By Prudence Minayo
TerryAnne Chebet Cherotich is an entrepreneur and a former Citizen TV business news anchor. Kenyans have watched her grow and soar to become who she is today. She imbues elegance, poise and is aging like fine wine. TerryAnne has had to work so hard to get where she is today. The journey has been full of pain, tears and laughter and finally, she is a household name not only known for her news presenting skills but got her great entrepreneurial skills. The multi-talented business woman also loves singing. At a young age, she was part of the church choir and many thought she’d make a good pastor. At one time, she even contemplated going to Bible school.
Background
TerryAnne Chebet grew up in Kitale, Trans Nzoia county in a little farmhouse. Her dad was a curator at the national museum (one of the first black curators in the country). He was first posted at Fort Jesus, Mombasa before being transferred to Kitale where he met her mum. Both were also farmers. The mum was a great cook and would act as the village chef in occasions, like, weddings. This is where TerryAnne gets her love for cooking. The family was doing well, a two storey house was under construction and they had a car at a time when owning a car in the village was no easy feat. Unfortunately, her dad got into a road accident and stayed in the Nairobi Spinal Injury Hospital for 7 years (from 1983 to 1990). Life took a drastic turn and her mum had to take over raising 5 children. Luckily, the museum offered her a job. Her dad passed away in 1998.
While at school, TerryAnne got involved in drama and singing. They would perform a Shairi (Swahili poem) and people would be impressed by her voice.
She studied production in the now defunct SIAD. The hard-working woman would go to KBC till 5 PM then go and act.
Family
She is a mother to two girls, Imani, 14, and Talaa who is 2.
Career
Her journey in the media industry commenced at KBC. The salary was only kes25,000 per month. The easy going chebet had to take a day job at an advertising agency.
Later, someone recommended her to CNBC. She underwent a 3 months training before going on air. This is because at KBC, all she did was read business news without even understanding the terminologies. Sir Richard Branson was the very first person she interviewed. The second interview was horrible since she didn’t even understand some of the business terminologies used. Her boss called her and encouraged her to read more business related content and books. This enabled her to learn and grow in the industry.
The former news anchor finally landed in Royal Media Services as a business journalist for Citizen TV. Just when she was at the peak of her career, the media house fired her. This came as a shock to her because she was confident in herself and the work she does. It was a very low moment that saw her shedding a lot of tears. However, life had to go on and thankfully she had her job at scarlet digital and a business
Her job
TerryAnne is the CEO of scarlet digital, a 360 advertising and communication form that opened its doors in 2011. It prides itself as a house that understands digital conversations and helps propel bands in that space.
The businesswoman is also the founder of Keyara Organics, a skincare brand. When Imani, Chebet’s daughter was young she had eczema, a condition that deeply troubled her mother. She tried everything to no avail and finally came up with her own solution. This is what birthed Keyara organics.
