Walk With Me on a Comedic Journey Through My Career 2
If you haven’t yet, read part 1 here! We’ll take it from 2018- the year of horrors. Horrors because I had to work these roles: Hotel room service server, baker, chef…(at 2 hotels): You’ll think the best lessons I learnt here were how to change bedsheets, wash toilets, bake pies, fry rice (they literally fried the rice with curry and thyme- it was DELICIOUS). No, those weren’t my best lessons. My best lesson, taught directly by the room service ‘supervisor’ was that the unused, complimentary hotel supplies (like soap, milk, sugar, coffee) were left by providence for the (apparently hungry?) room service servers. So always pack as many as you can for yourself. I’ve never looked at hotels or room service servers the same way. National Park Ranger (at 3 National Parks in Nigeria) This one is loaded with trauma and mosquitoes. Trauma because I was away from home, living in forests, surrounded by strangers. Trauma because I was hoping to see a Lion, or a Hippo or a King Cobra- just something- decapitating an animal. Trauma because I JUST WANTED TO GO HOME. Ugh. On the bright side, I also shot guns. Shotgun rifles- but guns nonetheless. And I did it twice! I tell everyone I meet “I’ve shot guns twice. It almost decapitated my shoulder. But I did it”Peak conversation starter. Airport… I have no idea what my role was (at 2 Airports in Nigeria). Do you ever experience something and fight your whole life to ensure you NEVER have to again? That’s what working here did to me. So, I packed my 4c natural hair neatly in a bun to go to work… in Nigeria, where we’re predominantly born with 4c natural hair. The heavily pregnant supervisor told me to never come to work wearing my natural hair, or she would “deal with me!”. Every time I think about this, my anger is renewed. How do I start to unpack the embarrassment, her ignorance, the wickedness of a system, the backwardness? Horrible times. May I never live them again. Zoo Keeper Where the Giraffe fell in love with me and wouldn’t let me go I fed the Zoo animals– INCLUDING THE LION, under very strict supervision. I’m still so psyched about this. 2018 gave me my best conversation starters. Why I had to do all these internships is a little irrelevant, just know I was an unwilling captive. They dragged me screaming to these places. Okay. I’m done trauma-dumping, Let’s skip back to the good part: Publicity and Storytelling Lead- Sycamore Community Church (2021–2022). I have written a long list of my previous roles, but my work at Sycamore Church makes me go to bed at night with a smile on my face. Some of my best creative work was done here. I led three teams: Videography and editing, Graphic Design, and Photography, whose members are ridiculously brilliant creatives. They made me better in many ways. Top 2 amazing places to work in the world, and it’s not number 2. Freelance content writer There’s a lot freelancing has done for me- flexibility, great money, heart palpitations, sleepless nights, raised and dashed hopes… but the best gift of all is the AMAZING people I’ve gotten to meet and work with. Like Jordan Duvall- the Art Director that produced and pitched the campaigns, or worked with the advertising teams for shows like Game of Thrones, The Blacklist, The Amazing Spiderman and wait for it… STAR TREK. And here’s what she had to say about my work:
Read MoreWalk With Me on a Comedic Journey Through My Career.
