Musician Suzanna Owiyo has said she sells fish as a side hustle to supplement the funds she makes from her music career.
“People often ask me why I still sell fish to date… the Covid-19 pandemic made me think otherwise and realise that you cannot just depend on music. During lockdowns, we were stuck at home, there were no shows to perform at,” she said.
Owiyo spoke on Citizen Digital’s Twitter Space on Wednesday and that it is important to have multiple sources of income to thrive in the entertainment industry.
She has sold fish for many years and did not stop even as she grew in her music career.
On her role as a goodwill ambassador for UNEP, Owiyo said that she at first wasn’t sure whether she would be up to the task, adding that, “I was not good in agriculture and environment matters.”
However, she said she decided to take up the challenge and learn about what it entailed and that even enabled her to start the Soko Bila Waste initiative which sensitises the public on reducing food wastage.
Owiyo emphasized the importance of patience and consistency when growing a career in the music industry.
“The current crop of musicians have it a lot easier than when I was starting out. Right now it’s up to artistes to use the opportunities available to them,” she said.
The ‘Kisumu Ber’ singer said Kenyans should embrace their own music. We import everything and it has affected the music industry as well. The moment we start embracing our own is when things will change.”
She said that even when a musician does a low budget video, Kenyans should support them so that they can then have enough money to invest in better videos.
Owiyo said one of her career highlights was performing in Japan.
“They don’t understand the language, but they embraced the music,” she said.
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