6 Lessons i learnt in 2014 : Number 1 Build your own cult !!!

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Don’t drink you own coolaid or believe you own hype

This year has been quite a year, I met Barack Obama, hugged Michelle Obama, was published in CNN, featured on BBC, invited to address the UN gender task force, shortlisted for the UN/ITU GEM Tech Award, spoken at the global entrepreneurship summit and invited to speak the India, Middle East and Africa (emerging Markets) women in technology team of Proctor and Gamble (one of the world leading brands) 

Then I  talk to my dad,hubby,my family and mentors ,they are proud of me but  they are not in awe of me .that is the best gift anyone can ask for , it  keeps me grounded .

Last week someone asked me a question which I loved, they asked me ‘when will you play in the big leagues?

I am grateful for the people in my life that ask me these questions, because it keeps me focused, ambitious and hungry 

 

Grumpy Cats makes more Money than you 

 

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If you find the right customer you will find there is value in places you never knew or realised

Grumpy made over 60m dollars in the last year.

Grumpy’s earnings have dwarfed those of many of Hollywood’s biggest names such as Gwyneth Paltrow who, according to Forbes magazine, earned just over £12 million last year.

 

Build Value and they will come

My Father had no need for YouTube until he fell in love with golf .YouTube for him allows him to better his swing and learn how to improve his golf. He watches the YouTube videos on an obsessive daily ritual because he wants to improve his golf. So if you provide value and solve a problem, people will come

 

Develop you own cult 

One of the hardest things I have to learn this year: Based on my schedule and my time I cannot any longer fully shoulder all women in tech work and my other nonprofit work. It meant inviting in volunteers to work hand in hand with me to birth the dreams and ambitions of Women in tech.

I have found persuading people to join the cause with logic just does not work. The more I look at the conundrum, the more I realize that I need to create a cult ….*YES A CULT*. You know what I mean the cult of Steve (Apple), cult of game of throne etc 

As in…

Who gets the most excited about what you’re working on, and is always first in line to pay/discuss/talk about? You need to know who your top evangelists will be and figure out what makes them tick.

It’s critical to be able to tell a good story around your product/cause/brand. Our brains work well with stories, especially those that evoke strong emotions such as fear, surprise, anger or desire

 

Keep the goal in view always 

My current passion goals are 

  • Build Edel technologies into a multinational, Tech Company I retire from, hire a career CEO and be chair of the board by finding the shortest possible path to those 1st million dollars
  • Build up women in tech Ghana to become value add for the ladies into the network: in the next year we want to support our women to break more glass ceiling, C level, Board room roles and double the girls choosing to have tech careers.
  • Build up the umbrella body for women in tech groups in Africa to grow the women and also to provide these groups support to support their women 
  • Build Africa’s most successful accelerator comparable to Ycombinator in Africa Twenty10
  • To never be bored professionally

Everyday I have to remind myself of these goals, because there are so many other distractions and so many other paths I could take 

 

Learn to unlearn 

It is always irritating for me when people are shocked that I am female , I develop software  and I am  CEO of a tech company , so who better than me to understand that it was not my place to express surprise at a male who had started and runs a successful cosmetics brand . I apologized to him, I should know better …learning to unlearn

 

 

 

 

You do get paid for having a deep rolodex and having a large network 

I will expand on that next year…..