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AMAZON Director by Day, DJ by Night: How Georgia Built Her Dream Career by Betting on Herself
397 Plays1 year ago
In this episode, Bukola chats with the versatile, Georgia Akwudike. Georgia is a Director of Operations at Amazon, United Kingdom by day and a DJ by night. In this episode they talk about taking a chance on yourself notwithstanding the odds that may be stacked up against you, the power of mentorship and support and the 3 C's of excellence. They also talk about Georgia's amazing DJ career and Raising Giants (her initiative for building up young women).
You already know that this episode is going to be powerful so sit back and let's dive in.
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Transcript
Introduction and Georgie's Background
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, Georgie. I hope you're doing very well. It's a pleasure to have you on the group podcast. And I just remembered the first time that I came across your profile, it was a LinkedIn. And at the time, you were a general manager at Amazon. And I was like, okay, this is interesting. And to see your Nigerian name, that was like what's
00:00:19
Speaker
got me to go and look into your profile more and so I clicked on your profile and I saw that you had your undergraduates at University of Port Harcourt and you know just to see how far your journey has been and right now being a director of operations at Amazon
00:00:36
Speaker
I was like, obviously, like this story was not a linear one, because it's easy for you to see people's journeys on Instagram, on LinkedIn, you know, wherever and think, or, you know, they've had it figured out from early on, and your path has always been straight. And so I was like, I need to reach out to you. Besides that, like, you've just been
00:00:58
Speaker
a very interesting person in terms of the fact that I feel like a science work, you have also explored other options and other interests that you have, which obviously is not something that is conventional and you see a lot of people do. So you find that some people like, you know, if you incorporate, you just stick to corporate and there's really nothing else. But to see that a size that you're also a DJ, like that's mind blowing.
00:01:25
Speaker
And you also like not stop that, but you started a program and initiative to give back to young girls. And there's this one 12 months program that you're running called Reason Giants. And so all of these inspiring things was really what moved me and said, and you know, I made a decision that I actually want to have you on the podcast because I know that there's a lot of your story that a lot of people would be able to take.
00:01:50
Speaker
from and learn and it could help them on their journey as well. So I'm going to stop now and hand over to you to tell me how you've been doing.
Weekend Activities and Personal Insights
00:02:00
Speaker
What are some of the things that you've been doing this weekend?
00:02:04
Speaker
Okay, good morning, and thanks for having me. You know, I was just scrolling through like our email conversations. I realized that, oh, you've been on my case since like 2021. And I'm like, ah, no, this was bad. This was bad. But I'm glad to finally, finally, finally be here. And thanks for having me. So thanks for that intro. I think in a nutshell, you pretty much just summed up what I've had my hands in in the past couple of years. So that's good. And I'm sure I'm going to a lot more details over the next hour.
00:02:34
Speaker
But to answer your question, what am I doing this weekend? So it's a packed weekend. So I started my day off with a meeting. So I'm part of the Executive Committee of a group we call IBO Cultural Support Network. So it's pretty much like IBO Youth in the UK. So I'm a part of the Executive Committee of the Manchester chapter, because that's why I live in Manchester.
00:02:57
Speaker
Um, so we meet every Saturday morning just to like plan, cause, uh, we organize like events for the equal youth once a month. Um, so every Saturday morning, we just like meet to discuss to say, okay, what's the event for this month? How can we like plan towards that? And all of that. So that's how I started my day. So just before this meeting, I had that one and then I have this now and then the afternoon I have my raising giant session because we meet once or twice a month, depending on the activities that we're doing.
00:03:24
Speaker
So we have a session this afternoon, 2 to 4 p.m. all around like generosity and giving back. And I have Otto Orondam, founder of Slum2School, he's coming on the session this afternoon to really talk to the girls about how he was able to start Slum2School over a decade ago. And the impact is just making on like tens of thousands of children across the continent. So I'm really looking forward to that session. And then in the night, I have my DJ gig.
00:03:53
Speaker
So I have a residency. I recently got a residency. So I DJ every Saturday night at a restaurant or lounge called Roots. So it's an African restaurant. So I really like it. So go in, I play like Afrobeats, Hip Hop, R&B and stuff like that. It's a really good crowd. Like I love DJ for people that know how to vibe. I think there was a thing about being a DJ, but DJ for people that are just like flat and just would not even just vibe. And you just be like, ah, what am I doing wrong? But no, the crowd at Roots, I absolutely love their energy.
00:04:23
Speaker
support like they're always like you know just randomly coming up like hey well done like a mixing good like i like that it just really like ginger as you to keep going like through the night and stuff like that so um so yeah so i have that uh later on tonight and then yeah tomorrow church church church and rest that's me
00:04:41
Speaker
Oh wow, like that's it a lot honestly and obviously we'll go more into it later in the episode because I want to know how have you been able to measure all of this interest and you know how you're able to do everything just to see how you've been able to pack your day and being very productive about it and you're doing things that excites you and you enjoy it's pretty much amazing so we're obviously going to unpack that later on
00:05:08
Speaker
So I think I'll start with my first question, which is kind of very, it's what we're wanting to ask in on the podcast, because obviously this is the growth podcast.
Defining Growth and Overcoming Challenges
00:05:21
Speaker
So I'd like to know what does growth mean to you? Good question. What does growth mean to me? Genuinely, I would say learning from
00:05:35
Speaker
past failures. And I say that because a lot of people look and see, okay, like you said, you know, you've gone through my profile, you might think like, oh, it's been rosy, rosy, rosy, rosy, rosy, you know, been a nice, comfy journey, but it hasn't been that at all. So the ability to be able to, like, you know, go through a journey, and it could be anything, it could be career, academics, whatever phase of your life, fail,
00:06:02
Speaker
and then learn from it and then show that okay the next time you're going into this you're doing things differently because you've actually like learned from whatever errors or mistakes from the past to me that's like growth if you keep doing the same like like things like over and over again the same mistakes and stuff like that I don't I don't see that as growth because you're not really growing or maturing from whatever mistakes that you've made
00:06:24
Speaker
Another thing I see is as growth, or I define as growth is, and I always say this to my team, that when you're too comfortable in something you're doing, in my opinion, it's time to turn off the heat or completely just change directions.
00:06:41
Speaker
because I feel like you only really learn and grow when you're putting uncomfortable situations. Those are situations that stretch you and help you really fulfill or maximize your potential, that force you to grow. You don't have any other choice than to really strive for that growth because that's the only way you can get out of that whatever situation that is. So that being uncomfortable and just wanting to do, or being too comfortable and needing to change
00:07:10
Speaker
the situation to put yourself in a place where you're uncomfortable so that it tests you and stretches you and helps you to grow. That's also something for me. However, the last one I'll say about growth is when you're no longer selfish.
