Teamwork, Humor and Fintech: Interview with 2022 Noonies Nominee Valerie Ejegi

Howdy Hackers!

I’m Valerie and I’m in Business Operations @ Squad, a payment company in Nigeria.

First off, I’d like to express my gratitude to the staff, and all other beautiful humans of HackerNoon, for nominating me for a 2022 Noonies award!

I’ve been nominated for the following categories and if you think my writing offers good value, please take some time to check out these award pages and vote for me:

1. HACKERNOON CONTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR- HUMOR

2. ALL ABOUT TEAMWORK

   
   

As a writer in the tech industry, I believe that Fintech is the most exciting technology of the present because the world revolves around technology, payments, and finance. The interview below explains my views on embedded finance and my journey in the tech industry.

1. What do you currently do and what’s your favorite part about it?

I work in a payment company - Squad in Nigeria. We launched in June 2022 and it’s been an exciting experience so far. The best part of what I do is having to interact with customers, getting to know how Squad has helped them with their payment needs. Getting to discover how much more we can enhance the product to suit their needs even better. The truth is every great product starts and ends with our customers and we never want to lose sight of that.

2. How did you get started with your Tech Career?

I started my career in the bank even though I majored in CS. In my country at the time, it was the next best field for new graduates if they could not get into oil and gas. I started in customer service and gradually moved to different departments in the company. Teller services, loans, products, promotions, e-commerce, and experiential marketing with a lot of focus on SMEs. This was the discovering phase of my corporate life and I’m thankful for the exposure. With the proliferation of fintech and my experience, my move into the fintech space was only natural and I’m excited about the future.

3. If Utopia were a color what color do you think it’d be and why?

I would choose blue. Why blue? Well for one, it’s my favorite colour. 🙂

Many illustrations - blue skies, blue seas, blue eyes, etc. - most times evoke peace, tranquility, and security and these are the elements that foster inspiration and innovation, especially in a world of chaos and instability.

4. If everything about HackerNoon changed drastically, what is one detail you’d like to keep exactly the same?  OR What’s your favorite thing to do with HackerNoon and why?

The liberty to write as one chooses - as freely but as humanely as possible.

5. Tell us more about the things you write/make/manage/build!

My love for writing started some twenty-something years ago. I never knew I was capable of writing till I tried it one day. I like writing about my experiences and the experiences of others. I particularly love humorous content. I have always believed that if written content, without the help of facial expressions, body movements, videos, pictures, or sound, was hilarious, then, the humor was as original and existential as can be. Humor in tech takes it to a whole new level because let’s face it, technology is generally perceived to be a field that’s for nerds and geeks who need to be serious to be taken seriously which is one of the reasons why I love stories on HackerNoon. It’s home to several talented, charismatic and amusing tech writers.

6. What’s your favorite thing about the internet?

I live for the memes on the internet.

On any platform, I find them but more like on a place like HackerNoon that already encourages this. Humor just like Love is all around us and in us. Like with all skills, it takes a bit of soul searching to discover, harness, and nurture them but it’s there. It never left. And while adulthood has a way of damping that inner child that loves to laugh, we have to protect that child within cause without it, we start to lose our essence, our humanity, our soul.

7. It’s an apocalypse of ‘walking dead’ proportions and you can only own a singular piece of technology, what would it be?

It has to be a mobile phone for me. Beyond the primary reason for mobile phones which is the ease of communication, the mobile phone has become a necessary piece of technology able to provide multiple functions. As with several devices or tech tools, without access to the internet, there’s a limit to how much a phone can do these days but I have now come to accept my mobile phone does so much for me without me realizing it.

8. What is your least favorite thing about the internet?

The intrusion and lack of privacy get to me now and then. I recall times when I needed to search the internet for a word or item but I’ll have to open a web browser in incognito mode to avoid getting flustered with unending product recommendations from google. And I’m sure this still does not puts me in the clear from robots eavesdropping on my conversations.

9. If you were given $10 million to invest in something today what would you invest in and why?

In my country, where commerce is limited by so many crucial factors, I would want to do something different in the commerce space. Using creative and practical ways to solve problems on funding, logistics, sourcing, distribution, and everything along the supply chain.

10. What’s something you’re currently learning or excited to learn?

I recently came across the learning platform interaction design foundation. I have been learning about UX/UI on and off but am excited to take an actual course and start applying myself in this somewhat new territory.

11. Would you rather travel 10 years into the past or 10 years into the future? Give reasons for your answer.

Why do I feel like this is a trick question? lol

10 years in the past will have me looking younger so I’ll definitely be rooting for that if it’s up for voting 😄

I have been fortunate in the past 10 years and TBH, I’ll love to do it all again but maybe a little differently, not because I have regret but rather to have more impact with what I now know.