Koromone Koroye

What experiences led you to technology and how did you develop the skills to compete in the industry?

I wiggled my way into the technology industry in 2014. I landed an internship with Mashable in their travel editorial department, and I spent about a year working out of their office in New York. Mashable gave me my first taste of the cool, startup life; everything from the snack cupboard, daily meetings, dress code, and the office space. Even though most of my work entered around writing and research, I was enamoured by the tech review and water cooler videos that were written, directed and shot in a green room in the office.

When I moved back to Nigeria a year later, I shelved my interest in the tech scene and became a personal trainer (I’m a bit of a gym rat). A year later, I found myself teaching English and English Literature at a British school in Lekki. At the tail end of 2017, I was ready for a new role in a new industry. I put out a tweet (twitter really come through!), I received a direct message an hour later about a small financial technology startup that was looking for a communications associate. I applied, landed the role and was thrust into the crazy world of finance, payment technology, and much more. That small company was called Flutterwave, and well, it’s not so small anymore.

Where developing skills are concerned, because I did not come from a finance or technical background, I spent hours researching and learning about the Fintech industry and all its key players around the world. I needed to know what I was communicating and I needed to know as quickly as possible.

How has your background helped/differentiated you in the tech industry?

I’m a storyteller – before I write a story, I ask leading questions with the aim to move past the mechanical and cliche, and instead draw out the emotions and truth. Because I bring my creative and storytelling skills to the table, I have been able to speak the language of the tech industry in a unique and exciting way. I take the technical information, read it, digest it, and then produce a story that will speak to a wider audience base. Telling a brand’s story is less about the brand and more about the customers/clients they are trying to convince to buy into them or the product/service they are selling.

What advice would you give to women considering a career in technology? What do you wish you had known?

My advice: Don’t be afraid to negotiate. Ask a lot of questions – there is no reward for being ignorant. Be absolutely confident in who you are without being an ice queen. Make it a habit to build meaningful relationships in the industry without losing your core values.

What do I wish I had known: I wish I had known that a job title does not define you. I became incredibly attached to my role at Flutterwave (I really loved my job), and it took a while for me to realise I had put every other aspect of my life in the backseat and my work life was racing through the expressway of life without any desire to slow down. I wish I had known how important it is to balance work and life – it won’t be an equal balance but one should not bully the other.