We recently connected with Olajide Bamishigbin and have shared our conversation below.
Olajide, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
To be successful, you have to dedicate time, effort, and energy to the goal you are seeking to accomplish. I received my PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles and began my career as a tenure track assistant professor when I was 26 years old. I have several friends and family who tell me “you’re so smart” or “you’re a genius.” However, the truth is, I have never viewed myself as a particularly intelligent individual. I grew up with really smart sisters who always excelled academically and I was never quite able to reach their levels of academic success. Instead, I have always viewed myself is as someone who is goal-oriented and a work hard. Whatever I want to do, any goal I want to achieve, I always start from the end. What is it that I want to accomplish? I then work backwards and identify the different steps it takes. I then set my plan, put it into motion, and follow the steps, no matter what barriers I may face. To me, that s what it takes to be successful!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am the co-founder of REACH Consulting Firm LLC, along with my partner Dr. Jahneille Bamishigbin. With REACH, we provide consulting services to organizations ranging from universities to museums to community based organizations to healthcare companies. We work to help these organizations solve problems that they may face, typically as they related to issues of equity, race, and ethnicity. We also do paid speaking and tailored diversity, equity, and inclusion workshops for organizations that need them. Both my partner and I have PhD’s (me in Health Psychology, her in Education) and what sets us apart is our research-informed approach to these issues. My expertise in statistics and her expertise in qualitative research methods allows us to really take deep dives into the different issues organizations face. I am most proud that, despite having two young children and other careers, REACH has consistently served a diverse group of organizations since 2016, and we only plan to serve more!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
During my graduate program, I faced a number of difficulties that strengthened me but I think the story of my master’s thesis is the best.I originally went to graduate school to study the mental health of cancer survivors and caregivers, as this was my area of expertise as an undergraduate researcher. For my master’s thesis, a project that typically takes a year, I was waiting for a large dataset from a major cancer organization to analyze. My master’s thesis was due at the end of Fall 2012, I was supposed to receive the data in summer of 2012, however, I did not receive it until, wait for it, summer 2015. At the start of Fall 2012, I realized the data was not coming and I needed to pivot on my master’s thesis. I had 10 weeks to complete an entire thesis, and you know what, I did it. Despite the setbacks, I became a respected researcher in the area of paternal mental health and have had my work discussed on The Today Show and CNN.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
“The work speaks for itself.” I believe that REACH has attained it’s reputation because we do high quality work. All of our clients have been impressed and satisfied by our final products. We work closely with our clients to maintain good relationships throughout our consulting gigs. As a result, they always feel respected and we are always on the same page. This also allows us to complete good work because we are always clear on what out expectations are.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.reachconsultingfirm.com