Last year you won an award. How did it feel, given the caliber of the other individuals nominated for the award? Did you have any doubts that you would win?
I mean that experience was an entirely different experience, all in all. I had not felt like that before.
This was my biggest award yet. So, that experience was a whole new one. Looking at the other nominees, I stood no chance. Or so I thought. But my tribe proved me wrong, with the way people showed up for me. It was just amazing how diverse people voted for me and in numbers too. Clients who I guess remembered how I made them feel. Even people abroad. At work, we have a staff strength of about 200 and there were others amongst us who were also nominated for different awards, including my co-founder. But I was the only one to win an award. I was so touched that people would go to such lengths to make me smile. Even people I hadn’t spoken to in a long time. People were putting me on their status, it was wild. There was a coach that I was seeing last year and the next time I saw him, coach said he had voted for me. I was like, ‘Wow’! On the day that I received the award as well, I was like 50-50 but I was rooting for the other female in the category. But as it turns out, I won with over 50% of the votes. I was then asking myself what I did to deserve it. Yes, I got quite emotional and shed a tear or two. I mean, more than the plaque that I received, it was more about the community and discovering I have so many people who have my back.
Is life just work work work for Bolutife or do you have hobbies? You mentioned that you used to sing. Do you still sing?
Nope. Maybe during morning devotion…Lol…otherwise, no. I would like to play more sports, just as a hobby. I was never into going to the gym but I was quite fit. I like watching movies but people always make fun of me regarding that because they say I’m still working, as I’m constantly thinking. I’m looking out for the opening Montage, the art direction, I’m thinking this is a nice process and so on. My favourite genres are Thriller and Crime, which brings us back to strategy, because I find myself thinking the same way a detective would think to investigate and solve a case, the same way a lawyer would try to find the right balance to win his case. So, I enjoy that, because I think it helps me. It’s a win-win for me because as I’m watching the movie many useful lessons are seeping into my subconscious and the next time I have to do something, I’m thinking, okay, this strategy would work, I saw this movie where it worked. So, yes, I learn a lot from movies. What else? I also enjoy listening to music.
Who’s your favourite Nigerian artist?
My favourite artist at the moment is Asake. Meanwhile, Asake is my name too.
Maybe you can sing some Asake songs for us?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…Lol. But my favorite music genre is jazz, and I also like Soul and R & B.
So, who are your role models? Who do you look up to?
Oh, so one of my very good mentors and friends is Victor Fatami who is a pro strategist and he designs too. I see a lot of where I want to be in where he is, so he just aligns. Victor is the founder of fullgap.io and some other branding agencies. He has been a wonderful person, friend and mentor and he has helped me in many ways including giving me sound advice. I remember a major presentation speaking gig I had to do last year at the design conference. It was my first time on such a big stage. I was like, how do I even approach this? This is what I’m thinking. So he gave me an idea. I used the idea and it worked. I think I had one of the best presentations and this was a presentation on a global stage as it was at a global conference. There were people from the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Ireland and so on and many of them remarked that it was a beautiful presentation. I really wanted to make Victor proud as he has been a strong support system for me in my career. Another person is my father, who also inspires me. When I ask him for advice, he always comes from the biblical point of view. We need God at the end of the day as we can’t do anything without Him. Well, somebody else that inspires me in this space is called Blessing Abeng. She’s a Pro Branding and Communications person as well. She has won awards globally and is a woman just around my age. She’s done it. I’m doing it. So she inspires me a lot as well, as I have learned a lot about simpler concepts of branding from her posts. Posts that she shares on LinkedIn and Instagram. I owe a lot of my success in understanding complex things in simpler terms to her.
So, who are your role models? Who do you look up to?
