 But did it affect you? To some bit. It affected me a little bit. Then I decided to change that into lemonade. Because what you used to post on the notice pod, like being a good presenter, you must do A, B, C, D. You don't have to play with your voice to be a good presenter. You have to do research. So I used to take the positive critic and leave the rest. So it built me in a way. So that's how I blew up. Now talk about your transition from there to Radio Maisha and then to Radio 47, which you spent for like less over five years at Radio Maisha. So from there, I did that show. Now doing a show and going to school was a little bit difficult. So I had already gotten this work. I had my certificate. Now I need to get my diploma. So I got a guy who told me, you can just study from home and do your exam and get your diploma from the poly. So I did that and did my exam. Little did I realize this guy called me. So he gave me the certificate. I went and graduated. But realizing that it's a fake certificate, now KBC was on my neck. Hey, you brought us a fake certificate. I told them, no, this is not fake. I studied. Poli told us that they are not doing outside exams. So the guy gave me. So KBC had to let me go because of that. So I didn't even do a month outside. Then Barakefem came for me. I did Barakefem for like eight years. Eight good years. After that, I resigned. Resigned because you are done with Radio? How are you feeling that time? How is your mind? The problem with regional FM stations is that you have passion, you have the zeal. You want to do this thing. The name is out there but there's no money. They don't pay salaries. So you said you're sort of a freelancer. And it's exhausting. Exhausting. They're giving you permanent pensionable but there is no salary. So I decided to just quit. So what did you do from then? So during that eight years is when I decided to start up my own company. They are digital media. Digital campaigns for companies. Social media management for companies. So I decided to just let go of radio and deal with my company. Now when I resigned, I didn't even do two days. Milele called me. Hi Billy. Could you kindly send your demo? I sent it. I'm presenting it. Who's then the radio PC at Milele? Titi Nagwala. Titi Nagwala. Legend. That guy. Very good heart. So he told me. I sent the audio at around 7 in the evening. At around 10 he called me. I need Nairobi tomorrow. You know that time you don't have fare. You don't have anything. So we had to borrow money from someone. Went to Nairobi. He told me he wants to take me. Who do you want to work with? I told him. I told him. I told him. I told him. I told him to send the demo. I sent another demo. We came to Nairobi on Tuesday. We came to Nairobi. We did an interview. And they told us that you hired. Right. And you began. And we began. But you didn't last for more than two months now. Bro, we were hardly two months. We were still in our probation period. And our positions were being advertised. How did that make you feel? You were on a job but they were advertising it. Bro, it was hectic. And the people that are coming are gurus in the industry. The likes of Alex Makideo. The likes of Jalas. That the people are coming to replace you. And they are straight from Mombasa. Original FM station. To a national FM station. And it's like you guys cannot do this thing. Just get out of here. That's how I felt. But you know I told God. You are the one who brought me to Nairobi. And I know very well you cannot ashamed me. Right. Just later we'll be done. Right. So while the process were going on. Lindo Ryaso called me. He was in the PC for Radio Maisha. Radio Maisha. Hi Billy, how are you? You good? Yes, I'm good. Come to our offices. We need to talk. Right. I went there. I talked to her in Tom Japani. They gave us a good deal. Now when we realized that Maisha was like. Was to poach you. Yeah. They were like you guys. You know those guys are going to use you. Don't go. We'll give you money. How much are they giving you? We told them. Look, look. We're going to give you 300k. Just stay. You know, we just want these guys to come. Set the purse then we'll let you do this thing. I told my colleague this is wrong. Let's not stay here. They've already proven to us that. We already know who they are. Yeah. They are not for us. They just want to use it for. Use it for a period of time and let us go. So we decided to go for less amount of money. So we decided to go for Maisha. So we decided to go for Maisha. Right. We chose them. You started with? What? The Mounted Maisha. You don't want to mention? Tadabuana. Personipesa bro. Me really call me with 80,000. 80,000. Yeah. And when we went to Maisha. They gave us 250. 250. Which is a good amount of money. From 80,000 to 50. 250. Personally I wanted to work at Radio Maisha. It was my dream place. That I wanted to work there because it was very strong. It had all the things you want. So we went there and I would say I owe everything to Radio Maisha. Which is this transition from Milalei to Radio Maisha? Like the year. 2019. 2018, 2019. 2018, 2019. Okay. Yeah. So I started with the breakfast show there with my colleague Baruk. The managers felt that it was not working. So they brought MCA Triki. That's when it blew up. We did the show with Triki for a long time. Like two years. Then after that when we blew up, Milalei came for us. But now I said I wouldn't be beaten twice. How was your response when they reached out? They gave me 800k. I knew it's an amount that they can't give me. So I didn't want to refuse. But I told them just give me 800k. I knew they couldn't offer that. But it did come from a place of anger and bitterness. I mean it was just like bro let's talk about this budget first. Please. Because it's a station that has built its name from destroying people's careers. They take you in and they just let you go like that after a period of time. So Triki left. So when Triki left they were trying to look for replacement for my show. But they could not find the person that