If there’s a group of people I’ve known to never write are accountants. I mean, why would God allow someone to be good in maths and languages?

Was it even necessary?

on our profile, this week is Sammy Mwangangi Ndolo, a Blogger and founder of Sammyquen.com. He takes us through his blogging journey, why he found himself blogging and what he foresees.

Besides blogging, he is a nature photographer too who loves photographing nature in its full form. He looks like those people who would buy an 8K camera to capture the moon with all its glare.

As is the culture, we asked him a few questions about his journey and this is what he says…

Q. Give us a brief intro of yourself.

I am an accountant by training, but writing won my heart, literally. I am a former contributor to the now defunct famous hivisasa digital newspaper. I am the author of UNPROMISED, a novel I penned down while confined behind doors during the corona period in 2020. I am a lifestyle blogger, and a travel vlogger too, I take beautiful photos during my adventures, thanks to my undying passion for photography. Nature humbles me, I cannot keep calm every time I see a beautiful view.

I always make sure I capture anything that makes our earth beautiful, including trees, escarpments, animals, flowers, sunsets and etcetera. I am also a music enthusiast; I play both the guitar and piano.

Q. Share something interesting you’d want the rest of the world to learn about you. 

I grew up deep in the village where walking to school barefoot was the norm. We used to slide on mad during the rainy seasons. That background used to intimidate my confidence when I joined high school.

Q. What is the name of your blog and what do you blog on? 

www.sammyquen.com, it is a lifestyle blog touching on different spheres of our lifestyle as people.

Q. You could have been a teacher or a pilot or anything, what attracted/inspired you to blog? 

Funny enough, I have been a teacher at one point in my life, and I wanted to be a pilot when I was young. Well, I have always wanted to blog. Writing compositions used to be my favourite part of the exam back in primary school, and I would be on top of everyone, all the time. After finishing high school, I started reading articles on the internet, until I bumped into one Mark Maish. The guy had a unique taste in his sentences, so I developed an interest in making articles immediately, and then here we are.

Q. You have been a BAKE member for some time, are there benefits you can pass down to someone interested to join BAKE today? 

At  BAKE, a blogger is able to understand the basic fundamentals of blogging, like what it takes to be an outstanding blogger. Being a member here also gives me a chance to meet and interact with fellow bloggers and content creators, thanks to the numerous events that happen frequently in a year.

The BAKE awards also motivate bloggers to do better in their blogging categories.

Q. What does your blogging journey look like, what were your struggles and how did you manoeuvre to this end? 

Can I say that I started blogging in high school? Being the quiet person I am, I used to write stuff at the back of my books, then pluck out the paper and give it to my friends to read. Fast forward, the first thing I did when I joined college was to create a free WordPress site. That was a good starting point because it attracted a good number of fans.

Then in 2019, I decided to go professional by creating the brand (Sammy Que N) and having a blog site designed. But there was a challenge. The first time I talked with the website designer, I could have fainted due to the web designing fee he quoted. I had to postpone that idea. On February 2020, after saving money for almost 6 months, my website went live. In this blogging world, things keep changing and every day is a learning day.

Q. You could have written about anything, why this niche specifically?

Well, I love studying human behaviour. I have this curiosity to understand why people do things in a certain way, and writing about it gives me satisfaction, more than anything else.

Q. What accomplishments have you made in blogging that you’re proud of most?

It was through writing for hivisasa, that an academic writer noticed my unique writing ability and started referring some of his clients to me. It gives me goosebumps to this day, that someone could notice me and trust me with his clients.

Q. If you could sit down with someone starting blogging today, what will you tell him/her and why?

Bro, start writing NOW. It doesn’t matter where, even on Facebook timelines and WhatsApp status, do it. Just write and don’t ever stop, you will thank me later.

Q. If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

Quiet, generous, adventurous

Q. If you could time travel, where would you go?

Banff National Park in Canada, that place is heavenly!

Q. What is the weirdest food combination you have ever tied?

There was no salt in our house, so I put sugar instead into kienyeji vegetables (Kunde and terere), then mixed it with porridge, because the maize flour was not enough to cook ugali. Wueeh! Lakini njaa ni mbaya. Forget about the taste, I puked a few minutes later.

Q. If you were not a blogger, what would you be instead? Do you have a day job?

I have a day job; I am an academic writer doing research projects for students in Western Countries. Sometimes I feel relieved that I don’t work as an accountant, although much effort was put to get me into that profession. One day I will have to succumb to the accountancy profession, maybe.

Q. Of all the posts you have ever written, which one is your favourite? why?

My favourite post is the one I talked about narcissistic people. Although no one really anticipates a blog post to be their favourite, the responses I got from that particular one made it stand out. Many people got back to me saying I helped them understand their situationships, and that enabled them to get out.

Q. What is the most difficult thing you ever had to do as a blogger?

Getting used to people avoiding deep conversations with me because they always think I would write about it later. I have a friend who tells me ‘not to write about it every time we engage in a talk touching on personal issues.

Q. Who is the most influential person in your life and why?

I would say it is myself. I have been through tough situations that no one knows about, but I always find a way out, most of the time. Also, my trust in God and the way I rely on Him for directions baffles me. I can’t wait to pass on the knowledge acquired through the experiences to my children.

Q. Besides blogging, what else do you do? What is your obsession?

Besides blogging, I travel. I am such an avid traveller, that if I don’t do it for a while, I become unhappy and not productive. I use to travel to recharge and reflect, and it works perfectly.

Q. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

“We become what we think”. Such an underrated game-changer.

Q. What lessons have you learned the most from your blogging journey and where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?  

I have learned to always write my mind out, regardless of who is reading. Writing is one of the skills that touches and influences human behaviour, if utilized well, it can impact society in a positive and big way. In 5 years’ time, I see myself having authored several Books.

Q. Is there a quote/mantra you live by?

“If it costs my mental health, I don’t want it”


Notice: ob_end_flush(): failed to send buffer of zlib output compression (1) in /home/bakeco/public_html/blog.bake.co.ke/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5373

Notice: ob_end_flush(): failed to send buffer of zlib output compression (1) in /home/bakeco/public_html/blog.bake.co.ke/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5373