. It is a huge gap though we are almost there," he said.
As a talent manager, he explained that grooming a brand requires patience and setting the bar for its services because it determines its service price in the market.
Rama has been in the fashion industry for ten years. He began selling clothes during high school to different people in offices.
He got spotted by Joram Muzira, a model coordinator and the CEO of Joram Model Management at a festival, who encouraged him to join modeling.
“I gained my first gig. It was the time when Slyvia Owori was doing monthly shows at Garden City, and it was the time of the Forever Love show, which attracted a lot of fashion lovers. That was my first major fashion show on the runway,” he recalled.
Being an introverted person, Rama says he felt shy standing in front of cameras. Since he was interested in impacting people, he knew it was the only way to gain exposure and inspire others who may want to take the same path but lack courage.
He started the Catalogue Ug in 2015 with his brother, which closed in 2019. However, it was restored and rebranded to Izi Apparel which deals in Ugandan clothing.
Rama says the brand Izi (from Kizito) also means simplicity. It is meant to be a generational brand to go on for ages, even when he is gone. Previously it imported clothing from Turkey, the UK, and China but now settled to make pieces proudly from Uganda for Ugandans.
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