Category: Launch Your Career

What Every Career Woman Can Learn from These Black Iconic Women

by She Leads Africa

It can be challenging to navigate the professional world. Especially while trying to find yourself in your career journey.  However, there are many black women who have come before us and blazed trails. They prove that anything is possible with hard work and determination. 

Mo Abudu highlights the importance of pursuing a career you love, while Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma emphasizes the importance of self-confidence. Lupita Nyong’o encourages women to stay true to themselves and never let anyone dim their light. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka motivates women to believe in their abilities and not let anyone tell them they can’t do something. Finally, Wangari Maathai inspires women to stand up for their rights and encourage others to do the same.

Here are six quotes from some of the most renowned black women in Africa. Wise words that every career woman can learn from.

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

– Mo Abudu, Nigeria

Mo Abudu is a Nigerian media mogul and philanthropist. She has made a name for herself in the media industry. Her quote emphasizes the importance of loving what you do in order to achieve success. Pursue a career that you’re passionate about.This will keep you motivated to work hard and achieve your goals.

 

“You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.”

– Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa

Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is a South African politician. She is also the first woman to lead the African Union Commission. Her quote emphasizes the importance of self-confidence and believing in your own abilities. Trust yourself and your abilities in order to achieve your goals.

“Stay true to who you are, and never let anyone dim your light.”

– Lupita Nyong’o, Kenyan-Mexican actress and producer

Lupita Nyong’o is a Kenyan-Mexican actress and producer who has made a name for herself in Hollywood. She has won numerous awards for her acting, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Nyong’o’s message is to stay true to who you are and never let anyone dim your light. Embrace your uniqueness and let your light shine bright.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.”

– Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, South African politician and UN Under-Secretary-General, South Africa

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is a South African politician and activist who has been a strong advocate for women’s rights throughout her career. She served as the Deputy President of South Africa and is currently the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women. Mlambo-Ngcuka’s message is clear: don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. With hard work and determination, anything is possible.

“The beauty of standing up for your rights is that others see you standing and stand up as well.”

– Wangari Maathai, Kenya

This quote by Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental and political activist, can inspire career women to be confident and vocal in advocating for their rights and the rights of others. By standing up for themselves, they can encourage others to do the same and create positive change in their workplaces and communities.

The professional world can be challenging, but these six quotes from renowned black women in Africa provide guidance and inspiration for every career woman.

These wise words remind us that with hard work, determination, and self-confidence, anything is possible in the professional world.

The Boss-Level Talk From The Confidence in Action Summit Nigeria

by Elvira Dias

Have you ever started a new job and realized you hate it? Are you finding it hard to get your dream job or even a job? Would you like to know how to position yourself as the best job candidate? 

 

The Confidence in Action Summit helped the Nigerian Motherland Moguls discover how to build their professional brands and answer the questions above. It was juiced up with the boss-level talk that elevates careers and took place on the 12th of February 2022. 

 

SLA partnered with Darling Nigeria to bring the summit to 3 African countries. It kicked off in South Africa, came to Nigeria and now is headed to Kenya. 

 

More than 2,900 Nigerian queens showed up to the free, 3hrs of masterclasses, workshops, networking sessions and the keynote speech ‘Bouncing Back From Rejection’ given by Dr Chinny Ogunro.

 

All attendees had direct access to some of Nigeria’s high profile career experts, and it was epic. 

The career expert speakers and coaches included Isioma Coker, an HR Advisor Team Lead at Shell. Nwamaka Okey-Aguorun, Senior HR Manager at Diageo – Guinness Nigeria. Toun Tunde-Anjous, founder & CEO of The People Practice. Tiwalola Ogunlesi, international speaker, author and founder of Confident and Killing it. 

 

If you missed the South African and Nigerian summits, register for the Kenyan summit taking place on the 19th of February 2022. You wouldn’t want to miss out on another chance to build the professional brand of your dreams and grow your network.

 

Here are the Boss-Lady Conversations You’ve Missed

 

We learnt how to revamp our professional profile, make a strategic career plan and build our network.  

 

The attendees had the option to be in a masterclass or networking session each hour before the keynote speaker. They were also coached on how to harness communication skills needed to negotiate job offers, ace job interviews and gain strategies to propel their career forward. 

