From accidental influencer to thriving CEO, Chikumo shares her inspiring journey through content creation, business management, and personal growth.

Discover how implementing systems and asking for help transformed her life and business. If you've ever felt overwhelmed juggling life and entrepreneurship, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in to learn invaluable insights on balancing it all!

Transcript below!

You can connect with Chikumo here:

Links: https://snipfeed.co/chikumof

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Ellie McBride: Welcome back Chikumo Um, it's really good to have you back on the podcast and this video series. Um, you've been here before talking about all things, content creation and content and its role in website design. But today we're going to really pivot and we're going to talk about more of the business side of business, uh, sort of the admin, the backend.
And so before we get into that, I want to tell you all Who Chikumo is. Chikumo and I have known each other at this stage for, I don't know, five ish years, probably, um, I know, wild.
Chikumo Fiseko: I
know.
Ellie McBride: were on, uh, the Lean In Entrepreneurs Committee, the local Lean In Entrepreneurs Committee together for a few years. The last couple of years, we've been together in a brunch club, a business brunch club.
Chikumo Fiseko: Yep.
Ellie McBride: We've worked together off and on with various clients and projects over the years as well. Um, but Chikumo is a multi passionate serial entrepreneur. She has, has, and has had more businesses than I can even name for you right now. Um, she's a blogger, content creator, creator, and as she says, accidental influencer, um,
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah. I love that you know all this off by heart as well.
Ellie McBride: And, um, she was one of those that you have your degree in business management, which I've not, not done. And a lot of entrepreneurs haven't done. Um, and then you, but you originally started through your passion and it's just bundled and spun. And as you've picked up skills, you've shared your skills and it's become this, you went from being, you know, a very, very good baker, essentially, like
that was your business to.
So many other businesses in between to have now being, having your marketing agency and your own personal endeavors as well.
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah.
Ellie McBride: That's so cool.
Chikumo Fiseko: You put that all together so well. I was hearing that and I was like, Oh my God, that is me. Like you forget that like on this whole journey, like you're doing things that other people are seeing, but even for the fact that you could say about the accidental influencer, that's, as well as you showing me like my content and repeating some of those messages, like it does
Ellie McBride: But so can you fill in some gaps? Tell us a bit about your business, why you started it, what brought you to where you are today?
Chikumo Fiseko: I started CF marketing because I'd been blogging for a while, and like you said, I became an accidental influencer, but that's really because I was authentic. I talked about things that I guess people weren't used to seeing online, like mental health. I remember one of my first blogs I was talking, because I, I grew up with people of different denominations and faiths, so I remember having a conversation with one of my Muslim friends about what they believe after they die.
And, obviously, I, I, not obviously, but I'm a Catholic, and I talked about it from, like, my point of view, and as someone that believes in God, I also believe in a bit of everything, like, I'm sat looking at tarot cards in front of me, so I've never kind of fit into a mould, I just, I love to learn from everyone, and I love to What have shared experiences because I think you learn a lot from that.
And whenever I stopped blogging, I get messages from people like, why have you stopped? And these will be people that I might have gone to primary school with, and I've not talked to for years and surprised me so much because I didn't think people cared or were bothered. And it really spurred me to carry on.
And, um, I was, when the pandemic started a few months in, I was about to be made redundant for the second time in two years. And it just demoralized me because like you said, I did my business degree because I was in business and I used to want to do biomedical engineering. And my mom and dad sat me down one day and they were like, you're waking up at like four o'clock in the morning to get to college for five, 6am to bake and start college at 10.
Like my first class used to be business and they were like, You're doing two very separate things and you're going to burn out. So maybe if business is your passion and that's what you're enjoying, maybe look at doing a business degree and you don't have to decide now. And I sat with my cousin and we looked at lots of different business degrees because he was doing business at the time.
And um, he then just said, just do a generic business degree. And that's when I did business and enterprise management. And then my dad got ill, um, which then made me move to Northern Ireland and I finished on a 2 2. Thank you. The circumstances around that were really frustrating because I basically got a lecture saying, a lecturer saying, if we knew everything you did outside of uni, which they did, I'd have given you, because I missed by like 0.
