Command Your Wit: An Interview with Yinka Akinsanya
Command Your Wit- A Platform for dreamers, helping you work smart and not just hard. Your destination for the push you need to become anything you want to be. We’re here to enable you, to inspire you, and to boost your confidence.
Who is Yinka Akinsanya?
Yinka Akinsanya is a cool, calm and collected guy, born in Lagos, Nigeria. An Accountant by profession and the founder of Command Your Wit. You already know, I'm a Yoruba boy repping.
Tell us a little more about your background, values, and passion prior to creating Command Your Wit?
I'm the last born in a family of Six, I have two brothers and a sister. I attended King's College Lagos for High School and then did three years at the University of Lagos before transferring to the United States in 2014 to wrap up my Undergraduate degree, BSc. Accounting. I graduated in 2017, now I'm an Accountant and I work on this platform; Command Your Wit. My core values include patience, hard work, optimism, kindness, and fairness, amongst other things. And I'm passionate about going for whatever you want in life, and not just settling for less.
What is the motivation behind Command Your Wit, when did you start and what is it all about?
I consider myself goal-driven and I’m always looking for ways to help the person next to me when help is needed. That being said, one thing that has been shocking and alarming to me as I’ve been here for a couple of years, is the change in the mentality of migrants from the lower class. In the past four years, I have been opportune to connect with migrants from different parts of the world and as expected, we all have goals of being successful in whatever field of business we are into. But on getting here, one thing I have noticed over-time is, the first and usually only thing people do is go into menial jobs and get complacent. This has been very odd to me because I’m a young Nigerian with goals and aspirations. I’ve seen people go from initially believing/wanting to pursue a dream to settling for less, living day-to-day to pay the bills and build a mansion back home to go back to after years of labor in America. Not to knock anyone one down, this is also important, but our dreams when achieved, will build mansions, and most of all, afford us the time we’ll need to live life. This is why I came up with this idea of a platform where people could go to in order to keep their hopes alive and reinforce this motivation. Where they could see, watch and read about people like them that have made good just by sticking to the dream. For me, this is something I wish I had when I initially got here, this is something I’ve become interested in, and I believe in the future, there will be someone that will be glad that a platform like this existed for them. I started having the idea of launching a platform like this sometime in January this year, but not until March did it come into manifestation.
Your Mission statement reads "A Platform for dreamers, helping you work smart and not just hard. Your destination for the push you need to become anything you want to be." How do you ensure this?
This is easy, I believe people naturally relate more to stories and events when its people like themselves that are involved. The goal is to share more and more stories of folks that have been able to make good in their various fields and talk on how they have been able to attain success, not leaving out the struggles they have had to face. I believe, information like this will be beneficial for generations to come, especially for those migrating to a foreign land like America.
What is your writing process like? What about writing do you enjoy most and least? Do you think we need more writers in the world?
Writing for me is all a thought process. I try to figure out what topics my target audience are currently interested in, and I explore on that... Haha, I must say figuring out what to write and starting the first paragraph is what I enjoy the least and getting positive feedback from the audience is what I enjoy the most, it keeps me going. I feel like we do not just need more writers in the world today, we need more writers getting the audience and attention they deserve.
What are some of the services your platform offers?
We share tips on Lifestyle Hacks, share stories of young and old entrepreneurs trying to make a change, and we motivate & inspire those that need the push to overcome complacency.
On your site, there is an article on "Ways to make money at your leisure" Explain how anyone interested could get started.
I feel like it all begins with one picking what field he or she is interested in. And then one just has to be ready to learn and take the necessary steps in making it work. We have all the resources in the world today to learn about what we are interested in. One especially is the internet.
Through Command Your Wit, what is it that you would like the general public to learn or take away?
I would like to let anyone paying attention out there that you can attain whatever goals and aspirations you set for yourself, it does not matter that we are in a foreign land. There will always be external factors that want to hinder your progress, but through perseverance and patience, success awaits.
What is fear to you and how can we as humans break away from it to be able to do things that are out of our comfort zone?
Fear to me is losing hope, accepting failure before taking the first step, not making that attempt to attain fulfillment. I believe as humans, we just have to understand that nothing is to be handed over to us without working for it. We have to pay more attention to figuring out how to work around or suppress the external factors that might hinder our progress.
Have you ever thought of throwing in the towel? Or has this journey been a smooth ride so far?
I understand the path to success cannot always be a smooth one. All I have had to do from the beginning is to embrace the journey, and I have never had to think about throwing in the towel. I feel it should not be an option for something you are passionate about.
What is that one thing you would like to see fixed/changed in the world?
The level of corruption in Africa. The rest of the world please permit me to be parsimonious on this one haha.
We are in an era where a lot of people want instant gratification. Is it all about how many likes/followers, or soul passion?
I will always go for passion. When you have that, nothing else really matters. The world will come around as long as you do your homework right.
What message do you have for those following passion or are about to take that first step into their dream?
Make sure you have the right mindset and just start.
What is your favorite quote?
Oh this is my Wallpaper, one I wake up to every morning; "Yesterday you said tomorrow" by Nike
What does success mean to you?
Success to me is going to bed at night knowing I have helped those around me in ways I can. Knowing that I am creating value matters a lot to me.
What is the best review/advice you've gotten so far about Command Your Wit?
Oh, So far there's been countless, I've had people from nowhere message me and tell me to keep up the good work. My Dad visited from Nigeria sometime this year, I shared my ideas with him, and he was so interested, he had me do a video interviewing him. That was actually my first video interview, but it is yet to be released, Haha….. Others have just been like, good read… post more on this… etc.
Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself on this podcast?
Amongst other things, in the long run, we plan to set up a Command Your Wit Foundation, organize workshops/events for those interested, teaching and helping young aspirants to take the necessary baby steps to achieve their goals.
How can people reach you?
Email address: yinkamix@gmail.com;
Instagram: Yinka.akinsanya, commandyourwit
Facebook: Yinka Akinsanya
Website: http://commandyourwit.com/editors-note/
Thank you for your time Yinka.
Thank you guys for having me on your platform. Godspeed we shall all attain our goals.