ONEEXTRA: Wanjira

Her voice echoes every mid morning on the air waves across the country entertaining Kenyans on The Fuse on Capital FM. Born and raised in New York, Wanjira Longauer Mbuthia is your typical bubbly girl-next-door who simply loves to talk. Buzz ambushed her for a chat as she celebrates her three years since buying a one-way ticket to Kenya.

Before radio what were you doing?
I was living in New York where I was a student and after I was done, decided to pick up and move to Nairobi and see what it had to offer me. I moved here in April of 2014.

Was there any culture shock after you landed in Kenya? At that point nothing was shocking because I had visited Kenya often. To be honest, I had a little bit of an idea of what I was getting myself in to. There was nothing big because I had decided to jump in with both feet.

What has changed since you relocated?
Wow, what hasn’t changed? Everything, my whole life just snowballed in to such a beautiful way so quickly and as someone who works as a creative you are always worried, am I going to find work or not when you are moving in a new environment. As a human being we all have our insecurities.

Did your family move with you?
No, I moved here by myself, my parents are in America.

What is your best childhood memory?
I always enjoyed travel, when I was a kid one of my best childhood memories was going to visit grandma in Slovakia. She would always spoil us with toys and cook me all her specialties and she was a very loving woman and I miss her very much. My best memories were in Slovakia during summers.

If you had a chance for a ‘do over’ in life what would you do differently?
I really do not believe in do overs because that’s totally impossible and illogical to me. I have never regretted anything that I have done in my life. So many people did not want me to move here and that turned out to be awesome. For me, life is to just keep on keeping on.

Do you miss the America?
Sometimes there are some aspects that I miss, I would say New York specifically although I have explored other territories of America. New York is a very vibrant city that has an amazing heartbeat, a frequency of its own. A lot like Nairobi.

What do you want your tombstone to say?
She slayed!! I wouldn’t think about my tombstone, my thoughts would be on how I live my life on earth. To those I left behind, celebrate my life and everything I went after.

You are all over, radio and TV, how do you make time?
Here’s the gag, I don’t get time. I really manage my time to what I really love and I love what I do. So because what I do are also my hobbies and my passions and my obsessions, I find it very fluid to just make time for these things and to make life come out this way. It is true that I do not have enough time for my down time. People see Lamu pictures on social media and think its street chilling and yet you are working a lot. So at the end of the day, that’s why you just need that Lamu time to just unwind, but I love what I do.

You did the musical play Aladdin the other day, has acting and music been a passion for you?
I have done a lot of acting and I think my first act was when I was like two years old. A lot of dedication has gone it acting and I have always been on the stage, it’s a very comfortable place. As for singing, maybe one of these fine days I should hook up with a good producer and see what we can do.

What age do you feel like right now and why?
I feel my age, I feel like a twenty something, (refused to say her age) who is still working it now. I feel like I have it together and that is what we are supposed to portray. For now, I’m still enjoying the journey and I make crazy mistakes along the way and I try to keep it moving.

Any other skills you would like to learn?
Making a very good presentation of food because I cook really good food which tastes good but my presentation is horrendous. I have a million friends who are doing it well. Susan, Mandy, Josh... help a sister out. It’s a struggle for me.

What does a perfect day look like to you?
It varies, depends on what I’m looking for. On top of my head right now is waking up on a beach with some freshly squeezed orange juice and a swim. Catching rays, and surrounded by a few friends and have a good conversation. That would be my perfect day.

Best and worst date and how will someone get your personal attention?
Where do we begin, they have been so many. Worst date; this guy who was trying to propose to me the entire time and I was only 19 at the time, I thought he was crazy. The best date will always be somebody just unveiling themselves and having a good conversation and looking really good and genuine, let’s just talk and have fun. Still single at the moment, make me laugh and then maybe we can kick it.

What has been the weirdest thing that a fan has ever done to you?
There are people who show up at our offices and lie that I was expecting them, yet they turned out to be creeps. One day a guy showed up and he tried to explain to me that we should be together. On the streets they will just shout out my name and the station I work for.

How is it presenting a show with your boss Chris Kirubi?
He is very cool. He can be there and out of nowhere he cracks a joke. He’s dope.

In what ways do you hold yourself back?
Being a perfectionist.

How are youfaring with speaking Swahili and Kikuyu?
I do understand the basics but you know even Joe Muchiri has never taught me anything. But I do speak Spanish.

You have quite the birth mark on your face...
Yes I do, and to tell you the truth, growing up as a biracial child, a father from Slovakia and a mother from Kenya, school can be tough. I went through a lot. They would come to me and point at my face and ask me what that was. To me I would always point at it and tell them that it was just one point of my skin. It is and will always be a part of me no matter what. I love it.