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  • The Elevator: I Abandoned My Medicine Dreams To Chase Digital Marketing – Peace Itimi

    The Elevator is a limited Zikoko series that details the growth of young successful Nigerian women. We tell their stories every Monday by 12 p.m. 

    Peace wanted to become a medical doctor but ended up studying biochemistry, however, she has never had to use her degree to get a job. Peace Itimi is a 25-year-old digital and growth marketer. In today’s episode of The Elevator, she talks about her journey from becoming the first Google Student Ambassador at her school to becoming a digital and growth marketer that works with multinational companies. 

    What did you want to be as a child?

    When I was growing up, I wanted to be a medical doctor. My brother was studying to be an engineer. It made sense for me to study medicine so my mom would be “mama engineer” and “mama doctor”.  

    How did that change?

    I applied to study medicine at DELSU but I got medical biochemistry. So my mom was like, “Yeah, go do it. You would transfer to medicine in 400 level.” The worst-case scenario was that I would graduate at 19 and still be young enough to start medical school from scratch.  

    I studied biochemistry for one year and in that year, all the science students took their courses together. In the first semester of year 2, I got the form to transfer to medicine, but there was no space in medical school for new students. I was depressed about it because I already saw myself as a medical doctor. That’s how I started writing. I was on Twitter one day and I saw someone say they had a blog. I was curious, so I visited her blog. I scrolled to the end and saw that it was a WordPress blog. It also said, “click this link to create your blog”. I did and started posting my writeups about my life on my blog. 

    About a year later, I went to an event in Benin City. A friend walked up to me and said, “Oh my God, I’ve been reading your blog.” I was pleasantly surprised by that. He thought I was cool and techie. Then he said, “There’s this thing called Google Student Ambassador (GSA) programme — I think you would like it. ” I didn’t think I was a techie, but he connected me to the ambassador in Uniben, Alex, who said he would let me know when the application opened the following year. 

    The next year, I applied and they picked me. I became the first Google Student Ambassador in DELSU. This was in 2014. Shortly after, we went for a summit where Google representatives spoke to us about programming and digital marketing, and I fell in love with digital marketing. We went back to school, did some lessons and started training people. When I graduated, I said to my mother, “This your medicine plan no go work.“

    What happened after? 

    As a GSA, I taught people digital marketing. Someone told my pastor that she had a small business and needed someone to run ads for her. My pastor reached out to me. 

    I charged her ₦5k. The gig ended as a disaster because the results I gave her were likes and impressions, but she wanted sales, not metrics. In hindsight, I could have done better at converting those impressions to sales. 

    My first full-time job was at a US company called GTech designs. A friend of mine worked for them as the designer developer and needed someone to handle marketing. I remember wondering if I was going to get the job because of my medical biochemistry certificate. I imagined she would ask for my CV and be displeased with my degree. But when we had the interview, she didn’t ask me anything about school. I don’t think she cared about whether I went to university or what I studied. She just asked me about marketing and writing, and a sample blog post. I got the job and it paid ₦25k monthly. 

    I worked there for a while before getting another job at WebCoupers. I moved to Lagos to work at WebCoupers for my NYSC. There, I developed strategy and executed campaigns. I handled client meetings, SEO & social media. It was a lot of work. While I was still working there, my friend, Joyce and I created our agency called Rene digital hub. We helped businesses with digital marketing and content strategy. It helped me develop entrepreneurship skills. We ran it from 2016 to 2018 and eventually decided to dissolve it because we didn’t give the business the attention it needed due to our full-time jobs. 

    What happened next? 

    I went deeper into digital marketing. I worked with Imaginarium Marketing Communications and with Kora Pay, as Head of Marketing. Eventually, I decided I wanted to do something different from digital marketing. I chose growth marketing because it was similar but more technical and I realised that a lot of international companies were looking for growth marketers to scale their regional branches. I researched the role and took some courses. I also knew I wanted a 100% remote job and a job that paid in foreign currency — mostly because I want to travel more. 

    I had a friend I used to visit at QuickCheck in ParkView Estate Ikoyi. Seedstars, a global venture capital fund, was also in that estate. I was interested in what they did, so I went to their website. I remember reading about their work that evening and thinking, “This is exactly where I want to be.” I went to their website and found the role for growth marketing lead in Africa was open. It took me four months to get the job — from the application, the technical interview, a case study, assignments, another interview to the offer. I resumed in February 2020. 

    What was working at SeedStars like?

    Working at Seedstars has been the best time of my career. We did impact programmes for people and the culture of the company aligned so much with my vision for myself. The challenges pushed me to be better at my job. I met new people and worked on projects across the continent. I had colleagues in different countries. Now, if I ever wanted to travel to Cairo or Colombia or anywhere, there’s most likely someone there that I could reach out to. It was an amazing experience, and I would always remember it. 

    Right now, I enjoy making YouTube videos about brand marketing. I have been putting out videos since 2018, and I’ve seen the impact. I don’t have up to 10k subscribers, but I’m grateful for the kind of jobs I’ve gotten from it and the kind of people I’ve met. It’s something I want to do for a long time. 

    What lessons have you learned along the way? 

    My favourite lesson of all time is to do it afraid and don’t let the fear of looking stupid stop you. I have gotten so many rejections in my life. They hurt, but I’ve learned to move past them to the next thing that might be a yes. Sometimes, I find that the things I least expect to work out end up working out fine. 

