Purpose is a Superpower - Here's How to Use it for Good with Award-Winning Visual Storyteller, Lola Akinmade Åkerström #13

After all, all art is experience. Hello and welcome to another episode of The Company Doctor. Today we're extremely lucky to be joined by Lola Akemadi-Ogustrom, storyteller, travel writer, award-winning photographer, and all-round inspirational person. Lola is also the founder of the Geo Traveller Media Academy and author of acclaimed new novel In Every Mirror She's Black, which was published by Sourcebooks earlier this year. In this episode, Lola chats with Gary about how to harness the power of purpose with real-life examples of how it has helped her grow and succeed. So without further ado, Lola, Gary, over to you.

It would be presumptuous if I give you, say, the analogy of, say, a painter.

Hey, Lola, thank you so much for joining us on this episode. I've got so many questions for you. I'm so excited that you've joined us.

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

Yeah, we've got, you know, obviously we're going to get you to introduce yourself in a minute, but my My summary of you is you're a storyteller, travel writer, but I love the word storyteller. You're a photographer, you're a speaker. I want to talk about your TED Talk during the conversation. And then I've got, you're kind of born and made in Nigeria, educated in the US, and based in Sweden. So lots of fun to talk about.

Exactly. Yeah, I'm just an hodgepodge of many things. Yeah, and we'll talk about all of them.

Maybe that's, maybe that's a good, a good place to start. It would be really good for you to you know, go briefly introduce yourself. You know, we've introduced you at the beginning of the podcast, but you know, tell us who you are and also how you got started, because I think you started in IT and ended up in photography. So tell us about yourself, it'd be great.

No, absolutely. So, you know, Lola Akemadi-Orkestrum, I was born in Nigeria, raised in Nigeria, and I moved to the US when I was 15 to start college. And growing up in Nigeria, geography was always my favorite subject. So I knew travel in some form was going to be in my future, but I just didn't know how it was going to manifest itself, right? And so when I moved to the US, I went to school, studied information systems, you know, or as we Africans like to say, whatever your parents will pay for, for you to study, that yields the highest return on investment. So, so I did, uh, I was in IT for over 12 years, you know, as a started as a programmer and then ended up as a system architect. But travel had always called me, you know, and it was in 2002 that I— when I volunteered with an expedition race was when I started making the connection of travel writing and traveling and storytelling. And so kind of fast forward a few years, I was able to kind of transition from that world, IT world, into being a full-time storyteller.

That's amazing. And, you know, for people that are listening and they don't know, I, I think Lola's understating herself. She's, you know, she's a, an award-winning photographer, you know, not just National Geographic, CNN, Forbes, Guardian, Travel, BBC, and amongst many. So, you know, you're understated. But the episode today is— and we're going to find out more about you because I think you're a really interesting person. You've done some amazing things. I love your approach to life. And, and this, the topic of today is inspiring purpose. That's why I'm so pleased you're on this episode. And so, you know, I want to talk to you about purpose, and I suppose the starting point is, because it means different things to different people, what do you, what do you mean by purpose?

So I think for me, when I think of the word purpose, you know, it's what keeps me up at night, right? But in a good way. And for me it's always been about connection, right? And I'll kind of go back to be to my background growing up in Nigeria. So Nigeria, we've got about 250 different tribes speaking over 500+ languages and dialects. So I grew up in a place where fostering cultural connection in a small space was super important, you know? And then moving to the US, I moved into a place that was trying to box me, you know, because it didn't really understand me. And so I became isolated a lot. And so for somebody that loves cultural connection and trying to connect with people so we see each other, being isolated is kind of a really cool space to be pushed in outside of your own will, you know, against your own control. And so that was where I began to find the semblances of my voice. My purpose. And I always say that, you know, what drives you is usually tied to a source of your pain, or a source, or a space that was denied you. And so for me, my purpose became, how can I create bridges of understanding between people, between cultures, between ideals, between different ways of thinking, to foster— so we understand each other better. Right. And so that's kind of where my purpose came from. And so that underlying purpose is seen across every single thing I do, whether it's writing or photography.

Yeah. And it really is. But you know, what was interesting to me is if you go back, I don't know if you woke up one day and you thought, I've got a purpose, but yeah, when you, when you were younger, you had a goal to work in the National Geographic team and you, and you ended up doing it amongst other things. Were you always wired this way or did something make you like that?

