SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to Amber Do. We are host Amber Howard. Your weekly host of it, inspiration, and strategies to have your small business and whole life thrive. We bring you incredible guests who share their real life experiences of being an entrepreneur so you can have your whole life work. Now, here's your host, Amber Howard.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Welcome back, everyone, to What Would Amber Do? I am so thrilled this uh today to have with me IT New Ogon Jobifella. IT is a versatile professional with an extensive experience as a project manager and business analyst. IT is a serial entrepreneur from originally from Nigeria who came to Canada just a year and a half ago. I had the pleasure of meeting IT as he's known to many in my leadership course and my courses at the University of Toronto. I think it was leadership, but in my courses at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. IT ongoingly volunteers in organizations addressing poverty and women's economic empowerment. He is a dedicated husband and student of life. IT is also a co-founder and co-owner of Hooves, which is a footwear company in sub-Saharan Africa. IT, it's so great to have you on the show tonight. Thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_03 1:27

Thank you so much, Amber. And I'm happy to be here too. Um and thank you so much. That was um a good um biography. I never thought I had that, so I'm okay. Thank you so much for that.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

I often hear that from people. They're like, oh, we should hire you to do our PR. Yeah, thank you so much for being here. I, you know, I IT, you really stood out as one of my students, and I, you know, we're we're continuing to work together going forward, which is really exciting. I'm excited about that. I'm excited to have you on the team and get to keep creating with you. But what had you come, you know, like Nigeria is a long way from Canada. What had you make that transition and yourself and your wife here to Canada uh like 18 months ago? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:12

Uh so for me, it was uh more of uh getting um the Western experience that I needed. I wanted to do things differently. I'm someone that um before now I have always um had the passion to do things differently. Um, even among my peers, I always wanted to think outside of the box, um, kind of creative uh ways of doing things uh in a different way. So um coming to Canada was something that I knew was gonna be a new journey for me, but I knew that I wanted something more. I wanted something more from what I had back home. I wanted to be able to understand uh the culture of the people um in Canada and also uh be able to um connect both the culture with their business and well as entrepreneurship lifestyle and then um take that back home to Africa. Um I want to go back to Africa at some time to go at as much as possible add value to that uh economy. I mean, I've gotten so much from the country, and I want to give back to the country. So that was one of the main reasons why I decided to relocate to Canada with my wife, and you know, Canada has uh the the the process of allowing migrants to come in and then you know make great things and also add as much as possible to the economic development of Canada as well, so it's not only gonna be Africa alone, but also Canada and the world at large because I love to make people smile. I want people to be able to connect with me and get as much as uh possible from my life on the surface of the head. So that's it.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Yeah, it's really it takes something, you know, and I get the commitment, I hear the commitment you have, IT, to to expand yourself. I I mean I said you're right, you know, you're a student of life. So to to come here and get the experiences that you've gotten here as a student and as a you know, working in the companies that you've worked in and as an entrepreneur, so that you can expand yourself and take that back. I think that is one of the defining characteristics of an entrepreneur, right? People go into business for themselves, like people who are serial entrepreneurs have an ongoing commitment to creation and expansion. And that is definitely something that I've experienced with you. Talk to me a little bit about the differences and the similarities between uh business and the business community and and in Nigeria or Africa and what you've experienced here in Canada and North America.

