Former Inooro TV news anchor Muthoni Mukiri has opened up on her career journey that has seen her rise from an actor to a renowned media personality.
In an interview with a local station, Mukiri who has been away from the glare of media cameras after quitting her Inooro TV job in December 2020 narrated that she stumbled upon the anchoring job by chance after auditioning for an acting job at Royal Media Services.
At the time, Muthoni had extensive experience in acting after starring in various vernacular skits aired on Kameme TV.
On the particular day she was auditioning, Muthoni was looking to secure a presenting job in a new cooking show but as fate would have it, the station had other ideas.
Muthoni, who is also an accomplished entrepreneur revealed that her experience and physical appearance gave her an edge over other candidates to land one of the top media jobs in the vernacular media industry.
Her proficiency and mastery of the Kikuyu language also boosted her chances of getting the job.
"When they saw my photos, they were surprised and said we can try her for news. At the time they were looking for vernacular news anchors. They got a lot of people who were good in Kikuyu but they felt like they were not as presentable while the candidates who were presentable weren't as proficient in Kikuyu," she narrated.
As such, she was asked to audition for the news anchor role and after several interviews, she bagged the role and became the news anchor she always dreamt of since her childhood.
Following her recruitment, Muthoni hosted prime-time news alongside journalist Ken Wa Kuraya before her exit in 2020.
"At first the opportunity was huge, but growing up I knew I would be big and influential, I knew this was it. It took a lot from me to stand out and I loved it. I had a co-anchor but even when I was alone, I owned the studio," she remarked.
After her exit from the station, Muthoni cut a niche for herself on other media platforms where she gave advice to thousands of her fans.
Muthoni shared that she left her anchoring job due to personal reasons, which led to her attending several therapy sessions.
The sessions, according to Mukiri, laid the ground for her next career path, counselling.
She also went back to school and trained as a life coach after receiving positive feedback from her social media followers.
According to Muthoni, her time in the media gave her the popularity and influence to enable her to succeed outside media life.
Whilst still in the media, Muthoni also had a side hustle selling wigs which she marketed by wearing them at work.
"One of the lessons I have learned is believing in myself and staying focused on the end goal and it has really worked," she stated.
The media personality has also written a book, Becoming the Woman of Your Dreams.
In June she won the Coach of the Year 2023 during the Afro-Glow Women's Awards.
Muthoni has also encouraged those seeking to switch careers to understand the reason why they are doing so and believe in themselves since starting over is always difficult.
