Before Tumi existed, our founder Brenda Mary Owomugisha was building a career in civil engineering. After completing her Master’s degree at Imperial College London, she returned home to Uganda with the expectation of a meaningful and rewarding professional path. Instead, she found herself under-employed despite nine years of experience and advanced qualifications. It wasn’t a lack of capability, it was a lack of opportunity. Over time, she realized that waiting for a system to recognize her value was limiting. So she began exploring what else was possible. During that period, she enrolled in a course on cosmetic formulation, not as a career shift at first, but out of curiosity and personal interest. That training opened a door that changed her trajectory.