    I always ask for help. I am always willing to reach out to someone to talk me through a particular issue. I also take my time to research the problem and possible solutions. If it’s something I need to outsource, I do that as soon as I can. As long as it’s something I want to do, I will find a way. 

    Who are some of the women you admire? 

    Adaora Mbelu. There was a point in my life when I had a bit of identity crisis, especially because of how I dress. Looking at Adaora made me know that there is nothing wrong with how I dress. I did a lot of training in 2018 where I wore feminine clothes that made me uncomfortable. But then I saw pictures of Adaora on social media rocking suits to board meetings. I thought, if Adaora can do it, then Peace Itimi can.   

    What’s next for you? 

    I think I am leaning towards entrepreneurship for now. I will always be interested in solving problems and easing processes for people.

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    Mariam Sule

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  • The #NairaLife Of A Biologist Who Ditched Lab Life For Marketing

    Every week, Zikoko seeks to understand how people move the Naira in and out of their lives. Some stories will be struggle-ish, others will be bougie. All the time, it’ll be revealing.

    My favourite first question is –

    Hmmm..First memory of money?

    Haha. Exactly. 

    It was in secondary school. My allowance for the week was ₦250 per day or something. So I got maybe ₦1k a week. I spent it on meat pie.

    I was not one of those “I am saving my money.” Tuck shop!

    Haha! Do you remember the first thing ever that you had to do for money?

    My transcribing job in uni. It was such a sweet gig. Some lady doing her PhD abroad was interviewing a lot of people, and she needed the oral interviews transcribed. 

    What year was this? 

    In 2015 or so. She was paying me in a foreign currency, and the thing is I didn’t know what I was doing. I was 18.

    Wait, how did you find the job?

    In my hostel, everyone looked at me like somebody that takes any opportunity she sees. I’m smart, I’m quite the talker, and I find it easy to communicate with people. Someone told someone, who then said I could do the job. 

    Hostel clout. 

    Sweet stuff. I wasn’t even getting the money directly. The person was sending it to the babe I knew, then that one was paying me. I’m not sure how much they were sending me, but I knew I was getting scammed. 

    I was in like 100L going to 200L at the time. I remember that there was a break, and I was doing most of it at home. 

    What did you study?

    Biology. if you’re reading this, please don’t do it. If you put me in a lab now, we’re all going to burn, hahaha. I can’t mix shit. I don’t even remember the thing they were teaching us. Heck, I didn’t even collect my certificate. 

    Hmmm. So, you channeled all your energy to collecting your transcription money eh? 

    Yesss. I think the whole money I made was up to ₦600k. I was getting payments after every few transcriptions. I’m not sure how much it was per transcription because of the varying length. 

    Hmm. 

    I spoilt myself with the money. I even changed my wardrobe haha. That period was the wildest. 

    I’m listening. 

    My mum knew I was getting money somewhere else, so she stopped sending me money. Omo, she just relaxed and was like, “Peace.” 

    Things switched up when I ran into someone during a class – we had a mutual friend – she was ranting about all the pages that she needed to manage on social media.

    My friend told me she was going to ask the social media manager to offer me the gig. 

    I was like, so I can be posting, and they’ll be giving me money just to post things?

    Did you get the gig? 

    It never clicked. In fact, I don’t think we talked about it past that day, but a seed was sown in my heart. I went back to my hostel and started researching. I couldn’t stop or sleep, and I just started courses.

    Do you remember the first course you did?

    Shaw Academy’s Digital Marketing course. I can’t remember now if it was free or I got a scholarship, but it was from an ad. 

    I knew I had to practise everything I was learning, but nobody was going to give me a job. My sister ran an event planning business, so I just collected her accounts and practiced. 

    But I wanted to work at a place where someone could validate what I was doing, so I started applying for digital marketing jobs. Any small thing: “I’m an avid something-something,” until I finally landed an interview. And what did they say when I showed up? “Your CV is impressive.” Hahaha. Those people are still owing me ₦20k till day. 

    Is there anybody that is not being owed ₦20k for work like this? 

    And that was actually my first salary o. I went thrice a week, and my transport fare was 19,800 by the time I calculated it. 

    Only 200 in real earnings? 

    Basically. When I got that job and my friends would ask me, “Are you going to class today?” I’ll say “No, no. I’m going to the office.”

    My friend was the one who was taking attendance for me. 

    You were clearly uninterested in school. 

    Yep. My school didn’t give me the course I wanted to study. And now that I think of it, I’m not sure I’m even cut for the one I wanted to study. 

    This new chapter of my life was very exciting for me, and I poured all my energy into it. It was interesting, having strategy meetings, hahaha. 

    Tell me. 

    My boss would just come in with egg rolls and drinks for everybody. Then he’d gather all of us into his office like, “Everybody gather round, what are we doing in this session?” And me sef, I’ll sit down and be forming strategist. 

    What did the business do? 

    Sell soup. I was doing photoshoots for soups and posting online, hacking angles and shit. I loved it because everything I was learning, I got to apply. After three months, I quit sha. The guy ran me street because I didn’t know you were supposed to collect salary before you quit.

    Why did you quit? 

    My boyfriend. He was like, “Baby girl you don’t need to do this, you’re stressing yourself.” The job was in fact stressful. 