Exactly 242 days, 7 hours, and 9-ish minutes after my last blog post, I’m pleased to say I’m back. In the time I was away, I cried, panicked and daydreamed about writing this 242 times. I also became employed– full-time (after bragging continuously on the internet that I would never work a full-time job). So yeah, welcome back to me. We’ll start with the worthy mentions: Cheesballs retailer (2006) In primary school, where all great romances start, I sold cheeseballs. I would buy a pack of cheese balls with my ₦20 pocket money and sell it at ₦25. 25% profit like the future businesswoman that I am. Then I would spend all of that ₦25 on sweets. Hair cream mixologist (200?) We all did it. Right? Right?? Garri Seller (2010) I was in boarding school and always had fantastic Garri. My mum bought it directly from the roasters — straight from the fire. It was white, dry, sour, and crunchy. I sold it at ₦20 a handful and then used all of the money to buy Viju Chocolate. Okay, that was me warming up. Here’s the real thing: Makeup Artist (2014) That’s all I’m going to say about that. Event ushering (once in 2015, once in 2016). Doubles as the beginning of my horrors Aside from really hating the ushering uniforms (why were they so badly sewn?), I, from the depth of my whole heart, hated having to stand for so long, AND ON HIGH HEELS! 😭. So yeah, I quit. Multilevel Marketing Gags. Spits. Obliterates it from memory. Blogger (2015) Alwaysforevertruth.wordpress.com One day, I woke up and was too embarrassed to keep writing, so I deleted the blog and all its content with it. I regret this. Baker (2016–2019, 2020) This phase makes me very grateful for the gift of perspective. I found it embarrassing then, but, I had an actual learning curve. I developed my own recipes, bought equipment, watched myself grow, and LOVED EVERY PART OF IT. Unfortunately, professionally untrained me only wanted to bake cute things– like cupcakes with puppy faces. Double unfortunately, professionally untrained me didn’t get the training she needed to bake cute cupcakes with puppy faces. So, again, I quit. In hindsight, I realize that baking is a creative outlet. I absolutely adore it, and I hope I build a life that allows me to bake often. Grocery retailer (for 2 weeks in 2019) Now, please don’t get me wrong– I really think I could have succeeded at this. But by now, we have established that I historically didn’t follow through with hard things– and this was my first real entrepreneurial endeavour. Unlike baking, it wasn’t a cute creative outlet or hobby, it was hard business. So I dusted my slippers and RAN. Plastic recycler? Environmentalist? (2017, 2020) One thing about me? I AM DELUSIONAL. I, who knew next to nothing about the plastic recycling process, wrote and submitted a grant application to build a plastic recycling company. I was literally watching a YouTube video about the process and writing the grant document at the same time. The grant application? I’m looking at it as I type this. It’s not the worst thing I’ve written in my life. Human Resources (2019- 2020) Boring story here; I figured I was a people-person, and thought that was all it took. I didn’t know I would need to use Excel. I hate Excel. Project Manager? Executive assistant? Admin lead? (2021–2022) In real life, I set my alarm for 5 am and snooze it until 7:30. I have breakfast at 1 pm, after promising myself several times that I would have it at 9. What made me think I had the skill set to manage other people’s projects? Ehn? Programmer (for 6 months in 2022) If I unpack this, we won’t leave here. It will be a dedicated article where I go on and on about how much I hate Flex Box. Unworthy mentions I went through a craft phase and made objectively ugly hair bands in 2016. Unfortunately, I can’t find the pictures, and I hope nobody on earth has them. Anyway, speech From one ex-career drifter to a might-be career drifter, here’s what I’ve learnt: Trying to commit to anything is hard and gruelling. It takes ghcdvhkbeln from you. That’s not a real word. That’s me trying to qualify the ‘everything’ that commitment takes from you. And if you were like me, you sometimes just don’t have the ‘ghcdvhkbeln’ to give. Unfortunately, I’m not qualified enough to give you advice. Here’s what I’ve learnt from not following through with my seasonal passions though: The feeling sucks. Very badly. And I hate it. That hatred created a healthy desperation in me to follow through with whatever I put my hands to do. To walk through the hard, absorb the discomfort, and break out at the other side. I hope you hate the feeling too and grow to give the ghcdvhkbeln– the ‘everything’– in all you do. To pour yourself into things, get your reward in fulfilment first, then in achievement, and yes, in lots of money. Okay bye! Glossary Garri: Cassava flakes. If you’re curious enough about it, read here.
