Transcript 0:00 Today is my, one of my ideal immigrants because his story is really one of, you know, literally one of grit of what immigration is all about. Like, literally going from zero to nothing. 0:13 But I think the biggest take for me from this episode was like the-- or the biggest lesson for me is the fact that you almost can't get anything in your comfort zone, especially if you're an immigrant. Like, you can't, 0:28 'cause everyone around you or everyone else who's here or who, who's born here, they have the social networks. They have the... I mean, they have the built up, you know, capacity. 0:37 They understand how the culture, the culture works, the nuances, everything. You, you have nothing. Zilch. You know, and so you-- These folks, they have communities they have that they can reach out to. 0:50 You have to build all those things. And so as an immigrant, more often than not, you have to go the extra mile always. Like, I feel like that for me, if there was one thing you took from this episode, just that. 1:02 Like, you always have to go the extra mile. I don't know about a lot of people, right? 1:06 But I still feel like I had one of the, one of the worst experience as an international student, guys, especially the first few months, right? Um, and I'll tell you why. You know, for me, like I said, 1:20 traveling abroad wasn't really necessarily in the plan. So it wasn't like I was stacking some money somewhere and say, "Oh, I'm traveling this period," right? Mm-hmm. Pam, pam, pam- Mm-hmm. -admission came out. 1:29 Pam, pam, pam, like, let me submit this thing, then give me five, then oh, me. Mm. I was doing my HR job for, for food cost, right? And then it came out and I'm like, "Okay, I have to take this opportunity. 1:40 I'm not going to leave it and stay, you know, another time. Who knows? Maybe that's the only shot I have," right? And I said, "Okay, I'll do it." Um, so I traveled, hadn't paid any dime. 1:49 I had just two thousand dollars on me when I landed. And I had cash, no other money anywhere. Cash, that was the only money I had on me. And I hadn't paid tuition, so hold on to that. No tuition, no... Jeez, bro. 2:00 [laughs] When I landed, you know, first, first, first the, the winter, right? I had bought one jacket from Yaba like that omo. I come off airport like this. [laughs] The thing threw me back. You know, it was cold. 2:13 There was no proper orientation for me when I was coming here. And so in this episode, me and Tunde talk about, you know... 2:19 He's, he tells me a story of how he went from being a graphic designer and designing something for the Nigerian pre-presidency all the way to doing HR, coming down to Canada to study HR. 2:31 He talks about, um, the part where he had to defer his admission. That doesn't happen again, though, sadly. I mean, I wish it still happened. Um, he talks about launching an im-immigrant-focused startup. Um, 2:42 and he talks about, like, the stuff he would have done differently. Um, please, like, I really, really think it's a really good episode. So today on the Dean Commerce Podcast, I have with me Tunde. 2:52 Um, he's publicly called Tunde Tash. 2:54 And so if you've ever-- If you're Nigerian and you've ever thought about, "Oh, like I want to, I want to find information about how to move to Canada," and I feel like you would have come across Tunde's Twitter profile at some point. 3:07 Like, if you haven't, then where have you been living? But like, yo man, welcome. Thanks for coming on this. And 3:16 I, I, I, I think-- I, I wanna say that you usually ask the usual question and say, "Hey, tell me about yourself," but I think we'll, we'll get-- we'll talk about that. 3:22 So I'm just gonna get straight into this and just ask you, like, why... Again, I saw you put something yesterday or so about graphic design- Oh. -designing something for the Nigerian president and stuff. 3:35 [laughs] I'm just trying to understand how you went from that journey to Canada. [laughs] Yo, that's like a, that's like a twelve, fifteen years journey, man. Honestly. Yeah. So yeah, a lot of people know my story. 3:48 I share my story openly on, on social media. You know, I try to let people understand that, you know, getting to this point, it's not just by either luck or, you know, just by sheer, um-- how would you put it? 4:03 Um, not by luck or not being handed over, right? I had to work hard for it, right? And I used to be a graphic designer. So out of-- fresh out of University of Ibadan, no job, jobless. I was in Lagos. 4:15 Um, I went to NIIT, right? As at then, NIIT was the place where if you wanted to become a tech bro, that's where you go learn stuff. 4:22 You will learn networking, design, anything you wanted to learn, you will learn, learn it at, uh, at NIIT, right? So I learnt graphic design/uh, 3D modeling at NIIT. 4:33 And when I finished, I couldn't still find a job, uh, but I got a, I got a job through my, um, my now wife, uh, she used to be my girlfriend then. 4:43 So one of our church members had a printing firm at, um, Shimolu in Mushin, and then he had this, uh, graphic design opening and she asked, you know, asked if he was looking for someone, and he said yes, and I, I went to work, work there. 4:57 I used to earn thirty thousand naira a month back then, right? But I really liked it- [laughs] -though because I was doing what I liked, right? 5:04 Uh, but you know, there, there comes a point in your life when you decide or realize that, okay, what's the end goal? Where, where will this really take me to, right? 5:13 And then I looked at the people around me who were doing the same thing, and I didn't really see so much of, uh, growth, you know. Uh, perhaps maybe because I was doing it in Shimolu. 5:21 Maybe if I was doing it somewhere in VI in a corporate organization, maybe I would see myself in a, in a bigger place, right? 5:28 Um, and as God will have it or as, you know, as everything will happen, as fate will have it, he w- he went bankrupt and then he, he laid everybody off, and I lost that job, right? 