Financially Incorrect

There is a perception amongst many that financial freedom is about earning more money. Pius Muchiri believes it's about reaching a point where your investments can sustain your lifestyle even if your salary stops tomorrow. In this episode of Financially Incorrect Business Edition, Barrack sits down with Pius Muchiri, CFA and Managing Director of Nabo Capital, to unpack a career spanning accoun...

For years, Queen Gathoni Kimuyu was helping shape some of Kenya's most recognizable television productions while quietly carrying battles most people never saw. Before becoming an award-winning producer, writer, activist and storyteller, she grew up in poverty, became a young wife, survived an abusive marriage, raised a child through financial uncertainty and spent years trying to build a sust...

Brian Kiriba shares the story behind building Jaba Juice from scratch, growing it into a business that now moves tens of thousands of units every month. In this episode of Financially Incorrect Business Edition, he discusses his early entrepreneurial ventures in Pakistan and the United States, the failure of his immigration startup, losing money after returning to Kenya, and his unsuccessful attem...

Most people see cars as liabilities. Earl Karanja sees them as alternative assets with global demand, cultural value, and appreciating long-term upside. Before brokering million-dollar Bugattis and rare Ferraris to collectors across Europe, Dubai, and New Zealand, Earl was a Kenyan kid raised in a strict teacher-led household where discipline, education, and financial restraint shaped everything....

Africa does not have a shortage of entrepreneurs. It has a financing problem. In this episode of Financially Incorrect, we sit down with Ethiopis Tafara, Regional Vice President for Africa at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), to unpack one of the biggest economic bottlenecks across the continent: why millions of African businesses remain stuck despite creating the majority of jobs. SMEs...

For decades, Suzanne Gachukia Opembe sat at the center of Kenya’s creative economy. Producing music, managing artists, negotiating distribution, surviving industry politics and helping shape an entire generation of Kenyan sound. But behind the success stories were delayed payments, collapsing partnerships, broken royalty systems, visa denials, debt pressure and years where even groceries became di...

Most people see skincare as beauty. Milkah Wachira sees it as trust, systems, education, customer psychology and cash flow management under pressure. Before building Skin Reveal Clinic into one of Nairobi’s growing aesthetic and corrective skincare brands, she burned through bad inventory decisions, unstable partnerships, weak financial structures and painful business losses. One failed clothing v...

Muthaka thought talent would be enough. Then she discovered the business side of music. In this episode the award winning Kenyan singer and songwriter Christine Muthaka opens up about the financial realities behind building a music career in East Africa. From earning 3,000 KES cover gigs at malls and restaurants to signing a restrictive label deal, producing a 600,000+ KES independent album, survi...

Most people think financial collapse happens suddenly. For Shira Karungi, it happened quietly. The businesses were working. The money was coming in. Multiple mobile money kiosks. A thriving clothing business. Strong monthly cash flow. But behind the visible success was a dangerous cycle of borrowing, delayed payments, lifestyle inflation, and poor financial tracking. At one point, the debt reached...

Ogutu Okudo did not enter Kenya’s energy sector through engineering or petroleum science. She studied foreign policy and diplomacy, then made a sharp pivot after Kenya’s 2012 oil discovery and positioned herself inside one of Africa’s most competitive and male dominated industries. In this episode Ogutu breaks down the realities behind oil and gas, the politics of energy investment, why Kenya lost...

Waithera Mugo did not build a tax law firm at the right time. She built it when there were no clients, no savings, and the world had slowed to a halt. In this business edition, Waithera Mugo, founder of Ithera Africa, breaks down what it actually takes to survive and scale in one of the most complex, high pressure legal specializations, tax. From defending multi million shilling tax disputes to na...

What does it take to move from traditional banking into shaping the future of financial inclusion across an entire continent? In this episode of Financially Incorrect, we sit down with Esther Waititu Chief Financial Services Officer at Safaricom to unpack a career that spans banking, international markets, and now fintech at scale through Safaricom. From earning between Ksh 9k - 15k a month earlie...

