Hey, pleased to meet you.
I’m Ola Okotie, a singing & music lovin’ Project Manager and Career Change Coach!
I help women who feel stuck/unfulfilled in their careers and want to transition into a career in technology even though they are currently non-techie.
I teach them how to articulate and leverage their strengths so they can feel more confident, pursue new tech career opportunities, and live aligned with their faith, gifts, and purpose.
My story is not different from yours
Although I graduated with a bachelors degree in Quantity Surveying, I was bored and unfulfilled and then I stumbled into a career in banking - managing customer relationships. This was fun until it was no longer fun, somewhere along the way I began to feel unfulfilled again but this time also stuck because I had gotten used to the income I received from my role and I certainly didn't want to start from the bottom again.
I stayed in my misery for a while, complaining about the long hours, the long commute and anything else I could think of until I decided the saying "Life is too short to stay stuck" definitely applied to me.
When I first decided to leave my “secure” banking job for the unknown, I got a lot of advice from my colleagues and friends saying it was a dumb move; I would lose my ranking in the organization and would find it difficult to start again; arriving in a foreign land was not any easier. Lots of bad advice like, just get any job, you need to feed, cleaning or care work will be your best bet.
I would like to say I ignored them all but no, I did not.
While I never did cleaning or care work (which are both noble professions if you have the passion for it ), I did take on the burger flipping circuit (while studying), didn’t last long there as I was so unhappy.
I stopped listening and decided to find my own way, understand what was available to me, understand what I could bring to the table and only take on roles that would in some way lead me in the path I wanted to go.
I resigned my job , got my self a masters degree and relocated but somehow was still stuck, this time in a different country working in a call centre part time.
That's when I stripped it all back, did the work to get aligned with my values , strengths and desire and intentionally started investing in myself and career.
I also understand the fears, the self-doubt and the challenges we often go through. Some of these challenges stem from the environments we were brought up in and some have kind of grown on us from the years of rejection and low self-esteem. Regardless of where they come from, I believe we are the CEO of our own lives and can change if we want to.
I don’t believe any one should limit themselves. We owe it to ourselves to create a life with choices and create the balance of work, family and play we desire.
Although it still feels like yesterday, I took the plunge into tech 10years ago. I, the totally non-techie person became an IT project manager.
And I've been inspiring go-getters since 2017. I help my clients make the transition into tech as non-techies. I've worked with women from different industries including call centre & retail workers to start careers in business analysis, testing and project manager .
Think you could be next? Yep, I do, too
There are many opportunities in the world today, the roles are changing, the businesses are changing due to digital technologies. I firmly believe now more than ever women of colour can have it all.
Women are full of potential and capable of becoming all they were created to be. You just need the will and the know-how to push past the barriers.
-Olaniran
I started many failed side businesses and have gone through some jobs that I clearly had no business doing, I was terrible at them. I have however, mastered the art of assessment, assessing where I am against where I want to be. I am now used to being able to stop what’s not working, leave it all behind and start again. I learnt how to take the experiences of the past and channel them into useful skills I could use for my future.
Why this website?
I started 247girlboss.com with a passion to help women create the type of careers they want. I recognize that sometimes we just don’t know where or how to start and need practical steps to the path we desire.
My main goal is to help women become accountable, create the life and career they want and build real wealth by cutting through the fluff and providing practical help and strategies.