Brian Ahumuza: Passion drives top fashion stylist

Brian Ahumuza’s Liteside

Any three things we don’t know about you?

I am not a person who wants to be out there in the limelight because it paints you in a different image. I live an ordinary life so I don’t keep up appearances.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

I am happy when I am making money and witnessing my business growing because it is my life.

What is your greatest fear?

Dying young without accomplishing my dreams.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

I am a loner and yet I sometimes break down with emotions but I have failed to overcome it.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Being lazy yet wanting to live a fancy life; there is a tendency by mostly young people who don’t want to work and yet they want to spend a lot. Such people have so much time on them that they misuse it to insult people.

Which living person do you most admire?

David Larry the South African fashion designer is one person I admired and yearned to meet. I am lucky to have met him, made, and kept friends to date.

What is your greatest extravagance?

The internet is something I have come to consider a basic need. It is something I use to communicate with most of my clients.

What is the greatest thing you have ever done?

Daring stage the Abryanz Style and Fashion Awards at Kampala Serena Hotel in 2015.

What is your current state of mind?

I am stable.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Social media is an evil to some people who spend too much time on every post as sadists and yet they are not working. One wonders where such people get the money to spend online without a job.

What does being powerful mean to you?

Power comes with command, influence and authority.

On what occasion do you lie?

I tell lies everyday as a business person. It is something I cannot avoid especially with business language.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?

Sometimes I gain weight and have fat cheeks. It’s strange to know that this happens when I am stressed. I also have lame toes and at some point, someone managed to picture them and used it to pin me as a sign of illuminati yet I was born that way.

Which living person do you most despise?

To despise is just a waste of time.

What is the quality you most like in a man?

Kindness and respectful.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?

Hardworking and self reliant.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

I often use ‘This is a new year’ to push me to work harder.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

My business is my everything and I believe it can get me wherever I want. I live for it.

When and where were you happiest?

My life for the last seven years has been all about my business. In 2013, I might have put up a smaller show but it was unexpected although 2015 was my break through. Every single year is better for me

Which talent would you most like to have?

I am a good singer but since I established myself as a fashion personality, I chose to let it go. It’s a talent that I accepted to die even when I have the voice.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

At least nothing for now.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

I value the respect and friends I have made throughout my fashion work journey.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

As a human being doing the same things but in a perfect way.

Where would you most like to live?

Where else apart from Uganda where I was born, raised and work for which most people have known me?

What is your most treasured possession?

My business is the genesis of everything I have today.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Life is the most important and precious thing. As long as one is alive, they can always maneuver through life’s challenges.

What is your favorite occupation?

Fashion and designing won so many job battles.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Michael Jackson broke many records as a black person; he is still listed as one of the greatest people to ever grace the music scene.

Who are your heroes in real life?

Auntie Night is my hero who fought for me until she handed me over to my father.

What is your greatest regret?

I am sometimes so kind to people yet it may not pay off in the same line.

How would you like to die?

I don’t mind how I die although I want it to happen in old age.

What is your motto?

‘Compete with your own self’ and ‘If I was here yesterday, I can be there tomorrow’.

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editor@independent.co.ug