Caroline Mutoko, the current chief marketing officer (CMO) of Radio Africa Group, is a renowned Kenyan media personality distinguished as the first female broadcaster to command the airwaves with her sassiness. With a radio career spanning over 15 years, Caroline Mutoko is the quintessential radio presenter who has been fondly referred to as the “radio queen”. Many recall her days at Kiss 100 FM where she tackled controversial topics on the morning radio show. However, her journey to become a radio queen and the brand she is today did not come on a silver spoon.
In this segment we’ll take a detour and see how she managed to beat all odds and become the Caroline Mutoko we all know.
Humble Beginnings
Today, Caroline oozes confidence and class. However, she was not born with these traits. In her early years, she was introverted and her confidence was very low.
She recounts how her mother was tough on her during her teenage years. She was not allowed to hang out with guys from her hood, adopt certain hair styles or apply nail polish until she was 18 years. To keep her away from the mingling with funny characters, she found her job for her. This was two weeks after finishing her form four and barely 17 years of age. Caroline says the restrictions in her upbringing shaped her to become the person she is today.
First Taste of Work
Caroline was working as an office messenger for Lady Magazine. She collected cheques and took them to the bank, delivered stationery, picked up invoices, and delivered business cards and statements to clients. She later went on to become a waitress. Caroline always put her best foot forward in everything she did. Later became a model and bank teller before making her grand entry in the competitive Radio space.
First Radio Job at Capital FM.
At first, Caroline’s job at Capital FM was giving traffic updates on radio. At that time, there was no Twitter or SMS to make work easier and therefore, Caroline had to be ingenious. Since all Capital FM messengers had walkie talkies, Caroline would ask them about the traffic situation where they were. Then she would go into the studio and give a traffic update. When not giving the updates, Caroline would be busy feeding music into the system. During her tenure at Capital FM, she was not getting any salary but gaining skills that would later shape her to become a renowned radio presenter.
Entry to Kiss 100
Her hard work at Capital FM got the attention of William Pike, the Convergence Director at Radio Africa Group Limited, hence securing her a job at Kiss 100 FM. At her new job, Caroline hosted the popular morning show with Walter Mong’are popularly known as Nyambane. The two brought about a transition from the traditional way of radio presenting earning a huge following. This was the beginning of her career growth. The two would work together until the exit of her co-presenter Nyambane.
In replacement, Jalang’o took over Nyambane’s seat at Kiss 100 and carried. Jalango recounts how Caroline was of great assistance to him as he started his radio career. At Kiss 100, Caroline rose from being a radio host to a program controller then the Group Marketing Director and later the Chief Marketing Officer at Radio Africa.
Current Role
The Radio Africa CMO still has a significant influence in the media industry. Despite her radio career, Caroline is also an entrepreneur as she owns a lipstick brand, does brand endorsements and advertisements and also owns real estate properties.
Caroline had taken advantage of social media platforms including YouTube to talk about topical subjects pertaining to youth and women. She is also inclined towards improving the welfare of women and as a result, Caroline has created avenues to bring forth needed solutions.
Caroline Mutoko is a firm believer in growing your brand and getting better at what you do as she says, “I have made several transitions in my life. I don’t want you thinking that the brand you create cannot get better.”
