Originally published on Bella Naija by yours truly – 30.03.2016 Things are hard in Nigeria, no doubt about that. Our industries and government work suboptimally, and we’re used to it. New and old graduates face the anxiety of trying to fend for themselves with limited options. An advantage of living in a country like ours,…
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Just because you’ve played a role in the past doesn’t mean you are wedded to that role. If your current context requires something different, dismiss who you’ve been in the past and allow yourself to evolve. Quit putting yourself in a box.
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Two events in one weekend! I really am growing and sticking with my resolutions – doing good that benefits more people. At the beginning of this year, my mantra was “do the work and fall in love with the work.” It’s nice that five months down the line I’m still close to the plan. 2017…
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Originally published on Bella Naija by yours truly -26.05.2016 I recently read a story on James Altucher’s blog where he shared how a friend of his made two million dollars in one morning, without any physical effort on his part. See a short excerpt from their dialogue below: **** Dave: “Oh! I forgot to tell…
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I had the privilege of creating this website for my sister’s wedding coming up in two weeks. It looks quite good if I can say that myself :). See it here, recommend me (!), and drop them a sweet, thoughtful message in their Guest Book if you know them 🙂 xx
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Popcorn, big screens, and good conversation afterwards! I am so excited to be hosting and moderating this event at MEST on April 21. It’s a movie screening – a documentary that follows 5 female startup founders over two years as they pitch to VCs, build teams, bring products to market, fail and start again. It…
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One thing I’ve learnt from recent experiences is that when you step up and start to contribute relevant quota, most people will welcome you, acknowledge you, listen to you and even thank you. If the people in your life treat you like a kid, maybe it’s because you act like one. Think about this.
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On Tuesday, March 28, I was invited to be one of the judges at the #eskills4girls Competition at Impact Hub, Accra. Excited to be one of the judges at the #eskills4girls pitch competition at @ImpactHubAccra – Challenging the gender digital divide pic.twitter.com/oEs5ZFEEfF — 🌻 (@kelechiudoagwu) March 28, 2017 The #eSkills4Girls Competition was designed for ventures,…
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Every week, I turn over a new leaf. I make new resolutions, write down new-old ideas, make plans, and set out hopefully. Every week, I convince myself that even though I tried and failed the week before, maybe I’ll achieve this time, maybe I’ll persevere, maybe the Holy Spirit will fill in the gaps for…
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Originally published on Bella Naija by yours truly – 23.02.2016 The most common question I’ve heard graduates ask is “How can I get experience when I’ve never had a job?” or “How can I use my skills when no one will hire me?”. It’s easy and quite normal to get frustrated when job searching seems…
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Ironic title, aye? That’s my life right now. I’ll explain as I rant. When I was an entrepreneur-in-training at MEST, one of the first classes we had was the Hiring and Firing workshop, and now I know why. The biggest frustration most employers face – especially here in Africa with the obvious lagging industry-specific skills…
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Originally published on Bella Naija by yours truly – 01.07.2016. Ever wondered why we eat with forks and knives? Why forks go with the left hand, and knives with the right? Ever wondered who makes these random rules, why everyone lives by them, and why you almost-always predictably follow them? Doing things different, just to…
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Originally published on Bella Naija by yours truly – 09.05.2016 “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening my axe.” – Abe Lincoln It’s unfortunate (or fortunate?) that there are no shortcuts to success. If you want wealth, you must put in work. Every occupation, even…
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The amount of money one makes tends to be in direct proportion to their personal growth. I’ve doubled my income multiple times over the last five years. Each time I made a leap in my income, it was because I worked on myself more than anything. I worked on how I lived my life. I…
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The last fortnight has been intensely productive. I and my cofounder launched our startup, Skrife to good reviews, numerous press interviews and an onslaught of inbounds. We also hired our first full-time employee (we’ve only had interns before now), and settled into an efficient remote-working schedule. At my day job, MEST, we wrapped up our quarterly Guest…
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My research on successful professionals underscores that this experience is common: As you become more valuable to the marketplace, good things will find you. To be clear, I’m not arguing that new opportunities and connections are unimportant. I’m instead arguing that you don’t need social media’s help to attract them. Excerpt from: Quit Social Media. Your…
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Novelist Philip Roth: You get them [people] wrong before you meet them: you get them wrong while you’re with them and then you get home to tell somebody else about the meeting and you get them all wrong again. Since the same generally goes for them with you, the whole thing is really a dazzling…
Read MoreHave patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves….. It is possible to live and not know.
