Mary Adanegbe
Mary Adanegbe is a LinkedIn Business Coach. She helps coaches amplify their personal brand on LinkedIn, and create and organically launch their $2k-$5k private coaching programs.
She tells us that, “Over the past four years, I’ve worked with industry experts and sales teams. I’ve helped them leverage LinkedIn to build authority, impact more lives, attract high-valued clients and other business opportunities. I believe that the most important things in life are happiness and peace of mind. I enjoy spending time with family and loved ones and I believe that we should all have the opportunity to spend quality time with those we love.”
What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your corporate journey/venture/initiative.
As a woman who had been groomed from childhood to graduate from school, find a good job and climb a safe corporate ladder, sharing my story and building a brand on LinkedIn quite early in my career helped me realize that there was more I could be. It gave me the confidence to take the plunge and go chase after a dream career that would give me the time freedom to live a fulfilling and healthy life. I didn’t have the privilege of growing up in a rich home, but I always knew I wanted to be more than what my environment at the time offered me. I wanted to make a global impact. But I had no idea how I would do this. I started dabbling in entrepreneurship and the online business world in 2013 but I didn’t make any real progress and gave up on it to focus squarely on my university education. I resurrected my passion for entrepreneurship in 2016 and started researching digital marketing. In 2017, I had the opportunity to broaden my skills in the digital marketing space while working as a digital marketing assistant. In 2018, I started to use LinkedIn to find jobs in the digital marketing space. While using the platform in this way, I stumbled on the pages of inspiring women who were building successful online businesses. Some of them had quit their 9-5 jobs and went all in with their own businesses. Women like Shay Rowbottom and Ruby Lee. These women inspired me to become a content creator on LinkedIn. I went on to get a job as a LinkedIn Specialist in a top IT firm in 2019. I kept sharing on LinkedIn and people started noticing my content and they would reach out to ask about how I could help them utilize LinkedIn for their brands and businesses. I started holding strategy sessions with people and developed LinkedIn offers. That was how my LinkedIn coaching side hustle was born. My side hustle became my main hustle last year after I quit my corporate job to focus on building my LinkedIn Coaching Business.
Tell us something about your initiative/business. What is it about and how is it helpful for people?
As a LinkedIn Business Coach, I help people better utilize LinkedIn for their business both with my free content and my paid coaching programs. I teach people how to use LinkedIn to get more visible, nurture meaningful relationships and close clients into their premium coaching programs. I help them amplify their brands, create content that converts and sell their coaching programs unapologetically. I help coaches use LinkedIn to build thriving online businesses.
While the global pandemic of COVID-19 is associated primarily with adversities, it has also brought about a true boom in startups, with successful entrepreneurship in many countries. The pandemic has impacted all of us in one way or another. Would you like to share your experience on a personal and professional level?
During the pandemic, I was working full time in my 9-5 job as a LinkedIn Specialist and testing the waters in my LinkedIn Coaching side hustle. The experiences of the pandemic as well as my observations of other online businesses at that time taught me that whatever is going on in the world, I need to do my best to keep building my business. I made the mistake of taking a pause in my side hustle as a result of the uncertainties of the pandemic and I still wish I hadn’t done that.
What has been the response of the users/consumers towards your venture?
Since I started sharing content on LinkedIn, I’ve received lots of support and gained traction in my professional career. I got a job in a top IT firm in 2019. Before quitting the corporate job to go all in on my LinkedIn coaching business, I was the Senior LinkedIn Executive for more than three years. At the top leading IT company where I worked, I helped top C-Suite executives and the corporate sales team use LinkedIn to build their visibility, attract ideal clients, book speaking gigs/press coverage, book sales calls with top decision makers and close 7-8 Figure business deals. Besides utilizing my skills in the 9-5 capacity, I’ve had the privilege of working with other coaches, consultants and founders, and helping them use LinkedIn to grow their visibility, book sales calls and close clients into their programs. I’ve also been invited to speak on podcasts, summits and radio shows to share my expertise on LinkedIn marketing.
How has your life changed because of your initiative/venture?
As a woman who had been groomed from childhood to graduate from school, find a good job and climb a safe corporate ladder, sharing my story and building a brand on LinkedIn quite early in my career helped me realize that there was more I could be. It helped me rebuild my self-esteem and confidence, start up a side hustle and eventually quit my toxic corporate job to go all in with my LinkedIn coaching business.
Do you have anyone who is the biggest support system in your life? Please let us know.
Yes, I do. My biggest support system is my Fiancé. I share all my ideas and dreams with him and he encourages me to always be the best version of myself. He’s my number one fan, my unofficial business coach, my very official tech guy and my best friend. My family is also a support system that I’m very lucky to have. My parents and brothers have been very supportive since I went full-time with my LinkedIn coaching business. Their calls, check-ins and constant encouragement keep me going especially on the bad business days.
Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity? OR Share a motivational message for the audience/women who are reading this.
As much as you want to achieve in life, you can. Your dreams are valid and they’re not unattainable. But, they will demand a lot of work from you. And you’ll need to be consistent and patient. No one is coming to save you. No one is coming to push you. You’ll have to decide day after day that your dreams are valid and you’ll need to put in the work to get the success you crave.
Get in touch with her.
Website: https://maryadanegbe.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryadanegbe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryadanegbe/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mary.E.adanegbe?mibextid=ZbWKwL