05%, um, I'd have given you the marks. And I was like, it should not be that. But even then you tell us and you promote running businesses. And at that point I was a public speaker. I was doing all these. And I've done amazing things with amazing people on stages where I was like, this is my life. And I got into product development.
So that's kind of the start of like my multi passionate life because I just met people that saw something in me and were like, you ask I'll give I'll, I'll give it to you. So I asked sometimes and they gave me opportunities. So all of a sudden I'm Public speaking. I'm, uh, going to supermarkets and presenting products I'm working on that are still in supermarkets now.
And my dad got ill, so I thought, I just want to be a daughter for a year. Maybe write a little bit more and blog a little bit more, and then see where that goes. And touch wood, and thank God my dad's okay now. But I went to Queen's, I finished on a 2 1, proved to myself that I wasn't a failure. Because again, like, a daughter.
the background of all that. I went through so much in that time and I did international business at Queen's and to be made, to obviously go through this path where, like I'm an immigrant child, when your parents pack up all of their lives, my mum left with two suitcases and started again. So there was always this pressure that I put on myself, I guess, that I needed to Prove that I could do things and to get to that point where I've done everything that the elders told me to do To then be made redundant twice from a small business and a big corporate It just broke me and I talked to one of my friends because I won a competition when I was in college And it was a business competition.
We got a trip to moscow and I took my friend because I knew how that system worked and they wanted you to work with someone and he was just a bit of an advisor. So I took him on the trip and he was like, I didn't do anything. I was like, doesn't matter. I'm not paying for it. And you did help me. So I think I've always been a people person and I've always really treasured those friendships.
So I spoke to this friend and I was like, I just need some advice. What am I going to do? What am I going to focus on? Do I apply? I'm applying. Actually, I was applying for jobs at that time and even jobs where someone kind of knew me, they'd stop after two days taking in applications because they were getting so many.
So all of a sudden I found myself struggling to get a job with decent degrees. All this experience I had, I was like, well, Blogging and influencing is bringing money in and when we looked at it He was like, why don't you focus on that and go back to baking keep doing that in the meantime You've built enough because people are then doing like postal packages Focus on the marketing the blogging side and that year of just being a daughter I'd really built my profile.
So the influencer side was bringing in money that I was then like, okay this Is something this can work and yeah, that's kind of how I got into CF marketing because I realized that everything I was doing, I'd worked with global brands. I'd worked with local brands. I'd worked with different varieties of people that no one needed to know that it was just a one man band at that time.
And now I've got a team of what, like six, seven people. So I slowly just kind of built it up and it's turned into its own thing that again, I would never like, it's an agency, but we specialize not only in content, I'm now a COO for one of the clients because he loves how I do things and how I work with people and figure things out.
And what part of, I guess, what we will talk about is a system side of that. And that's how I got into. This role that I never studied for, I didn't know I was doing, and it's, yeah, it's just, it's opened doors that I didn't realise could be opened.
Ellie McBride: Very, very, very cool journey to, to where you currently are. So I think. Um, I want to talk about thinking about you and I haven't actually directly worked together. So I want to be really transparent in this series about that. We are on the cusp of working together and doing an overhaul of some of your website and your systems, which I can't, I can't wait for.
Chikumo Fiseko: I got a P. A. yesterday, so it's, it's getting there. We're nearly there.
Ellie McBride: so, um, but with all of our work together on the committee, Uh, through the brunch club and through mutual clients, you have gleaned and taken on loads of advice that you've learned from me. So I kind of thought you'd be a really interesting case study for what it's like to do your own systems, but through having known and worked with me, um, indirectly, right?
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah,
Ellie McBride: So if you can think back over, you know, over the last couple of years, What were some of the biggest challenges you were facing before you started implementing the things you've learned from knowing me and working with me?
