485. Latifa Seini

Check out host Bidemi Ologunde's new show: The Work Ethic Podcast, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Email: bidemiologunde@gmail.com

In this episode, host Bidemi Ologunde sits down with entrepreneur Latifa Seini to explore the journey behind Lembrih, a platform rooted in African creativity, ethical commerce, and community impact. Drawing from her West African background and founder experience, Latifa reflects on what inspired her to build beyond traditional marketplaces, how she uses social media and digital tools to grow visibility and trust, and what it means to create a business with both cultural and economic purpose. How do you turn heritage into innovation? What does it take to build technology that truly serves artisans and small brands? And how can founders balance ambition, identity, and impact while building for the future?

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Thanks for joining me once again on another episode of the Big Picture Podcast. I have a very, very, very special guest. Um, she's my wife's, let me just call her my wife's sister. So that makes it extra special. She lives in Texas, but she used to live in Tampa, Florida, which makes it even double special. And I've known her for as long as I've known my wife, which is saying something. So over to you.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Uh thank you so much, Pete, for this. Sorry. Bid and me. Toby calls you beat. And I feel like I just got too comfortable calling you beat. I know not everyone likes their nicknames being called by other people.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

It's fine. It's fine.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Yeah, but I appreciate that introduction. I'm really excited to be here, and I appreciate you having me on. Um looking forward to just being here. I've seen your work uh with other guests, and um, I've been watching for from afar and rooting from afar. So I'm glad to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Um as well. So thank you. Thank you so much for that. And what we're about to discuss today is even going to show more of how you are a hard worker, you are someone who puts family first, and it shows in everything you do down to the name you picked for this marketplace you are trying to build. So, to start with that, um when you talk about Lembri, I hope I'm pronouncing it well. So you're trying to build a marketplace, it's called Lembri, where you bring together um people that make products, African products. So let's start with you describing what is Lembri, how did that idea come about? What made you decide to launch Lembri?

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Lembry. Oh, thanks for that power packed question. Um so Lembri is a term in my language, Gonja is black, um, very simply, it means black. Um, you know, the origin of Lembri was I would say it was more of a pivot, and I know we'll probably talk about this later on, but it was a pivot from a prior business model, which used to be my African print clothing business, Flandankara. Um, and you know, through certain iterations, I transitioned it into a marketplace. And your question is asking what the marketplace is. So it is a market, a product-based marketplace for um, you know, vendors to be able to sell their handmade products, or it doesn't necessarily have to be handmade, but it was important for me to have something rooted in philanthropy and um just ethical values because I I just wanted something different on the market. So in a nutshell, that's what Lembry is. Um, of course, we're open to having like non-Africans, but I I think the whole idea is to promote the black culture and just have like a platform for cultural goods and um keep it in that niche where if people are looking for like a cultural gift, they typically wouldn't find on like Amazon or Etsy. Um, Lemby would be the place to go.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Wow, wow. So me personally, coming from Nigeria, so we come from the same part of West Africa. Actually, I think only one or two countries separate Nigeria and Ghana. So, and of course, we find ourselves in the US. I'm sure we arrived at the US around the same time, early 2012, 2013, thereabout. And for people that know me, they know I have another podcast that talks about the Yoruba language, where I describe proverbs in the Yoruba language, which is my native language, and I explain those proverbs, I translate them into English just to keep that richness of that language alive. So when I see that you are doing this thing where you want people, not just Africans, in the diaspora, to be able to find items, accessories, if it's a handbag, something to tie their hair, something they can use to maybe a bead on their wrist to complement their dressing, anything whatsoever, down to lotions for the body, for the hair, and so on. And that resonates so much with me saying you are doing a version of what I'm doing. And if people like us can just take one part of the traditional culture that we brought to into a new country, you handle the shopping part, I handle the language part, someone else handles the how to train kids in the culture so that they don't lose it. And then before you know it, we are actually keeping the culture alive. So that is something that actually resonates deeply with me. And I was like, hmm, I have to support you every way I can. So this is why this is why for people that are listening, that people that listen to this podcast, they they noticed at some point I ran ads for you, and they were like, Oh, this is that thing Bede was talking about on like 10 to 12 episodes. This is the reason why. So now you get to talk to the person who is running those ads I was running two or three months ago. So here we are, full circle.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

I I truly appreciate the support. Like, you have no idea how much it means. Um and you know, to your point, yes, I think it's very important if each of us are doing this in our own little way. You can imagine like the powerhouse that we would be out here in the States, especially in the environment that we are in right now in the US. I think it's important if we're able to build like our own communities and have things that benefit us, our kids, and just something that we are doing for us and our culture, you know. A lot of us are very far away from home. And if this is one little way we can keep those ties with our um, you know, our people back home, why not, why not do it if we have the means to? And I will say you and I are not the only ones who are thinking this way. Um, I remember when I got my my press coverage on this whole business idea, I had a number of people reach out, kind of like rooting for me and saying, um, oh, I've been thinking about doing something like this, kudos to you. So I know it's something that everyone is thinking about, but of course it's a matter of you know, having the means, the time, and just executing it. Um, it's it's not very easy. And then having the support too, right? Because we we all want to do it, but if that support is not there and it it's not easy, so yeah. Um definitely it's important that we we support each other.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

