I remember arriving in Lagos 4 years ago, I didn’t have it all figured out. My background was in recruitment | HR and alongside I was a television Presenter. On arriving Lagos, my plan was that I wanted to continue with TV presenting which I was doing back in the UK; I had hosted the Magazine Show on Ben Television and various other shows.
I arrived in Lagos, and I prayed God would get me going on my feet and bring me to a place where I could add value, make my mark, and then some.
I remember it so clearly, like it was yesterday, I had an interview with Mrs Edewor (Eku and Kessiana Edewor’s mother), she offered me the position to manage her restaurant on Awolowo road, I was excited about the prospect.
That same week, I met Mrs Irabor. I met her on a Friday, she offered me the job of Online manager of Genevieve Magazine and I started the job the following Monday. Fate. I had plans for myself, but God had the ultimate plan.
I blagged the interview; yes, I loved facebook, Twitter and was getting to know Instagram, but I wasn’t really a writer as such. I embraced blogging and all building Genevieve’s social media platforms, and felt like a child again, being creative and building the platform with my own two hands.
At Genevieve, I quickly found my feet and found a method that worked, and soon we built followers; I found home. I would have made some foes along the way, but there is no doubt that I made friends. Lots of them. I hope that the latter outweighs.
I was handed a strategy, but I fell in-love with my job and together with a fabulous team we built a well loved platform.
Two years ago, I was given the opportunity to Project manage the 3rd Genevieve PinkBall, it was such a huge project, at times daunting, but we did it, together with an empowering boss and a great team. We kicked off with The house of Tara ‘Pinkball lipstain launch’ party, the Genevieve Run wall cycle, and the main Ball itself. I learnt all about Breast Cancer, and I felt so blessed to be able to make a difference and touch lives’. I met so many people, and I got on a billboard!! Yes! Billboard on Kingsway road!! I remember sharing the photo of the billboard on Instagram and writing “Mama, we made it” lol and there I learnt that you big moment usually comes before you’re ready for it.
I know for a fact, Mrs Irabor, fondly called “MD” by the G.Team wasn’t 100% sure about me and whether I would deliver, but in business you take risks, and she took a chance on me. We are both Aries, born in march, and I can bet she saw some parts of herself in me. Along the way, she became my ‘work mum’, and we have our downs and ups, and I can assure more of the latter. At times she would scold me like a mum does with one hand, and then with the other she would draw me closer, an example is just a few weeks ago when she randomly sent me a whatsapp message asking what I would like as my house warming gift.
Mrs Irabor pushed me, encouraged me, scolded me when needed and I grew with the brand. Working on the Genevieve Summer party 2015 was a lot of work, but good fun too. How can I forget the travelling opportunities? I got to go on so many trips and it was nice being paid to travel and report back.
One of the most important lessons I learnt from Genevieve is that it is very important one stays dedicated wherever you find yourself. That same dedication you put into other people’s business is the same dedication your own future employees will put into yours.
You need to be personable, a quick thinker and don’t be so quick to judge, because in business you really cannot always judge a book by its cover. I also learnt that being savvy and having passion is a lot more important that any type of formal education; being the smartest in the room doesn’t necessarily make you richer or wiser.
Be amazing. People will find you.
I will always remain a G.Team and of course I wish my G.Family all the best in the future. I look forward to the projects coming up, as I continue my work as an entrepreneur in the digital space.
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