Chikumo Fiseko: working, or even just when we knew each other and from Lean In, I'm the oldest daughter and an oldest immigrant daughter, and I think there's this pressure that you just have to it all figured out and do it all yourself. And I started learning from you You don't have to do it all yourself and you can put things in place.
I think I didn't even realize I did put systems in place. So if you first taught me that some of the things I was doing, they were systems, but also that you could have systems in business and in life. And really should work together because as an entrepreneur, whether you decide to be a wife, a mom, whatever you decide to be, You need to know the life that you want to live to then know what systems you need to be able to put in place.
even now, I think the more that we've worked together, I don't even think you'd say it in those words. It's reiterated in the work that is always being done in setting boundaries and that power yourself to do things and be okay, but also know that it's okay to shut off. I think that's one of the biggest things that I learned as well.
Ellie McBride: I think the thing is, is it can be so, it is hard to explain when I say I do systems and people, I'm like, I said, it's easiest to sort of say, yes, I help you set up like Asana and project management tools or prod, you know, we, we set up the tools and software you need to make your business run smoothly.
But
what we don't talk about so much is how much coaching there is behind that. And I'm not an official coach, but coaching around. Okay, like, what are your boundaries? What times do you not want to take calls?
How do we make that work for you? How do we set up the set that up so that you have a life first business and you really feel. Like, it's okay to do that, right? To take back to take Mondays off if you want Mondays off to, um. You know, not sit down at your desk until half 10 every morning if that's what you want.
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah. Um,
To if you actually, like you often do, if you legitimately work best in the evenings, how do you do that in a way that isn't going to make it seem like you're on 24 seven?
ellie-mcbride_2_05-22-2024_132824: And
Ellie McBride: so often tricks for that as things like schedule your emails to go out in the morning, but you can still set up and schedule, like write them if that's when you want to work, like you get to write, make the rules,
chikumo_2_05-22-2024_132825: Yeah.
Chikumo Fiseko: But not, you don't even just teach that you get to make the rules, you also teach how to adapt them. Cause like you've just said, work better in the evenings, but since into my relationship with G, I try to be present. So I find that I'm working more during the day. once in a while, I give myself like one day a week or every couple of weeks to work During the night and work through the night and that's okay But i've then been able to put a system in place during the day of start work at 11 If it's during the summer, I can start at 10 o'clock, but I don't take any meetings until 11 If I want to start at 10 It gives me that time to just do whatever needs to be done if I want to wake up earlier It gives me the time to do that.
So not only did you teach me How to put those systems in with where I was in life back then. Things have drastically changed since then. And some of the systems, like you talked about Asana. I used Trello for a while. And downstairs I've got a board. Some of those systems, it's not even just about having it Like on pen and paper, it's then what tools can you also use to make your life easier because for me and my partner A board where we can go in and go what day is it when it needs to be done, tick, done I have all of that on Asana because that's how my brain works we've even been able to figure out how me and him work But find that synergy and making sure it doesn't feel like it's a chore and it's work
Ellie McBride: Yeah, I think that's the thing is it took me years to get my husband to have a shared calendar with me.
Because I think he didn't want to feel busy, even though, but then he wouldn't know if I was out or if we had a wedding coming up or somebody's birthday was coming up and he actually genuinely enjoys it for the most part. Now he doesn't.
Yeah, but it took me years because he didn't want to feel like he would just have all these things in his calendar for the sake of having all these things in his calendar.
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah
Ellie McBride: And he's, I think, learned to have a calendar in a way that's less maybe robust and. I think in his brain invasive than the way I manage a calendar.
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah, I totally get that You
Ellie McBride: Well, but we have our family calendar and that makes a big difference.
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah. And we, that's actually something that we've also recently implemented because I, anything to do with our business. and what we do together, I sort out. So, I was talking to you before about, like, he's got, um, uh, uh, uh, an Apple laptop and I've got an Apple phone. He doesn't want to look at things on his phone, but we have a shared calendar, so he sees, like, when are we flying for the wedding, what's being sorted out, because I don't want to repeat the same conversations when you can just look at But again, I've got clients where I've got their shared calendar.
