Experts tell young Lagos workers: treat your job as a business school
- Speakers at a Lagos conference said networking and visibility drive wealth and influence.
- Immigify chief Emma Olorunsheyi urged workers to learn how their companies make money.
- About 100 entrepreneurs, creatives and students attended the Yaba event, which ended with a raffle.
About 100 business owners, creatives, students and young entrepreneurs gathered in Yaba, Lagos, for a conference on building wealth and influence, where speakers said networking and visibility matter as much as a salary.
The event, the Future of Wealth and Influence Conference, was hosted by Immigify, a United States-based immigration technology company.
Emma Olorunsheyi, the company's chief executive, told the room that a career should be seen as a launchpad rather than a destination. He argued that what he called career capital — the skills and knowledge a person gathers — comes before financial capital.
His advice to employees was blunt: do not just collect a salary and go home.
Treat your workplace as a business school.
Olorunsheyi, who said he worked with companies including Microsoft, HPE, Ford, Rackspace and Michaels before starting his own ventures, urged workers to study why customers buy, how a company earns money and how teams solve problems. Those lessons, he said, can be worth more than the job itself.
Relationships before you need them
Oladayo Ogunleye, one of the other speakers, focused on relationships. He said trust takes time to build and that many opportunities come through people you already know, so connections should be made before they are needed.
He advised attendees to improve their communication skills, build a personal brand and offer help without always asking for favours in return. Brain Essien and Tunde Okewale also spoke, sharing their own experiences.
Immigify co-founder Deji Adesola joined virtually from the United States and encouraged participants to connect with one another.
During a question-and-answer session, attendees asked about self-discovery, the place of immigration in a career and how talent can attract global attention.
For some in the room, the message landed. Product designer Damilola Akinwande said she would work on networking, an area she said she still struggles with, and push for more visibility for her role. Toyin Dami of Ire's Surprises said she learnt that money is not needed to start something, and promised to stop procrastinating.
The conference closed with a raffle. Ebunoluwa Soyege won ₦100,000 after her name came up in a digital draw, and the chief executive added another ₦100,000 when she became emotional receiving the dummy cheque.
