“Orubebe, how far have you gone with the site?”
“I’m 85% done,” Orubebe replies, giving Iyabo the side eye. “Please leave this office. You’re disturbing us …”
“You will trek home today …” Iyabo sneers, walking back to the red table.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not walk…” Orubebe rebuts…
“…So that’s how I get better returns on campaigns even though I spend less on Google and Facebook Ads than most other Account managers in Nigeria…” TK, aka women leader explains to Shorty.
“…You’re smart!” Adorable says, pointing at TK. She stretches her hand, awaiting her ‘Kopiko’ candy. Adorable throws it to her, puts his headphones back on and continues disturbing the Internet with outrageous content.
“Shady, I’m sending you an image now. Please turn the white man in the middle to a black man, and change the dollars in his hand to naira,” Santana requested.
“Roger that …” Shade replied, re-focusing on the mind-blowing creative she was designing on her iMac…
“Dorooo, Dorobucci oooo….Dorooo….buccii…” …it started as a hum, then as the Don-Jazzy produced hit song progressed, it became a full-fledged sing-dancethon. The boss moonwalked from his office to the red table; hi-fived everyone while still humming the song, then broke into a pseudo-shoki that cracked everyone up.
“So, where are we on the Call Your Mum App?” The Boss asked Funsho after the laughter had died down.
“As soon as Muna finishes editing the video and Golah sends in the blog-post copies, we’ll be ready to launch,” Funsho answered.
The boss turned to Muna, aka, the Prince. “Whatsup?”
“Felicia has edited sound,” the Prince replied. “I was waiting for you to come so we’ll look at the edit before we make a final cut. And, those drone shots are absolutely amazing. Absolutely!” he added.
“Alright let’s see it…” the boss said. “Guys…” he called to everyone. “Let’s see the video…”
Everyone rallied round and, at the end of the cut you could hear the cheers from Dolphin Gate …
Who are these people?
Tokunbo is the women leader, and that title was bestowed on her because she is the only married woman in the team, and pregnant with the first Anakle baby. Chidi ‘Chydee’ Lazarus, the adorable one who has already given the baby a name – ‘Oluwachidi’ – is the ‘Content Lead’ and is in strong contention for the coveted godfather position. Osose, aka Shorty, is the Lead Account Manager, and tallest person in Anakle, hence the name. Bolatito was named after the wrestler, Tito Santana, and Muna, the Prince was so named because, he is COO and next in line for the ‘throne’!
Of course, Orubebe is not Ofure’s real name. She was named after the elder because she has been disrupting the whole digital process since 2013. Iyabo is not Ashley’s real name either. No one can remember how or why the name was bestowed on the Middle-Tennessee State University alumn…wait. Iyabo means, ‘mother is back’ right? Eureka …
And no, Felicia is not a girl. He is Yomi, IT student and bada$$ developer. He is also an editor in one of Nigeria’s biggest Tech Blogs.
So, what is the Anakle way? What is our essence? What drives us?
It is simple really. While our core responsibility is to satisfy our clients and make them very very excited, our ultimate goal as members of #TeamAnakle is ‘To be Happy’. That is not negotiable. We don’t compromise on that standard because when we’re happy, we make our clients happy. When our clients are happy, we’re happy. When our clients are sad, we’re sad, and since we do not like being sad, we transform their sadness to happiness and become happy again …and the process continues!
How do we ensure everyone is happy? We create an environment where you can be who you want to be and still remain very productive. Everyone has unlimited access to everyone, ensuring no process is stalled by the bureaucracies found in other agencies. If one person does exceptionally well, he/she is openly commended and praised. If one person makes mistakes, we all learn and teach ourselves how to be better. We have fun, tons and small chops of it. We’re constantly seeking two things: Self-improvement and happiness. And in the end, everybody wins: the client, #TeamAnakle, and the paychecks that come in monthly.
So, once again, what is the Anakle way? What is the spirit of Anakle?
It is simple, and short, really. It is TO BE HAPPY!