This week, ADMARP One-on-One is shining the spotlight on AyeeSha Omadibi, a creative writer, marketing professional, and CEO of Hustle Africa whose career trajectory spans more than a decade of experience in media, marketing, and communications.
ADMARP: Did you choose marketing, or marketing chose you?
AyeeSha: I like to think that marketing chose me. If it hadn’t , I would be a bestselling author of sappy love stories. But it did; lured me with the offer of a high paying writing job, and then reined me in with SEO training at the crack of dawn with the group head of content at the time. Several training sessions and certificates later, here I am, married to content marketing and loving every day of it.
ADMARP: What is your greatest weakness?
AyeeSha: It would be perfectionism. I say this mantra probably every day: anything worth doing, is worth doing well. And then I add that if it will not be done well, there’s no point doing it. And so if I think a project will not be well executed, I do not bother starting it at all. It can be counter-productive.
ADMARP: What is the idea of you people have that is quite contrary to who you really are?
AyeeSha: I am extremely shy, but not many people know this. The general assumption is that I am outgoing, but nothing could be further from the truth.
ADMARP: What can you describe as the most groundbreaking moment/period in your career journey?
AyeeSha: I’m sorry but there’s more than one. One of them would be launching Hustle Africa. A bootstrapped business, we pulled in 8 figures halfway into our second year. Zero press. Just grit and grace. When I think back to when it was just a fledgling idea and how much we’ve grown over the years, I want to hug myself. We did a thing.
Another big deal was winning the Flourish Africa grant in 2022. One of 100 women in 500, I know for a fact there were really laudable businesswomen in the room. And I was selected. That was a chest-puffing moment that just let me know yo girl, you’re doing well.
Like I said, there are several, but let me stop here.
ADMARP: What is your favorite food?
AyeeSha: Honestly, if it has chicken in it, I’m good. If I had to choose one meal though, it would be stir-fried pasta featuring all the colourful veggies and chicken of course.
ADMARP: What food do you think is the most overrated?
AyeeSha: Gbegiri. What is that? It’s like eating amala with beans. I’ll never understand what the appeal is.
ADMARP: Tell us something, an unpopular opinion about marketing that you think people should embrace more?
AyeeSha: Since a new business is literally being born everyday, I will say this: it’s not what the experts say, but you don’t need a marketing strategy. You know those long winding extremely tortuous documents that demand tons and tons of research? You don’t need that. Not in the first 3 years of your business at least, and especially in these social media times.
The only strategy I recommend is to make customer satisfaction your strategy. Underpromise and overdeliver. It will keep business coming for a long time yet, because people talk. When they’re happy, they talk, and when they’re unhappy, they talk too. If you offer excellent service or products, they’ll definitely talk about you and this will do more for you than spending hours poring over a marketing plan.
I know because it worked for us.
ADMARP: If you weren’t a marketing expert, what would you have done differently in life?
AyeeSha: Write love stories for a living. Paint beautiful abstract things, and finally set up a book café for book lovers to chill, and read.
ADMARP: What state are you from?
AyeeSha: Kano
ADMARP: What are you afraid of the most?
AyeeSha: Maintaining the status quo. There’s no such thing as stagnation. One is either growing or one is dying. I abhor that stagnation/vacuum because it means one is dying.
ADMARP: Who is your bestie in the industry?
AyeeSha: In my mind, Alex Cattoni of the Copy Posse is my bestie. Love her vibe.