    When I actually quit, I was already looking for other jobs close to me and that’s when I got the job that I feel like made the difference. It was a Digital Agency, my real bootcamp. I interned with them for 6 months. I didn’t feel like an intern to be honest; they didn’t even regard me as an intern. 

    I feel like I learn fast because to be honest, I was not bad at my job. I got a ton of accolades, and most importantly, exposure to managing big Nigerian brand accounts. My salary was ₦20k, but because of how close it was to where I lived, transport in a month cost about ₦4k. 

    By the time I finished my internship, I was in my third year and was supposed to find a placement for my industrial attachment from school. Then I landed a social media manager role. I was doing social media calendars, SEO and chopping insult on top of ₦20k. 

    By Year 4, I got a job with another agency that paid ₦70k. Omooooo. 

    Mad o. 

    That was when I really felt like Omooo. I started working with them around the time when I was working on my final year project – this was 2018. I was working during the day and sleeping in the lab. When I finished my project, and I left the agency too – I was there for three months. 

    Why did you leave?

    My mum’s house was closer to the outskirts of Lagos, and I just couldn’t continue like that. Leaving home early, getting home late. I needed to move out, but all I had saved up was ₦200k, and it wasn’t enough. 

    The second reason I left was because I got a remote job. The owner of the business is Nigerian, but they registered their business abroad. Now, I use that in a lot of interviews like, “I’ve also worked with a US agency as their social media strategist.” The pay was ₦50k. 

    What came next? 

    I applied for another job and got it. This one was on the island, and now I had a solid reason to move out. They were paying ₦140k. 

    What year was this?

    I think 2018. I moved to a hostel of sorts that cost like ₦250k a year. Also, I left the company after three months. 

    Why? 

    The office was horrible – we were always sweating. I don’t like suffering. I also think the people that owned it didn’t care about the company. It felt like they stumbled on an idea and then, “Omg, we got so popular, we can’t stop doing it now.”

    I joined at the time when they were still trying to figure out if they were a hobby or a company. This was early 2019, and I was 22. 

    For my next job, I saw a tweet for a digital marketing role at a startup. I applied and got the job at ₦250k a month. In six months, it was increased to ₦392k or so. Because the startup was building for users, it exposed me to real life things that matter. Growing numbers, making things that customers want. It also gave me a career capital. 

    In between, I had side projects that contributed to my income. 

    2020?

    Because of the pandemic, I took a pay cut, so my last salary was about ₦320k or so. But I was not really relying on that because I had this client in Hong Kong that was paying me about ₦700k monthly.

    For?

    I wasn’t earning the whole ₦700k. Part of it was paying staff salaries because I had a small team. I feel like there are so many small gigs I didn’t mention, but I’ve almost always been working on small gigs. I even registered a company at some point in 2018, which I ditched when I joined the startup in 2019. 

    Interesting. 

    We used to work on my client projects and handled social media for companies. There was the graphics designer, social media manager, etc. So let’s say I get paid ₦250k; I supervise, run ads and then we split the money. 

    This is how I ran the Hong Kong gig. They were a company trying to break into the Nigerian market. When they asked me early this year whether I wanted to get paid in naira or dollars, I said naira. 

    Ouch. 

    I just became smart o. Anyway, I did that for about four or five months, but it just made me more stable for the year. I have a flatmate, and our rent is ₦1 million. We split 50-50. 

    Anyway, I quit the startup in the middle of the year, and the next jump happened.

    Are we there yet? 

    Yes. I went from earning ₦320k monthly to earning $4k monthly. I wanted to run mad. We had been doing the whole interview –

    Let’s start from how you found the job.

    I had a lot of offers from Nigerian companies, but my eyes were set on the international market. One company offered 650k, but I no do. With the startup I worked at, I needed something that felt like a jump. 

    When did you want to start collecting dollars? 

    I was okay earning my naira jeje, until I heard what my flatmate was earning. I was like “SIS! Put me through!” She’s still my oga, but I don’t think I’m doing badly. The first company that interviewed me abroad said they couldn’t hire me because I’m Nigerian. Basically, they didn’t want to go through relocation trouble. 

    I was just applying sporadically to things. Sometimes, I’ll just google “Successful companies in X industry,” then check the career pages of all the companies listed. Working remotely helped me have time for this. 

    I just organised my portfolio around the work I did at the startup in detail. In fact, I made it into Google Slides.

    There was this company that I was very sure I was going to get the job, but they ghosted me. Then I found one other company scattered across a few cities in the world. I can’t even remember how I found them, probably on one of those sites for remote job opportunities. I looked at the job description, and I was like, I can do all these things na!

    They gave me a test, and I literally sat down for hours working on that test. The scope of the test they gave me? I’d never done it before. So, I just did what I’d been doing – 

    Google. 

    Yes! I put everything together in a document. I know I did a good job. The next day, we had a call. Once I knew I would get it, I texted my flatmate: “I’m in!” But I knew she was going to come running and screaming, so I followed it with “Still on the call.” I can’t even remember anything they said after they confirmed me. 

    When people talk about how 2020 has taken a lot from them, I just stay silent because this year has brought a lot for me. My job win made me forget all my past difficulties. After I got the job, I blew all my savings for rent. The first thing I did was book a massage. 

    Haha. How much did you have in your savings?

