Would you leave a relatively secure job that you weren’t passionate about to develop a career in an area that you absolutely loved even though there were no guarantees of how well (or badly) things would go? Is your dream worth the risk of finding out? We have been inspired by Tolu’s career journey – and absolutely in love with her ‘Flash Fiction’ stories – and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share her story with our readers. Enjoy!
APH: Can you tell us about your educational and professional background?
Tolu Popoola: I studied Accounting and Business Economics for my first degree, then took a year out to gain some work experience before going back to university to study for a Masters’ degree in Finance and Investment. When I graduated, I started working in an Accounting role while studying for the CIMA professional exams. I was halfway into the professional exams when I decided that I was in the wrong profession and I needed to make a career change.
You are a qualified accountant who now makes a living as a writer. Please can you share the story of your transition?
It’s a long story, but I’ll try. Towards the end of 2006, I started getting frustrated with my career. Every morning was a struggle to motivate myself to get up and get to work. I wasn’t fulfilled in my job, even though it paid well and the company was a great place to work. I knew I had creative talents that I wasn’t putting to good use and, the more I thought about it, the more I was filled with horror at the idea of working in accounting for the next forty years of my life.
Then, one afternoon, I met a lady who was an accountant and working on a major finance project for her company. Even though it was a Saturday, and we were visiting, she was glued to her laptop, working on some financial data. When I asked her about it, she started telling me about her job, talking about the project she was working on, describing every single detail. She sounded so excited, passionate and enthusiastic. She said, ‘I love accounting, I love finance and I love working on exciting projects.’ In my mind, I was thinking, ‘Wow! She actually loves her job!’
It was eye-opening, because I hadn’t imagined that there were people who absolutely loved what they did for a living. After that meeting, it became clear to me that I didn’t have that same passion for accounting. It was just a profession I trained for and a job to keep some money coming in – nothing more. And, if I was to leave the job, I wouldn’t miss it one bit. So, I started to ask myself: what job could I do that would make me passionate and excited about getting up in the morning? Around that time, I discovered blogging and started writing short fiction as an experiment. The more I wrote, the more I enjoyed doing it. It became clear, before long, that writing was what I was meant to do with my life, not accounting.
In your opinion, what are the important skills and personal attributes to create a career out of writing?
Dedication, persistence and creativity. You have to read a lot, and you have to write a lot to continually improve. You need to be able to handle criticism and receive feedback with grace. You need to be passionate about it because you may get discouraged sometimes, and you need to believe in yourself even if your work gets rejected a few times.
What advice would you share with anyone interested in getting that first book published?
First, write the best book that you can write. Make sure your story is as interesting as you can make it, make sure the plot is intriguing, and you have believable characters. Read it over and over again until you have absorbed every sentence. Then, you need to give it to a professional editor. Many first-time writers make the mistake of thinking that they don’t need an editor but we all do. Once your manuscript has been professionally edited, you will notice the difference in quality. Now you need to decide if you want to try to get published traditionally, or you want to self-publish. Whichever option you choose depends on your goals, but you are first and foremost responsible for writing a great book.
Can you describe a typical working day? What do you like the most and least about your job?
At the moment, my job consists of writing as well as running my own publishing, consulting and coaching company, so my typical day is quite varied. If I don’t have a client appointment, I usually do the admin stuff in the morning – so that includes responding to emails, updating the company’s website and blogs, reading industry-related materials, keeping my social media accounts updated, bookkeeping, etc. I focus on publishing and creating content for my coaching classes in the afternoons, and then in the evening I do my own writing stuff.
What was the inspiration behind starting your own business – Accomplish Press?
Becoming a publisher was always something I wanted to achieve when I decided to leave Accounting. When I was researching, I found a lot of things wrong with the traditional publishing industry, things that were so obviously inefficient. I wanted to do something different. Secondly, from my experience, I knew there were not many mainstream publishers willing to take a chance on new writers like me. I had met a few publishers who found my work interesting, but they always said that it wasn’t commercially viable because it was regarded as ‘ethnic fiction’. But, I believe that I have to tell my stories and there are readers who want to read about people like them in books. So, I did a lot of research and decided to take the chance and become a publisher myself. That way, I can reach my audience directly, as well as creating an avenue for other writers like me to get their work published.
What do you wish someone else had told you before you embarked on your professional journey?
There’s no such thing as an “overnight success” so you have to be patient and consistent with your work. Most people you see who are successful now, have been quietly working in the background for years. Secondly, make sure you are constantly striving to do better.
Do you have any mentors?
Yes I do. I have many people I look up to for inspiration. I follow their works and I’m inspired by their achievements. Abidemi Sanusi, Joanna Penn, Chimamanda Adichie, etc. I even have a coach who helps me with achieving specific goals.
How important has having a mentor been for you?
I think it’s very important to have mentors. You need to surround yourself with people who have achieved what you’re hoping to achieve. My mentors are all successful people in their own right. They inspire me, encourage me, motivate me, give me ideas, and help me to see what’s possible.
What achievements are you most proud of? Have you made any mistakes you are happy to share and what did you learn from them?
I’m proud of every single book I publish for my clients. I still feel a sense of wonder that people trust me with their manuscript, and I help them to turn it into a proper published book.
One of the mistakes I made was when I first published the series ‘In My Dreams It Was Simpler’ through Lulu, which is an online publishing company. It was a fairly straightforward process and I had a lot to learn, but I was fairly impatient, and I didn’t weigh all my options properly. I underestimated the importance of professional editing, properly formatting and typesetting a manuscript. So, I ended up publishing several editions, which was a costly exercise.
How do you maintain a sense of balance while juggling your different roles – both personal and professional?
It’s a constant balancing act, juggling family life, personal goals, and career goals. Most working women and entrepreneurs have to find what works for them. Sometimes I have to put in more hours at work, and sometimes I pull back on work so that I can relax and spend time with the family. It’s not easy and it’s not a static thing. Life changes and life is in stages, we’re always having to adjust.
Tolulope Popoola is an Author, Publisher and Book Writing Coach. She’s the founder of Accomplish Press, and the author of “Nothing Comes Close”, a novel, and two collections of flash fiction stories, “Looking for Something” and “Fertile Imagination”. Tolulope grew up in Nigeria, moved to the UK for her education and early part of her working career. She is passionate about writing, and literature and helping other writers achieve their dreams. She now lives in Nigeria with her husband and two children.
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The Aspiring Professionals Hub 