Radio presenter Alex Mwakideu says 50% pay cut forced him to open car wash, restaurant

Popular Kenyan radio presenter Alex Mwakideu has revealed that a fifty per cent pay cut by his employer during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was the beginning of his now successful car wash and restaurant businesses.

Mwakideu, speaking during an interview on Churchill Show, revealed that the pay cut forced him to choose between starting a side hustle or changing his family’s lifestyle.

Having already experienced a life of poverty at his younger age, Mwakideu was determined not to let his family live that same life. 

“Hii ni biashara ya corona, unajua wakati wa corona, wale waajiri wetu walitukata mishahara, fifty per cent…ile asilimia hamsini ilipokatwa mimi nakajiuliza mambo ni mawili hapa, either nirudi nyumbani na kusema tukate maisha yetu kwa asilimia hamsini sababu haikuwa ama nijitume nitafute fifty per cent nje…that was last year,” he said.

“Nikasema mimi ni mwanaume hawa watoto sitawabadilishia maisha yao…huko mimi mwenyewe nishaisha na naielewa hiyo maisha.”

The radio presenter first started a car wash business near his home that was highly lucrative and saw an immediate return of the fifty per cent he needed.

Thereafter, he decided to open a restaurant in Kitengela named ‘Pampered Village’ which specializes in Swahili dishes.

Both of the businesses are now successful and still in operation. 

“Nikapata mahali kuna car wash hapo kwa estate, nikaawambia si mnipatie mi napenda magari nitafanya…nikaambia rafiki yangu anitumie portfolio, nikawaonyesha na wakanipa…car wash iliposhika vizuri na tayari nikafika ile fifty per cent yangu nikasema basi si nifungue biashara nyingine ili nipate an extra fifty per cent,” he said.

Mwakideu was one of the many people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that saw many businesses and jobs suffer a decline.

The radio personality however said he believes that in life when given a chance, one should grab it by the horns and make sure to give it the best so as to succeed.

“Ukipata nafasi hata kama ni gani, kufa nayo ndugu yangu, humble yourself na usiiwachilie,” he said.