    About ₦500k. My rent was ₦500k. I can’t even remember what I spent it on. I was just having ideas and ordering food. There’s the dress I bought, the tattoo, and even a gym subscription. Then I had an annoying gynaecologist miscellaneous that cost ₦200k. 

    That’s how I’m spending my money now. I’m ridiculous.

    How do you get your money?

    I had complications with getting my money in the first month, but I ended up using my bank. Everyone around me was sad for me because the exchange rate was definitely not the best deal. But when I looked at my account balance and saw plenty of zeroes, I didn’t even hear what they were saying. 

    First of all, I got paid more money for only seven days of working in a month than my previous salary. Then they sent money for me to buy a new Macbook.

    I think I got a little over ₦1.3 million. Right now, I haven’t really set up any saving structure. I’m just vibing. The salary after that first one is still in dollars. 

    So, this is the part where we break down your expenses. 

    So, the thing is that I’ll be moving in 2021. I don’t feel very settled right now. In fact, there are purchases I want to make — like a monitor — but why should I buy one when I’m moving soon?  I’ve just been spending on vibes. 

    What’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought since you collected your first salary on the new job? 

    I randomly bought solid speakers for my situationship. But that’s not the most; it’s a lot of tiny things. Like for example, I gifted random people 15k each. 

    See ehn, I think everyone should do two things: 

    • Have an emergency fund 
    • Then prioritize enjoyment. 

    Some days, I’ll be lying on the bed and I’ll just open my app and be smiling.

    Between 2015 and now, how have all of this has shaped your perspective of money or opportunity. 

    My current mindset is that there’s nothing that I want that I can’t get. All my career moves have been wild. My mobility has always been: “I want better, and I take steps to get that better.”

    As for money, just go and look for ways to earn more money. It’s a priority to earn more. There’s only so much you can do from saving and investing. 

    What’s something you want that you cannot afford?

    To be honest, nothing o. Except to japa. Even the Japa sef, it’s not something I was seriously planning until my company relocation came up. 

    If I wasn’t going to leave Nigeria, my answer would have been moving to another apartment and  a car. I’m so comfortable now with the things that I have, and I’m just living in the moment. 

    What is something you wished you could be better at financially?

    All these investment stuff. But to be honest, I feel like if I wanted to, I’d do it. The options are there, but right now, I don’t think I’m not ready for it. I might have a spending problem, but I think it’s because I’m a nice person. My friend’s birthday can come up and I’ll be like, here. 

    Do you have any financial regrets?

    If I regret something, somebody should actually slap me because all the money I’ve made in my career, in a few months, I’ll make everything again. Abeggi, I no regret anything. 

    What’s something you bought recently that significantly improved the quality of your life? That just made you feel comfortable.

    My chair, my Macbook. My gym sub too because I like how I feel when I work out. 

    Last question, on a scale of 1-10, financial happiness?

    I done tear the scale mehn. I’m happy!

    Fu’ad Lawal

    , ,
  • Her Last Salary Was ₦360k, now she wants ₦1 million

    Every week, Zikoko seeks to understand how people move the Naira in and out of their lives. Some stories will be struggle-ish, others will be bougie. All the time, it’ll be revealing.

    The lady in this story has worked in digital media (creative industry) for almost a decade. But she’s convinced that she’s just getting started. This is her story.

    When was the first time you knew what money was? 

    It has to be that time I wanted to travel to the UK. Now I was living with a cousin who travelled frequently – and everyone had money to travel. My cousin was like, ah ahn, don’t you want to go?

    Somehow, I ended up going with her – but only after asking uncles and aunties to chip in. And even when I went, I didn’t really enjoy myself. I shopped from charity shops, and nobody had my time. My richest uncle there gave me £20, which is ridiculous when it’s 2011 and you’re 26. 

    Immediately I got back, the first question I started asking myself was, how can I have my own money? I was pampered but also broke. How can you be broke and pampered? And that’s how the ajebo part dropped o.

    So I took this strange job, where all I had to do was slot in sim cards into phone packs – it was one of those promos where phones came with sim cards. That was the first time I felt like I was hustling. 

    Also, because of how I was feeling broke in the UK, I hardly bought anything for myself – most of what I bought, I brought back to sell. At good margins too. 

    Unfortunately, I still sucked at managing money, so all the money I made, I blew anyhow – not like it was a lot though.

    What came after that?

    I went away for a year-long course, then went for NYSC, and it was during service I made up my mind that I was never going to ask my parents for money again.

    Why? 

    I grew up in a small town outside Lagos – a dead place. So, I knew that if I didn’t have a plan before the end of NYSC, I would have had to go back to that place, and it would have killed me. Weaning myself off their wallets was motivation.

    Small town girl with big dreams.

    Yeah, so I started hustling for work in Lagos during NYSC, so I wouldn’t go back to live with my parents. I took my savings, my cousin chipped in, and I bought a camera and started learning photography. 

    Then I got a part-time radio gig. Basically, I was going ham, anything to not send me back to my parents’ house. I worried that if I went back there, I’d have to struggle to get back out. In all this time, I was still at my actual place of primary assignment – they didn’t care much anyway, so I didn’t have to go every time. 

    Interesting

    Halfway through NYSC, I started trying out for gigs in digital agencies. The first one didn’t pay and would be shouting where is your work. Dumped that after a month. With the second one, I spent only a month – some drama – then I got a third. That third one came toward the end of my NYSC – about three months toward the end. 