5:39 Uh, so while I was jobless, um, I reached out to... You know, I was on social media scrolling. Twitter. Also Twitter. I was-- I didn't... I was not like I'm a somebody now, but I was a nobody, right? 5:51 [laughs] So I was just scrolling through Twitter, and then I saw this person who we had attended same school, but he, he's my senior. Um, may God rest his soul, Ashegun Pikuda. So I reached out to him. 6:02 I saw he was online that day, and I reached out to him. I said, "Yo, I'm, I'm actually out of job and, you know, if you have any leads, anything, just let me know."And I didn't even know he was in HR. 6:12 I didn't know anything about him. I just knew we went to the same school and we had, we've chatted one, you know, one-on-one before, and he said, "Hey, actually, you know what? 6:19 We are actually hiring at, at the head office of where I work. Uh, it's a HR role, but it's based on merit, and it's a, like a entry-level HR role, but it's based on merit. 6:28 So everybody who comes to us, they have to do an aptitude test, and whoever sort of comes out the best will have opportunity to have an interview. So it's not like it's even automatic. You have to do an interview." 6:39 I was like, "Oh, God. [lip smacks] Okay, let me give it a try." I went. We're about... 6:43 It was less than 50, but we're about maybe 30 something that went there for that aptitude test, and I did it, and I knew that I did it well, and I got a call later on. 6:53 I was told that I, I was the-- I got the highest point in that aptitude test. Okay. Uh, it means that, you know, I'm not just a graphic designer, I'm also smart, [laughs] you know? 7:02 [laughs] So, so I went for the interview, um, met Mr. Biodun. Uh, Mr. Biodun, Ayoriade, you know, those are, those are like the first people I met who groomed me, believed me, and he said, "No problem. 7:15 That, you know what? You can start and I would hire you." And I got the offer, and that was how I got into the human resources professional, right? Uh, profession rather, um, as, as a entry-level person. 7:26 And I think a lot of things changed during that period, right? 7:29 I was going from someone who had come from a casual work to a corporate setting, and, um, the knowledge I'd al-always had, the notion I, I'd always had about human resources was that it was very admin. 7:41 Hire people, fire people, very admin. But I got into that place and then I realized that, hey, it was actually much more, you know, complex than that. 7:50 And the company, this company is actually Food Concepts PLC, the owners of Chicken Republic, Butterfield Bread and all that. Okay. Yeah. 7:58 So I was at the head office, so you know, and we were overseeing over 60 branches across the nation, over 60 branches across the nation where you-- we're like the HR in charge of all those people everywhere, right? 8:11 So I was exposed early on to that and, uh, getting to know that HR had, you know, compensation and benefits, payroll, strategic HR management, business partner, learning and development. 8:22 I was like, "Wow, this HR is actually broad." Right? So I, I really, really, uh, you know, uh, loved, loved the profession then. Uh, and then I started to read, right? I started to read. 8:32 You know, you're now in a corporate setting, you need to read, you need to up yourself. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right? Upskill yourself basically. 8:38 And down the line, I think a year and eight months down the line, um, I met somebody who came from Canada and, uh, we were having a conversation and then, you know, he talked about schooling in Canada. 8:50 You know, it was quite straightforward getting admission and somehow he also worked with, um... He works with schools in Canada where he could process, uh, those admissions. I said I could give it a try, right? 9:02 And he actually got introduced to me through my mother-in-law, you know. And, um, I spoke with him, you know, you know, we did it, and the admission came out and I said, "Okay, maybe I should give it a try." 9:12 I hadn't paid any dime in tuition. I submitted the application, it got approved, you know, uh, to come study human resources management here. And that was where everything changed, right? Okay. 9:22 Um, going from a graphic designer, you know, and coming to Canada. But before then though, I had met Tolu Gbolesie who currently now, um, is the ex, um, Media82 partner. Yeah, yeah. 9:36 So I'd met him before when I was like in my active, um, graphic design days. 9:41 They had this symposium or something like that in ENUG and I was invited to, you know, come share my perspective as a graphic and, um, you know, design person. So we, we're still in touch, we're still in contact. 9:53 And then out of the blues while I was in Canada, you know, my-- I was doing my, uh, internship, right? Um, and then I just saw his email. He said, "Hey, I'm working to do this. I'm looking to design this. 10:04 Would you be happy to do that?" You know, instinct, you know. Typically, when you get this, like, I'd be like, "Oh, this is my rate card, this is how much I would charge." 10:12 I was like, "Yo, this is for the presidency, right? Like, I would rather have that where, [laughs] you know- [laughs]... for every time it comes up I can always be like, "I'm here." [laughs] You know? 10:22 I did that rather than pushing him away with just saying, "Okay, give me this money, give me that." And, and I know that he could-- Tolu Gbolesie could have gotten that thing done anywhere- Yeah... from anybody, right? 10:34 But for some reason he came to me and I said, "You know what? I'll do it for free," right? And, and that's how it came to be. And out of the blues again yesterday, you know, I- You share it again. [laughs]... 10:45 he's heard about it. I said, "Okay. [laughs] Am I supposed to be back to graphic designing now or what?" [laughs] Yeah. So that was how I went from that to, to here, right? To HR. Yeah. Well, that's interesting. 10:58 You know, so now you took all that backstory. I find it pretty interesting how you've just moved across, you know, from graphic design all the way to HR. Yeah. 11:08 And just looking at how your background was set up, you know, graphic design is pretty different. 