Meet Seyi Akogun

We recently connected with Seyi Akogun and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Seyi, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

Identity, identity, identity! This is one of my favorite topics to discuss. My journey of developing my confidence and self-esteem is a continuous one dating as far back as primary school through navigating the complexities of being a teenager, college days, and now adulthood. One thing that has kept me rooted and growing is getting back to original design. As I have grown, I realized that the One who made me is the One who gets to define me and that has made all the difference.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m a very multi-dimensional woman, and I wear many hats. I did a lot of reflection in the season before I turned 30 and this gave me clarity of the various expressions I’m currently pursuing

Wedding Photography – My journey to documenting memories is something that has always been deeply embedded in me. Growing up, I was always the one who was capturing the most random memories with family & friends, and you can count on me to have pictures from high school & long forgotten seasons (all my friends watch out lol) because of how much I treasure these memories. This love for encapsulating these treasured times led me to kick-start my photography business called Jars X Clay Photography.

Starting my photography business in the heat of the pandemic opened so many doors and allowed me to step into rooms I never thought I would be in. In recent times, and after experimenting with various forms of photography, I have niched down into wedding photography. There is something so beautiful about love that bottles so much joy in me. I love serving couples on their special day and walking through the beautiful & unexpected moments.

I’m also very keen about building communities. I’ve personally experienced the effects of positive community in my own life, and it’s something I am an advocate for. God has blessed me with a large heart that loves to see people thrive and develop connections that bring about a multiplier effect on the individuals. An interesting me about me is that as much as I love people, I thoroughly enjoy my own space and need a lot of time to recalibrate, so I have seasons of high performance and seasons of high recovery.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Authenticity, Courage, Growth-Mindset

Authenticity: One of my favourite quotes is “be yourself, everyone else is already taken”. There’s something so refreshing about believing in your own unique individuality and identity and allowing that to spill over into every area of your life. I’ve observed that a lot of people who make the most progress are those who are not afraid to be their authentic selves. Like I mentioned earlier, which would probably be a common thread in this interview. Each one of us has been uniquely crafted for a divine purpose, so there’s no need to be a cookie-cutter version of someone else.

Courage: It takes a lot of courage to venture into uncharted territory, but I’ve also come to realize that most of the growth happens when you take bold steps to step out of your comfort zone. There’s nothing that develops without going through some level of discomfort, so don’t be afraid. I believe one of the reasons people are afraid to step out is that they are afraid to fail. Another quote I’ve been running with is – “use failure as information, not identity”. The fact that you’ve failed at something means you’re trying, and it adds to your armour box about what works and what doesn’t work.

Growth – Mindset: Never stop learning! To be fully transparent, there was a season in my life- after grad school where I got comfortable with what I already knew, I felt that the burden of learning was justn to cumbersome and wasn’t putting in effort to keep my senses refreshed, gladly I’ve grown out of that mindset now and I’m being more intentional about learning every day. If you stop learning you stop growing, and if you’re not growing, you’re probably decaying and nobody wants that.

In summary, if you’re just starting on this journey in whatever field you find yourself, be yourself, take that bold step and never stop learning.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren

This is a no-brainer and is a top-of-mind recommendation for every human on earth. I read this book when I was about 19, and it has been a literal game-changer for me. It helped me to realize that I am not here by chance and allowed me to be more intentional in my decisions. A valuable nugget from the book is that life is a test, a trust, and an assignment, so I’m conscious of how the decisions I make hold up in that light.

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Image Credits

Image Credits: Picture sitting down on a chair

Instagram: @uncleth14

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