JIMMI GATHU TALKS LOSING FRIENDS AFTER GOING BROKE

Veteran media personality Jimmi Gathu has recalled distressing events that ensued after losing his job at Nation FM in 2016. Speaking to Standard Digital, the 52-year-old Spice FM radio presenter stated that he was fired at the apex of his career, and it affected his lifestyle because he had no source of income. He says that he was so broke to the point that his hair turned grey.

“When I was sent home, I was paid six months salary. When I received the last cash in the sixth month, I almost did not leave the house because it was really getting bad. In four months, my entire hair on my head and beard turned grey after realising that I had no plan and salary. You look at yourself in the mirror and see you are ten years older. But I am glad I went through it. When I left my hair to grow, and  it started turning black, I realised that it was the pressure I was undergoing. I couldn’t do the things I used to do quickly without thinking,” he confessed.

Gathu remembered the day he was sacked, saying he woke up and went to work, only to return home jobless despite hosting one of the most listened to radio shows in Kenya; dubbed State of the Nation. “At 4:30 in the morning, I kissed my wife and kids goodbye. I was going to work. At 8:30, I didn’t have a job. I went back home and found my wife crying. She knew before me, she used to call when I was at work and knew I wouldn’t pick up when I was on-air.”

The Kina actor noted that the experience taught him a hard lesson that many friends are temporary, and many friendships are formed on material things that one can offer. Gathu confessed that he lost a lot of friends, but some of the real ones came to his rescue, and he was able to get back on his feet before he landed a radio job at Standard Media Group in 2022.

His advice to aspiring young persons with budding careers, he says that everyone should know that jobs are temporary and should be ready to handle the circumstances when they are discharged from work.