Mrs. Yinka Ogunde is one personality worthy of emulation. An enviable career-woman who prefers keeping a low profile due to her ever busy schedule, she is the pioneer of  EDUMARK Consult, an educational guild for students and parent alike. She is also the CEO of Goals & Ideas, an integrated marketing communications agency. In this encounter with OLAYINKA AJAYI, she speaks on the need for young mothers to acquire necessary skills in order to climb the ladder of their chosen career.

What spurred you into spearheading these task driven organizations?
Basically, my background is in  Mass communication and I had my first  Degree in English from the prestigious University of Lagos. I later did my second degree in Mass Communication, specialising in Public Relations and Advertising. Ever  since I finished  my Masters Degree program, I have been in the business of marketing communications. I started my Advertising career at Promoserv, after which I moved to M.Gold Communications, formerly Magnet Gold, before I floated Goals and Ideas.

What have been the challenges?
One of the interesting things I have found out in a sector like ours is that it’s a very dynamic sector. There are so many opportunities that any discerning professional can actually tap into. I am of the opinion that opportunities abound everywhere, except you go about with your eyes closed. If you have a country that is as wealthy as  Nigeria, where you have about 2.8million people walking about with diverse needs and desire, looking at the massive population, what do you see ? You must be able to create something that will be of need to them and the society at large.

Marketing communication is a  sector grossly dominated by men; how did you find yourself raising your head above deep waters?
Perception about life varies. Every individual has issues he or she has to contend with. I don’t see advertising in Nigeria as a gender sensitive industry but an industry that is competency driven. Competency does not have anything to do with gender issue. If you are good at what you do, you’re good. If a man gets a pitch from me, I would see it as him being able to strike the cord with the client. All I have to do is, go back to my drawing board and make sure I create something better next time.

Young female managers should not bother themselves with gender sensitive issues because it won’t allow them go the extra mile to acquire the necessary skills required to get to the top of their careers. In every project I embark on, I strive towards excellence, not just in rhetorical terms because it’s easy to say things in rhetorics. As a professional, anytime you open your mouth, quality must come out of it. You must be ready to say what the client will  buy into and not what he already knows.

Knowing what to do, is what your clients are paying you for. So, if you are not consistent in improving on yourself, which equals to having an edge above your client, he or she won’t be ready to pay you.

As a woman, I strongly believe you need to work very hard so as to ensure that your competence is seen and your brain is respected. I don’t think brains are created differently. So,being a man or woman, there is need for your knowledge  to be above that of  your client in order to be relevant in any sector you find yourself.

With the heavy task required in heading an organization, how do you manage your home and career ?
You must get your priorities right; there is time for everything. When the need arises to attend to a particular thing, you must do so quickly. You must learn to know what is important to you and what is secondary. You need know what needs to be done at every particular time and what should be postponed.

There was a time I had to give up my  career to look after my kids, even though it was a critical situation in this equation. Being a young lady, taking care of your family does not mean you should give up your brain. When it’s time for you to work effectively, you can do so  from home. On my part, when I want to do serious work, I don’t bother myself going to the office.You would be amazed at the result you’d get.

The fact that you  want to do everything to make your family comfortable does not mean your brain has to be redundant. There are so many seminars and workshop taking place in different sectors of our economy. If a seminar is from  10am  to 2pm, rush down. Even if it’s for two hours, let your colleagues see you there. Rush back to pick your children from school. From there you can go to the market.

In order to keep yourself constantly updated and relevant. By the time you step into your profession, it would be as if you never left. But once you stop attending such seminars, reintegrating yourself back will pose a problem because you are no longer current. So, the fact that you are looking after children does not mean that your brain should die.

What’s your advice for upcoming managers looking up to you?
Achieving your dream requires a lot of commitment. Anybody who says business is easy to run is not being sincere. It demands  lots of focus and your giving up lots of frivolous activities. It’s a journey that comes with a price.