 

Masterclass 1:  Getting Unstuck When You Feel Trapped In A Job with Isioma Coker.

 

Masterclass 2:  How to Position Yourself As The Best Candidate For The Job with Nwamaka Okey-Aguoru. 

 

Workshop 1: Do Things & Tell People: Develop Your Professional Brand to Land Your Dream Job with Tiwalola Ogunlesi.

 

Workshop 2:  How To Find A Job That You Actually Care About with Toun Tunde-Anjous.

 

We lit things up with Confidence in Action and showed our boss ladies how to launch powerful professional brands!

 

We were captivated by world-class information, tips and advice on owning our careers and being intentional about our career moves, from the beginning to the end.

 

Here’s to raising a glass to all our boss ladies who showed up for the Nigerian summit. They came out in numbers to take in the career gems we had prepared for them, and it was an experience worth watching again. You can watch the masterclasses and keynote speeches on YouTube to get a snippet of how the summit was. 

The Winning Resume By Veronica Alfred

by Veronica Alfred

Writing a resume can be frustrating, especially when there are a zillion contradicting opinions about what works and doesn’t work. I recently figured why it was tough to write a resume by testing out resume types and personally applying to some companies. This gave me a huge opportunity to measure, analyze, and test the effectiveness of different resume types.

In this article, I’ll share what I have learned as well as provide some valuable tips on the best ways to write a winning resume.

Over the years, I have read various “how to write a resume” blogs, attended several employability workshops and I realized that most of the advice out there has not been proven against the actual end goal of getting a job. It’s easy to say “one page works best” when you’ve seen it happen a few times, but how does this hold up when we look at 100 theories against resumes from different industries, experience levels, and job titles.

Based on my research, here’s what works and what doesn’t work:

  • Quantitative Results/Achievements 

Most resumes lack them. The goal is to give the recruiter a solid reason to not only look over the full resume but also move you through to the next stage of the interview process. Many of us tend to flood our resumes with a list of job responsibilities/duties forgetting that the recruiter knows what you should have been doing every day on the job. Think about it, the reason for a role is to meet a need, your resume should speak to your knowledge of the need and how you have tackled these challenges successfully. This has been tried and tested by yours truly and I must say, the invitations came within hours of applying. 

Here’s an example:
Executed in-house marketing strategy that resulted in a 15% increase in monthly leads along with a 5% drop in the cost per lead
  • Simple Design

These days, it’s easy to get carried away with our mission to “stand out.” I’ve seen colourful Canva resumes from graphic designers, video resumes, and even resumes with images of candidates in very unprofessional outfits. While those can work in very specific situations, we want to aim for a strategy that consistently gets results. The format I saw the most success with was a black and white template with sections in this format:

Professional Summary/Objective
Skills/Interests Education Experience- focus on achievements) References (Available on request)

According to research, hiring managers scan resumes for an average of 6 seconds. If your resume is in an unfamiliar format, those 6 seconds won’t be very comfortable for the hiring manager. Our brains prefer things we can easily recognize and digest so you want to make sure that a hiring manager can get the full scope just by glancing at your resume.

  • Short and Concise Resume 

As times change, processes change too. Back in the day, we had 3-4 pages of resumes to prove that we had been successful or good enough for a role. We would even go as far as including volunteer, industrial attachments, and summer jobs just to make our resumes lengthy. Today it is the opposite with the introduction of ATS software and focus being on accomplishments and not job duties. As much as possible, you want to make your CV short, simple, straight to the point, and specific to the role you are applying for. 

Here’s what did not work:

  • Grammatical Issues (typos, spelling errors, & grammatical mistakes)  

In my research and years of reviewing resumes, I found that close to 60% of resumes have some sort of typo or grammatical issue. Have your resume reviewed on three separate occasions – by spell-checking software, like Grammarly, by a friend and by a professional. Spell check should be covered if you’re using Microsoft Word or Google Docs to create your resume.

  • Lengthy Resumes 

As earlier stated, recruiters spend an average of six seconds reviewing your resume and if it’s more than one or two pages, it probably isn’t going to be read. Increase your margins, decrease your font, and cut down your experience to highlight the most relevant pieces for the role. When you’re dealing with recruiters who see hundreds of resumes every day, you want to make their lives as easy as possible.