SPEAKER_03 5:10

Uh so I think um when it comes to uh businesses um um in Canada as well as in Nigeria, um, there are a couple of differences, but there are also uh several similarities. Uh, one of it is that in Nigeria we actually um like people, we love people management, we love to manage ourselves better. Um, my experience in Canada as well, I have also seen that, and working in uh several corporate organizations, I've also seen that same spirit. Uh, there's the spirit of um trying to be um exceptional in what you do and being promoted for being exceptional. Um Nigeria also has that um that platform whereby when you perform exceptionally well, uh you have been um given incentives uh as regards to uh your uh service to the company and all as anywhere you find yourself, uh apparently. Uh one of the other things that I do see that is this um it's a it's a different thing in Nigeria, but also a different thing in Canada. So for example, the HR policies, for example, some of the HR policies in Canada are not the same as uh Nigeria, uh, because um HR policies in Canada, I do understand that it is you're paid hourly uh in Canada, back home you're paid monthly. Um, so you earn like a lump sum uh um of salary at the end of the month, meanwhile in Canada you are paid hourly, so it's the hours you work that you get paid for. Um in Nigeria it's not that way. You whether you work the hours that you're supposed to work in the month, you get paid your full salary at the end of the month. So um the other thing that I also um noticed in Canada is that um Canadians close early. If it is 5 30, it's 5 30. If it is 4 o'clock, it is 4 o'clock. Um back home, we work so late uh that um sometimes we work uh late at night. Um, and because um some of us actually um work on projects, so it's not as if we want to work late, but it's because we have things to deliver and there are milestones that we need to eat uh before the next uh business day. So sometimes we have to stay late. But in Canada, I've not actually seen that a lot. Um, I do know that some work remotely even before the COVID started, so some have to take um uh their jobs home to actually conclude whatever they're doing. Um another thing in Nigeria, which is different from uh Canada, is that we we don't really have a good um power supply. There's no hydro is a kind of a tough, uh tough one. So uh a lot of companies depend on uh good oil, uh that's uh gas, um, and um as well as uh diesel, a lot of companies depend on that to run their businesses, which is also which also affect uh sometimes the b the business um revenue. Uh but yeah in Canada I've never seen any business that has that kind of issues, so some kind of similarities, some kind of um differences. So I think that's for me that I've learned so far.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

I love that you talk about like the the at first you were talking about the similarities, and like there's this like in both Nigeria and Canada, you've experienced this people wanting to develop and grow. And I think that is so just like what it is to be a human being, what it is to be a living being. Things that are things are that are living are either expanding or they're dying. And so I it's haven't really thought about that in terms of a cultural context, like in business across the world. But I mean, the that's how we do it in business, right? I think, and and for one of the reasons I left my permanent corporate job many years ago was I didn't have the experience of being able to grow and expand. I was learning new things and and doing working on a lot of really exciting projects, but that ability to kind of expand and grow in the ways that were meaningful to me wasn't there. And I think that's very uh it, you know, I'm not surprised, but again, we tend to sometimes only look at our own, you know, our own backyard. I hadn't really thought about that in terms, but yeah, I'm not surprised to hear that in Nigeria it's also very important for people to to be recognized and have those opportunities for growth and development and move and upward movement in corporations. Yeah. So what have been some of the barriers? Have there been any barriers that you've experienced coming to work here? And in business, yeah, just in business and in life. You know, it's a that's a I've never been to Nigeria. I hope I hope to go. One of our fellow friends who was also a student of mine, Bo, has promised to make me authentic Nigerian food. I'm very excited for that. Once COVID ends, uh, we're supposed to be having a big potlock with all of my students so that we can meet in person and connect. But I I, you know, I mean, I'm an immigrant as well. I came from New Zealand, but culturally, New Zealand and Canada are quite similar. You know, there are definitely some differences. And I would imagine like coming from Nigeria to Canada was was a big cultural shift for you. And and so whether it's personally or professionally, what you know, I'm I am curious to know from your experience what were some of the bar barriers that you've experienced during that transition.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