    Wow, so I was making this much during NYSC. Right after NYSC, I started at the agency. I was working in Content, and that’s what I’ve done for the most part since then.

    And you put your small town behind you

    Hahaha. Yep. So I started full time at the ₦40k agency. But this time, I was earning less. 

    How?

    They started removing tax – nobody told me about net or gross – so now I was netting ₦36k. I would have just been doing my part-time for ₦40k. I got a raise to ₦40k a few months after, net.

    About one year later, I left – got another gig that was offering me ₦80k. 

    Ah, nice. What was that like? 

    First of all, I made a mistake. Someone told me after I got the job that I should have asked for 150k because I was poached. That meant I was in a good position to leverage a better deal. But the moment I heard 80k from the ₦40k, I was like hayyy double salary!

    ‘100%’

    Bad bad call. At my old place, there was a staff bus for the to and fro commute. Also, food was cheaper around my old place. At the new place though, food was way more expensive – it was on the Island. 

    I think I realise now that your first salary might go on to affect your salary for the rest of your life. 

    If I was earning ₦150k at that next gig, I would have had a better starting number to negotiate the next salary. 

    I did get a raise though, a little over 6 months later. To ₦150k. I actually had to pull an “I’m getting poached” move.

    Were you getting poached though?

    Yes. I had an offer from one of the agency’s rivals, but I knew I wasn’t going to take the job – I didn’t even like the company. I just used them to get a raise. This was early 2015 though.

    You know when I got my next raise? 32. Months. Later. What raise did I get? ₦30k.

    Anyway, by November 2017, I was out. I joined another company that offered me ₦300k. Got a raise months later to ₦360k. 

    But then I resigned by the end of June 2019. With immediate effect. 

    No notice period? 

    There was something with the workplace culture I could no longer deal with. My workplace was beginning to feel like a battlefield, so I quit. It didn’t make sense to many people, but I just couldn’t deal with it anymore. It wasn’t supposed to be long term anyway.

    I had plans of starting an agency, but that took the backburner. Thing is, I tend to put in everything wherever it is I’m working. That means barely having time for side projects. And because I feel like I haven’t been rewarded properly for the work I put in, I have become disillusioned by 9-5’s. The job before my last didn’t end on good terms too. 

    So you’re at a place now where you don’t exactly know what’s next?  

    Yeah. I’m just trying to figure out a bunch of things. I wanted to start work on my agency, but I couldn’t do that while still at my job – conflict of interest. Now, I want to focus on getting this running. It’s going to be a bunch of services, including Social Media Management and O.R.M. 

    Online Reputation Management?

    Yes. Basically, a lot of it involves managing the images of public people online and sometimes cleaning up after their mess. 

    But then, it’d be nice if I was starting this and wasn’t worried about where my next income would be coming from – no safety nets. 

    In the time being, I’m looking at freelance gigs, preferably forex-paying, so I can do stuff that will earn money on the side, while I focus on building my agency. 

    Okay, I hope you get something. But let’s talk about your perspective about this money thing.

    I think that if you don’t position yourself to make money, nobody is going to give it to you. There’s hardly anybody who’s earning good money that hasn’t been deliberate about it. It’s not an accident. You have to position yourself with your skills or your confidence.

    It’s illegal for me to have been earning ₦360k with all the experience I have, in the places I worked at. There really is no reason why I should be earning less than 1 million a month. 

    1 million is quite the number. Any rationale for choosing that number?

    I got an offer which was basically everything I’d been doing for years, and they were going to pay me ₦1 million a month. I didn’t get the job – I feel like I didn’t interview well – but it opened my eyes to what is possible. Someone somewhere is willing to pay a million for my skills. I should be earning that.

    To be honest, I have gotten offers – those ₦200k offers – but I’m not doing again. My friend is like, “just take it in the time being”, but that’s what happened with my last job. I ‘managed’ it.’ Before my last job, I was convinced that I wanted nothing less than ₦500k. Then I met my previous employer, and he sold me a vision. And I managed it.

    So, what’s the plan to get by between now and when you can get steady income?

    First of all, I have some savings, then I’ll be getting by on freelance gigs, which should get me a decent amount of money. 

    Also, I’m working to secure a client for O.R.M. The goal is to help High Networth Individuals manage their image online. There’s also the crisis management part. I have a mentor who’s already operating on that level.

    She’s working to set me up with a client or two – probably start with the small clients – the ₦500k people. Then we’ll go up from there. 

    Okay, just so I get a sense. What do you think you’d charge for ORM of a Nigerian Senator? 

    At the very least, ₦5 million for three months of work. Depending on the profile of the Senator. That should cover a lot of the costs. 

    Senator’s costs aside. What’s your current survival mode running cost? 

    I live pretty leanly. I buy in bulk. I don’t go out very much. So that means I can be frugal.  

    How much runway do you think you have before you absolutely need to get a steady means of income?

    First of all, I need to pay rent in October. Rent is ₦350k for a single room. Also, I want to move to a new place. So yes, I need to be earning properly before September. 

    How much do you imagine you’d be earning in 5 years? 

    10 million. The goal is to scale up to three hustles properly: luxury goods, real estate, and agric.

    What’s something you really want but can’t afford right now?

