Yay it’s Wednesday and time for us to crush on all things woman. Our crush for the week is none other than the amazing and uber talented, Bidemi Zakariyau the Founder and Lead Consultant for LSF|PR
Meet Bidemi Zakariyau
Bidemi Zakariyau is the Founder & CEO of LSF|PR – A full service public relations consultancy in Lagos, Nigeria with core competencies in corporate communications, consumer and lifestyle brands.
Bidemi handles the day–to-day management of LSF|PR and currently leads her team in creating communications strategy for the consultancy’s clients. Her work reflects the international scope and breadth of the consultancy’s offering and has included advising clients on entry strategies into the Nigerian Market and ongoing corporate reputation building efforts.
In 2015 she was recognised as one of the leading female entrepreneurs under 25 in Nigeria by SME100 and in 2016 she was awarded The Future Awards Africa Prize for media enterprise.
Bidemi is member of the Nigerian Bar Association and sits on the board of Réle Art Gallery.
Our Exclusive Interview with Bidemi
IBG: Why do you do what you do?
BZ- My love and passion for my work. I started my business because I was at a point in my life where I had to choose to swim or sink and this was a decision I had to make very quickly. This prompted me to look within and figure out what I was passionate about which led to starting my company in 2012. I was 23 then and in law school. I honestly took a chance and I started very small and scaled immediately I was done with law school.
IBG- What motivates you?
BZ- This ties to my first answer of loving what I do. My work motivates me, I am excited everyday even in the most challenges and exhausting times, I still want to work and that’s because I love what I do.
IBG- How do you define success?
BZ- Success to me is constantly and consistently working towards achieving my own goals, setting new and challenging ones as I cancel out old ones. Success is not a destination. It’s a continuous, daily journey of small, big milestones, victories that reflect why I do this at all: impacting the lives of people.
IBG- What keeps you grounded?
BZ- Knowing my values and valuing them. Building a business is a lot of work, and focusing on the vision for the business can feel like a waste of time. A lot of times you are likely to be pulled in different directions, losing focus of your core values. It’s important to be guided by principles and operate by those principles.
IBG- What has been your biggest entrepreneurial challenge and how have you surmounted it?
BZ- I think when you run a business in this environment you face challenges everyday from infrastructure to building a truly functional team e.t.c. What I’ve learnt at every point is to find a solution, if I can’t find a solution, I find an alternative. I basically keep it moving at all times and make sure I focus on achieving the end goal.
IBG- What has been your biggest success till date?
BZ- The continuous growth of LSF, outside of LSF|PR which focuses on corporate communications and consumer brands, there’s now LSF|SME and LSF|Digital.
IBG- What advice would you give to entrepreneurs?
BZ- Hard work, consistency, disappointments. You can’t stop, you have to keep going even when you face challenges or fail. True success is not easy, it’s a journey filled with ups and downs and you have to be ready to go on that journey and come out victorious at all times.
Have a clear plan and execute to your very best.
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