could fit the budget. So they just decided to swap us. The drive show came to the breakfast. I was taken to the drive show. And now we reunited with my colleague Baruch Malim. That's where fire blew up. The chemistry now blew up. And looking at what you've done and what you're still doing even on social media. You're so passionate about informing people, your segments that you do. And some of your videos have actually gone viral in so many countries as well. Now talk about how you came to this personality. Here you are on radio. But now you're now digital as well. You have your videos all over social media. And you're not just recording videos. You're encouraging people and making them learn something. And it became a thing. When I was doing the breakfast show at Radio Maisha. I came up with something called Kaulia Siku. Which is like a wake up call. Every 6.30 I was doing Kaulia Siku. It was just an encouragement to people. Like if you wake up in the morning just waking up and like being in your right mind. That's a blessing in itself. Forget about where you're going to get the food. If you're going to get the gig. If you're going to get the money. Just waking up is a blessing. Now use that because at the end of the day the sun will rise and the sun will set. So nothing will stop that. So if you are alive that's a blessing. And it means God has a purpose for you. Do that purpose. Fulfill that purpose. So me I didn't realize that it has so much impact. Until when I left the breakfast show. When people were saying bring that Kaulia Siku. It inspired me a lot. It made me change. I wanted to commit suicide but through Kaulia Siku I got encouragement. Right now I have a family. And I realized it was a big big thing. And now I realize that I need to talk to people on a daily. Because so many people heart in social media. When you see people trolling guys. You know that they are feeling good. They are hearting. And they are just directing that anger into trolling other people on social media. So I decided to do something that is going to encourage them. And give them hope in life. Right. And I love the fact that you know even in a month's perspective. Mentally being in a space where you are able to not only just do it for yourself. But you are also doing it for other people. Something that is life changing. True. True. And you know as men we have a lot of responsibility. We have so much going through our head. Like me. I woke up in the morning like I was coming to Y254. But for a woman she can wake up in the morning. Sit on that bed or sit on that chair. Watch TV. And everything goes. But for a man you have to go out there. And find something for the family. You know there is so much going on through your mind. And you hardly have time for yourself. For a woman they can cry and take the stress away. But for a man you cannot cry. Even in the bathroom you cannot cry. You have to go out there and make sure your family eats. Right. So men are going through a lot. And I found a way of just like talking to them. Giving them encouragement. And even posting job opportunities to them. That's how I've been able to help my community around me. All right. Now before we talk about balancing. Because now you're highly present on social media platforms. And people know you. In other words you're famous anyways. But now you have an amazing colleague of yours. And Juzy you are on a very interesting TV platform as well. And you guys were talking like how do you balance between having a female colleague. Who you guys, your chemistry is just so closely amazing. To point you're a married man. You have kids. Your wife trusts you. But then this lady is also married. But now people on social media think that you guys have a thing going on. You're dating. You're dating. She's your side chick. And what not. As in how do you deal with that energy. And those comments and those DMs. You know the thing is. In this world nothing is supposed to put you down. As long as you're focused. If you stay focused. Every other thing is noise. And issues to do with trust. Trust is hard to build. It's very hard to build. But it can break in a second. And when it breaks it doesn't come back. Now when you're like in a media house or you are a celebrity. It's so difficult to deal with female colleagues when you're married. But it starts with you. Whom do you marry? Do you marry your friend? Do you marry someone who trusts you? Someone who can take a bullet for you. So my wife is someone who trusts me. Because there are some things I say on radio. Like people say how will your wife take it? Because mostly I do my life experience. Like what happened. Maybe when you do something bad in the house. Like are you an opposite of yourself. You and your wife. So she trusts me so much. That she knows I cannot do certain limits of certain things. So if your wife trusts you. If your partner trusts you. She'll be free with you. And let you do what you can do. But if you show them another side of you. If you cheat on them. If you're not straightforward. If you're not straightforward with them. They won't trust you. Like me my phone doesn't have a password. Our phone doesn't have a password. She easily can access it. She can access it anytime. If she wants to send money to her chama. Give me your phone. I'll do it. She takes it. If my phone is on the car. She just takes it. Takes someone or sends money to someone. So I've been able to build that trust. That she knows I cannot do anything. Anything. Because there's trust. And still on that balance point. When it comes to radio. Radio is really heavy. Very heavy. Because it's about persona. The persona that you exude or exhibit on a show. It's totally different from sometimes what you are in real life. And you could realize on radio you are a comedian. But in real life you have a crisis. Or on radio your personality is being sold as a teenager. For the personality of the station. And even the target audience. But now how did you manage to balance. Being the billion radio who is fun. Free