MyTechStory: Meet Moses, A Brand Specialist.

July 21, 2022

My Tech Story

Moses Okasi Gideon

Currently, I work as a Brand Specialist for a cross-border software company. Their headquarters is here in Nigeria, and I also freelance.

Could you tell us more about your job role?

As a Brand Specialist, I manage the brand representation of the company’s brand and product brand. I supervise a team of both designers and content experts offering them marketing insights, brand strategies, and creative direction. I also manage and review project deadlines.

Why have you chosen this role?

Branding is about differentiation and design is my passion. Working as a brand specialist puts me in a position to use design to shape product outlook, business brand presence, and design frameworks that empower companies and individuals to be truly different in a competitive ecosystem and industry.

How long have you been working in your job role?

For the current company I work for, it’s two months so far. But by experience, it’s five years.

How did you get your tech role?

I started my journey in tech in 2017. I was part of the digital media team in my church. I also did graphic design for both my church and friends then I got hired to offer my skills on a commercial level for an IT startup.

What is a typical workday in your life like? (Kindly explain like you’re explaining to a 6yr old 😁)

My current company adopts a hybrid working system.

On days when I am working from home, I woke up by 5:30 AM and exercise, brush and bathe, and eat. This should take about two to three hours max. Work starts by 9 AM, so I have some time to either scribble on my sketch pad, write, read or go through what I need to do for the day. At 9 AM I log in to Slack if there’s any message from my supervisor for me. Next, I log in to Notion to assign tasks to either the content or design team or both.

On days when I am working from the office, I wake up by 5 AM and go through my routine. It takes me about an hour and a few minutes to commute from home to the office. I live in Lagos, so I try to leave as early as 7:30 AM. At the office, I go through my normal task and schedule meetings with either the design and content team to review tasks from the previous day or give a new direction.

Challenges come with every role. What are yours and how are you facing them?

Communication is the biggest challenge in my line of work. This is common with interns and new employees. It takes them time to get familiar with the system of communication in place. The second biggest is time management, so the first thing I do is help my teammates to become familiar with certain frameworks that if implemented have the potential to help spot potential blockers and communicate on time.

I am obsessed with frameworks, they make challenges easier to work through. Apart from new challenges (which in my line of work come almost often) I have frameworks in place down to having difficult conversations with teammates.

What do you think would make you perform better at what you do? (You never know who’s reading 😉)

I am huge on personal development and continuous learning. It’s how I stay creative and in tune with my industry.

Africa is an emerging market, and because of this, there are not a lot of quality resources and resourceful people in the branding and design space. I know this will change, but for now, access to quality resources and resourceful people is priceless.

What golden secret can you tell someone trying to get into a similar role as yours to help them succeed?

Start now, from where you are and with what you have.

People come to my DM asking for advice or mentorship. About 80% don’t know where or how to start their journey in tech or design. And I could say amongst the 80%, about 50-60% of people want to get it right at the first trial. I see fear and unnecessary pressure here. So, start now, from where you are and with what you have.

Not to sound like that annoying interviewer at the recruitment table, but… Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In my industry, 5 years is not a long time because things are changing at the pace of the blink of an eye.

5 years added to my current experience is a decade worth of experience. So, I should have started a marketing and design agency.

It is said that people in tech work ‘haaarrrddd!’ (Some have even said they are boring. Walls have ears);🤐 How true?

I have also heard people say tech is soft work. Tech people are just pressing computers all day and getting paid to press computers.

It is not true at all.

Tech is as hard as any other job you can think of.

What you do for fun. Please tell us how you unwind?

So, I am the kind of guy who is available and not available if you know what that means.

There are layers of different things I do for fun. Top of all, I find attending conferences and interviewing people who have achieved some level of success not just fun but exciting. I am alive doing this.

What impact has More Techies had on you and your role?

More Techies has given me a platform to share my experience with others and it has been super amazing so far. For impact on my role, not yet but I look forward to this.