Eight years ago, I was told to leave my only and last paid employment at Ikoyi.
I did nothing wrong.
I was just a victim of office tribalism.
I was caught in the crossfire and used as a sacrificial lamb.
Grieved and broken by how I was treated, I came to Facebook to announce that I had resigned from work that day and that I was starting Visage Media.
As of the time I made the announcement, I only had 1.7 million naira, which was my life savings, in the bank, and that was the money I even wanted to use to pay for my first accommodation in Lagos since I was squatting in my uncle’s house at Ogudu and the place was no longer comfortable.
I was afraid of what I was doing.
Would this work?
Are you out of your mind?
How would you announce a Business name (Visage Media) that has yet to be registered, and you don’t even have any money to push it?
I must be crazy.
So many thoughts swirl in my head.
After I made the post, someone here, Ifeanyi Okeke offered to pay for the business registration as a way of supporting the dream I had.
He sent 70,000 the next day, and what he did validated my dream that it would work.
Thank you, sir.
But it took one year, yes! One year after the idea, which was conceived the day my boss told me to take a walk, finally took off from the ground,
So today, 7 years ago, myself, Nnenna, and Soppru walked into the office.
We were scared.
We did it, not sure we knew what we were doing.
This is why:
I was able to gather money together, plus my life savings from the freelancing work I did, to pay for our former office.
A room and parlor, but we did not have a paying client or customer.
But we walked in with faith that things would align in our favor.
I later told Sopuru Egbodo to stop because, after 3 months and counting, we have yet to convert a paying client except for a few gigs here, but we do not have cash flow stability.
The salary I was paying him then was a burden, and it was depleting my savings, so I begged him to stop. I hope he has forgiven me.
Seven years ago today, after that bold decision, we have grown, we have scaled, and we have built something beautiful, but It came with a price for my health, life, and everything.
As a business, we have seen it all.
There were days we were not sure where our salaries would come from, but God came through for us.
Days I woke up demoralized and not happy, not sure I understood what I was doing.
Days of jumping Lagos yellow buses after performing woefully at a pitch with Nnenna
I remember one bad day like this vividly.
Myself and Nnennna went to pitch for May and Baker’s accounts.
The former MD of the company, Nnamdi Okafor, was so gracious to invite us to a pitch.
He saw we were young people and wanted to take a bet on us.
Only for us to go there alone in his office, and we become tongue-tied.
We did not know what to say again.
Even when he tried to calm our nervousness down,
We were talking nonsense.
What do you people (Visage Media) want to do for May and Baker?
We could not answer.
The man shook his head, and that was it.
We later left and never got a second opportunity to see him again. before he left that office.
Days of heartbreak from clients and the tears that would ensure
One of the bad experiences I won’t forget in a hurry is when a big boss like that pushed us out of his company because the man (who is late now) asked Nnenna out to be her lover and sugar daddy.
She said no; the man assumed I was dating her and it was stingy of her to deny his request while giving me free sex
So for this silly reason, the man then got his HR to terminate our appointment.
It was one of our lowest moments in the past seven years; the man’s business was the only monthly-paying client we had that period, but thank God we survived and did not die.
We have had memorable moments as well.
The day when we acquired our first paying client
Our second client
Days that we attended the weddings of our colleagues, joyous and happy that we are a family and we are growing.
Seven years ago, I took a hard bet on myself.
When I woke up this morning, I told myself, Chukwudi! This risk worked ooo , and with your colleagues, you have built something really beautiful that will give birth to other bigger businesses and even outlast you.
A business that is a carefully curated team of master thinkers and doers with years and years of experience.
We are made up of brand strategists, PR specialists, social media strategists and managers, content creators, legal consultants, marketing specialists, and tech-heads, making us your one-stop-shop marketing and communications agency.
We are also a gender-balanced business; we have more women working for us than men.
Madam, Mrs. Comfort, the general is the head of the business.
Hiring more competent women than men was intentional, as I was taught by my madam and Ondo State First Lady Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu and Josephine Effah-Chukwuma , two women who have been supportive as well.
To the clients who kept us in business, we say thank you.
But I most not fail to highlight two important men who have been exceptional and sold out for myself and our growth as a business.
To the serial investor, chairman, Peace Mass Transit, and Chancellor, Maduka University,Dr. Samuel Maduka Onyishi, MON
Your staff used to wonder what juju I was using on you, knowing how much we bill you every month and how conservative you are with outrageous bills.
But I’m not using any Juju; rather, I was lucky to find favor in your eyes.
Having earned your trust, you hardly say no to me when I come with my request and bills, knowing I want nothing but the very best for your business.
Thank you sir for the confidence.
And to another boss of mine, the Chairman /CEO Of Sea Horse Industries, Ebuka Onunkwo
Im a man of many flaws, but you have provided the perfect anchor to manage my flaws.
For taking a bet on my life and for your long commitment to my success, I say thank you, sir.
To our other clients—too many to mention—
We say thank you.
Without your patronage, we could have closed shop a long time ago.
To my parents, Oga Mike and his wife, thank you for your emotional support and hope-filled prayers.
My dad is so emotionally invested in our success that he does nightly vigil prayers just to make sure we don’t experience any spiritual encumbrances while the person he is praying for is sleeping.
To my colleagues, my rockstars.
You people show up every day with the best version of yourself, with the ambition to outdo the version you showed the business yesterday.
We actually planned a big party plus a media blitz for this 7th anniversary, but we later put everything on hold because the business is just coming out of big expenses,but I assure you guys that our party will still hold this year.
To our former staff, who are no longer with us, thank you for sharing this dream together.
Visage Media is a business-to-business company.
We help businesses and brands win, convert customers, and stay relevant in the market, and today marks exactly 7 years we have been doing this with no days off.
You can go through this website to see how you can partner with us.
To everyone who has referred us to a client or who has supported us in the last 7 years,
Today is for you, and we say thank you.
I am grateful to everyone working with us to build what I hope will be the first truly global communications company from Africa.
My story is a reminder that anything is possible; you don’t need anybody’s permission before you change the final outcome of your life.
Be a valuable young person and then, leave the rest to God.
Because they willl come.
So here is to the next 7 years!
To a bigger Visage Media with bigger clients and other businesses that would come forth because Visage Media existed.
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