and open outgoing. And now coming back to your family. To deal with your wife and kids. And forgetting now the media person. Living it at the studio. And going back to you. To a husband. If you want to hack it. Don't change your character. If you change your character. It's very difficult to hack. That's why. Those comedians that have been like doing character. Are like facing out right now. Just be you. Like me I'm just being me. And I usually take radio as therapeutic. So I get therapy every 4 hours. Every day of the week. So I laugh a lot. I crack jokes. I speak to people. I listen to their problems. I give them jokes. I share issues with my own worldview. So if you take it as therapy. You'll enjoy it. But if you change your character. Now I'm doing radio. Now I'm off radio. It's not like that. Personally I'm a very quiet person. I don't speak a lot. But I'm the loudest radio. Because I take it as therapeutic to me. But I feel like that's persona still. Already you are loud in prasunia. So you switch to the loud personality. It's not switching per se. There's something the mic does to you. It's called a theater. There's something the mic does to you. That changes. If you just open that mic. And the music just blows up. It's not like I'm changing the personality per se. But I'm just quiet. But when I open the mic. Something just happens. All the words. The million stories start coming out. They're just coming out. Now from your experience as a veteran broadcaster. Do you feel like the dynamics of radio have changed? I remember there's somebody who said. Right now radio is dead. But then there's a lot of people who came at him. And said no radio is not dead. Radio is now at its peak. Do you feel like radio is dead? Radio is not going anywhere. Anytime. Radio is here to stay bro. TV is going to face out. That's a fact. TV is going to face out. It's going to be faced out by the digital media. But radio is going nowhere bro. Radio is bay. You know radio. And usually say that we are faced for radio. Because you can be there doing your stuff. Even in your in your swimming costume. In your underwear. And the point is that no one realizes. Radio is good vibes. And radio you can listen to it anywhere. You are in a shamba. You are in a mat. You are anywhere. I realized it when like a month ago. I went and bought a radio. Imagine. Katululu. Because there's something I wanted. I was not getting it in these other radio stations. So I went and bought a radio. So I went and bought a radio. So if this century 2023 I can still buy a radio me as a radio person. Because media personalities usually don't really consume their product. It's like you've been in the newsroom the whole day. You know the stories that are there. So you don't really need to consume. But if I bought a radio it means radio is still not going anywhere. Because you can get so much on radio. So much from news, entertainment comedy named them drama. So I think radio it has not even reached its peak by the way. It has not yet. We have not even started yet. Because if I compare radio from the previous years when I started is when the social media was building people were just making faces of these guys. Like this guy might be fat. He must be thin. When you meet them in person. The voice is big but the person is... The voice is tiny but the person is... True. But right now social media came in. It added another aspect. And this aspect is because initially people radio personalities used to be mysterious. And that was the flavor of it. That was the juice. But now when social media came people want to see these guys. Know your life. Know your lifestyle if you have a family. What you do during the day. So if you continue sharing these segments people fall in love with you more. Because now they can see you. They can see you. They put a face in you. Kwa na sanga e kube bilili mwa uzi? Ya yu koivi ban. So I think social media added a flavor in radio. The digital world has added a flavor to radio. That's why we have digital FM stations. We have the audio visual stations right now in Kenya that are still picking up. And if you want to know radio is not dying people started with podcasts. Exactly. Which is a combination of audio visual. Post cut first out. Right now it's coming in. It's trying to be a big thing. YouTube is also creating a podcast segment. So it means... Are you making use of that yourself as well? Ya. I'm on YouTube. I'm on YouTube. That's why I even opened my own company. Right. Called Billioclock. We'll talk about that towards the end. Now I'd also like you to tell us some of the secrets of being in the media space. What were some of the highs and lows that were actually life changing. But before that I would tell us what is your philosophy in radio or just basically generally media that can touch on all other aspects for a person who is watching they are so passionate about wanting to be in this space on this side of the camera or behind the mark what is the philosophy that they can follow it could be your own personal philosophy or just a general lesson. The thing is why do you want to do media why do you want to become a celebrity is it to get the girls is it to get gigs or is it to change people's lives because the philosophy of media has not changed in form educate, entertain these three aspects they have to be there now do you want to just go in there to become a celebrity roll with the women drink with the big guys roll with the politicians and everything Bamba with the big boys You want to Bamba with the big boys that's the phrase it is not but you just want to change people's lives the purpose is very important my purpose is to change a life a day if your purpose is to change a life a day you will enjoy radio and you will have at least a link or two for changing someone's life because it's not about entertainment bro it's about changing someone's life giving them an opportunity giving them hope and encouragement playing good music to uplift their spirit so my philosophy is why are you getting into