Brad Osumo: I am the small fish selling 'Big Fish’

Brad Osumo, the proprietor of the Big fish restaurant in Westlands carrying plates of fish and ugali on September 15,2022.

Photo credit: Evans Habil I Nation media Group

He is a busy man. At least that is the impression I get from the Twitter-esque summa cum laude hot shot, I being the underdog writer with a bowl out for a story. I say Twitter because that is where his big break came from. Like an updated Messiah, from retweets and likes, he now feeds multitudes.

 He earns his bread by selling fish. “He” is Osumo Brad, a 29-year-old fishmonger, as he likes to describe himself, doing what God meant him to do — setting up The Big Fish Restaurant, a nidus for social intercourse, where the who’s-who of the who’s-who take their dates on Fridays, when everyone is ready to usher in the weekend just like God meant it to be – with a belly full of fish and hands grasping Dutch courage.

Nairobi, it seems, has always had a predilection for fish. Think of the K’Osewes, the Mama Oliechs, and now The Big Fish.

Why Big Fish, anyway?

 “I wanted everyone to know this as the place you go to for the good kind of fish. We want[1]ed to be popular, and famous.” His honesty is disarming, in a way that, depending on whom you ask, is either driven by ambition or avarice.

I settle on a Biblical phrase: What you confess you possess.

And speaking of big fish, he recently hosted a star-studded line-up of A-list politicians, including former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Narc-Kenya party leader Martha Karua. Throw in lawyer-cum-politician Nelson Havi.

Azimio la Umoja presidential aspirant Raila Odinga, his running mate Martha Karua and a host of other leaders at Big Fish restaurant in Nairobi.

Photo credit: Twitter/@osumo_brad

Asking him about that moment feels intrusive as he is clearly still swimming in a pool of aggrandisement.

Now, everyone wants to have what Baba had. Can he satisfy the masses?

“I think I can, you know. We have almost 40 employees.” Cards on the table, I confess I am not a big fan of fish (ahem) but I can be persuaded.

So, why fish? “I grew up in Migori. I only came to Nairobi for work, with no success. I decided to cast my net on the other side to see what I could catch. Now, we cook fish for our clients the way we cook fish at home.” The work he is speaking about is in line with bio-chemistry, which was his major at the university. There were no jobs and rather than stay at home complaining (on Twitter), he decided to team up with his sister, who was selling fish on the roadside, in some sort of quid quo pro

"I would rather be a small fish in a big pond. You have more challenges and outsmarting them gives you a sense of pride. You approach life with the mentality of an underdog, and who doesn’t love an underdog, you know?"

While the sister prepared the meals, Brad became the face of the business. As fate would have it, it was Twitter that would provide the rocket fuel that would launch their dreams.

Quite speedily, one of Nairobi’s most popular fish joints became one its most valuable, too. From their inaugural branch in Roasters, Garden Estate, opened four years ago, they recently opened another on Church Road, Westlands. Have things turned out the way that he expected at 29? “I never had expectations. I just knew that I had to have a car and a house. But Big Fish has taken me places.” I think of a joke which I am overeager to share with him.

“You know I could have started this series with other people but my teacher always told me to aim high—to go for the Big Fish.” He doesn’t get it, so I move on. What does he spend his money on? “I’m a teetotaler but I spend a lot of my time in the clubs. I don’t even buy stuff for myself, you know?”

He finishes everything with that verbal tic, “you know”. I can tell, from his challenges, that he is a different kind of CEO. The ones who lead from the heart. He is an avatar for the new age manager — the jeans-wearing, tee-shirt clad honcho.

Brad Osumo, the proprietor of the Big fish restaurant in Westlands carrying plates of fish and ugali on September 15,2022.

Photo credit: Evans Habil I Nation Media Group

“My biggest struggle right now is that everyone is looking to me for guidance. When you have a business, you are like a parent. They all expect you to have deep insights into life. That’s the price you pay, you know?”

“Success is doing what makes you happy. It’s not the money aspect; it’s internal fulfilment. There are people who start something and stop, but if you are consistent in your activities, there is no sweeter feeling than making it in the end, you know?” When it comes to the fishes, he remains an arriviste rather than an aristocrat.

He remembers his last big failure, when he almost walked away from it all.

Actually, he did.

In 2018, business was so bad that he left for the village, swearing never to touch fish again. But the thing with callings is that they are a flea in the ear. He came back and is here for good, channeling all his joie de vivre peppered with reminiscence. When I get the opportunity, I hit him with the question I have been yearning to ask: small fish, big pond, or big fish, small pond?

“I would rather be a small fish in a big pond. You have more challenges and outsmarting them gives you a sense of pride. You approach life with the mentality of an underdog, and who doesn’t love an underdog, you know?” I know.