11:13 I mean, then you worked in Nigeria for a bit, a year and eight months, so was a while, but still, still, you're still trying- Yeah... to get it so-so get settled into the industry. 11:21 How was it settling into school as a student here? Like, so when you moved to the HR here, like how was it? Like, was it wild, sweet, [laughs] or nah? [laughs] I feel like it was wild. 11:33 I don't know, I don't know about a lot of people, right? But I still feel like I had one of the, one of the worst experience as an international student in Canada, especially the first few months, right? 11:43 Um, and I'll tell you why. You know, for me, like I said, traveling abroad wasn't really necessarily in the plan. So it wasn't like I was stacking some money somewhere and say, "Oh, I'm traveling this period," right? 11:55 Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Pam, pam, pam, admission came out. Pam, pam, pam, like, let me submit this thing, then give me five, then okay me. Mm. They give you, um, okay. I got given a HR job for, for Food Concepts, right? 12:06 And then it came out and I'm like, "Okay, I have to take this opportunity. I'm not going to leave it and stay, you know, another time. Who knows? Maybe that's the only shot I have."Right? And I said, "Okay, I'll do it." 12:16 Um, so I traveled, hadn't paid any dime. I had just $2,000 on me when I landed. And I had cash, no other money anywhere. Cash, that was the only money I had on me. And I hadn't paid tuition, so hold on to that. 12:27 No tuition, no. Jeez, man. [laughs] When I landed, you know, first, first, first, the, the winter, right? I had bought one jacket from Ghana like that omo. I come off airport like this. The thing threw me back. 12:40 [laughs] You know, it was cold. There wasn't proper orientation for me when I was coming here, right? And I went to school, you know, school started. 12:49 Um, they, they let me register by the way, and they, they allowed me sort of spread my payments, right? Uh, but school started, and when it started, I realized I had a lot of culture shock. 12:58 For instance, I've watched a lot of American movies, Hollywood movies. I, I used to hear what they said quite all right. But here I'm in class and I hadn't heard what everybody was saying. 13:07 I was like, "This is the outcome now." [laughs] I'm serious. I'm serious. Back then, maybe, I don't know, maybe because I wasn't just settled mentally, you know. 13:16 Our teachers would say something in class, I was as if they were talking too fast. I would talk to them, it was as if they weren't-- they, they couldn't hear what I was saying. 13:23 I was like, "Yo, this place is not for me," right? So what I did was I went to... And then getting a room, finding a room was hard, right? Finding a place for myself. 13:31 I was squatting with, uh, some folks who were living, uh, who were schooling, um, in Kitchener as a, as, as a den, and, um, getting that place was hard. 13:40 So I went to school and I say, "There's just so many things happening right now. I don't know how your bus schedule works. The winter is, you know, is too cold for me, minus 10, minus 15 in Kitchener." 13:51 I didn't have the proper winter gears at that time. I said, "You know what? I need to defer this thing. Let me take a little breather," right? So, um, I deferred for four months, right? I deferred for four months. 14:02 So that four months helped me to immerse myself into the system. Good for me was that I was able to make two Canadian friends, right? Uh- Mm-hmm. A male and female, uh, Brad and Nicole. 14:12 These were like the two people who held my hand, you know. So I got my orientation from them. I understood the system from them, the bus schedule. This is how things will work. This is where you get a job. 14:22 This is what you will do, right? Um, and, um, so, and I started working, right? I started working, um, uh, as, you know, as international student we can work, so I started working. Yeah. 14:32 But the type of job I got, I thought, you know, went to this agency, took my human resources resume. I felt like, yo, they will look at it, that ah, big boy, you know, from food concept. Nobody is having food concept. 14:43 Omo, they say, "Guy, factory job." [laughs] Yo. I was working in factory, man. I was packing sausages in cold rooms, eight-hour shifts, standing. You know, it was, it was brutal. 14:55 It was-- And that was like also the peak of winter, right? Uh- Yeah. But that helped me a little bit because did that job, was able to save a little bit on the side. 15:03 And, um, sharing that story with my folk back home, you know, my elder brother, uh, some of my guardians who have, you know, supported me through my schooling, my higher education in Nigeria, and even my girlfriend as at that time, who's now my wife, you know, told them all these things and they were like, "Oh, yo, uh, you've tried your best." 15:20 I was able to come up with some part of the first semester, and then they supported me with the other part of the s- of the first semester as well. 15:27 So that was able to, you know, I was able to use that to sort of register and then start in the summer, you know. Um, but during that period, you know, I still had to hold on to part-time jobs. 15:37 I was working at Toyota at a point. Then I changed job. I was working as a traffic warden guy, you know, controlling traffic during winter at, there's this place called Biggar Mound. Yo. 15:48 [laughs] Yo, it was a lot, my friend. As I said, yo, I, I went through it. I really went through it. 15:54 But, you know, looking back at all those, uh, times and, um, how it is now, I'm really grateful for how it is now for a lot of international student, right? There's a lot of information out there now, and so this is it. 16:08 When peop- When, when we say things like there wasn't a lot of information for us, it doesn't mean there wasn't information back then. 16:13 There, there w- there was information back then, but it wasn't really tailored to someone like me, right? Do you understand? It wasn't for me. It was, it was general. It was generalistic, right? 