One week after she announced her decision to leave K24, Betty Kyalo has opened up on her abrupt exit from Mediamax.
In an interview on Jalang’o’s YouTube Channel posted on Friday, Kyalo lifted the lid on why she left K24 despite being one of the highest-paid media personalities in the industry.
Kyalo who brought the swagger to K24 when she joined from KTN in December 2018, caught her fans off guard when she announced that she would be leaving during her last Weekend With Betty show last week.
The former KTN presenter was credited for transforming the interview format on her Friday Upclose and Personal show from a boring talking head show to a fun and engaging segment.
In the interview, Kyalo without delving too much into detail accused K24 of not fully appreciating her despite the work she was putting in for her employer while stressing that her fat salary alone was not enough to make feel her loved at DSM Place, the Mediamax headquarters.
“It is not always about money. For me it is not always about money, there is so much to look out for. You want to be appreciated, you want to be supported, you want to be given clarity, you want to know that no matter what this organization loves me, they will take care of my brand, they will push me, they will challenge me, and they will want me to be better. That is bigger than money and a paycheck and that does not go just for media,it goes for all careers. You want to feel like whoever you are working for is pushing you to be better,” said Kyalo.
“I have built my brand & career with passion, hard work, commitment and love. When I feel like I am not being appreciated enough, I quit because of the sweat, the blood, the hard work and tears,” she added.
Keyword.. clarity. Betty Kyalo was one of tens of employees and ironically including Jalang’o who filed a suit against Mediamax over plans to slash their salaries by half.
Mediamax has been accused of handling the future of its employees casually and not being clear on whether the company will fight for the futures of its employees. At the moment K24 is finalising plans to wrap up the bulk of its programming in favour of adopting KTN’s feed.
During the interview, Kyalo also promised her fanatics that she will be back on TV in the near future but indicated that the immediate focus is her YouTube Channel- Betty Kyalo Lately.
“TV is my home, I am going to be on TV for sure. I also have so much to give on air. I feel like whenever I go on air and say good evening, I feel like there is some joy that I give out to the world that is bigger than Betty, it is bigger than me, it is about young people who are my biggest fans. I have a man in Limuru whose daughter thinks I am her mother and constantly asks the dad to turn on the news at 9:00 pm so that she can see her mum.” said Betty Kyalo.
“I will definitely be somewhere on the screen but I want to build Betty Kyalo as a brand more than it is at the moment that is why I have channeled a lot of my energy to YouTube which is working so well,” she added.
The popular media personality also took the opportunity to hit back at her critics after becoming an easy target for bloggers.
“I started by reviewing cars in a show called Autoworld at KTN and I had lots of critics who would question what I know about cars because I am a woman and they would question where my career is headed. I’ve been on TV for eight years. I can give myself a pat on the back and say, you did well,” said Kyalo.