  • Buzzwords 

It is important to not use too many buzzwords. Yes, you’re a hard-working innovator with excellent communication skills but so is nearly every job applicant you’re competing with – at least according to their resumes. Instead of using buzzwords, write naturally, use bullets, and include quantitative results whenever possible. Think about it, would you rather hire a salesperson who “is responsible for driving new business across various sectors to help companies achieve their goals” or “drove $15M of new business last quarter, including the largest deal in company history”? 

An example:
‘Creative,’ ‘outside the box,’ ‘innovative’

What you think it says: “I come up with good, new ideas.”

“If you could think ‘outside the box,’ you’d be able to phrase it less blandly,” Scherwin says. These trite descriptors can undermine your case if you don’t back them up with specifics.

In addition to the above, I have also found that resumes with a link to a comprehensive LinkedIn profile have a 71% better chance of hearing back, 76% of resumes are discarded for an unprofessional email address. Resumes with a photo have an 88% rejection rate. 58% of resumes have typos. Applicant tracking software typically eliminates 75% of resumes due to a lack of keywords and phrases being present.

Now that you know every mistake you need to avoid, the first item on your to-do list is to comb through your current resume and make sure it doesn’t violate anything mentioned above. This experiment led me to understand that If you don’t know what consistently works, you can’t lay out a system to get there.

2021 Workplace Superpowers – The Musthaves

by Veronica Alfred

If I was asked what my special skills were a year ago, it would definitely differ from now. 2020 came with a twist and remote work forced every one of us to learn how to Do It Yourself (and I don’t mean cooking).

Here are some of the must-have skills for 2021 that will make you more sellable to recruiters, and an asset in your current workplace.

The requirements for success in the workplace are changing and what matters most is your ability to adapt to change/trends as they come.- Nneka Alfred, Head of HR, She Leads Africa Click To Tweet

Hard Skills for the Workplace


1. Data Analytics: The workplace today requires us to think in data. This requires us to do a bit more research, crunch those numbers, understand raw data and drive business growth based on concrete analysis.

2. Content Creation: Your ability to produce entertaining or educational material that not only caters to the interests and challenges of a target audience but increases engagement and conversions definitely sets you apart from others in your field.

The content you produce can take many forms, including blog posts, videos, graphic design and newsletters. 

3. Marketing: Businesses worldwide need analytical people who understand what sort of tools are available in the growing digital toolbox, and know how to dig in through trusted channels.

4. Sales: This can pass for both a hard skill and a soft skill as sales involves persuasion, but with a specific commercial end in mind. Your ability to convert leads to revenue would give you a spot in any workplace.

5. Video production: The average person will watch 25 continuous days of video in 2021. Video content is quickly becoming the dominant form of all communication and companies are fighting to create effective digital video assets.

6. Product Development: This involves managing the process of developing a product or enhancing existing products in order to meet customer expectations effectively. If you haven’t noticed, times are changing and the direction of products being developed is too. 

Soft Skills for the Workplace

1. Creativity: Developing new ideas, applying new solutions to address existing problems.  Some people are naturally creative on their own, but a lot of us need to bounce ideas off others to get the creative juices flowing.

An ability to learn continuously and willingness to adapt to change is essential to boost your creativity.

2. Communication skills: Interpreting information through speaking, listening and observing is a must-have skill for 2021. Organizing thoughts and data points into a comprehensive, holistic narrative will get you where you need to be in your career.

3. Collaboration: Collaboration suffers when roles and goals are not defined. The next time you take on a group project, strike up a conversation about what success looks like, and who’s doing what. This simple act can get everyone rowing together faster and more effectively. 

The next time you take on a group project, strike up a conversation about what success looks like, and who's doing what.- Nneka Alfred, Head of HR, She Leads Africa Click To Tweet

4. Adaptability: Manage your mindset. The ability to adapt to changing circumstances starts with a mindset that’s willing to adapt to changing circumstances. If you tend to balk at change, reflect on the reasons why — and then see if you can reframe your perspective to help you see things differently.

5. Emotional intelligence: Practicing control, knowing when to push, expressing yourself and observation of interpersonal relationships among people in a workplace is very important when working with people.

6. Leadership: Leadership in the 21st century is much more about influence than authority, learning to appreciate and adapt to people with different perspectives, priorities, and personalities is a key skill to develop.

