Visibility, Networking, Key to Achieving Wealth, Influence, Experts Say

Visibility and networking have been identified as key ingredients to achieving influence and wealth in a fast-changing global economy.

This was the main talking point at the Future of Wealth and Influence Conference held in Yaba, Lagos, recently.

The conference, hosted by Immigify, a US-based immigration technology company, brought together about 100 business owners, creatives, budding entrepreneurs and students to discuss wealth and influence.

The first keynote speaker, Emma Olorunsheyi, CEO of Immigify, began by reframing the idea of a career. He said a career is not a destination, but a launchpad, stressing that a great career should be seen as an asset rather than a finish line.

Central to his message was the idea of career capital, which he said comes before financial capital. According to him, while a salary pays for what one does, career capital creates opportunities from what one knows.

Drawing on his own journey, Olorunsheyi described having been on both sides of the table. Having worked with large companies, including Microsoft, HPE, Ford, Rackspace and Michaels before building his own ventures, he said he now sees those years not simply as a period of earning paychecks but as an opportunity to accumulate valuable assets.

“Don’t just go to work every day to carry out your assigned responsibilities, earn a salary and go home. Treat your workplace as a business school. Study your customers. Understand why they buy, what makes them stay, and what causes them to leave. Pay attention to how the company makes money, how it attracts and retains customers, and how it turns ideas into profitable products or services.

“Observe what makes a product launch successful or unsuccessful. Study how teams make decisions, solve problems, manage challenges and grow. In other words, don’t just work for the company; learn from the company. Every meeting, every challenge, every customer interaction and every business decision is an opportunity to gain knowledge that could be valuable beyond your current employment,” he said.

He also emphasised the importance of building relationships with customers, mentors, peers and partners, explaining that the right relationships could change the direction of an entrepreneur’s journey. He encouraged participants to offer specific help and add value to others before asking for favours.

Other keynote speakers, including Brain Essien, Tunde Okewale and Oladayo Ogunleye, echoed Olorunsheyi’s views, sharing personal experiences and insights on achieving career goals and financial success through wealth creation strategies and breaking barriers.

For Ogunleye, the relationships people build and the trust they earn are what remain when opportunities disappear. He said: “Relationships should be built before you need them because trust takes time, and many opportunities come through the people you know.

“So, become valuable, associate with the right people, attend the right events, improve your communication skills and build your personal brand. Learn to build relationships without always asking for favours. Also, surround yourself with people who encourage your growth and make an effort to maintain those relationships,” he added.

Co-founder of Immigify, Deji Adesola, who joined the event virtually from the United States, encouraged attendees to participate fully and connect with one another to get the best out of the conference.

An interactive session followed, with participants raising questions about self-discovery, the place of immigration in one’s career journey and how individual talents can attract global attention. Olorunsheyi and the other facilitators provided answers to the questions.

One of the attendees, Damilola Akinwande, a product designer, said: “I have learnt a lot today about people’s journeys to where they are now. It is more like a reflection for me on how to follow that path to help me build. One thing I will be practising after here is networking. I am still struggling in that aspect, but I am fired up now to push for visibility for my role and also go beyond my job scope.”

Another attendee, Toyin Dami of Ire’s Surprises, said: “I learnt today that you don’t have to have money to start whatever you want to start. You have to take steps in order to go far in life. And from today, I have told myself I will stop procrastinating. There is so much to achieve.”

The conference ended with a raffle session, where a participant, Ebunoluwa Soyege, won a N100,000 prize after the digital spin selected her name. An additional N100,000 was presented by the CEO after the participant became emotional while receiving the dummy cheque.