The Creative's Chronicles Podcast

Today’s episode is filled with humour and valuable nuggets; our Guest Mr. Hassan Sani – @iNidAName is Developer and an amazing writer with a unique writing style. He shares with us his journey and experiences. Always remember your uniqueness and what makes you stand out.

 

My Take Away’s From Today’s Episode:

It’s important not to create things in isolation; you are building for real users; there is need to always get feedback on products and whatever you are creating.

Put your self in the shoes of your end users.

Start with the small part of your concept; start with the basic idea then build up on that.

You need to keep your users engaged and asking questions

Today’s Guest Mr. Mustapha M. Garba is the Community Manager for GDG Bayero University, a Python and Web Developer. He shares with us his journey and experiences. Imperfect execution and putting yourself out in the open makes it easy to get feedback and improve yourself; in the end it is your own journey, not anyone’s, you have to own it and take responsibility. If you wait till you are perfect; you might wait forever.

 

My Take Away’s From Today’s Episode:

Our environment plays an important and vital role in pushing us and influencing our choices and decisions

Our time is finite, there is so much to do; you need to understand that you cannot learn everything and you cannot do everything; there is only so much you can do at a time. You need to learn how to manage time effectively.

You need to be clear about what you really want

You plateau without mentorship, you need to have people that push and force you to level up and do more

We need to stop at various points in our journey and take stock of what you have learnt so far and find ways to use these knowledge

Put yourself out there; create stuff and put it out, let people see it; use it and give you feedback, this is how you grow

Execute imperfectly first, if you wait till you are perfect before you ship; you might wait forever.

Figure out the best methods that aids your learning. Play on your strengths and improve

Today’s Guest Mr. Emmanuel Enemaku is the Co-founder of Projaro, Product Designer – Civic Innovation Lab and a Co-Organizer for Usable UX Abuja (A Meetup for UI/UX Designers in Abuja). Mr. Emmanuel has been in the Creative Industry for well over 12 years. Coming from an era where placing a name on what He does was a challenge, he navigated those times to become the Creative Professional he is today. He shares with us his journey and tips for pricing models and being professional.

 

My Take Away’s From Today’s Episode:

If you have the passion, you will find ways and reasons to express yourself Creatively.

Don’t allow anything stop you, do not wait till an opportune moment, or when you go to a school before you start doing and practicing. Pick up some

You want to be creative, good; expose yourself to meetups, conferences, workshops, classes you owe yourself that exposure

Don’t fold your hands and expect knowledge to fall on you

Don’t get to a point where you plateau or get satisfied, your satisfaction should be the satisfaction of the person you are working for or the person you are working with.

Push yourself and hone your Creative muscles, till a point where it becomes second nature

You are a professional the moment you start giving value and receiving value. Calling yourself a professional helps you take a vantage point and you

Fail quickly, so you can excel faster.

Be professional, always sign contracts, let your contract state the deliverables and timelines.

Keep your promises as low as possible, don’t over promise

Today’s Guest Mr. Israel Obiagba is a Frontend Developer, a Trainer with RelearnNG, an Educator with CodeSparkNG and a Co-Organizer for UXAbuja (A Meetup for UI/UX Designers in Abuja). He is a proponent of having Structures and Processes, he also speaks about ways of tracking activities for measuring productivity and progress. When we take stock and track the things we do; we are then able to evaluate our progress and measure our productivity.

 

My Take Away’s From Today’s Episode:

It is the amount of focused time you put into your work that really determines your productivity.

Creating systems that allow for regular checks and accountability

The worst thing you can do is lie to yourself about your current status in career or in life

Consistency is one of the sure ways to get a new habit engrained in your system

Habits are formed by our routines, and we have the ability and can make up our minds to create routines that counters negative habits

Understand yourself and find your base consistency point (the barest minimal effort you can put in regularly and consistently). 25mins a day for A month adds up cummulatively

Have a strategy and a structure (Stracture) Strategy – What is Your plan, structure – gives your plan a sequence.

You need to research and study Mentors and the Greats that have gone ahead

Research and find out about various models of personal learning e.g. Dreyfus Model

You need to learn from the best to be better than the best.

