Precious Greg: Invest in your growth
There is more to Precious for she has the Midas touch in Copywriting. Over the years, she has worked with different brands across 7 countries and over 12 industries. When it comes to Brand messaging and everything Copywriting, Precious is your go-to person.
It was a time well-spent with Precious as she got to open up about her work, interests, role models and more with Omote Ro Dhe. She talked at length with wise and deep words based on experience, expertise and knowledge garnered over the years.
Read excerpts from this 'explosive' interview:
It is obvious you are passionate about your work, what do you enjoy about Brand Copywriting, Marketing and Storytelling?
Well, the fact is, I've always loved storytelling. As a child, I started telling stories to my friends and neighbours that left them spellbound, hanging on every word that spilled from my mouth. Every day, they'd all gather in one place waiting for me to come and fire up their imaginations with more stories.
Doing this just made me see the power of influence and persuasion play out in real-time and how it made me feel? So powerful!. I also loved writing; I wrote poems, stories, articles, and anything you could think of. I love that my thoughts and imagination could take flight on the wings of creativity and I considered it pure bliss.
Then in 2020, I discovered Copywriting during the lockdown and I went for it and ever since I've never regretted it, even though it would get pretty tough, especially in my first year but it's easily one of the best things that have happened to me. Plus, it gets even more exciting infusing storytelling into what I do as a Copywriter.
So, my love for storytelling, branding, etc has made me niche down to Brand Copywriting which is easily the combination of Direct Response Copywriting and Brand positioning. So what I enjoy about Brand Copywriting, Marketing and Storytelling is the influence I command with these skills. The ability to influence the actions of other people, what we call 'Persuasion'. The ability to keep people reading or listening to you and this can be applied in not just written but verbal communication.
You have graced platforms as a Public Speaker to educate people about your craft. What is the hardest part of Public speaking and how did you get over it?
Speaking in public hasn't always been this seamless for me. I remember back in Secondary school, I'd rather die multiple times than stand in public to speak. The funny thing is, I would know exactly what to say and how to say it but saying it in front of people was a terrible war. Then, my friends would commend me on how well I knew how to influence people with words, I knew what to say and how to say it. I did this effectively when having private conversations with people.
So, I'd say the hardest part of public speaking for me is the 'public' not the speaking because I've always loved to talk as much as I love to write. I knew I had to work on this because I have always envisioned myself speaking on global platforms and making a great impact and effective public speaking was an important skill I needed to have to make this possible, so I joined the Literary and Debating Society in my first year in senior secondary school.
The first time I tried debating, I literally wished the ground would just open up and swallow me. I fumbled so badly that I was embarrassed to come to school the next day. But one thing I'm glad I didn't do was to give up until I was eloquently casting news to the entire school as the Secretary of the Literary and Debating Society, I was also elected the Library Prefect and as a result of the roles I held, I was always addressing the entire school at least once a week. I did it so effectively and became one of the best orators in my school. Even in the University, I became a spoken word artist and on several occasions did spoken word presentations in school in gatherings of thousands of students. So, I'd say I overcame my fear of public speaking by challenging myself to do what I feared the most. I would always engage in activities that demanded public speaking, and I pushed myself to always speak in public.
I was consistently doing this to build myself and the rest they say is history. And something else about public speaking is, no matter how much you've mastered public speaking and how experienced you've become every time you're about to speak to a different audience, there would always be this sort of anxiety but it just disappears the moment you pick up that microphone and start speaking, that should prove to you how much of an illusion fear really is.
It is commendable that you graduated with a 2:1 in Educational Management from the University of Benin. Would you say you are applying what you studied in your current job role?
Yes, I graduated with a 4.40+ in Educational Management from the University of Benin. Although I never imagined studying that course, that wasn't the course I intended to study but God knew what he had prepared for me. And aside from the Marketing and Communications industry, there's so much I want to do in the Education sector, especially in Digital Learning. So to your question, most certainly, I've been able to apply some of the knowledge I gained from Educational Management to my work in the Marketing industry. One of the knowledge I gained from studying Educational Management is Research and Statistics, as Educational Managers, we're taught how to conduct research in the sector and measure results, ascertain the feasibility of projects, etc.
I've been able to utilize this knowledge in Marketing and Copywriting which also involves conducting Market research to understand your target audience before selling to them. Also, one of the key things we learned as Educational Managers is Human Psychology, understanding learners' psychology, why they behave the way they do, what makes them tick etc.