    My own house. In Banana Island. 7-bedroom duplex. So it can become a family home. And so that my friends can come and chill.  And then a Range Rover Evoque – I’ve always wanted an Evoque. I think that’s one of the reasons I haven’t considered a car yet, because I don’t have Evoque money. 

    So, do you have a house plan? 

    A house plan…? To be honest, I plan to buy my own house… but –

    You weren’t thinking of how? 

    I was thinking of how… To be honest, I’m just looking for who to dash me house in Banana Island abeg. 

    Hahahahaha

    Hahahahahaha. Any house I buy now, it will be in my village. See, right now, it’s to just become an Influencer, and then one politician will like me, and then dash me house in Banana Island. 

    When do you think you’ll retire? 

    I think when I’m 60. I would have started easing my workload then. At that time, I just want to be travelling and speaking to people. 

    What’s the last thing you paid for that required serious planning? 

    Definitely the Dubai trip last year. That cost me about ₦700k in total. I paid in bits, but that’s the total cost. I chose Dubai because I didn’t have to struggle to get a visa. I could go there on short notice. 

    See, I want a life of luxury, and being stuck in Nigeria can make you think the whole world likes suffer-head. 

    Dubai for me is the height of luxury. It opened my head, a lot. These people just thought, what does everyone else do? How can we make our own extra? Everyone has Fountain? Make our own dance.

    I watched the Dubai Dancing Fountain. And people just gathered to watch water dancing. And it shows you how simplistic the human mind is. People just want pleasure. People are driving three hours into the desert, to go and pose with a bird. 

    Dubai is packaged sand. And this business, it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. People will pay for enjoyment.

    So yes, I think this one was of the most powerful things about Dubai for me. 

    Hmmm. 

    Also, I learned that if you want to make money, you have to break out of the mould of culture. Conservative country yen yen yen that people are always shouting, but we went to a nightclub in Dubai, and people were just wilding. They were even playing Burna Boy sef. 

    This money thing is a mindset. 

    When was the last time you felt really broke? 

    Thing is, when I came back from Dubai, I was sad because there were some things that I needed money for, and couldn’t get. Then one of my friends told me to focus on being grateful. 

    And so I realised that it made me not feel broke. I know it’s weird, but being grateful for things I’ve gotten done makes me feel less broke. 

    But then again, broke is also relative. I’m living in a house I don’t like. I don’t have a car. 

    What am I saying? I guess I do feel broke hahahaha. 

    Hahahallthetimehahahaha.

    Hahaha. In fact, I still felt broke yesterday. Imagine I was trying to break a journey to cut cost. Taking Keke then taking a cab. Only for me to realise that the whole thing is not even up to ₦1k sef. 

    I’m even scared to open my other app, because it’s like I’m owing them money from my last trip. Hahaha.

    So yes, I guess the last time I felt broke was today. I speak to you broke.

    Do you have any insurance these days? 

    None. Only thing I own is my investments in stock and gold a long time ago. I can’t even remember them sef.

    On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your financial happiness? 

    2. I deserve better. I’m not even going to blame it on anybody. I think my awareness came too late. I somehow assumed that if I worked hard, the universe would reward me for it. I hustled so hard – and it’s why I resist that word ‘hustle’ now. It’s a stupid word because it’s not a guarantee of anything. 

    It’s being smart, and positioning well. Anybody can do the grunt work. In fact, I feel like, being the person known for the grunt work is dangerous. Because suddenly everyone thinks that’s where you flourish best, doing the heavy lifting. No managerial anything. 

    I feel like I should be doing better than I’m currently doing, considering how much I’ve invested in other people’s businesses. 

    I find myself having conversations about starting my own business now, and I feel like I’m behind.

    I’ve always seen myself as a simple girl. But now I’ve come to realise something; simple girls don’t make money. They don’t get the opportunities. They don’t win.

    This story was edited for clarity. Some details have been changed to protect the identity of the subject.

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    Fu’ad Lawal

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  • Young, Confident And Balling At 650k/month

    If you’ve been reading this every Monday, you know the drill at this point. If you haven’t, now you know that Zikoko talks to anonymous people every week about their relationship with the Naira.

    Sometimes, it will be boujee, other times, it will be struggle-ish. But all the time–it’ll be revealing.

    What you should know about the lady in this story: She started off as a hobby, Social Media and writing, and followed through till this day.

    When was the first time you made money?

    There are stories of me winning essay competitions in Primary and Secondary school, but I have no memory of those days.

    Anyway, I found out early that I’m not a “buying and selling of goods” person. I’m more of a services person.

    But the first time I remember making money after secondary school, was right before I gained admission into Uni – a writing gig that paid 20k. 2013. I did that for like 3 months.

    After that, I did a lot of social media work, just helping businesses manage their social accounts. The 10k’s here, and the 20k’s there for a few months at a time. But the solid and consistent one was like 25k for 2 years.

    Then I got to a point where I was like, I can’t be collecting exposure money anymore – the 10k gigs that is. So I quit all the little ones and focused on the 25k one. This was, by this time, late into my first year in Uni.

    By the end of my first year though, I was making 50-70k on a monthly basis, including pocket money.

    So in the second year, I didn’t take on extra projects. So I switched to social media and started writing for blogs. 3rd year, peg it at 50k a month.

    How did you know what was good money or what wasn’t?

    I feel like I’m a proud person. The first gig, I collected 10k because I had no experience. But after doing it for 9 months, I already had a good sense of the value I was adding. It’s subjective, but when people starting reaching out to me to do work, I knew I couldn’t be collecting exposure money. In all though, 50k a month in work was okay for me.

