After I completed high school education, I couldn’t afford my school fees to further my education in the University. I had to think of something to do so I could earn a living to raise funds for school. I also didn’t want to be idle.
I thought about the business I could start with little or no capital and what came to mind was crafting handmade stationaries using African prints. I have always been good at sketching and crafting so, it seemed like a great idea.
I started the business and it did really well. At some point, my customers started to ask for personalized designs. This was a challenge for me because I found it difficult to work with Graphic Designers. I wasn’t getting the exact designs I asked for. It made me feel frustrated.
One day, one of my customers told me about the 1000WomenInDesign scholarship program by I4G. I applied for it so I could learn to create designs myself.
As I learnt Graphic Design, I practiced the skills I learnt with my business and it made my business do so much better. Not only did this help cut down the cost of production because I didn’t have to pay anyone to create designs for me, I also started getting graphic design gigs asides too. My income had increased!! I was so happy about this.
At some point, people started asking for my social media account. I have never been active on social media and my business seemed to be doing well without it so I didn’t bother to start a business account on social media. Every time I spoke to a potential customer, the first thing they’d ask for was my social media account. At this point, I knew I had to create an account quickly but I didn’t know how to.
Fortunately, I4G announced the first cohort of the I4GMarketing scholarship program. I immediately applied for it. I was so excited and relieved when I was awarded the scholarship! I knew I couldn’t afford the course on my own so getting the scholarship was a big deal!
The course was really enlightening. I got to learn about mapping my customer’s journey, target marketing and content creation. As I learned, I applied the skills in my business and I could tell the difference it made.
One day, I went for a networking event. At the event, I had a conversation with a group of people and I told them about the I4GMarketing program and how I was applying the skills I learnt to my business. Right there, someone asked if I was willing to work as a Campaign Manager at the company he worked at. I agreed and we had an interview some days after and I was offered the job!
I wasn’t even done with the scholarship program when this happened. I’m so grateful to I4G for the opportunities they have given me.
My income is now 4x more! My family and friends are so proud of my growth!
I still intend to further my education but instead of studying Biomedical Engineering, I will be pursuing a degree in Media Communications.
I’m grateful to I4G, Geneza School of Design and Meta for the opportunities they have given me!