00:07:28
Speaker
Right. It's very easy to be in this world where it's so easy for you to feel like the world revolves around you and it's all about yourself and everything is all, it's all me, it's all me. My happiness is the most important thing. Fair enough. You know, put yourself first. I'm not saying don't put yourself, but the world cannot just revolve around you. You need to be selfless. You need to be able to give back. You need to be able to help others. You need to be able to support others. You need to say, okay,
00:07:58
Speaker
How can I help this person's own growth or developmental? How can I just, you know, help someone's journey along the way? To me, that's like the real growth. When it's like, you know, putting yourself just taking a backseat a bit and letting others have that opportunity, that to me is growth.
00:08:20
Speaker
And I think that's something you've been able to do with the Raising Giants program because obviously it's like, okay, now I want to extend the same level of opportunities, get people to understand what they need to do to grow and thrive in whatever it is that you're doing. So obviously like you've been able to show that in the Raising Giants program.
00:08:43
Speaker
So I would like to also like just to follow up question from what you've said. Can you share specific experiences or you can share one doesn't have to be a lot. So can you share a specific experience where you can now look back and say, Oh, I actually grew from that.
00:09:03
Speaker
Let me see which one I'm trying to think between, personal or professional. OK, let me say professional. And I say this because there might be a lot of people in my shoes and stuff like that. But when I first moved to the UK, one of the things
00:09:26
Speaker
I didn't feel like I belonged in the UK, I'm going to be honest. I just, because I moved here when I was 26, so that's really, that's really, I'll say like, you know, like quite late, like I'm involved, I'm a child, like I have a mindset already, you know, I'm moving into a new country, no friends, no family, just by myself.
00:09:45
Speaker
So I struggled a bit personally and professionally, because even at work, I didn't even feel like, you know, I belonged, I didn't feel included in any of that. And it was beginning to impact my work or the quality of my work, because I just felt, I felt like, first of all, I felt like an imposter, so the whole imposter syndrome and all of that, I didn't necessarily deserve to be where I was.
00:10:09
Speaker
And so it was beginning to affect the quality of my work and stuff like that. And I wasn't speaking to anybody about it because they know anyone and didn't trust anyone. So I was just going about this minimum standard performance and things. I'm just like coasting through, I would say.
00:10:28
Speaker
Well, eventually I was lucky enough to meet somebody and I call him like a mentor. So I met someone, um, African-American, great guy. Um, and he knew that there was something off, you know, about me and he was trying to understand like, so what is it? Like what, what exactly is happening here? And I was comfortable enough to be able to then share like my journey and experience with him to say, look,
00:10:53
Speaker
this is how I feel. I feel like I can't be myself in all these spaces that I find myself. I think the only place I could be myself was in church, because it was like an old Nigerian church. So that was the only one place I felt like, when I walk in, I feel like this is me. So anyway, I shared that experience with him, said this was the problem that I had. And then he asked me, OK, what would change that? What would change that? And I said, OK, maybe
00:11:19
Speaker
for starters, if I start to see a lot more people like myself in all the spaces that I'm in, maybe I'll start to feel a bit more comfortable and I can start to make friends. I can start to just integrate our sake. I wasn't integrated. Let me just put it that way. And so between him and myself, we now started to look for ways to say, how can we get more people? You said, OK, if you have more people that look like you,
00:11:47
Speaker
What can we do then? Let's take the action, right? Because if you feel this way, it means there might be somebody else, maybe six other branches, for example, that also feels that same way. So how can we all come together and change? It's one thing to complain about something. How can you then make a change? And so we started working together. We reached out to a couple of people and then we formed like affinity groups.
00:12:10
Speaker
that just really helped us, like, draw people in to say, okay, we're trying to have, like, a support network. Like what I said about the Igbo Cultural Support Network, you know, kind of thing, like, we're trying to have, like, a support network. We called it, like, you know, like, the Black Employee Network. We formed, like, an executive committee. We started, like, intentionally, like, going out to universities, like, African-Arabian societies, trying to see if we can even, like, recruit people. Like, so we made
00:12:36
Speaker
those steps to make the changes, to just get initially started for myself, to get myself a bit more comfortable, to say, okay, now I'm in a space where I feel like, okay, I can actually integrate and I belong and all of that. I made certain changes, obviously for, for a certain reason, I can't go into a couple of details, but we just made certain changes that over the last like three years, I've seen like the groups that we created, I've seen them grow significantly.
00:13:06
Speaker
Um, that I'm just like, Oh, wow. But one of the groups, even the one, um, like best affinity group of the year, um, last year. And I was like, okay, that's my baby. I formed that, you know, you know, I formed that. Um, but I think the point I'm trying to make was that it would have been very easy for me to just say, you know what? I don't like this space. I'm not thriving in this space. I can't be myself in this space. I would just continue to either perform below standards or eventually I leave one of those two.
00:13:35
Speaker
But with the support of this man or this mentor, we were able to say, okay, no, actually, rather than saying, you don't feel comfortable with this space, what do you need to actually change this space? It took me a while, but eventually I was able to make those changes and actually grow from that. And so even when I speak to people that just relocate to the country and just come in and they're having similar challenges, trying to settle in,
00:14:04
Speaker
I'm able to share those tips and nuggets and things to help them see, okay, maybe these are the changes that you can make in your personal life or your professional life or your professional space to actually help you, you and others, because it's not just going to be you. There will be tons of people that actually feel that way, but to just help everyone feel a bit more settled and integrated and included.
00:14:25
Speaker
Wow. I mean, like you just touched on three important things. So you talked about like mentorship and the importance of mentorship in your group process. And you talked about seeking for help as well, because you could as well have just said, okay, regardless, I don't think I'm comfortable enough to share anything with anyone.
00:14:43
Speaker
And if you're not vulnerable enough to ask for help, that's not how you would grow. And then third thing you also talked about is mindset shift. Sometimes you might just be stuck in your way of thinking like, oh, does everyone, does anyone like me here? Like, why do I feel like the old one here? But when you flip that mindset and say, oh, okay.
00:15:01
Speaker
If this is how I'm feeling, then other people would also be feeling this way. So let me create a support group and you just flip everything around and to just see that one of the groups that you had created won an award for being the best affinity group. Like you just thinking back now, like when you started, you didn't know that that was the progress it was going to make. Yeah, but just thinking back now, it's like, oh, wow, like you hadn't started this, would this have happened? Yeah.
00:15:25
Speaker
Exactly. It was like a proud mama moment when they shared their award and stuff. I don't even run it anymore. Somebody else runs it. But I just felt like I started. So she was the one that emailed me. I was just like, see, see, see, look what we got. And I'm like, it just felt so amazing. I love that.
00:15:46
Speaker
Great. So I think we'll go back to your childhood. I always believe that there's a strong connection between who your person is and some of the exposures and experiences that he had as kids. So my question would be, what is something that you like to share about your childhood, your experiences that kind of gives us a window and insight into your journey so far?
00:16:13
Speaker
I would say there are two things, actually. One of them, I'll start with the really good, and then I'll end with the not so great, but still shaped the way I think. So the really good one, I'm super competitive. Not even intentionally. I don't think like I go out and think like, oh, I want to win this, but I just, I always, okay, let me not say competitive. I strive for excellence and put it that way.