Yeah, yeah. That that support is most important because we find ourselves in a new country which is already putting us at, I don't want to call it a disadvantage, but we have to work extra hard to get to the first line of the race. Oh, yeah, and then we finally get to that first line of the race. Okay, now we think it's an equal race, but guess what? It really isn't. So we have to do more to stay ahead in this race we are running in a new country, a new culture, new setting, new environment, new everything.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

So, yeah, absolutely. We we have to work like 10 times as hard.

SPEAKER_02 9:18

Yeah, yeah. So growing up in Ghana, um, what what did you learn early on about trade, community, craftsmanship that you didn't fully appreciate until you got to the US? Because to set up that question, um, I can say my own version of that, but what I mean by that is I grew up in Nigeria and I was very close with my grandpa from my dad's side. Before he passed away, I would go visit him and spend time with him. And my age mates would see me as a weird person. Why would you, as a teenager, go hang out with his 80-year-old grandpa and just listen to his stories? I guess the way my brain works is I like to listen to old people's stories. So he would tell me stories and just stories about his own life from when he was younger and the things he did and how he grew up, and I would just listen, and you know, those kinds of stories fascinate me. Maybe this is why I found myself in podcasting, who knows? Anyway, each of those stories would end with a simple line if you cannot help someone, don't add to their problems. Every single story, and of course, he's telling me stories about himself, and he would somehow find a way to tie it in. It's like, okay, well, I can even predict when he would say that line.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

To me, then I was 16, 17 years old. I was just like, okay, well, this doesn't mean anything to me. Maybe this is what old people say to young people after telling them stories. Fast forward to when I got to the US, and then I started realizing wait, that simple one line means so much. You can apply it to everything you are doing in this life as a parent, as a co-worker, as a business owner, as someone driving on the highway or at the red light next to another driver you don't know. If you cannot help them, don't add to their problem. So that is my own version of okay. Growing up in Nigeria, something I didn't understand about community and craftsmanship is one one thing my grandpa used to tell me, okay, if you can't help someone, maybe don't add to their problem, just let them be, leave them alone. So, what's your version? What's your version of that?

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Thanks for sharing. I think that's that's so sweet. I also used to enjoy listening to stories a lot growing up. I think that was just something like you know, I would say magical that we we had back home that I don't think kids here really understand. But um yeah, it's by the moonlight, eating outside, exactly, especially when there's a power outage and there's nothing to do. Um so for me, you know, when it you you said when it comes to like trade and community that I didn't really appreciate. I think growing up, almost everyone around me, like in my family, just like even when you step out of the house, like on the street, everyone had some type of small business, right? Whether it was like a hairdressing salon or a barbershop, it didn't matter how small it was. Everybody just had like that hustle going on. And of course, at that age, I was in school. That was like my primary focus, but you don't really realize how these things shape you. Um, within my family, you know, I was raised by both parents, and they weren't entrepreneurs per se. They had like the traditional corporate route. My dad was an accountant, my mom was a head teacher, she eventually like transitioned higher in the Ghana education system. But even they dabbled into entrepreneurship, having like side businesses and all of that. So, you know, growing up, obviously, I think most African parents they they like the safe bet of having a stable job and you know, going to school, getting a job, just having something stable that would um pay the bills. And I think that's what they they instilled in me. And I I I don't I I wouldn't say any of their side hustles really manifested. Um, it could have been to a number of things, the fact that they weren't doing it full-time, the fact that they didn't have that expertise per se. But for the most part, I did see all of these things um when it comes to like trade and business. Um, and you know, obviously coming to the States, um, like I mentioned, school was something that was like my primary focus. It wasn't until later after getting into corporate that I realized that I wanted to have ownership of something for myself. And I guess that's probably when I started pulling on my experiences as a kid that I didn't even realize um was there through the communities that I saw around me and um like extended family. Almost every aunt or uncle had like some type of small business, you know. But of course, the means were not always there for it to um, I guess, grow into something that would be I don't want to say sustainable because it was able to sustain them for their needs, but maybe not something too big, but um I definitely think a lot of seeing a lot of that has has shaped me today.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Right, right. And something you mentioned how the hustle was kept alive back home. And I come here and I see how not to throw shade on any group of people or any ethnicity, but you meet some people and they're like they are comfortable collecting unemployment benefits, and that just blows my mind saying, yeah, you're not disabled, you are a fully functioning human being, but for some reason you are unemployed and you'd rather collect unemployment paycheck than go hustle and find something to do. Yeah, and I'm just like, I can't understand that. Or the college version, when we're still students, you see some people with the major is undecided, and I'm thinking, when are you going to decide?

