The Power of Community

If you didn’t catch the replay of my Keynote speech for the Swish Fusion Conference in Lagos, Nigeria in July, you can find a clip of it here. While it was a truly powerful moment for me to be in Nigeria and feel the buzz of excitement at this event, what really struck me was watching the power of community in action. Most of us know that for any big undertaking, whether it’s building a business from the ground up, keeping up with your competitors, networking, building a client base or planning and executing visibility events, it truly takes a village. As a solopreneur, I’ve done so much of the heavy lifting on my own, but when I have the support of a team, I not only get more done, I feel a sense of purpose in executing on my plans. It feels like my dreams are even more successful than I imagined because others are helping me cross the finish line. 

And this is what I witnessed firsthand at the Swish Media and Tech Summit, where founder Theo Akhimie was supported by his brother, Paul Akhimie, Paul’s sons, Nathan and Lael and Theo’s sister, Zibi Anani. In addition, there were several members of the production team who were former high school classmates of Theo’s. Watching them all work together proved that not only are we stronger when we work together, but that those invested in our success will do all they can to ensure our dreams really do come true.