I spent last weekend at the beach with some friends from work. It was a much needed break to unwind from the pressures of being adult, being human. Take as many breaks as you need to cope w life and adulting. But hey, come back from those breaks and participate 100%, when you're strong. —…
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Hello everyone! This is coming late but I still am pretty stoked about it. My little speech on the TEDx stage went great. I really wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be.. Maybe because when the time came for MEST to be invited up, most of the attendees were leaving. The event started a little late,…
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Dziffa Akua Ametam is one of MEST’s new Communications Fellows. She’s also an entrepreneur, founder of Dziffa.com, a social enterprise that increases the global reach of local businesses by providing them with branding, marketing, and distribution services. Dziffa was awarded the 2014 Entrepreneur of the year by African Youth Excellence, named Top 30 Under 30…
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Originally published on True Africa on August 03, 2016 ‘There’s definitely no pampering’ – how women in tech drive each other to achieve more Do you want to learn new skills? But don’t know anyone who can code/crochet/cook? Beavly is an online platform that connects people who want to learn skills with professionals who want to teach…
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Originally published on True Africa by yours truly -06.07.2016 Meet the African all-female team who just got $20,000 for black hair app, Tress Tress is a hair inspiration app targeted at black women. It was created by Priscilla Hazel, Esther Olatunde and Cassandra Sarfo in Accra where they came together due to their shared love for dreaming, learning, building,…
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Originally published on True Africa by yours truly – March 15, 2016 I’ve heard so many people say: ‘If I could make money off social media, my life would be perfect’ that I finally decided to write about it: yes, you can make money off social media. Take this example: my close friend, Kevwe Ogunje quit…
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Originally published on True Africa on January 26, 2016. Disclaimer: This article is in no way representative of the entire millennial generation. It is however representative of the majority of us. Come on, admit it, you see some of yourself in this 🙂 Kelechi, Odi, Martin and Carmel are friends. All within the ages of 23…
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Originally published on Bella Naija by yours truly – 18.01.2016 “Wanting is easy, but trying to be great — well, that’s torturous.” – Philip Seymour Hoffman Man is the only animal for whom being alive is not enough. It’s our nature to want better for ourselves and become more than we are. The irony is,…
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Originally published on Bella Naija on 15 December 2015. It’s Christmas again! Which means it’s the end of yet another year. 365 days sure goes by fast, especially when you just chillin’. How did your year go? Did you make any progress? Get closer to your dreams? If you didn’t, it’s kind of your fault. This…
Read MoreIf you lack faith in yourself or have a lesser opinion of yourself than others do, you’ll eventually talk them into agreeing with you. Stop focusing on all that’s wrong with you, and walk purposefully towards the future you deep down desire for yourself.
– Kelechi Udoagwu
Figure it out for yourself, my lad; You’ve all that the greatest of men have had: Two arms, two legs, and a brain to use- A brain to use if only you choose. Written by: Edgar Albert Guest. Photo Credit: @Iamtippin
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Replace every “have to” with “get to” and see if it doesn’t change your perspective on the privilege of life.
“I realized that we expect young digital-era leaders to miraculously embody relationship wisdoms, with very little training, that we elders had twice as long to learn. Over time, I learned that being an intern publicly and a mentor privately was essential, since no one wants to be criticized in a meeting by someone who sounds…
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I have watched a lot of TED Talks (almost all that interests me!), and this one by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: We Should All Be Feminists is my all-time favorite. My favourite @TEDTalks ever https://t.co/0xgRFLRtYX – @AdichieSpeaks — 🌻 (@kelechiudoagwu) April 15, 2017 It has nothing to do with the topic. It’s all about her charisma, ease,…
Read MoreAfter a while, you start to blame your partner for everything. Don’t, or that’s the beginning of the end.
Hi there! I just created “For Christian Professionals.” More than anything else in life, I love the Lord. I have made it my recent life goal to actively learn as much as I can about Him by reading the Word everyday, talk to people (I wouldn’t normally talk to) about Him, and live as kindly, honestly,…
Read MoreWork-life balance doesn’t mean sacrificing things as much as it means loving the acts we have chosen to play.
One of my recent biggest lessons as a leader/entrepreneur is “People over Efficiency.”
You have to care about your people more than you care about the bottom line. If not, you’ll be left with nothing but the bottom line.
Mark Manson is one of my favourite authors on the web. Most of his articles and essays are original, unpretentious and insightful. In this piece, he shares “3 important life skills nobody ever taught you” and it sums up ways we make life more difficult for ourselves that it should be. Below are the 3…
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Dear dad, this one’s for you. Before today, 18th February 2017, I’d have been the first to tell you and anyone who asked that my father never gave me nothing, maybe except my independence. He wasn’t the type to share mushy feelings or make grand gestures. He wasn’t the type to spend time explaining why…
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We distract ourselves so much that we never have to spend time with our thoughts. There’s social media, tv series, youtube videos, music and earphones, friends, jobs, events, etc. I bet there’s more than half of the world’s population who have never in recent years, had a moment of true silence – just them and…
Read MoreJust say yes.