Read MoreWhy You Should Use a Deodorant — An Important Lesson in Branding
It’s October, and there’s no better time to talk about Christmas than now. Do you smell Christmas? No, not figuratively. I mean literally. Do you wake up and smell Christmas — like how you would smell Turkey? First of all, of all Mùdùn Múdùns in the world, this is the crème de la crème of Mùdùn Múdùn. Nothing beats it. And if you’ve never smelt Christmas or haven’t in years, I hope this is the year you do. You deserve some Mùdùn Múdùn. Christmas has the most beautiful brand. If Christmas was a company, it would be the most profitable the world has ever seen. The best movies, the best songs, the best books? All of them are about Christmas. Heck! Christmas is the best time to find love. But you see the Smell?! That Christmas smell? It marks the beginning of Christmas, and keeps you in a nostalgia loop, as you anticipate the next Christmas. It’s a perfect experience. I live in Ibadan, Nigeria and my local Church happens to be behind a restaurant that’s branded like it’s a regular eatery but sells overpriced food. Aside from this, their Egg Fried Rice only lasts 2 seconds before it starts to spoil, but that’s not the point of this piece. Every time I go to church, there are wafts and wafts of fried chicken aroma that drift into the compound. And you don’t want to be hungry on days like this. Unfortunately, I have been hungry on several days like this. Oh, they’re sneaky. Disney World also does this. The Pirates of the Caribbean section smells like Pirates because they put Bromine in the water, the Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe (whatever that is) smells like Cinnamone, and the whole place smells like popcorn, because they’re out to finish your money. Smell is powerful, and it’s directly linked to your subconscious. In therapy, your sense of smell may be all you need for a breakthrough. It can trigger memories and help you process your emotions in amazing ways. (But you won’t know, since you have refused to try therapy). Businesses can literally automate responsive action if they maximize the use of a great smell. It’s why I woke up this morning, took a deep breath, and knew immediately to play Santa Baby (Eartha Kitt’s version, and Eartha Kitt’s version alone forever) I just knew what I had to do. Anyway, I type all this to say you might think this is a blog post about Sensory Branding, but it’s not. It’s actually an appeal to you to use Deodorant. It’s an SOS cry. Please, smell the way you want to be addressed. Besides, you too can “automate” love with great smell. This Christmas just might be it. Hasta la vista! PS: If you text me, I’m going to assume you want to write your website copy and send you an invoice. So here’s my email for website copy: iyebiyeolatokun@gmail.com Glossary Mùdùn Múdùn: Catch all the tea here.
Read MoreBone Marrow and why AI can’t take my Job
Before I start, I just want to say be careful what you wish for. So, I was feeling a type of way, and I explained it to ChatGPT my makeshift therapist (hey! I was desperate), and it said my symptoms were describing … wait for it… Imposter Syndrome I have… Imposter Syndrome? And it might be right. I mean, I think I have proof. I haven’t been able to write a blog post in almost two months because … you guessed it… I didn’t think I was a good writer! Or it could have been wrong. But whatever this feeling was, I don’t want to feel it ever again in my life. Anyway, back to my story. At the peak of my self-doubt and creative block, I turned to TikTok —my other makeshift therapist, hoping to find some relief. Quick advice: Don’t cheat on your therapist. It’s always a bad idea, and the algorithm hates you and is only there to make your day worse. All I got from TikTok were videos with titles like: “Is AI coming to take your job?” “This AI tool is taking over jobs”, “Fire your copywriter with these ChatGPT Prompts”. “Fire your copywriter with these ChatGPT Prompts?” FIRE YOUR COPYWRITER WITH THESE CHATGPT PROMPTS??? What do you mean telling companies to fire their copywriters? I should have stuck with my first therapist- AI. After really panicking about losing my job, and source of income, and having to move back to Osogbo* with my mum, I sat for a minute and thought — Hm. What can I offer the world that AI can’t? I did some digging and reflecting and decided to make my answers a public journal entry — aka this blog post. And what’s