radio going there to change someone's life going there to be therapy to someone who is not doing good because right now the economy is not okay bro people are suffering now will they come to listen to you to get depressed more no we don't want that now what were some of the highs or some of the lows that were life changing to you that have shaped you till today this one I am still learning but already you are a healed person you are whole and here you are when I used to be trolled when social media started when I lost my job at Pwani FM that same guy went on social media and said this guy affect his certificate in fact we saved him for being arrested same guy bro same guy he brought me down but again there is a woman called Esther Ngolo she called me personally told me Billy just close your ears to everything that is happening I know you personally I know you can't do that I know this guy personally he used to do the same thing to me same thing he is doing to you used to do it to me so just let it go that really put me down but when she called me it really encouraged me uplifted my spirit and the rest is history and you forgive the good thing about me and I thank God for that I forget very fast until someone raises it then I remember so I forget very fast and I thank God for that because you are going to be putting things in your head now your head is a precious place do not let anything stay rent free in your head if you let it stay rent free it's going to hurt you it's going to eat up space and that space on Uamedula could be like being creative so I let go easily and I forget easily and I forgive easily and that is one of the lows that happened but after that after that it's been high after high bro it's been high after early Mekwa Mekwa 2 million na 10k bro and then with the ma'am the first time I got my salary at Pwani FM I called my dad and ma'am now from today don't buy air time I'm the one who's going to supply you I don't know how did ma'am feel they felt well but bro I didn't even do the 15th of the month isha isha then I rose to 45k at Barake FM 80k at Milele 250 there at Maisha now I'm good bro you can only imagine just going upward so it's been blessings on top of blessings blessings after blessings bro and I thank go for that now as we near to us the end maybe are there things that you feel like they should change in as much as you mentioned we want to be famous anyways but anyways media exposes for me I feel like media doesn't help it exposes your character it shows what you project and how even your chemistry with other colleagues as well so in terms of that do you feel like as we near to us the future things are going to change people are going to check into mental health facilities or give you have to let go na iskwe beef to social media in real life here to let go you feel like it's going to change you know one thing that affects most of celebrities is like putting a fake life out there people feel like once you go on tv or radio magic they equate the fame to cash now the problem with some of us is like we want to like do an equilibrium you go to you take loans you loan your colleagues so then with the day you feel like you have a lot of debts and you cannot keep up with the life and you get into depression just be you just be you you have it you have it you don't have it you don't have it just live at the level that you can bite what you can and it will all be good but if you try to live a life that's not yours you don't have it so just live according to your standard live according to how you feel and if you be real mi what has helped me is being real biliwa do you stay I stay in Mlolongo when I thought you stay in Kilele no I stay in Mlolongo just be real with people you shouldn't be ashamed bro because of the day people think that presenters celebrities don't feel pain like even if you paint them they don't feel pain see tunasota tunakwa at broken we pass through all that we are just normal human beings with normal lives so if you live a normal life you rise trusting the process is very important but people don't trust the process trust the process trust the process no matter how long it takes bro me when I used to be in Mombasa I did like 8 years and people younger than me people who have trained were coming to Nairobi and living me there people were saying ah biliwana you are too good to be in Mombasa why are you not going bana see your time when time comes and the time came so just trust the process please trust the process I am told we only have less than a minute so you can talk about some of the projects that you have one of the biggest thing people can't look out for when it comes to your social media because I understand you are making a lot of videos as well with your amazing friends so talk about that shortly as we exit and then also where people can find you in social media as well and get in contact this is your camera you can find me on social media through BiliMia Facebook BiliMia Instagram BiliMia TikTok and Twitter and also on media house it's called Bilioclock it's a website and a YouTube channel where I do stories encouragement stories social events and everything I also have a fashion house called Chambiga Designs everything here is from Chambiga Designs so it's also on social media where we do dress a lot of people including your colleagues including my colleagues that's about it by the way I've really learnt a lot from you and I wish you had more time because I had many questions but I think we can do a part too we can do it with my love Mami Francine shout out to her to where's the kujanai Uki Rusu Takujanai Uspote we can invite us we can do a collab why meet radio you're welcome thank you so much Bili for your time and gracing our morning show alright on that note we're gonna end it here but as always you can engage with us on our social media and that includes Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at my244 channel and also we have our TikTok channel at my244 channel on TikTok see you again next time right here