It’s been 1095 days
This is a love story, and the story only gives that oomph if I start from the beginning — the time before our love.
⚠️Warning! It looks like this will be a long one, so brace yourself.
In August 2021, I was nearing the end of my postgraduate program at the Nigerian University of Technology and Management and glitching in the vortex that my anxiety had stormed up (picture that scene in the movie Inside Out 2 where Anxiety was losing her shit. Yup! That one)
The constant thoughts in my head were, “What if I fail? What if I have to go back to law school after this? What if my parents begin to question my decision-making and judgment? Most importantly, what if I have to move back home?” At the time, I hadn’t lived with my folks for about eight years—I wasn’t about to do that now.
All my job applications were falling short. My anxiety wasn’t just about the dread of returning to my parent’s house because I didn’t have a source of income. It was that I decided to take a very different path from what my undergraduate classmates had done — ditching law school and pursuing a tech career. This was a very non-conventional choice for someone who classifies herself as risk averse.
So, on Wednesday, August 11, 2021, I walked from the campus dormitory and visited one of my closest and oldest friends, Lily, who lived 15 minutes away. We shared the dream of being a lawyer when we were juniors in secondary school. Safe to say I ditched her. She was already a lawyer in a law firm, and I was jobless and clueless but maintaining composure. I knew I wanted to be a software engineer, and I could already write a few lines of code, but that was about it.
Lily was looking to go in-house. She was growing disillusioned with law firm work. As a Twitter addict deeply entrenched in the tech ecosystem, I was scrolling in my usual fashion while we caught up on the latest in our lives. I already knew of Mono; its product was the talk of Tech Twitter NG streets. They were hiring for a legal role, so I opened the workable page to share with Lily. I shared this with her and continued checking the page. Out of curiosity, I saw the role of Product Onboarding Specialist.
With a grimace, I muttered, “What does that even mean?” The job description was detailed but not enough for Keyu. I googled the role and didn’t get much to go on either. On second look at the J.D., I decided it didn’t look too hard (this is very funny in retrospect because I nearly died in my first six months) and sent an application without much thought.
At around 7:15 pm, about two hours after I submitted my application, someone responded via email. It was the CEO, Abdul Hassan ( or, as I would later come to refer to him, A.B.). I was in shock. Why would the CEO himself email me? We had some correspondence and settled on an interview time for the next day. During the interview, he asked me some questions, which I answered to the best of my abilities, and there was one I bombed.
I remember him sharing his screen and telling me what Mono is all about, pointing the cursor to the accounts page of the old Mono dashboard, and saying, “Look at this dashboard. What do you think is missing?”
Bruh, I spent the next 30 seconds staring at the screen in panic with my jaws open, silently gasping for air. My thoughts looked similar to this.
What am I supposed to see?
What does this person want me to see?
Should I talk about the colour and design structure?
But the design looks fantastic to me.
Wait! Is there a misspelled word?
Quickly scans again
Nope! Nothing like that
Mentally sheds hot tears 😭
Damn, I am fucked!
(P.S. It was much worse and more intense, but this is a ‘lite’ version)
After 30 seconds, he responded in a calm, almost comical voice (it felt like he was chuckling at me).
“A search bar. It needs a search bar since it is a table showing lots of information you need to be able to search through it.”
I thought, “Oh, For Fuck’s Sake! Of course, it needs a search bar; why didn’t I think of that? I am definitely not getting hired as I have just displayed a cluster fuckery of pure airheadedness” (I swear a lot more in my head than I do verbally — so you don’t have to worry about my gentrification skills).
Ultimately, he asked me if I had done the assessment test attached to the application (I hadn’t). He asked me to get that done, and I did. I assume I passed the test because, on August 13, he emailed me one line: “Hi, I see you have done the test, qq: What’s your salary expectations, and when can you start?”
Again, in another moment of panic, I asked my friends how much was ideal/reasonable (because I am a very grounded person). They gave suggestions. I screamed and called them robbers without guns. We settled on an amount that didn’t feel too heavy for my fingers to type, and I sent a response. He immediately responded with a counteroffer that fell right on my BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement — a term I learned during my negotiation class in my postgraduate program). I accepted without hesitation; I wasn’t going to test my luck.
I would later learn that this is how AB works; he is efficient, fast, decisive, and hands-on (which can also be a pain in the ass sometimes), not just with hiring but with the company as well.
