The Power of Dreams
A year post moving to London.
Firstly, shoutout to every kid without siblings or parents. I understand your loneliness and how much you desire to trust and be in an enabling environment that fosters your growth. I never had my mom or dad, and neither did I have siblings but I'm here to tell you, it's not the end of the world. Your dreams are valid !!
“Mbelede ka eji ama Dike” — Ndidi Nwuneli.
Translation : Disasters help to sift out the brave, resilient and resourceful.
Throughout the course of my life, I have experienced God’s grace in every facet of my life. In this article, I will be writing about his grace over my professional life and how “one thing happened fast on the heels of the other” as promised in the Bible passage, Amos 9:13–15 MSG.
Catalyst
It was 2019 and I had a burning desire to be the greatest at everything I did but the problem was I wasn’t doing much. So I knew I had to start doing more to enable me achieve my dream of being the greatest at whatever I did. Essentially, solve problems.
Connecting the dots: Traveler, there is no road; you make your own path as you walk. As you walk, you make your own road, and when you look back, you see the path. — Antonio Machado
Enablers
As they say, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step and this for me was applying to a digital technology company for an unpaid intern position. I got the role and was offered a NGN 50,000 salary. Three months later, I was offered a permanent role as an Analyst and double my first salary. Till today, I remain thankful to Esigie Aguele & Angie for taking a chance on me ❤.
My vision was more significant than this, so I didn’t stop there, I searched for more knowledge and found Edubridge Academy. I joined a cohort and learned a lot from the incredible minds there. Shoutout to Funmi who taught me a bit of Consulting and Samuel for being dogged about my use of Excel.
Faith is the engine room of dreams.
One of my many attributes is my desire and hunger to build technology that works and improves our way of life. This led me to seek more knowledge and do more work. I took a six-week course on Product Management at ProductDive which is where I met Tobi Otokiti who is now a mentor.
Curiosity is a strong counterpoint to fear. Fear impedes your drive or desire to try. Curiosity releases it.
My newly attained knowledge in product management and leadership capacity impacted my work, and within the year, I got a second promotion with double my previous salary.
‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’ — Jeremiah 29:11.
The impact of some of my work has led to the second largest Fintech acquisition in Africa. MFS acquisition of Baxibox (Capricorn Digital)
I built Baxibox 2.0 with the Capricorn Digital team as a product consultant between August 2020 & November 2020. Following this success, I was offered the role of a product owner at Interswitch on 20th October 2020. Like almost every other Nigerian youth, that day is etched in my memory as it marked such a grim landmark in our recent history.
I officially commenced my role in November, where I joined as a Product owner and six months later got promoted to lead API products across the entire organization. Interswitch is Nigeria’s first digital technology unicorn who paved the way for others. Special shoutout to Moe for helping negotiate the first offer, Nnanna for being a big brother, and to Debbie for holding it down whenever we needed each other.
Above all things, seek ye first the kingdom and all things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33.
I was progressing in leaps, but I still wanted more for myself. I prayed about it as I typically do, and the opportunities abounded. Ultimately, I opted to go about the UK Global Talent route.
Our God the enabler of destinies
God’s best is never in the past but always in the future.
I moved to London on April 7th, 2022 as a Global Talent in digital technology. I joined RedCloud Technology shortly after as a Product Owner for API products.
RedCloud Technologies’ vision is to enable Open Commerce, this is simply restructuring the supply chain to democratize the way in which business is being conducted today.
Currently, I am the Head of Platform Services & Integrations at RedCloud. Sounds loaded but in simpler terms, I can describe my role as a hybrid between core technology and technical product management. I really enjoy my job and the impact I am able to make across the organization in terms of integrations, architecture designs, patterns, and structures. Operating in a role where I can apply my core strengths gives me great joy.
When you do, no contrary label will fit you, “know thyself”.
When I look back on my journey over the past four years, I am astounded by how much and how quickly things have happened. I am blessed to have had people placed on my path who have and continue to hold my hands, which has made my journey a bit smoother and even less lonely.
To every dreamer, know that your dreams are valid and God the maker of all good things will guide you. As Psalms 32:8 says “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you [who are willing to learn] with My eye upon you.”
Kobe Bryant: “Once you know what failure feels like, determination chases success.”
There’s more work to be done, and it’s only Day one 🚀.
