Classic 105 breakfast show host Maina Kageni recently revealed that he entered the job market immediately after finishing high school.
In a quickfire session with Mpasho host Kalondu Musyimi, Maina revealed he was first employed at his uncle SK Macharia’s company in 1993.
He added that the Royal Media Services owner offered him a monthly salary of Sh42,000 in his first job, which involved handling receipts.
“I used to deal with receipts in a credit card company called Royal Card. It belonged to SK Macharia, my uncle. At the time, I think I was earning Sh42k or something, but I had a company car. I had just gotten out of High school, I think it was 1993,” Kageni revealed.
Regarding his studies, the presenter revealed that he didn’t learn the 8-4-4 education curriculum. Instead, he did the GCSE curriculum where History was his favorite subject.
“History was my favorite subject because we did the French Revolution. By the way, I did the GCSE, and 8-4-4 wasn’t for me. I was not wired for that kind of cramming. My least favorite subject was Mathematics, and in GCSE, I was amongst the top 5 students in Kenya during my year,” Maina said.
While he excelled academically, Maina, who is among the top-paid radio presenters in the country, revealed he never stepped into any university.
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He recalled how he splurged his school fees after being sent to England to further his education.
“I actually went to the UK for university, but my school fees got stuck between me and entertainment there, so we had a problem with my mom. I didn’t even attend, I just ate my school fees,” he revealed.
Despite having no university degree, Maina is one of the wealthiest and top-paid presenters in Kenya. He reportedly earns Sh2 million per month from his job at Classic 105 FM.
The broadcaster, who has over 20 years of experience in the media industry, stumbled into the profession by chance after being asked to pay Sh40,000 for a voice-over recording while booking an advert on Capital FM.
With no money to pay, he offered to do the recording himself. The bosses at Capital FM loved his voice, and that is how his radio career began.
“Basically, if I had Sh40,000 that day, I would never have been on the radio,” he said in a past interview.
After a few months of working at Capital, he was poached by Nation and later by Radio Africa, where his salary tripled. He attributes his success to his unwavering love for the job.
