Achieng Agutu: Kenyan Confidence Queen

Achieng Agutu: Serving looks and confidence

Famed as confidence queen’, Achieng Agutu is a Kenyan-born model, content creator, and television host.

She got to the limelight in 2019 after she appeared on the Ellen show together with her Kenyan family.

Ever since, she has been serving looks and confidence to hundreds of thousands of  followers on social media platforms, especially Tik Tok and Instagram.

Achieng has made a name for herself through her viral motivation content especially on Tik Tok and Instagram.

Moving to the US at Age 16

Achieng moved to the US at a tender age of 16 to complete high school. She stayed with a host family in Indiana while studying at Goshen College and later moved to Hult International Business School.

Achieng then discovered her true self while in college where she found herself unnoticed and unrepresented since she was the only black student in their classroom.

To stand out and keep herself busy, she started documenting her lifestyle and posting online. People quickly began resonating with her content while she continued to serve positivity, self confidence and inclusivity.

Almost 1 million Tik Tok followers later, Achieng, who now lives in New York City is an advocate for inclusivity of black, plus-size women in the fashion and beauty industry.

Her Journey From Self-Doubt to Self-Confidence

During an interview with Schon of schonmagazine, Achieng recounted her journey from self-doubt to self-confidence.

“I’d say my journey began because I never felt confident in myself before. I wasn’t happy with the way I looked, felt, or moved through the world, and that wasn’t an exciting way to live. I grew tired of feeling that way and decided to change it,” the beauty queen explained.

“In 2017, I started blogging and exploring social media as a way to find things that brought me joy, excitement, and a reason to wake up every day. It was an exhaustion with unhappiness that sparked this shift,” she continued.

Achieng also explained how her culture back in Kenya has influenced her journey and approach to life saying that her culture, especially her tribe’s love for vibrancy and everything extraordinary has deeply shaped the person she is.

“My culture, especially my tribe’s love for vibrancy and everything extraordinary, has deeply shaped who I am. I want every part of me—my fashion, makeup, jewelry, skincare, and even the way I walk and talk—to reflect my identity as a Black African Kenyan woman,” she said.

Achieng has 948K followers on Tik Tok and 850K on Instagram.