Having a difficult time figuring out your superpowers? 

2021 workplace skills

Here are three questions you can answer to guide you:

  • What unique contribution do you bring to projects, conversations, and meetings you attend?
  • Why do team members come to you for help?
  • What would be missing if you were to leave your current place of work?

If you are unable to answer these questions yourself, ask a colleague or friend. If your answers do not reflect the skills listed above, don’t relent or give up. The internet is packed with so much information, take some short courses, seek guidance from a work buddy, mentor or your boss. 

A superpower isn’t just a skill but a perspective, a mindset and a way of working that enhances everything you touch. The requirements for success in the workplace are changing and what matters most is your ability to adapt to change/trends as they come.

Visibility In The Workplace – The Why and How

by Veronica Alfred

Do you believe that out of sight is out of mind? Is remote work affecting your visibility in the workplace? When remote work was introduced, it was perceived as a step in the direction of work-life balance.

For many people, it allowed them to combine carrying responsibilities and work more easily while others struggled with remaining visible. In this article, I will be sharing the importance of increasing visibility in the workplace and some of the potential ways to achieve this.

The importance of standing out from the crowd at the Workplace


Exclusive access to opportunities

If you are constantly hitting those numbers, delivering results and solutions, everyone would want you on their team. Let’s face facts, everyone wants to work with the 5-star performer. It gives you that reassurance of success. If you have exhibited great skills and abilities and other people in the organization are aware of them, there’s a high likelihood that you will be picked for the next opportunity in your company and beyond. I speak from experience when I say, great work reputation travels fast in the job market. So work hard on building that visibility so when next there is a big-money event, you are top of the list.


Continuous learning and improvement

Good work requires that you work with people often. Most times, you might be working across teams with different people and this, in turn, exposes you to more learning opportunities. As you work on something new or take on new projects, you can acquire valuable learnings that add to your experience.


Stellar Appraisal Ratings

When an employee gets very good appreciation and job appraisal after working for the year, the chance of their stability involuntarily increases alongside promotions. People would always advocate for you during those meetings and this helps your manager justify your performance. The quality of work comes first i.e. your performance on tasks will get more weight but an endorsement from other managers in the organization can go a long way in your cause of getting a good rating or promotion.

In summary, the benefits include exclusive access to opportunities, stellar ratings, promotions, and an opportunity to learn. 


Tips on how to go from invisible to visible

Speak up in Meetings


A closed mouth during meetings does not provide recognition or visibility. Do your research well in advance before team meetings, ask good questions, make solid recommendations, push back on ideas that you do not find feasible during meetings. Contribute, speak up, and let your voice be heard.


Participate in Learning Opportunities

Make time to be part of team learning sessions, individual training sessions, and utilize resources that have been made available to the team. Acquiring more knowledge would not only improve your ability to function effectively but improve your expertise in a particular product, service, or process. Once you’re an expert on something, people will always come to you to ask for help in that matter. This is effortless visibility. 

Demonstrate Your Expertise

Most organizations admire employees who can bring something unique to the company. If you have some creative idea/skill which could improve organizational processes, reduce cost, bring more revenue, increase employee satisfaction, or reduce cycle time, etc. do not hesitate to bring your skills to bear. If the idea is implemented, you become a star in the organization. There are chances the idea may not be implemented, don’t feel discouraged because management will appraise the fact that you’re making an effort to do something different and unique.

Strengthen your relationship with your boss

A good relationship with your boss is one of the most important parts of your success story. It may be helpful to align on goals and see things from their perspective. Understand their priorities and preferred mode of communication. Focus on the positive, everyone has something worth respecting. Try to get to know your manager on a personal level by engaging them in conversation on topics beyond work. 

Participate in team activities

You might work or an organization where different teams are working on different projects/tasks. Try to find an opportunity to collaborate (on a specific project/task) with other teams than your existing one. You can seize this opportunity to highlight your skills and abilities in different teams. Besides, this will show your drive for initiatives and developing a positive image for yourself.

In the world today, being good at your job isn’t the only requisite for getting ahead in your career. If key people aren’t aware of you, you’ll likely miss out on opportunities to improve your skills and take on interesting assignments, despite your hard work and good performance. This is especially important if you work remotely because people might forget about you if they don’t often see you in person.