Evil (ignorance) is like a shadow –it has no real substance of its own, it is simply a lack of light.
You cannot cause a shadow to disappear by trying to fight it, stamp on it, by railing against it, or any other form of emotional or physical resistance. In order to cause a shadow to disappear, you must shine light on it.
#LessonsImLearning
To become who we want to be, time spent day-dreaming is actually useful, and time spent imagining negative outcomes should be minimized to zero. Our subconscious minds have no sense of humor, play no jokes and cannot tell the difference between reality and an imagined thought. What we continually think about will eventually manifest in…
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8:28 Romance says: And we know that in all things…
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Hello everyone, It’s Christmas! One of my favorite times of the year. I sincerely wish everyone who visits this website a merry day full of rest, love and laughter. Thank you for sticking with me while I figure out what exactly I want this website to become, the value and audience I want it to…
Read MoreThere’s going to be ups and downs in every relationship. You have to be willing to go up and down with the one you choose, the one you love. These days people keep switching relationships like they’re not going to get tired of the new person eventually.
Read MoreWhen we consistently suppress and distrust our intuitive knowingness, looking instead for authority, validation, and approval from others, we give our personal power away. – Shakti Gawain
By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. Romans 5: 1 Don’t doubt. God hates doubt. Believe whole-heartedly. Every time, doubt enters your mind, know that it is the…
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Driving around aimlessly at night is one of my favorite things to do. Lucky me, I spent the last two nights in Lagos doing just that with friends. Nights shows you the true colors of a city. Days are full of the stuff nobody wants to do but have to –– Ashwin Ravichadran
Read MoreUltimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is freedom. – Marilyn Ferguson
There’s one thing the devil tries to get us to forget most of the time: It should be all about God all the time. There should never be anything more important and worthy of our thoughts.
Read MoreHim: What do you think we’re all doing here, Kay? Me: *in deep thought pose* To each his own. My personal thoughts however? I think we’re all in pursuit of purpose and a deeper meaning. I think we all want to contribute to this world in a real way, you know, earn our place. We want…
Read More“Insight and drive are all the skills you need. Everything else can be hired.” Jay Samit
I am the kind of girl who gets a million good ideas in a day! My brain never sleeps, and I’m always thinking of new concepts and business ideas as I go about my daily business. As there’s only ever 24 hours in a day though, I’ve have never had enough time to work on…
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“Success is a terrible thing and a wonderful thing… Just do what you love.” – Gene Wilder
In pursuit of a successful future and a googleable name, most of us lose joy in the present. Adulthood seems to be a long list of goals and to-dos, that most of us sacrifice the present which is all we may ever have for a future we might not live to see. “I’ll be happier when I lose weight and…
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Looking forward to representing MEST at TEDxAccra on Friday, October 28th! I’m more than a little nervous but I’m really looking forward to it. We will also be giving women at the event a chance to be fast-tracked in the screening process into MEST. If you have any questions about this, please contact me! Willing…
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This evening while at the salon, I stumbled on the answer to my questions from this morning. They came wrapped in a James Clear post sent to my inbox. I subscribe to newsletters in the heat of the moment and never read them, but this evening sitting at the salon, I had nothing to do but scroll…
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It’s been an interesting journey for me to come to realise that happiness has nothing to do with what’s going on in my life. Well, of course, it kind of does – it’s hard to be happy if you just lost a friend or a good job but truly if I’ve learnt anything, it’s that…
Read More“Just show up,” she whispered to herself when she felt she couldn’t summon any enthusiasm for another day.
You have to learn to be okay with who you are now. The people you look up to have had years of training, and you, you’re just getting started.
I’m a woman of faith chasing perfection and living fully in every moment. I’m crazy impulsive, so that leads me to make mistakes often, but it also leads me to new experiences, wonderful people, and a sense of fulfillment. While I walk this earth, I want to be a force of positive change to young…
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To run a profitable business or startup, you need steady electricity, something most African countries lack. You need the internet if you work with technology… or are in 2015 with the rest of us. You need a good transportation system, investors, a healthy financial system. You need a support system… people who don’t think you’re crazy…
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Most of us approach a new year with shaky decisions or just plain hope to become better human beings. In all my years, I never met anyone who wasn’t wishing for some sort of progress in their lives, regardless of how perfect it all seemed. But New Year resolutions are a touchy subject for some,…
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You remember the Jetsons? With flying cars, a robot nanny and whimsical inventions? But look around. We no longer live in a far-distant galaxy… We’re keeping up with the Jetsons. Africa has been light years behind in technology adoption and development but lately, we’ve been stepping up to the plate. With new innovations in web…
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