Ann Muthoni, a.k.a Q-tee Lady Njosh, is one of the fastest-rising women in Kenya’s radio and media industry.
She co-hosts the mid-morning Waks TikiTaka Reggae show on Radio Citizen alongside Jacob Maunda (aka Shata Bwoy) and D.J. Rambo.
Ann says her dream of becoming a radio host was born in high school. She says she loved and excelled in language subjects but performed poorly in Maths and Sciences.
Her English teacher advised her to pursue a journalism course after high school, and her ambition to one day have her voice over the country’s airwaves cemented.
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Q-tee says her major weakness is shyness. Therefore, although she dreamed of becoming a top media personality, she shunned tv exposure.
“I wanted to be heard, to speak my mind behind a microphone, but without people knowing what I look like,”
she says.
Her role models at the time included radio veterans like Caro Mtokwa, John Karani, and Muthoni Bwoka.
Consequently, after completing high school, Qtee enrolled in a mass communication course at Mass Media University. However, after a year, she dropped the course and opted for a public relations course.
She attended her attachment at KBC-owned Shoro FM but says she was intimidated by fellow attaches, who were more fluent in Kikuyu than her.
She therefore requested her supervisor for a transfer to Metro FM, the flashy and upcoming station at the time.
“At Metro Fm, I felt more comfortable as most of the other presenters were my age mates,”
she says.
Q-tee’s passion for Reggae music was born during her time at Metro FM. Also, because part of her job was interviewing sports fans, she contracted the soccer flu and became an ardent supporter of Manchester United.
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Unlike her fellow attaches, Ann’s ambition to become a top radio presenter prompted her to work harder than her fellow attaches, to the extent that she used to attend work even on weekends.
She says her job was to look for trending topics for the presenter on air. In the process, Qtee found herself going on air, albeit with complaints from her boss.
“When other presenters went to a roadshow, I would offer to host their shows. It was tough, but I was learning gradually. I worked on air as a presenter for three years without any payment. I had a dream that I wanted to achieve,”
says Q-tee.
At the end of her attachment, Q-tee’s exit from Metro FM was coupled with the station’s closure. Broke and jobless, her mother advised her to pursue a mass media course, which she enrolled in at Moi University.
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However, she was still doing part-time jobs at KBC. She once worked as a secretary and also participated in opening social media accounts for Hot 96, a new Royal Media station at the time.
“My job involved photographing presenters and posting them on social media. I was also responsible for updating the station’s blog. It was a learning process, although I wasn’t getting paid,”
she says.
However, things went south for Q-tee, and she was soon tarmacking for a job. Her fruitless efforts took a toll on her until she decided to return home and take a breather.
At that time, one of her friends sent her a link application for a job at Royal Media. Halfheartedly, with an incomplete resume and little hope for success, Qtee applied for the job.
“I was accepted for the job. It was like a miracle,”
she says.
Her new job involved organizing advertisements based on client requirements. She was also responsible for ensuring the ads had been paid for and mentioned at the appropriate time by the presenter.
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A fast learner, Q-tee says she had already learned the job’s intricates within a week. A few months later, she and her fellow co-hosts were given the green light to host the mid-morning reggae show.
Predictably, they were initially criticized for holding the show in sheng. Theirs was also the first mid-morning radio reggae show in the country. However, the show soon gained massive traction among the country’s youth.
She attributes her success to her mum’s support and God’s favor. Her advice is for people to be themselves and do their best.
“If people are not speaking about you, you are probably doing it wrong,”
she says.