#CreatorStories showcases the honest personal experiences of digital creators who monetize their knowledge of a skill and sell it on Selar. We share these stories every week to inspire you to create and sell a product out of your wealth of knowledge and be a part of the digital creator economy.

This week, we turn the lights on Olamide Femi-Taiwo, popularly known as The Media Answer online. 

Let’s get to know her, shall we?

Can we Meet Olamide?

My name is Olamide Femi-Taiwo, popularly known as The Media Answer online. I am from Kogi State. I am a Social Media Manager and Graphic designer. I design & create content for brands.

What was your career journey like before becoming a social media manager and canva designer?

Firstly, I had no career before this and my journey is actually very graceful, hilarious, and unique. I studied Chemistry and I graduated with a Third Class from Olabisi Onabanjo University. And the graduation was only by the Grace of God (lol).

I got out of secondary school not knowing what I wanted to study in the university. I didn’t have any specific dream/ambition as most kids had. My mom wanted me to study Pharmacy so I wrote the JAMB exam and got 180. I applied for Pharmacy at the University of Ilorin but I didn’t get admission. I then applied to Olabisi Onabanjo University but was given Chemistry instead.

Since I didn’t have anything I wanted to study or any career ambition, and I just wanted to leave the house, I accepted the Chemistry I was offered. It wasn’t an easy journey. (laughs) 

Chemistry is a complicated course, and I wasn’t even interested in it. Kudos to every chemist out there. Since I just wanted to be in school, I went along with it. 

In my third year, I realized that I didn’t have any plans for after school. I knew Chemistry wasn’t for me and I didn’t know how I was going to put money in my pocket after school. I was so honest with myself that I knew that even if I was taken to any firm that does anything Chemistry related, I may even blow up the place. (lol)  

However, amidst all these, I discovered I was a very creative person. At this time I had encountered God and started praying about my purpose and after-school plan. One day, while in class a friend of mine Emmanuel was designing an e-flier using an app on his phone called Logopit. I was so interested and till today I really can’t tell what piqued that interest. I downloaded it and that’s how it all started. I began exploring the app and started creating designs.

I did a lot of volunteer designing as an opportunity to polish my creative skills. I left school and did the NYSC program. I finished serving in February 2020, and COVID happened in the middle of that year. 

During that time, I was thinking of how to now put to good use the skill I had. I could feel the pressure from family and friends indirectly. I was jobless and the majority of people we graduated together were getting jobs and doing stuff. My mum was bothered. I knew that I just couldn’t stay without doing anything. So I slowly started putting the pieces together, honed my graphic design skill, and started social media management.

How did you get the idea to turn your graphic design skills into an online business?

Even though I was just volunteering in school, I had people who I did some designs for and charged them a ridiculous amount of money – 500 – 1,000 Naira. This money meant a lot at that time (lol).

After my NYSC program, I decided to take design seriously.  At this time I had discovered the Canva App and was also using Photoshop. 

I had a picture of how I wanted my life to be, and the kind of influence I wanted to be. Since I was in University, I have always referred to myself as the World’s Most Influential Woman. I remember specific words God told me. But the World’s Most Influential Woman cannot just sit down without being productive or resourceful. Can she? 

Although I was charging ridiculous amounts at the time, I didn’t envision myself as one who would constantly charge 1,000 Naira or 500 Naira for designs, so I had to fine-tune my skill and step up my game. And that started right after my NYSC. I never stopped learning. 

During COVID, I started scouting for other jobs I loved doing that I could pair with graphics design. Then I found Social Media Management. I started taking courses and started putting myself out there; talking to people. Shout out to the best teacher Thesocialmediaoga. 

Luckily for me, I was surrounded by people who were willing to help me discover myself. It was during that time I started “The Media Answer”- It was birthed from something God told me. God told me that I was going to be an answer in my world, so I took that and applied it to my business.

How did you get into creating digital products and the creator economy?

I just felt like I understood and enjoyed designing. So one day, the idea just popped into my head to sell to people who didn’t know or understand design and help them make money from designing. More like a side hustle. And I did. 

After that, I started creating more courses, especially “Canva for Business”. This time around my designs were better, I mastered Canva so well that oftentimes people tend to doubt that it was Canva that I used to design. I am a BADASS at using CANVA, ask anywhere. 

Also, I had to polish my English. It wasn’t easy oo (lol). I had to learn how to speak better so that I could communicate better, plus I am a very funny person, so I bring humor into my courses. I had to play around so that it wouldn’t be boring. I had to learn how to do that. I don’t like to talk for too long, I get tired. I just had to learn especially when the courses were in modules and required that I speak for about 50 minutes. I also had to learn how to take breaks. No pressure. 

What was your first digital product?

My first digital product was when I created a course teaching how to design with Logopit and priced it at 2,000 Naira

Do you have other career ambitions or would you like to focus on Graphics Design?

I want to focus on graphic design and social media management. Graphic designing is more than what I’m doing now and I want to go deeper. I am currently learning UI/UX design. Designing is something I enjoy and I want to further my career in this particular industry.

How can creators harness their design creativity? 

First of all, highlight your creative part. You need to be able to clearly identify it. Some people are creative in certain things but not everything.

After identifying it, polish it, get better at it, and start putting yourself out there. Nobody can market your products or skills better than you, so make sure you scream about them. I remember how I got my first gig as a social media manager. I was not perfect, but I knew what I was doing and that was enough. I also knew that I could get better on the job. So I started putting it on my status. 

The first person I worked with was Legendary Smile. When he put up the job vacancy, I said that I could do it, and he said I should send my portfolio. That was how I got the job. 

Another thing is to volunteer a lot. People want to see your work, whether paid or free, and they want to know that you have done something with this skill that you claim to have. They don’t want you to use them for rehearsals. Use your skill so you have something to showcase. Just like a job, they ask for experience. 

