Interview with Diana Wageni

This is a conversation between two friends discussing their podcast and careers. The host explains that the podcast will focus on different careers and how people navigate them. They briefly discuss numerology and how it relates to personal characteristics. The conversation then shifts to the guest's career as a studio technical operator and freelance photographer/videographer. They talk about their education and how they got their job through an internship. The guest shares their experience working in different departments and the challenges they faced, such as long shifts and meetings. So, hi guys. Hi guys. Hi. How are you doing? I'm with Diana, my BFF. Yes. So, this is my first episode. Congratulations for doing it. The first step. I don't know if you're going to be able to understand English, but anyway, we are not just strangers. I'm happy to finally take the first step. Yes. I'm also happy. Yes. So, Diana is my BFF and we met in high school, medical school. In what year? 2007. Yes, 2007. Around May. Yeah, around May. Because it was the second time. Second time. And she will also be my producer. She helped me in how to produce this podcast. So, I'm happy. And she's also now my first guest. Yay. And basically... I'm honoured. Hey, usually it's a big honour. It's a big honour. It's not something to take for granted. Anyway. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. Yeah. So, basically, my podcast is about how to work with different careers. How different careers... How different people navigate their careers. The ups and downs. And what they can tell other people who are aspiring to be in their careers. Or anything else that they are doing out of their careers. So, other than that, I think we can start with how are you doing... You were telling me about the number. Number? Numerology. Oh, numerology. I'm into numerology of late. And I've been learning about how the characteristics you possess and how that... How that and numerology are related. Like if you were born on a certain date, there are certain characteristics you're going to possess. In numerology, there's also something called a life number where you add up all the numbers of your birth date. So, let's say, for example, me, I was born April 20th, 1990. So, 20, the day I was born, 2 plus 0, plus 4, the month April, plus 1990, whatever. The number I get, let's say it's 17, I add 7 plus 1, it becomes 8. Now, it means I have 8 life paths. The characteristics that I possess of the 8 life paths. If you're into numerology, you can read about it, research about it. For me, it makes some sense. But anyway, I'm sure you're very open to learning new things. So, that's the new thing that I'm learning. I will learn. I will watch my age. Yes. I will help you learn. I'm going to be told you that I will learn. Really? Yes, I'm going to be 2 plus 5, 11, 7 and I'll go to 17. I'm an intelligent person. Very. Now, I've been good. I'm happy. Tomorrow is my birthday. Imagine. A memorable podcast. Imagine. You recorded this one before your birthday. So, I will launch it tomorrow. Yes. I will work hard. I will edit it and work hard to launch it tomorrow. And then, we'll see how it goes. But I thank God that I'm here. Despite everything that has happened to me this year, I'm happy to have very genuine friends and a very good support system. And thanks to my family and also God. Because some things we just take for granted until when we come here. So, that they can have away from us. That's when we think, oh, yeah, that was a good thing. But also, it's not the end. Yeah. So, basically, when you're talking about career, we're moving into now the main thing or the main hassle. The main topic of this podcast. Yes. So, there is someone who's basically making noise for us in our recording studio. Yes. So, I think we can start from career-wise and how we started. So, I would start like, what are you? What is your career? What am I in terms of career? My official tag is I'm a studio technical operator. I also do voiceovers. And yeah, freelance. Freelance photographer and videographer. I can say that. But my main career is I'm a studio technical operator. I'm sure you've seen my home. Not many people will understand what that is. A studio technical operator is someone who works behind the scenes. Someone who makes sure that whatever is going on, you have the picture, you have the sound, and you have the, let's say, picture, sound. And I'm the one in charge of programming all the promos, commercials, and programs. Yeah. And I make sure that everything is on time. Make sure the music is at seven. So, you're a timekeeper. I'm a manager. Time manager. Let's call it a time manager. So, basically, I'm someone who works behind the scenes in a studio and in the gallery. Okay. So, in uni, what did you study? I studied mass communication. But I was one of the people who failed KCSE. So, we started from certificate, diploma, then I did a degree. My degree was a bachelor of mass communication with a specialization in electronic media. Yeah. Okay. So, how long have you studied? And have you worked? How long have I worked as a studio technical operator? In total, seven years, but one year internship. Yeah. And then, in that one year internship, did you know, like, after internship, I'll get a job directly, or it was 50-50? It was not guaranteed. It was just me, when I went for internship, you know, I hadn't yet finished school, but I knew that I'm a kid that comes after finishing school. So, I started early. During my internship, as soon as you do your first year, second year, third year, you're required to go for internship. Yeah. So, I went for internship. I did internship for four months. That was in September 2016. From September to December, I finished, but my supervisor wanted to repay me. So, it continued January to April in 2017. Then, they extended my internship again from May to August. Then, during May to August, while still in internship, that's when we were doing our election in 2017, August. So, I got a small contract for one week, for your weekly election. So, I did that work one week. I was paid for the week. Then, thank God, I'm sure the country was not happy, but for someone like me, I benefited. Yeah. They