Nora's Copy

Chief Storyteller 

Big Change Makers

As a Social Impact Coach, I : 

- Mentor purpose-driven entrepreneurs to turn their purpose into projects
- I help you identify social missions and craft sustainable strategies to achieve them
- Refine business models so you can create social impact without a financial trade-off
- Provide guidance on securing funding, accessing resources, and building strategic partnerships
- Offer ongoing support and accountability to help you navigate challenges to your social goals
-Facilitate networking opportunities and connections within the social entrepreneurship ecosystem

Practitioner Coach

Nora's Needle

www.norasneedle.com is a sustainable fashion brand that was registered with Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in 2014 and focuses on the designs of timeless pieces of female clothing using African print.  A sustainable, minimalist and urban brand, Nora’s Needle creates clothing that are elegant and at the same time eco-friendly. Using a variety of channels, Nora’s Needle advocates and raises awareness via its #whomademyclothes campaign on the environmental impact of fast fashion and why consumers should be interested in the global discussion using #whomademyclothes.

•      In this role, I managed internal communication, external communication and employee 
        engagement activities for Nora's Needle.

•	Led a 5-man team of designers to Conceptualize and create timeless and trans-seasonal clothing 
        designs that do not end up in landfills.

•	Generated web content and social media content for the brand.

•	Worked closely with the team to implement ethical and sustainable methods of production and 
        supply that ensures maximum benefits to customers while minimizing impact to the environment.

•	Designed and delivered strategic capacity building workshops that integrate ethical and 
        sustainable design principles to all employees, including but not limited to tailored tools, 
        resources, visual management or communications tools, one on one support and/or training 
        workshops.

•	Created pitches for collaborations with key partners and supervised marketing and public relations 
         efforts.

•	Supervised order fulfillment on all sales channels and general customer-retention strategies

Project Manager

Inspire Decisions Consulting

www.inspiredecisions.com is a social enterprise and certified ISO 20700 Management Consultancy Service Provider that collaborates with government agencies, civil society organizations, private sector companies and leading international development organizations to conduct research, analyse policies, develop strategies and implement programs that promote resilience, sustainable food security, improved nutrition, entrepreneurship and employment opportunities.
While with IDC, I : 

• Developed and conducted due diligence and organizational capacity assessments prior to  entering strategic relationships and partnerships with the company’s network of private  companies, financial institutions, civil society organizations, other public agencies, and 
Smallholder farmers’ cooperatives and associations while maintaining a Management Information System (MIS) for partners 
• Led the development of external advocacy and communication messages and campaigns for key donor-funded projects/assignments such as (FCDO/Palladium) implemented by Inspired Decisions Consulting Ltd.
• Managed all communication, branding, social media, video production, and web content creation processes.
• Managed the communications team and track performance 
• Managed company relationships with the media, and advertising and public relations agencies. 
• Generated sales leads through events and content marketing. 
• Supported local smallholder farmer cooperatives and associations executives to use and internalize effective mass and tailored media communication and information channels adapted to their contexts including channels such as radio, SMS, WhatsApp and interactive voice response channels (IVR).

Head of Partnerships and Communications

Seconded to Meadow Foods, I provided communications and public relations-related technical advisory services on its GrowIT Project. GrowIT targets 20,000 smallholder farmers in Adamawa and Gombe State and is funded by the Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity implemented by a consortium led by Mercy Corps, alongside Save the Children and IFDC as implementing partners. I was primarily responsible for leading communications and strategically positioning the GrowIT brand. To that end, I :

 *Led the development of external advocacy and communication messages and campaigns for key donor-funded projects/ assignments funded by USAID through Mercy Corps Nigeria's Rural Resilence Activity.
* Managed all communication, branding, social media, video production, and web content creation processes. (Create a social media calendar, create captions for each post and schedule posts on Hootsuite and other apps so I can Copy Once & Post Everywhere -COPE )
* Managed the communications team and track performance
* Managed company relationship with the media, and advertising and public relations agencies.
*Managed strategic communications for Meadow Foods Co-founder
*Worked with Directors, Deputies, and Program Managers or their designates so I can write, edit, design, and produce engaging, accurate, and useful knowledge products and resources including print and digital handouts, FAQs, talking points, newsletters, success stories, articles, blog posts, presentations, infographics, posters, journal articles, conference and event materials and training resources.
*Created and managed an editorial calendar while maintaining editorial vision: voice, image across all content and assets.
*Ensured that the GrowIT project is on the major screens, airwaves, social media, print etc so that the project gets measurable traction and mileage which eventually converted to sales.