You know, I was, and I'll give credit to my parents because my parents never put any boxes or restrictions or saying this is what you could or couldn't do because you're a woman or because you're Black or because you're African. You know, my father was a geologist or is a geologist. He traveled a lot, you know, and my grandfather before then traveled a lot and I found that he had also been to Greenland in the '70s. So I come from a line of people where asking why not was like their personal mantra. Like, why am I not allowed to do this? Can you give me a valid reason? Why am I not allowed at this table? Can you give me a valid reason? Because if it's just because I'm Black, then you need a stronger reason, right? So I think coming from that stock of people, I realized that, you know, any ceiling I'm, the world wants to put on me, the world can't. You know, I'm the one that's gonna have to put my own ceilings on myself, you know. And so kind of coming from that, there was no, you know, I knew that if I wanted something, if I believed in something or believed in my voice, I was gonna fight to get that voice heard.

But I think this is important because, you know, there's a lot of corporate people listening to this and a lot of companies will go through, you know, what's our why and where are we going? But there isn't the depth. When I listen to you, and I've listened to a few of your podcasts and seen you speak on the TED Talk, for example, you've got a depth to you because even when you're traveling, I think you spoke to me about it, you don't travel like, I saw Rome in 4 hours, tick, tick, tick, you know, take the picture and move on. But you have a kind of a depth about you. Can you explain about it? You call it soaking up moments during travel, I think is something you said.

Yeah, absolutely. So not only soaking up moments, but I call it my own version of slow travel, right? Because when we always advocate slow travel, which means, you know, travel with more intention, slow down your, you know, to increase the duration in a place. But for me, slow travel is actually the pace through which you move. So I can slow travel in 24 hours if I just pick one element to get deeper understanding of. So I always say, if you are, for example, if you love dancing Instead of trying to tick off Rome and see all the sights of Rome, why don't you just go to like a dance school or find something tied to dance and get to come into the culture deeper, at least through one thing, through one thread? That for me feels a lot more enriching because at least you get a deeper connection through one thing that you also love, which is dance. So that is kind of my view, you know, when it comes to travel. As well.

Yeah, but I think it feels like it's in your life too, because there's two things you've said. One is that when you decide to do something, you're going to do it. But your, your sense of purpose has depth because you're looking for something specific. You want to get somewhere, you know, so therefore you are deeper focused, which I think is really interesting for people to hear. Now, you know, obviously it's been a difficult 18 months, uh, Lola, for most people. It's been a bit of a bumpy ride with the COVID situation. How does someone I don't know if the word is refine, but maybe it is, refine their purpose. You know, they're a bit kind of challenged and they're, you know, a bit demotivated. How does someone refine their purpose? Do they kind of sit down and have a think about it? How do you, how do you recommend that they would do that?

So absolutely. So one of the things I always say is, especially when the pandemic, you know, happened, those of us in the travel industry realized that we had been moving too fast in a, a very unsustainable way. And many of us had actually lost the reason why we got into the travel industry in the first place. So that's why I talk about connecting back to the source, to your why. Because I, I describe it as if you've got a stove with 4 burners and all those burners have got different sizes, right? So the pot of water is your passion. It's always going to boil regardless of whatever size stove you put it on, right? It's still going to boil. But travel is the biggest burner, and that's why all of us run to travel, because there's something about travel that gets that passion burning faster. But if we move that passion, that purpose, to a different industry, it's still going to run. It may not be as exciting, but if you know what your purpose is, it will still boil. And that's why I always tell people that travel is the avenue. What you need to find is why you chose travel as your avenue. So your purpose is usually tied to something that you can do both at home and when you're traveling, something that, you know— I'll give an example. If you love dance, right?

Obviously I do. You can see I'm a dancer, right?

I don't know why I keep coming back to that, but if you love dance If I moved into, say, the entertainment industry as a dancer, it will still— that passion can still go on, right? But if I said, you know what, I want to explore different cultures through dance and learn about different dance techniques and make that a show, which my friend Michaela has already done, you know, explore different cultures through dance, that's also another way of taking that passion. But you've chosen travel. So that was what I was trying to kind of get people to think about. With the pandemic is just because that lane is shut down, that burner is broken, doesn't mean you can't still take that passion somewhere else and make it burn.

Okay, that's really helpful. And, and kind of taking it a step further, so, you know, some people have done the work of thinking through what they want to do and maybe even, you know, written it down. How do you bring it to life? How do you avoid it being something on a bit of paper and bring it to life? I mean, there's obviously a motivation thing, but what's your advice to people on that?

You know, and that's the thing, it's— I always say, until you bring your work out in front of other people, it will always remain, you know, hidden. And I always call it like the talented artist in the basement. You have to be able to bring your ideas to be criticized in front of the world if you want it to grow, right? And so once you've got the ideas, it's now about first of all bringing it out, presenting it, and then trying to find people that connect with your mission, your vision, and your passion, and then start growing that way. Because nobody's going to be able to do it— you're not going to be able to do it yourself. You're going to need people that burn and see your vision and say, you know what, I can connect with this. How can I get your idea from step 1 to step 2? But, but the biggest thing is being able to courageously announce that idea or bring it out at least. And share it.