00:16:42
Speaker
And then obviously with that kind of like striving for excellent mindset, it just always turns out that because I strive for that excellence, I just end up being the best in a lot of things. So it started from growing up like my dad, he always used to do this thing of, oh, if you come like first three or first five, there's like an award for, for each one. So if you came fifth, let's say for example, I'm just throwing like random things, it'd be like, if you came fifth, it's like 1k, if you give you 1k, if you came fourth,
00:17:08
Speaker
give it 2k and stuff and if you came first you get like 5k as though obviously it was not cash there because we were little so it was like prizes and like just things like that and then he always did that so to me i'm like i want to i want to get this 1k i want to get this sweet though i want to get another thing like you know that kind of like there was always it was like a reward there was always that that reward like high rewards it was not just like basically was like at least for a child anyway it felt like i want to get this
00:17:33
Speaker
So it just always made me want to do that. And so over the years, I just always found myself, there was one time I stumbled up on my report card, like primary school report card, and I was just looking at it, because it's like a booklet, it's like the way primary school, so like a booklet. And I was looking at my list that almost, it was like top three, like most of my, most of my primary school, you know, and that's just,
00:17:59
Speaker
went along with me like so even going into university I was always just like okay what can I do to be that top three like what do I need to do how do I so I always had my head like in my books I'm a nerd I'm a big nerd ironically I don't like reading and people find that very very very interesting like I have books I have a bookshelf
00:18:20
Speaker
of books I have never read. If it's not academic book that I need to read, you can't catch me. You can't catch me reading, it's very awkward. Anyway, yeah, so I always had my head in books because I was like, ah, I want to become second, so that didn't give me this and that didn't give me that and that didn't give me, and that was just always, it just somehow stuck. So from primary school to secondary school, even up to uni,
00:18:44
Speaker
So uni, I graduated over my class, even though I finished it 2-1, but I was still like the best graduate student, which is a discussion for other daddy, because one of my interviewers told me, asked me if I was intelligent. I was like, yes, I finished it for my class. And he said, but you're not finishing the first class. I said, yes, but I still finished over my class. And then he said, maybe give people
Influence of Family on Career and Personal Drive
00:19:04
Speaker
your class. I'm like, wow.
00:19:10
Speaker
Anyway, I've digressed, but the point I'm trying to make is that I think what my dad did with us, like growing up, it just always made me want to, because of that reward, that high reward, high reward. So I just always had my head in my books and as I was reading and trying to come out on top and so university, first degree, second degree, my master's, same thing, taught my class, my, even when I wrote I Can, I finished as the best female. Though I failed all of their courses, so I actually did learn
00:19:39
Speaker
from failure, that was the first time in my life I did my field and exam. And then I went back with like double, double effort. And then finished that program still on top of my class. So yeah, so that mindset from childhood. The second one I would say that has made me a bit, should I say like fiercely independent is my parents separated when I was quite young, I would say like eight years old.
00:20:09
Speaker
Um, so it was just myself. No, I grew up in my dad. So when it's a pretty, I grew up in my dad, but all close needs kind of relationship was like myself and my sisters. Uh, because obviously it was, uh, it was, um, a difficult time for us. So we all just kind of like just stuck together like six of us. Um, so we all just like stuck together. So it's like, to me, I just feel like it was me and my sisters and this is like everyone else. Um, so, and I was the last growing up. So.
00:20:39
Speaker
It just, one, being the last and being so young, going through something like that, I just kind of like always depended either on my sisters or myself. That's it. Like that's all my, should I say, dependency circle. Now I do have friends, don't get me wrong. I have friends and I have people that absolutely love me and I love
00:21:03
Speaker
but I am fiercely just independent because I just felt like my wall just evolved around myself and my sisters, like growing up because we just, you know how back then, I mean now separations and divorce is a bit more rampant, but back then it really wasn't. So there was always just this thing of, we just, I just kept to myself because I just felt like I didn't want to really let anyone know whatever was happening or what I was going through. And so I slowly but surely kind of like became like a loner
00:21:33
Speaker
and things like that. I was not asking people for anything and stuff like that. And it's not great, if I'm going to be honest with you. It has its advantages and its disadvantages. That's really hardcore, independent mindset. It has its advantages and disadvantages. But yeah, I know for a fact that that influenced how the rest of my growing up and my childhood
00:22:02
Speaker
was just like, my sisters, I just felt like they were doing people I could ever really depend on and every other person in the world is just like, no, I just can't. So yeah.
00:22:12
Speaker
Yeah, so you mentioned two things. You said striving for excellence was one thing that was like a running theme during your childhood. And especially when you were in primary school, just getting first because you wanted to get the best gifts from your dad. And then the second thing you mentioned was just learning how to be independent and being self-sustained.
00:22:36
Speaker
Now, taking that into your life right now, how would you say that has helped you? What are some of the key things that striving for excellence and doing independence has helped you with in your current journey?
00:22:51
Speaker
So just striving for excellence, I will say that's kind of like helped my outputs, my deliverables, things that I do, whether it's work or whether it's even just like my DJ stuff or just anything I do. Like it just helps the quality of my output. In fact, I remember there's this feedback platform that we use at work where once a year
00:23:11
Speaker
you know, you can get feedback from like peers and colleagues and stuff and it's anonymous. So that's really where people tell you the truth. So on one of those feedback sessions, like I was reading the feedback and it was all, it was all good. And then there was this one feedback that stood out and stood out. And I mean, I've been with the company like what, seven years now for this one feedback just completely stands out. It's like the person wrote, you have a ridiculously high standard.
00:23:39
Speaker
And you need to accept that not everybody is going to have same. So I felt like in one feedback, the person that gave me like an applause and also a punch, you know, at the same time, in like, you know, one sentence, but I could really empathize with what the person was saying, like that striving for excellence has just
00:24:00
Speaker
I have high standards. I'm talking about when I'm talking about like work and things like my outputs, I have high standards. And to the person's point, not everyone is going to have the same. So I need to understand that and have that mindset when I'm interacting with others. You know, I shouldn't expect too much and then because if I put that high expectation on them, there's not that pressure.
00:24:24
Speaker
that builds up which can then, you know, cause like disengagement and things like that. So I get the gist of what the person was saying. Well, to me, I think it comes from that striving for excellence. I feel like whatever I find my hands doing, I just have to do it well. Else I should not just do it at all. So the better I know that I'm not going to do it. But the moment I get involved in it, then I just have to do it wholeheartedly. So in fact, it was one of the things that I was speaking to Oran Damsel in school, because I was one of the,
00:24:53
Speaker
what's it called, management committee members for the longest of times, but then got to the point where I felt like my output was not the standard I would want things to be. It could have been very easy for me to just keep like tagging along and just like, you know, but I had to have like a hard to have conversation all the time. I said, look, I love you. I love what you do. I've been on this journey with you for like a decade now, but I can see that this quality is not where it needs to be. So I think I should take a bow now.
