Albert Einstein, a theoretical physicist, reportedly remarked that you never fail until you give up.
The proverb is seen in the life of Joab Mwaura, who is a prime example of the “grass to grace” storyline. From working as a car wash attendant, he rose to become the owner of a media company, Sauti Tajika productions.
Mwaura described his path to Kenyans.co.ke, highlighting the difficulties and setbacks that dot his professional life.
He began his career in 2005 after finishing his secondary studies. He passed his KCSE examinations, but due to financial limitations, he was unable to enroll in university.
Mwaura’s spirit, however, was unaffected by this. In the Nakuru county town of Nyahururu, he would work as an attendant at a nearby car wash.
Mwaura also worked as a boda boda rider, earning as low as Ksh10 for short distances, to augment his income.
Mwaura worked at the car wash and as a boda boda driver for a full year, saving his money in order to follow his dream of becoming a journalist.
“After saving some money, contributions from friends and family, I managed to raise the funds needed to pursue a Diploma in East Africa Media Institute (EAMI) in 2006,” he stated.
When Mwaura joined Royal Media Services to work as a Swahili reporter, his ambition of becoming a reporter finally became a reality. After that, he transferred to MediaMax’s K24, where he developed his feature reporting and analysis skills.
Mwaura was one of the dozens of journalists that the media organization situated on Kijabe Street had to lay off in 2020 as a result of reorganization and redundancy brought on by the pandemic’s impact.
They established Sauti Tajika productions with the help of his wife, Nancy Onyancha, who today anchors news on Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).
He said the concept for the business was founded on his desire to alter the narrative and record human-interest stories.
“We sought to start our own companies and I delved to rely on the two traits that I had picked up over the years, working at a car wash business and journalism,” he stated.
Due to his vast experience working as a car wash attendant, Joab resorted to establishing his own car wash titled, Jetshine Car wash, as a side hustle to supplement his income.
In June 2022, Mwaura says he was approached by the management of LookUp TV, seeking his services as head of news.
“I went for the interview and got the job. My focus is not to compete with the other big houses, but to get the opportunity of being a mwananchi studio.”
