Happy new year to all our darling readers over here at the Afrolems Blog. I am super excited for this new year and I hope your holidays were refreshing and restful. Last year was a super busy one for me as I had a few projects that had materialised because of all the blogging I do.
I got to work with clients home and abroad on projects I didn’t even realise I had the expertise for. They were rewarding and challenging but I believe they have all helped me grow in knowledge and even as a person and I am glad to share a few lessons I learned with you all. Looking at 2018, here were some key things that happened and some lessons I learned.
Event Catering Jobs
This one seemed like a no brainer initially till I started dealing with clients that required an elevated understanding of food. If you have been following my blog for a while, you would know that I have not been to culinary school yet and most of my food knowledge is self-taught. I had to apply the same principles here to ensure that my Nigerian authenticity still came through the fusion dishes I created. I also got to share the kitchen with Chef Fregz on one of those occasions. There was a time during service that the power went out so we could not use the gas cooker provided. We had to improvise with camp gases so we could still push out the food. Remember, the guests don’t care about what is happening behind the scenes. They just want their food.
Lesson: Think through your whole process of the event and think of all the things that could go wrong during service and plan for it. Even if its as simple as an extra work table or torch light incase power goes out.
Content Creation for Clients
Technically, I have been doing this for a while so it wasn’t super hard to execute this. However, in creating content for a client, you need to think outside the box a little bit more but also understand the client’s brand guidelines. That way, you do not go off on a tangent and the client ends up not being happy. Ask as many questions in the initial phase, so you have a clear understanding and there is also no scope creep. Cost for the project appropriately especially if you need to rent equipment to execute the brief. Even if you don’t need to rent, cost as though you would be renting. This gives the agency a clearer picture of how much work is involved. It is also advisable that you have the agency representative at your shoot as they know the brand better than you.
Lesson: Ask Ask Ask!!
Anthony Bourdain Passed
This was obviously not a project but I believe it definitely shook things up in the culinary world. Being mentally healthy became a priority for a lot of professionals in the food industry. It also reminded me that fame and fortune are irrelevant if you don’t have health; physically, emotionally and mentally.
Lesson: Talk to someone, reach out if you are struggling. We all are but we can pull through together.
Chef Relief Dinner
This was a big project and super shoutout to Chef Michael Elegbede and the team for putting this together. As you know, there was a tragic incident at the Otedola Bridge in Lagos and this time, chefs decided to use their expertise to do something about it. The chefs got together and planned a relief dinner to raise funds for victims and their families affected by the incident. A total of N 4.1million was raised and handed over to the families of victims. Special thanks to the Honourable commissioner Dr Jide Idris for helping us connect with the victims.
Lesson: Don’t just talk the talk, be about it. Your skills can improve lives in ways you least expect.
Photography Masterclasses
This one came as a surprise to me because I don’t think I am where I should be with my food photography but somehow people trusted me enough to teach others about my journey so far. I got to work with the Onga team to host a food photography masterclass in Lagos and Abuja. I also got to work with the Google New York team to host another masterclass in Abuja to help improve the quality of food photos on Google maps.
Lessons: Don’t underestimate your acquired skills. They may be work in progress but people really value what you have done so far.
The House Lagos
So I dabbled in restaurant consultation a little – a lot in 2018. This project actually started in the last quarter of 2017 for me as we had to create the menu, train staff and get ready to open the doors in three months. Strict timelines and long days were a huge part of this project and a whole lot of work went into it.
Lessons: Get a committed team to work with. Read up on process improvement in the restaurant business as there is a lot of free material out there. Don’t try to go it alone on your first try. Put processes in place and continuously train your staff to ensure they begin to imbibe the vision of your space.
While it may not look like much is happening on our end because we are not sharing recipes as often as we should, there is a lot happening behind the scenes and the knowledge gained there would reflect in the type of content we post on here going forward.
This was my year in a tiny nutshell. What were some lessons you learned from 2018? I’d love to hear from you.