On LinkedIn, Flavia Tumusiime, the incoming Head of Broadcasting at Nation Media Group-Uganda, has buzz-word rich titles: corporate master of ceremonies and event host; influencer and social moderator; public speaker, digital strategy consultant and empowerment advocate.

Those titles will soon be ditched given her new role. Last September, she announced she was switching careers. “I have decided to change my industry. I have been in [the] media for 21 long years, and there wasn’t anything else left to do,” she said. “There wasn’t any ceiling to hit; I wasn’t going to be a manager of a radio station or build a TV from scratch.”

Now, in a stunning about-turn and probably one she barely expected, she has not only TV stations and radio stations to manage but also teams of people.

Today she announced on LinkedIn: “The industry that gave me a career for the past decades calls again, and I’m proud to answer and serve.” Curiously, her other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and X, are currently not open to the public.

In a statement, NMG-Uganda said it was welcoming a “seasoned media professional with 22 years of experience across TV, radio and digital platforms” and that her “leadership and passion for impactful storytelling will be a great asset to our team”.

It is not clear whether Ms Tumusiime did apply for the job or was headhunted—but her about-turn, barely a year after she announced she had quit the media industry, speaks to the challenges people seeking self-employment have to grapple with.

It is worth mentioning that it is next to impossible to abandon a start-up or any business and return to employment if the start-up has huge potential for success. 

The only thing that makes employment an attractive option, especially after announcing that you want to be your own boss in a different field, is the uncertainty in your new venture. Or, more precisely, the financially precarious position that self-employment portends.

Ms Tumusiime had a secure, well-paid job with Capital FM for many years, and when Maurice Mugisha took her on as a news anchor at NTV in 2015, she kept her presenter role at the radio station. That means she had two jobs—a luxury many job seekers in Uganda can only dream of.

If you have worked as a TV news anchor for six years and as a radio presenter for more than 10 years, you get used to an income whose regularity is a bit like clockwork.

Life becomes easy—and you get an increased sense of control over it. You know that medical bills are on your employer. You do not get that when you work as a corporate MC. Influencer and social moderator? Well, when have 150,000 followers on Facebook or X ever paid a medical bill?

Entrepreneurship has made people billionaires, but it is not for everyone. People used to being employed will almost certainly always be employed. Robert Kabushenga and Richard Byarugaba, both of whom held high-profile public sector jobs and earned enough to cushion their retirement, gave us a good example last year when they applied for the position of executive director at the KCCA.

There is nothing wrong with Ms Tumusiime returning to employment. But employment is not permanent. It exhausts your prime. In your late 40s, employers think you are past your sell-by date. You are at the mercy of your boss’s decisions, and if you are not advancing, be ready to have bosses who joined as interns when you were already a manager.

Don Wanyama, the CEO of Vision Group, was a subeditor at the media company and now barks orders for folks who were his seniors.

Ms Tumusiime will soon get her feet under the desk, and some have wondered whether she is a good fit. 

Francis Jingo, who worked as a senior reporter for NTV for many years and is now Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja’s press aide, told OJ-UGANDA: “She is calm and very approachable, but I do not know if she has any managerial experience. It is an opportunity for her to manage a big media company, and it is good NMG has hired someone who has previously worked for the company.”