Immediately I started my course with Bolaji, I started by managing my own page (the media answer), my church account then clients’ accounts. Your skill is not just enough, you need experience.

If I’m being honest, no one has really asked me about my certificate. They’re Interested in my skills; what can I show them? What value can I bring to them?

Lastly, make noise. Scream about what you do. Tell your friends, tell your family, and tell everyone you can tell. Thank God for social media, you can post on your WhatsApp status.

People will not come knocking at your door asking you what you do, you have to be the one who would put it in their faces and let them know about your services, and they in turn come for you.

When did you earn your first money from digital products?

I think it was early 2020. I know quite a number of people bought it, but I can’t remember the exact money I made in total.  But now, I have a course currently selling “Canva for business” and I’ve made over 500k from this particular course. 

What are your major struggles being a Designer? 

The struggle is what every business owner/Creative faces. One of them is the expectation of your client. I have worked with confused people in my life, and I can tell you, it’s hard. (laughs). Some of them don’t know what they want and just expect you to do magic. Generally, the challenge is with clients and not the tools I work with. 

Everyone says Canva is the first stage of designing, but you seem to have made it a huge deal. So can you replicate designs done on other design platforms with Canva? 

I use both Photoshop and Canva. When I have something very complicated to do and Canva does not have it, I go to Photoshop and do it, and then bring it back to Canva.

We see you do a lot of collaborations with other social media managers. So how do you reach out to these people to get them on board? 

Most times I don’t just reach out for IG live like that. When I started, I tried to build relationships first, engage with their pages honestly, and all that. 

I think I have had two live sessions with my fellow Indian colleagues by just engaging with their comments. So there was a relationship in their DMS already. I wasn’t just sending messages for the first time. I tried to create a relationship with them first before I presented my aim. I bring it to you in such a way that you find it valuable to yourself too. 

Most times, I try to throw suggestions to them and let them speak on how it is beneficial to their audience and mine. Now, I get a lot of invitations instead of the other way around. Most of the collaborations I do are with my friends – people who I have good relationships with and not people I am trying to build relationships with. 

For example Mariam(the social fairy). She is my friend. So, it is easier for me to talk her into a live session. The last IG Live I had, I think, was with intangible nuggets about copyrights as a designer. I put up a post about it and she made a very fantastic comment. Then she sent me an invitation for an IG Live session. I felt it was going to be beneficial to me and my audience, so I went with it. 

How can creators leverage collaborations?

There are different ways to leverage it. To a large extent, the big deal about collaboration is that it helps you grow faster. 

There’s this quote that says “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”. So collaboration helps people see you. 

But, it’s not just about collaboration, you need to put yourself together and have so much value to offer. 

The truth is that if you are collaborating and saying rubbish, nobody will follow you or even look at you even if they are your audience. If you are collaborating in a post or live session, people can see and tell that you know what you are saying or doing.

Next, it is not about exposing yourself to a new audience, the question also is, are they your audience? Are those the people that your content will serve? If it will not serve them, they will eventually leave. You can be talking sense but if it’s not making sense to them they won’t catch it because it’s not for them. The bottom line is, be so good that you become irresistible when you show up. And don’t just show up, show up where you are needed. 

What is your sales strategy that other digital creators can employ for their digital product?

When I want to sell a digital product I ask questions and do my findings because I am not there yet. There is more to sales than pricing. When to launch, how to launch, email marketing, and all that. 

As I said, I am not there yet. I am still trying to understand sales well, but then I have friends around me who are doing better. When I want to sell a digital product, I ask them for help. 

So ask lots of questions if you don’t know and get your pricing right. And you can only get your pricing right when you yourself understand the value of what you have created. 

There are ways you come about your pricing: the amount of time you put in, the quality of what you are giving, platforms being used, charges, etc 

What’s one lesson you’ve learned from your years of experience as a Canva Boss Babe?

People will only pay you what you ask for. They might know your value, but it is what you ask most times that they give to you. The more reason for you to get your pricing right. Most importantly, understand your worth and value your time. When you value your time, people will naturally value your time too. Also, build relationships and place value on them. It will open doors. 

Aside from showing us what being a badass social media manager and graphic designer looks like, what else do you do? 

I love cooking and I film my cooking videos. I enjoy being creative with my cooking and I love my kitchen, but it is my WhatsApp people that enjoy the view the most. However, I do some posting on my personal Instagram page.

What advice would you give to digital creators in Africa who are inspired by you?

It is what you offer clients that they pay you. It is not about what the design is worth. You see that design/content/project? It is a product of your time and creativity. You need to place value on your time and creativity. If you don’t give them your best price, they will underpay you even though they know it is worth more. 

Having a skill is not enough, because the world is evolving. The skill/creative nature you think you have might just become outdated tomorrow. You should know how to fine-tune your skills to fit times and seasons. Keep evolving. 

Also, one of the things I did was surround myself with people who saw my skills and potential. I had to be sure that I wasn’t the only one seeing these things. Hearing the hard truth was what I needed. 

Surround yourself with positive people. Those who can encourage you and bring out the best in you. Words are so powerful, they can break or make you. You need sincere people who can also tell you when you are getting it all wrong in love. 

Some days I don’t feel like designing, I don’t feel like doing anything at all, and sometimes I just get tired, but then I have people who constantly tell me “Ola you can do this” “Ola you are lazing around” 

Finally, put in the work. When I discovered how to use Canva, I stayed up all night quite a number of times trying to explore it and recreate designs. It’s paying off. What you learn from a course isn’t enough, think outside the box, and look for ways to bring your uniqueness into that skill. The world awaits your manifestation. 

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