Oh that's that's a big question because there are a lot of barriers. Um but in and in as much that there are a lot of barriers um um as regards to what uh is in Nigeria and in Canada, um for me, I think um Nigeria brings a lot of opportunities for you as a person. Um, it gives you the room to be able to uh be an entrepreneur. I mean, as much as you want to work in the corporate world, it also gives you that um uh leverage for you to go into being an entrepreneur, owning your own business. I have um several of my friends that are into business, but it is quite tough. Uh, one of the toughest things, which I also believe might also be a tough thing to back here, is getting um funds, um, getting grants for your business ideas. You have to have a top-notch business idea. You must have like when I say top notch, I mean 150% business idea to be able to sell to uh the investors to invest in your business. So that's a big barrier because uh for me, there are some people that I've met that are not able to conceptualize their idea, they have good exceptional business idea, but they're they're not able to conceptualize that idea and bring it to the table where people are able to support them. And one of the things I actually want to do is that I want to try to find those people that don't have that um idea to uh they have the idea, but they don't have that concept to bring about their business and go back home and to help them with my own uh level of exposure and experience. So uh that's a big barrier getting fronts, uh, because I currently still um um I mean I'm volunteers to a lot of uh non-governmental organizations, and those are kind of the problems that we actually face uh back in Nigeria as it gets to so funding generally, uh, because capital is is a is a big thing because if you want to go into business in Nigeria, and I think it's also the same thing in the world, if you want to go into business, you have to get the right capital and also connect with the right people. So that's a big uh tough challenge uh for for us back home. So getting those sponsors and getting those investors are something that it's a big challenge.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Yeah, I I mean I I you I can't stress the importance of network. And you know, I I know they say your network is your net worth is like the sum total of your network, every opportunity I've ever had, and I I remember sharing that with you guys in class when we talk about how do you transition to becoming a a business analyst if that's what you want. Uh every opportunity I've ever had in my life is a function of my network. There, there are very few jobs that I've ever like actually applied for. I don't think maybe I don't know if I've ever gotten a job that I applied for from a mess, like a job board or something like that. I mean, I know I have at different times, but literally every opportunity, including the opportunities to be an instructor and to to be a consultant, start my like they all came as a function of the network of people that I was connected to. And I can't stress the importance of that. Um and it's interesting, like there's so many, and I don't know what it's like in Nigeria here, there's just so many resources available, and oftentimes we don't even know about them. Like I just got in contact this week with uh a company called Tech Alliance, who are is like a regional innovation center that's a not-for-profit that offers free services to entrepreneurs and business owners to help them get their businesses off the ground. And and John, the the director of business development, there is actually going to come on the show in April, and it'll be great to talk to him. But that's another thing I think is I think is a barrier in general, is like there's so many different resources out there, grants, different, you know, monies that are available here in Canada at least, uh, that people just don't even know about it. And like there's no consolidated place where you could go that I'm aware of anyway, to find out about all of these organizations, like the services at Tech Alliance are free for entrepreneurs to get support with their businesses. So uh really exciting. Let's talk about that because you transitioned into you, you know. I met you when you were a student in my foundations, my business and foundations of business analysis course to get your certificate, which I believe you are completed now. So congratulations on that. Thanks so much. Yeah. And I think oftentimes when people think like I started my career technically as a technical, well, technically, but I started my career as a technical writer, but very quickly transitioned into business analysis. And I think oftentimes people have this perception, if they even know what business analysis is, right? Like, and there's probably a lot of people I think who may not even know what business analysis is. Uh and if they do know, it's people perceive it as like a position or a job that people do on projects, specifically oftentimes like information technology projects. And one of the things I wanted to talk to you about as someone who was already in that world working on projects, being an entrepreneur, one, what had you pursue getting a certificate and getting trained and developed in business analysis? And two, what advantages do you see understanding that framework, that the skills and knowledge of being a business analyst to entrepreneurs? Like how is studying and understanding business analysis as a body of knowledge helpful to being an entrepreneur? Because I have my own points of view on it, but I'd love to hear yours, IT.