Team Building – A necessity or waste of time

by Veronica Alfred

Despite the misconception that team building is lame and barely seen as relevant, did you know that team building is the most important investments you can make for your team?

It builds trust, mitigates conflict, encourages communication, and increases collaboration. Effective team building means more engaged employees, which is good for company culture and boosting the bottom line. 

In this article, I will be talking about the importance of team building and sharing some valuable tips on how to plan effective team building activities.

Why Team Building?

1. Networking and socializing 

Socializing and getting to know your team in the workplace is one of the best ways to increase productivity in the office. Team building boosts morale and also allows for team members to work better at solving everyday workplace issues.

2. Teamwork and boosting overall performance

Employees tend to understand each other better after completing a team-building activity. It becomes easier to identify each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests. This collaborative spirit and team effort helps everyone work even better together on future projects vital to a company’s progress.


3. Fostering of innovation and creativity

Successful team building events not only bring people closer together, but they also contribute to a more successful and creative workplace. Games and competitive exercises become more challenging as people tend to have a larger imagination when they are around people they are comfortable with. 


4. Communication 

To no surprise, communication and working better together is the top reason why people choose team bonding. Everybody desires a friendly work environment, where people are comfortable and happy to talk to and collaborate with anyone. One of the results of team bonding is that the activities actually work to improve communication.

Are you looking to improve your team’s communication skills, collaborativeness and performance? Why don’t you try these tips when planning your next team building soiree:

  1. Identify the goal of this event

This includes identifying what you want the focus to be on. It is best to plan an entire team-building session around key objectives. For example, if you want to foster better communication among group members, then your activities should include initiatives that call for various combinations of players taking a leadership role in giving directions, commands, or ideas in both verbal and non-verbal mediums.

  1. Replace the usual team dinner with something new

Choosing something unique and slightly outside of people’s comfort zones can encourage them to come together in new ways. Take your team paintballing or maybe to a boxing ring to let off some steam. A little physically challenging activity might be all you need to get people to destress. 

  1. Quit looking at it as a favor but as an investment

This event isn’t fluff. You don’t have to break the bank for something fancy or to go on expensive trips or experiences, but don’t skimp either. Be willing to make a real investment. Bad experiences stick longer than beautiful memories. 

  1. Keep it up

Most team-building events fall flat because it’s a one-time activity that is done and then forgotten. It’s key to find ways to keep organizing these events.

The challenge is creating opportunities for people to connect and interact in meaningful ways, outside of regular meetings or presentations. One way we do this is to have a monthly team hurdle. At this event, team members can celebrate achievements and show appreciation to their co-workers.  

  1. Assessment/ Evaluation

After team bonding exercises, you must evaluate and measure impact. For you to measure a team member’s ability to collaborate with other departments on projects, I would recommend that this be evaluated or assessed during performance appraisal.

This can be done in the form of a questionnaire, survey or during 1-on-1s with other team members. This is the easiest way to track improvement when it involves showing team effort.

How do you know you’ve gotten team building right? If there was laughter, a sense of excitement and accomplishment, and maybe a few Instagram moments, you’re definitely on the right track! A little adventure can unlock many levels of creativity.

The Ideal Startup Employee

by Veronica Alfred

In the 1950s, the average age of a company on the S&P 500 index was 60. Today, that number is less than 18. This just means that the most successful corporations are growing three times faster than they have in the past. To succeed at this rate of rapid change, employees and business leaders in start-ups have had to adapt by adopting growth mindsets, learning new skills, and embracing flexibility. 

In this article, I will be sharing some valuable tips that make you stand out as an exceptional startup employee.

It takes a certain type of personality to want to work at a startup . So just before you submit that resume, take a moment to compare your assets to these must-have traits below:

1. Adopting the Idea Generator personality 

Most business owners value employees who are able to take it upon themselves to do some exploring on their own, generate, develop, and communicate new ideas while figuring out solutions to difficult challenges. This involves taking ownership and wearing the hat of a divergent thinker. Come up with many ideas, select the best idea (or ideas) and work to implement the idea and put it into practice frequently.

2. Thriving in organized chaos

The best way to describe a startup is as fragile as a newborn baby. Some days, you wake up and realize, “What we’re building isn’t actually scalable.” The immediate reaction to this would be to change things immediately. The best startup employees not only understand this but are ready to adapt to new changes alongside helping you spot issues along the way  for the improvement of the whole.