Do you find people are nervous of doing that because they've almost kind of set their stall out and then may, may fail? Do you see that with people?

Absolutely. I think people are already failing before they even try because nobody likes criticism. It's kind of like taking something precious and then trying to bring it out to the world and then getting criticized. It's, it's a very personal thing, especially artists or creatives. It's very difficult for them to do. And that's why a lot of people also struggle with rejection because it feels personal, you know. But most of the time, rejection is not an indictment on you as a person. It's actually just maybe the idea doesn't work for that person. Maybe it's just not the right time. So there are many reasons, you know, but it is a scary thing to put yourself out there. Because with praise comes criticism, and it's a very, you know, it is scary for a lot of people.

Yeah, it is scary. But it was interesting, I was listening to your TED Talk, which I think you did in Sweden 2019, which I thought was very inspirational, by the way.

I really enjoyed it. Thank you.

One of the things you were talking about was you, when you were younger, you had the goal to go to the North Pole. Yes. And it's relevant to this conversation. It would be great for you to share that story because I found that really interesting and inspirational.

Absolutely, absolutely, you know. So I've always, you know, I told you geography was my favorite subject in class. I always like looked at the latitudes, longitudes. I saw the North Pole, I'm like, oh my God, I need to see this place with my own eyes, you know. And so that had always been a childhood dream of mine. It still is actually. And then a few years ago, a competition opened up that was going to send a writer to the North Pole. I was like, oh my God, Like, what the— like, you know, how is this possible? But it was one of those voting competitions which now I've sworn I will never do again. I'll never put my friends through that again, ever. But, but you had to get votes, and so it was a 2-month-long campaign of getting as many votes as possible. But I missed the opportunity by 3 votes, right? Just 3 votes. It was very competitive. And then I realized that because some people actually admitted to me that they didn't vote. People within my circles close to me, because they said they did not— yeah, they did— because they said they did not understand my why. And for me, that also drives some of the work I do. Just because I don't understand your why, but if I see your passion, I'm gonna support you, because I do not have to understand what drives you 100%, but if I see the passion beneath it, I'll support. And so because they didn't do that, I missed that opportunity. And then I realized they had already started boxing me themselves because they said, why would I want to go to the North Pole? I'm African, like, what is driving me there? So they had already started creating their own boxes for me without my own permission, outside of, you know.

And so they kind of go, well, I don't want to go to the North Pole, you don't look the kind of person that wants to go to the North Pole, so therefore Exactly.

And that's what society does, right? And I'm gonna quote a good friend of mine, her name is Yomi Abiola, and she says that people can only see for you as far as they see for themselves. So that if they don't see themselves kind of doing it, then they won't even imagine you doing it. So they can only see as far for you as they see for themselves.

So yeah, that's really, that's really useful. But it's really interesting, isn't it? You know, the other thing I wanted to ask you is, because it's always interesting to know what makes up a person It's interesting in your family life what's driven you, but what and who inspires you that's made the biggest impact in your life?

Oh my goodness, there's so many. I mean, I am a person of faith, you know, so I am a Christian, so that's a big part of my, of my life. But people that, you know, everybody inspires me in different ways, right? So it could be anybody from Oprah Winfrey to the selfless person that works in the soup kitchen every day. Like, I draw inspiration from just a wide range of people, a wide range of people that I can see are moving with grace and moving with a deeper purpose, where money isn't always the goal, fame isn't always the goal, but impact, social impact, making sure that there's equity, making sure that you smile at somebody or you are the reason somebody feels better today. Those are the kind of people that inspire me.

Yeah, because one of the things that, you know, as a visual storyteller, you talk— you say your goal is to showcase people in their most positive light. So your examples are a positive inspiration. Do you ever have a situation where there's a negative situation that has caused a positive inspiration?

No, absolutely. And, you know, when we say, uh, especially with portrait photography of strangers when you're traveling, It is one of the most difficult types of photography, right? Because it's easy to set up a tripod and take a landscape shot, but then go to a stranger and say, "Hey, I just want your photo. I don't know you, but I want it." Very difficult. And a lot of those negative situations is because, you know, they can say no to you, but then it embarrasses you as the photographer because they usually reject you in front of other people, right? But then I realized, you as a photographer, you are putting your own emotions first before the rights of the person you're trying to photograph. So most of the time, those negative situations can change based on the dynamic, because people are intuitive. People can feel the power play and the power shift. If you go into a relationship saying, you have the power to reject me, because I am asking you for something of yourself, that usually changes a negative to a positive because it no longer becomes what I want as a photographer, but what the person is willing to give me in that moment as the subject. So that's something I'll share, you know, as an example. Yeah.