16:23 I didn't even know where to find African store. You understand? All those type of things. There was no community of- Yeah... of Africans, of Nigerians. 16:29 Today, you, you land Can- even before you land Canada, they've already added you to WhatsApp group, right? Somebody is telling you- Yeah... this is where you will get this. I will drive you there. I will take you there. 16:38 You know, back then you have to figure out everything by yourself, right? Um, so yeah. Yes. So it was pretty much hard, you know, um, settling in as international student. 16:46 But, um, a-aside from all this sidetrack that, all these things that were happening on the side, I had my goal on one thing. 16:54 I needed to get a distinction, and at the same time, before school finish, I needed to become a certified HR professional. I needed to get my CHRP license, right? 17:03 So those were like the goals, and I made sure that I, I sort of achieved those goals, um, you know, while- Amazing... yeah, while I was, um, you know, uh, before I finished school. 17:11 So yeah, so but, but all in all, it was a, it was a good time. I think I learnt a lot and that's why to-today it gives me that tenacity where I know that, omo, no matter how hard it is, 17:22 we'll- As in, uh, you've seen worse. [laughs] We've seen worse. [laughs] You know, you, you know what I find interesting is, first off- Yeah... we need to s- do a campaign, s- ban selling winter jackets in Yam. 17:37 [laughs] Like campaign, ban winter jacket in Yam. I know, I know. Those are no winter jackets. Those are just probably fall jackets at best. I know, I know. I agree. I agree. 17:47 You know, and then the second thing is, I'm just curious, I'm just trying to understand, 17:51 you know, I find it interesting how you were able to think through the fact and say to yourself, "Y- hey, let's take a step back and defer this thing-" Yeah "... and go work for a bit." 18:03 Like how did you come to that conclusion? Because like most people will say to you, "Yo, just, you can survive. You can do all this, Jesus Christ. You just, just keep going." 18:13 And like-I find that such an interesting approach to it, and I f-wi- I wish more people would take that r-ra-route. Like, hey, you know what? Yeah. 18:22 Let's step back a bit and find our way instead of still just getting caught up in- Yeah... the system and just frustrated and stuff. Yeah. So what's like-- How did you get there? 18:31 I think, um, you know, it gets to a point where you are just frustrated, right? And you're just like... 18:37 And that's why sometimes in friendship, in relationship, in, in jobs, people get to a point that they're like, "You know what? I think I've had enough," right? 18:44 "I need to maybe take a s- I need a space, or I just need to..." You just need to, uh, um, you need to challenge it or go about it in another way, right? And, um, I reached out. I went to the school. 18:56 Good thing is the international office is just, you know, they are always, uh, they have an open door policy where you can walk in and ask questions, and I asked a lot of questions. Mm. I'm struggling in class, you know. 19:07 I haven't gotten a room yet. Everything looks to be happening so fast. They're already giving out assignments in the first week. I'm not even settled in yet. I don't even have a laptop, right? 19:17 I didn't come with a laptop. You know, all those type of things. I'm like, "So is there a possibility for, you know, for me to start another time or something like that?" 19:26 And they were like, okay, that they would check to see if there was any opening for, uh, the second, the, the next, uh, semester, right? 19:35 And, um, and I-- If-- The, the sad thing was I, I'd already made two friends in that class, two Nigerian friends in that, uh, class, uh, cool guys. 19:44 Uh, but, you know, they had to sort of finish before me, which of course it, it didn't mean anything, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. So, so, and, and also, uh, to the credit of those people I met here, right? 19:57 Uh, the, the person I squatted with, he also sort of hinted that, you know, if things are so hard for you, you can actually ask, you know, if there's a possibility for you deferring, right? 20:08 Um, I know today though, it's-- The def- the deferment is now strictly, you know, based on if the school agrees or not, right? Mm. Yeah. 20:18 Because they find that, and I don't know who the, who those people are, but they find a lot of students have bastardized it, right? Mm-hmm. 20:25 Uh, they are-- They, they sort of, you know, take advantage of that deferment to do something else, right? 20:31 Um, so schools now, it has to be strictly either health related or, or that the program is really full and you didn't come on time to register when you came to Canada or you came late and the program has started, right? 20:42 That's when they will really allow you defer it. Yeah. Mm. Okay. Makes sense. Fair. Yeah, 'cause I've not heard about this, uh, of recent, which is why I find it really interesting. Yeah. Yeah. 20:51 So s-still staying on this and, you know, I hear you about feeling the frustrations and things and just tr- starting to find yourself. But like for you, like what's, what... 21:02 If you had to chart your journey from then up till now, what's the unexpected magical moment or maybe moments that you feel like have been like they've changed your life- Mm... 21:12 like at different points till where we are today having this conversation? Good question. Good question. I think the first, the first occurrence was still in school in Kitchener, uh, was my first project. 21:23 Well, that's like the first learning point for me. It was like a learning curve, and it was the first major lesson I learned while I was in school about Canada itself as an immigrant, right? 21:33 And the, it was a project, an assignment. The assignment was, "You are a HR professional, all of you in class. Go out there, look for a, a HR professional that has five years experience. 21:47 Interview them, ask them about their experience." They gave us this, you know, this list of questions that we'll use as conversations, right? "And based on that, write a report of your findings and submit that report." 