Marketing is also largely dependent on understanding human psychology, it's been quite interesting applying this knowledge to my current field. Lastly, for now, I've also been able to apply the knowledge of School Business Management (which is basically Business Management) into my craft. The knowledge from this has helped me take my skill as a business.
One thing I always tell skilled people is this: "Always treat your skill as a serious business, it's not a hobby. Learn how to manage your skill or what you do as you would if you had a company, that's only when you'd see the results you seek."
Can you mention some women who you look up to that has helped shaped your life and decisions?
Mo Abudu, she's one woman I greatly admire, I love her tenacity and how much work she puts into what she does to be where she is today. Another woman I love so much is Ibukun Awosika, I admire her for so many reasons one of which is her love for God and impact. I also love TriciaBiz, she's my superwoman in the marketing industry.
Some other inspiring women are Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Chimamanda Adichie, Joke Silva and so on. There's a lot of them actually but I'll just stop here. Actually, I see a reflection of a part of my future self in all these women. There's something they're doing that I want to do and so much more.
What keeps you motivated on those days your drive is low?
For me, giving up is not an option no matter what happens because it is certain I have absolutely nothing to gain when I do but if I keep going no matter how tough the going gets, there's a 100% per cent chance of gaining something even if it's not exactly what I was chasing after.
There's a quote by Norman Vincent that says "Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll land among the stars". I love that quote so much and I can say it's my mantra. Just be ruggedly ambitious, I always tell people 'Don't be modest with your dreams,' there's no reward for the most modest ambition and to crown it all, be rugged in your actions while chasing after your dreams even if you don't get exactly what you want, trust me, you'll achieve a lot that you'd be grateful for.
Another thing I'd like to add that has kept me going is my circle of friends. When you surround yourself with growth-minded people, they push you to do more both directly and indirectly. Sometimes when you're beginning to slack, just one glance at what they're doing just rekindles the fire within you again because you don't want to be left behind. That's why joining a community of like-minded people cannot be overestimated and one of such communities I love is Create4Buzz, it's a community for creatives in Marketing and Communications; you can find it with a quick search on Facebook.
Success is relative, what does it mean to you?
Success for me, Precious Greg, is GROWTH in one word. You're successful when you're growing. You're successful when there's a difference between where you were yesterday and where you are today. Actually, success can't come if there's no growth. Successful people, we see and celebrate today like the women I mentioned earlier are who they are today because they are committed to growth in their careers, business, personal development, etc.
How successful you become now depends on how much you're willing to grow, that is the height of growth you want to attain. For example, I was reading Mo Abudu's back story some time ago about how she started and all. She started with this TV show, 'Moments with Mo' before creating the foremost Pan-African platform we know today, that is EbonyLife TV and other amazing things she's doing. We know and celebrate her today because she grew, this is the same for every successful people.
The driving force behind their success is that they grew and are still growing, they didn't stay where they started, they grew, they evolved, they expanded and they're still doing so. And Growth comes with a lot: success, relevance, opportunities, recognition, the dough (money) of course and so much more. So my advice? Invest in your growth, keep growing and you'd be shocked at your success.
What advice do you have for young girls pursuing purpose but seem confused if they are on the right part?
My advice for young girls or anyone pursuing purpose but confused about being on the right path would be to put a hold on whatever you're doing and seek clarity because clarity comes with conviction and originality.
Get clear with what you want out of life, what God wants for you, I'll never leave out the God factor, speak to Him to lead you to the path He has predestined for you. If you're on a path and confused as to whether that's where you should be, you can't function maximally, it becomes hard to believe in yourself, and you'll always struggle with impostor syndrome.
Stop trying to put your head into something that's clearly not for you because you see people doing it. Carry out self-assessment, you can do this by jotting down everything you're passionate about, what you love doing, what people commend you for, where do you function properly, what are your innate strengths, etc. You'll see that your path in life is one way or the other connected to these things.
My parting words would be, don't live life blindly, seek clarity always. And even when you start to function on the right path, don't get distracted by the journey of other people, and don't measure your success with others, be you! You're different, Your destiny is different, so just focus on you!
With that, I take my bow. Thank you so much for having me Patricia and thank you to you who's reading. I remain Precious Greg.
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