8 Things I Have Learnt From Working At Ghafla
I keep being asked how it is to work at Ghafla whenever i bump into our readers and i think it’s time i spoke about working at Ghafla.
The one thing about Ghafla is that the whole team is lucky to have someone as meticulous yet fun as me. i am truly the blessing Ghafla needed and i appreciate the fact that my teammates appreciate this about me. But with that said, i have learnt alot from the whole team and even just the industry i work in. And here’s a list of what i have learnt:
#1. Haters gonna hate
Ghafla has a policy which has us only doing positive pieces unless there is irrefutable proof. With that said, once in a while our articles catch alot of heat because readers do not see the humour in them. Others such as Media Madness just want negative pieces because negativity gives them jollies. Others just don’t like the fact that Ghafla is the #1 entertainment site with an Alexa ranking of #21 in Kenya.
But what Baba Ghafla said to me was, “Go head and switch the style up and if they hate then let them hate but watch the money pile up!” And that’s because you can’t please everyone and attempting to is the beginning of insanity!
#2. The entertainment industry if full of snakes and pits!
The entertainment industry may seem like it’s all about glamour and beautiful women but the glittering gold is more often than not just brass and the beautiful women are only beautiful for aslong as the make-up stays on their faces. Kenyan entertainment is filled with woeful tales of back stabbing and betrayal.
Many are the tales i have heard or the scenes i have witnessed that wreak of betrayal and duplicity. I have seen people attempt to destroy celebs just because they can. And i’m not about that life!
You never know who you can trust because at the end of the day everyone has an agenda they are pushing.
#3. Celebrities are also human
I have seen celebrities act stupid when pressure is applied or alcohol (or both) and i have been faced with the error that is a human beings heart. I have seen celebs panic and sweat over scandals and i have witnessed them opening up about how certain journalists and bloggers have vowed to destroy them. I have seen emotions that range from joy, euphoria to loathing and jealousy. The whole rainbow of emotions that make the human soul capable of inspiring beauty and folly.
#4. A degree isn’t an end in itself
I do not have a degree. I am however pursuing it. My mentor Baba Ghafla has no degree. Infact, he was kicked out of university. He is however billed as the possible African Mark Zuckerberg. I think he is more like Hugh Hefner… After seeing his pajamas and bubble pipe, he is more like Hugh Hefner!
My point is, my finance background means nothing when it comes to starting a thriving business. Follow your dreams but be smart about it, read! Read voraciously about every industry your business will encounter. Baba Ghafla is a 10 percenter, he is in the top 10% of the intelligence pyramid in any room and he may find the stuff he reads easy to understand but that’s no excuse.
Ever since he took me under his wings, i have learnt more than i did at school. And the first thing he told me when we met was to forget everything i had learnt in school!
#5. The team you work with matters
The team here at Ghafla are young but they are professionals. They know how to party hard but they work harder. We troll and all but when it gets down to it, we work like there is no tomorrow. The team inspires each other. When i came on board, i inspired Kone Sekou, Adam Wagwau, Chege Cege, Lewis Kaburu and Jeff Omondi. I inspire Nali Sharon and Suzzanne. They all inspire me and make me look forward to coming to work everyday, even on days when i’m sick. they are awesome -but not as awesome as me.
#6. The older generation still doesn’t respect the youth
I have been in business meetings where i have witnessed people with business with less clout than Ghafla does in the year it’s been running talk down to Baba Ghafla. then their advisers tell them that they need us and not the other way around and they still refuse to accord us respect. the older generation had rather use outdated methods of doing business which are honestly a waste of time but “It’s their way of doing business!”.
It’s time the youth are given a shot at not just running their own business but also government.
#7. Kenyans don’t support their own
And here i’m strictly talking about the entertainment industry players. I have been denied interviews simply because i am young and handsome. I have heard artists complain that they are simply being ignored and i have seen artists being ignored simply because those in the position to play their music are scared to death of playing “different” sounding music until Channel O has made stars of the artists in question.
#8. Kenyan artists have disproportionate egos
Kenyan artists are smaller than their Ugandan counterparts. They are smaller than our Nigerian stars but the egos some of them have need spare bags when they travel! And what shocks me is the truly talented artists are down to earth. Just A Band members are as humble as church mice yet they are arguably Kenya’s most talented group. An unkown artist telling me towrite about him simply because he has a track is patronizing!