21:57 That was like-- It was like a project, and that we were to turn it in- Mm-hmm... maybe in about two, right? So I was like, small thing. I took that assignment. I was like, "Where should I go?" The first place, LinkedIn. 22:09 I went to LinkedIn. But the caveat is you must interview people in Canada, not anywhere else. So they have to be in Canada, right? 22:16 So, and given that I didn't grow up here, I was just an international student here, my network base hadn't, hadn't increased at all, right? So it was still very mi- very, um, still within the confines of school. 22:27 So I knew- Mm-hmm... the students, I knew the teachers, but I couldn't interview those. I need to, I had to go out, right? So I was like, okay, LinkedIn first. I used LinkedIn. I, I would just... 22:36 I tweaked by city and I would put human resources. I would put the city. A lo- a couple of people come out. I did like a, an email template I sent to like, you know, people, I think more than 10. No response. 22:50 I was like, okay. [chuckles] I waited a few days. I was like, okay, maybe it will come up. No response. I was like, okay. [laughs] All right. I was like, okay. It's, it-- That's all right. No problem. 22:59 I was like, okay, maybe the next thing I'll do is I'll look for people online, right? Who have maybe human resources on their, on their bio or whatever. 23:08 Look for companies, you know, look for their phone numbers and just call them directly, right? The first two people I called, nothing. They not... They just said, "Do you have an appointment? 23:17 Who do you want to speak with?" So with that, and I, I could, I could sense the, um, the tone from the phone. I was like, this isn't gonna work, right? Yeah. And, um, I was frustrated. 23:30 You know, the first, the, like the, the, the first week, gone. Nothing, right? 23:35 And, um, you know, back to- back in class, a lot of people were already turning in the assignment, talking about the assignment, the students, everybody was like, "Ha, oh, this is not good." I went to, I went to... 23:46 There was a recruitment agency, and I knew recruitment agencies would have HR, right? So I went there with some of my classmates who are Nigerians. 23:52 They were able to interview, uh, these people and all that, but we only found two, two of those. So I, again, I was left out. I couldn't interview anybody. So a few days to the deadline, I said, "You know what? 24:05 Anything that will happen will happen." I had just one suit. I had a suit, very nice blue suit. I can never forget. I had white shirt- [chuckles]... like corporate. I ironed it, cleaned it. 24:16 I was like, on the morning-I think it was either a Tuesday or Wednesday. I was like, on the morning, seven AM, I'm gonna dash out. 24:22 I'm gonna go to Kitchener downtown, and I'm going to walk there in all the offices, and I will go to any office there. I will, I will knock on their offices. 24:31 I will ask to see the HR people, then I'll-- I'm very much, uh, I'm going to find somebody to interview. The first p-the first place I went to, 24:39 immigrants receptionist, Russian, I must say, and she asked me first, I, I greeted her, you know, looking very presentable. You know, like anywhere I enter, they will listen to me. [laughs] Looking very presentable. 24:50 I went to this woman, she said, "Uh, any ap-any appointment this morning?" I said, "No." She said, "Who would I like to see?" I said, "I would like to see anybody who's in the HR department." 24:58 She said, "Unfortunately, I can't see anybody because I have no appointment, and this place is strictly by appointment." It's a newspaper company, actually. It was-- It's a newspaper company for Waterloo. 25:07 So, um, she gave me her card. She said, "Call and make an appointment, you know, later on." I was like, "I have no time for that," you know, given that it was just, uh, maybe two- Yeah. 25:17 It was actually two days before deadline. So I left, well, I thanked her, I left. I went to the next place, accounting firm. I saw this guy looking good just like myself. The first thing he said was, "Nice suit." 25:28 I was like, "Ah, thank God at least." [laughs] Give me this one. Okay. [laughs] It turned out well. Then he said-- And I told him, he said, "Unfortunately, the head office is in Toronto, downtown Toronto." Oh, okay. 25:37 "So I have to go all the way to there." And I was like, "Hey, that's like three hours by bus," 'cause I don't drive, right? Yeah. And by train, it would be about two hours if I don't take express. I said, "No problem." 25:47 I thanked him, I left. So there were more-- a lot of small places like that, small offices like that, that I could go knock and, you know, get what I needed, or somehow I'll find out if I could get it or not. 25:58 But then the minute I came out from that office, there was a big brown building I saw that was staring at me. Like, it was still maybe like three minutes walk from where I was, right? 26:07 So I had the o-option to either go to all these other places or just go there. I looked at that place and I said, "You know what? I don't know what's in that place, but I'm going there." So I went to that building. 26:16 Big building. It's, it's, it's, it's really-- it's big. Big brown building. Um, and when I got there, you know, this one has a security guy at the front desk. [laughs] You know what I mean. "Yeah, may I help you?" 26:28 And I introduced myself. I said, "I'm an international student from Conestoga College. I'm actually doing a project right now. 26:34 I need-- I'm just looking for HR person, and I would like to speak with, you know, anyone that I, you know, I can speak with here." 26:40 And he said, "Well, the building here is occupied by different companies and offices, but that, um, there's a major office I can go there. It's so, so, so floor. I should go there and perhaps just ask somebody there." 26:55 I'm conducting a project and I'm looking to interview a HR person, right? She now say, "Really?" She now say, "Oh, wow, okay." 27:12 She now say, "Well, um, we haven't started meetings yet, uh, but there's somebody you might wanna ask if you wanna interview, if you wanna speak with her," right? [laughs] And I said, "No problem." 