said, we repeat the election. Another contract for you. Another contract for me. So, we did the repeat election, then that led to a contract for three months. And during those three, oh, I was told I completed my internship from September to December. Yeah. That was my internship for schools. So, when they were extending, I was finishing schools. I had one more semester. So, I finished in 2017, April. Then, I had one semester of graduation in October because our school only has one graduation. So, I did that internship from May to August. Then, we did the two elections, which led to a contract for three months. So, those three months, that contract, I remember that contract was going to end the day of my graduation. But thank God, something called CSARSA, it came up. I applied. They called me for an interview. Oh, they called me for that interview on the day of my graduation. So, before I went for graduation, I went for my interview first. I went for my interview. For my line of work, you have to do practical experience. Okay, that interview is not the one where you ask questions. Then, there's practical. You have to show them that you know how to use the camera, you know how to use the mixer, and you know a bit about it. So, both of them. Then, they left me for my graduation. Yeah, and by the time the day was ending on my graduation day, they called me and told me that you may qualify. So, it was a good graduation because at least, if you graduate, you might find a job. That's nice. Yeah. So, after that one year, you said that's how you did seven years. Yeah, now it's like six years. So, for the work experience, have you been in the same role for the seven years? And also, when you're answering about maybe if you've been into different departments, you can also talk about the challenges that you've been facing throughout these six years. When I first got my job, I was working as a studio technical writer for Phil Fafa, a news department. So, our work was to ingest news stories, or clout, maybe AWS. They got a lot of technical language. So, yeah, we used to do that. And because it was a new department, the challenge was very few. And so, we had to work long shifts. We were doing 12-hour shifts. So, if you get in at 6 in the morning, you can get in at 7 in the evening. If you get in at 6 in the evening, you have to start early the next day. So, okay, people were telling us to see, don't worry, these are the challenges of a new department. It was very challenging, especially because I was the one who was given a night shift. I was the one who was given a night shift. Even the place where I was living, you would hear people saying, hey, it's almost 2 o'clock, you've spent like two hours getting a night shift. And it was very challenging. And the fact that it was a new department, we didn't know what was really expected of us because it was a new product that was being launched. But we got our way through. News was flowing. Eventually, things started flowing, and the shifts became bearable because now we started doing like 9-hour shifts, from 12 to 9. So, you get in at 6, you get out at 3. Yeah, and also, we became able to reduce and then, yeah, things started flowing. That was disheartening. Because it was a new product, there were systems that were still working, and news was one of them. The way we were ingesting news was in line with reporters to make sure they do their stories in a way that we ingest them. Even us ourselves, we were also producing stories, but we didn't have time because the shifts were very tight. Getting extra time to just go and do a story yourself was like close to impossible, let's say. And we used to have so many meetings, meetings that brainstormed ideas. What do you think will make this product better? How do you think we are going to share it with the public? Even us ourselves, how are we going to help the company market this product? Yeah, meetings were too many. They needed us to brainstorm, bring ideas. Sometimes, you feel like they are not working, but they shut it down. That was my first job. So, the news department eventually died. After it died, as an intern, I was working as a studio technical operator for Enola TV. So, we were taken back to what we were doing. But as I was an intern, that was not the only thing I used to do. I used to do, I don't know if you are going to understand this jargon. It's not amazing, but okay, let me just try and explain. Behind the scenes, let's say like news for example, behind the anchor, do you know the anchor's job is to tell you that we are going to read story one, read story two, there's breaking news, read this script like that. There's someone giving those instructions. That person is called a director. But, that director is here for the instructions from the producer and editor. They are people who handle news and the content that is going to be put in news. So, what do we do there? We have a director who is the leader of our team. He is the one who writes the stories. He is a play out for news stories. He is a play out for programs, commercials, promos. There's a graphic person who is in charge of telling you what the story is about. The story that the anchor is reading, what is it about. There's a sound person and there's an audio operator who is in charge of the stories. In the studio, there's a cameraman and a floor manager and a lighting guy who makes sure that there are no shadows or anything. So, the director leads the whole team. So, I used to do that as a leader. So, when the news department in Kisasa died, I was taken back to directing. I used to do that. I did that for a while. Then, I went back to being a studio technical operator. I mean, you're now part of the team that does news. You're playing the play out by streaming music programs. You're doing sound. You're doing camera work and you're doing lighting and floor managing. So, yeah. I've done that now for six years. And then now for the six years, what are the challenges? Challenges, I think, let me start with number one. The fact that I'm a lady. In our department, there's just three of us as women. The rest are men. Even the supervisor is a man. So, I don't know if it's correct for me to assume that this is more of a man's job. So, people assume