HARD KNOCK STORIES

Ever been to Africa?

It is a BEAUTIFUL Continent.

The people.PHENOMENAL. Every single one is a ticking investment clock, filled with innovation, creativity, ideation, and even magic. There is this thing about Africans that ignites purpose. It is a collective energy in every Country within the Continent.

I live in Abuja, Nigeria. I am an enterprise creator, overlook what my #LinkedIn profile says I am - I really can't tell you what I do for a living - I only know I am a CONNECTOR.

I try to be social - I run a social business online and I am about to run a social business cafe offline - so I believe and know for a fact that I am a social butterfly.

I work with it well and I create lots of opportunities from this vantage point.

I love identifying opportunities and watching others identify their own opportunities as well. THE KEY WORD IS IDENTIFYING.

I mean: that's the only way I can enjoy what I do, to love it unconditionally.

I love my career, it is so flexible and makes adaptability easy for me. I have my emotional moments sometimes, however, my optimism creates a lot of room for logical reasoning and the tenacity to see things through with persistence.

HARD KNOCK LIFE.

It's amazing what you learn about your work ethics in the midst of other professionals and newbies alike. It's fun learning and accepting correction and gaining insights after one or two or three or more trials and errors. In the midst of early stage chaos, some win, some learn, some give up - it's nothing personal.

HARD KNOCK LIFE.

True story.

A few years ago, I was a model scout living on the streets in Lagos - Nigeria.

I didn't know anybody but my cousins and some handful of acquaintances and mutual friends of my siblings back home in Abuja.

Nevertheless. I was excited.

So - like every enterprising Nigerian who dashes off from any part of Nigeria to Lagos - I created my first startup company after an idea I was nursing in my heart 5 - 8 years earlier before ever stepping foot into Lagos.

Talk about manifestation, right?

I was livid - so I started scouting for models and setting models up for success in the modeling industry. It was crazy, half the time I didn't know what I was doing - I just met one cute guy after another, taking pictures, booking photo studio sessions, looking for music studio sessions, booking modeling agencies, grooming session training, communications classes - the whole nine yards. I was chasing a dream. BOOM - ecHe was born on Facebook as an online male model agency - no office, just an online page and a whole lot of real-life models on the ground.

Fast forward - I began a career in photography - even though I already had another successful side gig as a software developer - I was interested only in the content development part of ICT. Visuals were and have been my thing.

The BIG deal was - I was dreaming BIG and I had very little to go forward with MY REAL DREAM. TALENT + TENACITY + INNOVATION + TEAMWORK + TEAM SOCIALIZING + SKILLS + CREATIVITY = ENTERPRISE. Business is creativity and fun.

HARD KNOCK LIFE.

HARDSHIP IS A THING IN AFRICA.

DON'T GET IT TWISTED.

The 1% really is the 1%.

The gap is real - cutthroat paradise - no joke.

It is not as scary as it might sound, rather it is uniquely different.

Enterprise creation here begins with the idea alone for a period of time before the finance comes and in between, you either work by yourself and go fast or you work with others and go far. Right? The other big deal is collaboration and cocreation which is a new solution to solve the main problem which is partnership and employee rights. It is so - DIFFERENT AND CHALLENGING.

That's just the surface.

So in the midst of chasing my first dream, I had to put that one on hold to create another one that could give me more freedom - because now I needed to finance the first dream through the second one - and in the process really discover my real potential.

It's amazing what you'll trigger if you only dig a little deeper into your subconscious mind looking for insights into a breakthrough.

On and On - I went back and forth between two ideal startup companies and some freelancing opportunities and a lot of workshops and a series of conferences and social events - I was cooking my future event between breakups and makeups and rejections and betrayals and disappointments and appointments and blessings in disguises and wholesome blessings complete with perks - In between it all - I was getting prepared for victory - I decided to choose what I become - in the midst of it all - I focused only on what is possible and what is probable? How can I fulfill my life's purpose? How can I make life meaningful for myself and others - I am not interested in the short term even though I do them well - I love the long term - always filled with prospects, options, opportunities, investments - you name it - it's there. Having insights is key, perseverance is a blessing and patience is a superpower that brings balance, harmony, abundance, and infinite success to the whole collective. I am not perfect, I am a work-in-progress. The journey is real and the race is personal.

HARD KNOCK LIFE.

I wonder what I would have done or where I would have been without the hard knock experiences. It rattles my mind every day, reminding me of where I am coming from and where I am going.

YESTERDAY, I FAILED.

TODAY, I LEARNED.

I can do better at whatever I choose to become.

If you are ever in Africa, invest in a startup. Understand this though. The ecosystem and the demographics and the work culture are different compared to anywhere else in the world.

Visit a coworking space or hang out on the street. Visit a pub or a coffee shop or even a barber shop and you'll hear ideas or you'll meet an entrepreneur.

I still don't know what I do. I am creative. I am a consuldeveloper {it means a consultant that develops after creating - like a turnkey startup creator/developer}. I am a connector. I am a designer. I am a writer. I am a team player. I am a team builder. I am a photographer. I am a stage manager. I am a startup founder. I am a startup developer. I am a student always learning. I am a teacher who is always teaching even when I am not in the mood. I am an investor. I am a servant. I am a leader. I am not a Boss - I am not an employer of labor - I am a job creator: left to me everyone should own their own company and collaborate with everyone else either as a freelancer or as a cocreator to get to or develop the new marketplace. I tell you, it's not me. It's God and Country. It's Africa, my motherland. I can do all she has taught me through tough love and persistent correction. Everyone can be rich if we just learn how to harmonize effectively - there's enough room for everyone and still, maybe not everyone will actually become super rich - that's life. Making the choice and taking the risk is a collaborative or personal effort - between what you want, whom you want, and how you go about getting it together or alone.

HARD KNOCK LIFE.

Tenacity, Perseverance, Congruence - these are some words I have learned in hard knock school. Going the distance in creating your ideal work culture and understanding the mastery of emotions - IQ-based or EQ-based. People make the world go round. Connections matters to build and retain bridges to the life ahead.

Every enterprise creator has a hard-knock life story. Connections tell the story of the work you put in and the effort you make to accomplish anything in life.

Good things take time. More extraordinary things require patience.

Fact: Pivot your startup life. Nurture your connections. DREAM BIGGER. Giving and taking makes it all available for you - finance, dream team, dream clients, and even incredible opportunities. Life is about reciprocity. What you have is what you give and what you give is what you get.

I love Africa.

The motherland of the UNICORNS.

Failing is not failing in Africa - it is a trial.

Not succeeding is not a failure - it is an effort. Try Again, and again and again. Persevere. Stay hungry and stay focused.

As Africans - we know what it means to do business unusual.

What hard-knock experience has shaped your career in your startup company?

#shareit.Please!