Sidebar: a lot has changed now. Mono now has processes, and salaries have ranges and bands depending on your role and seniority. I am not sure if anyone ever gets to meet the A.B. except at the final stage (I haven’t been rehired since I joined, so don’t ask me)
Back to my journey, I was elated. I now had a job in the industry I wanted, which was one step toward my goals. As it turns out, I am not the best at displaying joy. I feel it; I genuinely do. But my excitement for my wins usually peaks at a wide grin, a bashful smile (of which I turn red), and an impulsive sorbet purchase.
On Tuesday, August 17, 2021, at 1:20 pm, I signed my offer letter to join Mono Technologies LTD. Then, I was informed that I would be starting on October 4, 2021. I graduated from postgrad in September and spent the time off visiting my parents, house hunting, and getting settled in Lagos.
My work P.C. and swag box were delivered to me via couriers, and I received instructions on how to set it up via email. I was onboarded alongside Lara(Product Specialist like me), Dara(Sales), and Ola (Product). I was told I would be on the Partner Operations team under Growth. One of the questions we were often asked when we met the other teams was, “What’s your long-term goal?” I made it clear from the get-go I wanted to be a software engineer and join the engineering team. Translation: I am here for a good time, not a long time, MFJPM ✌🏼. The joke's on me because I spent all three years on the Growth/Partner-Operations team (and I loved it, most of the time).
At Mono, I learned what it truly meant to take ownership of a product, End-to-End (e2e). My role involved closely working with every department in the company to ensure the satisfaction of my accounts (businesses). For someone as introverted and people-averse as I am, the first few months were hellish. I didn’t understand what I was being thrown into.
I was introduced to my Line Manager, Ahmed, on day one. He led the Partner-ops team at the time. I was also informed that I would work closely with Tinu (Partner Success). One of the first things he told us was, “Your job is to make sure our partners are happy and they don’t leave.” My role was a hybrid of account manager, customer success, and product analyst. I worked with the product and engineering team to resolve escalated issues and advocate for features and products that my businesses wanted while doing everything I could to retain their accounts.
Ahmed would eventually become one of my favourite people at Mono and the best line manager of all time (I am sorry, Master Jen). I don’t know if anyone will ever beat his record, but I have a long career ahead of me, so let’s keep that tab open. I think what made Ahmed great at managing me (I can’t speak for other people) was not just the fact that he was good at his job but that he understood me as a person. He quickly honed in on my strengths, weaknesses, and quirks while leveraging what was needed and trying to build what was lacking. Boy, oh boy, did he push me; he was always happy to throw me into the deep end and watch me fight to stay afloat with no life jacket. It was sometimes upsetting, but I appreciated the push from time to time as I often underestimated my capacity.
Sometimes, Ahmed would call or message outside business hours to respond to a partner message via Email or Slack or test an endpoint or business connection that was acting up. Let me tell you something: If you work in Nigerian fintech in any way, you are the wicked, and there is no sleep for you. I am a huge advocate of work-life balance, so this was dreadful for me. Thankfully, it didn’t happen enough for me to consider quitting.
At Mono, I learned how to ask questions. I got comfortable with not knowing and being humble enough to ask questions and gain clarity. I learned how to properly work in a team, not in the one-person army silo I was used to. I was accustomed to solving all my problems myself (as the smarty-pants I am), but at Mono, this wasn’t always enough. I learned to lean into my teammates' strengths and ask for help when it was beyond my capacity. I learned what it took to build a product and how to make tangible contributions to product conversations and point out product loopholes because I see things from both the perspective of a business and the end user. Most importantly, I am learning to advocate for myself and toot my horn. I use present continuous because this is the one thing I have found most challenging and still struggle with.
I also taught people on my team how to manage their time and be better organized. I helped to create processes that fostered a better culture of documentation. I was an excellent sounding board for analyzing and solving problems (I am saying this so you don’t think I was utterly helpless and useless; I did my part, too, duh)
In April 2022, I signed up for an advanced software engineering course using my learning budget. The fact that the company paid for it made me extra accountable (in addition to my drive and desire to learn more).
When February 2023 came, Lara and Tinu (we joined around the same time and had practically the same responsibilities) were promoted, but I wasn’t. I was pretty sad. I had spent over a year in the company and had nothing to show for it (or so I thought). I consoled myself that being or growing within the Partner-operations team wasn’t my goal anyway; I wanted to work as a software engineer, so not being promoted didn’t matter (scoffs, the lies we tell ourselves).
Jen (My manager) opened my eyes to view growth through a different lens than the one I had used to block my eyes ( I tend to have tunnel vision when I set my eyes on a goal). She made me understand that growth doesn’t have to be how I envisioned it. I had grown, just not in the ways I was paying attention to. The biggest lesson from this was not attaching my failure to my sense of self-worth.
