Interview with LIGS Ambassador Anthonia Okpaegbe
We are honored to introduce you our brilliant LIGS Ambassador Anthonia Okpaegbe from Nigeria!
Hello Tonia, could you please tell us something about yourself? Can you briefly describe your career path?
My name is Anthonia Okpaegbe (nee Ajalie). I work for Airtel Networks Limited Nigeria in the Marketing Department as Video & Movies Lead. I am responsible for our Movies, Video & Digital Entertainment Genre where we develop products or packages around video services (such as series, and movies on subscription or transactional basis).
I started out as a customer care representative for 2 years, then I moved to a technical role for another 5 years. In 2014, I moved to marketing, specifically to project management.
Why did you choose to pursue your career in Project Management?
As a support engineer, I worked on several projects and I started to enjoy it. It feels good to be involved in a project that meets consumers’ needs; nothing like a satisfied customer at the end of the project! Plus I get to learn new things each day and work with interesting people from different teams.
At LIGS University, you obtained an MBA in Project Management. Do you think it helped your career? Why did you decide to obtain an MBA?
Yes I think this MBA is one of the best things that happened to me. I had always been a Science student then made the switch from technical to Marketing, starting out without requisite business skills. One of the first courses I took was Marketing and it helped me understand customer needs, pricing, branding, promotion, advertising, selling etc, basically arming me with every tool I needed to help me on the job.
What courses have you liked the most? Have you learnt something that you used in your practice already?
I really liked Management, Marketing, Strategic Management, Marketing Communication, Global Marketing, and Intercultural Communication. These courses help me each day on the job, I also learnt so much from Intercultural communication because it helped me understand my foreign partners and customers better.
Why did you choose to study at LIGS University? What do you think about online form of education?
I was looking for a self-paced online program that would enable me learn and work simultaneously. I chose LIGS University because it gave me the flexibility to study at my convenience.
Is online education getting more popular in Nigeria, or is it still a minor thing?
I think online education is getting more popular in Nigeria unlike a few years back. Previously Nigerians used to travel out of the country to study but lately it has become difficult to access foreign currency hence people started looking for an alternative, hence online education.
What are the biggest achievements in your career?
With little or no support from management, in an area that had hitherto gathered dust, I managed to grow my revenue by 46% over the last 6 months!
What is the most important project/task you are facing right now?
I have been tasked with growing the revenue for a relatively new genre with little support from management. I have to create new entertainment services and grow the revenue of existing services. I have no staff, no advertising budget and limited options for marketing but my target keeps growing.
What do education and personal development mean to you? Why is further education so important to you?
To me personal development means improving and building my skills and talent. Learning is an everyday process, developing myself will help me to realize my dreams as well as improve my quality of life by ensuring I am employable or bringing me one step closer to my dream job.
Anything else you’d like to share with us?
LIGS University has contributed positively to my life and my job and I am so glad I enrolled for the MBA!
Read more about Anthonia HERE.