I look at it in the morning, I'm like, oh my days, like, how do you live having every little thing scheduled? But then I find that that's all a process as well. And everyone deals with things slightly differently. Cause I think with, with Jim really lucky that he's not someone that he doesn't feel like he's being told what to do.
But for me, that respect is if I'm going to be in charge of certain things, at least know what's going on in the background and with the clients, it's for me to be able to see. So one of the ways I've been able to do with a client we've recently been working together is I can see your schedule to be doing all these things.
So what I do is I figure out I can take an hour away and make your life easier. So I can then go back at the end of the week or the end of the month and go. This is the time I've saved you. You don't need to be doing some other work that you're doing. So again, the same system you've talked about, I use in life and in business.
Ellie McBride: Yeah. And I think that's something with him. It's really interesting because you're doing COO work for him. if you have access to say a marketing client email, you can say, Hey, that you have this really cool thing coming up. Can I get you to put a note in to take some video? Can I.
Can your assistant grab some extra pictures? Like those kinds of things.
Chikumo Fiseko: And that's what, so because we, we're his marketing team, but one of my members of staff managers, his, his brand, that's exactly what she's doing. So she's even set it up because we've, we've got like a marketing shared calendar, but it's linked to his EA where we can then go when he's traveling. When is he traveling?
Where's he going? So that we also know what content to do for him and what to suggest for him to do. So again, another great example of how that works across, um, teams, different levels. Yeah. Yeah.
Ellie McBride: you're, since working together, I know for a fact you've moved on and you're doing a lot more Asana. I know you're more calendar bound. I know you've hired more help both in your life and your business, um, conversations. I have a lot. I think people can be really, I've weird about hiring help in life.
Um, I know you've had multiple conversations around getting a cleaner and those kinds of things in our, in our business. And I can really distinctly remember our brunch lunch, our brunch day, you came in and you were like, there's just too much happening in GNI's life. Like, I can't keep up and keep up with the business and not feel like more is falling to me than is falling to G for life admin.
I know that in our relationship, it just makes sense sometimes that I'm the one handling it. And we were. You need a life PA, you need an assistant, you can get someone to do that. And it's not a full time thing. And you're like, Oh my God, I do.
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah! That was Do you know what? That, that And I'm not even saying this because this sounds so over the top, but I'm It changed It's changed my life. Because Me and G recently had a discussion saying that actually, our relationship is a business. It's a partnership. And if we look at it, of course we love each other and there's the elements, you can't make everything like super business y, but in every decision we make, why do we make these decisions?
So things like the cleaner, we originally started with, because I remember you saying you don't have to commit to all these hours and every single week. So how did we start? We started with our cleaner Maggie coming every two weeks. And what's, what's, what's, what's I've been a cleaner and she's now weakly but both me and G suffer from anxiety and depression.
G's is way more severe than mine is and not to invalidate like my own but I also like I've got coping mechanisms that maybe might be better just because again I get to work with people like you and be around people like you they get to give me that little bit of insight so. know why I get up every morning, I know why I don't have to wake up to an alarm and I still get to get up excited because I love what I do, whereas he's on that path of figuring that out and when I initially said to him that I want to get an EA that is for life and business, he was like, I'm not going to be messaging someone, what?
going to get for our weekly food shop, even just trying that and I completely respected where I was coming from. What's that then done every two, cause he cooks. So the only deal we have now is I cook twice a month and he will, and I will then every two weeks decide, I'll write on the board what we're going to be eating.
Now that's for me to make a decision, let him know that I've thought about it. So he doesn't have to, but if he doesn't want to stick to that, He doesn't come to me and say, well, what do you want to eat? Because I hate that question. So we've even figured out like that kind of system of okay, you're happy doing an online shop because you love knowing like these are what I know.
These are the things I normally get. If it was just me, the EA would have been sorting absolutely everything out. I would not be doing my own food shopping. I hate going food shopping. But when we talked about the fact that we look at our relationship also as a business and the fact that we have to be at our best.
