This week we had a brief interview with Larry Kwirirayi , a Creative Infopreneur and one of the masterminds behind the opinion/news discussion website 3-mob.com . He is one of the people who has mastered social media in an amazing way. I decided to interview him after seeing a certain Facebook post of his which still pops up in my feeds dating from late 2012. It’s titled “Last Man Standing”. Hopefully the youth that read this blog may gain inspiration from what he had to say. He also runs a personal website from which you may be able to find out more about him in depth. You can also follow him on twitter via this link.
Hi Larry, may you tell us a briefly about how you became a thought leader online. We’d also like you to include a brief history about your work at Power FM.
One never really sets out to be a thought leader to be honest. I had opinions and the idea was to have conversations and that still remains the case. Those conversations have evolved and come with certain levels of responsibility and it is humbling when you realize people just want to talk too. Power FM was a great time. Live radio is liberating. It’s one of the most exciting things in the world. A huge part of me misses it. Power FM was a great family environment where everyone working with you wanted you to do well. Sure there were challenges but in reality it was a good atmosphere. And Tendai ‘Sweet Thang’ Chakanyuka is just a dream to work with.
What subject matters are at the heart of your writing and why?
Well it is the conversation of the day. We like to set the tone. Which is why enjoy breaking stories or creating angles to stories that people do not think of, especially main stream.
You featured on Synik’s Africa Stand Up with a didactic spoken word poem. Was that a first or you actually practice spoken word?
I have been doing spoken word for quite a bit. I actually was the slam master for the monthly House of Hunger Poetry Slam at the Book Café in Harare.
We have noticed one of the blogs you run is now doing audio interviews which is a good thing. Should we expect a time when you have a standalone podcast?
That is just going to be based on natural growth really. There are a few ideas that we will be testing out this year so yeah, expect that.
How much has your readership interacted with audio as compared to your regular blog posts. –
At the moment it is great. There is a lot of demand for it from people and we hope we can meet.
Where has thought leadership / creative entrepreneurship taken Larry? Is it something that can be monetized in Zimbabwe?
Thought leadership is what it is to other people. It isn’t really something I define for myself because then it would be a bit contrived. But being visible has allowed me to have conversations with people who most people do not have access to. Yes it can be monetized. You just have to use your imagination.
What’s top 5 locally on Larry’s playlist.
Maky – Don’t Go;
Dhadza D – Dairai;
Few Kings – Summer;
Munya Mataruse –
Pashangara;
Mr Gwi and JJ – New Cry
We hear you started performing recently as a backing vocalist, may you tell us a bit more about this?
It wasn’t really a performance lol. It was a jam session at Pablo’s birthday thing and well, I was asked to do backing for Munya Mataruse and I was like… ah well. Little known fact, I used to front a rock band, short-lived career though.
Do you have certain blogs besides your own on your reading list, or blogs whose content you follow consistently?
I follow topics more than blogs.
Thank you for taking time to answer our questions.
Hope you enjoyed reading through and gained something. To keep getting more interviews, poetry and music. Like our page, follow this link.