And I guess you're having to do that quite a bit. I mean, if you look, looking at your photos, they, they, they really come to life. You kind of feel the character or the place They kind of pop up. I don't know how to explain it really. Yeah, obviously that's the intention, but, but because you're looking behind things, you're looking through the lens of someone's watching, it feels that they pop up. And the other thing I wanted to ask you, because, uh, I'm not very good at Swedish anymore— I used to be, as you can imagine— but, uh, you, you wrote a book, uh, called Lagom. Yes. Which, uh, the Swedish secrets of living well. And I think Lagom is something to do with balance in your life or something, is some connection to balance, I think. Well, tell us about the book, because what are the Swedish secrets to living well and are they connected to this purpose?

Correct. So for me, especially as a travel writer, when I go to places, culture really is what drives me, especially from my own background as well. And so living in Sweden for now 11 years, I needed to get beneath the culture in a more nuanced way, right? But also in a more objective way. To showcase, you know, both the good and the bad so that people kind of developing roots can fully understand kind of the cultural nuances. So the reason I wrote Låggöm, you know, Låggöm, is because in 2017 the world was looking for like the new Nordic buzzword after the Danish iget, and so publishers were going crazy like, what's the next one, what's the next one? And then they latched— and then they latched on Swedish Låggöm, except Låggöm is it's very different. It's actually a mindset. It's a different— it's not just a cozy moment. And so a publisher reached out to me to say, "Hey, do you want to write this? It sounds cozy." I'm like, well, let's calm down because this is actually a very deep cultural societal nuanced word. And if I'm going to write it, I'm actually going to write it in that context so you fully understand all the positives as well as all the negatives and get this holistic view of what logum is., you know, as an ethos. So that's kind of how I got to write this book, and I was in a unique position because I am both an insider and an outsider in many ways, right? So I am really tied to the culture, integrated, speak the language, married to the culture, but I also wasn't born here, so I can bring in an objective lens, kind of like a divorce, you know, a therapist. That's the— Exactly, you know, like the third-party objective person. Listening to the couple, Bika, you know. So it's, it's one of those.

Yeah, but some of the things in there, because I'm trying to connect it back to the purpose because I think it's very relevant, is the right amount is best. As in, you don't have to be per— I think, I think it means you don't have to be perfect. Is that right?

Well, so on the surface it says not too little, not too much, just right, but it's actually a lot more nuanced. So if you think about it as a skill, just, you know, too much stresses the skill, too little stresses the skill. So it's actually trying to find the optimal position, the optimal habits, the optimal, you know, ways you can maintain your life with. It's trying to remove stress within your control from your life.

That's really interesting because if we're in search of purpose and we try too hard and we get frustrated, it can stress us out. So we can get— yeah, it kind of damages what we're trying to do. I don't know, depends what the goal is.

Yeah, no, absolutely. It's trying to recalibrate your life so that every single time you are not— if you're stressing— and think about it, the Swedes have this tradition called fika, which it's multiple breaks a day. It's— I actually think it's the logon mindset just recalibrating itself every, you know. So as you're stressing, stressing, stressing, you take a break so you can recalibrate that balance. It's all about balance and creating habits and a life you can sustain comfortably.

Yeah, that's good. And just to switch gears a little bit, you talk about— and again, I've read quite a few things— but you'll talk about curiosity being important because, you know, again, I'm trying to come back to the, the purpose thing.

What—

why is curiosity important to you?

So I am a lifelong learner, and I think the minute you say you, you know everything or you stop learning, I think that's the quickest way to, um, as a human to just, I don't know, burn out, to feel, yeah, to stop, you know, really to stop developing, to stop evolving, you know, for lack of a better word. So curiosity for me means looking beneath the surface. So I am, you know, they always say first impressions matter. I actually, I am the opposite. I do not, I'm not a big first impression person because I do not, if I am a person that doesn't like boxes so I am not going to put somebody else in a box based on just one encounter. They could have been having a bad day, something could have been happening, you know, I do not know if I meet them for those 5 minutes to then create just like a profile and say this is who this person is. So I'm usually more curious, okay, what's happened? Why was this encounter this way? What's going on? I need a bit more information you know, more facts about the person before I can create a profile of someone or try and put somebody in a box. So for me, that's why curiosity is important. And again, that comes back from my purpose of saying, this is who I am as a person. The world tried to box me, and if the world wasn't curious about me, or it wasn't, then it isolated me. That is not— that is what I don't want somebody else to experience. So that is what my purpose is. It's my work tries to reduce isolation within my control, things I can fight for others to not box people in, to create more connection, to create more understanding through that curiosity as well.