a public journal entry by Iyebiye without another food illustration? Enter- Mùdùn Múdùn Bone Marrow The perfect crescendo of a great meal. Huh? I can explain 😂 It’s such a Yoruba girl thing to say, but I love Amala*. It isn’t just because of the Amala itself — it’s about all the things that come with it, especially goat meat. When cooked right, goat meat AND its bone marrow absorb all the flavour from the broth and stew. The taste is perfection. As a well-brought-up Nigerian child, when I eat Amala, I wait till I finish my food before I eat the meat, and then I wait till I finish the meat before sucking out THE BONE MARROW. This is the highlight of my eating experience. It’s final. It’s the end. It’s the great crescendo! If you haven’t experienced this, well, you deserve to. I swear, I’m salivating as I write this Anyway, my goal here isn’t to describe Mùdùn Múdùn but to describe what it makes you feel: the richness of a human experience. And this can be anything: Listening to Frank Sinatra, Being at a museum (even though I believe you’re pretending to understand and enjoy the Art), The hard work and painstaking years of experience that amount to effortless excellence, The peace you feel when you listen to Edelweiss from The Sound of Music. It’s your brain neurons firing, and ideas coming together. It’s being in love. Mùdùn Múdùn is me writing this blog post right now. And hopefully, it’s you reading it. Ugh! I’m so philosophical. I love it I digress. I have an argument (and for the sake of my career, I hope I’m right): AI is great, but it is bereft of the richness of the human experience. It takes the Mùdùn Múdùn out of life. And we are human beings. We crave Mùdùn Múdùn. We need Mùdùn Múdùn. And the more artificial the world gets, the greater our human need for Mùdùn Múdùn. As a copy and content writer, my biggest desire and hope is that I bring Mùdùn Múdùn into the human experience. To bring color to the life of a reader through the words I write. To help them understand all they read clearly and to communicate words that influence change and decision-making. It’s what I’ve done for years, and it’s what I hope I can do at a higher level, for a long long time. AI might take my job, but it will never be able to produce the Mùdùn Múdùn my writing creates. And that gave me peace for abooouuuut 6 minutes. Help! I might need a new career and transfer my skills or something. Looking to create Mùdùn Múdùn with your content? I’m one email away Email me at iyebiyeolatokun@gmail.com Glossary: Amala: It’s not describable. It’s an experience. I’m not kidding, here’s a video. Osogbo- It’s just a place in Osun State, Nigeria.
Read MoreMy Content Writing Approach: a Step-by-Step Process.
Hello there, Thought to walk you through my step-by-step content-writing process. I would be referring to the client as “Client”. Enjoy. First Contact Client reaches out to know if I can write their website content. Of course, I can, what do you mean?! I invite Client to fill out my Website Content form so I have all the information about the company, their target audience, and alladat*. I inform Client that I received their filled form, overpromises to deliver exceptional content, aaaannd Panics! Panics Panics Panics First ContactPre-Writing Stage (1 week before the deadline) Sits in my panic bubble for hours, or days, depending on… the weather? “Can I really do this work?” “This company seems like a big deal, and they’re really specific about what they want.” “Shey mi o ti shey mistake bayi?*” Is this… IMPOSTER SYNDROME??? And then, (just like it happened with this particular sentence), ideas come at random places, at random times. And I quickly write them down. Then I forget that I wrote them, or where I wrote them. 1st Writing attempt (3 days to deadline) Okay I go to a co-working space since working from my bed isn’t working. I attempt to ask ChatGPT to write the website content. Steal like an artist eh? Ew Wetin be dis?