“Challenges can get overwhelming, and by extension, the work at SLA can get overwhelming as well. However, nothing beats the satisfaction of completed tasks and goals.”- A She Leads Africa Employee Click To Tweet

3. Adapt to changing processes

As times change, processes change too. What that means is, you have to not expect things to always be set in stone in a startup. Obviously, the goal for these sorts of organizations is to find the ideal standards and build processes and best practices that scale and age well. Most of all, the ideal employee just understands when things need to change at a moment’s notice and be willing to run and sprint with it.

4. Look beyond the formal job responsibilities

When you’re working in a startup environment, there is a never-ending list of things that can be done. On some days, my to-do list ranges from “in the weeds” tasks like prospective candidate follow-ups, vendor follow-ups and training new employees.

Juggling multiple tasks can be extremely mentally tasking, however, the great startup employees realize they are building their “future role” at the company and beyond so they take it upon themselves to not only get their own work done, and done exceptionally well, but find other ways to check things off the company’s to-do list– even if it means being a salesperson for an hour.

5. Don’t measure your value between the hours of 9 to 5

In order to be a valuable addition to a fast-growing startup, you have to be fine with the fact that your day won’t always start right at 9:00 AM and end the moment the clock hits 5:00 PM. Some days will start earlier than normal and other days will go late. Some weekends, you’ll even find that you want to get some work done yourself  so that you don’t have a crazy week ahead. In a startup, you typically have more freedom, but with that freedom comes with high expectations of exponential value.

6. Replace short-term rewards for the longer-term payoff

It is common knowledge that building something great takes time. It’s also amazing to hear people say, “I was one of the pioneer staff at Uber,” or, “I was part of the first 20 at Microsoft.” In society, these early employees are praised and idolized almost just as much as the founders.

If you want to be part of that pioneer group though, you have to really come to terms with the fact that none of those early employees signed themselves up for a “job.” Most of them believed in the vision. They wanted to be part of the building process and bring the founder’s vision to life.

7. Be intellectually curious and willing to learn

Working in a startup can be hard because almost everything you do is the “first time.” You’re constantly in exploration mode, which means you’re probably going to be fumbling in the dark for a while.

A great startup employee thrives in this sort of high learning environment. They take it upon themselves to do some learning on their own without management having to necessarily push you. Independently identify resources needed to improve on existing skills.

“The best career advice I have ever gotten is to work for people who will help you grow.  The #WeStayLearning core value of SLA showed me a commitment to supporting my career growth.”- A She Leads Africa Employee Click To Tweet


Every day is a fire-fighting day for a startup. I have come to realize that both large and small companies will invest in team members who are ready to adapt to change with an intense sense of ownership over their responsibilities, and often beyond them as well. Be ready to bring something new to the table on a daily basis!

“I Learnt Perseverance After My Fire Accident” Meet Eco-friendly Entrepreneur, Chidiebere Nnorom

by She Leads Africa

If there’s one thing Chidiebere Nnorom wants us to know, it is that she’s a typical Igbo girl with a never die attitude, never ever wanting to give up! Even after going through a rough patch, she refused to succumb and found her way back up.

Chidiebere Nnorom is the Co-founder of Paperbag by Ebees. She has a strong passion for the environment, social impact and business.  

Watch this space as Chidiebere is determined to change norms and make waves as an entrepreneur, environmentalist and a young global leader. Scroll down to read more of her story.

What’s your background story?

Before my business grew to the stage it is at now, I went through a lot! I was involved in a fire accident which kept me indoors for a while. I had to stop business operations and lay off staff. It was unbelievable. Imagine being at a point in life where you are clueless about what to do next. Well, that was me then.

It took me almost a year to heal. I couldn’t work or do anything. My savings had been zapped and I kept wondering how I’d scale through. There was a personal instinct to do something, I knew it wasn’t the time to give up but to breakthrough! I needed to turn the light on in my heart and that I did. 

To cut the long story short, the accident was a validation to move on. Months later, I picked up my business and started building up gradually. Next thing I knew, business calls were coming in! People said they saw the paper bag and wanted to order. Some of the paper bags they saw were made way before the accident. The referral rate was massive! I was so elated and grateful I didn’t give up back then.