I think it's very good. I think, you know, in, in the business world, people need to be more curious in all sorts of aspects. And I think people really relate to that. And I think also that kind of boxing in A lot of people work in silos and, you know, basically the chance of being interested enough, curious enough to understand where other people are coming from is really powerful.

Yeah, no, absolutely. And I do want to quickly add, because that's in the business world, first impressions do matter, right? But then that makes us all very one-dimensional because then we're trying to fit ourselves into this one-dimensional first impression just to impress somebody else. When we're all— we bluff, we bluff our way through, you know. So we're— but we're all multi-dimensional. So I like it, but I guess you have to be patient patient, Lola.

If you want to be curious and give people a chance, I guess you're a very patient person.

Yeah, well, on some days.

Yeah, exactly. Maybe on weekends. I've got 2 questions for you. I've got 2 questions. The next one is about Michelle Obama. Tell us about that. I think you met Michelle Obama. What's the story? What's the scoop?

I know, right? I've been shamelessly sharing that picture all over.

Of course you should.

As I should, exactly. No, but it was when she was promoting her amazing book Becoming, you know, around the world. So she had, you know, lots of book tours, and so you could either buy a special ticket where you could get to meet her, you know. And so that was what happened. She came to Stockholm, and so I got the special ticket, and, you know, that was one of the best moments.

Is it like Willy Wonka's golden ticket?

Even better. Not even— even better. Yeah, even better than that. No, but, uh, it was just amazing to stand in her presence and just get that energy from her. And she was— and I told her, I said, you know, you, you are one of my mentors, you inspire me, and, and we need more of you in the world.

Yeah, that's amazing.

Yeah, so that was a moment.

Yeah, that's fantastic. Congratulations for that. So we've got one big question at the end, a kind of a final question, and then George is going to talk to you about your musical taste. The question's this: bear in mind, we've got, you know, there's a lot of business, uh, to business, to business people listening. If you were making a call to action for the people that are listening, and I know you don't know who they are, but if you did, what would the call to action be? Again, with a purpose in mind, you know, people are busy, they're a bit demotivated, some are very successful, but what's the call to action that you would recommend to people?

I think what businesses need to be more vulnerable and show your humanity, because people connect with people, not so much brands or labels. And I think a lot of companies still don't do that. I think it's okay to be vulnerable, to say, I don't know, we don't know, we may not be the best, but we're trying. Show that humanity through your brand messaging because that's what people connect with. That is what the travel companies that have survived during the pandemic was because they showed their humanity and said, look, we're also struggling, you know, and we're very open and transparent. So that would be my message, especially as a storyteller. Is show your humanity, make it more present.

Lola, that is awesome, and what a great way to end the interview. Thank you so much for spending time. Um, I'm excited to hear about your musical taste because you're such an inspiration. So I'm going to hand you on to George, but, uh, thank you so much again, really appreciate it.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, Lola, thank you so much. That was, it was fantastic. And as someone who's sort of vaguely in the world of travel myself, I think hearing your story and hearing about your purpose has been Really inspiring. So thanks again. And Gary and I are both very excited to hear your choice because when I emailed earlier, you knew straight away what the choice was going to be. There was no deliberation, was there? So what tune were you going to add to our, to the Company Doctor playlist? Has it been an inspiration? If so, in what way?

Absolutely. Absolutely. So my choice is Mysterious Ways by U2.

Okay.

And the reason is My name is Lola. I'm Yoruba, but the full name is Onuara Lola Oluwa, which means God moves in mysterious ways. That's the translation of my native Yoruba name. You know, God moves, God's ways are wondrous, God's ways are mysterious. So obviously when I stumbled across U2, which is also my favorite band, and I stumbled across Mysterious Ways, I'm like, match made in heaven.

Wow. And you're a believer in fate and coincidence as well, so of course it couldn't have worked out better. Fantastic, great choice.

We'll add that to the playlist. Lola, thank you once again.

Thank you again, it's been fantastic hearing from you. And Gary, thanks to you as well, and thanks to everybody for listening.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thanks for listening to this episode of The Company Doctor. There are plenty of similarly inspiring episodes over at thecompanydoctor.com, where you can also flick through the show notes, sign up for future updates, and and connect with us on LinkedIn and Instagram. See you next time!