00:25:22
Speaker
And that's what I did. And that's what I do. If I cannot give you that excellence, that high quality, I don't even get involved in it at all. And so even when I was getting to do DJ thing, a friend of mine was like, why are you doing, when I said I do like DJ classes, like, why are you doing? I was like, oh, it's just a hobby. I just, I'm just curious. You know, and my friend's like, no, I know how it starts with you. You don't just, you don't just passively
00:25:43
Speaker
do things, you know, you're going to pick this thing and then you're going to run with it. And I said to her dad, I was like, no, now, how now? How would I run with it? Where do I have to have the time? I said, no, it's not possible. Who even, you know, hire me like, you know, that kind of thing. I was just like, no, no, no. And then now look at the journey, six months down the line, you know, I've digitized three weddings. That kind of a thing. So it's like,
00:26:06
Speaker
I come to realize that that's just how I am now because of how I grew up. So I think to avoid stories that touch, if I'm not going to be able to put in that excellence, then I should not just get involved in what I'm doing. So that's one on striving for excellence. The independence one, that one makes you or breaks you. And some days it breaks me. I can't even lie. But kind of like how it has helped me is
00:26:35
Speaker
In terms when I've been isolated for certain reasons, you notice, I think there's this movie that says I can do bad all by myself. I'm not trying to brag or anything. I can't do bad all by myself. I actually can. So sometimes when, you know, if let's say like I have a group or I have a team and I'm trying to get stuff done and people are just not really getting the gist to get to the vibe of it, I would actually pick it up.
00:27:04
Speaker
It would take a lot of, I'm not going to lie, I say, oh, it's simple. It would take a lot of effort and a lot of work, but then I can actually then give that output. And those are the days when I'm like, ha, I can do that all by myself. So if you people are not talking that long, I would just get this done all by myself. So I've had those kind of moments, personally, professionally, and everything. But then the cons of things like that is,
00:27:34
Speaker
like burnout. It's very easy to just like burnout and I'm just like, in fact, there was one time last year, it was actually last year. And it was funny because I had changed roles within the company last year and in my role for a time I was an individual contributor and it's kind of like the first time
00:27:54
Speaker
in my life had been like an individual, first time with the company, I'd been an individual contributor, you know, so it was a different experience for me. But anyway, one day I was speaking to like the HR director and he was looking at the org chat and he said something, he was like, oh that, you know, looking at the org chat, he sees myself as a single point of failure and he's not comfortable, you know, that I'm just that person there. So if, what happens if I don't show up, you know, there was something like, it's just a single point of failure that he likes, like ensuring that there's,
00:28:23
Speaker
continuity, you know, just those things. And I laughed and I was like, God, well, lucky for you, I don't feel, you know, that's what I said to you. Like, that was my response. I was very quirky. And then when we all laughed, I wasn't like a room full of people. I was like, oh, lucky for you, I don't feel like we laughed about and stuff. And I kid you not, at the end of that week, I woke up that morning on a Friday. This was on a Monday. On a Friday, I woke up and I could not get out of bed. I was just, not because I was sick, I was just drained. Like, I would just,
00:28:50
Speaker
I was done. Like I was just like, I can't, you know, and I had to call my manager and say, I need the next three weeks off because if I don't, I don't know what you're going to get out of me. So back to that striving for excellence. Like if, if I continue the way I feel now, the output is going to be so below the bar that you'd be wondering what happened.
00:29:13
Speaker
So it's best for me to just completely switch off and try to re-energize and stuff like that. He absolutely understood. And he was like, that's fine. And to me, it was funny because I was here. I was on Monday boasting that we're lucky for you. I don't fail. And on Friday, I could barely make it to work. But that's what happens when you're just like, so yeah, I'll do it by myself. I'll do it. You're not leveraging support from others or you're not because you feel like
00:29:42
Speaker
They wouldn't get it. They wouldn't do it as good as you would. So you try to do it over now. It's not sustainable. That's the word I was looking for. It's just not. That kind of fierce independence is not sustainable.
00:29:58
Speaker
like he's so good because clearly like he's reflected on it and you know that okay these are some of the things that I know are sort of my strengths but they also come with the Achilles heels so I've been able to understand this and now going forward I know this is how I can balance it but thank you so much for sharing that I think the next thing I want to then ask because you've talked about work is
00:30:22
Speaker
How and when did you hear about the opportunity at Amazon? What was the journey like? Because I know, obviously, you studied at University of Port Harcourt. You went on to do your master's degree at Headeck Business School. So was that when you started applying to Amazon? Did they head on to you? Just tell us that journey. And aside from getting the opportunity, how far you've grown as
Career Journey and Professional Development
00:30:42
Speaker
well? Because within six years, you've climbed up the ladder to become a director of operations. So share everything with us.
00:30:50
Speaker
Sure. Amazon, I say it was a time and chance kind of situation. So to give a bit of background, my BS here is in accounting. And then I started accounting, finished school, became a chartered accountant. Then I was working as an auditor with KPMG, PwC. So I started with KPMG, did about three years, then moved to PwC. Once I was barely a year in at PwC, I heard about like the scholarship
00:31:16
Speaker
the Total Scholarship. I always wanted to work in an oil company. That was like my dream job. You know, in school, you know, you'd just be here. Then it was like, all companies want people with the money. So I was like, oh, God, even I finished school, I graduated home, my class, I just find all companies job. They happen, graduate there, they find all these oil companies. Rejecture, ejecture, ejecture. It just was not happening. And so I just started like auditing, like, okay, find them, do this whole audit thing. But I had kept my CV on Total, so Total,
00:31:46
Speaker
the oil and gas company. I kept my CV on their websites because they had this section of like unsolicited CVs. They had this section for like unsolicited CV. So I'm like, okay, I'm just gonna keep my CV there. Hopefully, you know, something comes up of that. So I put my CV there and just left it. And I kept on like praying and stuff. And I think it was 2014. Yes, December of 2014, there was this House on the Rock, the experience
00:32:14
Speaker
the show, the concert, the gospel concert, yeah. So I went there like I served like the entire week. I was just like serving and things like that. And at the end of the week, like all over my pastors was like, like, he wants to pray for me. Like he has seen how I serve this week and stuff.
00:32:26
Speaker
You know, and I note that I'm just pretty, I was like, God, I just want like carrier growth. Like, you know, that's what I was just saying, like, God, I just want, that's all I want. I'm not asking for anything else, just give me, you know, that carrier growth. And so in January, this was like two years after I'd kept my CV on Total's website. I got an email from them, you know, saying that they had stumbled on my CV on their unsolicited section and they were running scholarship programs. I wanted to know if I'll be interested
00:32:55
Speaker
in applying for the program. I was like, of course, yes. So I applied. Well, I applied. I went through like you had the tests, like series of interviews. I never forget the interview. It was a 10-month panel. They put you in the middle and there were 10 people. Sorry, I said, ah, is everybody serious? What is the matter? But anyway, so I went through that interview and then I passed and then
00:33:20
Speaker
Because they used to do this thing where every year they take about 10 people, so they sponsor 10 people to go to do their masters. But I think what was quite intriguing was then when I then met all these other like nine orders, I realized that they had actually advertised for this scholarship program in like November. And I somehow missed it, which I found surprising because I was always on like job sites and things. So I somehow missed it.
