Jimmy Gathu made his first million at the age of 25, but in 2016 he was so broke he was begging friends for a mere Ksh1,000.
The legendary media personality boasts two decades of experience in the industry having worked for KBC, Kiss 100, Capital FM, Nation FM, Hot 96, KTN, Citizen TV and K24.
He also has a stellar record in the films and movie industry having feature in several local productions and TV commercials.
Jimmy thought he was the last person who could be fired from his job, but he was kicked out of Nation FM at the peak of his career.
In 2016, Gathu discovered he was not invisible after all when Nation Media Group unceremoniously fired him.
The renowned media personality was declared redundant in 2016 at the height of his career, an experience that opened a whole new world of experience.
“In 2016 I was told to go home. I have never been sacked and I had never looked for a job. I went to work and some envelopes were there and among them was mine. At 4:30 in the morning, I kissed my kids and wife goodbye and at 8:30 I had no job,” Jimmy Gathu said during an interview with Standard Digital, Gathu.
Jimmy said that his wife knew about the job loss at NMG before he did, she tried to warn him in advance to mitigate the shock.
“She kept calling me and I decide to pick up as I was in the studio. She asked me to check my WhatsApp but before I did we were called for a meeting. After 30 or 40 minutes we were told to go home.”
The renowned media personality lamented that his phone stopped ringing when he lost his job.
“People like you or are drawn to you because of what you can give them. So once whatever you were giving them disappears you don’t have value. I had never been unemployed; I had never even looked for work – people looked for me. But when my contract with Nation Media Group ended, my phone suddenly stopped ringing,” he painfully recounted.
Gathu adds that one time when things were really bad for him that he was forced to ask his friend for Ksh1,000.
“This guy showed his pals in the car and asked them whether he should send me the Ksh1000 or not.”
Having experienced a turnaround of events after close to six years of being jobless, Gathu reminded those at the top to always be humble as things can always change without notice.
The father of three who made his first million at 25 years old said luck was also not on his side as he was about to struck a lucrative deal only for things to go south.
“The most painful memory I can recall was when I was meant to sign a contract of Ksh30 million with a betting company but then the betting laws in the country were changed and the company had to pull out.”
However, things turned around for Jimmy Gathu in March this year after he landed a radio job with Spice FM which is owned by Standard Media.