27:21 [laughs] And she said, and she said, "Come with me." And I went with her, and then she asked me to sit. I sit down. I sat, and then she went in, came out. 27:28 And by the time she came out, there was this, you know, slim, elderly Caucasian woman that came out. And she said, "Hi, how may I help you?" 27:35 And then I told her again, international student, you know, project, blah, blah. She said, "Okay." She said, "You know what? I don't have a meeting now, but I can speak with you before, um, before nine AM." 27:46 That's to tell you how early it was. Say I can speak- Yeah. [laughs]... before 9 AM. And then she say, "Come to my office," and then we went there. 27:53 Um, I, I f-I asked her my question, I finished, I recorded, all those type of things, and she said, "Wow, this is very brave of, brave of you what you have done." But it's-- where I'm going is this. 28:04 You see, I did not know who I was interviewing. That's the juice of this whole thing. I didn't know who I was interviewing. The person I was interviewing was the head of HR of the whole region of Waterloo. 28:13 So imagine, imagine being in Toronto and you are interviewing the GTA, the, the HR of the whole GTA. [laughs] I was like, "What?" No. But I learnt a lot of lesson that day. 28:24 I want le-- One key lesson for me was that, um, I can never get anything in my comfort zone, right? Never, as a, as an immigrant, right? You can't get in- Mm. Just like every other person will. Yeah. 28:35 People have built community, network, everything here. It will be easy for them to pick up phone to do stuff, but for you, you have to go the extra mile, right? Yeah. 28:42 And that's why for me, every time, you know, even at my jobs everywhere, I always ensure that the same I should stop at B, I ensure I go to E, right? Because going the extra mile gives you that opportunity to shine. 28:55 It gives you that opportunity, you know, to, to be able to put in, uh, so much more and get a lot out of it, right? Yeah. 29:00 And still in my front was, you know, the, the-- how, how in the world did I have gotten this woman? There's no way I could have- [laughs]... gotten this woman through LinkedIn or through a phone call. 29:11 I had to go out there- Yeah.... to be able to interview her. You know, and she gave me her card and she said, "You know what? What you have done today is really brave. 29:18 You just walked up, walked into this place and asked to interview somebody, and that's why I'm actually speaking with you," right? I took my project back to class. I am very surprised. 29:27 People were asking, even people that were here who grew up here, the Caucasian, they were, "How did you get this woman? How did you get this woman? Like, do you know her before?" I'm like, "Don't worry about that." 29:37 [laughs] I can't give you my secrets, my secret sauce. You know, even the teacher, I got A in that project, right? I got A in that project, you know. 29:47 And also there's also, there's also a, a spiritual component to that thing, uh, that sort of, you know, administered to me. There are some places you-- anywhere you get into, right? 29:59 The first person, the first set of people you meet can either make or mar you, right? Yes. That woman that I met, right? There are two women now. The, the first woman said, no. She blocked my way, right? 30:10 [laughs] The other woman said, "There's somebody I think you can speak with," right? So it's always that we should always hope and pray that we should meet people who will help us advance to the next thing. Yeah. Right? 30:22 And those were sort of key lessons for me, and that I've always taken as an immigrant here.I like that. I really like that. Like, that's like, that's a magical moment for me. Um, so let's kind of come to the present now. 30:37 I know you run this thing called School-Schooly Apply HQ. Yeah. Like, what does it do? Like, what's it about? 30:43 Because I feel like, you know, it's-- And how is it related to all the things you talk about, a-admissions- Yeah... becoming a student and all that? 30:50 Well, uh, so Schooly Apply is a product of, uh, a parent company called Humanskill, right? So in 2020, um, we launched Humanskill, the startup, right? And primarily just in the immigration space. 31:03 What we do is, um, you know, we give information on, uh, visa processing, and we also represent people who are looking to travel to Canada, right? Um, so we launched in 2020. 31:15 We've recorded a couple of successes, but when we launched, something we noticed was a lot of people were asking for study abroad services. "Hey, can you help me get admission to this school? Can you help me? 31:26 Do you process admission?" Right? And that was when, um, we realized that, okay, perhaps we needed to, you know, build a product of our own where we would directly partner with schools. 31:38 So what Schooly Apply does really is we partner with institutions in Canada, in UK, in US, Germany and the likes, uh, migrant-friendly schools, so to speak, places students want to go study. 31:50 We partner with these schools, and then we help them recruit international students, right? Um, and we do that for free for the international student, and in return, the schools pay us, right? Oh, interesting. 32:01 So that's how Schooly Apply works. And when we launched, we had just about five schools when we started Schooly Apply. 32:07 It was really, um, you know, just about five schools in Canada, but now we are at sixty-five schools, right? Um- Damn, that's some growth... 32:16 we've grown, um, you know, into some areas where places like Malta, you know, uh, Singapore, Switzerland, uh, but majority of our schools are in Canada, US and UK, right? Okay. Um, so that's what Schooly Apply does. 32:30 And so far we've, you know, we've processed... 