Meet Dubem Onwumere | Model, Creative Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dubem Onwumere and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dubem, how do you think about risk?
You know risk is actually funny thing to think of when it comes to wanting to do your own thing or just work period. Risk for me can either be with time, money, relationships, etc. I compartmentalize risk into different factors, just trying to make sure that it makes sense. For instance, if I were wanting to do a certain job, how much time or resources is going to take to complete it? What type of time am I sacrificing how much money is going to be putting into it or what other resources am I going to be sacrificing in order to do such a thing sometimes it allows me to assess something and either say no or actually be excited about the outcome and go towards it. So assessing risk for me may not be as formulaic, but recognizing what the risks are when deciding to do something for work, definitely helps to guide my decisions.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
So outside of my passion for modeling currently work as a team lead for a certain finance company. A bit more specifically it’s for a certain software that a financing index company uses. Through my eight years of being in the financing banking company. There were definitely a few things I would have had to make sure that I have down packed in order to get to this point right now. Basic understanding of what goes on the economy, of course how money is dealt back-and-forth from the level of the front facing customer to companies part of a conglomerate. The challenges came from all of the errors that I have come across and some of the things I was unable to do. Having to really starting to gain confidence in your decision-making when it comes to finance and having a general understanding is a lot of trial and error at least to me. So for anyone that happens to go down a route I think one of the key things to help go through this journey are to definitely ask questions, learn from your mistakes, learn other mistakes And understand the lay of land. Of course, depending on what the organization is. For the progression, I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily easy, but it is natural. And what I mean by that is if you understand something as simple as being a cash teller to seeing how loans work to seeing how multimillion dollar loans are operated through their lifetime it gives you an understanding that’s invaluable, wherever you go in financial organization. So as this is being part of my brand, it’s important to trust your decision-making as well as understand the environment that you’re in.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When it comes to having fun or want to make sure someone has fun a lot of it Would come down to making an experience. Granted I would probably go to a place such as a sushi spot to eat at (Japan House is a great example) or a Nigerian fusion spot such as Aso rock. And there are numerous restaurants or places to dinette to get the nature of the fun going. so for me, what I would do with someone that were to come out of town would be things such as going on hikes, Going to a private club that has an invite (ie The Tier) or doing something fun such as karaoke or go to something as cool as a Boiler room-esque experience (ie Musanganno). All of that leads to a fruitful experience and throughout the week that I would have a friend there, it helps to give them a lasting impression of their time here.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Honestly, want to thank all my friends and family that were integral to the certain point that I’m at. And it makes me grateful for the path that I’ve gone on through my journey because it validates what I’ve gone through and validates who I’ve had around me in order to be in a certain success level that I’m met right now. So for those that would read this interview, you would know who you Are to have helped me to this point. And I think each and everyone of you.

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Image Credits
@nathanandzoey
Toby Onwumere
@mrforobooth
@kwesithethird
@rockashots