Janet Mwaluda is the founder and CEO of Kenya's viral reality show Nairobi Diaries. Word Is caught up with the entrepreneur, who said it took courage to bring something never seen before in the Kenyan media.
"Before I started, I had fear and I thought to myself, where will I start? I didn't have enough production tools but later it picked up. I can say this is a dream come true and there is more to come," she said.
Word on the street had it that she had been scripting for her casts what to say, claims she rubbished.
"No one reads anywhere. We don't have blackboards in our office or autoques. At the point where we are getting to the confessionals, it's always a one-on-one with me or my assistant. It's always real, they don't read from anywhere. When you are a talent and you've joined the show and abide by my contracts, what happens is that, we construct a production schedule within the story we are telling. At the end of the day, we are telling a story."
We couldn't help it but ask her to choose her favourite cast on the show.
"What do you mean? All of them are my babies. You don't know this but we are a family. You cannot have favourites, because all of them bring their own juice."
Janet said she always gets into trouble when it comes to legal issues concerning the show, but the past season has been a success, one that has not seen anyone get arrested.
"I am always sleeping at the police station. We do get into trouble sometimes. I don't wanna talk about it because I don't wanna call trouble. But I finished season six without anyone being arrested. I thank God for that."
She goes on to reveal that it costs almost half a million shillings per episode, you can imagine how much she coughs up for a whole season.
"It costs a lot. It costs an arm and a leg. About 450-500 thousand. And you can never predict about the costs. It's variable and can easily change."
And yes, she had a message for the viewers.
"Most viewers want to shoot the messenger, I am the messenger. The moment you relate to the story and it makes you so bitter that you want to comment, my message is home. People have fallen in and out of love and we go through a lot and watching it pains, but it hits home. Watch and find the solutions."
So, what does it take to be on Nairobi Diaries?
"Just be real."
And what should we expect from the coming season of Nairobi Diaries?
"You will have to wait and see. I can assure you that season seven will be the bomb, as always."