SPEAKER_00 16:34

I never understood that myself. I think as Africans, uh I think we just come with a different mind. Like your parents are not even going to live from day one. You better know.

SPEAKER_02 16:44

Before you were born, you've already been decided.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

Right. After spending all this money, you know, to bring you here in the States. And you know, obviously with us, we are paying like international fees as well. So we better have like a strategy and plan for our lives, because it wasn't it wasn't a joke, which which is why I started out in accounting, because it was a safe bed. It was what my dad knew, he was like, This is something that you will never go out of a job. Um, just do it kind of thing. And I did it, you know. But yeah, I think um that's one thing that I I want to say, and one thing that I've always admired about I know we're all West African, but Nigerians in particular, your hustle and hard work. Um, a lot of my closest friends are Nigerian, and I draw a lot of inspiration from your ethics and your work ethic in particular. Um, it's very, very admirable. So, yeah, um, I'll say it's something that definitely makes us unique.

SPEAKER_02 17:55

Yeah, definitely, definitely. So, one more question I have for you regarding your origins is the fact that Lembri draws heritage symbols like the Sankhofa. So Lembri draws on heritage symbols like the Sankkofa. So, what is the Sankhofa? How do you think about honoring tradition without freezing it in time? Because a lot of people are not even familiar with Ghanaian culture. Yes. So now know what Sankhofa is and how that ties into your origins.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Yeah, so Sankhofa is a tree term, a term in tree, meaning go back and get us. It's actually said sankkofa. Um, and it basically, when it comes, if I'm interpreting it in business terms, would be like for me personally, it was like drawing on my roots and bringing it to where I am today, right? And it started out in my African print clothing business. Um, you know, for a very long time, when it came to African culture or even let's talk about fashion, because that's kind of where I started. I I think like the West typically would depict our fashion as very um, I don't know how to put it, but very old and um archaic in a way. Yeah, that um it took a while for us to be able to reinvent using our prints and merging it with like the Western culture and making it easy for like everyday wear, which is something that I try to do as well with my business, like bringing in like modern styles and um the latest um line that I had before I pivoted was like cante print hoodies. And like 20 years ago, what was that? Like people wouldn't really merge like the tradition and um like Western hoodies or western um attire. So I think that's something that was was important to me to like kind of bring, keep that to your point without freezing the the KT culture in in the past where it was like only worn for by royalty and very used in only special occasions. I thought I could draw on adding that into like our everyday hoodies that we could we could wear and um and still keeping that culture and tradition alive. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:29

Nice, nice. And I remember when you launched that um clothing line, and my wife showed me, I think it was on Instagram, and I was like, wait, this is what Latify is you know doing now. And I remember clearly I was in Detroit, Michigan, speaking at a conference, I was getting ready to leave the hotel to go speak, and then I paused and made an order. I bought for myself, I bought for my wife. I think I bought a handbag as well. So two hoodies and one handbag. And then I was like, I have to, you know, show support, and it was just something unique because I know Kente, and I was like, I've never seen this as a hoodie. I was like, I have I bought it, and everywhere we go, I would wear it in an airport, and you know, just wear it every and people would of course ask you questions, what is this material? And I was like, Okay, thank you for asking.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Now that I have the floor, yeah, yep, yep, yeah, no, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

So in along those lines, um, before Lembrie, you were trying to build um flount Ankara. Yes. Um, so what were you trying to build specifically beyond just selling apparels and accessories? And I think you touched a little bit on that.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

Yes. So um I would say I wouldn't say my vision was very well defined, but one thing I knew I wanted was to have an e-commerce platform where people could come and shop like a wide range of like African print clothing and accessories. But at the time I would be the sole manufacturer of all of those products, right? So the initial goal started with like me handling everything from design to manufacturing and then um you know shipping direct to consumer. Um that was the vision that I had at first until I realized that I wanted something one more meaningful, um, and two, something that would draw other people in, something that was more community based, which kind of led me to pivot to um having a marketplace that would bring other people on together. Because At some point, you know, I learned the digital marketing. I realized that, okay, I know how to drive traffic to my website. But, you know, due to certain personal things that I was I had going on, I just got so busy to be like going to the post office and all of that. And I was thinking of ways to maybe, you know, facilitate the marketing, but have other people maybe do the shipping. And I remember vividly watching this Michelle Obama podcast where she was talking about like having meaning when it comes to anything you're creating and making sure that you are not just creating something for yourself but making an impact in society. So I think all of those things kind of you know aligned for me to say, yeah, I don't think I want to have something that is just me doing everything. I I want to build something more community-based, I want to bring other people in, I want to win as a community and not just have it be me. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:05