unknown 17:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:11

Um, so I think one of the one of the things, and thank you so much for that question. Um, one of the things that um business analys analysis actually uh brings to the table and bring an entrepreneur is that it helps you to actually um um define more of what your business plan is. It it helps you to guide your business plan plan and give you a more granular understanding of what you want to do. As an entrepreneur, you must have a good and a strong business plan. Um, the other thing is that um being a business analyst also helps you to um know certain root cost analysis that may actually be a danger to your business in the future. It helps you helps you to mitigate future risk. It also helps you to understand that you need to gather as much information as possible. Uh, I mean, as business analysts, we elicit requirements. We try to gather so much information and when then we document it and we perform a gap analysis of what the current state is and the future state. Uh, that has helped me a lot as being an entrepreneur. I know when to call it quit. I know when to say no. Uh, when I see that this business is not gonna profit me, if I'm in the business for uh three years and I don't see any um advantage as to the reason why this business should still be existing, I would call it a quit. And this is because I've learned over time as business analysts that if you don't, if you go into a business and you see that the future state of your business is kind of shady, it's not clear, is it's in a gray area, you have to call it a quit. Um, that the business analyst has taught me, uh analysis has taught me. Uh, the other thing is to be able to, I mean, you you made mention of having uh contacts, having to create and you know, talk, discuss with people. Business analysts actually help you to uh gain that um um advantage to be able to discuss with people, uh you can discuss with several stakeholders, and you're not afraid to pitch your idea. There's something we call uh the elevator pitch. As a business analyst, that actually helps you to uh pitch your idea. And being an entrepreneur, you need to be able to actually talk about your idea and have a good pitch to be for people to buy your idea. Because if you don't have that in place, that is not going to happen. And those are part of the things that being a business analyst actually helps you and teaches you over time. Uh, there is also the facilitative skill, there's the leadership skill. Uh, being an entrepreneur is that you are a CEO of your company, so you know that there are a couple of risks that you have to take. Uh there's never a perfect plan uh as a bit as an entrepreneur. Uh, the other thing is also that you need to know that what you are selling? So it's more of like understanding the current state of the business. I want to go into this business. What am I gonna sell? Who are my target markets? How do I get this market? How do I discuss with them? How do I channel my energy, my passion to be able to, you know, sell my product and to be able to sell successfully. So those are the kind of things I mean, business analysis that taught you. A lot of people think business analysis is all about um IT, uh being a computer science and everything. No, it's more than that. It's actually a lot and it makes a lot of difference. It actually separates you from the rest as an entrepreneur. So my advice to entrepreneurs is that go do a business analyst course, get the CBAP if it's possible, and then you will see that you will make a difference as an entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

Yeah, you know, like when I started out in my career, I and I share this, I've shared this regularly. I you know, I kind of fell into this whole world of business, right? It was never the plan, and and I'm grateful to it because it's you know, as a single mom, it's allowed me to support my children and and provide for my family. And it wasn't ever like I didn't go to school for this. I I fell into a job as a technical writer. And then within two weeks of being on that project, the the woman who was leading the project, someone else quit. And she was like, You're smart, let's see what you can do, go. And so I learned on the job how to do project management, business analysis, change. Management, quality assurance, like all of the other different pieces of how you want, you know, run a project or how you work in business. And one of the things that I heard in what you said, IT, which I think was really true and powerful for me, is it helps the study of business analysis helps give you a common language and confidence around how to speak from a place of knowledge and skill and expertise around what it is to operate a business. And oftentimes I think people think about it from a corporate point of view or like the business analysts in corporate environments, but really like all of the skills that you learn, the techniques, the tools of being a good business analyst are so applicable to running your own business and being an entrepreneur. And I think it's it's a very um I echo everything that you said. I think it makes a really big difference in terms of your ability to be effective and not just making decisions upfront about whether this business should go forward. Like, do I have a good idea? Am I, you know, do I have all of my ducks in a row? Do I know? But also once you start operating the business, how do you expand and scale and grow that business over time? Um I think business analysis is a very powerful. And as well, you touched on it, the underlying competencies of what it takes to be a good business analyst, you know, the leadership skills, communication skills, organizational time management, all of these different pieces are so foundational to being a great entrepreneur and make the biggest difference. So I I really do uh agree with you that I think it it gives you a leg up. It definitely gives you a leg up in terms of being a business owner, for sure. So you mentioned a little bit earlier some of the volunteer and I, you know, the volunteer work you do. Why is again, and and also you mentioned going back to Nigeria and taking your lessons that you've learned here and you know, your network and some of the things and being able to leverage that to make a difference back home. Why is sustainable development and specifically women's economic empowerment so important to you, IT? Why is that why does that matter to you?

