Top 10 Kenyan CEO’S Reveal Their FIRST Jobs. Reasons To be Inspired!

What was your first job? Everyone has one. That beginning point of their career, does it define the kind of life you will have in future?

Here are some of the first jobs these top Kenyan CEOs managed to have as career starters.

1.Chris Kirubi, Businessman
His first job? “I worked for a company called Shell, which taught me a lot of discipline that has been useful in my life. I used to sell gas; I went round to people’s homes and fixed their gas. I earned little pennies every month; it couldn’t have bought you dinner.”

2.Heshan de Silva, CEO, De Silva Group
His first job? “I made coffee when I was 17. I had a job at the university in Miami and I was making lattes and cappuccinos and espressos for people. I was earning US$6.50 an hour (Ksh510)”

3. Manu Chandaria, industrialist
His first job? “I was a second engineer at Kaluworks where there was a team of 40 employees. Someone else who had worked at the plant for many years was my boss [and] I was number two [in command].”

4. Isis Nyong’o, technology investor
Her first job? “My very first job was in my mom’s office doing filing and all the basic stuff.”

5. James Mwangi, CEO, Equity Bank Group
His first job? “I was an accountant at Ernst & Young.”

6. Patricia Ithau, managing director, L’Oréal East Africa
Her first job? “I was a clerk at a leading law firm in Kenya after finishing high school. I spent more time on my hands and knees stacking, sorting and searching for files. I was earning 1,500 shillings (US$18), and that was a lot of money as far as I was concerned.”

7. Dr Betty Gikonyo, co-founder and CEO, Karen Hospital (Kenya)
Her first job? “My first job was working with the Kenya Railways and Harbours just before I joined university. I was a clerk. I was earning KSh. 700 (US$8) which was a lot of money coming from the KSh. 20 ($0.20) I was often given as pocket money while in school. It was so much money I did not know what to do with it.”

8. Gikonyo Gitonga, managing director and CEO of Axis Real Estate
His first job? “While I was in university studying Land Economics I used to work at a pharmacy during holidays. I would prepare orders and help around the store. It was a very nice experience. I learnt how to dispense medicine. I can still read a doctor’s jargon. I was earning KSh. 1,000 (US$11) [per month] which was a lot of money in 1982.”

9. Joanne Mwangi, founder and CEO, PMS Group (Kenya)
Her first job? “My very first job was actually selling vegetables because my mother had a kiosk. She would take us to the kiosk to work after school. I must have been around seven. My father also had a little restaurant in town so during school holidays we went and served. I started working at a very young age.”

10. David Kuria, CEO, Ecotact Group (Kenya)
His first job? “I worked with a quarry advising the miners on how to [work] effectively. I was 24 and had just graduated from university.”

Courtesy: How We Made it in Africa

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