Communications Consultant for Meadow Foods GrowIT Project

Ciphermedia Limited

www.ciphermedialtd.com is an information technology firm  with the primary objective of helping businesses leverage on the power of the internet by having an online presence in the forms of ecommerce sites, content management systems and/or online marketing. 

•	Led a 3-man team of content producers to ensure contents met clients’ brief and overall objectives of their website.
 
•	Collaborated with the design team to plan and develop content, style and layout that were consistent for 20 brands, across 10 industries.

• Provided audience mapping and created compelling content for Ciphermedialtd subscribers via
Mailchimp marketing.

•	Edited the "About" and "Services" pages for www.ciphermedialtd.com 

•	Built staff capacity through trainings on SEO and SEM to ensure that clients’ ranked high in search results.

•	Worked closely with the team to create business pitches to attract new projects for Ciphermedia Limited.

Communications Manager

Etisalat Nigeria

Etisalat Nigeria (now 9mobile) is a multinational Emirati based telecommunication services provider, with operations in 15 countries across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

•	Provided superior customer service via phone and email both as a caller and receiver.

•	Employed questioning and listening skills to support callers/clients 

•	Escalated high level queries to support units

•	Appropriately communicated with different behaviour types on the telephone and via email and managed irate customers. 

•	Appropriately communicated with different behaviour types on the telephone and via email and managed irate customers. 

•	Marketed the company’s products and services through various cross-selling strategies.

Customer Care Executive

MTN Nigeria

MTN is an emerging markets mobile telecommunications operator at the forefront of technological and digital changes. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, its operations cut across a number of African, Asian and European countries. 

•	Answered incoming calls from Pay As You Go (PAYG) and contract customers. 

•	Provided first call resolution on customers’ queries on products and services as well as network-related issues. 

•	Referred advanced queries to high level support. 

•	Logged all call types for record keeping. 

•	Telemarketed and provided after-sales services

•	I used Single View, Minsat and other applications to check the status of callers’ lines.

•	Achieved Customer Satisfaction Rating of 98% within the first six months of joining the company, thus increasing customer retention.

•	Consistently maintained a Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) of over 95% for ten months.

Online Customer Care Rep

"I do this for Lucy. I'd do anything for her. Because if my presence doesn't make an impact, my absence won't make a difference".

One hot afternoon in May 2005, Nora walked into her friend Lucy's mother's empty restaurant. There, she found the woman in excruciating pain, sobbing as she rubbed some balm on her sore knees. It was clear her line of work exacerbated her arthritis.

Curious, Nora asked why she stuck with a job that worsened her health. 

"I do this for Lucy. I'd do anything for her. Because if my presence doesn't make an impact, my absence won't make a difference, she said."

Those words hit Nora hard and stayed with her through the years. 'No life is complete unless it impacts another'.

From Quilla Bohannon, who brings joy to kids with hair loss through "Free Wigs 4 Kids", to Nigerian Hydroponic Farmer, Samson Ogbole,  and all the purpose-driven individuals whose stories she has told…these impact stories, they're her jam.

With a background in development communications, feature writing, and digital storytelling, Nora has over 12 years of experience in humanitarian and gender-based issues.

In 2005, for example, she conducted the first-ever project on Female Genital Mutilation for the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Maiduguri. This research yielded vital recommendations and laid the groundwork for development communication efforts in the Zawiya Community.

In 2022, Nora kicked off "Tell Your Brand Story," a 51,000-subscriber-strong newsletter that has empowered professionals and entrepreneurs with the tools to master brand storytelling. 

She’s also the creator of “The 7-Day Personal Branding Email Challenge,” where she's trained 112 entrepreneurs from 7 countries to build stellar brands on LinkedIn.

She is a strong advocate for climate action, a loving wife, and a mom.

Nora is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Storytelling and Social Impact. She has been featured in LA Weekly, InStyle, Insights Success, the Guardian, Vanguard, Daily Trust, and Marketing Edge.

In 2023, she was listed as one of the top 100 Content Creators in Nigeria and #1 in Writing and storytelling by Favikon. 

Nora is committed to empowering organizations, entrepreneurs, and professionals to harness the power of storytelling for sustainable impact, influence, and income.

