Today we’d like to introduce you to Adunola Adeshola.
Adunola, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As a Nigerian-American, you’re taught that you can only be four things if you want to be successful: a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, or an engineer. I wanted to be a doctor until I was eight.
Strong-willed and hell-bent, I knew since my sophomore year of high school that public relations was the route I wanted to take in my career. Imagine the looks on my parent’s faces.
Three days after graduating from college, I landed a role as a global PR firm. I started in the Global Chairman’s office, worked my way into the business development department, and eventually shifted to media relations, supporting clients in industries like oil and gas, healthcare and consumer goods. My firm worked with major companies like Target, Chick-fil-A, Dolby, and Deloitte, and had offices all over the world from Paris to New York, London to D.C., Beijing to Los Angeles.
On the surface, I looked like I was living the dream, with endless potential to grow and become everything I wanted to be in my career. But the more time elapsed, the more I realized my reality was quite different. After getting passed over for promotion twice, crying on the way to work more times than I can remember, and watching my career take a toll on my life, I decided to stop waiting for someone else to fix my career. I made the decision to fix it myself and landed a new role that matched the increase in responsibilities and challenges I was looking for in my career all the while.
But, while I was able to say sayonara, I realized so many of my colleagues, peers, and friends wanted to do the same but didn’t know how to successfully transition into a new position at a better company, without taking a step backwards or making unnecessary mistakes. And, that’s how my business, employeeREDEFINED, was born.
Since starting employeeREDEFINED, I’ve helped my clients in a variety of industries secure their dream jobs in 90 days or less, and my expertise has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, The Muse and other publications. As a regular Forbes contributor, my career column has been read more than 120,000 times, and I love being able to help young professionals make the changes they want to see in their careers.
Has it been a smooth road?
When is the road ever smooth? For starters, landing your dream job, realizing it’s not actually the dream, and deciding to risk it all in hopes that the next thing is better, was not the beautiful, relaxing walk to the promised land I would’ve loved.
It would be nice to say that I was fearless throughout that journey. But, I was not. I don’t believe that it’s possible to be fearless. But I do believe it’s possible to fear less, and to believe in yourself – and your ability to figure it out, more. And, that’s what I did.
Next on that bumpy road was deciding to start my business. Starting my business was the craziest thing I’ve ever done. It has challenged me, molded me, and tested me in more ways than I thought possible. And, it continues to do so. When I first started, I knew how to help others kill it in their careers, but business was a different beast I had to tackle. But, I didn’t let fear stop me from figuring it out. I trusted myself, invested in myself and learned everything I could to progress quickly, and I’ll continue to always be a student.
And, that’s my advice to women who want to make a change in their career. Whether you want to pivot into a new position at a better company or start your own business: trust yourself, invest in yourself and learn everything you can to progress quickly.
I wasted a lot of months thinking that I had to know every single thing before I made the leap, especially when starting my business, and I wish I didn’t. I wish I trusted myself more and knew how relentless I truly am. You learn as you grow, and often you don’t know what you need to learn until you go. So, move. And, don’t let a little bit of success at work or in your business stop you from continuously putting in the work it took you to get there.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with employeeREDEFINED – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I help high-achieving young professionals take their careers to the next level and secure the positions they’ve been chasing in 90 days or less. I’ve helped my clients land senior roles in their industries, secure $14K salary increases, pivot to new industries without cuts in salary, and relocate to new cities with a job offer in hand.
While it’s so rewarding to support my clients through these changes, I’m most proud of the confidence that radiates from my clients when they realize that they are deserving of the things they want. Watching them start to see themselves in ways they never thought possible, seeing them no longer second guess themselves and what they bring to the table, that brings me joy.
My business, employeeREDEFINED, was birth from my personal challenges and struggles. I don’t just help my clients get to where they want to go, I’ve been where they are and know exactly how they feel. I also like to give the whole enchilada. I’m not a fan of just one piece of the puzzle. I don’t believe in just fixing someone’s resume, or just spicing up their LinkedIn, or simply prepping them for one interview. You need the whole puzzle to successfully take your career to the next level. You need clarity. You need to overcome mindset blocks. You need to know how to market yourself as an asset to your next company, on paper and in-person, plus so much more. And, I walk my clients through each step. And, thanks to my background in storytelling and PR, I know how to help my clients craft the best versions of their career journey in a way that makes hiring managers want to hire them. Those are some of the qualities that set my business apart.
Were there people and/or experiences you had in your childhood that you feel laid the foundation for your success?
Oh, yes! Growing up, my mom always told me that I needed to be a millionaire by 21.
That’s just a sample of the type of reasonable, no big deal, expectations that come with growing up in a Nigerian home. It was a lofty, and seemingly crazy, goal. Yet, it taught me that anything is possible and that I don’t have to wait until something, whether that be a certain age or whatever else, to achieve something.
My mom constantly instilled in me that to make an impact and to achieve success, I need to solve a problem. Growing up, I never knew what problem she thought I could solve, but when life finally presented the opportunity, I jumped on it without looking back.
Watching my mom go from financially struggling to owning a business with four different locations in Houston also taught me a much-needed lesson in consistency and persistence that I apply to my life today. I had a crash course on the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship as a child, and I honestly never thought that I would take this path. I wanted to be a powerhouse executive at a thriving, cool PR agency. But life has a funny way of preparing you for things you’ll later encounter, and my childhood definitely did that for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.employeeredefined.com
- Email: adunola@employeeredefined.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/thenewemployees/
- Other: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adunolaadeshola
Image Credit:
Tiffany Couture Photography
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