The Kenyan-born “confidence queen”, television show host, model, and digital content creator has made a name for herself through social platforms by serving us a daily bowl of motivation, daily affirmations, self-love and fearlessness. By stepping into her best self and rapidly growing her social channels, Achieng has made her way to being included in Create & Cultivate Top 100 list in the creator’s category and is currently a 2024 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Rookie (showcasing bald is beautiful as the first-ever bald, Kenyon model for the magazine). Additionally, Agutu will be seen as one of the lead hosts of “INFLUENCED” (premiering on August 1st) – a Gen Z version of “The View” produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine has been picked up for Amazon Prime.
Achieng Agutu was born and raised in Kenya with her parents and brother until the age of 16. At this time, she took the impressive leap to become an exchange student and moved to Richmond, Indiana to live with her second family (her host family) to complete High School. Upon graduation, she attended Goshen College where she studied Communications and Spanish. Furthering her education, Agutu then went on to study Business at Hult International Business School in Boston, MA where she earned her master’s degree international marketing & business analytics. Her studies were financially supported by her parents back in Kenya + a multitude of jobs (including driving for Uber, babysitting and teaching foreigners English) that she kept all while managing her schoolwork.
Achieng found herself underserved in her studies, being the only Black girl in most of her classes. Rather than allowing this to break her spirit, she used it as an opportunity to become her own Hype Woman. In between studies, she started creating digital content on Instagram which began simply with her just dancing to hype herself up in the mornings, and quickly lead to her receiving messages from people thanking her for posting and making them feel good. By the many comments she received, she realized her posts were making a positive impact which led others to share what allows them to feel good, fearless, and motivated. The positivity led to a viral sensation which allowed the ambitious young woman to receive global attention from major brands such as Olehenriken, Victoria Secret, Iamtabithabrown and Away, to name a few, as well as being featured in Vogue (naming her the Confidence Queen) and being chosen for Create & Cultivate’s Top 100 list for creators. The ambitious young woman continues to thrive and is currently a 2024 Sports Illustrated Rookie who made her runway debut in the brands Miami Swim Week Runway Show in 2023. Later this year, Agutu will be seen as one of the lead hosts on the Gen-Z talk show ‘INFLUENCED’ produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine which will premiere on Amazon Prime on August 1st.