Today on the Creative’s Chronicles we have Mr. Chuks, He is a Software Engineer, an Accounting Professional, He is well read, a knowledge seeker and lifelong learner. He shares with us today on tips for Cash Flow, Profitability, book keeping and Freelancing. An understanding of how systems work will enable you have mastery and help you properly put in place other tools and systems for effectively running a business or a Freelancing Career.

 

You can’t run a business effectively without been conversant with accounting principles.Profitability

My Take Aways from today’s Episode:

Your profit is your revenue (what comes in) minus the costs, all that went out to bring in the revenue. Components of costs; cost of revenues (direct expenses spent to bring in revenue).

Cost of sale is the money spent to bring in revenue;

Transportation cost is also included as cost of sale; personnel costs, electricity, data, rent etc. are costs associated with revenue coming in.

Your financial records shouldn’t be in your head.

You need to understand what constitute a cost for your business: costs in business depends on the kind of business you are engaged in. e.g. rent on co-working spaces, data, transportation costs

There is need to calculate your daily costs as a Freelancer or an Agency

Understanding your costs influences how you charge and price your services

Your booking keeping is better automated and there are several tools that can do this for you; preferably double entry book keeping (tools wave accounting, real cash etc. this tools give you overview of your financial performance over a period of time).

Most Freelancers are specialists on use of technologies for driving solutions and most times they relegate other aspects and tools needed for running a successful business.

Freelancing is not for everyone. Freelancing has its perks and its shortcomings.

You need to acquire knowledge and understanding of what Freelancing entails.

You also need to acquire money management skills

Today’s Guest is just Awemazing, coming from a background where reading was the norm, Mr. Victor A. Fatanmi is a Creative with a difference, He is a Writer, Designer and the CEO of Fourth Canvas, He shares his story with us and points out an important trait he embodies, the desire and drive for continuous growth and improvement. You are to work yourself on your path towards self-sustainability and growth…

 

My Take Aways from today’s Episode:

It doesn’t matter how your start is or looks; what counts is your consistency on a path of improvement and learning…

Be unafraid to enter strange and new territories, that is where the growth is…

Your problem is not lack of the ability to write, the real issue is lack of conceptual understanding… the understanding of the way things work (especially design)

A lot of designers today are designers because they are masters of a particular Software….

Find any designer whose strength is in the ideation, whose strength is in what the design represents; who is concerned about the emotions the design will reflect; whose choices in the design process is about how best he represents the ideals of a particular brand, these are the designers that are usually able to convey their thoughts in writing.

The words store over the years; from elementary school, to books read, to dictionaries read; it is not the words that make the poem, it is the thoughts…

Work on your understanding and appreciation of design as being beyond software…

Design is everything…

Writing is just about finding the words to express these thoughts…

It also helps your writing when you study and read other designers writings…

Some of the traits we always look for in designers is humility, willing to grow and attitude

Skills can be learnt

 The New Segment (Demystifying the Myths)

Design is just about software skills (this is a myth). Software is just an advantage. Design is about the mind; this is not downplaying software skills; we need very good execution, alignment, balance etc.

My Take Aways from today’s Episode:

It doesn’t matter how your start is or looks; what counts is your consistency on a path of improvement and learning…

Be unafraid to enter strange and new territories, that is where the growth is…

Your problem is not lack of the ability to write, the real issue is lack of conceptual understanding… the understanding of the way things work (especially design)

A lot of designers today are designers because they are masters of a particular Software….

Find any designer whose strength is in the ideation, whose strength is in what the design represents; who is concerned about the emotions the design will reflect; whose choices in the design process is about how best he represents the ideals of a particular brand, these are the designers that are usually able to convey their thoughts in writing.

The words store over the years; from elementary school, to books read, to dictionaries read; it is not the words that make the poem, it is the thoughts…

Work on your understanding and appreciation of design as being beyond software…

Design is everything…

Writing is just about finding the words to express these thoughts…

It also helps your writing when you study and read other designers writings…

Some of the traits we always look for in designers is humility, willing to grow and attitude

Skills can be learnt

 The New Segment (Demystifying the Myths)

Design is just about software skills (this is a myth). Software is just an advantage. Design is about the mind; this is not downplaying software skills; we need very good execution, alignment, balance etc.

