ONE ON ONE: Joey Muthengi

31-year-old Joey Muthengi is a busy bee. PHOTO| COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • I actually wanted to be a teacher, and I was willing to get a PhD in that area.
  • I also wanted to pursue Psychology, Engineering and even Dentistry at some point.
  • I however realised the number of Communication classes I had done and decided to go with that as my major.

31-year-old Joey Muthengi is a busy bee. The Citizen TV star looks like she is the life of the party wherever she goes but she claims to be the opposite and doesn’t like attention. She opened up to Karen Muriuki on her life and what she is up to.

 

I am a big introvert. I’m not as outgoing as I seem. (Laughs) I’m a bit scared of crowds and tend to stick to myself most of the time.

 

I studied Communication and Business Management at the Hope College in Michigan, USA.

 

Media wasn’t my first career choice. I actually wanted to be a teacher, and I was willing to get a PhD in that area. I also wanted to pursue Psychology, Engineering and even Dentistry at some point. I however realised the number of Communication classes I had done and decided to go with that as my major. I even dreamed I would be where I am today  but I didn’t actually imagine it could happen.

 

I had come home for the holidays when I got a job within a month. I had already moved to California and started graduate school in TV Production and I decided not to go back.

 

I first did voice-overs at Capital FM, and an opening came up on The Fuse, which is a mid-morning Rock show. I then had a weekend show, and finally ended up on Hits Not Homework.

 

I worked with Channel O when it was the biggest thing in Africa. It was a big deal for me, because I was recognised outside of Kenya. I got to interact with a lot of cool artistes from Nigeria, South Africa and many other countries. It was a really good experience.

 

I am very fortunate to have had a background on radio before being on the screens because I believe it really prepared me. One is always on their toes: learning how to speak non-stop, but also in terms of researching. One has to be creative on radio, so as to help the listeners visualise what you’re talking about.

 

I am a person of habit, and I shouldn’t say this because I might get robbed but my weekday schedules are exactly the same. I wake up at 3:45am, get to work by quarter to five, where I get prepped for The Breakfast Show which starts at 6 a.m. and runs till 9 a.m. We then have a meeting afterward to discuss the show, hang around a bit, and I’m out by 11 a.m.

 

I used to watch Sheila Mwanyigha and Kobi Kihara do their morning show on TV and didn’t envy them one bit. All my previous shows were either in the afternoon, or during rush hour, so I would have late nights watching series’ because there was no pressure. These days, however, I am usually in bed by 8 p.m.

 

I like my job and what I do. I like meeting new people and interacting with them through interviews. I meet people from different walks of life each morning, and I am able to get inspired by each and every one of them.

 

My Fridays are crazy, because I finish The Breakfast Show, leave and have to come back in the evening for 10/10, which normally runs till midnight or 1 a.m. I get to sleep on Saturdays.

 

A 10/10 show literally takes a week to prepare. We have a meeting on Monday where we plan for the Friday show. We then confirm and cancel guests during the week, pitch ideas, figure out how big we want the audience to be, or if we will be going on-location. It’s a very well organised show. We have a huge team of about 10-15 people who are involved.

 

I was shocked how well Willis Raburu and I clicked. The on-screen chemistry just happened but we have been good friends long before the show.

 

I try to stay away from the fame, honestly. (Laughs) I do not have much of a social life. I hang out with my siblings, mostly. I don’t like clubbing, or going to media events unless one that I’m hosting. I get a lot of invites to events which I turn down, and people think I’m being a snob, but I really get uncomfortable in such situations. I try as hard as possible to be unrecognisable when I run errands, by either wearing shades or caps or changing my hair. I try not to look as I always do on-screen.

 

‘Me-time’ for me involves staying home, blogging where I post poetry and short stories. I read and watch a lot of TV shows as well.  I am always the girl who wants to go home.

 

I love murder-mystery shows. Anything to do with police and courtrooms does it for me. I watch binge watch as I can’t follow one show at a time, honestly.

 

I freak out when spontaneous situations are thrown at me. I’m a person of structure and order. When under stress, I try having time to myself and I distance myself from the stressful situation and get a grip of myself.

 

My style has really evolved. I used to love sneakers. I had a whole cool collection of them. I now own more pairs of heels than sneakers. I have two different styles on-screen. Breakfast Show dressing style is totally different from 10/10 show but the latter is more me but I am still adapting.

 

My siblings are my best friends. I’m the last born of five children.

 

Americannah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the last good book I read.

 

I run The Muthengi Foundation with my brother, Holy Dave. We registered it two years ago. We focus on empowering young people through education. We have different events, the most recent one being on Eid al-Fitr, where we visited a couple of children’s homes.

 

My brother is a philanthropist at heart and had started doing a lot of charity work, so I joined in on what he used to do. He used to organise a lots of visits to children’s homes, till we decided to consolidate the whole idea and form an organisation so that we could partner with like-minded people.

 

I used to be a tomboy growing up thanks to my brother. Hanging out with Holy Dave is probably one of the best childhood memories I have. We are close in age, which explains why I would love hanging out with him and his boys.

 

I like going to Machakos, which is my shags. On weekends when I’m not as busy, I drive down there just to hang out at my mum’s farm.