By Kennedy Nyavaya
She shot to fame through comedy skits, has been dragged into unfounded scandals and picked up a sizeable number of adversaries over the years yet she has remained calm and somewhat collected.
Tyra Chikocho, popularly known as Madam Boss (pictured), may be many things to various sections of society, but her philanthropic work supersedes lots of assumption about her character.
A fortnight ago, she and her Madam Boss Foundation team drove about 200km to Karoi to put a smile on the faces of a couple that had been on the receiving end of barrages across social media after posting a picture together.
“I am pained when people insult or pull each other down on social media. The Karoi couple was called names for uploading a picture together so I just thought I should shame the devil and haters through an act of benevolence,” Madam Boss told Standard Style.
Come April, if all goes as planned and lockdown restrictions permitting, the couple, still to finalise dowry traditions, could be having their dream wedding facilited by the comedienne and her corporate partners.
“I take advantage of my influence because I work with a lot of corporates who in turn provide services in such circumstances so that their brands are visible,” she said.
This is not the first time Madam Boss has done a similar thing. Last year she facilitated a plush white wedding for a couple that had unexpectedly found their joy turn into distress after regalia they had on their traditional wedding day turned into a butt of jokes on social media.
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Madam Boss is prepared to correct such absurdity one union at a time.
“I have a programme that I am running under the name My Perfect Wedding with Madam Boss and this year we are targeting about five weddings from different communities and ages across the country. I do not get any material benefit from this, but I just love helping and seeing them happy,” said the award-winning jester.
Her influence and work, however, comes with a lot of criticism, public scrutiny. She concedes that it sometimes weighs heavily on her wellbeing.
“I get insulted or bullied on social media on every God-given day and at first it used to affect me immensely, but nowadays I do not easily get hurt but it still gets to me at times,” she said.
“My management has helped a lot in that regard and I also tell myself that it is social media so people are there to play so we have to continue because no one can stop it.”
But, with influence growing and a healthy-looking bank account, there is no stopping. Madam Boss insists that success does not come easily and for those who have been asking for tips on how to get where she is, the happily married mother of one said:
“I want to tell people not to give up and keep on pushing, I have been growing because I did not stop. So if someone wishes to do the same or better they should just start and keep at it because there is no need for heavy investment nowadays, one just needs social media and their phone, so it’s easier,”she said.
