Jimmy Gathu: My friends fled when I was fired
Jimmi Gathu has opened up on how friends deserted him when he was retrenched.
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.
He now says people tend to like you owing to what you give them.
“People like you or are drawn to you because of what you can give them,” the radio presenter explained on his show.
“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 recounts.
Gathu, currently a radio presenter at Spice FM, adds that one time when things were really bad, he asked his friend for Sh1000.
“This guy showed his pals in the car and asked them whether he should send me the Sh1000 or not,” he adds.
Recalling the day, he was fired, Gathu said, “At 4:30 in the morning I kissed my kids goodbye and told my wife I was going to work, at 8:30am that morning I didn’t have a job.”
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 once disclosed that reinventing his journey after being fired was not a smooth ride.
“The most painful memory I can recall was when I was meant to sign a contract of Sh30 million with a betting company but then the betting laws in the country were changed and the company had to pull out.”
Gathu boasts two decades’ experience in media, has 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.