SPEAKER_03 24:21

In one word, before I go into details, I would say that women are actually the strong force to having a great and better world. Uh, one of the things one of my mentors told me uh was um you look at a woman and then uh you you give her um a couple of maybe you give her like five dollars, she's gonna triple that five dollars uh within um a short period of time. They are always good in managing finances, helping you to manage your life as a person, as a as a man. And I'm so happy that I'm married to understand and know what um women are actually good for. So I have always been uh an advocate for investing in women's economic empowerment and development. That has always been my thing. I remember when growing up, my mom always told me that uh, whenever I see um a woman being bullied, I'd actually turn back to look at those that are bullying her or talking to that woman disrespectfully. So I have always been that person. Um, so for me, um, in when I joined the sustainable development um goal before then there was the Millennium Development Goals, and um I was a very um focal uh point when it comes to that um millennium development goal. I used to belong to a group where I was the head of IT there, so I knew I was the one in charge of communication, so it was something that was interesting to me. And when when they they proceeded with having the uh sustainable development goals, I just said, you know what, women is actually the focus because I've over time I've actually known it's noticed that um in organizations people don't promote women a lot. Uh they say that they cannot do what a man would do because they are they are so focused on having a good um welfare for their families. So they are not able to concentrate on the role that they are being provided in the organization. And that has always been something that when I when I when I've been I mean working with corporate um organizations, when I'm there, I I feel so bad and I feel so it's it actually hurt me and it gets me emotional when I hear those um words coming from top management in an organization. So and I always know that it is disappropriately and is it is disappropriate, sorry, and it's not good uh because it that is more of discrimination and exploitation, so and which I didn't support. So having gender balance was my focal point, and that's why I joined the women development team to actually promote women. So everything, every time you see me, and maybe that's one of the reasons why we're working together as partners, is that I want to start as much as possible to support you because I know that uh what you what you can achieve as uh as a woman, it's it's much more than what people can actually uh envisage. So uh for me, uh gender discrimination means uh it doesn't go well with me. It doesn't go well with me. And that's why I I decided to to pursue that opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 28:02

So it's interesting, right? Because like I'm just like present to this now and what you're sharing, which was really beautiful, and and just thank you for your your partnership and your advocacy as a man. I think that's important. I I remember there was uh this this TED talk I heard once about uh just what it's gonna take to shift some of and and it's and it's interesting. I was like, I'm all over the place right now because I'm just like my brain is like, oh, there's so many things to talk about. I was reading this uh this book on identity in Canada, and it was saying like the whole conversation about feminism in Canada. Oftentimes people will say, well, women have it so good here. Like it's like the we don't need a feminist movement in Canada because they're like we have so many things around you know equality and equity written into HR policies and in government doctrines, and and it's talking about the difference between what's kind of embedded in the structures of a an a country or an organization as like the this is what we say we do versus people's experience of life as lived. So it's like, okay, great, we have you know gender equality policies, but what is the experience of women in the organization or in the in the country? Do they actually have the experience of being treated equitably, that they're being paid the same, like all of those different things? And this TED talk was so powerful. He talked about language and about advocacy and the the important role that men play in this conversation. And he was specifically talking about domestic violence in this case or gender violence, and it's a very fascinating TED talk. But he said there are it's not about that men's voices are more powerful than women's voices, it's just that there are certain places in which men's voices get heard in a way that women's voices don't get heard. So, you know, for me personally, to you as a woman, I just thank you for your for your partnership and your advocacy and and for bringing, you know, and having that be so important to you. And what I'm present to for myself in this is how much we cut off and limit, right? So what could be possible when women and men come to the table in equal partnership across life, right? Professional, personal, and there are critical roles that men play, like so important to male energy and masculine in the home and with the raising of children. And so it's almost like what's the opportunity loss of not having full partnership between men and women in all of the different spheres of life?

