“How the Women Techsters Fellowship Put Me Back In Business”- Anna Ayuba’s Story

The COVID-19 pandemic affected lives and properties. It also affected businesses. Anna Ayuba, Women Techsters Fellow from Abuja, Nigeria, shares with us how the Pandemic affected her business and how that experience pushed her to kickstart her Tech career.

Anna Ayuba graduated from Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, where she studied English Language. After schooling, she became a trained and passionate child educator and an Entrepreneur. With the knowledge and resources she gathered, she founded Serene Educational Resources, a literacy Service that teaches children how to read and write early. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, her business was affected.

As a result of the global shutdown, people could not physically come for classes, and at that time, she had not yet learned how to attend to her clients virtually and so she started to lose some of her clients.

Anna decided to do something different. She started to pursue a career in technology and explore opportunities that can bring her closer to her dream which is digitizing her company, reaching a wider audience, and gaining partnerships and funding to make a significant impact in EdTech.

The perfect opportunity came from the Women Techsters Fellowship, and she applied under the Product Management learning track. Anna came from a non-tech background, so before the Women Techsters Fellowship, she needed help navigating several apps like Zoom, Google Meet, etc.

However, now, through the Women Techsters Fellowship, she has not just learned how to navigate these tools but also how to explain products in discussions through a product teardown, and navigate other product management software like Jira, Miro, Aha etc.

Despite struggling to find a balance between her learning and motherhood and struggling with network challenges, Anna has experienced so much growth. She has been able to incorporate digital skills into her business and now attends to her customers virtually.

She has also made significant progress in understanding technology products and services and now helps people in her immediate community kickstart their tech journey. In addition, she has had the opportunity to network with like-minded women who have become a community for emotional support and career growth for her.

In the future, she plans to use her knowledge and skills to boost her income and expand her business so she can employ people to eradicate unemployment and be amongst women who are closing the gender gap in technology.