Nora Agbakhamen

Talk Boutique

Talk Boutique is a full service Speaker Representation and Thought Leader Coaching company specializing in helping those who have a message to convey do so with engagement and clarity.  Using methodologies proven with TEDx speakers, Talk Boutique helps to develop content, performance and clarity for any speaking opportunity.

In 2023, we launched our premier membership program through our Thought Leader Academy.  This is where aspiring thought leaders come to establish their message, grow their community and build their brands.  It’a a community where the thought leaders of tomorrow gather today.  Join us and make sure your contact list is filled with those who will be co-creating our future!

CEO & Executive Thought Leader Coach

TEDx Corktown

Chairperson & Curation Lead

SingularityU Canada

Head Of Faculty

Working with the SingularityU Canada Summit Core Team, responsible for identifying and securing all speakers, demos and entertainment that will comprise the 2017 program.  Specifically to identify the right technologists, academics, entrepreneurs and visionaries, and provide the coaching and support necessary to focus on the Singularity grand challenges and the issues affecting Canada.

Co-Director, Programming & Curation

Humber College

Instructing classes in the Advertising and Marketing Communications's program.

Instructor (Part Time)

TEDxToronto

2017:  Advisor - provide background support and/or Speaker Coaching assistance when required to the current organizing team

2016:  TEDxToronto Co-Chair:  Overseeing the core organizing team for the annual TEDxToronto conference, my role is to direct the Programming and Logistics teams to ensure the conference meets all objectives. 

2015:  Director of Programming:    responsibile to curate's speakers and performers for the annual conference and deliver's the spirit of TED.  As a Speaker's Coach, I work directly with select speakers to identify their topic, build their talk and develop strong performance skills to deliver an impactful and meaningful TED talk.  I have directly coached the following TEDxToronto speakers: Brendan Frey, Rodolphe El-Khoury, Mark Bowden, Joel MacCharles, Keith Vanderlinde, Margot Taylor and David Fleet, Andrew Peek and Robert Binet

2013/14:  Speaker's Coach

Curation

Account Planning Group of Canada - APGCan

Board Member and Treasurer

Lightning Rod Marketing

I am the strategic lead, facilitator and planner for Lightning Rod Marketing and provide strategic planning expertise to every project we deliver.  Additionally I have a team of freelance project managers and creative development professionals who are able to work on marketing and advertising assignments as required.

Strategic Leader and President

IMC Brands Applied

IMC Brands Applied helps organizations reexamine the way they present their information through interfaces using the context of their brands and objectives. We develop solutions that empower employees and customers to get the most out of their systems, while ensuring the Brand is resident in every interaction and at every touch point.

SVP Strategy (contract)

Cundari

Responsible for, and directly contribute to the strategic output of the agency, including brand strategy, account planning, digital and social strategy, research and analytics.  Oversee a team of seasoned subject matter experts who each provide their individual expertise in an integrated, collaborative process.

Vice President of Strategy, Insight & Planning

Nexient Learning / Global Knowledge Canada

Oversee the ongoing marketing, branding, and communications for Canada's largest corporate training and skills development company

Vice President Marketing

I looked up and saw blank stares... I knew they didn't understand what I was saying and I really needed them to, this was a pitch afterall.  I was at the front of the room presenting a complex strategy to a boardroom full of executives. and clearly I was failing.  But why... it took me years to understand that I was presenting data, important data, but what I was missing was the story that held it together.  I was talking at them not with them.  

You see, we are each the sum total of every conversation we have ever had, so I made it my goal to create and have intelligent conversations everyday! I learned this through my work on TEDx events and working with TED speakers.  What most people miss is that conversations can be presentations, talks or pitches, even though you may have data you need to get across.  When you present with stories, you create conversations.  

As a Executive Speaker’s Coach, Communication Expert and Business Strategist, I use my well defined listening skills and combining these with my skills in insight identification and human behaviour, I craft stories from facts and help to build and deliver talks that are clear, compelling and deeply engaging.

I have held leadership positions with multi-national advertising agencies, advertisers and major brands.  Using my own unique thought leadership expertise and my training as a TEDx Speakers Coach, I now provide Communication Coaching and Consulting expertise to Leaders, Experts and Changemakers.

I founded Talk Boutique in 2016 to help those with important stories to tell to create impact by helping them to take create TEDx Talks that inspire millions!

taplio

The Battle

Nora Agbakhamen

Andrea Sampson

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