Lessons Linda Ikeji Taught Me

 Bayo Adeyinka 

My attitude whenever I come across a new person or an issue is to open up myself to learn. Even the Holy Writ encourages that and one of my favourite scriptures is the one encouraging sluggards to learn from the ant. 

When Linda called my phone that she had arrived our premises, I went outside to chaperone her. She drove herself. I observed as she took directives from the security guards who instructed how she should park. She’s a very good driver. She came down from her vehicle and greeted like we had known for ages. No airs around her. We engaged in chit chat until I walked her into the place where my MD was hosting her along with other female executives of our organization. 

Linda was pleasantly shocked. ‘You set up all these for me?’, she asked. I told her I have appeared a few times on her blog. I showed her two stories she carried and how she named me ‘Professor’ in one of them. She laughed. Her laughter was so soothing and very real. ‘But are you a professor?’, she asked. ‘I’ve always been a banker’, I responded to another round of laughter. 

 I observed as the meet and greet session took place. She was always willing to take pictures and do whatever the photographer or my colleagues wanted. She was so simple that a colleague who passed by mistook another colleague for Linda. Simple but absolutely elegant. 

The experience sharing session was the meat for me. I smiled when Linda said she’s naturally shy and preferred to write than speak. Many of us didn’t believe that but she’s actually a private person. She told us how she started blogging 15 years ago and how she blogged for free for the first 4 years without earning a dime. Her motivation was not money but she loved writing. Listening to her, she emphasized the importance of hard work and consistency in anything one does.

Has she failed before? That’s one of the questions we asked her. I’ve hardly seen a person so honest and unwilling to gloss over such discussions. Yes, she said. She spoke about her foray into online TV and how that has not been as successful as she projected. We opened our mouth agape when she mentioned how much she invested and the pitiable return on investment. Yes, she mentioned figures. 

How does she maintain a work-life balance? She told us she has 56 people on her payroll. She manages what has now turned out to be a huge business. How does she manage all that with her responsibilities as a mother? Her response made me have a very healthy respect for her. Linda is real. Very real. She told us she cannot honestly answer that question the way we may want because she works from home and has a lot of help. Her parents live with her and she has a caregiver too. So that has helped her. She emphasized the need for a strong support system for a career woman. No ‘aspire to perspire’ answers. Down to earth. 

One area of discussion I won’t forget is her reason for working with younger girls nowadays. She said her heart is broken whenever she sees young girls do anything just because of money to buy a few bags. She gave an example of how a young girl followed a man to Dubai and posted the Hermès Bag she came back with. She believed if ladies can work hard, they can own anything they desire and buy anything they want without depending on any man. I took note when she asked if anyone had seen her recent posts on her IG page where she has been posting bags and other personal items. She said she wanted people to know those are just ‘mere things’ and anyone can have them if they work hard for them. 

She spoke about how she has evolved. From a model when she was at Unilag to a blogger and now producing contents. It’s really heartwarming to know some of her contents will be on Netflix and Amazon very soon. That’s really mega. 

She spoke about intentional parenting and I nodded my head when she agreed with my MD on introducing one’s child to God very early in life. I was inspired to hear the part about taking the kids to church. That helps them to be able to have great values and cope with peer pressure.

As the experience sharing session went on, I ruminated over how she has managed to stay on top of her game for 15 years with no sign of backing down. She combines a very good brain with an outstanding personality. You just can’t help loving Linda. 

Lessons for me? 

You can’t go wrong with hard work. Keep working at your craft and continue to hone your skills and one day, doors will open for you. Linda has incredible work ethics. No one builds such a mega business by being a loafer. 

Don’t chase money. Linda said after 4 years of blogging for free, someone offered to pay for an advert on her blog and it was then she knew she could actually make money from blogging. Money should never be the primary motivation. Value is. Give value and money will come.

Learn to give back. Linda spoke about how she has worked with many young ladies. Don’t consume all your blessings on yourself. The best legacy you can leave are not the buildings but the monuments you build in people’s lives. 

Admit your failures. It’s human to fail. If something didn’t work, don’t put a gloss on it. There’s no Superman anywhere except in cartoons. No one is infallible. We all fall. That’s why we are human. 

Evolve. Don’t stay on one spot. Grow. Develop yourself. Increase your capacity. From a model, she became a blogger, Brand influencer and now content producer. You’re not designed to be on the same spot. 

After the session, as we walked back to her vehicle, I knew this was a night I’ll remember for a long time.