What does it actually look like to walk away from stability and build something of your own? In this Uganda edition episode, Matthew Nabiswo breaks down a journey that most people never see clearly until it is too late to turn back. After two decades in corporate, rising from a $100 salary to $1,000 a month, he found himself pushed out at a moment that could have easily defined the rest of his lif...

Alemu Emuron has spent over two decades building campaigns across 34 African countries for brands like Coca-Cola, Airtel, Unilever, and Diageo — winning Cannes Lions and Grand Prix awards along the way. But before the continental footprint and the accolades, he was a broke young creative sleeping between a Kampala office and a bar, surviving on credit and stubbornness, watching his advertising car...

Ivy started out earning 100 KES a day doing laundry during COVID. She got docked down to 6,000 KES a month as a supermarket cashier. She tried crochet, braiding, web development, and forex trading none of it stuck. Then she noticed something nobody else was paying attention to: Nairobi had thousands of empty Airbnb units and zero one-stop place to book them. Today, Nairobi Spaces manages access to...

What do women really need to thrive today? At What Women Want 4.0, - Let's Make Money Honey session , we sat down with three accomplished leaders, Mumbi Ndung’u Founder CEO PLP, Dorothy Ooko Co- Founder WSN and Moonika Jurgenfeldt CEO FXPesa for an honest conversation on money, leadership, negotiation, confidence, career growth, and the realities women still face in professional spaces. This e...

Most people chase job security. James Lubinga walked away from it. In this Uganda Edition, we sit down with the CEO of Paramount Images Studio to break down how he went from being a school teacher to one of the most sought-after wedding photographers in Uganda. What started as a side hustle shooting school events quietly grew into a business pulling in more than his salary. Then came the turning p...

Laura Walubengo’s story is not about money at the start. It’s about comfort, stability, and a life where finances were never something she had to think about. That changed. From growing up in a structured, well-provided home to suddenly hearing “there’s no money,” Laura’s relationship with money was shaped by contrast. Then came the career at Capital FM. A steady rise. More income. More opportunit...

Business rarely moves in a straight line. In this Business Edition episode , Barrack sits down with Dickson Matata , entrepreneur and co-founder behind Rhythm & Brunch, The Millennials Cookout and founder of House of Tata, to unpack the real journey behind building profitable experiences in East Africa. Dickson’s story moves from actuarial science and corporate insurance to brand consulting, e...

Imani Wamai didn’t follow the predictable career path. After studying Business Information Technology at Strathmore University and building a promising career in fintech and data analytics, he made a decision most people warned him against, leaving stable corporate opportunities to pursue agriculture and livestock production. In this episode Imani shares the real financial story behind that transi...

There are careers built for income, and others built for impact. For over 15 years, Mwezi Mugerwa has dedicated his life to studying one of Africa’s most mysterious animals, the African golden cat, a species so elusive that scientists still cannot confidently estimate its population. In this episode, Mugerwa shares the real story behind conservation work that rarely makes headlines. From earning j...

Success rarely begins with comfort. Alpesh Vadher, CEO of PKF East Africa, grew up sharing a modest two-bedroom apartment with six family members after losing his mother at just 18 months old. Long before boardrooms and leadership titles, cricket became his first classroom, teaching discipline, resilience, and performance under pressure lessons that would later define a 32-year career in professio...

What if real estate wasn’t about building, but about trust? In this episode of Financially Incorrect, Leonard Mcharo, co-founder of Tsavo, breaks down how a young architectural lecturer earning 15,000 KES per month built one of East Africa’s most recognizable real estate models by rethinking money, partnerships, and risk. From growing up poor and selling handmade bookmarks to fund university life,...

In this episode of Financially Incorrect, DJ Shinski shares the real story behind leaving a stable engineering career to pursue DJing full-time and building an international brand from scratch. Born in Kenya and later migrating to the United States through the green card lottery, DJ Shinski's journey is shaped by sacrifice, discipline, and calculated risk. From earning $6/hour at a call center...

In this episode of Financially Incorrect Uganda, we sit down with Pumla Nabachwa, economist at the Bank of Uganda and financial literacy educator, for one of the most honest conversations about money, independence, and life decisions. From growing up believing she was poor despite privilege, to navigating marriage, separation, single parenting, and rebuilding financial stability, Pumla shares how...