Your company determines your altitude

It was one year since Precious decided to exit the circle of friends she had been in for years and the difference in her life was remarkable. In that time, she had gotten nominated for “Upcoming Entrepreneur of the Year” award by one of the top Business Management Consulting firms in the country. As she looked back, she realised that it was worth the pain and drama that had followed her decision. A time came in everyone’s life when they had to make life-altering choices and she had made hers.

Precious had schooled in one of the foremost private universities in Nigeria where she’d met her friends. They had bonded from the very first lecture they attended together and soon became inseparable. The group was called “Enjoyment Baby Girls”; their parents were affluent and no expense was spared when it came to their upkeep. Their only aim was to enjoy life while their parents picked the bills. Even though their academics suffered sometimes because parties had to be attended, who needed good grades when Daddy’s money was there.

They all managed to graduate and the ‘balling’ lifestyle continued. There was little talk on how their career or business paths were going to look like, as there was really no need to earn an income, that is, until Gracie’s father died suddenly.

Gracie’s father was an Oil and Gas mogul who had several wives and many children. It was discovered at his death that he had not left behind a will, and that was when things started falling apart for Gracie’s family. The different factions hit the courts and the cash flow froze. Gracie had become distraught for a bit until a ‘family friend’ of her father had offered to ‘take care of her’ in exchange for her companionship. She had accepted the offer but it had jolted Precious into stark reality.

Her parents were still alive and well, and still kept supplying her with everything she needed. She was 23 years old and she knew that she wasn’t too young to start thinking about an independent future. Her parents had literally built their business empire from the ground up, and she knew absolutely that it wasn’t by partying and not having any skills. She appreciated their not wanting her to suffer like they did, but if she was even going to achieve a bit of their success, she would have to do things differently. Her parents didn’t have to die for her to ‘receive sense’. It was best she learnt from her friend’s experience.

That was the beginning of a new journey for her and she decided to share the thrilling news with her friends. The only problem was that none of them was thrilled for her. They rather discouraged her and told her that if she started ‘hustling’, people would think her parents had fallen on hard times. She told them that she was going to enrol in Business School to help her gain new skills and as such, would not be as available as she used to be. They all laughed at her and reminded her that of her grades and lifestyle in the university, how would her ‘enjoyment brain’ understand Business School?

To say she was crushed by their attitude was an understatement, and she soon discovered that all of them had blocked her on social media while telling her that she could come back to them whenever her spell of madness ended. It took a few days to recover from this ‘breakfast’ she had been served and with the support of her understanding family, Precious started off on the new journey of her life.

As a result of her determination and the goodwill from her parents, Precious made giant strides in her first year of business which further boosted her resolve to do more. She also had a business mentor who guided her and helped her start up properly.

Along the way, she had met and bonded with new friends who had similar values and drive as she did and this compensated for the loss of her old friends. She knew that she would never have recorded the success she currently had with them. Her altitude had changed as her company changed.