What ignited the spark to start Paperbag by Ebees?

In 2016, we started off as a food delivery business but one of the problems we faced was the packaging, we just couldn’t find the right packaging. With a background in geography and my love for the environment, we decided to start creating eco-friendly packages.

There were a lot of “buts!” That was the year the foreign exchange was high, fuel scarcity and other things kept creeping in. We had to take a step back to think of how we could make it. My team and I carried out some research, tried out different products, monitored what was moving and what wasn’t. Everything was coming up gradually.

Before I knew it, we made it official!

 

What business challenges have you faced and how have those challenges shaped your mindset?

At the early stages, our major challenge was accessing raw materials in Nigeria. It meant having to buy in large quantities and also importing from China. We had other expenses to run the business and couldn’t afford it.

This caused a setback. We had to think of how to make it ourselves. We carried out some research and found alternative ways to come up with the resources. That was when we started the business for real!

Business development was our second challenge, it took us a while to see that the market was ready. We had to try out different products to see if the market will accept us. It was quite hard, to be honest. After a series of experiments and market research, we were able to count a milestone. Finally! We achieved growth.

These experiences really shaped our mindset as a company. To every business owner out there, celebrate your little wins! We count every little effort we make as a win and an opportunity to do better. I’m learning to take joy in the little things, every small success is a validation. I say to myself, “Chidiebere well done!” It tells me that every step I took at the time was worth it.

 

How do you come up with the designs on your paper bags?

I won’t take all the credit, I have a really good team. My own inspiration came from purpose. The point is, if we chase our real purpose there are things we won’t struggle to do. I found my passion, and everything fell into place.

Finding the right people who know what they are doing is key. I also took some time to learn product design. It’s a combination of all these things.

 

What have you learned so far from running this business?

I was in paid employment and transitioning was quite drastic.

Take your time and plan! If you’re transitioning from paid employment to business, have enough money to cover up for your expenses. Make sure that the business can take care of your bills. There is no need to go through stress because you’re an entrepreneur, life can be easy!

An HR Executive’s Tips for finding a job during COVID-19

by Veronica Alfred

This is by far one of the most challenging times in history. Businesses are shutting down, people have lost jobs and finding a job is even more challenging than ever.

As we adjust to life during a global health pandemic, operations departments all over the world are looking for ways to stay lean to weather the storm. While this might seem scary as hell if you are trying to find a job now, the good news is that there are still a lot of opportunities out there.

As you try to find a job to help you move on to the next phase of your career during COVID-19, here are some smart things you should do.

1. Restrategize

When it comes to finding a job, it might be time for you to go back to the drawing board. Be open to roles outside of your current career path. Think about what you can do today, or in the next 30, 60, and 90 days. It’s fine to take a job outside of your field for a little while, especially if it means it’ll help your personal finances.

Expanding your scope of work may even make you more marketable when the crisis is over. Use this time to explore jobs you may have not considered in the past, and perhaps you’ll find opportunities you’d never have thought of.

finding a job

2. Pick and Choose Your Targets

I cannot overemphasize the importance of research. It is very important to keep up with the latest news on companies hit by the crisis. This may not be the best time to be targeting a job in the oil and gas sector or the aviation sector, for instance.

Find out which companies and industries are still in operation and may not have been hit as much by the pandemic. Top picks to focus on for me would be logistics, technology, food, entertainment and telecommunication industries.

It doesn’t matter how many jobs are or aren’t out there, you must focus on looking for the right one for you- Nneka Alfred, HR Manager at She Leads Africa Click To Tweet

3. Work Your Network

There is no better time to reach out to your network. You may have been in contact with a recruiter, co-founder, or business owner in the past but slowed down on conversations.

Now is the time to rummage through those business social media contacts and let them know you’re available. As a recruiter, I can tell you that during these unprecedented times, what matters is value. More than ever, we rely on referrals and direct candidate sourcing versus investing time/resources on probability.

finding a job

4. Consider Freelancing

Freelancing does not mean that you are not good enough or that you stop chasing a full-time job but you need to keep an open mind. Most companies would rather not commit to long term funded projects as there is no clear or specific timeline for when this pandemic will phase out.

