Open Door Conversations

Ep 57: African Storytelling & Evolving Your Definition of Success with Joko Edu

Episode Summary

Get inspired by Jokotola Edu "Joko," an entrepreneur who has pivoted careers several times and has a wealth of experiences in different countries and sectors. In this episode, Akua welcomes Joko to chat about her perspective on being able to evolve and adjust the definition of success. Joko is the founder of Joko Edu, a stationary company using storytelling to highlight and preserve the rich culture and history of Africa. She tells the story of how she fell in love with history while going to Gustavus Adolphus College in the US. There she learned US history from many perspectives and wished she knew the same about her home country of Nigeria. Eventually, this curiosity would inspire her to create Joko Edu. From banking to the education sector, bag design, and finally, entrepreneurship, find out how Joko has evolved her definition of success and learned how letting go is not a sign of failure.

Episode Notes

Get inspired by Jokotola Edu "Joko," an entrepreneur who has pivoted careers several times and has a wealth of experiences in different countries and sectors. In this episode, Akua welcomes Joko to chat about her perspective on being able to evolve and adjust the definition of success. 

Joko is the founder of Joko Edu, a stationary company using storytelling to highlight and preserve the rich culture and history of Africa. She tells the story of how she fell in love with history while going to Gustavus Adolphus College in the US. There she learned US history from many perspectives and wished she knew the same about her home country of Nigeria. Eventually, this curiosity would inspire her to create Joko Edu. 

From banking to the education sector, bag design, and finally, entrepreneurship, find out how Joko has evolved her definition of success and learned how letting go is not a sign of failure. 

Highlights In This Episode: 

• Joko describes her background and how she came to be an entrepreneur. 
• She talks about how learning history can help us avoid past mistakes.
• Joko describes her fascinating education experiences, including doing a study abroad in Europe while already abroad in the US.
• Akua and Joko talk about the educational system in Nigeria and how Joko found herself working in the public sector as a teacher in a village.
• Learn how Joko decided to shift away from bag design after her passion for it disappeared and how she felt when she let it go.
• Discover why Joko started her stationary business and how she uses storytelling to help promote Africa's history and culture.
• Joko talks about her new journal that she will launch soon, called: Inscribe, including fun, non-traditional writing prompts to help users evoke joy.
• Akua asks Joko about living in a challenging city like Lagos and reminds us that it's okay to acknowledge when we live in a challenging situation.

A note from Akua: Enjoy this podcast content and guests? These are the kinds of conversations (and amazing humans) we will have in my new community and container. If you are an action-oriented and accomplished professional who is pivoting into service-based entrepreneurship and are ready to get out of theory and into practice, join my waitlist to cut through the noise and get to the money here: www.akuanm.com/cheatcode

Contact with Jokotola Edu: 

Joko’s personal IG: @jokotolaedu
Website: Jokoedu.com
Instagram: @jokoedu
Linked In: @joko-edu
Twitter: @Joko Edu

Connect with Akua Nyame-Mensah:

Instagram: @akua_nm
Website: www.akuanm.com
LinkedIn: @Akua Nyame-Mensah
Twitter: @akua_nm
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