00:33:44
Speaker
the nine others had gone through the process of the scholarship ad and advertised. I was the only one that had that story of, I know Total actually emailed me to say, they saw my CV from the unsolicited CV. So I don't take that for granted. I always thank God and I testify about that a lot. But anyway, it's a couple of long story short. So I got the scholarship and moved to France because obviously it's a French company so it was limited to only schools in France. So I moved to France, did an MSC in accounting and finance
00:34:14
Speaker
And as I was wrapping up my program, I started then applying for roles, right? And I started a bit like the audit companies, because I felt like that would be the easiest, because I spent like four years doing audits and stuff. So I was like, ah, I'll easily get a job. So I was applying to audit companies in France. I was getting rejected because I don't speak French, and I also didn't have the work permits. And after I tried to apply for audit companies in Nigeria, and those ones were using me to play a tumbat tumbat.
00:34:41
Speaker
Hello, what did I put here? You know, so I was like, okay. I said, I started to re-strategize. Then I said, I applied for like accounting jobs in other companies. So I said, okay, let me step away from just like what it's been. So let me just do apply for accounting jobs in that company. Still, I was not just getting, you know, the right responses.
00:35:00
Speaker
And I was just like, what is happening? And so I was in school one day, and I did a career fair. And I said, oh, Amazon was coming to school. They were looking for MBA students. I was looking at my MBA students and my masters. MBA students had about five years experience to do this supply chain operations program. Obviously, I was not in supply chain operations. But during one of my courses in that master's program, one of the subjects was supply chain. And I actually liked it. I enjoyed.
00:35:29
Speaker
the supply chain, like, you know, quotes and stuff. So anyway, when I had seen that, someone was coming, I was like, huh, I was like, okay, this is interesting. Let me just go see what's happening. So I went to the class that day for the fair, and they talked about it. They said, this is the program. They said, you're coming, you do five years and stuff, and you graduate as a senior leader and things like that. And it just felt a bit like exciting. And then they now said, they want, so I started thinking like, huh, okay, this is different, this is exciting. They now said, oh, by the way, language is not, you know,
00:35:58
Speaker
a barrier because it's a Europe-wide recruitment. So they'll just place you, because they understood that, obviously as international students, they say they'll place you in whatever country that speaks the language that you speak. So I'm like, okay, now you have my attention. Then then I said, oh, and sponsorship is also not a barrier because they understand the importance of the role and they're looking for senior leaders because they are willing to sponsor for like work permits. I say, ha, here we go.
00:36:26
Speaker
So to me, it really was like a time. So I never like really ever started to think like, oh, you know, Amazon, just like was a time and chance kind of thing. And so I applied for it, went through the test, the interviews, I had four interviews and then I passed, I got the offer. And I remember when I started, I said, I was still doing some sort of like accounting qualification. So then I registered for ACCA.
00:36:49
Speaker
because I said, okay, let me just try this Amazon thing for like one year. If it doesn't work out, I'll just go back to accounting. So registering for ACCA gave me the opportunity to keep accounting fresh in my head so I don't go out and forget everything that I had been doing. So yes, I registered and gave myself one year in Amazon, but I got in and to me it was how fast paced the business was, was something I really liked because it made me realize that I could grow really fast.
00:37:18
Speaker
right as a leader and it did happen when I first joined the business like by the end of my first month I was managing about 80 people right by the time I graduated from that program because it was a leadership program and and true to their words like this was what they sold towards in that career fair like so they sold that you know this is the opportunity if you're able to come into a very intense program that one hit hit
00:37:40
Speaker
I can talk for days about, it's quite intense. But me coming from Nigeria, I'm coming from audit femmes. I don't know if you've heard that intense audit femmes in Nigeria. So I was already used to that intensity. So yeah, so they had always said, if you're coming to this program, you're able to go through all of this. This is the end kind of thing. So I liked that growth, the fact that you are offering that fast scale growth opportunity in the first place.
00:38:08
Speaker
So that was, that was what sold it for me. And then also the leadership experience, because my previous role was more about like data processing and all of that. This was my opportunity to learn how to be a leader and then lead that skill. Um, so it was all something that I just like absolutely enjoyed. I said, okay, you know what, I'm going to stay. And, uh, here I am seven years later. So at some point I had to stop the ACCA because I'm like, there's no points. Just stop fooling yourself. Um, and I've now stopped to supply chain and, uh, and operations.
00:38:40
Speaker
That's actually a very beautiful journey. Before I ask this specific question I want to ask, is this program still on? Can people still apply it to the program and what are the steps to doing that? Yes, it's still on. It's called the MBA Pathways Operations Management Program.
00:38:58
Speaker
So that was also out of that testimony for me. I'm like, because I do have an MBA. It's one of the things I asked a guy in Krita when he was done with his, you know, sales speech. I was like, I don't have an MBA. Can I still apply? And he was like, that, you know, it's not ideal, but no harm in trying. You know, and I applied with my master's and here I am. So once again, I thank God for that. But yeah, it's called the MBA Pathways program. Still ongoing, happens every year. I think in COVID you really even,
00:39:27
Speaker
almost exploded, but obviously now that growth has kind of like, you know, post-COVID, it has slowed down a bit, but it's not a question. Yes, it happens every year. People just need to check. It's on Amazon.jobs. Pre-COVID, they actually go to the universities themselves. So they'll select some universities that go to those universities pre-COVID. But when COVID happened and physical visits could not be done, everything just moved virtual. So it's on Amazon.jobs. So they pretty much live for like MBA graduates.
00:39:54
Speaker
but it has to be like recent graduates do at least like within a year of you completing your MDE for you to then apply.
00:40:04
Speaker
Perfect. And also like you really mentioned the power of trying and I just want to emphasize it because many times we cut ourselves off and we just think that certain things are not for us just because we don't fit the requirements that are being shared or that we see online. So it's important that regardless, if you think that this is something that you can do, just still go for it because you could have said, oh, I don't have an MBA, maybe let me go and do an MBA, then I would apply.
00:40:33
Speaker
but you were like, oh, it wouldn't work for me to try because, you know, the worst that can happen is, oh, you don't have an MBA. Maybe you go and do an MBA and then would consider you again. But you applied and you went through the process and you got it. So it's beautiful to see how that has happened. And I just want for the people who are listening to the podcast to know that it's important that you try regardless. Like don't let anything that you see from an application, whether it's an internship application, a job application,
00:41:03
Speaker
an opportunity, whatever it may be, if you see it and you think that you can do the basic things that have been asked for that role, then just take it on. Yeah, so thank you. Yeah, actually something you said on that. It reminded me of the very last interview of the process because the interviews I had to do on day one, I interviewed
00:41:24
Speaker
with two people, then if you're successful, that's where he moved to day two. And he said, really, did I know that? Like two people. So on the very last day, the last guy that interviewed me as a director, when I walked in and I sat down, he looked at my CV. He looked, he looked, he looked. And then he raised up his head and he was like, how are you here? I don't know how we get that experience. And he was like, how are you here? You don't have an MBA. And I'm in the idea, because obviously you put the education start at the start, right? So that was infested up for his attention.