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

Because we really do bring such different things to the conversation and we create in different ways and we communicate in different ways and we build and we plan and we think in different ways. And so when you have that full, full partnership together, I think that that's really a beautiful thing. And um like I'm really excited to have you on the team and to be creating with you. And I'm looking forward to you the things that we're gonna be creating in 2021 at Amber Howard and Associates, and just grateful that you were just like such a yes. It's like, oh yeah, like it's like no-brainer. Of course, I want to be involved, right? So really cool. What what have some of your inspirations been throughout your life, IT? I think that's a big, and to put that in a little bit of context, I think it's important when you're a C when you're a CEO of your own life, when you're CEO of your own company, when you're an entrepreneur, there's no one standing over you saying, okay, get up and get to work today, or whatever. And so I think it is important for us to surround ourselves with reading materials, people, podcasts, influencers, whoever it is that's you know, there's so many people out there. We've got a plethora of people that we can look to, which I think is brilliant from different cultures and with different things to say. But I think it is really important to be feeding ourselves, our spirits, our minds, our our um, all of that with uh people who inspire us or motivate us to continue in those moments where maybe we have doubt and stuff. So, what have some of your inspirations been throughout your career?

SPEAKER_03 32:27

Um, one of the uh quotes that I used to um I still love and uh that inspires me a lot was a quote by uh Steve Jobs. He said, and I quote, being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me. But going to bed at night saying we have done something wonderful, that's what matters to me. Now most times when so there are there are ways in which I have actually um taken that quote and I've narrated it in my own way, and I have always gotten different definitions from it at every point in time. Now, the first thing was being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me. So there are a lot of people, there are a lot of talent, there are a lot of wealthy people in the cemetery. But what matters to me as a person is that I have done something wonderful. Even if I'm in the cemetery today, I have been able to influence people's lives positively, and that I was always being my advocate. I was I have always advocated to making people happy, no matter what. Wherever I find myself, it'sn't some even sometimes at the cost of myself, my own happiness, I want to make tend to make other people happy. So and that me making something wonderful, mean create me being creating something that can actually help people, that can help people to uh do things better in a better way, uh, that that can assist people to to have a better life. So that has always been something that has always motivated me. Every day when I wake up and when I go to bed, I do um a one-on-one discussion with myself and I ask myself before I go to bed what what impact have you made in people's life today? Whether at work, whether as an entrepreneur, whether as an innovator, whether as an inventor, what have you done differently to help people? That has always motivated me. And has always been my source of motivation over the course of my life.

SPEAKER_02 35:09

It's really beautiful, IT.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

And uh I'm I'm present when you say that uh there's I can't remember who said it now, but talks about the richest the place in the world is the cemetery, because so many ideas are died there, never to be given birth. That might be Napoleon Hill. It's probably Napoleon Hill. Uh, but really like that idea that like so many people, and and I remember when we started this podcast series, I had a conversation with a friend of mine, Nina, and I was just like saddened by the fact that like so many human beings never actually discover for themselves why they were created.

