Women & Money is a monthly PiggyVest series that explores the relationship between real Nigerian women and money. This series sheds light on money, career and business from a female perspective.
For this month’s episode of Women & Money, we spoke to Tamilore Oladipo, a 27-year-old content writer and creator of the Content-as-a-career newsletter, where she shares remote working tips and resources. She discusses her career journey since 2020, working and earning remotely in Nigeria, and her roadmap to attaining financial freedom.
Tell us about yourself, Tamilore.
I’m Tamilore, and I work as a content writer for a social media management tech company called Buffer.
Why content marketing?
I have had a very interesting journey up to this point in my career. I started doing internships at 14 with the hope of becoming a journalist. However, I realised that journalists don’t make much money, so I quickly pivoted into marketing because my dad told me marketers make more and also get to write all the time. I studied Mass Communication at the university, so everything aligned.
I don’t think I made every single decision intentionally, but many of my decisions were fueled by the need to be a writer and the realities of life. I’d worked at a company with a media side and a marketing side, and the media side wasn’t making as much as the marketers were. Our marketing work was very technical — a lot of jargon — and I lost sight of that initial goal of wanting to be a writer. But then, I lost that job in 2020.
Ouch.
It forced me to reevaluate everything I had been doing until then. I was even about to move from that job to another media-heavy marketing job, which wasn’t what I wanted to do with my career. So, losing that job was a blessing in disguise because I had to sit down and rethink what I wanted out of my career.
And what was the outcome?
I wanted to write. So, I started doing freelance jobs in various companies and capacities. And content marketing kept coming up. Until that point, I had just been a general digital marketer, and during the pandemic, I really learned the ropes of writing, SEO, and the whole nine yards.
Of course, no experience is wasted, so that whole process brought me to content marketing. The four internships I had spent doing digital marketing came in handy, but niching down into content was just the natural next step in merging my two interests of marketing and writing.
Let’s rewind a bit. What was your experience with money growing up?
Oh. I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that before. Growing up in Nigeria in the early 2000s, everybody wasn’t super wealthy, but there was a middle class, at least, and people had access to decent schools. A ₦200k monthly salary was a lot of money, and it could take a long way. People sent their children abroad on civil servant salaries. My dad is an entrepreneur, and my mom was a teacher with the Lagos State government, so my mum had a steady salary and income, but my dad didn’t. My dad worked on a contract basis, so there were periods when he had a lot of money and periods when he didn’t. But my two siblings and I never felt that as kids. They paid our school fees on time, we had multiple cars, and they built a house.
It wasn’t until very recently that I learned that there were times when she had to step in and hold us down. But we never sensed that certain responsibilities were reserved for a man or woman; everyone contributed fairly equally. There was a portion of time when things were really good. Then, by 2016, Buhari had come in, and things had stopped being as good. By that point, I had to really learn how to become self-reliant and independent, which has always been my preference for living life.
So, I just naturally found myself doing more. That was when I started freelancing and building up skills, trying anything to make money so my parents could focus on caring for my brother and sister. My parents instilled in me this drive. They’ve always encouraged us to work hard in our own right. And I’ve been fortunate enough that, at this point, I am the breadwinner in my family.
Interesting. And what has this evolution been like?
It’s one of those things that just feel natural and normal. I believe money comes and goes. I have it and am willing to share it with my family.
Sure, it’s not always convenient. Sometimes, I wish I had more disposable income for myself. Money is great, but even when we don’t have it, we have each other to rely on. Thankfully, we’re not one of those families with many conflicts or worries about money, which I’m grateful for.
So, would you say that right now, you feel more confident or comfortable in your means?
Comfortable, yes. Confident, no.
I genuinely know I can always find other positions or opportunities; I got this far somehow and can always recreate it. But it’s hard when there are a lot of people relying on you for different things. And a lot of things that just pop up out of the blue.
But one thing that I’m trying to do now is to create a better financial foundation for myself and my family so we don’t have to worry about what happens if the stock market crashes or if I lose my job. If something happens, I’m trying to make it so we’ll be fine for about a year. We’ve achieved as much comfort as possible in Nigeria, but now I’m just working on the confidence bit.
How has the journey been since 2020?
Buffer isn’t my first fully remote job. My first was in September 2020. It was actually a freelancer gig with a health technology company. I was referred to them by someone I interviewed with, and it was my first introduction to being paid that much in a foreign currency. That job helped me build up a good enough portfolio that, when I applied to my next first full-time job at a content marketing agency called Animalz, I was able to land that role.
This new job paid a lot of money for me at that time. It was a big change for my family and me, to be honest. Until that point, I earned a fairly decent, livable amount. It would change the lives of anyone who makes that amount of money in Nigeria today tenfold, just like mine did. But the transition was so quick that I never had a chance to sit down and really understand how crazy the growth was. I also didn’t stop doing the freelance gig until February 2021, so I had three months of dual income.