32:33 It's just that for me, I don't, I, I don't see us running the startup like a blog, be-because you see a lot of people, when they help people with admission, they put it online, they blow the names and all that. 32:44 If we do that, we'll-- that means we'll be churning out a lot of admission letters that we sort of, you know- [laughs]... but we're running as a startup, right? Apple- Yeah... 32:51 you don't see Apple coming out when they sell a phone to say, "Oh, my customer has bought. We bought it. Sold our customer." 32:56 [laughs] You know, and, and I understand that, yeah, the demography you are, you know, speaking to might want to see such successes, but, you know, it speaks for itself, right? So that's what Schooly Apply does. Mm-hmm. 33:06 We help people get admission. And then there's a sister product called Traveli, right? It's also a product of, uh, Humanskill. 33:13 So what happens is when you get an admission to Canada, uh, at least for students who are coming to Canada, Traveli will help you with the visa processing. But this time it will be at a fee, right? Mm-hmm. 33:22 It won't be f- Interesting... it won't be free like, uh, Sch- for Schooly Apply. 33:26 And, um, but if you get admission to other countries, we will give you like a s- uh, visa guide that will help you with the step-by-step- Mm-hmm... guide of how to process your visa. So that's what Schooly Apply does. 33:37 That's amazing. That's amazing. And seeing that we're now talking about Schooly Apply and all the things, like, I just want to ask sorry, a couple of pointed questions. Sure. 33:45 And there's one thing that you see a lot where people talk about hiring consultants, you know, and stuff, and then-- But there's also the fact people complain there's so many fraudulent- Yeah... consultants out there. 33:57 I think. 33:57 And so I just want to just ask, like, one, are there any red flags one can look out for when you're looking to hire someone to help you with student or work or PR, like, you know, because I mean, I did my PR by myself, but I've heard people talk about, "Just hire a consultant." 34:09 Yeah, I agree. I agree. And some people still have some terrible stories, and you're like, "How didn't you see it?" Yeah. Yeah. So, um, for consultants, right, good thing is there's a portal, there's a CICC portal. 34:20 That's the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, right? That's the regulatory body that regulates RCICs, wh-which are the licensed consultants. Okay. 34:30 So there's a portal where, uh, it's a registry, online registry, where you can actually go. 34:34 If somebody tells you they're either a licensed consultant or what not, you can go there and put in their names, and you can see if they are really active or, or not, right? Okay. 34:43 Um, so that's one thing people can do to first validate if somebody is the, is the consultant or, or, or, or not. Another thing is to look out for re-red flags. 34:54 You know, things like if it's, if it sounds too good to be true, "I can get you an LMIA, I can, you know, get... It comes with flights, it comes with no IELTS," all those type of- [chuckles]... 35:05 sweetening things that make you, you know, makes your blood, you know, uh, sweet. Start pumping faster like, "Yo, yeah, I'm in Canada. I'm in Canada." [laughs] If you're already here, you should be very, very careful. 35:16 It's not that easy, it's not that straightforward, right? And we've seen cases where people will come here, they realize that... 35:22 Actually, at the airport, it was just about maybe a few weeks ago, we saw that online, uh, where some people, uh, got-- And I don't know how they left the airport back in Nigeria, but they gave them fake, uh, visiting visas and all that, right? 35:33 Oh, damn. Yeah. So, um, but yeah, if it's, if it sounds too good to be true, then you know that the, the person might be fake. And one last thing to say to that is there are some things you can't get from outside Canada. 35:45 For instance, somebody once bought a PR card. They told them that they were being issued a PR by Canada, and they bought PR card for ₦800,000. 35:54 But if you know very well about immigration, you will know that Canada never issues PR card. They don't send you a physical PR card outside Canada. They give you a PR- Yeah, yeah... or COPR. 36:04 It's when you come here- Yeah... that they will now give you a PR card. You understand? So they never send PR cards to a non-Canadian address. 36:11 So if somebody outside Canada tells you, "Oh, Canada has approved your PR card," and gives you a PR card, just know right away that it's fake. That's a fake, yeah. Fake, right. Yeah. 36:20 So, so those are some of the things, right? And people also need to do a lot of research by themselves, right? To be able to... Look at you, you say you did your PR by yourself and all that, right? 36:28 Uh, so that means a lot of... A ton of research would have gone into it. A lot of couple of- Yep. Yeah. Yeah. 36:33 And, and, yeah, if you're going to do that, if you, if you are going to, you know, either hire somebody or do it by yourself, you need to do a lot of research.Okay. Um, so we're rounding up here. 36:43 I think I just have, like, two questions for you. Um, one is, when's the first time it hit you that you weren't home? 36:49 [laughs] I think, I think I was-- So I was in front of a, I was in front of a line, you know, you know the factory lines when things are moving. 37:01 You know, things are moving and, and I was packing sausages, and it just dawned on me right there. A lot of things had happened before then, right? 37:07 But right there in that moment, I asked myself a question, and I said, "Should I have left? Am I supposed to be here?" [laughs] You know? This was me, even though I was- Damn.... 37:19 earning my, my tax around one hundred and thirty-five K in Nigeria back then. You know, I was in AC, I was chopping free lunch at Chicken Republic every other day. 37:28 You know, bonuses, the prospect of growth is there, and I'm like, I'm packing sausages. Like, should I be here? You know? Um, but given that I had already crossed that line, I said, "You know what? 37:41 Go the extra mile," right? Uh, regardless of what it takes, we have to go the extra mile and see this through. I think that was the point where it hit me that I was not home, right? 