The Sponsor

Wairimu

It was on a Friday morning when Wairimu walked into the COO's office. Kitana looked relaxed but then he always looked relaxed. Wairimu was quickly starting to realize that he was one of those people with an impassive face. One that you couldn't read. Not even his dress code could tell you what kind of mood he was in today.

He was wearing black khakis, black leather loafs, a blue shirt and a dark thin tie. She smelt his rosemary and pineapple perfume, the scent was starting to grow on her. For the first time Wairimu looked at his face without fear. Kitana had an old aura around him even though he wasn't that old. Wairumu decided that he was mid to late thirties.

Have a seat," he began his voice clear as if he had just had a cup of lemon with honey.

Wairmu smoothed her skirt from behind and took a seat. It was a wrinkled old thing, she had a peach blouse with a bow on the collar something that complemented thd lime skirt skirt without her knowing it. An attire that made her look the part. She shuffled her feet which were in brown flats.

"How are you finding the job?"

"Its tough," she said and went quiet.

"Well, that's the thing with anything of value, it's always hella tough."

"And how comes we owe all these people money, what's up with that?"

"We have a liquidity problem; your father is trying to sort it out."

"A liquidity problem?"

"Yes, Ajabu Digital is expanding too fast, we have a lot of business and with a lot of business comes a lot of suppliers, employees and bills. Our cash reserves are almost always stretched to the max."

"And the solution?"

"The easiest one, would be going public. Let the citizenry buy our shares en-masse that would sort us out for sure."

"And we're not doing that, why?"

"Well, your dad has always been rabid about keeping the business in the family. He doesn't want to lose control to shareholders and in his words, he doesn't want to lose the company culture."

Wairimu wondered what company culture that was. High stress levels, and lopsided decisions. Ajubu Digital to her was run like the typical Animal Farm and the unit heads were the pigs. She did not finish musing before Kitana interrupted.

"The next and best alternative is to have a big bank bet on us and increase our credit line. Your dad has been pushing with Kenya International Bank but the CEO, Tom wont fold, I think it's a play to force your dad to go public then he can swoop in and buy majority of the shares and consequently own the biggest advertising agency in the country. It's a play and your dad knows it.

Wairimu moved her bottom on the chair to get comfortable. She had read about liquidity wrangles but she had never thought they would hit this close to home. She wanted to help. With the little knowledge she had.

"If there is anyway I can help... uhmm, I'm prepared to burn the midnight oil."

"It's being handled. The reason I called you here is that I... we want to move you." Kitana stammered for the first time. Mzee Ajabu's direction had been to keep Wairimu doing leg work for a year but after three months she was learning so first and executing her duties quicker and effectively than people that had been there for years.

"You have been fantastic with inventory and as a receptionist, Winfred also told me your brilliant input in their creative session."

Oh yeah, the creative session.

Winfred had pushed the session till after work hours at around six and that is how Wairimu found herself attending. Surrounded by a weird bunch of people. With green hair, blue dreadlocks; jeans and shorts. Her jaw had been on the floor the entire time. 'You mean they can dress as if they are going to the local pub when I have to put up with an official dress code?'

The client was trying to renew a brand that had lost its luster. Mambo Tele Maize flour had been a darling of the public for a while until cheaper alternatives cropped up and profits started dwindling.

"It's a bourgeoisie flour, expensive how about we get fashion bloggers to take Instagram shots with it," Kev with the blue dreadlocks and horn rimmed sunglasses had mouthed while lolling on his chair.

"Even if the price is steep, this is very much a mass product, it should appeal to a lot of people without losing its edge," Winfred had corrected him.

"We could do a shoot, with an ordinary family enjoying the flour, perhaps we can use our local celebrities?" Rebecca had said. In her short hair, dried brown and beige romper. She looked like some musician on tour.

"Let's put a pin on that. Wairimu, anything?" Winfred had asked.

Wairimu had leaned forward.

"I feel the question we should be asking ourselves is, where do people enjoy their ugali? I mean they do it at home but the major places people partake ugali are vibandas and restaurants. Why can't we partner with some of these joints? Anybody eating fish or anything that needs ugali as an accompaniment should be eating it with Mambo Tele Maize flour."

The room had nodded waiting for her to finish.

"And the question of losing our luster, why can't we have ads out saying something like, 'Mambo Tele, the only maize flour.' Or something of the sort to make all the other brands look like pretenders and ultimately lackluster and irrelevant?"

The room had been uproarious. That's the direction the strategy took and when client approved it the news reached Kitana. 

"We are going to give you an account to manage," he was now saying. You are going to handle Price Farm. And you will have a team of three. We will put you on probation for three months and discuss a salary increase then.

Account manager sounded like a fancy name but for the most part it involved client meetings, overseeing the work from content creators and community managers and coming up with fresh ideas. And Price Farm. It sounded dandy but it was in the agricultural sector, dealing with animal feed.

"You can finish your duties today and hand over to the new person, Sheila, I think is her name. You start tomorrow at the fifth floor. Rebecca, I believe you have met will be your Account Director. You will also work very closely with Winfred the creative director. He spoke very highly of you."

They shook hands. Wairimu smiled. For the first time she felt she had an ally in the company. She felt she could shake things up. She decided to do a bit of shopping after work. Account Manager. She liked the way the name tasted in her mouth. Especially after coming from receptionist.