Wow, wow, that's that's so powerful. And it takes so much courage to be able to even have the vision execute on it. You mentioned how when you got the feature for the magazine, and a lot of people started reaching out to you saying, Oh wow, this is something I've been thinking about, but for whatever reason, they couldn't execute on it. So people like to see other people that take that bold step of launching something that they've had at the back of their mind saying, Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Let me just add, you know, about taking that bold step. It's it's hard, right? It's it's not easy. Um, it's not easy, and there's a bit of like unknown, not a bit of it's very the future is very unknown. And there's a bit of fear, I think is what I was trying to say. There's a bit of fear of what if it goes wrong. Because yes, I am putting everything in. I'm going all in at this point. I truly do believe in this mission. But when it comes to business, you and I know that it could take any turn. So, but at the end of the day, I'm not even worried about if it fails because I don't truly believe in complete failure. Like, regardless of what the outcome is, I 100% know that I'm going to walk away with something, even if it's just a lesson. So, yeah, um, to your point about people not being able to start, I I completely understand it. It's not an easy goal, like entrepreneurship is not a joke, you know, like from the financial aspect to the emotional aspect to the physical, it's a lot. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:46

Um of course it's something I can it's something I can relate to because even with the podcast, and a lot of people see, okay, there's an episode every week, and they're like, oh wow, this is now so easy for you. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no. The more I do it, the difficult, the more difficult it is. Because now I have so many episodes to compare this latest one to. And guess what? When I listen to each episode, you think it's a flawless episode. I'm listening and I'm saying I paused too long on this sentence around the 25th minute mark. You wouldn't notice it because you know it sounds like a perfect episode, but I'm like, I have 480 something episodes to compare this episode to. Therefore, to me, but I can't go back to fix it because it's gonna take so much more work. And I'm just like, I'm going to just you know, gradually overcome that feeling of okay, the next one is gonna be better, and then guess what? The next one is better in that regard, but then something else comes up. I I mispronounce a word you won't notice, but I noticed. So the more things you do, the more things you know to criticize yourself on.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:05

That's what people don't even understand about entrepreneurship until you start to do it.

SPEAKER_00 27:11

So you think okay, now you don't you don't work, yep, yeah, yep, yeah, we only see that the ego.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

So many things I I record, I have to erase it and go back and record because I I talk for so long, simple words I can't pronounce, like the word cop, C-U-P, COP, yeah, yeah. I'm recording, and for some reason I I no longer know how to pronounce the word cop. And then I go back and but nobody would notice that because maybe I recorded it three or four times and then I got it right. I'm like, what is wrong with my brain? Do I need more coffee?

SPEAKER_00 27:50

Yeah, no, kudos to you for for like I know recording is not it's not fun, like for me. Yeah, even when it comes to like little one-minute snippets on Instagram, like you know, I have my content creation things that I do every now and then. It's like that voice over, I'll record it over and it's just so frustrating. Hopefully, now with AI, if you know, there might be easier ways to go about it, but um, yeah, more grease to your elbow for this. It's it's not easy, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

So um you you launched Lembri. Um, I want to say, what was the first version of Lembri in your mind? Was it a store? Was it a movement? Was it a tech platform, or was it a form of correction to the market after you've noticed what went wrong, what didn't go wrong with Flont Ankara? What was it, was it a combination of those things, a store, a movement, a tech platform, and so on?

SPEAKER_00 28:57

Yeah, so I I would say the first thing was an e-commerce store because I was already coming from the point of um selling my own product on my own e-commerce platform, which I thought I had a hang of, and I thought this would be an easy pivot. I didn't realize a two-sided marketplace versus, I mean, I knew it was going to be slightly more challenging. I just didn't know how much more challenging. But um, so yeah, to answer your question, my first version has always been like an e-commerce platform. Now, one thing I didn't want to do was to have something for everyone. I mean, I can't compete with Amazon, I can't compete with Etsy, you know. Um, and I know there have been similar movements out there to try and have like black-owned platforms. Um, and I I think they're all doing great, the best that they can. But um personally, I haven't seen one that truly embodies like the African culture or the African um community. One, and two, I just think um, I mean, obviously the sky is big enough for everyone, and I I feel like there's a gap that I could I could fill. Um, and you know, with the vision that I have, I have to start niche, which I am starting with what I know and who I know, which is my African community. But like I mentioned earlier, at the end of the day, the name of the platform is Lembri, which means black. So, you know, again, I'm not trying to be everything for everyone, but the goal is to have a centralized product-based platform rooted in ethics and um philanthropy for us by us. So yes.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

And you also make storytelling central to the marketplace. So, why was it important to make storytelling a focal point instead of just treating products as transactions?