You can get freelance gigs on African focused sites like NoSweat, Jobvine, CediJob, Hausbuddy. You can also check out global freelance sites like Upwork, Fiverr, and Solidgigs. You never know, your first paid gig could be one click away.

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5. Know the job description of the position you are applying for

Knowing more about the role helps you recall past achievements in previous jobs that align with the job description Click To Tweet


It is important that you study the job description to truly understand what the employer is looking for. This is extremely important. While the primary purpose of the job description is to detail the role and entice you to apply, there’s so much more you can do with it.

Knowing more about the role helps you come up with possible interview questions and recall past achievements in previous jobs that align with the job description. This is one of the easiest ways to ace your job interview.

6. Sell Yourself

Selling yourself involves you doing more than learning about the company. You’ll also need to also focus on the employer’s needs.

Learn how to talk about yourself in a meaningful and powerful way. Include testimonials or proof of past achievements to your resume, application, or professional profile. Your resume inspires any recruiter’s first guess, so you want to make sure it’s a compelling portrait of your strengths and skills.

The recruiter should not only see what you were responsible for but how well you did it and how you can make that success happen for them.

7. Ask for advice

We are humans, not robots. And when things don’t go as planned, we feel very sad. Reach out to colleagues, friends, mentors in similar sectors for moral support and practical advice on the best ways to land that job you seek. Be specific about the ways you want them to help you. Do not be afraid to ask for help.

8. Stay Positive

The most important thing when searching for a job in tough economic times is to keep a positive attitude. No matter how hard or how gut-wrenching these times are, my first order of business is to smack myself across the head with the simple message, “I will not give up. Caving in is not an option.”

Focus your energy instead on what you can control. Call that person at your dream company who is friends with your friend. Figure out how to use LinkedIn to your advantage. Take an online Excel course to shore up a required skill. Celebrate after each milestone to keep you energised.

Developing resilience isn’t easy, especially in these tough times. Pause, take a few deep breaths, meditate if you need to. But strap on your boots afterwards and find some new ways to muck your way to victory. You’ll find a job in no time!

Want access to more resources and articles to get you ahead in your career? Visit SheLeadsAfrica.org!

Hannah Olukoye: Working in Information Technology- My Perspective

by Esther Manuela Shem

According to data from the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), only 25% of Information Technology jobs worldwide are held by women. Only 3% of those women are Black/African. There is a huge lack of diversity in the Information Technology Industry.

If you need an image of an African woman working in the IT industry, picture Hannah Olukoye!

Hannah Olukoye is a Kenyan software developer working in the IT industry. She is a graduate of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Actuarial Science.

She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Applied Information Technology at the African Nazarene University. Take a look at how her experience and expertise have opened doors for her as a Software Developer.

In the beginning, there were fewer women in IT compared to the numbers we see now. It was more male-dominated, especially in the local workplace. Click To Tweet

How did you get started in the Information Technology field?

I have always had a passion for programming even though I majored in Actuarial Science at the University. I started off with part-time courses in basic programming languages as soon as I graduated and combined that with a lot of online courses that were offered on free websites.

Information Technology, A group of people sitting at a table Description automatically generated

As an African woman, was it harder for you to enter the IT field?

I am lucky to be born in a country that believes in equality for both genders in education.

Only 25% of Information Technology jobs worldwide are held by women. Only 3% of those women are Black/African. Click To Tweet

In the beginning, there were fewer women in IT compared to the numbers we see now. It was more male-dominated, especially in the local workplace. I would be in teams where we were only two female developers and sometimes, I would be the only female Information Technology expert.

What changes do you foresee in Software Development across Africa?

I see tremendous growth in the number of women sticking to IT, especially when you look at programs like AkiraChix and GADS that are providing more opportunities for developers. These programs provide opportunities to not only learn how to code but also teach them how to make their work stand out.

Information Technology, A person posing for a photo Description automatically generated

I am now part of a team-building an Android application that will use machine learning, algorithms to provide solutions to health workers across Africa. I gained confidence in my knowledge through the community.

Would you encourage African women to pursue a career in Information Technology?

Yes, I would! Most women have a hard time being in the IT field because they are treated unfairly and even underpaid, compared to their male colleagues.

This causes many women to be unable to advance in their careers. One of my goals would be to attain more senior roles in companies or organizations that are leading in the Tech field and change the status quo.