Nice!
For that period of my career, I knew enough about content marketing to get by. But I wasn’t that good at it yet. Everything I had done until that point was pure grit and determination. No skill, really. Yet, many people took a chance on me.
Looking back, I’m still proud of what I achieved. I learned the ropes very quickly, and I was promoted within my first six months at Animalz. By the time I was ready to leave in late 2021, I had been promoted again. So that was also just insane growth. And really quick, too. And working at an agency really propelled me into the public eye, working remotely from Nigeria.
How did you make the move to Buffer?
It was a combination of the right timing and compounding efforts. It’s difficult now to find those sorts of roles and quickly achieve that kind of career progression. I applied to Buffer in October of 2021. Then, they emailed me, and we went through the interview process.
I kept thinking they were going to send me a rejection email. But I should have been more confident in myself because they didn’t. By February of 2022, I had signed my contract. I started pretty junior and was promoted during my probation period. And that’s because I put my all into ensuring they wouldn’t think they made a mistake hiring me.
That makes sense.
Getting the job at Buffer led me into the next stage of my career. I had figured out the skills part, so the next step was building experience and pushing myself beyond my current boundaries. And I just kept being fed opportunities to push myself, which is how my whole career has gone.
I think I’ve reached a point now where I’m looking for something different beyond this aspect of content marketing. I don’t want to just be in the same field for 20 years. So, right now, I’m in an era of expanding beyond my existing skills.
You have your newsletter, Content-as-a-career, and just concluded the Buffer creator camp. What other career milestones have you had, and what are you looking forward to?
Getting 1000 subscribers to my newsletter was a favourite of mine. Filming my first YouTube video for Buffer’s YouTube channel was also a significant milestone and one of those expansion things.
For 2025, I want more speaking engagements. I’m figuring out what I want to speak about, where and with whom I want to speak. I’m glad I’ve gotten opportunities to do that this year, and I’m looking forward to more of that in 2025.
You’ve talked about earning on LinkedIn or “LinkedIncome”. How’s that going?
Very slowly. But that’s because I haven’t been as consistent. It’s definitely still a work in progress, as I am transparently speaking to different sorts of people about charging for LinkedIn content.
However, getting paid in Nigeria is one of the biggest hurdles when it comes to working with people. Between taxes, different laws you must be aware of, or platforms to use. One day, you’ll be able to use one platform, and the next day, you can’t anymore. It’s very frustrating to deal with.
So, figuring that out before I even start working with someone is very heavy on my mind. Hopefully, by January, I will have a proper strategy and process, as well as possibly some partnerships, in place to kick off my LinkedIncome journey.
Aside from payments, what other challenges have you faced working remotely?
The usual challenges of living in Nigeria are electricity issues and internet issues, amongst others. So, there are contingencies on top of contingencies, but it’s still not perfect. Sometimes, things just break all at the same time, and you’re just left in the lurch. Anyone considering working remotely must be prepared to deal with infrastructural challenges.
With race and culture, there have been instances where things could have been better. My legal name is a very long Yoruba name that tells people you’re a foreigner immediately. But I’ve not had this trouble with the companies I’ve worked for or the people I’ve been able to connect with.
Any others?
Location is also a big barrier for me. And it’s something that I’m hoping to fix within the next couple of years. I feel like whenever people move abroad, there are so many doors that open for them. And I’m pretty sure I could get those same doors open, but do I want to put in extra effort into something and then get the same results as somebody else who all they did, was live in a different place?
I’m not saying you can’t build from anywhere in the world, but I don’t want to take that chance. Nigeria is just not a secure enough place for me to rely on for the next decade, so I essentially want to reduce the number of obstacles in my way. So, someday soon.
What are your favourite things about working remotely?
Well, I’m an introvert, so that’s my number one favourite thing. Social interactions exhaust me, so I always need time to recharge. And if work is not something I need to recharge from all the time, then it leaves me open to exploring other avenues of building community with people.
With remote working, I can think beyond work as the be-all and end-all of building adult relationships. I’ve made friends with people who have no idea what I do, and I don’t understand what they do either, but we’re all cool with each other. We don’t have to rely on work as the main point of conversation, and we’re still able to enrich each other’s lives in different ways.
People are dismissive or dislike remote work because they think it gets really lonely. But I think you just have to put in the effort to make it less lonely. It forces you to make efforts to connect with people. And it’s a lost art — meeting people for the sake of meeting people.
What is financial freedom to you?
I think it’s freedom of choice. When I reach a point where I can choose to leave my job or start a new venture and not have to worry about money, I know that I’ve achieved financial freedom.
