Why it took 8 months to join Kiss FM - Adelle Onyango [Video]

Media entrepreneur, Adelle Onyango has revealed for the first time that despite being approached to join Kiss FM, it took months to finally start her job.

In a candid interview with YouTuber, Richard Njau, Adelle said it all started with a phone call from media personality Caroline Mutoko who recommended her for the position.

The radio station had expressed interest in her in July 2012 but she only signed the contract in February 2013, after 8 months of finalising the deal.

Adelle Onyango ece-auto-gen

During that period, Adelle was in talks with the radio station, negotiating the best conditions before she could join.

“One of my points was you guys are not playing African music that matters…Kiss at the time was playing really old Kenyan music…and then 90% of it was gospel but like really old gospel,” she described one of her conversations with her recruiter.

“The music was a big issue, the benefits were good, the benefits were fantastic,” she added.

The station agreed to improve some of the music and told Adelle that they would et her host a show called Keeping it Kenyan.

“They shifted the music a bit while we were having the conversations. They shifted a bit but then what they did was they said okay you'll now also do Keeping it Kenyan and we'll add more African music on your mid-morning show,” she recalled.

However, she was still a bit hesitant to join Kiss FM but after her transition seemed to take longer than expected, the news was leaked to news websites and Adelle had to come clean to her bosses at One FM about the job offer.

“I went and told him (One FM boss) you know how the industry is, people get offers all the time. I'm very loyal here, this is what they've offered me, this is the package and if you can match this or surpass it and show me the plans I’ll stay,” she recalled.

Eventually, they did not agree and when Adelle communicated her decision, she was immediately taken off the radio the next day at One FM because the management feared that she would announce her departure on air.

After 7 years at Kiss 100, the media personality left the station to focus on her own venture and now has a podcast called Legally Clueless.