The first time I met Mr Kelechi Amadi Obi was when I was preparing for my wedding in 2014. My wedding was organised by My Big Nigerian Wedding (it was a competition where my husband and I won a free wedding (forreal…see it HERE, HERE, even HERE sef). Mr Kelechi was the official photographer and he took some of our pre-wedding photos. When I met him for the first time I was basically blown away by how charismatic and passionate he was about everything he was talking about. He had a glint in his eye, and he would gesticulate dramatically-it was infectious! LOL. He talked about so many things, Bobo and I were so drawn into his conversations.
Fast forward to June 2016, this man had completely forgotten about me sef. We met again when we arrived Durban Airport, we were travelling in a group to South Africa. At that time I didn’t realise he didn’t remember me from the wedding, it was when we began talking again that he shared that he has been watching some of my vlogs-I had to remind him that “bros, so you no remember say na you give me free photos for my wedding ni?” He was shocked! That’s how we reconnected. See life.
We had breakfast together one day on our trip and he spoke fondly about his young son Somto and how he was going to encourage him to start a business during the long school vacation-just to teach him the ropes about entrepreneurship. I admired that. In fact, I started writing a business plan for my 1 year old Tito in my head. We found ourselves talking about the Nigerian economy and he dropped some words of wisdom, naim I say make I share with una. I don’t want to benefit alone.
LIVE BELOW YOUR MEANS
The first thing he touched on was for people to start living below their means. That one rang bell gbagaun in my head. I don’t think I live above my means but I find myself spending money on things wey no make sense, so I have a bit of work to do here. If you live below your means it is easy for you to save money for vacations, a new business, or tough economies like this Buhari one everyone is talking about. This brings me to the next point…
BE TOO BUSY TO COMPLAIN
Mr Kelechi said he does not appreciate people spending so much time complaining about how bad the economy is. Who complaining eppp? The fact is: economy bad. Ehen? But do you know some people are not feeling the pinch at all? Complaining can demoralise you and make you lose focus. I actively try not to complain, I look for opportunities around me. Channel the energy and time you use complaining into doing the next point…
RE-STRATEGISE
Yes! You cannot have just 1 strategy and refuse to budge if it is not working. If you find yourself/business in a rut, then start cracking your brain on how to get out of it. Yes, times are hard, but you can take advantage of the situation; maybe you need to get a side hustle to balance things up, change your business plan. Go back to your original plan and tweak something.
I look forward to many more conversation with Mr Kelechi and I thank him for always sharing!
Ps. I no know say the man sabi rock like this HERE , check the 21:50 minute mark
