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Quickfire Questions with Kelechi Uchenna, CEO of Nigenius

November 13, 2024

Quickfire Questions with Kelechi Uchenna, CEO of Nigenius

Kelechi Uchenna, CEO of Nigenius, an edtech startup that helps parents hire amazing tutors and teachers build out innovative lesson plans for their students.

Before you read, Click here to read part one of this interview with the CEO of Nigenius.

What’s the African country that you love to visit this year and why?

Honestly, the African country I would like to visit this year would be South Africa. I heard it’s very beautiful, especially Cape Town. Yeah, that’s one country that’s on my list. I’ve been to Egypt, Ghana, Gabon, and Cameroon as well but I would like to visit South Africa yeah

What’s the most underrated Nigerian food?

Most underrated Nigerian food, I think, would be ugba. I don’t know if you know ugba. Ugba with abacha. Abacha with kpomo and fish. It’s actually a delicacy.

How do you look after yourself in your free time?

I take walks, I do a lot of exercise, I go to the gym, I run, that’s my, that’s the only exercise I do. I don’t carry weights, I just run. And I hang out with friends. I watch a lot of movies, Netflix, and the rest. And I spend time with my family, that’s number one. I spend time with my kids, my wife, and bond with them because family is everything.

What has been the most humbling moment in your journey as an entrepreneur?

My most humbling moment I would say were two moments. Number one was in 2021 when I had two options, either shut down the business or pivot. And I choose to think the other way and say, no, we’re not done yet with this thing. Let’s do this pivot, let’s change it and see what happens. And that’s how it became a revenue generating company. So it was an inflection point for me.

Then another humbling moment was in 2023, where I started a project. We started a project, a technology project that we wanted to build and launch. Spent a lot of money on it, but at the end of the day, we couldn’t launch it. And I had to shut down the project. Because it was actually crippling our finances. It was a painful moment for me but we bounced back from it. I remember having to tell the team that we have to shut it down.

I remember how I felt, because I had a lot of big plans for that project. And I remember going to one of my mentors and telling him this is the situation I’m in right now, and he told me not to worry, that right now you’re in survival mode. So you have to think like you’re in survival mode.

That was a critical point for me because having to understand that I was in survival mode now made me focus on what matters. And which is my final word on this interview to everybody that’s watching. As a business owner, focus on what matters for your business. Don’t be distracted by all the things that are going on around you. Focus on what matters.