Here are just a few recent testimonials from individuals that have benefitted from being part of the career nuggets community.
When I joined the career nuggets mentorship programme a lot changed in my career – I understood the power of networking and leveraged on that, I was challenged to be more confident and determined in achieving my goals. I have met some fantastic people through Career Nuggets. In the programme, i have had the opportunity to listen to other mentors, role play, volunteer, network and eat! These have helped me in addition to my faith get me where I am in my career. Within 4 years (2 of which I was on maternity) I have earned £15k more than I did 4 years ago and that’s just to put a bit of perspective to the growth I have seen working with Morenike and Career Nuggets team.
Following a demerger and team restructure, my role was made redundant in March 2020. I was given 3 months’ notice (later extended to 5 months due to COVID). She was a source of counselling – reminding me that it was a blessing in disguise and an opportunity to move from middle to senior management. This is something I had considered previously but put on hold for personal reasons. The first thing she did was review my CV and encourage me to apply for senior roles.
I am pleased to say that with their encouragement and intensive coaching, I have moved from a Financial Performance Manager to a Head of Finance. I cannot recommend Career Nuggets enough.
I started my journey with Career Nuggets and Mrs Morenike Ajayi in January 2020. At the time I was about to finish my current assignment as a contractor, and I was unsure of what my next steps should be. I was feeling quite disillusioned, lack confidence and was unsure if I had anything of value to bring to the table.
The sessions with Mrs Ajayi and the mentors were a great source of insight to me and I came away from the sessions empowered and ready to take action. A mixture of knowledge gleaned from the sessions and the constant encouragement and support from Mrs Ajayi put me in good stead to not just secure my next role but also increase confidence. I admit there were times when I felt discouraged and wanted to give up, but then an unexpected call from Mrs Ajayi would come in to give me a much-needed boost. Even after securing a role, Mrs Ajayi has kept in touch with me and follows up regularly.
I have found Career Nuggets an invaluable networking resource, a great source of encouragement and an amazing family to be a part of.
Morenike came into my life when she joined my previous organisation as my Line manager and this was a divine appointment. I had been in the same role for 10 years with no promotion and minimal progress.
Morenike swiftly identified and suggested that I need a paradigm shift in my career.
I enrolled on the Career Nuggets mentoring programme in June last year where I was exposed to leadership skills, networking and confidence building.
I had my first job interview within 3 months. In less than eight weeks later I was offered a new job as Financial Controller for a similar organisation.
Career Nuggets continues to make a profound impact on my professional development and I sincerely appreciate the difference this has made in my life.
I’m blessed to be part of this noble platform where we share ideas and empower
each other.
And finally ‘long live Career Nuggets and it’s legacy’
My journey with Career Nuggets started in 2015 as I used to watch Career Nuggets on OHTV.
I mentioned the programme to a colleague, who mentioned we could arrange a lunch meeting as Morenike as at that time worked up the Road from us. I smiled and declined, NO WAY she can’t be that approachable, a TV Star, as that’s how I saw her. I didn’t go for lunch. My mental barrier.
Fast forward to 2018, I saw Morenike on the train and introduced myself, appreciated her for the impactive work of Career Nuggets and guess what ! she gave me her number … !I’m like I have got Morenike Ajayi Number … Waoh !
From then on I have been linked to Carrere Nuggets more than my wildest imagination. From Charity balls, to film reviews to even prayer meetings. I was part of one of the mentoring groups in 2020: Awesome experience. Kudos to all the mentors and mentees for making it a fun, exciting and truly rewarding programme. Although all online- it was worth every minute of it. Just to mention a few, I loved the nuggets on the elevator speech, recording achievements regularly and being intentional with our career move.
Thank you Morenike, for being approachable, forthright and so down to earth. I admire your tenacity, focus and inner strength. Thanks for all the frank advice and I believe you and Career Nuggets will continue to grow from strength to strength by the Grace of God
I have always known from my training days as Trainee Accountant that I wasn’t going to be a Financial or Management Accountant. I found and embraced Finance systems and ERP during my training and I developed my career in the field as a Systems Accountant. 15 years in the field, I was made redundant and moving into the next job became difficult. The truth is; I have never really been in a position where I am desperately job hunting so I lacked CV writing skills.