To give each other our best. So when we have it, like I always say to clients, when you've got a headache, what is a headache and how can you delegate? It's exactly the same in life. And I think that conversation just gave me the permission to go, I can do it because I've had people say to us, but it's just the two of you at home.
Why do you need a cleaner? We are both depressive people. So when you look at our space,
Ellie McBride: Nobody needs to, that's a gripe of mine. Cause I think I, for a long time justified having a cleaner,
especially like in this, like we live in Northern Ireland and there's a, there's a judgy thing here, a little bit of who are you to do X, Y, Z. Right. Um, but. I think that, so I justified it for a long time then, like, oh yeah, like we work from home, like, it just, I, I, I procrastinate my work when I, if I have things that I can clean, those kinds of things.
And all that's true, like that, those are, it saved, but it also has saved arguments in my marriage. It has, it means that I can focus on my work more, like, my house is not at its best at the moment because our cleaner's coming tomorrow. So,
Chikumo Fiseko: yeah. like,
Ellie McBride: So, so, but that means I know that instead of today where I have a lot of work on my plate, I know that I just have to sit here at my desk cause it's going to get done.
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah,
Ellie McBride: have that excuse, but nobody has their own reasons and that's perfectly fine. I think that's the thing about life and business. I know people who have chronic illnesses and you don't have to have a chronic illness to have this level of support in your life or your business. I know people with chronic illnesses that have, um, They're shopping and meal prep, all done, they're cleaning done, they have an executive assistant like you do, who helps with the like life admin, um, they have a team in their business and they've built their business to a point where they're legitimately a CEO and they pretty much show up and do the high level work and work with the high level clients as well.
So they do some of the client work still,
but they're only working with the people who are paying the big bucks really.
Chikumo Fiseko: yeah. And
Ellie McBride: they like five days a month, like five days a month can enter, have enough money that they are the primary breadwinner in their family. They, um, and pay for a team as well as life support. I also, I, you know, in these categories of supporting support for your life, I would put therapists, um, put, um, like other forms of home maintenance.
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah. Right. Well, I nearly went and got a laundry, uh, a laundry to start doing our washing, but that was at a time when. We were both just really overwhelmed and then I realized that actually rather than getting a laundrette I needed to turn our cleaner into a weekly cleaner and What did that then teach me because what I found was if she was coming every two weeks we would leave things to get to a certain point where I Felt like I had to then go and like tidy up before she came Whereas now like you said she's coming tomorrow instead of Friday.
I've looked around and gone and This is, this is perfect. She'll know exactly where to start from. I've got even things that she does, like she, not only does she think for herself, she's taught, having Maggie has also taught me the types of people I need to be working with in business, not just in life, in everything.
So not only me letting go and asking for help at home has taught me that. There's a particular type of person that approaches situations in a certain way, that communicates in a certain way, that does things in a certain way, because when we got the board she laughed and she came in because I found her last year cleaning out the cupboards and I didn't tell her to do that.
She was just doing it because she was like oh yeah I noticed that they needed doing. She thought for herself and then when she saw the board she laughed and said I laugh because I see Maggie Tidy on a Thursday and that's just a reminder for G like if you've missed anything. So like you said, it removes those little arguments.
and you don't argue. This is the first relationship I've ever been in where, and again, not to say that we don't have disagreement, we don't argue. Whereas I argued with my ex over shiny tops and things not being cleaned the way I wanted them to be cleaned. And then obviously that affects business. And if that's affecting business and you're not able to be present, When someone is talking to you, you don't realize how much Something so small can have such a massive impact across the board
Ellie McBride: And so coming back to like more, I guess, standard, it doesn't even have to be standard, but coming back to life and business is, yeah, there's systems that really make it work. And I think when you work for yourself, this whole work life balance thing, it's more about making the rules for yourself and
setting yourself up for success for that and for those rules.
And then you're right. Allowing those rules to change. I've had a big shift in my life and business lately, where I've decided to go get a part time job because I needed some headspace.