00:41:54
Speaker
don't have an MBA, then I said, okay, at least let me look at the experience. Maybe the experience would be something compellingly, you know, you know, relevant to keep you here. I was like, well, I've looked at your experience and you're like, you know, financial services. So how are you sat in front of me today at this large state of the interview?
00:42:12
Speaker
You know, and I was like, okay, I was like, okay, now why does he think financial services like audit is not applicable? I visited Bobo, I gave this money just to sell it, to say like, look, so what do you do in operations, right? Who, your customer, like you have this, this, this. So I got carried the financial services, flipped it, I said, okay, so who are my end customers? Our end customers are the banks, and it is, and I, I thought I was done flipping it again. I was not like, fair enough, fair enough. And then we continued the interview. So to your point, don't have me trying.
00:42:42
Speaker
And he also speaks to the power of God as well. He speaks to the power of God because if God wants you to have it, you will, you will. No matter what, like if his hand is on needs, it would happen. Yeah. And I think also many times, you know, and the last episode I had, I had him with the managing director at BlackRock. And she was talking about how many times we see ourselves from our previous job experience. And so when we want to move to another role, we're looking for only
00:43:12
Speaker
things that we've done previously. But instead of thinking about what you bring to the table in that way, think about what you bring to the table from a skills perspective. So many things can be learned. But if you have certain skills, they can be translated to any role that you're looking to apply to. So don't think that, or because you study the accounting, then that means that it's only an audit firm that I can work with. If you have other skills like communications, that can be translated into
00:43:41
Speaker
any other role even supply chain you obviously will be speaking to people every day so don't discount yourself by thinking now okay this is the only box that I fit in if you feel like you need to explore that things then try just try it out
00:43:56
Speaker
And actually on that point, very, very key. And this is also one of like the failures that I learned from, or to your very first question about how I grew from something. So when I did join, which is why I said like, my journey has been far from rosy. So I did join and I had obviously like the data processing.
00:44:15
Speaker
I got in and those ones were very quick for me to learn. There's something we call subject matter experts within the business. I had become, in six months, I had become a subject matter expert in three different processes. I was just like, my brain was on fire, but then it came to the people management skills and it was bad. So there's a way we measure our people management skills in the company by getting feedback from the people that report to you. And so there's a measurement out of five. Now, where my peers were at were 4.2 out of five.
00:44:45
Speaker
I kid you not my first six months I was like 2.9 you know it was bad now because that was something I was not used to like in my previous show I had not managed people especially I had not managed people even at that scale nowhere near that scale you know of management and to what I was saying earlier on where I didn't even feel like you know I like I belonged I was never even integrating so my
00:45:10
Speaker
The problem that I had with not feeling like I belonged didn't even let me really fully integrate and immerse myself and engage properly with my team. They felt whatever type of way, and that was kind of my rating and stuff. So I had to do a three-six because my manager then told me, look, he's like, you're brilliant. I can't take that from you. But you're not going to be able to grow within this company if you don't also get the leadership bit right. He said there are two things. I'll never forget that. He said, we are people focused and data-driven. You have data-driven on the lock and key.
00:45:40
Speaker
You need to be people-focused. And that was when I started learning. What does that even mean? How can I be people-focused? How can I be a bit more intentional? How can I manage them better? You know, that kind of a thing. How can I invest better in their own growth and see them better and support them better? Things like that. And I was able to take that and apply that and
00:46:00
Speaker
turn my scores around. At least before I left that building, I'd go from like a 2.9 to about like a 3.8. But where it was even most impactful was that all those lessons that I learned to say, okay, how do I turn this around? And how do I make this better with my relationship with these people? Is that even when I kept on moving, because every single year I changed roles within the business. So every single year I had a new team. So all those things that I learned trying to like rectify and repair the relationship with that very first team.
00:46:27
Speaker
I was able to just easily like apply to the new team and apply to the new team so much so that even when I change teams every single year, my scores were always at both four points, which was strange because people would expect that because you're changing, like you change and then it'll take you a while to like, you know, adapt and engage and things like that. No, like I'll change that in month one. I'm already on like 4.5 like, you know, cause I had already lent all those things from that failure and I was just applying it with every new team that I then came in contact with.
00:46:57
Speaker
Wow, thank you so much for sharing. So the lesson here is if you know that you need certain skills to thrive, these things can always be learned. So just immerse yourself in it. And many things never happen overnight, really. And don't feel like you're maybe foolish in quotes if you don't know something. If you go on that journey of learning,
00:47:20
Speaker
By the time you look back now, like you've said, in six years now, like from the time you started at Amazon, you're looking back and you say, oh, actually, this was how I started. But this is where I am now. There's a lot of growth in the process. So the next question I would like to ask you is about your DJ.
Balancing Music Passion with Professional Life
00:47:40
Speaker
How, first of all, that's the question. Then secondly, how do you balance that with your work and the other excellent engagements that you do with the Igbo group in the UK and even Raisin Giants? Okay, so I've always loved music. And I think it was part of that, my Loona kind of world. There's this Maomi song, like music heals your body, heals your spirit. That's what music does to me.
00:48:10
Speaker
When I'm sad, when I'm happy, when I'm feeling any kind of emotions, like music kind of like just calms me down. So always love music. Now what I hate the most is when I'm in this space and music is play and DJ just does some transition that just has you wondering how do you have the job, you know? So anytime that happens, and this was like pre DJ days, I'm just like,
00:48:34
Speaker
come on, surely I can do that and I will do it better than you. So I was always like banter, surely I can do that and I'll do it better than you. And so it just had me wondering, can I ever be a DJ? But I never had the opportunity to explore it up until last year. So after I graduated from this program in 2021,
00:48:53
Speaker
It kind of like gave me free of my bandwidth a bit at work because I told you the program is quite tense. It's not for the field to have it. So when I graduated, it gave me free of my bandwidth a bit. I'm like, okay. Now I felt like I had a bit more time. I had definitely had my weekends to myself, proud to dance. My weekends were all about the place, like work related. So I'm like, okay, I have my weekends to myself. It frees up time. What can I do with this time?
00:49:15
Speaker
Um, and so I was like, okay, let me just find out about this DJ. Lucky for me, it was like a DJ school, like 15 minutes walk from my house. So it was so convenient.
00:49:23
Speaker
So I went to the DJ school out of curiosity. They had beginners, intermediates, and professional class. So I did the beginners class in the first month. I absolutely loved it. Went for the intermediate, loved it. And I was like, okay, you know what? Let's just top it off with your professional class. So I went up, finished that professional class, and I'm like, okay, now I have a certificate. And I was like, they gave a certificate. I'm like, okay, now what do I do with this? And I said, okay, I've loved my time in the studio learning. Now I need to test if I can actually do this in front of a crowd.
