Meet the founder of Cel Amade
Cel is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker and results strategist at Cel Amade, that facilitates and inspires University students and graduates in challenging times to success, by guiding them to achieve outstanding results as they progress on from education to employment.
Tell us about the founder behind the brand?
11 years ago, I packed one silver suitcase and boarded an 18-hour flight. Leaving behind my home country, my friends and family to pursue my dreams and higher education in England. There was a time in my student days when I doubted myself a lot. After I graduated, I worked in management consulting, I launched my own haircare business, I worked with graduate entrepreneurs, I worked for universities and now I work with universities and youth leadership organisations. Regardless of the industry or job I was in, I always found the time to guide and empower students to find their way to inner fulfilment in their careers.
See, I believe there’s a champion inside each and every one of us. You know that champion that’s inside of you saying, “Ooh girl, if you just let me out!” You know that champion, right?
In essence, that’s how I got to where I am today. I love helping young adults reconnect to the champion, which they know they have but somehow, somewhere along the way the young adult and the inner champion got disconnected.
I feel it’s my mission to empower young adults to recognise their strengths and then have the courage to take inspired action towards designing their own world.
What’s the most common problem your customers approach you with?
Colleges and universities in the UK are starting to recognise that this past year has been tough, and that students may not have had the opportunities that they usually would have, to gain additional skills alongside their studies. More and more higher education institutions in the UK are becoming open to personal development activities for their students, student leaders and ambassadors. The pandemic has highlighted the urgency to give young people the support they need in order to rebuild their confidence in future prospects.
The most common problem colleges, universities or youth leadership organisations approach me with are making a smooth transition to life after university, student’s unrealised strengths, student wellbeing, lack of student motivation and how to tackle the attainment gap and maximise youth potential.
What inspired you to launch your business and what is the end goal?
When I was a university student, I wished I had someone like the person I am today a “Results Strategist”, to have guided me from where I was to where I wished to go. Most university guest speakers back in my days were corporate professionals talking about their career success – not giving many insights, encouraging words or strategic next steps to help me discover my strengths and use them creatively to land my first job or start my business.
Instead of regretting I had no one to help me see my talents in my student days, I decided to become that Results Strategist for today’s students, graduates, and young leaders. I want to continue empowering our youth to have more self-belief, to want to make a difference in their own lives and break free from barriers set on their ability to achieve their goals regardless of their age, gender, socio economic background, race and religion.
My goal of speaking to young adults is to help them recognise their inner champion, take inspired action and design their own world. A world where they’re not afraid to show up, speak up and strategically get into action so they can become the best version of themselves.
How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?
It’s my job, my responsibility and my pleasure to help students realise that their grades won't always define their success. That the journey to success begins when they make a conscious effort to discover their strengths and then have the courage to take inspired action towards designing their own world. A world where they consciously choose a career path that matches their talents and aspirations.
Using relatable real-life stories, job hunting strategies, self-help tips and international experiences, I empower college and university students to make a smoother transition to graduate life.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?
Believe - nothing really happens until you believe. Believe you can have your desired result. Then take bold strategic marketing steps in the direction of your desired result. Your self-belief can be contagious!
If you don’t believe in yourself, why should others believe in you? In your cause? In your potential? In your natural talents? In your dreams?
After years of trial and error, ups and downs, the true transformational change in my career began when I truly believed in myself, in my talents, strengths and dreams.
Remember, it’s never too late to believe in yourself. To believe in who you are and the strength that is inside of you. To be brave and to shift a challenge to your advantage. To believe that you have the power to design your own world. See your best now. Not the best you were or the best you could have been if the pandemic didn’t exist. Achieving your desired result requires you to see the best in you now.
What are your thoughts on failure?
If you don’t give yourself permission to fail, you’re really not giving yourself permission to grow! I’ve learnt how to fail forward. I always. Underline and circle always... I always fail forward.
Failing forward means giving yourself permission to pull out the lessons learnt. Failure is an important part of the learning process. Get started. Make mistakes. Listen to the feedback that comes with those failures. Calibrate yourself and keep moving forward towards your goal. We don’t have to be afraid of failure. Failures are opportunities to learn something new that propels us closer to our success.
Do you have a morning routine or ritual to get your day started on the right foot?
Yes, absolutely! I start my day with a prayer. Then I listen to my positive affirmations for 4 minutes.
I take another 5 minutes to visualise 5 things I wish to achieve for the day. Then I eat a light breakfast and do a 40-minute workout. I hop into the shower after which feel ready to rock my day!
What social media channel would you say has worked the best for your business and why?
YouTube. YouTube has provided me with a search engine platform and the creative space to showcase what I do to a global audience that is actively searching for solutions. My YouTube channel is Cel Amade, check it out if you wish to learn more about my strategies, tips and tools to help students make a smoother transition to graduate life.
What’s the most important question entrepreneurs should be asking themselves?
Does my business idea allow me to honour and express the truest version of myself? If the answer to this simple, yet powerful question is unclear, keep looking, fail forward and do not settle until you find the answer you are looking for. When you become in alignment with your natural talents and your soul’s desires, inner peace will engulf your being.
Is word of mouth working to your advantage?
Yes. Most of my speaking opportunities at universities and colleges are a direct result of word of mouth. My goal is to leave a positive long-lasting feeling of empowerment, self-belief and confidence in my audience’s hearts and minds whenever they think about life after university or their future. This leads to building a strong bond with the institutions I work with, repeat business, referrals, and recommendations.
What plans do you have for ‘your business’ over the next two years?
I am currently crafting some personal development content for my YouTube channel with strategies and tools to help young adults design their own world. I have some exciting speaking opportunities lined up in a few UK universities with a combined audience of about 1,650 students and I am very much looking forward to them all. I am always keen for new opportunities that expand my working horizons and empower our youth. My goal is to spark some inspiration in the hearts of 16,000 young adults within the next 2 years.
I would also love to deliver a Ted Talk to help young adults around the world realise that they have the power to deliberately design their own world.
Thank you very much for your time and this interview opportunity, my hope is that this conversation touches the heart of your readers. And if by any chance my words stir something positive in your readers and their inner champion, I would consider it a job well done on my end!