    Then in my final year, I got a proper job close to school. That’s when I became a proper big girl. The net salary was like 60k. I did that for about a year, until HR came to me one day and said, oh your services are no longer required. Come and be going.

    Ehn?

    I dunno how I survived for two months. At this time, I had already stopped receiving pocket money from home – this one stopped in 300-level. So I started looking for freelance work that paid good money here and there. One even paid 200k.

    Then I got hired in an established company, still working with digital skills. The offer was 200k, and I was like, ‘oh this is not bad’. Next thing, time for salary and 170k entered my account, And I was like what the fuck?

    Many of us learn net from gross after the first alert.

    Thennnnn, I got another job – an international tech company – and next thing you know, I received alert at the end of the month. 600k. This was in 2018. It was actually in dollars, but when you convert it to naira, that’s what it comes to.

    I’m assuming you’d never seen big alert before then.

    Never. When it hit my account, I was like yooooooooooooooooo. I was just looking at it in disbelief. My first disbelief was actually why I was paying so much in taxes. Like, I called my mum to help me calculate to make sure they didn’t scam me.

    When my mum heard how much it was, she was like YOU NEED TO SAVE. YOU CAN LIVE ON 10% OF THIS.

    10k to 650k in 5 years, how did that happen?

    Hopping jobs. Because how else will you get a raise if you’re not hopping jobs? People say if you hop around, it’s bad for your career.

    But I’m doing okay if I say so myself.

    My major driver, in general, is that I don’t like to be broke. I like to have money. It’s not even so I can buy expensive things. I just want to have that safety that money provides. My folks aren’t poor, but I’ve seen them struggle. And I need it to end with me. Also, I don’t want kids; because fuck them kids.

    It’s nice to be able to eat out, but having money as a safety net is even better. Right now though, I’m very broke, which makes no sense–

    –talking about being broke;

    I had major expenses. In January, I had over a million in my account and I was like wow, first million sitting in the bank. It’ll probably never happen again because I have a lot of expenses lined up. I bought land in January. Then I bought some gear for work, a computer actually.

    Okay, let’s break down your monthly spending properly.

    First thing, when my salary enters, I let it just sit for like 2 days. Then I dive in.

    “No matter how much you earn, make sure you save” is a scam. Saving became easier as I earned more. Also, I have two types of savings. There’s the touchables; small ones I can quickly liquidate. Then there’s the untouchable, which goes up to 80k per month.

    I rarely spend on food and transport. The company takes care of that. Also, I go out only twice a month. Relationships are expensive so date nights indoors, please. Then I buy gifts for my friends. Everything else is as e dey hot.

    Okay, but how much do you feel like you should be earning though?

    Honestly, my money is okay. But if I want to demand more, 1 million to be honest. There are many things I need to do, and money will help me do it faster. But I even feel like if I get that much money, I’ll just be dashing people.

    How did you arrive at 1 million?

    Omo, I dunno, I just plucked that money from the air. I don’t pay rent, I’m not paying school fees. The only reason I still do some freelance work is that I’m very ambitious and I need more money to achieve some things.

    How much do you imagine you’ll be earning in 5 years?

    I don’t want to be in this country – let’s start from there. I don’t care about being extremely wealthy. I just need comfort and security. And then whatever is slightly above average in whatever country I’m living in. Whether I go to Spain or Switzerland, or Cuba, as long as I’m comfortable enough to pay my bills, go on holiday once a year, and take care of myself, I’m fine.

    It can’t be in Nigeria where you’re one health disaster away from poverty.

    I feel like being extremely wealthy has its own pressures, so neh. I just don’t want to have to balance sheets every time to make basic financial decisions.

    What’s something you want right now but can’t afford?

    I would have said a car, but I’m not sure I want a car. I’m just saying it because it feels like the thing I’m supposed to say. A trip, I guess. I dunno. I don’t really want a lot, just comfort. Unless someone gives me a Glucose Guardian that doesn’t want glucose and just wants me to succeed in life.

    I really just want to make money and be alright. It’s why I started working when I was much younger – I didn’t want to wait for my father to stop giving me handouts before I figured it out.

    Oh yes – I know what I want but can’t afford. I want to buy a house.

    What’s the last thing you bought that required serious planning?

    Land – I bought it for 800k. Add documentation to that, and everything cost about a million. Fencing is lined up as my next major expense. I don’t really know what I want to use it for sef. I dunno whether I’ll build on it or something. I dunno. It just felt like a sensible investment channel.

    What other investments do you have?

    Mutual funds. Online investment platforms. I want to try all those Agric platforms too – ThriveAgric and Farmcrowdy – but I haven’t gotten around to checking them out. I’m a very low-risk person, so I like to know things thoroughly before I put my money on them.

    What’s your “One sickness away from poverty” safety net?

    I have HMO, I have doctor family friends. In fact, I didn’t bother with HMO because our family doctors used to give heavy discounts. Also, my pension is almost a million. Last-last, make God dey protect person.

    Happiness Levels?

    A solid 7.5. The remaining 2.5 is because I’m not yet collecting bastard money. I guess if I have 1.5 million naira net, my happiness will land on 10. Beyond the money, I have the things I wanty in life; a great support system, good health, so just give me more money.

