July 27, 2022

The Climb: Andisa Yako shares her experience

In case you missed the memo, our six-month program, The Climb, is making a comeback, and we’d love to have you on board! As the team are working hard to curate a comprehensive program to propel your career, we caught up with our 2021 alumnae. In this blog post, we’re sharing the experience of Andisa Yako. 

Meet Andisa 

Andisa is a senior commercial sales professional within the entertainment technology sector. She focuses on partnering with businesses to bring them the best entertainment through cutting-edge technology. She’s currently an entrepreneurship and startup mentor in the Women in Tech Women’s Global Mentoring Program and serves as Madam Chair for the Mentorship and Sponsorship Committee within an NPO Board.

Andisa previously worked within the financial sector, developing innovative banking and fintech solutions to help businesses scale their operations and launch financial products to help consumers be savvier with their finances. 

She’s passionate about entrepreneurship that solves societal challenges at the heart of the business whilst making a profit and creating more opportunities for female and African entrepreneurs to have access to funding and global partnerships, bridging African business and the world.

Career trajectory 

Speaking on how the Climb Membership directly benefited her career trajectory, Andisa explained, “I previously sat on an NGO Board Committee as a Madame Chair and got promoted to sitting on the board as a non-executive. The sessions allowed me to reposition my brand and clearly articulate my strengths and contributing experience.” 

Self-discovery & lessons learned 

With self-discovery being a key pillar of our program, Andisa learned valuable lessons about herself. She explained her experience: “I learnt that I love coaching entrepreneurs and teams to help them build and scale their personal goals and businesses. I’ve previously shied away and played supporting back roles. Now I confidently use my experience to help entrepreneurs and teams articulate their goals and implement steps to reach them.” 

Sharing her most impactful learnings from the six-month program, Andisa learnt the importance of a team. She explained, “constructing a team to help me be my best is super important; I can’t be all that I want and aspire to be without assistance. Having a full-time job, sitting on a board and starting a side business can be exhausting. Delegating to my team allows me to focus on the key things I need to do in my different roles to ensure I’m not overwhelmed with all my responsibilities.”

Money Talks 

Negotiation is a crucial focus of The Climb as we strive to empower our students to tackle those difficult conversations about money. Sharing her experience, Andisa said, “the negotiation masterclass was priceless. It ensured that I’m pitching myself at the correct career levels and business opportunities. She continued, “it equipped me with the strategy and tools to ensure I’m competitive in all my career and business trajectory going forward.” 

A world of opportunities

Speaking on new opportunities she’d been offered since the program, Andisa said, “I’ve had some interest from two global brands. Although I did not take the offers as they were not aligned with my personal growth goal. However, it’s been great seeing how repositioning my brand and value – which I learnt in the masterclasses – has opened new opportunities for me.” 

We love to see it! 

When we asked Andisa to summarise the Climb membership, she chose empowering methods and a supportive group of delegates with a rich and global view. 

If you’re ready to look inward and take your career to the next level, find out more about the Climb here and join the waitlist.