I recalibrated and focused on my original goal using what I had learned from the 2022 course. I took extra tasks in the team and consciously put my best foot forward. King helped me outline what I needed to know and learn to succeed in my target role. He was always available to answer my many questions, too. In June 2023, I transitioned to becoming a Technical Product Specialist, which became official in July.
He may not know it because I have never told him (and maybe never will, except if someone shares this with him), but I greatly admire and deeply respect Abdul. He isn’t perfect, but if I ever start a company, I want to be a leader like him. I don’t always work closely with him, but one of my hobbies is people-watching, so I often spend my free time observing. And honestly, with the way he is, it is hard not to see except if you are blind, and even then, you’ll hear it — The Passionate Leadership.
I have beef with a lot of Nigerian founders/business owners. From their behaviours, public dispositions, and discussions (i.e., Twitter), they always have the air that they are doing their employees a favour by employing them. I think these founders seem to forget, or maybe they don’t even know that when you start a company and employ people, it’s like taking a ship to sea. If you treat the crew like shit, the boat will ultimately capsize or get damaged. No one is doing the other a favour; we are all doing this together. The captain /co-captains job is to lead and provide direction while the crew takes ownership and does their part of the job. As a leader, hiring means you not only become responsible for these teammates but also indirectly for their families. When you mess with these people, you also mess with their families. That is why the verbal callousness on social media is concerning and rubs me the wrong way.
The Mono Leadership genuinely cares for its teammates; considering the unease of doing business in Nigeria, they are worth the applause and flowers (at least in my book, but don’t take my word for it; I am quite easy to please). They seem to have the simple business understanding that loving, trusting, and taking care of your team is good for business because those people, in turn, give their all. Granted, there will always be a few rotten eggs, but that doesn’t make the ideal of being a kind business owner any less valid. People will give back what you give to them.
AB works harder than the rest of us; I don’t think we can outwork him. Sometimes, I check Slack at 8 a.m. and see that AB responded to messages at 3 a.m. I think to myself, " Doesn’t he sleep? At least he should watch Netflix or something …”
My favourite days were product demo days. AB’s excitement when talking about a new product or feature being launched was infectious. (It felt like the excitement of a kid who can’t wait to play with a new toy.) This was fascinating for a nerd like me and refreshing as an employee.
But it isn’t just his love for the products; it’s his keen eye for hiring great people who do their jobs excellently and giving them the free rein to handle things that are not his strengths (believe it or not, delegating is hard). Fostering a culture of transparency, openness, and mutual respect while maintaining a delicate balance between processes and flexibility is an arduous venture.
This may seem like the bare minimum to many people, but it meant a lot to me, considering where I came from. Often, when Freda (People Lead) shared the company-wide survey, which happened at least quarterly, my response to the question “What can we do better ?” was “You are doing great, keep it up” because I genuinely wanted or needed nothing more.
It’s been five years since I decided to abandon a career in law and pursue one in tech. I am leaving Mono as a Senior Technical Product Specialist after three years. I am a software engineer. I have built applications, written and maintained the API documentation, and written technical articles. I handled developer relations, managed the Slack community, and organized developer workshop sessions and Twitter spaces. I have assisted countless businesses with onboarding, sat with developers on innumerable long calls debugging, and helped them integrate and go live with Mono’s APIs.
I want to toot my horn, you know, give numbers and metrics, but this isn’t a performance assessment, and frankly, no one gives a damn. It's just vanity points, so you all know I am great at my work.
I don’t know if this is the start of me publicly speaking about what I do as a career, but for the first time, it doesn’t feel so hard talking about it. I am not ready to tell you about my next adventure just yet, but I can only tell you that I am super excited about the prospects and what the next few years will look like.
I think my biggest growth over the past few years has been confidence. I have always been bold and quite brazen, but career-wise, deep down, I was always full of doubt. I doubted my abilities, skills, and talents. But over the last few years, I have grown to trust and believe in myself.
But like every great love story, it must end at some point, for whatever reason. Mono is 4 years old, and I spent 3 years with them. It has been one hell of a ride, but I have never for one day regretted getting on this train. Although my journey ends here, I am always rooting for Mono — a fan girl anytime, any day.
With this, I say “Veni, vidi, vici…”
Keyukemi Ubi,
Technical Product Specialist,
Mono Technologies LTD.
(Oct 4, 2021 — Oct 4, 2024).