00:49:51
Speaker
So I sent out messages to different like restaurants, lounges, clubs, show event promoters just to say, hey, I'm new and this is this. I just want to try this out. I'm willing to play for free, you know, for a night or something. I just want to see if I can really do this. Like I got to take a chance on me. So I sent out that message. Now it took a lot for me to do that because remember I said, I don't ask people for anything. So I had to like, well, I sent it out on like mass, at least like 15 different
00:50:20
Speaker
like places in Manchester. And about three got back to me to say, okay. Right. So I did the first one. It was a bit, it was a bit funky. But then I didn't even capture like memories and things like that. So when I was then going for the second one, I went with a videographer.
00:50:37
Speaker
And then he captured like the moment and the second one was quite nice. Like it was, the crowd was better. Like I just felt it was really, I really loved the second one. And then so when he shared like the videos with me from that night, I knew that this was going to be a thing. Like, you know, I could just, I was like, okay, this is a thing.
00:50:55
Speaker
So I took that video and we did like a whole like launch. So we then turned into like a launch video, yeah. And that was what we put out as the launch video. And that launch video just like blew, because suddenly those are that 12 places. Suddenly last time they're reaching back to me to say, okay. So that's tough. And then that's when I then got the opportunities I've played in. At least I'll say I've played in at least 10 different spaces.
00:51:22
Speaker
and do weddings and things like that. And then I eventually got this residency. It's just perfect because it's like Saturday night, it's only three hours on Saturday night, so it's not like too extensive. You know, three hours on a Saturday night because they have two DJs, so we just like alternate. So he does like three hours, I do that for me. And then, yeah, so where I've tried to ensure that it doesn't clash too much with my work is on like private gigs. Like there was one time I was like taking like
00:51:49
Speaker
because then I was feeling very excited and I was like, oh yes, bring on the private keys. So I had like three, the three weddings I had was like back to back, you know? So I did like back to back weddings, then in the night I'll go and DJ at this restaurant and then Sunday, because I'm a worker in church on Sunday. So my Sunday I'm pretty much in church from 8 AM to 1 PM. So then Sunday I'll go and do all of that.
00:52:09
Speaker
So by the time I get to work on Monday, I realized that I was not at 200. And so I told myself, okay, no, I'm not going to let my side hustle interfere with the day job. So I then completely started like cutting out like the private gigs. Like, so I only, I'm very intentional about which like private gigs I take. Like, first of all, I take it in a time where, okay, it's work, not too stressful. Can I handle it? And things like that. So it just helps me plan better. So I don't burn out because that month when I did that madness,
00:52:37
Speaker
Ah, it was, it was bad. And I saw myself like trying to burn out. I was like, no, it's not worth it. So I keep the residency Saturday night, and I'm more intentional about the private, the private gigs. But how do I balance it with the evil cultural support network, with raising giants, with my boxing, at some point I was taking doing boxing.
00:52:57
Speaker
I had to stop the boxing because once again, not sustainable. So I stopped the boxing. How do I manage that? Now, I'm not going to lie to you. I'm judged. I'm judged is the one thing that I say, look, God, no matter how busy I get this service that I do, I'm not going to ever let it stop. Like, so no, that that one I'm like, because there's something
00:53:17
Speaker
I've heard when he says, like, oh, so the blessing that I gave you is not the reason why you can't stick my face anymore. And that's bad, right? That's really bad. So I never wanted to get to that point. So that's, so that one will always be there. But how I try to balance the rest, I would be honest with you, I'm feeling good fully. Because for example, my sister is coming this weekend. She's two hours away from me. And I can't go and see her because I have this clash with raising giants, you know, and it's just like,
00:53:45
Speaker
It drives me insane that I can't do that. So I'm not going to tell you that it's rosy and everything is it's not something suffers. And sometimes I'll say it's kind of like my relationship sometimes. So yeah, so that that fact actually annoys me really bad that my sister is two hours away because I have, you know, raising giants. But anyway, or I was supposed to go on a date, you know, so I was like, oh, let's try a date. And I'm like,
00:54:09
Speaker
We do, let me check this calendar and then try to do plus or minus to see how I can fit that date in. When I should just be spontaneous, I'm like, okay, let's go, you know, that's not my reality. So something is suffering, and these are the things that are suffering, but I'm trying to be a bit more intentional to say, okay, for example, the email committee, they wanted to do two meetings, two events this month, and I said to them, look, I'm only gonna give you bandwidth for one. The second one, I'm not going to attend, and I'm not even going to be able to help you plan.
00:54:37
Speaker
because this is what I have bandwidth for. So I'm trying to just be able to set some boundaries so that other things don't like suffer, example, relationships. So yeah, so God has been my strength. I'm not even going to lie because God has really given me the strength to be able to part through most of these things, especially on days when I just really don't feel like it really has been my strength. And I really appreciate and thank you for that.
00:55:05
Speaker
I guess I'm not sure what I'm trying to say. It's not all crazy. Some things are suffering and I need to drop the ball. Sometimes I dropped boxing, you know, dropped some of the personal gigs just so that I could ensure, you know, raising giants was still where you needed to be, church was still where you needed to be, and work, obviously, still where you needed to be. So it's about shifting priorities. In the last quarter of the year, my priority is my relationship.
00:55:28
Speaker
Anybody calls me gig, I say, sorry, I'm sorry, I'm on vacation, I'm not doing that. So it's just like really just try to know what's important for me the moment now and then try to see how I can plan every latina around it.
00:55:43
Speaker
Wow, that's the best one. I like that you were very honest to share that. Actually, it's not that easy. The fact that I'm doing all of these things doesn't mean that I'm pouring 100, 100 for everything. I have to find ways to prioritize and know what requires my effort. Yeah, I like that you were very honest. And speaking about raising giants, what inspired that? And what is the impact you're looking to have with raising giants on the long term?
Inspiring Young Women and Personal Advice
00:56:16
Speaker
Unfortunately, we grew up, or let me say I grew up in a society where success of women is tied to the men. And not to say that there's anything wrong with that, if it's tied, should I say legally? I don't know if you get my point. If it's tied professionally or tied in certain types of ways.
00:56:37
Speaker
In a nutshell, I'm just hitting it on the head. Like, runs is such a thing that people feel like the only way I can ever blow or make money, like females think the only way I can blow or make money in Nigeria is through, like, runs and, you know, sleeping with established men, married men, they're the only ones that can help me solve my business and things like that. And thankfully, I've been a success story without that.
00:57:00
Speaker
Right. And I want to be able to inspire the next generation of ladies to say, look, this mindset that is going around the environment is negative. Right. Because there are real life examples of people that have made it without necessarily going down that path. You know, so in this program, I expose them to people like that where they can see. So, for example, we had an entrepreneurship month
00:57:27
Speaker
Last month and I see no there was a lady that came to speak to them And then you know showing how she runs like have three businesses She's married you have three kids like how she started and she started her businesses even later things like that like so, you know Just exposing them to see that look you can make it and be successful without Doing things that you just you know have no business doing in the first place so that's something and then second thing is
00:57:52
Speaker
There are a lot of other things apart from just like, you know, like the trying to change the negative mindset about how you can make money. There are other things about just like finances. They were teaching them executive presence, like branding, personal branding, generosity, giving back.
