Before we get started, enjoy this little fashion joke to make you chuckle, courtesy of today’s technician Adeyinka, who is quite knowledgeable in fashion. While composing this newsletter, we learned that before discovering technology, she had at least three attempts; it’s similar to putting on many outfits before determining which one fits best.
Adeyinka enrolled in fashion school after quitting her studies in computer science. When that didn’t really work out, Yinka grudgingly entered the tech industry after a friend put her up for a position in customer success.
She claims that although she still has her sights set on fashion, she is currently fulfilled with her work in the digital industry.
This is the tale of Adeyinka Ajenifuja’s move from fashion to technology.
When she was an undergraduate computer science student at Lagos State University, she used to have big eyes. Her dreams of working in information technology were dashed by a demanding academic environment.
She learned to code with a pen and paper, just like a lot of IT students at public universities. Everything she had learned about science, computers, or the combination of the two had little to no application, and the wide-eyed pupil gradually started to lose her amazement.
Following her graduation, Adeyinka made the decision to launch a company. She was not suited for the 9 to 5 grind. She then mustered all the strength a Lagos belle could summon and launched a tiny company selling sunshades to anyone looking to get into the groove of LadiPoe Big Energy.
As business prospered, she began to show interest in fashion. She quickly went from selling sunglasses to helping customers update their wardrobes by selling Nigerians the clothing, shoes, and other items she had purchased from the UK. Before she stopped, business was good for an additional year.
She then made the decision to immerse her toes fully into fashion creation once more. After being accepted into the Betti-O School of Fashion, she was chosen as one of the top 40 finalists from 200 applicants. Counting along, this is a huge change number three.
She excelled in the fashion institute, BrandSpur digital news brand reports.
Adeyinka won an industrial machine and graduated in the top five. She used it to design for a while, but she claims that drawing clothes was more fun for her than sewing.
We believed during the conversation that this was her call from the tech universe. We were aware that the next significant shift would occur here. However, we had assumed Adeyinka would pursue a career in design; instead, she took a different turn.
Speaking on if entering tech was by chance, she said: “I stumbled into tech. I only wanted to get the exposure and resign after six months. Six years later, I’m still kicking.”
In 2018, Adeyinka was introduced to her first IT position—a customer success associate position at Flutterwave—by a friend who was an HR employee at KPMG. She had no prior experience with fintech, so she was hesitant to accept the offer. Her general lack of experience with technology was another factor. Adeyinka’s resume at the time solely highlighted her three years of experience managing several firms and her diploma from Betti-O fashion school. She thought it was ridiculous to jump that far.
She did it despite her friend’s persistent pleas. It should come as no surprise that her selling point during the interview was that she ran a fashion company. If you know anything about how Nigerian fashion designers and tailors are treated, you will appreciate the amount of people skills and customer relationship management work that was required to avoid unintentionally getting into trouble over minor customer misunderstandings. She thinks this has helped her become a rockstar customer success specialist in her work.
Her interviewers were won over by her affability due to her management experience in her fashion business. The employer begged her to stay at her first job when she wanted to go, even offering to increase her pay by four times. Adeyinka left, nevertheless.
She still works in finance now, finds time to coach new members on ADPList, and produces skincare content for her Instagram feed that she shares with the world. She told us that her hustle is what is driving her the most when we asked.
She had this to say about her dreams: “There is money in tech; we haven’t even scratched the surface yet.”
Adeyinka wants everyone sceptical about “tech money” to know that there is still more grass on the ground.
Her career high point came when she went for an interview for a position abroad that would have paid her €5,000 a month in 2022.
Even though she was overqualified for the position, it helped her realise the limitless career opportunities in technology. By the end of the next year, Adeyinka hopes to work as a customer success manager or as a big tech COO. (We clapped in agreement.) She does concede, though, that tech money isn’t always immediately rewarding, much like most things in life.
She has had to learn a lot about taking charge of her work, performing analytics, CRM (even though she still gets anxiety from Salesforce), dispute resolution, and de-escalating customer tension—which is the most difficult aspect of her job because she works in fintech—to become an excellent employee.
Customer success specialists essentially put out fires for companies, but those who choose to pursue this field have limited access to resources, networks, and representation. Adeyinka suggests using CustomerSuccessU, Udemy courses, and the ideas of intellectuals such as her mentor Jo-Sharon Udoh.
It would take six months to a year to become employable, she says, if you, like her, wish to switch to customer success. To teach you all you need to know to become a customer success manager, we have also developed a version of Entering Tech.
As a last bit of self-serving advice, we would appreciate it if you could forward this mail to other astute individuals. While Deadpool enjoys chimichangas, we depend on your support as our fans.
We cleaned up and prepared to go after concluding our interview with Adeyinka. Then she added something that this newsletter simply had to include: “Every experience you have is useful; regardless of where you’re coming from. There is always a tie-back to tech. If you have event management experience, for example, you can excel as a project manager.”
However, Adeyinka’s surge in tech and twist from fashionista to techie, proves possibilities are endless.
