John Maxwell Certified Coach | Speaker & Trainer
Leadership & HR Consultant | Events Engineer | SME Business Advisor | Youth Mentor
My journey started way back in Nigeria where I mostly grew up. After secondary school in 1999, I joined a youth organization in the year 2000 that was positioned to help the youth discover their God given talent and destiny to become fulfilled persons and impact society positively. I also worked a lot with experienced people to learn a lot about the world of work before gaining admission into the university.
What were the biggest initial hurdles and how did you overcome them?
During that time as a youth leader, I was also struggling with my academics to get good grades for the university. But I kept failing mathematics and chemistry because I figured I was supposed to be a medical doctor. After several attempts, I decided to choose a less demanding career like pharmacy and food science and technology, yet I still failed. In 2007, I had to make a decision that would turn my life around after battling with depression, low self-esteem, and being suicidal. It was until I discovered my purpose in life, after 9 years of failing, and trying to get good grades for the university, that I was able to scale through academically in 2012 with a first class in Human resource management after relocating to Ghana for study in 2008. I also discovered my strengths and uniqueness and used them to my advantage. I studied more and associated with friends who were smarter and also made sure I had my priorities right. I also had to believe in myself and trust God more to lead me to where my assignment would take me. Further, I fell on role models and mentors for guidance and gave myself to reading books on motivation and personal development.
Any advice to an upcoming youth or talents locally and internationally?
My advice to upcoming youth or talents locally and internationally would be that they should not fear pain, loss, failure, or rejection, rather they should see them as part of life for growth, learn to turn their challenges into purpose, their loss into inspiration, and adversity into opportunity. In order to attain their goals and aspirations as future leaders in their space or fields, they need to look upward to God through faith, look inward, push past cynicism, and self-doubt, in order to bring about change within and around them and also focus their minds on positivity and develop the right association through networking, and mentorship as well as develop social and emotional intelligence for both local and global impact.
Social Media Handles:
Facebook – Coach Ema
Linkedin – Emmaline Datey
Instagram - @emativator_gh
Twitter - @emadatey