00:58:10
Speaker
uh, how to be like a homemaker, um, and things like just different things. I was teaching them that all, like this were all the things to propose to one woman. You know, it was like, if you read about that, you know, she was like relationship goals and seeing them how to, you know, behave like in relationships and things like that, um, that we're exposing them to that most times people don't learn these things until much later in life. Right. And they feel like, ah, if someone had just told me this thing when I was 16, my life would have taken a different direction.
00:58:39
Speaker
That's what I'm trying to do, because these ladies are between the ages of 16 and 20. So that's what I'm trying to do, to let them know then, you know, rather than four years down the line, when they learn from their own mistakes or learn from the mistakes of somebody else that they're close to, will learn too late. I know it's never too late to learn, but still, if someone can let them know on time, then it saves them all the headache down the road. There's so many things that I wish I knew when I was 16, so many.
00:59:07
Speaker
that I feel like would have even made my life a lot better than it is right now. So that's what I'm trying to give to them, to expose them to all these things that hopefully helps them have a better mindset and sets them up for the rest of their lives. Yeah. And that's very remarkable. Like it's just great to see that something like this exists. And even with this podcast as well, it's more of like, okay, people actually need to hear the stories or
00:59:36
Speaker
people have gone on their journey and have been excellent at things that they are doing so that they can be encouraged and know that regardless of the situation that I'm currently in now, things can get better. I mean, if someone who has my background in the school at University of Portacos is now a director of operations at Amazon,
00:59:52
Speaker
then obviously this is possible for me too so thank you so much for doing something like Raising Giants and even just coming on the podcast to share your experience because obviously like people listening now would be able to relate with bits and bobs of your story and you know someone out there would be inspired by many of the things that you have done like things about
01:00:11
Speaker
or try try things out even if you don't think you're qualified still try things out or you know if you're feeling a certain way it's okay to ask for help you know you never know where that will transition you into so thank you so much i am very conscious of the fact that we are on we're over time now so i'll just ask one last question if you can take that
01:00:34
Speaker
So last question is to some of this, the podcast episode, which is like, what words of encouragement or advice would you like to leave us with? Okay, I'll say the first one would be, if you're in a situation or a position or a circumstance or anything, just if you're somewhere where you are no longer
01:01:04
Speaker
scared of failing, it's time to change things up and get uncomfortable. You like growth, excellence, development, you need to be uncomfortable. You need to be uncomfortable to really like maximize your percent in sales. So if you've got to, and now there's so many people that go to certain areas of their life, like me, I just, an area of my life where I get to
01:01:30
Speaker
that that one, I will bask in being comfortable because I know that I've been there, done that. And so now is the time, you know, but I feel like if you're still like really young, if you're just starting up, don't be comfortable. If you're comfortable where you are, change things up. You need to be scared of failing. You need to be, because that's what pushes you to like learn, to like grow, to like just strive, you know, and stuff. So that's one thing. The second one I'm going to say is
01:02:00
Speaker
your reputation, your reputation just, it precedes you. I know like places I've gone to and like, Oh, they meet me and like, Oh, you're the Georgia, you know? And they tell me about something that they've heard from somewhere or something. In fact, even my current role that I have, it's because somebody said something to somebody that says something to somebody that says something to somebody. And then the guy had to call me up and say, I have a job for you. You know,
01:02:25
Speaker
So your reputation is so key and this is professionally, right? Because if you've had like, if you've been able to exude like competence and excellence and stuff and people are able to spread that word around.
01:02:38
Speaker
that just opens more doors for you, right? So that's professional reputation. But then even personally, if you have a good reputation personally, that still opens doors for you. Cause when people, people want to work with you, people want to do stuff for you, like people want to give you opportunities, like it's just, so that reputation, I don't know why people just feel like, I know why in an era now where there's this thing of all publicity, even negative, all publicity, publicity or something like that, like, no, no, no, bruv, you can't think that way.
01:03:07
Speaker
You have to, you have to be intentional about building the right reputation. Extremely intentional about that. I remember when my reputation was, because I'm not going to tell you I have this religious reputation. There was one time in my life, I know that year, that year was that, 2012, 2011, sorry, 2011, and my reputation was tarnished.
01:03:29
Speaker
because of some nonsense, I got myself involved with it. I know how it hurt me. And even today, even in fact, I was speaking to somebody last month, someone that I went to the US and she still brought up that comment. And they've been like, because I'm like 10 years after, but that's life. That really is how life is. 10 years after she still talked about this thing, but that's how life, that's my reputation is. It is so, so, so important. Anyway,
01:03:55
Speaker
So, so that's one thing about like, you know, reputation and then just about getting shown that you're not too comfortable where you are because you're going to stop growing. But yeah, but there are three, I'm just saying it's like three C's and I recently learnt about it. I feel like my entire journey, like these three C's have really helped me. And it's something that, you know, people looking to like, you know, just grow should always like think about. So the first one is about the competence. And I talked about it briefly when I was talking about reputation.
01:04:25
Speaker
Like, let people see how competent you are in anything you're doing. Now, you must not necessarily try to do everything, but in that one thing that you're doing, you need to be competent at it because that's what helps open doors for other things. The second one is the consistency.
01:04:39
Speaker
Right? You need to be consistent. You can't be 100 today and 10 tomorrow and 100. No, people don't trust people that are inconsistent. Professionally, personally. So if you're showing up, you always need to show up. If you're not showing up, then okay, be consistent at not showing up. But that consistency is key. And the last one is about communication. And this is something I've been teaching the young ladies that I'm working with. Whether it's written communication or communication,
01:05:07
Speaker
If you're going to go places, you need to be able to communicate and communicate properly and effectively. And ensure that people actually do understand what you're saying, right? Because you would have a platform. If you decide to grow or get to a certain level in your life, you're definitely going to get a platform. When you're put on that platform, how are you able to communicate and sell yourself? So that's like, so three C's. There's a fourth one, but that fourth one depends on the path of your life that you're in. It's more about compass, just ensuring that you always have a not star vision.
01:05:36
Speaker
Like, so what's the end goal? What's that vision? Why are you doing what you're doing? That compass helps keeps you in check when things are falling apart because you know what that end goal is and what that vision is. Well, the first one is really dependent on the point of real life that you're in. Well, communication, competence, consistency, always need to have those.
01:05:58
Speaker
He's just given us a master class. And I think on this note we can end. Thank you so much, JJ. It was really nice and it was a lovely conversation. I'm happy to have hosted you. And I'm glad that I pushed and kept on sending follow-up messages because I would have missed out on this. Thank you so much.
01:06:15
Speaker
You're welcome. It was a pleasure. You've popped my podcast cherry, by the way. It's like my first podcast. Really? Okay, I'm glad. I've done interviews and things where it's like my first podcast podcast. All right, podcast tick. Thank you so much. Enjoy the rest of your day. Take care.