We were lucky to catch up with Joshua Okpara recently and have shared our conversation below.

Joshua, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

My business had no employee, I was the only employee when I started; and I struggled hard with building a team because I was looking for teammates that were like me. That was my first mistake. I thought if I could find people that had my work ethic, similar values and mindset, that I would be successful, but it was the complete opposite. My first team did not complete me, but rather competed with me. We did not have differing strengths and weakness so work efficiency was severely lacking. I then realized that I needed people who were different. Different in skill, thought, application, knowledge and experience . I started looking for people who liked my vision more than they liked me. I realized early on that if you hired people that liked you, when they stopped liking you, they’ll quit your vision. So i hired people that loved the vision more than me, and had differing opinions about the methodology of completing said vision. That was the pivotal change that accelerated my work. For training, I focus heavily on personal growth and development. I have my team reading a book a week, teaching and training them on leadership principles and skills they could use in and out of the workplace; and it has proven to be most effective in the retention of my staff.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My story started at the age of 7 when my mother died. She was only 38. Her death introduced me to the philosophy of the fragility of life. It created a hunger to know the meaning of life and to pursue purpose at a young age. By 14 I attempted suicide. That was the next pivotal moment in my life. My failed attempt set me on a quest to discovering purpose in life. That quest led me to realize that there were billions in the world who have no idea what their purpose is; so after discovering mines, I created a formula to help others discover theirs. That Journey started with one-on-one coaching and grew into a nonprofit organization that equipped men with professional leadership training, financial literacy skills and mental health care. The vision then grew into an LLC called Purposeful Solutions Worldwide focused on helping business owners and their team members achieve better collaboration; leadership trainings, and helping leaders achieve success within their purpose.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One major lesson I had to unlearn is that I had to work with people who liked and cared about me. That mindset was extremely limiting. In the early stage of my business when I experienced conflict within my team, I thought it was due to my teammates not being fond of me; so whenever there was conflict, It was easy to take it personal; but as I grow in my learning and leadership; I realized that I needed differentiation. I needed people who thought differently and had differing views about my business. I went after people who loved the vision more than me and who were smarter than me; and that became the turning point of my business.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

When I started posting more on social media, I had this mindset that my page would not grow unless I had professional equipment, phenomenal lighting and being in an amazing environment; but I was wrong. Then there were those who would say, “just post daily and eventually it will work”; i found out too, that that was wrong.

Social media growth boils down to three major things

Vision, Storytelling and Partnership.

Vision – People don’t buy what you do, they buy what they believe in. Your social media page should reflect your vision in every way. From what you post on your story, livestreams, or even videos and captions. Your vision should be clear when people click on your page. It is the vision that will draw the right audience.

Value – Your content cannot be ONLY about you or your business and what you feel people should know or see. It MUST have value. How can each post add value to the audience? How can each post add value to the viewers. Value deals with the quality of your post. When there is no value, regardless of the quantity of what you post, you will either attract no audience, or bots.

Storytelling- People don’t remember what you said, they remember how it made them feel. Stop treating your social media page as a billboard, but instead treat it as YOUR business, online. The value you offer in person, offer it online. When you offer value based content, people will follow what values them.

Lastly, Partnerships: In today’s day and time, you cannot grow your social media page alone. You need a partner. A partner that can help you amplify your social media voice. That partner can be an influencer whose online presence resonates with your business, a social media targeted Ad that will host your post/page, or a social media software that allows you to access to schedule post! You need a partner to grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Joshuaokpara.com
• Instagram: @joshua_o_okpara
• Facebook: @joshuaokparalive
• Linkedin: Https://linkedin.com/in/joshuaokpara
• Youtube: @joshuaookpara

Image Credits

Eric Nwokocha and Meeks Media