that it's more of a man's job because there's lifting of things from the camera from this position to that on the shoulder. There's a jib. There's a big camera in the studio. It's very jib. So, you know, you have to know how to operate that. Sound, the water cables. I think the lightest job is your job of transmission. Transmission, you're playing play out your news and playing play out your programs, commercials and promos. So, I think the biggest challenge is like working around so many men. I feel like you need to prove yourself as a woman sometimes when you're in that field because they'll laugh at you. And then, so, because of that, how does this play now in your like outside life? Like, let's say marriage, your child and like when you're thinking about like long term. So, are you thinking like because I'm working 6 to 6 or long hours basically, will it have like an impact in your maybe child's life? Or the impact in my personal life? So, when I joined, I was fresh out of school. I didn't have anything. So, my job was my everything. Most of the time, I would get a job. So, when things started changing, when I got into a relationship, it actually led to like having a baby. That's when the dynamics change of the job because they're like, hey, I want some family time because I'm used to working long hours and not caring, doing night shifts. So, dynamics of the job and the home, they changed greatly when I had my daughter because the person I was with was also in the media industry. So, that was not hard. He understood how we work, long hours day, odd shifts. So, that was not a problem. But the issue came when I gave birth and now I have to know how to balance between home and work. I don't know how to get balance. I just prioritize what comes first. I'm like, what is important for now? I try and sort out the home. So, dynamics. Then there's this part of being a house help. When you have a child and you work in the media and you do long shifts, you work Saturdays and Sundays because they love to be off. It's a challenge. I lost a house help because they don't understand why I have to work on Sundays and holidays. So, yeah, there's that one challenge. Then there's this other challenge. If you're not like me, you have a family. Even when you're by yourself, you won't be able to attend family functions because that was a big challenge for me. So, actually, okay, you will come to realize it later because when you're fresh into the industry, you're giving it your all. Then you have to remember that you have a family back home. They're planning meetings. They'll say, let's meet at 5pm. What will you do? You'll need a lot of family time. The time when you're off, there is a time when you're off. When you're off, there's that shift. I think that's one big challenge about my life and work. And then, what type of employee are you? So, when you go there, are you like, you know, like for us it used to be, especially when it's after graduation, you're the go-getter. I will do extra hours. I will want to, you know, express my voice. I think my personality at work has changed because at first, I went with that energy. When I went to the internship, I didn't know how things would end up. So, I was like, let me take advantage of this opportunity and I will work my... off. So, I used to kill myself. Morning shift is what I used to do. I would wake up at 3am and be taken by 4am so that you're at work by 5am. Yeah, I was a go-getter. Like, I really wanted to learn a lot. Then, when I got the job, I was like, okay, I'm doing the job. So, that's how you relax a little bit. So, like, I used to just wait for my work to start. Aya, iyo pesi kaisha. Then you're like, aya, by the way, this can't be the only... As in, I need new challenges. Whether you, like, be comfortable or say, me umefita because things happen. People are retrenching you and you need to, like, add value to your career every opportunity you get. So, yeah, you just start learning different things, you know, start thinking outside the household. You're not just fixated on what you're doing. And also, your employment allows for you to be able to do quite a lot. It doesn't allow. It's just you to create time for the things that your employer is able to say, okay, you can do these things as long as they're not impacting them. Of course, you can't be hired. Of course, kuna iyo contract that ya mtu sign that you can't be hired by another organisation full time. But if it's your, it has to be you yourself. Of course, along, you have to make sure that you obey those, izo, hitu zinye muli andeke ana pa contract. Yeah. So, I think, sasapo, that's when I started, okay, I started doing voiceovers when I was still in school. But sasa, that urge of like doing it more came when I stopped being comfortable at my job because especially the fact that after corona, so many, during corona, people were laid off. So, ako nuna mkano mkola hiya, by the way, kapa wezi kwa comfortable. So, I started doing voiceovers more. Yeah, and I started taking pictures for people and videography. Kapa na pale, any time I can. So, I think that's nice. Yeah. So, we're almost at the end. So, I want to ask, with your career, which nine campuses, additional school, your social life, because basically right now, for most of the people, everything is, the career is at the centre because you need money for almost everything. So, are you happy Am I happy with the fact that I know what I'm doing right now? In terms of career? Yes. I'm happy with, I don't regret doing media. I'm happy that I'm actually practising what I studied for because you are going to want to do that for me. And I think I'm happy, yes. I've gotten the, that thing that I was looking for when I was in campus, is that only just knowing the industry, understanding it, but there's always room for more, like knowing yourself more and learning more, not limited to media. And with that, you are able to name things that you are grateful for. In my case, I'm grateful that, as in me, my wife taught me where I was because I wouldn't have gotten a job if I hadn't put in the effort that I put into the internship. Yeah, that's what God. Yeah, because I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God, I have to pray to God.