Chikumo Fiseko: yeah, For
Ellie McBride: the move and, uh, I also, so my business is now mostly running on Wednesdays and Fridays and I, then today I spent a couple of, a little while going like, I don't really know what to do about that.
Like I want to do it. And today I set myself up for success in a lot of ways for that, where I gave my team more agency. I made sure they had, um, both of them had access to a professional company email account.
set
up an auto responder so that when people email me, they can see the ways to access me, um, that, you know, book a call here.
If you're a client, book a call, potential new client. If you are looking to get in touch with Heidi or Helena, here's their email address, uh, all of those things just like automatically done so that, and so they know that, and I, and I'm saying I'm mostly in on Mondays and Wednesdays or short Wednesdays and Fridays.
So if they email me off today, they're not like, Oh, it's been 48 hours. She hasn't emailed me back.
that clear boundary and expectation. And what I find is when you do that, the clarity that it provides everyone and makes everybody feel more at peace, makes everyone feel heard, understood. Like you don't want to create that, like, Oh, they're going to get back to me whenever, or have they heard me situation. Right.
So.
Now that I've had a mini rant about, and I think my point in that is that life and business change a lot. My biggest bear, like bugbear when I first started my business was like, I wanted to like, get to the point where I could set it and forget it.
And it took me years to come to the terms with that. That just doesn't happen. The
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah.
Ellie McBride: world changes, our business changes, our lives change. And that's the perks of running your own business is that you get to allow it to mold around. Whatever chaos or hopefully bliss that is happening in your life.
So can you talk to me about maybe a moment or a breakthrough that stands out from our time over the years together?
Chikumo Fiseko: I think the biggest breakthrough for me at the moment is the client that we were just doing the work for. I'm now his COO. So I started by doing some of his systems because I, I realized that within the agency, we need to get to know clients at a certain level. And put some systems in place to be able to get them to send us content.
To teach them how to create content effortlessly, because my sister in law commented on a video I did for Hendoo the other day saying, I didn't even realize you were taking half of these videos. That's how I love to create content. I think, if you can create, I know everyone's different, and find, I guess I find the clients that get it.
If you want, to me, if you want to create content around life, the things that you do every day, you should be able to create it quickly, but still be in the moment. With me and G, people ask, how do I create so much with G? Me and G watch loads of, like, movies every evening. We do that because just a quick 20 seconds here, a quick few minutes here, a couple of podcasts recorded in a day, knowing that that's done for a month.
has been huge. And what, and what stuck out for me was I was already doing some of the systems for this client. And then I went, there are some systems they need to be put in place. And I'm not the best person to do this because some of these stress me out. And one of those was Asana. I knew I wanted it because, In leaning you'd introduce us on it to me and I knew that that was something that I'd already started working on but I'm now at that point of I need to in my business.
I need to be the CEO. Do I have the time to sit here and learn how to do all of this on my own whilst I might love doing that? I don't want to, and I don't need to. So I then approached it to the client and said, do you trust that I'm going to bring in the right people knowing you? And the client was like, yeah, of course.
And the client was never involved in the work that we were doing for them. And I was just speaking.
Ellie McBride: It was the worst project ever, because for me, I'm usually very directly involved with the client, but instead I was involved with you and his EA and we organized so much of his business together. And that was really fun.
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah. But I think even being able to do that for that client, he was just giving me some feedback and he's really happy how things are going and have been going. And for me, that's such great feedback because when I realized that don't always need to be the expert and the best. person for something, but if I knew that I Know someone that is better than me.
Also, we're helping each other out. We're women in business. There's enough of the pie for all of us to share because since then, you've done some work with one of his, um, business partners, but I know that eventually that's going to come round because there'll be some work that I have to do with them.
Knowing that you've put the systems in that are now the same as that client is just going to make my life so much easier in organizing that as well. So when I realized that that's what I needed to do and to get you in, I then also realized I'm doing this for this client. Why am I doing this for myself and the team?