I was introduced to Mrs Morenike Ajayi of Career Nuggets in month six post redundancy by my aunt. We had a few career sessions over the phone and she assisted in re-writing my CV. The moment my CV was redone it felt like a magic dust was sprinkled on it, I started getting calls through and booking interviews. She conducted mock interviews with me and assured me that my job was on the way. Finally in August after 10 months of waiting on the next assignment, I got offered the role of Finance Systems Delivery Manager with a data analytics company and another offer of a Trust strategic lead in the pipeline.
Thanks to the relentless support offered to me by Career nuggets through Mrs Morenike Ajayi. I am passing the support on to others.
I came in contact with Mrs. Morenike Ajayi when I interviewed her for a Charity organisation I support.
No matter the career path you are in she has key nuggets that can help shape up the path of where you are to where you need to be.
I had some issues at work with progression. Initially I thought it was down to me, so contacted her via a friend and wanted to find out what her charges are. But to my surprise, she told my friend to ask me to call her direct and have a chat first.
I called her and told her what I was facing, she asked me to send in any feedback I got from people I work with and also my CV and fix a date and time to speak to me after.
I called and the first thing she pointed out what the fact that I was doing a great job but should consider either moving departments or searching externally. She advised me to speak up at work and email those that matter regarding what I want. I followed through and had chat with one of my Programme Managers and she agreed to be a mentor and also assign a competent Project Manager for me to shadow and work as a PM
This won’t have happen without the talk and encouragement from Morenike.
Already got next stages planned out with her and I will definitely recommend her service to anyone that wants to break the barriers in their chosen career.
I found about Career Nuggets through a family friend of mine (Mr Wale Tikare) and I was introduced to Mrs Ajayi. She was ever so lovely to me and she really wanted to help me find a career that was right for me. I had an idea of what I wanted to do but I wasn’t 100% sure.
She told me about her experiences and all the hurdles that she faced whilst going higher up the ladder in her career and I was touched by what she said. From that, I knew that I wanted to focus on being actuary.
She introduced me to a qualified actuary within her workplace called Peter very helpful in telling me what to do to secure a job within the actuarial field as well as skills that I could attain which would help my personal development.
So then came the daunting task of trying to find a job. It was very difficult, and I was constantly getting rejected but I remember a crucial piece of advice from Mrs Ajayi which was never to give up. I am a man of faith so I believe Jesus will work wonders as long as you have faith in him and work hard.
So I kept going. Even when the pandemic hit and jobs that I applied for were withdrawn, I managed to secure an actuarial graduate scheme role at Aviva.
I am ever so thankful for Mrs Ajayi because she gave me essential and inspiring advice that kept me going, she really honed in and my strengths and told me where I need to improve in terms of my weaknesses and she introduced me to Peter who helped me in terms of understanding actuarial concepts which came up in my interview with Aviva and I was able to conquer them with ease.
I would 100% recommend Career Nuggets to anybody is feeling uncertain about their career choice or looking to do a career swap. The advice and network they have access to will make a huge difference in your life for the better!
I’m Rachel Eniayo Lawal and I’m the founder of REL Enterprise group, we focus on Discipleship, Deployment and Investments.
I am a 3-year qualified management accountant, currently working as a Finance business partner for a construction company, which I really enjoy as I’ve always been interested in this industry.
I met Morenike a couple years ago at a women’s conference and was encouraged by my sister to get acquainted. A year later she was brought to my attention (only God could really remind you of someone that you dismissed but will be instrumental to your journey). I haven’t regretted that decision since. I joined the 6 months Accelerate mentoring program which has such a blessing. I got to be with like- minded women on similar journeys to me and we also got access to a wealth of mentors that were all so willing and open with sharing their journeys in such an authentic and inspiring way.
Career nuggets is such a monumental networking group not just to aid moving ahead in your career as you’re able to gain vital nuggets (no pun intended), but also to network with a variety of individuals in so many different spheres of influence which is a key factor for me.
I’ve personally benefitted from being a part of career nuggets but also from Mrs. Morenike, she’s been instrumental in helping me navigate previous workplace difficulties, she’s helped me stay focused on my goals and more importantly she’s steadily reminded me of what I carry and to ensure I walk in it daily in my career.
Morenike came into my life when she joined my previous organisation as my Line manager and this was a divine appointment. I had been in the same role for 10 years with no promotion and minimal progress.
Morenike swiftly identified and suggested that I need a paradigm shift in my career.
I enrolled on the Career Nuggets mentoring programme in June last year where I was exposed to leadership skills, networking and confidence building.
