Julie Gichuru, 48 years, has amassed a following on various social media platforms with 1.2M followers on Twitter, 1.1M followers on Instagram and 602k followers on Facebook where she shares inspirational pieces, work, private life and has established she’s an afro-optimist.
Job hunting was a struggle for Julie despite holding a Law Degree and an MBA because she was found to be overqualified. She lived with her grandmother and looked for a job but refused to take money from her, considering her level of academic qualifications, she felt it would be better to look for other means to get money. Finally, she found an internship at KTN, and later interviewed at Capital FM and secured the job. Under the mentorship and guidance of Phil Matthews at Capital FM, Julie says he was intense, on their case, shaping and training them which she found value in.
The role of her public profile and media in her life has equipped her with skills of learning to deal with all kinds of people, how to speak to them, comprehend, analyse, navigate spaces and advocate for things. According to Julie, if things are not working out, “Everything comes together in our lives to take us where we need to be,” and we need the awareness to see it happening.
Like many women, Julie is no exception to be taken less seriously because of her looks. From her teenage years she’s always had a self-awareness of such prejudices. She protected herself from such experiences by putting on an armour of education. She pushed hard to get an education because at the age of 18, Julie’s father brought a man to ask for her hand in marriage as it was her father’s traditional practices. She had to convince and negotiate with her father for her college education.
According to Capital FMs SoundCloud Podcast, Capital in the Morning, Julie is happy to be of service to other people and has no hang-ups about it and will step up in every way to be seen, presence felt and have people listen to her. “Don’t wait for others to speak, speak first and take the space,” she says.
She considers herself as a Child of God, dedicated mother, wife, friend and someone trying to get through life and do something good, “more like collecting good karma,” she says. She’s family oriented and a mother of five, unfortunately, she lost her third born child but always says “the child is with them.” Julie would rather have ‘more time than more money because money is what you do with it and time is what you make of it.’
Being off the screen for years, Julie is the Chief Public Affairs and Communications Officer at the Mastercard Foundation overseeing corporate, programmatic, policy & thought leadership communications, and a team spanning Africa and Canada. It’s a global foundation but primarily works in Africa. It has over 47,000 scholars who have gone through the scholarship programme. The scholarships are for universities post-graduates and PHDs. The programme has taken Africans to the USA and other places for degree courses. They have covered more Africans within Africa which has led to increase in capacity of the institutions. The foundation partners with local level such as banks and community organisations, thus a greater outreach. They are embedded in seven countries in Africa which include Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana.
Throughout the years, Julie has learnt that ‘life is tough, not fair but it does not mean we do not try and live the best life despite what it might be and don’t let challenges get you down and keep going.
