Conversations: an email newsletter with career tips for young Nigerian professionals

Seven years and ~12 kg ago. I can't believe friends from university thought I had put on weight in this picture!

It is now 7+ years since I moved to Lagos to start my first job at P&G. Fresh out of university, I did not know what to expect. I was armed with a few shirts, a fierce determination to succeed, and two gifts from my mum: a pen holder and Richard Templar’s The Rules of Work.

There have been many ups and downs since then. Tough assignments, unexpected promotions, a downsizing, getting married, business school… The list could go on for a while. Through it all, I have learnt a lot about being a successful young professional in (and outside of) Nigeria.

I have always been drawn to sharing what I learn. I spend a lot of time reflecting (I have been told I spend too much time reflecting), reading, and talking to my role-models and mentors about life and career. I enjoy taking all that thinking and advice and condensing it for people who don’t invest as much time or don’t have access to such relationships.

While talking to someone recently about how a random essay I sent them a few years ago helped transform their career, I began thinking about creating an email newsletter to connect with even more people. In the spirit of making things quickly, here’s a link to subscribe for my newsletter. We’ll call it Conversations with Koye. I did a couple of “Conversation” sessions in Lagos in March and I love the name.

Once a week, I’ll email you a concise piece about career. Some of the thoughts will be mine but many won’t be. The content will be based on a mixture of experience, structured learning, years of reading, and many conversations I’ve had.

I know from experience how newsletters eventually get annoying, so my emails will be short and sweet. I also don’t intend to keep them going forever. Right now, I’m planning on a 3-month cycle. That’s about 13 emails. If anything changes, I’ll let you know and ask for permission to continue mailing you. I will also not contact you with other messaging apart from what is described above.

Don’t forget to subscribe here. I look forward to chatting with you!

Cheers,
Koye.