Why I mentor an entrepreneur in Nigeria and what I’ve learnt

I’ve been an informal mentor before but I’ve never been in a formal year-long mentor-mentee relationship. I had no idea how much I would get out of it and I wanted to share a little bit about my experience, and also raise awareness of the unique work my mentee is doing. I’ve also shared some insight she’s given me on the Coronavirus situation in Nigeria. 

Why I became a mentor

Last year in February I went on holiday to South Africa, a holiday that in these times of holiday no-go, I feel enormously grateful for. Upon visiting a township just outside of Cape Town - an underdeveloped racially segregated urban area - I felt compelled to learn more, be more and do more. On the way home in the airport, I applied to the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and was delighted to be accepted later in March. 

But I had to be patient. 

It wasn’t until early November when I was finally matched with my mentee Temitopeoluwa Ogundeko who lives in Nigeria.  

My first thought… How on earth am I going to pronounce her name!

Luckily Tempitopeoluwa informed me early on that I could call her TBOG. And so the Laura - TBOG relationship was to begin. 

Standing out from the crowd and being a trailblazer

TBOG is on a mission to enhance adolescent wellness in Nigeria through workshops, courses, and talks in various forms. Her business TSAGE and TBOG, like many, has evolved where she started off with a general desire to improve health and wellbeing in companies (which I suspect is why we were matched). 

For anyone starting out I believe niching an offering down to get some initial traction is hard when you have a wider vision, but TBOG, decisive as this lady is, decided to focus on adolescent wellbeing - targeting schools and places of worship as an initial focus. 

Being bold and brave in business… on a smartphone.

On our first call, we covered a lot of ground and at one point I suggested using Canva to make graphics for the website and social channels. TBOG was using Canva already,  but it transpired that she does all of her work on her phone. I know smartphones are great, but fiddling around to edit Canva and attempting to engage with all activities to set up a business by phone - impressive. This woman makes things happen regardless of the barriers. 

The second thing that struck me about TBOG was her bravery in doing what she’s doing with the culture climate of her country. Here in Western culture it’s glamourised to be entrepreneurial, whereas in Nigeria it’s concerning for a family to have a daughter pursuing such an uncertain, unstable path. TBOG has had to face the resistance from friends and family, some not understanding her pursuit. 

But this woman is truly working from the heart. I remember before our first call, she sent me through a three-page document of her story and her why behind her business intention. She’d give Simon Sinek a run for his money that’s for sure. 

Despite the setbacks, the rejections, and the occasional overwhelm of it all, she keeps going with an infectious positivity. Her positivity often rubs off on me.

Where have I been able to help

What has been particularly rewarding for me, is seeing someone benefit from my wide range of experience and simply developing a really beautiful relationship. 

Sometimes I’ve questioned myself with an unconventional career that has given me a wide range of strings to my bow, but when this breath gives me a perspective that can result in really relevant help, it felt like it was meant to be. Things like sales communication, marketing strategy, goal setting, effective workshop delivery have all come into things. I’ve felt all the feelings mentoring TBOG. 

Rocking up to meetings in style

One of the areas I’ve been able to support in is tightening up the value proposition communications of the business. We’ve looked at how we can initiate a more targeted approach to get the right conversations going. I was suprised to learn some cultural nuances here - for example, it’s good practice to turn up to a meeting in a good car or ideally be driven to the meeting by a chauffeur. And then it’s important to be kitted out with glamourous clothes which are important in Nigeria as it’s a sign of credibility through wealth. 

My work with TBOG continues to open my eyes to a world outside of my own, helping me keep me empathetic, grounded and curious. 

Celebrating together

Where we had to recently abort our call due to battling power outages and broken conversations, last week TBOG Whatsapped me with some incredible news. Where she’s been providing some workshops for free to schools to show what she can do, the parents saw so much value in what she was doing that they have offered to cover the costs of her ongoing curriculum. I smiled so much reading that. 

Since I wrote this....

I drafted this blog post a few weeks ago as here in the UK we headed into lockdown. This week I heard from TBOG and my heart broke a little bit. Nigeria had a lockdown, which was extended and now has been reduced. Whilst the risk of the virus is something in itself, the economical and social unrest she described - armed robberies and fratricide - shocked me. 

Despite the hugely challenging time for her over there, TBOG is resourceful, and with an entrepreneurial flair she will get her head down to upskill, create and plan for the future. I have faith in her. With barely any signal and internet, she’s already gone and created a 10 minute video to inspire hope. 

I share this simply to raise awareness of Coronavirus in Africa and I am hoping that they can initially contain it better than Western countries. If anyone knows any particular good charities or causes, I would really love to know about them. The best charity I have decided to regularly donate to is GiveDirectly, which basically transfers cash and empowers those struggling to get what they need the most. 

TBOG has also shared the following with me:

How the Cherie Blair Foundation works

The Cherie Blair Foundation matches you to a mentee they think is most suitable. I feel they do this with more care than I had initially expected. There are some video training sessions to help you develop as a mentor and some guidance on how to structure the relationship. 

I speak to TBOG around 2-3 times a month on average and a few times on message. I  wanted to share my experience now in case someone reads it and is inspired to apply as I did a year ago. 

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