SPEAKER_00 31:06

Yeah. Um, so I wanted to stand out, right? Because a lot of and that all comes under like the whole ethics of it. And ethics it can be difficult to define um in certain areas, especially when it comes to what I'm trying to build. But one of the things is a lot of these big box platforms, they I don't want to say that they're like mooching off like the hardworking um sellers on the platform, which is what it is. They take like huge sums of um like the commission from the sellers. And, you know, of course, they have the platform to be able to reach millions. So that's the good thing that they have, which I I don't, I'm still building on. But it was important for me to have that storytelling because I wanted the buyers to be able to connect with who they're buying for and not just purchase from whoever because you just need that product. And even for the vendor who takes their time to craft something with their hands, it's just more meaningful for somebody to know the hard work that goes into it. You know, I've I've dabbled in like all types of maybe not all types of businesses, but I've dabbled in like different businesses in my life. And one of it at some point was creating um jewelry, like glass beaded jewelry. And that took so long. Like to create to design one necklace was like a lot of work and a lot of time. So, you know, I remember that business was such a flop, maybe a story for another day. But um I think, you know, if if I was to put that out there today, if I was doing that, I would like people to know that, hey, the reason why I'm pricing this at this rate is because there was a lot of work that went into it, you know. Um, I understand that some people might not care, some customers might just want to purchase it and move on. But there's there are other people who would find meaning and and um who would find meaning in knowing that, okay, well, this obviously took time, it's it's important to you, and it would hopefully make them want to even donate or tip, which is another feature that I've incorporated in the platform. So that's that's why it was important to have storytelling for me.

SPEAKER_02 33:35

Nice, nice. And I can easily see the benefit to that because even looking at it from okay, as a tourist, you travel to another country, you want to buy souvenirs back home. Let's say we pick a random country, let's say we travel to Brazil and then we want to buy Brazilian souvenirs, and then we go into a store. I'm more likely to buy something that I know the story behind it. Okay, this particular gift item was made by this old lady in this part of Sao Paulo, and this is the story behind it, compared to me going into let's say Walmart in Brazil, and then I just pick something off the shelf and say, Oh, this looks cool. No, that's just a generic looking thing, even if it's the same thing, yes, absolutely. But I'm buying it from the old lady from her house in front of her house compared to the Walmart in Brazil, so it's like easy decision to make at that point.

SPEAKER_00 34:33

So yeah, absolutely, absolutely, and you're willing to pay more too, right? Because you know the money is going directly to somebody like real and not like a big corporation that is just you know piling up the money to be used for God knows what. But yeah, um, I I think it was very important for me to have that, and I'm still working on building that community. Um it's it's growing slowly, but it hasn't been an easy journey. I'm trying to get my name out there, trying to get the brand out there, trying to get the vendors, their stories out there, um, because they I'm not the only one who saw this issue. Like I've been to trade shows where in the beginning, when I was recruiting um vendors, and it's it's everywhere. Like everyone is having that struggle of being visible on Etsy or Amazon. So they end up going to these trade shows to possibly meet people one-on-one and sell to them directly. So I know the need is there, it's just a matter of um execution and bringing this to life. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:49

So speaking about vendors, um, I know Lembry is deliberately more vendor-friendly than all the other marketplaces. So, why was pricing one of the first things that you wanted to solve? One of the first problems you wanted to solve.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

Because I used to be a vendor myself on other marketplaces, and I knew how challenging it was. And I knew that if it was cheaper, um, it would have been more friendly to me. So I can firsthand feel what every vendor who's trying to get their business off the ground. I understand what they're going through, and price is definitely important, which is why for the first 30 days, literally every vendor that signs up, whatever money they make, goes directly to them. For the first 30 days, we don't take anything, not even a dime. Everything goes back to them. We only start charging after the 30 days. That's when we take a commission. But um, yeah, I mean, I I just knew the pain that it it it meant to be a vendor, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:32

Wow, wow. And you also built giving into the model itself. So why did you want impact to be structural rather than a side campaign?

SPEAKER_00 37:45

Well, two things. First of all, I, you know, I'm trying to, I'm a new brand on the market. I was looking for something that would make me stand out, right? Something that would connect with um my customers, something unique. But I could have chosen something else. The reason I went with um, you know, having impacts being rooted around it is because I think at the core of everybody's um, you know, regardless of how busy we are and all of that, we try to spread ourselves thin by we're living our lives, trying to shop, trying to buy things for ourselves, family, whatever. But at the same time, we also want to be able to lend a hand to people who are not close to us, people who need help that are far away. Um, I there was even a point where I thought about making this a nonprofit organization, but that was chattering waters that I wasn't very familiar with. But I just knew that at the core of like a lot of people's being, they want to be able to help, they want to be able to give. So instead of going to this platform and donate here and go to this platform and shop here, why not have something that somewhere that you can just do both at the same time? You're buying and supporting at the same time. So check, check, you've check two boxes and you hopefully feel good, which is um rooted in our slogan. So that's kind of like the reason behind it. Because I I know myself and I know a lot of people are like that too. Sometimes you're trying, you see a lot of things happening in the world, you're trying to donate to somebody, but at the same time, you also have to buy products for yourself. So it's like sometimes that balance of even feeling bad. Because we we we we talk about how much these big um organizations are ripping us off, but at the end of the day, we still go back to them and we still shop from them. And um, every time we get a chance, we support either small businesses or we donate to small organizations. But if there's a way you can do both at the same time, I mean, if I can be the one to bring that together, then I'm happy to do that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:11

So let's let's talk about social media and digital strategy. So, how are you using social media differently from the way a typical e-commerce brand would use it?

