Assalam Alaykum. I hope this finds you well and in the best of feelings. The first issue of this month is an interview with Ridwan Ganiy. This interview has been scaled down for easier consumption.
Could you please introduce yourself (who you are, what you do, what you're known for, etc.)?
My name is Ridwan Ganiy, a digital marketer who has worked in project management, brand marketing, and campaign management as well as other aspects of the job title. I’m a visionary with a high sense of ambition and I'm also growth-oriented.
Could you share what self-development looks like to you?
Self-development to me is waking up every day intending to do better, at work, spiritually, and in other aspects. In essence, it’s taking one habit every day and trying to master it until the repetition compounds and yields results.
Do you have a system of measuring how far you've come? Personally and in your work?
Yearly, I look at how far I have come in terms of the level of work I’m doing in the industry and how my role has evolved— you know sometimes you want to be on the same level as the people you model in the industry and you have to ask yourself how far you’ve come, how much of a knowledge gap still exists, the quality of experience you have and what projects you can work on that you weren’t able to earlier. I also look at impact— the quality of connections I have made for people with their roles, etc.
Are you still studying? Undergrad/Post-grad?
Yes, I’m an undergraduate student at the University of Lagos and I’m studying Biochemistry.
How does studying factor into all the work that you do?
For the most part, school has either been on strike or CoVid break but for the times I have to be in school and work, I always prioritize work. But it hasn’t affected school— school is still good, and I still do well. (laughter). Although, I try my best to balance it and give my best in school. Work remains a 6 hours to 2 hours priority though.
Tech, Digital Marketing, how?
Digital marketing started in 2017 when I was at home waiting for admission into the university. There was a program I used to keep up with on DSTV, around 5:30 pm or 6:00 pm, Under $0 C.E.O’s and I stumbled upon a couple of people whose stories I liked: Noble Igwe, Debola Williams, Audu Maikori.
Debola’s interview stood out for me and I was gunning to replicate something like that because it resonated with me. It was easier to model someone I saw myself in and that was a good jumpstart. He was in PR— which I was also thinking about.
Next thing, I read a lot on PR, called a great friend, and did something together. 2018, I took Google’s course on the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing, went on to HubSpot Academy, landed a couple of internships, sought out mentorships, and here I am.
I see you do a lot of community work, like Eid Fest and so I wanted to ask what you think a project should entail before you get involved.
I love to build things that are people-centric and I don’t mean, random buying and selling like you can sell the product but I like things that are centered around the impact on people.
Apart from that, I think the people that are involved are also important— not in the way that I must have known them for 3 to 5 years but in the way that our personality makeup is compatible, the vision of the project— is it scalable, can it become something bigger later on, what is the intention, etc.
People say capital is important and I agree but if the people involved are great, I think you’re good to go.
How do you balance and find the projects that need you the most while ensuring you don’t overtax yourself?
Some of the projects I do apart from my 9-5 are seasonal. Last year, I started the Gen Z podcast and it felt like an important thing for me to put out but now it's the least of my priorities. I think you just have to calculate the risk factor and prioritize.
I’m a multi-project kind of person as a single project slows down my productivity because I’m bored and probably will be easy to distract but at the sight of possible burnout, I reduce the number of projects I’m working on or take a break.
Do you have particular advice on attaining excellence that you think everyone has to know?
Focus on doing the hard things, or the easier things but consistently, either way. With the latter, the consistency allows you to move on to more complex things. Just be consistent.
Have something that inspires you: money, street-cred, the impact. Anything that will serve as some sort of fuel.
Build the right community at the right time: people in your career level, people in your career generally, etc.
Can you give us three of your top individual brand creation advice?
Understand your target audience and their diversity. It helps you decide how to sell your brand effectively.
You have to be consistent to be taken seriously.
You have to have a brand promise and deliver on this promise to build an audience.
What does your average day look like?
I have days when I’m productive and days I’m not. I’ll be using my productive days as a reference for this interview. I’m a late riser, go back to sleep after my morning prayers, scroll social media, and then because things are fairly remote, I jump into work.
My to-do list is always drafted the day before so I do the hardest things first, work till noon, move on to self-care, breakfast then Dhur (12:45 pm). After, I brush off more work and pray Asr (4:00 pm). I also use the time after to catch up with people I’m working with and then by 6 pm, I’m out of work.
After Isha (8:00 pm)— surfing YouTube or Netflix and then I read a book for thirty or forty minutes before I go to bed. I always ensure that’s the last thing I do for the day.
Shawarma or Pasta? Shawarma definitely. Pasta is great for me but always, Shawarma.
Cake or Ice-cream? Ice-cream.
E-book or Hardcopy? E-book.
Hardcover or Paperback? Hardcover.
Fiction or Nonfiction? Both as long as it’s a theme or on a subject that interests me.
Extras: Ridwan Ganiy’s Career Journey.
As of 2019, I was interning and that was what I did that whole year. I met Wasilu Habib who took me under him and gave me an opportunity to build some experience. I moved on to interning at Dotts Media House where I worked on a couple of campaigns with them, Red For Africa where I had an amazing three months doing project management and some other programs and organisations.
2021: Community Management throughout.
2022: Working at an intersection between Growth and Marketing in the Tech industry. And right now, I work in Growth Marketing and Product Marketing.
A great read I must say.🌸