BE YOUR OWN BAUSS!

“There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtues and talents.”
                                                                                                                         ~Thomas Jefferson.

Whatever you do, you wanna be your own Boss. You wanna draw your own schedule and drive your own ideas and later,your own ride. You don't wanna work for NGO’s, you don't wanna work for Private Firms and you definitely don’t wanna work for the Gavah.The Gavah for obvious reasons;you will either be underpaid, or well paid but under lotsa fire from the Civil Rights Society. The Private Firms might pay well, but there’s only so far up the ladder you can go on a fixed monthly pay check in someone else’s company. The NGO’s coz  with the rise of social enterprise, the stellar growth of the private sector and increasing transparency and accountability within the government, the NGO sector is quickly becoming redundant—Dear skeptic, give it a couple o’years.

Young Kenyans have become increasingly restless within formal employment. Perhaps it’s with the realization that one may make mullah, but hardly any wealth, within formal employment. More and more youth are investing in their talents, innovations,making a name for themselves  and while at it a fortune. To name but a few;Victor Wanyama (Celtic midfielder), Franklin Saiyalel (award-winning fashion blogger better known as Kenyan Stylista) and even Daniel Owira whose rendition of the ‘Otonglo’ narrative endeared him to many Kenyans and the proceeds paid his school fees.

Simply because ‘Laughter is the best Drug’, entertainment Gurus are among those who have made a fortune through self-employment. Kenya’s Comedy Industry has been especially lucrative, with entertainers earning millions of Kenyan shillings per month. A decade ago, very few entertainers could claim to live comfortably on their wages. It was ‘Sad’, so much talent undervalued; so tragic, that to entertain was to eke out a living.

With Kenya’s steady growth in the last decade, Kenya’s Middle Class has steadily expanded  with a bigger percentage of Kenyans now able to finance for more than their basic needs. In an increasingly wealthier and more stressful environment, entertainers have been able to easily carve out a niche for themselves and make millions from making rich, overworked and stressed Kenyans. Daniel ‘Churchill’ Ndambuki, owner of 'The Laugh Industry', has created a multimillion enterprise that not only pays him well, but that also provides up-coming stand-up Comedians with a stage to showcase and establish themselves. Every week, hundreds attend the live recordings of ‘Churchill Raw’ and ‘Churchill Live’. Later in the week, millions of Kenyans tune in for a few minutes of laughter. In similar turn, Godfrey Mwapembwa, aka 'Gado', has become an internationally recognized name through his satirical political cartoons in various daily newspapers. Also, an animator, he is one of the brains behind the absolutely hilarious ‘XYZ SHOW’: a show that also provides employment to over seventy artists and comedians.

If you can make people laugh, crack ribs. If you can sing,wow crowds. If you can write,awe readers. If you have a talent, use it and perhaps you too will reach the highest rung of the natural order.So that at the end of the day you can sit back and say “I DOES IT LIKE A BAUSS!”… And as one Thomas Jefferson so eloquently put it- “There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtues and talent.”

By Rebecca Njeri.