SPEAKER_00 40:24

Yeah. Um I I would say that's still something like a challenge for me. Um yeah, I would say that's still a challenge for me. That's still something that I'm defining and testing and figuring out. Right now, how we're using social media. I have like uh someone who helped my social media manager, and one thing we we try to do is to keep it um, first of all, vendor-based. We try to spotlight a lot of our vendors to um just put them at the forefront of the business because they really are the marketplace, number one. Um, but one thing that we've been talking about, which I aim to have, is more I'm someone who's comfortable in front of the camera, right? But due to just like having a corporate job and being super busy, it's not something that I'm able to sit in front of the camera and talk about my brand more often, which I think would drive more engagement. And I'm working towards having something like that. But I think if people are able to see like the behind the scenes and what I'm doing, um, it might help with um raising, bringing more engagement to the platform. So I think that's it's those are some of the things that we we are doing differently. Another thing we try to do is to like just educate people on like you know, black-owned businesses, history um of like African brands, and just bringing that awareness to those who might not know. So yeah, that's the the little that we're we're doing.

SPEAKER_02 42:04

Nice, nice. And of course, like I always say, there is no perfect or there is no specific formula to use social media for your business strategy, everyone is using it the way that works for them. And I want to even add, it comes down to each person's personality. Because someone else might say, Okay, I don't want to show the behind the scenes, I just want to show the perfect face on the perfect takes on everything. And well, some people like that, some people don't like that. So, whoever is comfortable with your brand strategy and they like what you're trying to do and they believe in your vision, and as long as you can get across to people where they are, yeah, because most people, guess what? They look at social media on their phones anyway. So now most videos optimize for a phone screen, yeah, not even an iPad screen, not even a laptop screen, definitely not a TV screen. Because how many people see ads on TV? You get home, the kids have gone to bed, you put up your phone to watch a show. The TV is right there in front of you, but it's just more convenient. You can walk around the house on your phone, still watching your show. Oh, yeah. I don't remember the last time I watched TV.

SPEAKER_00 43:20

Yeah, yeah. Social media is is huge, and I I haven't been able to tap into it the way that I would like. Um when it comes to like entrepreneurship, as we're talking about, there's just so, first of all, there's like so many channels to go through. You don't know where your customer base is. Um it could be offline, it could be on social media, it could be through newsletters, it could be, and you kind of have to like test all of those markets. And I know that social media is something that would help. But with all the little things that I have to go through to actually create the platform, I feel like I've been kind of putting it behind or or on the side, let me say. So it's something that I want to take more seriously and define a bit more and have a more engaging platform and hopefully, you know, to your point, everybody is on there. Bring something that would entertain people. Humor is something that I know a lot of people love. Um, I'm not a very funny person, but I would love to have my uh page have some humor that would bring attention. So things like that I'm thinking of, but it's just not a priority for me right now. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:36

And I I definitely know the feeling because even for me, I do everything about the podcast on my personal page. And someone has mentioned, oh, maybe I should do a page for the podcast. And I'm thinking, well, I have not just one podcast. Will I do a page for each podcast? Should I do a page for a bigger podcasting agency and then list all my podcasts under them? You know what? I don't even have time for my own personal Instagram. So the flyers I post and the stories, I release an episode, I put up the story, and I don't even look at who liked it, who clicked, because my Instagram is set to 15 minutes per day, just so that I don't personally stay on Instagram because before you know it, two hours have passed and you're still Instagram. So that's one of the big reasons why okay, I should have a presence on social media, but guess what? I don't. And I'm okay with it. Because somehow, somehow, people still find the podcast and they listen and they send it to their friends, and I get emails. And I'm like, okay, this is working for now. If I want to launch into social media brand marketing later on, well, I have a place to start from.

SPEAKER_00 46:45

There are people who create very serious content on social media, like you know, even sad content. And they have millions of followers, and there are people who create absolutely foolish content, and they also have millions of followers. So at the end of the day, there's no strategy, it's just meeting people where they are, like you said earlier, and knowing who your audience is as well. So yeah, I don't think that's a right way to do things.

SPEAKER_02 47:15

Yeah, yeah. So beyond social media, what are some tech tools that matter most for this stage of the business? And for me, one example I would like to add to that is I want to say AI, because for example, maybe I build a flyer, and the picture the person sent to me to use, they are okay with it, I'm okay with it, but the colors are off because my flyers are like this beige, beige, how do you pronounce that color? Beige color. Yeah, yeah, and there's a particular background on your profile picture that kind of goes well with beige. And I'm like, okay, let AI change the background, don't touch the person now, because that's offensive to them. I wouldn't want someone messing with my picture on their podcast for whatever reason. So just do I I remind Chat GPT, do not capital letters, touch this person's picture, just the background, and then it does a good job. And okay, this is good. Yeah, so stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 48:26

Yeah, no, um, I mean, AI, I think at this point, if you're not using AI, I don't know which rock you're living under. But um, for me, I'm even learning more about um a lot of new AI tools that you know a few years ago when I started Front Ankara, if I had some of those tools, I think it would have propelled my business significantly. But there's like now um cold outreach, because for a two-sided marketplace, I one of the biggest challenges is the chicken and egg problem, right? Getting the buyers and the sellers and who do you get on first? Because if there are no buyers, no sellers are going to be on. If there are no sellers, no buyers are going to be on. So um I've I've found out some new AI tools like called instantly, which helps with cold outreach. Um, Canva is a good one for like designing. That's what we use for our um social media. Um, of course, Chat GPT, Claude, Claude AI. I've had to dabble in coding as well, even though I'm not technical, but um I use lovable as well for we're read mapping our website right now, and I'm using lovable to create the framework. Um, and um GitHub is where we deploy, and you know, I'm just learning all of these new technical tools that I didn't even know about. But a lot of them I'm finding are like AI tools that make my work easy and help with like outreach, and and um even when it comes to like marketing, there's this new platform called Go High Level. I don't know if you've heard about it. Um, it's a customer relationship management tool, which is so amazing. And yeah, it's it's a lot. Like you learn all these things, you're trying to do everything, and it's it's not easy. But thank God for these tools because yeah, yeah, it would have been very expensive trying to pay people to do all of these things. So definitely.

SPEAKER_02 50:30

It it's one of the things I advise anyone trying to get into entrepreneurship now, saying this is the best time in human history to go into any new thing. And I say that because technology is helping so much. So a good comparison is before there were cars, people were limited into where they live, is where they work, is where they do everything from when they were born to when they die. Because you can't exactly move around. But then cars were created or manufactured, and then people started saying, Okay, I can live here, drive to work here, yeah, go to shop here, go to the market there because there are cars. Now there is the internet and there is technology. Even growing up in Nigeria, I went to school my first degree in Nigeria. There was a limit to how much you can get from a library. And people that didn't grow up in Africa or other countries who didn't have access to the internet, fast internet, they can't understand their thing. So you mean to say you go to your library and you couldn't do much with the internet because the internet was slow, it was only meant for the senior lecturers and all students, you photocopy something in the library. You can't even borrow a book that your library doesn't have. But in the US or other developed countries, if the book is not your library, they would bring it for you anywhere in the country, even from outside the country, because your library has this partnership with other libraries, and let's say maximum one week, you get the book you're looking for, and you keep it for 90 days or 60 days, and then you return it. So, having said all of that, expand that to entrepreneurship. Now there is all these tools you just mentioned. As recently as five years ago, you would have to pay someone to do your websites, to do your marketing campaign, to do all these things. But now you can do it from you in your living room on a Saturday morning drinking your tea or coffee, and you are the chief marketing officer, you are the chief technology officer, you are the chief everything officer for your company.

SPEAKER_00 52:56

It's actually insane, and it's it's really leveled the playing field, right? Like, you know, the super smart people, I'm sorry to say they can't flex with their smartness anymore. That's just a joke, by the way. But you know, just even something like coding, for example, was something that if you didn't know how to code, you would one have to pay somebody to do it, and you will not be able to go very far because if it was expensive, then you're stuck. But now everyone is on the same level. Like if you're slacking, then you know, I don't know what the issue is, but the level field has been the playing field has been leveled.

SPEAKER_02 53:37

So yeah. So um, before we start to wrap up here, I feel like we can easily do another one hour, but I want to be mindful of the time. There is work tomorrow, you know. So as much as you're comfortable sharing with, you know, us, the public, yes, how has entrepreneurship shaped your experience of balancing work and parenting?

SPEAKER_00 54:08

Um, I mean, I think one thing it's definitely helped me be more intentional about like time management, which is something that I don't think I was very good at, like, you know, when I was younger. So be carving out my time and knowing that I have to compartmentalize my tasks is something that entrepreneurship has really taught me. And um I just think these are things that you you probably don't learn if you're I I don't know how to say it, like, yeah, working corporate, you're most likely able to still do that, but entrepreneurship is just on another level because you know, like to your point, there's parenting, there's um uh working a nine to five and then a five to nine because you know, kids and the the the job, sorry, the the work you're working on your platform. Yeah, so it hasn't been um easy, but it definitely disciplines you and forces you to check your time and be more organized. Another thing I feel like it has taught me is to learn how to delegate. And um, yes, even with all these AI tools, you still have to put in the work, right? And I realize that with you know, just trying to balance that work and taking care of kids as well, you don't want to, and this is something that I've heard with even some of the most successful founders. They talk about how they gave a lot of their lives to their business when their kids were very young and they never got the chance to spend with them. And then years down the line, sure they became millionaires or they were successful, but they lost that connection with their kids. And that's definitely not something that I would want. So um definitely still trying to delegate when I can, and um, you know, being mindful of my time and trying to balance all that. These these are things that I'm still learning. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:22

One last question for you before we um say goodnight is for a young African or a diasporan woman listening to us now who wants to build something with purpose, with intention, and also leveraging technology, what would you advise that young lady? Where would you advise them to start from?

SPEAKER_00 56:48

Um, I I would say that they should, first of all, don't think too hard about it. Don't wait for any perfect moment because guess what? There is no perfect moment. Um, a lot of things that, and I know I'm not there yet, like I haven't achieved what I'm really looking to, but you know, God willing, I I do believe I'm going to get there. But one thing I realized that I did when I was younger was I dabbled in a lot of like different entrepreneurship things, and even though they failed in quotes, I was able to pick up on a number of different lessons, like from launching my first business and having cricket online and learn the importance of marketing, you know. So it's just stuff like that. Just put it out there. It doesn't matter if it's, I don't know, if you're like a script writer, if you are um trying to build a platform, whatever it is, like you know, singer, I don't know, whatever it is that you're doing, just start, just put it out there. Your first work might not be your best, and that's totally fine. Just do it. Um and and I will just say that leverage the resources that we have. We talked about how we are in an important age of transformation. Definitely take advantage of what you have around you. A lot of these tech tools would make your life very easier. Learn learn AI, um, learn how to leverage it. You can have like a whole working system. And I'm speaking for myself because I know it's possible and I haven't gotten to that point yet, but I I definitely am looking to get to the point where I have like a fully functioning machine where I have agents doing um some of this work for me. But yeah, I'll just say just start and um little by little you'll you'll get to where you're trying to go. And even if you fail, hey, you're young, what's the worst that can happen? And I I tell myself the same thing. I'm like, look, I'm in my early 30s, God forbid this doesn't work out. I still have like a life in front ahead of me, right? It's better to fail now than fail when you're 50 or 60. So just just do it. Worst case scenario, you fall, get back up, and build something better.

SPEAKER_02 59:19

Yeah, definitely. And to echo everything you just said, um, I strongly believe in trying so many different things. Because how would you know the business idea that would work if you don't try so many different business ideas? Because you try one thing, it fails, and then you give up. That's like 0% of your potential. If you try 100 things and you fail, guess what? You are still not a failure. You've just figured out 100 things that wouldn't work. So the 101 thing is probably gonna be the thing that works, but if you stop at 100, then you wouldn't get to 101.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:03

And um, somebody told me something, this powerful thing, you know, about entrepreneurship. They were like, imagine if you were somebody told you that if you were on a journey to be an entrepreneur, um, out of a thousand things that you would try, the thousand and one thing is what was going to be successful. Would you would you stop? Like, would you keep going? And I think that's just something that I want to leave with. Like, you're most likely going to fail the first few times. Just keep trying, just keep throwing like spaghetti at the wall to see what's going to stick. But at the same time, when you do find something that is um meaningful to you, you also want to be able to start narrowing down. And um I I know this sounds counterintuitive, but yes, try a number of different things. But at the at the same time, as you're learning, you're narrowing it down slowly and slowly and slowly until you you hit that bullseye. And when you do hit that bullseye, just keep going. Keep on that, like just don't stop, just keep going and put everything into it. So that's that's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:19

That's that's pretty much the story of my life because the episode one of this podcast, I still listen to it and I cringe.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:27

I'm sure, I'm sure, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:30

I've been tempted so many times to go and record another episode one, and I'm just like, you know what? No, it's gonna be there forever. My kids will listen to that episode one and just be like, wait, who is this?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:48

What fun is is there in that?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:51

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This has this has been so much fun. Thank you so much. And of course, initially you were kind of you know taking breath exercises.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:02

Oh yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:07

Yeah, so one hour, and you know, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:11

Yeah, I know we can we can keep keep talking for forever, but I I enjoyed this. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:20

Yeah, of course, you're welcome back anytime to keep talking about all your successes and you know promoting you as much as I can. And of course, before you even asked to show how much I believe in what you're doing, so I guess my actions are speaking loud.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:39

I appreciate that. Thank you so much. I appreciate all of that, and um, I'm also wishing the best for your podcast. I know how much work you're putting into it, and I will say that you know, consistency is what it is, and I pray that we both grow into where we are trying to reach and you know be successful. So I wish you all the best as well on this journey.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:03

Yeah, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:05

Have a good night, bye.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:11

If you like this episode, please share it with a relative, a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor, an acquaintance, and so on. And then please leave a rating andor a review on your favorite podcast app. My name is Videmu Logande, and this is a Big Picture Podcast. Thank you for listening.