Interview

Martha Kay On Fame, Depression, and How She Deals with Social Media Pressure & Expectations!

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Martha Kemigisha Kagimba is a comedian. The graduate of Mass Communication from UCU hit fame when a video of her yearning for a Range Rover went viral. The internet immediately christened her with a new name — ‘The Range Rover girl’. Kagimba has since graduated from the ‘Range Rover girl’ into her own woman dabbling into everything from film to photography and radio. 

SatisfashionUG had a small chat with her via WhatsApp to accompany this photo shoot done in collaboration with Soul Image Art, Makeup by Kamara, Natna Natural Hair, Kai’s Divo Collection, and Sam of Emolsam.

You are a ‘selfie-made’ (social media) celebrity. What are some of the things that make you take pride in and not in being a public figure?

The positives: I get to do what I love, which is acting, social media and hosting events. I also love that I have a lot of influence, which I’m using in a positive way to entertain and also restore hope in people’s lives. 
The negatives: Everyone has something to say about you even when they actually don’t know you. When I have a bad day, and someone comes to me to say Hi. Since I’m human, I might not be able to respond to them the way they see me in those videos. But that means, them telling all and sundry that she has an attitude. 
It also sucks that you have no privacy. Media is always looking for something to pick from your life, and then exaggerate it. There also so many bullies on the internet trying to use every opportunity their way to put you down. Now, I don’t pay attention to them. Most times, they are going through dark moments, which they deal with by attacking others.

You spend a huge chunk of your time on social media making us happy. How do you deal with your down times? 
I have a lot of down moments, well, because I’m human. I quit being a slave to my emotions. I’ve also learned that most of the times people say or do terrible things to us because they are going through their own stuff. So, reacting to every negative comment is a waste of time. It hurts for a few hours, and later you are fine. 
During such moments I talk to myself a lot. I also listen to music or workout as an escape.

The people who are getting stressed and depressed because of everything they are seeing on social media and TV, what do you tell them?

I went through a nasty depression and from it, I took a number of lessons. Many people would tell me that it would be fine. That, Time heals everything. This made things worse, because I was hurting at the moment, how was I going to make through to the time when I’d heal? Now that I made through it, I know that they were right although no one explained what it meant. 
Whatever you are going through now, if you just allow yourself to soldier through another hour or day, you are getting closer to healing. Take one day at a time. Pray about it too. If it means crying yourself to sleep, do it as long as you survive another day alive. With time, you’ll get healed. 

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You are now on radio, you are an actress, you are a photographer, you are influencing for top-tier brands. Did you see all this coming?

You won’t believe that I got a first-class degree in PR. It was at that time when that famous Range Rover video came out. I actually got a job, which I was at for almost a year. I wasn’t happy though.. I quit to focus on my passion. The bible says: A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men. I read this over and over again, quit, opened an office for my photography company, did more content, and the rest has been history.
I honestly never saw myself becoming an actress. I met someone who introduced me to someone who was shooting a movie. They looked at my videos and invited me to audition. That’s how I got my first role. Then I got another. And it has been like that.

I remember my first days on radio, there are times when I considered to just not go to work. I feared that maybe I wasn’t good enough. But I just put on a brave face and went to work every day. 
For hosting events, it was even worse. My first time hosting the ASFAs red carpet, I was a nervous wreck. Days prior to the event, I reached out to every event host I knew in Uganda and beyond for advice. I watched videos and tutorials online the whole time to perfect the little I knew. It has been one lesson after another.
Many young people reach out to me for tips, I always ask them if they are willing to go the extra mile, and many of them are not. You can’t reach your full potential if you aren’t willing to make sacrifices or challenge yourself.

Photographed by Mark Bwiire  of Soul Image Art

Styling by Abbas Kaijuka of Kai’s Divo Collection

Makeup by Adrian Kamara of Makeup by Kamara

Hair by Sina of Natna Natural Hair

Creative Direction by Sam Isingoma

This interview has been edited and condensed.

SatisfashionUg@gmail.com

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