So the book Signature, I like to call it a personal branding Bible. It breaks down the concept of branding, as complicated as it is, or as misconstrued as it is, as people often say it’s just about portraying a fake life, or it’s just packaging and different things like that. And then for personal branding, it’s a lot harder as people assume branding is just for businesses, and that you should not brand yourself as a person. And then when you say, maybe I should even take this personal branding seriously, you hardly know how to go about it.How do you move? What should you do first? How do you build momentum around who you are as a person? And that was also one of the things that also led me to write the book. But what I would say the big plus about the book is that it is heavily contextual. Truth is that you can actually find some personal branding books on Amazon, but my book is contextual in the sense that you will see like examples. In life we have different types of people, different personalities, polymaths, introverts, extroverts, people who may not get enough recognition or people who others often have misconceptions about and then we have those who know they are different from everybody else but have no idea how to approach this. So what I did essentially with the book was to find a balance or grounds that helps everybody, no matter what their personality is, to find themselves. If I’m telling you everything about another person or about myself, I’m just going to be projecting that person’s personality or my personality, which is bad for business in branding. The subtitle to the book is The Journey to Your Authentic Self while the title is Signature. Everyone’s signature is their own as no two signatures are the same. In the same way, no two people can be the same no matter how similar they may appear. Even twins who sometimes look identical have different personalities. So each individual is unique and that is his or her own signature. So, that concept is what I brought into the mix, trying to help you find you. I want you to figure that out. It’s easier for you to know how to reach people or how you want to present yourself to the world, so the idea of self-discovery, self-acceptance, self-love, was what I focused on in the first few pages of our preliminary chapters. Just find yourself first. Know what you’re comfortable in. How do I present myself in the truest form without fear of judgment, without fear of trying to fit into a mold, without fear of…people expect this from me, so I must present myself as such.
I see celebrities trying to wear new outfits every other time, because of what fans would say. “You’re not changing your clothes. Is that the only outfit you have?” Those things put pressure on us as it can lead to a lot of spending and it can be quite time consuming too, when you try to fit into a certain version of yourself rather than expressing yourself in a 360% way. It’s a 360% expression of yourself. I also try to put that into perspective as well try to help people find these different things that they do. Those times when people say that you have to be known for one thing in personal branding, I don’t completely agree with that. Don’t get me wrong, being known for one thing is a good thing because it puts you on top of the list. When people know me for branding, it’s good that they know me for branding, but that doesn’t mean that you should shelve every other thing that makes you, you, right? I just shared music, which I love. I do printing as well, I do several things, but as much as I put those out there too, I pick one in which I’m loudest and the others support. So I don’t end up confusing people by trying to be different things every day but I present myself as something that I am, who I’m comfortable with, and in the percentage that I’m comfortable with. So yes, there has to be a balance of what you know about yourself, what you think about yourself, how confident you are about yourself, and the balance of the audience. What do they care about? You need to find that out. And then at that meeting point, who you are and so on, the kind of things that you exude and the personality that you give out. And then what your audience feels comfortable seeing as well. That’s where the sweet spot is. So if you’re trying to be too religious and your audience doesn’t want that, then you find a middle ground, present it and then find a way to balance how you see yourself and what people see or describe you as. So in all of this I help by giving a step by step guide. There’s a workbook part in every chapter. I speak about some of these things but I’m also helping you figure it out for yourself. Write it down if you have to.
So how do we get the book?
Currently, it’s on pre -order. We’re going to launch in the first week of June. It’s a paperback so it’s going to be a physical copy. For people who are in the diaspora, we haven’t uploaded it on Amazon quite yet but they can get it via a link on Paystack and through my Instagram and other social media platforms.
So there you have it everybody, anywhere you find her, you will find Signature. I think I need to buy my own copy of Signature as I need to know my personal brand. Thank you so much Bolu for coming here to grace us with your beautiful and expressive presence, you’re such an amazing person. I can’t wait to see you win more awards.
So to everyone out there, I’ll see you all in our next episode. I remain Ife, and until then, Mwah!
___________________ Award winning Bolutife Awakan is a Senior Brand Designer and strategist with close to a decade of combined experience in Design, Marketing, Branding, Strategy and Business growth, leverages strategic and creative approaches to build brands that PEOPLE love. Passionate about branding and dedicated to helping others find their path, Bolutife is recognized as a mentor of excellence and an inspiration to many. Her commitment to sharing knowledge and expertise has led her to write several valuable branding resources that have benefited countless individuals. Bolutife has successfully led and delivered projects across various industries, both locally and internationally. She has consistently deployed meaningful strategies, crafted unique visual systems, and propelled brands to thrive in competitive markets. She currently leads the Brand and Creatives team at Traction Apps, a fintech startup providing financial solutions and growth-enabling management tools for business Links to connect: www.mainstack.com/bolutifeawakan www.instagram.com/bolutifeawakan www.twitter.com/bolutifeawakan www.linkedin.com/in/bolutifeawakan
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