SPEAKER_02 35:46

Like every living thing is created to serve a purpose, and it's unique for all of us. And when we well, I what I hear in what you're saying is when when you're aligned and in tune with that purpose, you're excited, you're lit up, you you know, you want to get up every day and be of service and be a contribution to other people in whatever way that looks like. But it's really important, I think, it for us to really do that looking for ourselves, regardless of whether we're an entrepreneur or not. Because it doesn't have to be that your purpose is some grand plan to transform life on the planet. It could just be that your purpose is to be an extraordinary parent or or family member or community, like whatever it is, like purpose is like that. That's it's each of us gets to create that and discover that. But to be in that conversation, like the quality, my mentor Danielle says the quality of your life is given by the quality of your questions, the questions you ask. That's a quality question. Why was I created? Yeah, why am I here? Why? And actually, like be in the inquiry and the discovery of that, you know, Socrates, like the the that that dialectic, that inquiry of like really doing the looking. What why was I created?

unknown 37:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:01

What am I here to fulfill upon? And is the and then take doing like being authentic and real with yourself and looking at your life and saying, well, am I fulfilling on that?

unknown 37:11

True.

SPEAKER_02 37:12

Can I look myself in the mirror at the end of the day? Can I be with myself and really know that I did my best today instead of fulfilling on why I was created? And your best, which is one of my big discoveries over the holidays, is your best doesn't look the same every day.

unknown 37:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:27

It's a your best is a moving target. And you shouldn't be like holding yourself, you know, to the standard of your best, which is like you, you know, just but can you authentically look at yourself in the mirror at the end of any day or as you close your your eyes to go to bed and and and be, you know, and and it on the days you didn't do your best, just go, okay, got it. Well, tomorrow's another opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 37:48

Tomorrow's another day.

SPEAKER_02 37:49

Tomorrow's another opportunity to do my best, you know. I think that's beautiful. Yeah. So one of the things that you've been doing, and and you're the second person I've had on the show, maybe second or third. So a lot of the people I interview are just straight entrepreneurs, they're they're not working in corporate environments anymore. But one of the things that I know about you is you you're still like you're doing the entrepreneur thing. You have this company in Africa, you're also working with me on business development, uh, and you're also working in a corporate environment. So talk to me a little bit about that because I think sometimes when people either like start to get an idea about becoming an entrepreneur, or you know, it's like, oh, it's got to be either or. I can't be a business owner and work a full-time job. And there's something very lovely about the financial stability that comes with having a paycheck coming in every two weeks or every month, right? So uh financial stability and security is very fun, you know. Maslow would tell us it's like so important. It's foundational to being a to thriving as a human being. You can't actually so, but a lot of entrepreneurs, I think they think they have to give up the corporate gig in order to be able to go out on their own in business. So, talk to me a little bit about your journey around this and how you balance both of those.

