I’m Ruth Atieno, and growing up in Homa Bay County, I was always told that family is everything—blood ties are unbreakable, no matter what. That’s the mindset I carried when I packed up and headed to Nairobi to chase my dreams. I started a little event planning business in Westlands, pouring my heart into it. It wasn’t easy, but things started picking up, and I was proud to share my wins with my relatives back home. To me, being open about my successes and struggles showed how much I valued our bond.
As the business grew, I brought in two close family members to help run things. I gave them full access—keys to the office and client contacts—and even let them in on my personal worries. I figured, they’re family; they’d have my back through thick and thin. Boy, was I naive. I never thought sharing my vulnerabilities would come back to bite me so hard.
It started subtly: clients bailing last minute and weird rumours floating around that I was unreliable or shady. Suppliers ghosted me, and I chalked it up to cutthroat competition or the economy. But one night in my Kilimani apartment, a past client called and dropped the bomb—my own relative had badmouthed me to them. My stomach dropped. Suddenly, it hit me: the threat wasn’t from outsiders; it was right in my inner circle. Read more. https://drbokko.com/?p=35436
