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Renowned Kenyan business journalist Terryanne Chebet has opened up about her life journey and getting fired from Citizen TV.
Speaking to Maisha Magic East’s Story Yangu, Chebet, who has worked with KBC, Citizen TV, CCTV and K24 revealed that her life has been fraught with hurdles.
The middle child in a family of five siblings, Chebet was born in 1979 in Kitale to a curator father working at the National Museums of Kenya in Kitale while her mother was a housewife.
Subsequently, the girl from Kitale who began her career as a reporter before climbing up the rung became one of the most respected business reporters in the nation.
But her journey was not an easy one:
Father’s accident
In 1983, Chebet’s life took a turn for the worst after her dad got involved in a road accident that left him wheelchair-bound.
“He was headed to pick the children from school at about 1 o’clock when the accident happened,” Chebet’s mother Rebbeca Cherotich divulged.
Following the accident, the responsibility of catering for the three girls and two boys was thrust on her.
“I had to struggle all alone to bring up these children. They were but babies with my first born being in class two. So you can imagine how old Terryanne was,” said Chebet’s mum.
“Maisha ilibadilika sana kwa sababu he was the breadwinner” revealed Chebet.
Chebet’s dad was taken to Nairobi for spinal injury treatment where he stayed for 7 years.
Pregnancy
While working at KBC in 2005, Chebet, now a mother of two, realised she was pregnant with her first daughter, much to her chagrin.
“I panicked because the life I wanted for my child could not be provided for by the money I was getting,” she stated.
According to a close friend, Monica Kiragu, who was also working at the national broadcaster at the time, they were earning about Sh12, 000 before taxes.
“She called me into the bathroom at KBC and broke the news to me. We cried together for a while,” stated Kiragu.
Getting fired from Citizen TV
According to Chebet, her retrenchment came as a complete surprise to her and after news of her dismissal reached her, she revealed it broke her down.
“I was sure there was no way I could be retrenched” she stated.
“I went straight to my room, locked it and cried. Unajua ile crying ya sauti ya ushago?” she said.
After staying indoors for a while, her friends, among them ex-colleague Jacque Maribe, finally convinced her to leave the house.
“Over 100 of us were fired but everyone’s attention was focused on me,” revealed Chebet.
Life after retrenchment
Chebet’s entrepreneurial spirit started at a young age while still in Kitale. “I used to buy camisoles at about Sh20 to Sh30, wash and iron them before selling at Sh100.”
In 2014, Chebet founded Keyara Organics after an unsuccessful search for locally-made organic products to manage her daughter’s eczema.
Eczema is a medical condition in which patches of skin become rough and inflamed, with blisters that cause itching and bleeding.