* At least my job is safe. Side gist- saw a Tweet where someone said they paid a content writer for their website content, and this was the exact tone. The person was asking if it was AI. Who will tell them? Okay, that’s enough about ChatGPT. I try to continue my work, but the Internet at the co-working space is bad. Okay, Game over (Pun very intended). I pack my bags and go home. Actual Writing Actual writing day comes (many times 12 hours before the deadline because you know, diamonds are formed under immense pressure). And then I write. I just do. All the websites I’ve looked at, Target audience research, Industry news and trends, and sometimes even the Enid Blyton books I read as a child come together to form this…masterpiece? I write for hours. Proofreading and Editing (2 hours to deadline) Let me be, Grammarly! I meant every word I typed. Except for those typos and that time I missed the English comma. I eat cornflakes, wash my face, proofread again. Okay, we’re good. Submission (3 mins 43secs to deadline) Sends Google Doc link to Client. PANICS Post Submission and first client review (1.5 days after deadline with an apology) Clients open Google Doc Anonymous Beagle has a cursor on the third paragraph Anonymous Koala is just there, at the top of the document, being a Koala. 🙄 Okay Clients drop comments “Really like the use of x-word here” “I think you should change all this” Why Client, why? “This doesn’t clearly define us, change it to …” (I hate this one) Client sends a message: “Loved the content, I requested some changes in the Google Doc, please make the changes. After that, we’re good to go” Final submission Here is the fun part Client accepts the document, and ends the project 🥳🥳🥳 I receive 5-stars skrr skrr* Sometimes, I receive a tip Sometimes, I receive long-term offer with money that’s enough to feed my family and me for… you know, long enough. Client happy Iyebiye happy Just another day, saving the world Capitalism Wins!
Read MoreThe one about the Dunning-Kruger effect
Have you ever heard people talk about having an experience, but your experience with the same thing was the direct opposite? Like when people say they continued watching The Office after Michael left, but you just can’t understand why. 😕 Aren’t we all supposed to have, like and experience the same thingsss? Can I tell you a secret? I really really REALLY wanted to have imposter syndrome. Like really.2/3 years ago, it was all the buzz. Everyone on Twitter said they had it, and I wanted to be able to say I had it too. I just liked the idea of not feeling good enough, when you are in fact great at what you do! But guess what? 😭 Oh Lord So… This feels like a terrible career confession. Am I shooting myself in the foot? Am IIIIIIII??? 🤷♀️🤷♀️ Anyway, in a previous role, my ex-boss (who I don’t hate so much now) tells me “Hey, you know how to present yourself as great at what you do, but you’re not” Guys. I almost died. Did this ̶g̶u̶y̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶ person just say I don’t have the Imposter Syndrome everyone has? Is he Implying I have the opposite? Like the Dunning-Kruger effect??? Bruh! I couldn’t do anything for like three weeks. Then, of course, I did all the childish things- quit his stupid* company and kept ranting until everyone got tired of me. Then after mourning my pride and what seemed to be my whole career for three weeks (I promise it doesn’t take that long for me to bounce back anymore), and finishing what was left of my last salary on chocolate, I promised myself no one would ever give me feedback like that again. I sat up, wiped my tears, and took my next job(s) very seriously. It’s taken a while, but I’m a hard worker now, and I don’t have to pretend like I’m good at what I do, because I actually sabi*. It turns out his feedback is one of the best I’ve ever gotten. He ripped the band-aid off, and while it hurt then, it gave me great perspective and made me hungry for excellence. While I still don’t have Imposter Syndrome (yet 👀), I carry a real passion for excellence at what I do, and I’m way more aware that there’s so much room for improvement. Hey! I have multiple client reviews to prove it. You can check them out here *The company is actually not stupid, they do amazing work, but I had to hate😬 I’ll include a link to their website, but I don’t want my ex-boss to ever find this. *Sabi is Nigerian pidgin English and it means “to know” Cheers!
Read MoreIntroduction
Hi, I’m Iyebiye, currently a content writer, but transitioning into Digital Marketing. I started my first blog when I was 19? (I think 🤔), but deleted all the content because I was embarrassed. The content wasn’t even that bad, but they don’t say your teenage years are the worst for nothing. Anyway, guess who’s back! Here, you’ll find stuff about Digital Marketing, my personal development, career confessions, and just random gist that I’ll try to make funny.
Read More