It also means just a well-taken-care-of family. Whether that’s my parents, siblings, or future partners or children. Having access to opportunities is also financial freedom for me. I don’t think I’m the type of person to ever stop working, but being able to pursue my passion projects — of which there are not many, but the few that exist are quite expensive to execute — is financial freedom for me.
How are you working to attain this?
Earning a lot of what seems like a lot of money to many people means that there will always be ways to spend money. So, you must learn to make smart decisions with whatever you have in hand. I’m also relying on some investments to come through. I have a real estate investment that was supposed to yield in three months, but it’s been two years now, and I haven’t gotten any returns. Hopefully, it’s still growing in value.
Right now, I am rebuilding my emergency fund. I’m trying to set up systems where I have money for my and other people’s emergencies, which means I’ve had to cut out many things. But I think it will ultimately serve me better than just spending and then waiting for my income to refill and then doing it all over again.
Learning to say no to people is another way of trying to protect myself. I just need to stop constantly putting out other people’s fires. But it’s really hard. Everyone in my life is there because I like them and want the best for them. But sometimes, you just need to say no.
Would you say you’ve made any significant money mistakes?
Not really. There’s nothing I’ve ever needed to recover from. For example, there was a place I was originally supposed to move to in 2022. And I made a ₦1 million deposit with an agent, who eventually turned out to be fake. There was no one to hold accountable because the agent’s “company” was fake, and the account I paid the money into belonged to a random. We reported it, but nothing ever came of it.
Recently, I discovered that money was stolen from my home, which made me feel careless. Though it’s not like I left the money lying out or anything, it was hidden away. Which means someone actively searched my things to find them.
That’s scary.
Pretty much. It was like a home service person, and I’m pretty sure because they disappeared shortly after that. But it’s fine. You live and learn.
How much did you lose?
It was $500. I needed to give the cash to someone, so I had to go back to the bank that day and take out another $500.
Sorry about that. On the flip side, what’s a recent expense or purchase that you really love?
Not an item, but I have been renovating my apartment after two years of living here. I assumed that I could move before my rent expired, but, have you seen Lagos rent prices these days?
I was like, “You know what? This place is not that bad.” So, I turned one of the rooms into my office, and I’ve been working on making it look nicer. I just needed to change the finishing: paint job, curtains, the like. Once everything changed, I said, “Oh, this isn’t that bad.” So, instead of moving, I saved half the money I would’ve spent on rent. And I’m happy with where things ended up.
Smart! Looking at your money habits, how would you rate yourself over 10?
Like a 4.
Really?
I have a good reason for this. Every month, I tell myself, ”Tamilore, you could have done better.” There haven’t been many times recently where I’ve been happy with where my bank statements ended up. There’s always something taking away money, and I feel like I’m not paying close enough attention.
Subscriptions are great; buying new things, new tech, new purses, and new clothes is fine. But when you already have a lot of stuff, and your investment accounts could look a lot more padded out, I know I could have done better. I always try to change things, but it’s just a cycle that keeps repeating itself. But I’m trying my best, and hopefully, I will get this number up to 8 by next year. The remaining two will be because I feel like making more money solves most money problems, so until I figure that out.
What financial or career advice do you have for women or aspiring content writers?
To women, I’ll say men have lied to everyone for centuries. But more seriously, I would say never look at yourself as competing with anybody else. You should always try to one-up yourself and not focus on anybody else’s journey. People’s circumstances are so different. If things hadn’t happened exactly as they did in my career, would my life look this way? I don’t know.
Your identity as a woman, black person, or Nigerian is essential, but it shouldn’t be the basis of everything that you do. It should influence it, but it shouldn’t be like the foundation. People may be looking to victimise you, but if you victimise yourself, then you have already lost the battle. Let go of the struggle mentality and just look at yourself as a person pursuing the same opportunities open to everyone. Unless somebody actively excludes you in a job description, then the opportunity is open to you. If it says it’s global, then it is global, and you should apply.
On top of that, work hard, educate yourself, and try to learn wherever you can. Take every opportunity to do new things, practise and execute projects wherever possible. Create opportunities for yourself, post on social media, forget the feeling of cringe, and just do the thing. You never know what could happen.
Any other tips for landing remote jobs?
I think the nature of remote jobs means that you have other odds stacked against you, unlike people going for hybrid or in-office jobs. So, you should definitely be working on building a personal brand; it really goes a long way. You want to be as visible as possible on social media. Show off your skills, your experiences, and your life story. If you aren’t sharing those things, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
In my experience, it has gone a long way in helping me get remote jobs. Connecting with people, having conversations, asking for conversations with people, and just engaging with others online is the world you’re playing in if you’re looking for a remote job.
