Former model mints cash from ushering

Have you seen these beautiful ladies and handsome dudes at the entrance and strategic places in an event?
Their job is to smile at guests, receive them, lead or direct them to their seats, they tell guests where to find food, restrooms and the refreshments stands among others. And for the last 10 years, Susan Ashton, 31, has been doing exactly that.
Talking to the former model, you realise she made some money. Ashton started her company – Ashton Scott Galz – Ushering and Adverting agency in 2008.
The brand is quickly turning into a household name as her company ushers on most of the big corporate and average class functions around Kampala.
This has not only enabled her to make money but also help the girls she employs earn a decent living.

Starting out
Ashton ventured into the ushering business way back in 2008 during her second year at Makerere University.
“I was doing ushering and modeling part time at Sketch and Arapapa modelling agencies where I was paid between Shs10,000 and Shs20,000 depending on the function although we did much of music launches then,” she shares.
To her, it was more like something she was doing for fun but Iater developed passion for.
Ashton ushered for the two years she was at the university and later decided to turn her passion into a business.
The graduate of social sciences later secured herself a job as a client relations officer at Webnet where she served for eight months.
“I wanted to be my own boss, so I decided to quit work at Webnet in 2011 and start looking at how I can push myself as a recognisable brand in the ushering and modelling business,” Ashton says.

Registering and licensing
A fresh graduate with less expertise in the sector with just a dream and no capital, Ashton’s mother helped her register and brand her company.
“My mother loved my business idea and felt it wise to help me delve into it. We got someone who led us in the registration and licensing process, this cost us close to Shs400,000,” she says.
The go—getter says the process wasn’t hard and she managed to reserve a company name and later got a certificate of registration.
“I wanted to start working with brands and was also looking at bigger events. I also wanted to avoid being cheated,” she says on why she took the step of registering the company right away from the start.

Dream come true
With a team of 12 girls who she used to give between Shs20,000 and Shs25,000 and also catering for their transport expenses in the middle of 2011, Ashton set out to begin the hustle in the ushering business.
“I get the girls from my former friends I used to work with in the modelling agency and also through different connections at the universities majorly Makerere,” she explains.
Ashton majorly concentrates on girls aged between 18 to 24 who she takes through extensive scrutinising before bringing them on board. “I recruit educated and disciplined girls and take them through training for a minimum of three weeks before letting them out to start ushering,” says Ashton.
On how she has managed to keep with these girls over the years, Ashton says she treats the girls like family and does not give them chance to develop hard feelings towards her or their colleagues.
“I am not a bossy person, I created a close and harmonious relationship with them and they do not fear me but respect me. I am like their big sister and keep on telling them that this is more of a family than a company encouraging them to cooperate and help each other fit in the family,” she says.

Gigs at the time
Music promoter Barugahara Balaam at the time used to give Ashton business to usher at most of his events.
“While there, I could interact and meet people from different walks of life who would later give me business. It all unfolded from him and people got to know me, since then I have never looked back,” she reveals.

Breakthrough
Ashton says she did way too many gigs at the time but recounts one she received from Nation Media Group (NMG) as her turn around in the business.
“I will never forget July 2011 when I got chance to usher at the Uganda Night in Nairobi, an event that was organised by the Nation Media Group. This broke boundaries for me in this trade and since then I have never looked back,” she says.
The go getter says a friend from NTV, a brand under NMG, called her for the interviews with her six girls who would usher at the event.
“At this point, I was also ushering together with my girls to cut costs and also be exemplary to them. We were given a fully paid trip to Nairobi and I was paid Shs2.5m for the event. I had never got a gig like this and NMG was the very first brand I worked for,” she recounts. Since then, Ashton Scot Galz has been ushering at most of the big and corporate functions around Kampala such as movie premiers, launch of beverages, and several telecom company promotions.

Challenges
All doesn’t come easy in this trade and Ashton has also found hiccups here and there as she goes about her business. “Some functions come in abruptly and one uses it as an opportunity to rob you of the remaining money because they think you are desperate to do the function,” she says.
Aside from the stiff competition that is in the ushering business around town, the fact that most functions are for working till late in the night and the fact that she deals with girls also scares Ashton.
She, however, tries to ensure the safety of the girls all the time.

Making the money
Ashton says the ushering business is a service and she trains the girls onconduct, standing and walking postures, how to serve and talk to people and discipline. “We aim at living an everlasting impression to whichever client we work for and this has helped us a lot in this trade.” In a good night, Ashton takes home Shs3m as profit after all expenses have been cleared and while on what she terms as a bad day, she earns about Shs1.5m.
This she says also depends on the kind of function at the time like weddings, introductions, end of year corporate parties, telecom company activations and music launches.