The Ripples that Inspired Me

By: Habeeb Abdulrauf

March 20, 2019

An aspiring changemaker and innovator from a far flung Nigerian community talks about the mentors he met online and how they helped him grow.

“When questioned about their career trajectories, you'll find that most successful entrepreneurs credit a mentor or mentors. No one learns in a vacuum, and it's the men and women who are able to sponge up the wisdom of others – and then, when the time is right, pay it forward by becoming mentors themselves – who set themselves apart.” (Laura Entis, Entrepreneur Magazine)

Social media has redefined the meaning of mentorship these days. I am a strong believer of mentorship but sometimes, it’s hard to get one as I am from a far community in Nigeria. Fortunately, because of platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, I get to connect with and have my own mentors who all have in one way or another helped me grow as an individual.

Below are the mentors whom I have met online and who have influenced and taught me about social entrepreneurship, innovation, and personal development.

Hammed Kayode Alabi “Kayfactor” (CEO, Kayode Alabi Leadership and Career Initiative- KLCI)

Photo Credits: Kayfactor Inspires

Kayfactor is a social entrepreneur, emerging global speaker, and Sustainable Development Goals youth champion. He has over five years of experience in the nonprofit sector and was one of the beneficiaries of the Carrington youth fellowship, a program of the U.S consulate in Lagos, Nigeria. He was among the selected 400 young African leaders that participated in the first and second sustainable development goals summit in Accra, Ghana.

I am always inspired and influenced to do more because of how Kayfactor impacts the sector of quality practical education for less privileged children. He helps them enhance and showcase their talents through practical experience and boosts their potential through inspirational talks.

Fasoranti “Fash” Damilola (CEO, Prikkle Academy)

Photo Credits: Fasoranti Damilola Facebook Page

He is an Education leader with more than six years of experience in six countries interfacing with governments, communities, and education stakeholders to create learning that is fun, of quality, and relevant in building rare and valuable skills. He is an African Changemakers fellow, a Global People’s Summit fellow, and Nigeria’s country director for International Organization for Business and Engineering (IOBE) in Bangladesh

I am motivated by his strong engagements in grassroots and agricultural education, asset-based community development, human-centered design thinking, leadership, community organizing, and international development.

His professionalism in innovative mentorship helped me hone my innate potentials. He somehow guided me to kick off my vision in life, helping me reflect on making it possible to get a financial stream out of my passion.

Moreover, Fash’s compassion for building creative ideas are passed on to rural children by tapping their talents. He has activities that let them turn wastes such as unused tires, milk cans and plastic bottles into chairs and tables. This idea of creating sustainable income out of waste has been a great influence in my passion to develop my own community.

Tim Salau (CEO, Mentors and Mentees)

Photo Credits: Tim Salau Facebook Page

Tim is a community-obsessed and purpose-driven leader. He is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) product manager at Microsoft with an expertise in leading the brand’s direction and championing innovation through community building, product design, and product evangelism.

He is the founder of Mentors & Mentees, a platform that serves as a career coach helping students and professionals to execute their career and life goals and achieve fulfillment.

Connecting with Tim on LinkedIn and Instagram influenced me with informative and eye-opening content. Tim teaches topics that range from personal branding, mentorship, internships, resume writing, interview tips, and storytelling.

The things I learned from him boosted my professionalism. He motivated me to start sharing video content on social media. I realized that by doing so, I can share my voice and opinion on leadership to the world.

Remi Owadokun (Life Coach, Total Makeover Program)

Photo Credits: The Guardian Nigeria

Remi is a Life Coach and four-time Amazon bestselling author for the books- How I Lost 40kg, The Journey That Changed My Life, Why You Are Still Fat, Total Makeover – You Deserve To Live Your Best Life, and Mentorless? Attract, Retain and Make The Best Out of Mentoring Relationships.

She is the creator of a mobile game called Phat Gal which helps users lose weight and educates them on how to make proper food choices and by extension, lead a healthy lifestyle.

Her life-changing ebooks on personal development has impacted me in a number of ways and made me realize how experience exposes you to a lot of opportunities.

Blessing Adogame (Students of Linkedin)

Photo Credits: Blessing Adogame Facebook page

I found Blessing as very passionate about technology and always does whatever it takes to get to where she wants to be. She is a sophomore Information Systems major with minors in Business Administration and Security Technology. She is a strong advocate for Women in Computing and is the founder of the FreshWomen Cohort Program which provides students at Drexel University with a personal support system throughout their years in college.

Moreover, she created an enabling environment for every student through her LinkedIn community called Students of LinkedIn to maximize an abundance of opportunities on the platform and to sell themselves well enough to their potential employers.

It was through her that I fully understood the importance of using LinkedIn to build my networks, pitch my talents, and fine-tune my personal branding through storytelling.

In conclusion, as a person who is passionate about social innovations, it is absolutely important to me to have role models to look up to. Leaders and influencers in their respective fields should realize that there are people who are looking up to them and drawing inspiration to become like them someday. There definitely is a ripple effect.

Currently, in my own little way, I am always mindful to do good especially for my community because I hope to pass on my influence to young people, hoping that someday the ripples would continue to inspire them.

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