SPEAKER_03 39:16

Um that's also a very big question because um balancing both, it's it's a very tough, tough spot. It is actually a very tough spot. Uh, because uh sometimes you're you're doing your um your career, career role, and then you got you get a call and that um something has not gone properly the way you plan. And then you are you're you cannot leave where you are because you just feel that you you have to be at that other place, but then you have to be here. So um it's kind of like um just um cultivating the right mindset and being able to um fire your inner critique and um also find that inner coach of yours. To be able to be a successful entrepreneur and being a career person like myself, you need to have those qualities. You need to be able to know that um you cannot be at the uh at different places at a time. So you need to set up a a strategy to be able to um actually assist you in mitigating what might be uh the risk that is associated to the uh to your product and have the right place right people in place. I am a co-founder of my business, oops, and one of the things I know that I am not very good at is that I am not good at um managing uh the financials of the business. I can discuss about it because I have experience about it. I've worked on um financial statements and I've worked on several projects that I have to discuss about uh uh cost-benefit analysis, return on investment. But then I just felt that you need to have the right partner, having the right partner, having the right person. And that's why I my partner, I actually looked for my partner. I actually went to look for my partner. I didn't just get any partner, I got a partner who is uh a certified accountant, who I know that he knows the books, and who it will be so easy for our business to you know to manage our finances and in and out profits and loss, because I know I'm not good in there. I've always been that person that I'm not that good in that kind of um um space. And uh that's that's it for me. Uh, just have the right partner uh and make sure that you put the right strategy in place such that if there's any um, let me say, more of a disaster management kind of plan. So, I mean, when anything goes wrong, it's a this business will take care of itself. I mean, I'm not in Nigeria now, and my business is still running. Um, if I was in Nigeria, if if if I am if if they call me today and they say, Oh, there's a problem in the business, I'm like, you guys sort it out. Like that's why you're there. I have the right people, have the right, uh, the right persons. I mean, and one of the things I did was that when I was going, I I actually looked at my my shares and I said, um, I I I sold out like part of my shares to some of the employees. And it was the strategy. I had the highest share, but then I I met with my co-partner, co-founder, and we discussed about it. So, what we did was that so that I would not have a lower share, and he would have the majority share as a business, it becomes the business owner automatically. So I made him to agree that let's give these guys uh some of our shares, such that it is their share, it is their business. They're not going to allow the business to go down. So now they're working like it is their own because it is their own. I just felt it there's no yes, it doesn't want me holding on to the shares, but then motivating people with those shares to actually get the business to where it is today. The business is still running. I mean, a lot of people are making uh others, and we're even getting others outside of the country, and these are people that are that we employed and today they're part of the they're part of the uh the the the shareholders. So create the right um platform have the right partner try to be as much um as much uh how will i say uh this i mean just make sure that the business is is in in the right standing by doing the right thing and not holding on to things um making the making um thinking that you own everything we don't owe everything because uh uh i maybe traveling to canada today and something else happens so the business you'll be able to continue the business you'll be able to grow even after i've left so and that's that's has always been my philosophy and that has always been my learning curve over time and it has always helped me and it's still helping today so that's yeah I love that the partnership and and I also hear ownership right like giving your employees ownership and and so just creates this environment where everyone is on the same page and and looking to achieve the same goals and really invested like have invested in the success of the business.

SPEAKER_01 45:03

And you also touched I on IT and and I can attest for myself especially over the training I've done over the last kind of six months in the importance of mindset.

SPEAKER_02 45:15

You know, which is why that is going to be one of my focuses in terms of my coaching and my training and development of people going into 2021. We can give people the best plan and the best strategy but if at the end of the day in their own mind they don't believe they're worthy of success, the best plan's not going to make the a difference. So as an entrepreneur it's like you want to make sure you're you're you have the right strategy, you're in the right niche and you've got the right target mark and like all of those things for sure you're at the right platforms and you've got a good plan but you're also tending to the internal you know you're as you said you're firing your internal critic critic you're you're making sure that you're doing the work on your own mind to ensure that you're you've got all of the different pieces to be successful, which is so great. Well IT I could talk to you forever and I probably will but just thank you so much for being on the show this week uh I look forward to kind of continuing to to grow in partnership with you and create in the world and I'm sure this will not be the last time I have you on the show.

SPEAKER_01 46:19

So just thank you so much for being here tonight.

SPEAKER_03 46:21

Thank you so much Amber for your time and I do appreciate this as well.

SPEAKER_00 46:26

I mean it's it's um I've learned a lot and I'm still learning every day I learn so much from you so it's um I'm I'm so happy to be here and also I'm happy to be able to share uh my culture uh and what we do back home um that we're we're kind of uh and they we're kind of business minded people we we want to do business we want to you know we want to make a difference so I'm so happy that you gave me this opportunity to have this discussion thank you so much and we would have a better 2021 hopefully oh 2021's gonna be incredible for everyone listening thank you so much for joining IT and I and if you want to connect with them on LinkedIn they you know the information will be in the show notes and just thank you for joining us for this conversation have a wonderful evening thank you so much for joining us for this week's episode for show info visit what wouldamberdo.com and for information about Amber Howard and associates' offerings and services visit amberhowdec.com