Because like you're saying, I've already put in things in place where Tuesdays, self care day, do not contact me, please. And they respect that. Fridays is my CEO day to just focus on the higher level business. Please do not contact me unless it's an emergency. It's surviving. They are, like, doing it. Like, I'm getting ready to go on holiday next month, I was supposed to be away for a week, but we've got family coming from Zambia, so I'm gonna have to take about 10 days off.
that, my one of my team members was like, you need to she basically said, you need to switch off and put things in place with G, that means I can't take my laptop, but he'll take his so I can upload my vlogs. All these little things where I'm not having to think about those things, and what happens when I don't have to be the one that thinks about those things, it's crazy.
The things I do need to think about, that are higher level, I get to think about. And when we started working together, I realised that you, because whilst I'm learning these things With these client, with this client, sorry, and I can implement them myself when I start to get overwhelmed because business is always going to be stressful at whatever level I'm going to be, I just need to figure out how to deal with that stress.
And people keep asking me at the moment, like, how are you doing it? How are you okay? And I'm okay because I know you're coming in to sort out, like, once I've built a lot of stuff on Asana, I've got copy ready for the website. I do like we sat and we agreed that we were going to get the website refreshed and mine done this, this year, something that was going to be on me now, isn't on me and he's on someone that I know I can trust that knows clients and we'll very quickly get to know the team because I knew how you work with people.
I knew how you are with people. I knew that you've taught me some of the things I've implemented already. So it's not even going to take that long to be able to do some of these things. And I think for me, that is just something that like, even just to be able to admit and go. I need help. That situation just taught me I can ask for help, and that help can be higher level, and I don't need to figure and that's okay.
Ellie McBride: Do you think that overall are, are working together and are knowing each other? Is that your number? 1 thing is that you've learned to ask for help. In life in a business, you got permission, or you give you. Maybe given yourself permission to get more help over and over again through. Your, your executive assistant hiring more on your team.
Um, hiring me for clients are hiring me for yourself. Those kinds of things.
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah, but even the fact that not only do I know I can come to you and ask for help, I know I can be completely honest about what's going on in life, what's going on in business, whatever's happening. And the way that I run my business is, I have to get, I have to know the clients on such a personal level because I focus on personal branding.
And if I don't know you as a person, I can't give you the best service. I can only, it's like there's a wall between us. There's only so far I can get. And for me, and it's really funny because I was talking to my therapist about this yesterday because she was saying, I don't know why you're back in therapy, but we realized that I need a dedicated space. Just to feel heard and feel seen. And you are one of those people, when I've, like, over this period of, like, being in therapy and doing all these things the past few years, have lost people in my life that I thought would be in my life forever. I've had to change how I feel about certain relationships and come to terms with that, but what's that done?
It's opened the door for people like you where, again, my therapist made me realise, I've designed my life so that business and life work hand in hand. I can sit on a call with you for work, then text you about life, or sit on the call with you about life, and be texting you about work. It's that, it's the fact that we can have boundaries, there's that respect.
So if you can do that, and I've not asked for you to do that, and we can do that vice versa, why can't a client do that? Why should they not respect that? It just gives me that empowerment to go, I get to decide things for me, and I get someone that sees me as a person, and as a business woman, and goes, respect what you do.
But, I think you could do this slightly differently that might help you. I think that, like, it's always, like, I think respect is the, the, empowerment and respect are the two words that keep popping up because I think, I am someone that is, for a very long time, didn't trust and the decisions I was making because I was such a people pleaser.
So, to see someone that sees the real me, It then just reinforces that power that I get to reclaim in myself and in business. But through someone that we've only known each other for a few years, can you have such an impact in my life? Because you see me, and you make the effort to see me.
Ellie McBride: think I think the thing about that is that. Two things about that stand out. One is, is, is that it's really just a feminine way of handling business.
You know, women are known for the fact, like it's, it's literally a thing about our, the, the, the membrane that connects our left and rights of our brain is thicker than men's and it means there's a reason my husband's always teasing me because I'll do just that.
