Olive Gachara, Founder and CEO Touch Media House has on numerous occasions been referred to as a ‘fakepreneur’ mostly by people who have had an encounter with her in line of business.
Ms Gachara, 32, is also the Founder and Chief Editor of Couture Africa Magazine, and owns a consultancy firm, Image with Olive, that specializes in brand promotion.
A CNN Interviewer described her as a ‘one woman business empire’ but many disagree especially after she apparently embezzled money from other co-founders. The arbitration is still on going, five years on.
The idea of Couture Magazine was brought to her after the closure of African Woman Magazine, where she was the Fashion Editor and after the two co-founders helped her put it together, she ditched them, leading to a bitter fight which she tried to write off as “jealousy.”
After the #PayModelsKe debacle, some models claim to have been blacklisted from the industry making it hard for them to land deals.
“Yaani, anakulipa deni yako ya 30K or 5K or 1,500 – whatever you were tricked to take – she then tells you you won’t work again?” a source intimated.
Kahawa Tungu has learnt that the ‘self made’ business woman runs Couture Africa like a ‘bully.’ In fact a staffer said, Ms Gachara cannot be questioned or doubted, lest you get fired due to an imaginary breach of contact or under-performance.
While some models had their dues paid after putting pressure on her and creating a Buyer Beware group, some are yet to receive their payments as Olive claims she “does not know” or blames it on non-existent former employees.
Do you have a story you want told? Do you know of a sensitive story you would like us to get our hands on? Email your news TIPS to Editor@kahawatungu.com