Lifestyle creator and Epiphany Clothing founder Sharon K Mwangi used Book Mahali to find Namba 35 Gardens in Lavington for a full day of multi-concept content shoots — here's what she found, what they created, and what it means for creators and garden owners across Nairobi.
Finding the right location is one of the quiet, unglamorous struggles of being a content creator in Nairobi. The idea is there. The outfits are ready. The photographer is booked. But the space: that part can take days of messages, referrals, and dead ends, especially when you need something that does not look like every other studio in the city.
Sharon K Mwangi knows this problem well. A lifestyle content creator, mental health advocate, podcaster, and founder of fashion line Epiphany Clothing, Sharon has built a career on producing content that feels intentional and elevated. With over seven years in the Kenyan creator economy, her reach now extends well beyond Nairobi: she recently won the Fashion and Lifestyle Influencer of the Year award at the BCI Conference and Awards in Chicago, one of the most recognised platforms celebrating Black Christian influencers and creators globally. For a multi-concept shoot tied to that line, she needed something different: a space that could carry multiple looks and setups in a single day, outdoors, with natural light, and with enough visual variety that each scene felt like its own world.
She could not find it on her own. "I definitely needed help finding a space and at a garden," she said. "So I went to Book Mahali." And that is where she found Namba 35 in Lavington.
The space that changed the brief: Namba 35 Gardens is a privately owned property in Lavington that the host has opened up for outdoor activities, events, and content shoots. From the moment Sharon landed on the listing, something clicked. "I fell in love with Namba 35 in Lavington," she said. "I was so happy we went with this location. I am not even kidding."
It is easy to understand why. The garden is not a set designed to look like nature. It is nature: a sprawling lawn with mature trees overhead, manicured borders of agapanthus in violet and white, a lush tropical corner with a water feature, and a covered outdoor terrace with warm lighting for evening setups. An ivy-covered cottage sits at the edge of the property. Garden benches are placed throughout the grounds, giving a team multiple anchor points to shoot from without moving equipment far.
For a creator whose content lives at the intersection of fashion, lifestyle, and personal brand, the variety of backdrops in a single location is not a nice-to-have. It is the difference between a productive shoot day and one where you blow two hours relocating between venues.
Sharon's team used every corner of it. Wide shots across the open lawn for fashion content. The waterfall corner for moodier, more intimate frames. A picnic setup under the trees for group shots with friends, glasses raised, styled blanket spread, the agapanthus providing a natural purple frame in the background. Matching co-ord sets shot against the trunks of old trees. Two women in maxi dresses walking across the grass as golden hour light cut across the garden. And a photographer at the edge of the lawn reviewing shots with Sharon as the day wound down. Multiple outfits. Multiple concepts. Multiple moods. One address.
What this means for creators: the location problem Sharon described is not unique to her. It is one of the most consistent friction points in Nairobi's creator economy. Most content creators with active audiences and real brand partnerships are producing shoots on tight budgets and even tighter timelines. They need spaces that look great on camera, are easy to access, have clear pricing, and do not require a ten-message negotiation to book.
Book Mahali was built to solve exactly that. Every listing on the platform shows pricing, capacity, amenities, and photos upfront. A creator can search by space type, location, or activity, see what is available, and book without a back-and-forth. For someone planning a shoot around a specific brief, like Sharon was, that speed matters. The idea does not wait for a venue contact to reply on Monday. If you are a photographer, a fashion creator, a brand, or a small production team operating in Nairobi, the inventory on Book Mahali is built for you. Gardens, studios, apartments, open-air spaces, and creative venues are all searchable in one place, with transparent pricing.
What this means for space owners: Namba 35 did not need to become a content studio. The host simply had a well-kept garden and made it available. What that decision unlocked was a booking from one of Kenya's most followed lifestyle creators, resulting in content that was seen by thousands of her followers, with the location tagged and visible.
That is the opportunity sitting inside every well-kept garden, courtyard, or outdoor space in Nairobi. Content creators, brands, and event planners are actively searching for unique outdoor locations every week. A manicured garden in a residential neighbourhood, a rooftop terrace, a flower-lined driveway: these spaces have real commercial value that most owners have never tapped. Listing on Book Mahali means your space enters that search. You set your own price and availability. Bookings come through the platform. You earn from a space that would otherwise sit unused on a Tuesday afternoon.
Namba 35 Gardens hosted a shoot that produced lifestyle content for a creator and fashion founder with a seven-year track record and a loyal audience. The host did not need to become a studio operator to make that happen. They just needed to be on the platform.
If you are planning a shoot in Nairobi and the location problem is the part that keeps stalling you, search venues on Book Mahali. Gardens, studios, apartments, and creative spaces across seven cities, all bookable in one place. If you own a space that could work for content, events, or outdoor activities, list it on Book Mahali and start earning from what you already have. As Sharon put it to her audience at the end of the reel: "If this is a struggle you've been having, the days of hunting for shoot locations are officially over."
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