In an exclusive interview with A24’s Salim Amin, Julie Gichuru traces her career journey from an unpaid reporter to one of the most respected media personalities in Africa.Her entry into media was driven more out of earning a living as opposed to fulfilling a childhood dream. With a degree in law from Cardiff University and an MBA World Trade Law and International Business, Julie came back to Kenya, and like every young Kenyan, she job hunted so that she could support her grandmother.
Her entry into media was driven more out of earning a living as opposed to fulfilling a childhood dream. With a degree in law from Cardiff University and an MBA World Trade Law and International Business, Julie came back to Kenya, and like every young Kenyan, she job hunted to support her grandmother.
“I knew it would be hard (to get a job). People told me six months minimum, I would be tarmacking. So I handed my CV everywhere…I really needed money,” says Julie.
Julie has worked for almost all mainstream media stations; starting at KTN then CapitalFM, NTV and is now the current host of Citizen TV’s Sunday Live and as the Group Digital Business Manager.
She talks about the odds she had to overcome; battling stage fright to the divorce of her parents.
But it is the death of their third-born son that hit Julie in a way she finds hard to express even today.
“It was devastating. There is nothing you can imagine that could even compare to that. For months, I struggled to breath…it changed my whole perception of life.”
More about Julie in this interview:
