Why you should share your gifts with the world
What kind of birthday celebrant are you?
Are you the sort of person who:
A) Is very low-key (as in “I don't celebrate at all” or “if I do, it's just on the day?”)
B) Is more of the mindset that the whole month is your birthday?
I'm the latter, as in:
I always say “October is my birthday” even though it’s only technically today
(October 3rd, on the day of sending this email)
This whole idea of October being my birthday is not just this self-centred wish to make it all about me, though
Believe it or not…
It has always been a celebration of life and an acknowledgement that there but by the grace of God go I
How to make a positive impact in the world
“Thank you for being the sent one to do and show us how possible it really is to execute an idea- a God-given idea… This is so deeply encouraging, Nina, honestly…”
This was a message that I received from my good sis, Rebekah, shortly after coming back from hosting Media Magic…
(the luxury retreat that I held in Tulum, Mexico in July teaching business women how to get PR for themselves)
…and updating her on how well it went
A theme that I was surprised to see come up in many other conversations that I would go on to have with loved ones afterwards
Aside from being beautiful words (that still have me emotional even now), there are a few key take-aways:
How to live your legacy now
My grandma was born in the village in Nigeria at a time where girls were not sent to school
That meant from then until the time of her passing in 2022, she never learned to read or write
Despite this, she worked her butt off as a trader in order to afford my mum's school fees when she was growing up
This is because, to this day, education is not free in Nigeria
My mum was then able to move to the UK in the early 80s, where I've been born and raised, and push both me and my sister all the way to degree level
How to get over the fear of sharing your story
3 Secrets to PR Success
One of the proudest moments of my life was buying my first flat just before my 25th birthday. My dad helped me load my stuff into his car and we set off on our hour or so drive from my mother’s house in north London to my new home in the north-west.
“You know, you’ve done well. You did a good course” he began.
I turned to him in shock as he listed off my achievements since graduating as a Speech and Language Therapist- a “good job,” “promotion” and now “[buying] a house”- while some of his friend’s children continued to struggle for various reasons.
Now when I say I was shocked, I mean I was shocked. My dad had been completely against me studying speech and language therapy as, in true Nigerian fashion, he had wanted me to be a doctor.
“Thank you!” I finally mustered.
“Yes,” Dad continued. “All you need now is a car and a husband!”
Once again I turned to him in shock.
“A car and a husband?!” I said laughing. “Could I kill two birds with one stone and marry a guy with a car?!”
But the more I reflected on my dad’s words, the less funny they became. They niggled at me for the rest of the car journey and for days even after that.
I was frustrated because I had literally just achieved this house goal; yet I wasn’t even getting a chance to savour it properly before I was being pushed to achieve something else. I was also frustrated because I could feel myself being pushed towards something that I didn’t see as my next natural step.
Up till then, I had always towed the line that my parents set out for me. Medicine or not, the fact remains that I went to university and graduated. Everything that followed, that my dad had praised me for in the car, was also a part of the masterplan. This was the first time that I felt a deviation between my parent’s wishes and my own. This was the first time that I questioned their expectations of me and simultaneously felt the weight of potentially disappointing them, and robbing them of their dreams.
What made my resistance even more confusing is that I knew that my parents, and those of the same mindset, wanted the best for me. Marriage and motherhood are not bad things in and of themselves. It’s quite natural to want them for your child. Also, from what I was taught and could see from those around me, it was something that I was supposed to want too. Yet, as I’ve already stated, I didn’t.
Looking back, I see that this was a trauma response to seeing most of my female role models sell themselves short or stay in abusive situations due to factors such as tradition, control and low self-worth. Yet rejecting those societal norms helped me to realise that my measure of success is the freedom to live life on my terms.
In interviewing other black women about their measures of success, for my most recent Black Ballad article, it was interesting to see how these themes were echoed many times over. It’s also very interesting that, as I reflect on my journey from that part of my life up till now, I see how important having measures of success is, not just in life, but also for PR.
How to live your legacy now through PR
My grandma was born in the village in Nigeria at a time where girls were not sent to school. That meant from then until the time of her passing last year, she never learned to read or write.
Despite this, she worked her butt off as a trader in order to afford my mum's school fees when she was growing up (education is not free in Nigeria).
My mum was then able to move to the UK in the early 80s, where I've been born and raised, and push both me and my sister all the way to degree level.
Now I literally get paid to write and help others to do the same by leveraging PR to get more visible, attract their dream clients and get paid what they want.
In that way, I am not only a living embodiment of her legacy genetically, I am a living embodiment of her ideals about what is possible when people (women especially) are given opportunities.
As I've been reflecting on her life this week (which marks a year since her passing), I've been asking myself some questions that I'm going to share with you:
7 simple steps to break through fear of PR
If you’re a #bosslady (online entrepreneur, service professional, coach or consultant) looking to become more visible then you probably already know that PR has many benefits
Including:
Positioning you as an expert in your field
Increasing your authority and credibility
Giving you a larger platform to share your influence, thought leadership and message on
Increasing your followers, subscribers and fanbase
Exposing you to your ideal clients- keeping you booked, busy and making bank
The issue? Fear is holding you back
Fear of success…
Fear of outshining others…
Fear of failure…
Fear of rejection…
Fear of leaving your comfort zone…
Fear of judgement…
And it's costing you!
Whether you lean more towards the first, second, third or sixth type of fear that I listed above:
It's stopping you making the amount of money that will allow you to have the kind of lifestyle and freedom that you want.
It's stopping you from living out your purpose and feeling fulfilled in life.
But- more than that- it's robbing the people that you are called to serve of achieving the breakthrough that only you are uniquely designed to give them.
It doesn't have to remain that way though