It could seem totally normal if I say I have always had the drive to be in the PR industry.
My interest in PR was absolutely a recent development and it happened within a span of two weeks.
Before the end of August 2021, I had no clear direction regarding my career. The fact remains that I grew up knowing that I wanted to communicate, network, work with the media, and do more activities alike but I was not articulate about what I wanted to do with my life. I had considered different career paths and I was on the verge of trying newer ones just so I could find where I fit. Each option I went for had one or some of my interests and yet I found it difficult to piece them together.
I worked as an Inbound Sales and Customer Service Analyst at a sister company in marketing technology, Plaqad.
Within that period, I had the opportunity to work directly with Ayeni Adekunle. Ayeni is one of the most respected personalities in the PR space. I really look up to him because of his level of knowledge and experience.
Amidst working/learning with him, he shared PR materials with my teammates and I to study in the Customer Service team and he pushed us to think beyond our roles so that we can boost our confidence in ourselves and also appear great to others.
Studying the PR materials was a transforming experience for me even though he gave us a week to prove to him that we could do great at our roles in Customer Service. Otherwise, he would move us to a different department.
The week passed and Ayeni made a comment that I was not where I am supposed to be. At first, I was scared, then the story changed when he said,
“You are like a canvas. If you get the right training in PR, you would be surprised at where you would find yourself”
This felt so divine!
Prior to this, I had plans to reach out to him that I had caught a very good interest in PR as a result of the materials he shared with my team to study and also ask him to advise on how I could take up a career in public relations.
That was what changed everything.
Now my first month at BHM UK was as I expected. Exciting, motivating, knowledge-filled, and engaging.
September 1st, 2021 was my first day at BHM UK. I wasn’t nervous because I was already familiar with the organization and my boss. I honestly could not contain the excitement because I was starting out a new career path in an international company. I was charged up for the new experience and I could not wait to also be a PR consultant.
My boss to start with, I have never felt more inspired. She is nothing short of being a motivation and she is super supportive. Every employee had better get themselves a boss like Enitan Kehinde because she wouldn’t just inspire you to be better, she takes time to support you.
My colleagues, Zanett and Ronke, are everything teammates should be like. My team couldn’t be cooler than that. The warmth was massive and we clicked almost immediately.
I had my birthday within the first week of joining and I must say it felt like I had been in the team for years. The love was great and the well-thought-out present that was sent to my house was breathtaking. Working at BHM UK is lit!
I wrote my first contact report on my first day at work and it felt great that I was instrumental just immediately.
Each day I had something new to learn. Ranging from terminologies to activities, Google was absolutely my friend in meetings and regular conversations. When I wanted a more practical explanation, I reached out to my teammates and my boss, Enitan.
Not like everything went so easy nor was I getting a job done at one sitting, but the excitement that came with it covered any bit of stress I thought I went through.
Meeting with some of our directors like Stephen Waddington was a huge opportunity (I had read his works prior) and Moliehi Molekoa shared great insights to PR that were nothing short of inspiring.
Networking with Big brands was indeed a pleasure. Meeting CEOs and reputable figures ignite the zeal to be successful. Thus, BHM UK is a place of many opportunities.
The standard of work at BHM UK cannot be ignored. Literally, everything is organized. There are structures and templates to help you get your work done. Even while working from home, I have never had a reason to complain about the system. Superb is an understatement.
One very important thing that I grabbed in my first month at BHM UK was that storytelling is a key part of Public Relations. Regardless of the method of communications, you choose to employ in PR, you need to influence the thoughts of your readers/audience and be super engaging.
Seeing that there was so much to learn, I studied all toolkits and materials shared with me at the point of joining. To an extent, I have an upgraded knowledge of PR. There were so many emails to study and I went through them as fast as I could.
I also took steps at building credible writing skills so that at the end of my probationary period, I would have confidently improved at communications and brand relations.
In the next few years, I hope to be a consultant who effortlessly and successfully handles big brands and is immensely instrumental to the growth of the organization. Most times I think to myself there is absolutely no reason for me not to seize the opportunity given to me on a platter of gold. In the later years of my career, I want to be a part of Nigerian politics, using the PR experiences I have gathered to make a difference in my country and beyond.
In summary, I am excited to be a part of the BHM UK team especially in the first few months it was founded.
One of my aspirations in life is to be a part of visions of valuable impact to society and activities that puts Africa in the spotlight. BHM UK is one of those which makes it a dream come true. I do not take this for granted.