I Ordered It But I Got Something Different

Here's what happened...

In Nigeria, we have this popular phrase - “What I ordered versus what I got.”

It started off being about asking your tailor to replicate a particular design which didn’t turn out well but it moved to being generally about placing an order for something but what was received fell way below your expectations.

Have you ever experienced that?

I have experienced it a number of times, even in my career journey.

Let me tell you what happened. This is a good time to grab your popcorn :-)

So, I was in my hustling phase. All I cared about was the money. Not purpose. Not fulfillment. None of that. I just wanted to make more money.

And I hustled to get briefs that could bring in the income needed to live my desired lifestyle.

One day, I saw a job advert for a Managing Editor role of a luxury magazine. Luxury caught my attention because this was a real luxury brand and not the watered down version of ‘luxury’ we see today.

Anyway, I digress.

I decided to apply for the role even though it was a full time role because in my head, the money would be great.

I didn’t end up getting the role but during the interview, I was offered another role. To manage the digital arm of a PR firm.

This role was also appealing to me because and you already know it…I could see the potential to make a lot of money. Global clients. Big campaign budgets. I was sold.

Even though my core competence was in writing, content and social media, I thought to myself, “What’s in digital that I cannot master?”

I am actually laughing at my younger professional self in Greek.

While I thought my basic knowledge of Facebook and Instagram ads would see me through, I had no idea that Digital Marketing was a whole kettle of fish that was not within my area of competence.

Digital didn’t just mean social media. It meant having mastery of digital marketing tactics and tools. And as the head of that department, I had no clue.

I’m going to leave you in a bit of suspense but let me ask…how do you think this played out?

If you’d like to hear the full gist, join me on LinkedIn live on Tuesday 24th June by 12pm WAT as I join Rose Thuo (Global Comms expert) to discuss the moments we’ve failed in our Comms careers. You can sign up here.

And if you are still holding your popcorn, please save it for next Tuesday :-)

Before then, if you have any Comms career questions you’d like me to answer, I’ll be in the chat section from 7pm WAT this evening to answer all your questions.

Also, I hope you haven’t forgotten about the Comms Mentorship Conference that’s happening on Saturday 26th July. Thank you for your encouraging messages and special thanks to the 100+ professionals who have signed up.

Please continue to spread the word. Like I said before, this is our Conference and we have a lot in store for you!

That’s it from me today. See you in the chat section by 7pm WAT and let’s connect on LinkedIn live on Tuesday 24th.

PS - If you’ve ever wondered about the process I adopt when I am creating a Comms plan, I talked about it here.

See you soon!