We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Leslie Aghoghovbia. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Leslie below.
Leslie , we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
Ohhhh mannnn! What a question!
I’ve been obsessed with the idea of confidence for the longest time. I never understood what exactly made people be, or appear to be, confident. I spent many years contemplating and chasing this ghost.
Was there something they knew that I didn’t? Maybe I’ll be confident if I’m the top student of my class. However, if someone smarter appears, should I no longer be confident?
Looks, money, likability, all of these ‘strengths’ share this comparative weakness.
I asked several confident-appearing people for advice but they didn’t have the answer I needed. At times I would find that I possessed more competence on a subject than they did, yet I lacked their confidence.
I turned to reading, therapy, counselling, coaching and much prayer in search of an answer and finally found one that suited me; it was much simpler than I expected.
Confidence is a choice. At any moment, there are just as many reasons to be confident as there are to not be. So choose to be confident and operate from this space. That’s it.
What has this looked like for me?
When I need help, I think to myself, “How does a confident person ask for help?”, and I act from that place.
How does a confident person, apologise when they made a mistake, or, respond when they are teased, or, answer questions when unprepared?
This way of thinking enables me to react powerfully in all of these cases, regardless of how I might be feeling. I offer it to anyone who has wrestled with confidence. I promise it is much more fun and effective than chasing a ghost.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Sure. I’m building something that will transform the way that Creators and Brands around the world work together.
The current way that they work together- Influencer Marketing- is this $21bn industry suffering from an incomplete and antiquated funnel.
Have you ever forgotten a promo code from one of your favourite content creators?
From the moment your Creator introduces you to a brand, to the moment you make the purchase at checkout, there are several moments where people lose their Creator’s codes.
What is the impact?
– Shoppers miss out on the best deals from your Creators
– Creators lose sales and fail to capture the full reward for the work they did for the Brand
I experienced the pain of the Creator. I lost 60 euros from someone downloading an app, through my recommendation, but forgetting to use my referral link.
I experienced the pain of the Shopper. I searched unsuccessfully for a discount codes at checkout and later remembered that my Creator had a $75 off discount after completing the purchase.
I looked for a solution but couldn’t find one. So I decided to make one.
Enter the Do Me a Solid Extension!
Our Extension works like a personal assistant for our Creator partners, it delivers their promo codes to their followers at the moments that they need them- especially at checkout. The result is:
– Shoppers never miss another deal from their Creators
– Creators recover lost sales and can show their impact on sales to their Brand partners
We’ve been running a pilot with a handful of our Creator partners and shoppers these past few months. Im excited to share that we will be launching our solution Q2 ending!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I feel like the first two years of building a startup are for character development. You learn how to be a person that can lead a team to make an idea a reality. No amount of book-reading or advice from other founders can fully prepare you for this. It is a path that all founders must walk.
But from what I hear, if you face it dutifully, you will always be successful- regardless of whether your startup succeeds or not. You will become a greater version of yourself.
That said, three pieces of advice that I can offer to founders that are just starting out are:
Stay humble- My stance is that I know nothing. I regularly call friends, and strangers on LinkedIn for advice (and book recommendations) on issues that I’m facing around leadership, tech, HR etc.
I believe that this stance has helped me to continually develop as a leader. It also has a neat bonus-it endears you to people.
When people see that you took their advice, or you read their book recommendations, they become more invested in you and your success. Some of these people sometimes become members of your team later on- some did in my case.
Play to your strengths- “What is the most important skill for a founder to possess?”. The most common response I get from highly successful founders is this: “Whatever the founder is talented at.”
Mine is planning. There are many things that my teammates might complain about, but having clarity on where we are going is never one. I’ve learned to really embrace my strength and use it as a competitive advantage. As I build my team, I try to identify people that are talented in the areas where I am weak so that we are well-rounded as a team.
Be in action- If planning takes 10 hours, spend 10 hours planning and then get back to action. Additional hours spent planning will not benefit you.
Remember that you’ve never done this before. You can’t plan your way to success.
It is by being in action and iterating that you figure things out
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
The book E-myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber is one that every founder should read 1-year into building their business. After reading almost every single mistake you’ve made documented in the first few chapters, your pride vanishes and your mind fully opens up to learning.
The biggest nugget I discovered was that the job of a Founder is: to build the system and sell the vision.
Every business is a system. The founder must understand theirs and recruit the best resources to produce the best output consistently.
You need to sell the Vision to your team, employees, customers and investors. Importantly, this Vision must be centred in their world. People are the main characters in their world and so you must take the time to see how your success will bring them success. The book shows you how to do both of these things effectively.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.domeasolid.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/domeasolid_/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DoMeASolid_
