Nilikua nasoma story hapo Daily Nation about Farida Idris. Ati alikua anafanya sales for a security company after form 4. She was doing an exhibition pale Junction Mall. DJ CK saw her akamwona akamwambia akuje Capital Fm. After a presentation DJ CK himself akampea job heading a whole sales division. The story did not make sense until uone picha ya Farida.
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Chris Kirubi lazima alikua anapita hapo Junction Mall akaona Farida venye alikua juvenile akasema lazima amumunye.
[COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]Here is the rest of the story.
[SIZE=6]What you need to know:[/SIZE]
Farida Idris, 38, is Capital FMās Group Commercial Director, and Koroga Festival Project Director
From the Nation Center past Stanley Sarova hotel, I take a turn on Standard Street heading for the 19th floor of Lonrho House. Iām ahead of time, 10 minutes earlier for our scheduled interview when Farida Idris emerges in a rush. She is dressed in a black silky dress with yellow floral elements, which compliments her cheerful personality.
āSorry for the wait, I hope I didnāt keep you that long,ā she apologises.
āItās fine.ā I remark as she leads the way to a boardroom next to her small corner desk.
Despite being Capital FMās Group Commercial Director, Idris has no special office of her own like most honchos of her designation. She sits among her colleagues as she runs the day-to-day commercial activities of the company founded and owned by the late entrepreneur billionaire Chris Kirubi aka DJ CK.
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The last few months have been a beehive of activities for the 38-year-old, who also doubles up as Koroga Festival Project Director.
She has been busy organising the extravaganza, which will be part of the World Safari Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally leg, slated for 23rd to 26th of this month at The Gardens on Moi South Lake road in Naivasha.
For the next 30 minutes Iām about to find out how a young girl from Isiolo county rose from a sales agent of a startup company to a Commercial Director of Capital Group to organising an extravaganza of Korogaās stature and tasked with generating mega profits to both ventures, all before getting formal training and a college degree.
āSo where does your story begin?ā I ask.
[COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]āI was scouted by Chris Kirubi at the Junction Mall on Ngong Road. At the time (2007), I was working for a security company. There was an exhibition at the mall when this man walked to our stand and asked āwhat are you selling here today?ā. At the time I didnāt know who he was, so I picked a few equipment, did a little bit of demonstration and asked him if we could come to his office or house to do a proper survey and give him a comprehensive proposal,ā Idris explains.
[COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]Dazzled by the marketing skills of the young girl who was waiting to join University, the late tycoon offered her a new job. āAfter I finished explaining on our products at his office, he turned to my boss at the time and remarked, āHow much do you pay her? Whatever you are paying her, I will double it and she is coming to work for me.ā I was super shocked and that prompted me to want to know who he was from my colleagues. But, thatās how I ended up at Capital,ā Idris shares.
When Idris joined Capital FM, everything seemed a puzzle. It was a new terrain, a bigger institution and she felt the pressure.
āI was quite young; I knew of radio but I didnāt know the dynamics of it. When I walked in, CK put me in charge of Agency sales. I had to learn and adapt really quickly because I was given an account that had been dormant for years. Thatās what most companyās do, give you such accounts so that you learn on the job.ā
Prior to taking up the role, Idris was put through an intense marketing training which came in handy, when teamed with her experience from the security firm job.
āWhen I finally went and did a pitch of what I thought needed to be done and it was accepted, it gave us revenues that Capital FM had never seen before. For the first time at Capital, we were doing activations throughout the shows,ā she says with satisfaction.
Idris eventually joined university and graduated. Over the years, she has been able to rake in millions of shillings for the company in profits, something that has seen her rise in the ranks. She attributes this to one thing, aggression.
āIām very aggressive when it comes to progress. I was given a role, I took it up, but always wanted more and more,ā she offers.
At some point, Idris became over ambitious and went to try radio. She asked to be a presenter of āHits Homeworkā show, did a voice test and was given a chance. She didnāt last a day.
āAll I wanted was growth but I realised that wasnāt for me. It was so glossophobic. Being stuck inside four walls in a studio speaking to myself. I couldnāt handle that,ā she admits.
Instead Farida, a devoted Muslim, prefers waking up at 5.30am to pray, spend about 45 minutes to one hour working out then begins her office chores by responding to emails. Since she was appointed Commercial Director in 2018, she has made it a routine to be in bed by 9.30pm.
āWhen I get to the office, I block off everything that is not work related because these responsibilities demand so much of my time,ā she says.
At the moment, lots of her energy have been channeled towards organizing The Koroga Festival. The Festival is a celebration of African music, food, art and fashion brought to you in the form of a concert
and open boutique market.
She started pitching the idea of Koroga partnering with World Rally Championship, 12 months ago and was turned away many times but she kept knocking at their door every time with a fine-tuned proposal until it was finally accepted and contracts signed.
Of the 30 editions since its inception, this will be the fifth Koroga edition she is organising since taking over as the project Director of the event. āI had always wanted to do Koroga. Then one day CK gives me a call and asks me, ā[COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]You Sudanese woman, if you are to do the next four editions what will you do? I started giving him all these ideas. What I didnāt know is that he was actually interviewing me for the job. When I finished ranting, he said, āyou are doing Koroga from now on.ā
New beginnings
Since taking over, Idris has changed a number of things introducing a Coachella touch to Koroga. Most Coachella events are outdoor events done out of town involving fashion, food and music. The last edition held in February 2020 took place at Hellās Gate, Naivasha with Bongo flava star Diamond Platnumz headlining the event.
A year before there were two editions of Koroga with the one staged in July at Tatu City graced by four time Grammy award nominee Afro beats legend Femi Kuti.
āI also turned it into a two-day concert with a lineup of acts mainly composed of Kenyan artistes. And for the first time we will be doing it for four days. I would have loved to take it somewhere else maybe Mombasa, Nakuru or Kisumu but we are back to Naivasha because of the Safari Rally,ā Idris says.
Idris satisfaction from Koroga are in the returns.
āManaging 15,000 revelers in a weekend requires security, food vendors, artistes and many other staff. These are all jobs.ā
Then there is also the aspect of the revenue generated.
āWhat my team and I have created is a monster. Koroga is bigger than Capital. For this yearās edition, I wanted a five-days event but the CEO cut it to four. I had to up the rate card and my team wondered if I was crazy. They wondered if we could get sponsors to match the rate card, but they were in for a shock because we got every bit of what I asked for from sponsors,ā Idris prides.
But even with her success, she has had to overcome challenges as a woman leader.
āItās not easy. In some instances, I have been discriminated because I am a woman from the North, who are considered naive and ill-educated. I feel whenever I walk in a room I have to be stronger than a man. I have to be mindful of how I sit and how I project my voice. I have to be cautiously authoritative at all times,ā she says.
Idris was recently appointed by South African Broadcast Media Africa company to join its Advisory Board for the Programme on Creation, Production, Distribution and Monetisation of Audio-Visual Content in Africa.
āMy input is to offer advice and ideas,ā she says.
As we wind up the interview to allow Farida to dash into yet another meeting, Iām curious to know about her family.
āI donāt have a family of my own. I come from a Muslim family and in every other family gathering Iām always asked when Iām I getting married. I donāt understand why they are giving me so much pressureā¦ hahaā¦ but itās something I am looking into. However, I am not dating at the moment but if someone comes along, well and good,ā she beams.
āBut Iām not searching,ā she adds, bursting into laughter.
