MY HUSTLE: How a wacky poster became the ticket to my destiny

Joe Kairu, 21, is the CEO of Cairo Graphics that offers graphic design solutions ranging from logos, flyers,
corporate brochures business cards and packing designs. PHOTO| COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • I grew up in Ndeiya along with my three siblings. My father was an accountant and despite the harsh conditions around us, we never lacked.
  • When I was in form two, a tragedy occurred. My ailing mother passed on.
  • I remember holding her frail, pale body in my arms as she breathed her last. It was ten days to Christmas.
  • Do you have

Joe Kairu, 21, is the CEO of Cairo Graphics that offers graphic design solutions ranging from logos, flyers, corporate brochures, business cards and packing designs. His company is run purely online.

Clients send him a description of what they need accompanied with all the relevant details and his work is to convert this into finished designs.

The economist turned graphic designer narrates how he stumbled onto an opportunity that saw him embark on an exciting and fulfilling career as a top-notch graphic designer.

“I grew up in Ndeiya along with my three siblings. My father was an accountant and despite the harsh conditions around us, we never lacked.  When I was in form two, a tragedy occurred. My ailing mother passed on. I remember holding her frail, pale body in my arms as she breathed her last. It was ten days to Christmas.”

Joe Kairu, 21, is the CEO of Cairo Graphics that offers graphic design solutions ranging from logos, flyers,
corporate brochures business cards and packing designs. PHOTO| COURTESY

Joe completed his KCSE in 2012. The following year, 2013, was an electioneering year - with which came plenty of activities. He joined campaign teams and was given menial jobs such as plastering campaign posters all around Ndeiya.

“Campaigns were my first job. I would make a thick paste of wheat flour and water then use it to stick the posters. At the end of the day, I would receive Sh200, an amount I found quite generous. That was the earliest stirring of my entrepreneurial spirit.”

The scenic Ndeiya. PHOTO| COURTESY

Joe worked on the campaign trail all day and spent his evenings dancing with his mates at their local church.

By the time the campaigns were coming to a close, Joe had saved a substantial amount of money.

His father’s topped Joe’s savings enabling him to buy his first laptop. Joe got admitted to Kisii University to study economics and statistics, seemingly following in the footsteps of his father. 

OPPORTUNITY BY SERENDIPITY

“When I came home for the long holiday, my father enrolled me for CPA classes in town. Sometimes the class would end early and I would kill a few hours at a play station joint in town before heading home. That is where I met him. A mysterious stranger. Judging from his sleek MacBook and phone, I could tell he was not struggling to make ends meet. When he initiated a conversation I jumped right into it.”

The mysterious guy turned out to be a professional graphic designer with an impressive portfolio. He indulged Joe in stories about his job as Joe hung to his every word, spell-bound.

He went ahead to enquire how much Joe knew about graphic design as he was looking to hire designers for an upcoming event in Naivasha.

“To be honest, that was the first time I was hearing the term graphics. However, I was broke. When he talked about a hiring, my mind started doing the math. I had a laptop. From the brief chat, I had a rough idea what his job entailed. I was not going to miss my big break on the account of mere semantics. I looked him in the eye and told him about my passion for graphics. He bought it, hook line and sinker and we scheduled for an interview.”

When Joe showed up to the interview, there were two other gentlemen; a computer engineer from JKUAT University and a fourth year software engineer student from the University of Nairobi.

Following the interview, the trio was tasked with designing a poster and were to submit their work exactly two days later.

“Immediately after the interview, I went to a cyber café ready to learn graphics. Google and YouTube became my teachers. In my course of studying, I discovered that most of the software design applications were too expensive. I decided to design the poster online, email it to my Gmail account and then download it. That way I did not have to download and pay for the apps. By the time I was done designing the poster, I was hopelessly in love with graphic design.”

It was time for the trio to showcase their work. As Joe watched the others’ work getting glowing reviews for their posters, his insides turned into jelly. He was a nervous wreck.

The interviewer looked at Joe’s work and started spewing out one negative criticism after another. With each remark, Joe felt the job slipping further and further away from him.

“The interviewer began giving me pointers. I was baffled as I had been expecting him to dismiss me.  He then gave me his card and told me that I was hired. Sometimes I feel like my destiny was set and nothing would have stopped it. Not even my wacky poster.”

PERFECTING THE CRAFT

Joe’s poster got approved and he designed 12 more for the said event earning Sh10,000. He was so elated such that he gave his employer Sh3,000 as token of appreciation. After that first job, he decided to quit CPA classes and focus on learning more about graphics.

The scenic Ndeiya. PHOTO| COURTESY

This did not augur well with his father and the two quarrelled for close to a month. This disturbed Joe greatly, given that he was quite close to his father.

After a while, Joe’s father eventually came around to the idea of graphic design. He enrolled him at Shang Tao Media Arts College when he came for his long holiday break at the end of second year.

Three months later, Joe obtained a certificate in graphics design.

“When school resumed, I started booking appointments with top managers in Kisii town. I felt empowered.  At the time, design cost rates were around Sh250 per design. I came with fresh ideas and clients paid a minimum of Sh500 for each of my designs. In business, rates are not cast in stone; your work speaks for itself.”

Joe attributes his success in setting up a lucrative business to his academic background in economics and statistics.

The blend of Joe’s natural talent in creative design, academic background in economics and his excellent people skills makes Cairo graphics to be the design powerhouse that it is today.

“I am also the founder of Qwetu festival. The festival empowers talent among the 6,000 youths in Ndeiya through talent-show events. Main activities for these shows include modelling, singing, poetry and soccer dribbling skills. We are planning a massive festival this year and have locked down sponsorships from various corporates. Ndeiya is a beautiful place overlooking the Great Rift Valley escarpment.  As the youth of Ndeiya, we would like share its beauty with the world. Ndeiya ni Kwetu.”

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