On being Strategic as a Creative. As a Design and Logo Legend – Leslie Williams has strategically positioned himself as a Force to be reckoned with in the Creative Industry, trust me he really does the work; from his online interactions, Playbook Tv, Layrz blog, Mr. Leslie Williams is an Executor; and in today’s episode we look at his story and he shares tons of actionable content on strategies for staying relevant in the Creative Industry…

 

That ain’t right – (New Segment)

And we have got a new segment of the Creative’s Chronicles called That ain’t right – This segment is about demystifying the Myths around and about the Creative Industry, and today’s myths as demystified by the Boss Himself… (1). Photoshop is not a button and it is not your only tool; there are a variety of tools you can use as a Designer… (2). Just believing the if you design it they will come; it doesn’t happen that way… You have to be strategic and purposeful about your marketing

For this week’s episode we continue our conversation with Mr. Okechukwu Ifeora, an Entrepreneur and software developer at Omniswift. He shares tons of valuable information about his journey and experience as a Software Developer. At a point in time the top Software Engineers we revere and hold at high esteem knew nothing about Software Development… They were introduced and encouraged, this way they are now at this phase in their career…

“Hand holding is important, but it should not be for too long…”

My Take Aways From Today’s Episode:

Staying updated and keeping on with the trends:

I carefully choose where I work… you need time to stay updated and I multitask… I might be eating and at the same time I am reading an article on the phone…

I am particular about choosing places where I work, I look at their processes and premium placed on quality…

You don’t have to be a one-man squad… it’s not totally bad for a startup to start with few hands, but as the company grows there is need to get more hands on board…

Handling Information Overload: I have my focus and I prioritize my area of specialization, I am not trying to do everything…

Don’t try to be an expert in everything, specialize…

You have to understand yourself and how you process and take-in information

Learning and getting good with any programming language takes time, give it time…

For beginners I will advice you read articles about Software Development entirely and not just about any particular technology; the language is just a means, it is not a major part of the skill, the language is a tool;

Beginners need to be introduced to the whole career, concepts and then they can be introduced to programming languages.

Find your center, that thing that makes you who you are, that makes you thick…

Find your core, this opens a whole lot of opportunities for you…

Today’s episode features a Frontend Legend and an Amazing Software Developer, Mr. Okechukwu Ifeora, an Entrepreneur and software developer at Omniswift with loads and loads of experience in User centered design and as a self taught developer there are lots of lessons to draw from his journey. To go far in this creative field and any other field you need to love what you do… You have to be committed to your journey, deciding that I can’t afford to let myself down, that inner push helped me”

My Take-Aways from today’s Episode:

Being part of a community is diamond for any software developer, you are around a body of knowledge that compliments you and you also compliment them…

A community gives you a group of people talented in there various spheres, and something rubs off on you by interaction and sharing of knowledge

There are different paths to take in picking a career in Software Development, you have to know and understand the way you learn, you have to match your own personal capabilities and the way you approach learning…

Mentorship is critical and necessary; it can be direct or indirectly: directly in person or indirectly via blog posts, lectures, tweets etc.

Communities can help with mentorship and not just leave mentorship for only individuals…

Mentorship and guidance is not just for beginners; other developers seeking growth need ways

Mr. Bamise Babasola, Graduate of Psychology Obafemi Awolowo University, he is a Digital Savvy, Dynamic Speaker and The Digital Alchemist. Branding and Positioning for Creative Professionals in the Market place. The question is what do you want to do and how do you want to go about it… if you just want to be like everyone else, you will get lost in the crowd… What is that extra you add to your own service offering that pushes you a notch further than the others… Distinguishing yourself goes beyond satisfying that person, it also extends to how you make them feel…

 

My Take Aways from today’s Episode:

Excellence is in the minute details, you don’t have to do something overly huge… focus on the things you can sustain and can be easily transferred,

“There is no perfect” perfect is the best we see now, someone else will wake up tomorrow and say there is still a mile further and push it further, that is how the bar of excellence is continually raised.

Poor ethics has been an issue with most Freelancers and Creatives, you have to be different, good work ethics is a gap that if you fill for yourself today will stand out from the crowd…

You have to give Value to your client consistently before you request for sales

“When you capture a client, you have access to his network”

Give your heart to that client you have now, it is like the ripple effect, a satisfied client will refer you to his network

“Money flows in the direction of value”

Whatever you do for your client, do it well