I'll jump from topic to topic and thing to thing and back and forth, but it's because that's how our brains are designed. I think that that is allowing your femininity to come into your business and not having to operate in that masculine linear.
Um, but then additionally, the other thing you were saying there is self trust.
And again, women have been told over and over again, we're not allowed to trust ourselves and leaning again into yourself and trusting yourself and how you want to and giving yourself those permissions
to. To do it differently is so, so huge. All right. One last question. I'm on time here. So I'm going to make you keep it under two minutes.
Chikumo Fiseko: Okay.
Ellie McBride: So what do you think that implementing systems and processes has had? Like what, in what ways do you think implementing those systems and processes has impacted your day to day in your business?
Chikumo Fiseko: Oh, I can easily keep this under two minutes. In business, I make more money, I work less, and I enjoy what I do even more because I've got that power. And what does that then do? It makes me be a better partner, be a better daughter, be a better sister, be more present. So, again, like you were saying, for me it's always going to be twofold because those systems have meant more confident in myself as well.
Ellie McBride: I love it. And you're right. It does go back and forth, especially like when you run a business, especially as A small business owner, it means that you, it, there's, there is no separating life and business, right? No. So it is really cool to see, to have a conversation where we get to discuss both sides and I'm really looking forward to coming.
Working with you in the next few weeks to
Chikumo Fiseko: too.
Ellie McBride: really get started with a brand new website that just really reflects everything your marketing agency is capable of,
Chikumo Fiseko: Yeah, um,
Ellie McBride: what high level support you offer your clients.
on that, getting to work with your, you and your team to streamline your systems more through the simplicity solution, get your Asana system a little more robust and a little more, um, I guess, using all the features Asana has to offer,
Chikumo Fiseko: yeah. Can I also just say before we finish, we also use Slack, so we've moved everything from WhatsApp to Slack. I
Ellie McBride: That's
ellie-mcbride_2_05-22-2024_132824: my favorite things.
Chikumo Fiseko: It has made life, because we now all have some separation. We dip in when we want to, we don't when we don't want to. That on its own, organisation.
Ellie McBride: ever see communication, when it's on Slack, first of all, like, you're going to get that in the middle of the night and still feel like you have to check it.
Chikumo Fiseko: Um,
Ellie McBride: or sorry, not slack when it's on WhatsApp, you feel like you have to check it when it's on WhatsApp, it's mixed in with all your personal group chats it's on what it's not, it's really hard to miss things
you it's, you know, even if you reply to a thread and hold it in the thing, it's really hard to like, keep things feeling clean and tidy
Chikumo Fiseko: yeah,
Ellie McBride: slack
ellie-mcbride_2_05-22-2024_132824: Slack.
Ellie McBride: all day long.
And on top of that slack, as we've discussed for our previous client, you can connect it with things like a sauna and create
Chikumo Fiseko: We've done
that!
Ellie McBride: from slack.
Chikumo Fiseko: Honestly, it is great. And my team love it. Like, one of the girls has said, like, she can't wait to work with you. She's specifically asked to work with you because of what we've implemented. So even the fact that someone doesn't know you yet and is so excited, I really can't wait to see what we all do together.
Ellie McBride: that's so cool that like somebody who's never met me yet is excited to meet me and somebody who I work for, but actually never met me really is he's out there referring me to all of those people.
So, it's, it's really cool because I think. I think the reason I'm doing this series is it's really hard to describe what an impact systems can have.
And it's
really hard because systems don't feel sexy. So really appreciate you coming in and talking about all the ways that our work over the years has impacted you and your life and your business. Um, can you tell everyone where they can find you and your work?
Chikumo Fiseko: First of all, you're welcome. And thank you. Uh, you can find me if you honestly, if you Google Chikumo Fiseko I'm the only person in the world with my name my name will be on this. So you'll find my TikToks, you'll find Instagram, but Chikumo F basically on, on everything is where you'll find me. But yeah, just Google my all will be notes as well.
Yeah. Perfect.
Ellie McBride: all right, well, thank you for coming on.
Chikumo Fiseko: Thank you.