37:49 That I was already far away from home, and there was no, there was nobody I could cry on their shoulder. There was nobody I could ask for money. There was... You know, in Nigeria, we, we, we leverage on community. 38:00 You can easily- Yeah... call an uncle. You can go to your neighbor. You can, you know, drive to your brother. You can, you know, do anything and get that support that you need within your community. 38:09 But it's not like that here. You are by yourself. Yeah. 38:11 And that's why, you know, when you are here, when somebody promises you money, take that with a pinch of salt because [laughs] anybody is free to give you cash in this country. 38:21 Like, somebody looks at you like that, gives you five hundred, four hundred. And funny enough- That person loves you. That person loves you. [laughs] Yeah. Let me quickly add right now. 38:29 When I came, there was somebody they introduced me to. Somebody from back home introduced me to that woman. She's here, right? I've, I, I'm not, I've not spoken to her after that time when I came. 38:39 But when I came and I narrated, you know, the whole ordeal to this woman and blah, blah, blah. And she said, "Oh, sorry. 38:44 So you're, now you're working," blah, blah, blah, "and, you know, you are trying to save up for tuition." This woman said, "Don't worry. Every week I will give you three hundred dollars." You see, I was so happy. 38:55 I said, "Ah, angel sent." But now, after I got into the workforce, I realized that that woman was bobo-ing me and I, I took her chicken at that time. [laughs] You know? 39:05 So I'm like, "Yo, I don't know, I don't know why she promised. I don't know why she had to do that." But- Mm. [laughs]... yeah. It's just funny looking back. [laughs] Yeah, it is. It is. And then the last question is, 39:20 is there anything you would have done differently in hindsight if you were to move again? Mm. Yes. Yes. 39:27 I think, uh, one thing I would have, you know, perhaps done properly before I came here was I would have made sure that I did some sort of crowdsource, you know, crowdfunding. 39:37 You know, get a lot of funding before I came here so that I didn't have to put myself through what I went through, right? And, um, just so that I would have some sort of, um, soft landing, right? Um- Yeah. Yeah. 39:48 And also, um, do a lot of research or even get things before I came here, like getting myself a room before I came here. Like, having somebody get that for me before I came. You know, those type of things. 40:00 And another mistake I made was that I wished I had come in way earlier. My school-- Let's say school started on the fourth. I landed in Canada on, like, on the second or thir... On the second. 40:11 And I left, I left Nigeria on the second, I landed on the third. Right? Yeah. So no prep whatsoever, right? So I was- Mm-hmm... sort of rushing into things, right? 40:20 So in hindsight, I think those are things that I would do if I was to go back in time to try and change things. Uh, but all in all, I guess everything was for a reason and I learnt, you know- Yeah... 40:32 I learnt valuable lessons in many of them. Yeah. I also think that's also a function of the time which you moved, um, because, like, I feel like moving to Canada now is so different from how it used to be. Yeah. 40:42 You know? Yeah. Yeah, it's very different. There are things that just happen just because we now have more people. Yeah. There's a bigger informal community of who you can talk to. Exactly. 40:51 You know, so there are, there are stuff people don't make. But it's also still good to kind of reflect on those and think about it and plan for it. Yeah. You know. Well, thank you so much, Tunde. You're welcome. 41:00 Like, this has been amazing, an amazing TechIt meet with you. [laughs] Thank you. Thank you, Dozie. Thank you so much. Um, I always love sharing my story, right? 41:09 Um, you know, for a lot of people who are still coming in, I-I'm, again, I'm so, so glad. 41:14 Uh, the fact that I see student, international students today that they're doing admin jobs, they're doing, like, cleaner jobs, it makes me happy. For even, you know, Canadian residents, right? It makes me happy. 41:24 You know, people are coming here, getting good corporate jobs and all that, right? It's not as, as we used to have it, right? And the community of people around- Yeah... many of, of the people coming in is better. 41:34 And I say this because when we came, uh, the people we had around us were people who were, like, thriving in factory jobs, right? Who were immigrant, like Black immigrants. 41:43 They would tell you, "Hey, the best job out there for you is this," right? Um- Yeah. "The cap for you is, like, twenty dollar per hour. Don't even overdream." Don't even... Don't dream. Don't dream. Do you understand? 41:53 Like, people saying, "Why are you doing HR? Nobody will hire a Black man to, to, in the HR department." Things like that. But I'm glad that the community is now better. It's, it now has- Yeah... 42:04 a, a grid of people who tell you that, "Yo, you are coming here, you are getting a six-figure job. You are coming here, you are going inside- Yes. Yes... the corporate, uh, environment," right? Yes. Yeah. 42:13 And I'm so glad that there are a lot of us who are supporting the immigrant community and, you know, we are, we are thriving. I know we-we'll get to a point where it's gonna be like... 42:21 And I, we're not in competition with anybody, but it's gonna be like the Indians, you know, how they have thrived. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's a community I really admire. The Indians and the... Yeah. Yeah. 42:30 That's, that's a community I really admire. The Indians and the, the Chinese especially. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Those are communities I aspire, I, I aspire to look like. Folks, thank you so much for listening. 42:39 As usual, please, I'll ask again, please like, share, you know, forward this to your friends. Subscribe if you haven't subscribed. Go like our YouTube channel. Please subscribe. 42:51 I mean, that, like, for me, like, that's all I ask for. Thank you so much.