    Oh, and take me out of this country.

    I consider myself lucky because I never imagined I’d be doing what I’m currently doing, earning a living off Digital skills.

    I’m generally a go-with-the-flow person. I’ve just been lucky to be at the right place, at the right time, with the right people. I definitely work hard, but it’s like 40% luck. I could be working hard in one corner and still be earningn my 20k.

    What’s–

    –Actually, it’s not luck. It’s 100% hard work and my mother’s prayers. You were saying?

    I was going to ask you if there’s something you wanted me to ask that I didn’t already ask.

    I dunno, my account number?

    Thank you very much. How old are you again?

    20.

    Check back every Monday at 9 am (WAT) for a peek into the Naira Life of everyday people.

    But, if you want to get the next story before everyone else, with extra sauce and ‘deleted scenes’, just subscribe here. It only takes a minute.

    Also, you can find every story in this series here.

    Fu’ad Lawal

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  • How To Become A Father Of Two At 21

    In certain cultures, adulting is marked with rituals, tests and celebrations. But when you’re Nigerian, adulting often comes at you without warning. Adulting comes in different forms; bills, family, responsibility, and you guessed it, a child. 

    Everyone who’s crossed that bridge has a unique story. Stories that can help you see you’re not alone. That’s why every Thursday at 9am, we’ll bring you one Nigerian’s journey to adulthood, the moment it happened and how it shaped them.

    The question we’ve been asking is, “when did you realise you were an adult?” 

    The guy in this story is a 29-year old digital marketer and writer. He lives in Lekki and has for a few years now, but that’s not the real thing. What’s important is he is a workhorse. Two things push him, or rather two people. You see, when he was a child, he wanted to be everything. Then he became a father of two at the ripe old age of 21 and found out there are no manuals for this thing.

    As far back as I can remember, I always dreamed of being a family man. But it wasn’t the only thing I wanted to be. My ambitions as a kid always changed. I had different goals at different stages, from wanting to be a pastor, to an astronaut, to an engineer, to an actor, to a business mogul and finally a musician. I did become that final one for a few years.

    I like to think certain aspects of childhood are the same for everyone. As a kid, I did what all other kids did. We lived in a suburb of Lagos with many other tenants in the compound. I remember playing with my siblings and going to school. Nothing eventful.

    I woke up from my childhood when I was 7. My dad and mom had a falling out and separated for more than a year. You don’t need telling that things are not the same when your parents no longer live together so I had to start understanding certain things from that age. Things change, people fight and make up. But you can only do that when you both have time. A year isn’t an eternity.

    My dad died when I was 20. It was a major point. I was in a university in Nigeria’s East at the time. I quickly realised I had to step up to some family responsibilities. It wasn’t unusual, to be honest.

    Then I had kids the next year. Not a kid, kids. Two. A set of twins. Of course, it wasn’t planned. We were both young and typically, we’d met on Facebook. We weren’t in a steady relationship per se. You know how these internet dating things are. It was a very convenient arrangement until one particularly night ensured it wasn’t.

    I was 21 and still in school. I had just lost my dad, but he was also the one who often said, “If a problem comes your way, it means you have the ability to solve it”. The details of how the babies happened matter little in retrospect – we weren’t married obviously and there was little planning in that regard but there I was, 21, with two babies and a father-shaped void at home.

    I had to take a break from school and life. I went to Benin for several months to clear my head and get ready for the rest of my life.

    It wasn’t easy. It’s still not easy. I fought the urge but I knew I had to tell my mom. The Good woman, she didn’t react in alarm. She took the news calmly and planned our next moves. First, certain protocols have to be observed for these things. My baby mama lives in Abuja but we had no plans to have a life together so my mum had to go and see her people first without me. You want to know why? Well, her father (who’s considerably well-to-do) was threatening me with fire, brimstone and prison walls. When she had doused the fires a little, she came back to Lagos and I and a few relatives for the Abuja trip.

    Having kids meant I stopped thinking about myself. I had twins – two mouths to feed, the needs of two people must be met, for the foreseeable future (at least 20 years). With my dad late, I was already shouldering some bills for my younger siblings. If I had to make it simple, having kids just meant looking for more money. I dropped out of university without a second’s thought after lecturers attempted to keep me in school for an extra year.

    From that point, every decision had to be the financially smarter one. This mindset made me fearless. I took any job regardless of experience. From blogging to artist management to PR and Media to Photography to Journalism to Social media/digital marketing, I took on any job as long as it would pay me more than what I was earning at the time.

    The reminders were constantly there; School fees must be paid every three months. Child support must be sent every month. My younger ones have to be taken care of before I think about my own problems and chop the small life I can chop.

    My kids are 8 now. They live with their mother’s family in Abuja and come to Lagos often to visit. They live comfortable lives there, and I’m determined to do what I can to make that happen.

    Nowadays, having extra jobs is par for the course for me. At any given time, I have three to four jobs. Right now, I have a new job, it’s a 9-5, and I have 3 and a half other jobs on the side. One of them is half because they haven’t exactly agreed to my proposal yet.

    The way I look at it, I could be hung up on how things turned out but I’m really grateful for the experience. The biggest lesson I have learned over time is nobody has this adulting thing figured out. We are all winging it. Also, Kids are expensive. Use a condom if you are not ready for the non-stop paper chase.

    Segun Akande

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