I had my first job interview within 3 months. In less than eight weeks later I was offered a new job as Financial Controller for a similar organisation.
Career Nuggets continues to make a profound impact on my professional development and I sincerely appreciate the difference this has made in my life.
I’m blessed to be part of this noble platform where we share ideas and empower
each other.
And finally ‘long live Career Nuggets and it’s legacy’
I first met Morenike Ajayi whilst volunteering for a career nuggets event in Greenwich. I was amazed at the turn out of this event, as it was to help people find mentors in a variety of fields where every expertise was covered. I thought wow this is such an impactful event; little did I know this was the beginning of finding a God given destiny helper.
Throughout my time being involved with career nuggets there are true diamond nuggets you pick up along the way, one of which is surrounding yourself with likeminded people – your network id your network. I have been blessed to have great people in my life one of which is my sister Sarah who brought me into the CN fold! Once I was put into contact with Mrs. Morenike she was warm and accommodating she meant business. I joined her class which was a breath of fresh air, a true source of encouragement and inspiration. Even through her busy schedule she found the time to check up on me, pray with me and uplift me.
Fast-forward a few months, things were going well at work, she had coached me on how to get a raise and work life was good until it wasn’t. I was made redundant and I was shocked, scared, annoyed – flushed with so many feelings. When I told her, she said ‘ok what next, you need to start putting your cv back out there’. There was no time to delay in her eyes. She didn’t see it as a big deal, I was still caught up with the how could this happen to me? From that moment she was on my case, how many applications, any interviews, do you need interview prep, come to this event, try this and try that. Four/Five months had passed, still no job by this time I’m seriously losing hope, but she didn’t give up on me. Her approach was let’s try something different if there are no results here, we try another way. She made recommendations and the CN group was a great support network! Now in the eighth/Ninth month of unemployment and I was down and out especially as we were in the middle of a pandemic! Who gets a job in a pandemic where people are losing jobs? I did! Glory to God I got a job! All the interview prep sessions, prayers, motivational quotes, encouragement and auntie’s selfless propelled me into this wonderful position I have today.
I can honestly say joining career nuggets was one of the best decisions of my life!
: I felt stuck in my career as a Contractor before I met Mrs. Morenike Ajayi. I knew I wanted more and was made for more but couldn’t seem to able to move past being where I was. In 2020, through Accelerate Mentoring, a Career Nugget initiative where we met every two weeks I started to get clarity of vision and push to go for what I wanted. I started the mentoring at the beginning of the year and since then I have progressed my journey into Cyber Security. I sat for and passed my first cyber security exam in less than two weeks of preparation. I have other exams booked in October and November respectively. I expect to pass them. 😊
I like the fact that Morenike is not doing this alone, through her network and relationships, Career Nuggets and Accelerate Mentoring has a group of mentors in various fields who support and mentor people through different phases of their career irrespective of where they are. I personally I’m ever grateful to have been mentored by Funlola Shenowo who has become more than a mentor. I’m also grateful for Biola Ibidapo, she’s been a listening hear and great mentor on my journey as I transition into Cyber Security. There have been times I couldn’t go on, I was just unable to do the things I needed to do, but Funlola has helped me through those phases, she’s been patient and keeps nudging me forward. I honestly may have caved in and seen this as another failed project if I wasn’t accountable to someone. That’s what CN and Accelerate Mentoring has done for me.
I can’t fail to mention Ola Johnson, she’s been an inspiration to me in the area of business and investments.
I had two contracts rescinded due to Covid BUT! I also have testimonies of getting contracts I didn’t deserve and 1 without an interview even during the pandemic. The prayers, support and nuggets shared on the Accelerate Mentoring groups I got from played a big part in those testimonies. Through every phase of my being out of work, Morenike was supporting me.
Next Steps: I am in the process of transitioning into Information Security and Data Privacy. By the time this testimonial is being read, I will have a job offer in Information Security/ Data Privacy to start in January 2021. What I couldn’t do in 5 years on my own, I have been able to achieve in 1 year with Career Nuggets and Accelerate mentoring. I am grateful!
Personal Growth: CN has been a haven of knowledge and wisdom not just in career but also in business, finances, social relationships and general growth in life through the different topics discussed during the mentoring sessions and webinars. In the community, I see men and woman, especially woman of colour doing great things in and gives me hope that I can too.
In conclusion I am grateful for this community and if you haven’t joined us yet, you’re missing something great.
