Olamide's Graduate Story

Find out how studying at the University of Birmingham helped Olamide achieve her career goals.

Graduation year: 2020

Degree Title(s): BSc Business Management with a Year in Industry

Job title: Founder of All Things Money

Employer: Self-employed

What does your role involve? My job role involves creating regular personal finance content across all of our social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Hosting regular personal finance talks and being the host of my very own podcast!

Can you describe the journey you went on to get this role? So, I graduated in the midst of the pandemic and I originally had plans to move to Australia that September which sadly couldn’t go ahead. So, to keep myself occupied during the first lockdown, I created All Things Money which started off as an Instagram page to share financial tips and information as we are not taught much the world of personal finance at school or university. I then landed myself a full-time job working in events, so I had to quickly learn how to juggle growing an online community alongside a full-time job. However, I have now recently gone part-time at work to focus more time on All Things Money!

What do you enjoy most about your job? What I enjoy most about my job is knowing that what I am doing is really helping out young adults who are navigating the tough stages of adulthood. I get messages daily from people saying that the content I produce is helping them in all different areas of their personal finances from learning how mortgages work, to learning how to make their very first investments. That is the most rewarding part of my job!

How did your time at Birmingham help prepare you for this role? I did a year in industry working at Enterprise Rent-a-Car and that really opened my eyes to what it’s really like to work a full-time job! Having worked at Enterprise during my placement year meant that I was pretty clued up on the realities of working a full-time job after university – it probably would have been a shock otherwise!

What advice would you give to students interested in getting into your industry or role? For anyone looking to start their very own business, I would highly recommend taking that first step. I know exactly how daunting it can be, but without taking that first step, you never know where you may end up! I think it is also really important to surround yourself with people who support what you want to do as well. I wouldn’t be where I am now without the love and support of my family and friends!

How did the University of Birmingham help you on your career path? As I didn’t have plans to go into a graduate role post-uni, I didn’t use the careers services in my final year. However, when applying for my year in industry, I used the careers services then, and they did a fantastic job at recommending the best places to search for placement opportunities, proof-reading my CV and prepping me for the different interview processes I went through. I honestly couldn’t recommend the careers services at Birmingham more as I probably wouldn’t have landed my year in industry without them!

How did studying at Birmingham inspire you in your graduate path? I sort of fell into my current role, however, I always knew I wanted to run my own business sometime in the future. Studying Business Management at Birmingham certainly equipped me with the basics required to run a small business from managing a business’ finances to understanding the importance market research.

Why should someone considering their university options come and study with us at Birmingham? Besides the stunning campus; the lecturers, the students and the overall community at Birmingham is just amazing! Not only does Birmingham offer an extensive range of courses, but the people at Birmingham really made my time at university the best four years of my life.

What was your favourite thing about studying at the University of Birmingham? My favourite thing about studying at the University of Birmingham was honestly the people I encountered. My time at Birmingham would have been the same experience without the friends I made during my time there. The friends I made during my four years at Birmingham have honestly become my second family.