Networking Your Way Up, Navigating Cultural Transitions, and Giving Back to Nigeria with Olumide Gbenro (Ep 61)

Hear how career expectations and early failures shaped his path to entrepreneurship, world travel, and social impact. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE Olumide Gbenro takes us on his journey growing up in Lagos, Nigeria and then navigating the cultural transitions as his family moved to the UK and eventually the US, all by the time he was in high school.  After getting two master's degrees, learning multiple languages, and being on a career path to make his parents proud, Olumide shares the transitionary moment when he had an emotional conversation with his parents and decided to change his life course and pursue his passion of entrepreneurship and world travel.  He opens up about the hard times of sleeping on multiple peoples’ couches and failing multiple times before finally being able to build a digital agency, stabilize his income, grow his following and influence on social media, and live the digital nomad lifestyle. He explains the crucial role of networking and provides specific tips and examples of how to effectively network both online and in person.  He also shares techniques for effective personal brand building and the similarities and differences with business brand building. He then shares specific tactics for monetizing your audience. Olumide then talks about what travel means to him, shares his #1 travel memory, and discusses the importance of connecting with locals, especially in ex-pat-heavy locations. He then talks about social awareness and environmental sustainability that travelers need to be conscious of as the digital nomad movement grows. Olumide shares his personal passion for giving back to his home country of Nigeria and discusses his “globo-water” initiative to build water wells in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa.  And finally, he discusses his latest initiative, the Digital Nomad Summit which is expected to draw over 500 nomads in Bali. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU See my Top 10 Travel Apps See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!