February 5, 2015, by Kelly Cookson

My name is Olu Amodeni and I am an overly attached mother.

Guest blog by Olu Amodeni.

It has been three months since I shifted from entrepreneur mode to academic mode. To be honest, it has been hard to switch off the arbitrage behaviour in me. I guess I can argue, as an academic (to be) that I am retailing my knowledge. I wonder what true academics think of this?

So in the last three months, what has happened? In business a lot happens in three months, and I’ve learnt that the same can be said for academia. What is certain though, I am drawing a lot of similarities in both paradigms – my fellow students are brothers from other mothers.

A friend of mine is studying counselling, so we met up and started sharing classroom ‘gossip’. They are studying attachment, particularly with children and the psychological implication of it. Reflecting on our chinwag, I thought about a mother’s attachment to her child: naturally mothers are attached to children, but what about those that are perhaps overly attached? The mums on the touchline during the rugby games; the mums who never miss a swimming session; and me, the still young mum that just can’t totally let go of her business even though it is ‘potty trained’ and can make its own dinner (perhaps over-optimism there!). My name is Olu Amodeni and I am an overly attached mother.

One major reason why I would say I am overly attached is that, with the team, I have fought back the leviathan of business failure. Business failure is an ongoing battle. Reading about Alpari UK’s application for insolvency after changes in currency during the week reminded me that business is fragile: just when you think you are safe, the Swiss can pull one over you. I’ve got nothing against the Swiss – they make the best chocolates and watches. Not a fan of the former, but a good box of chocolates can get you out of a mix. I digress.

Talking about failure, I experienced failure as an academic (to be). Even after passing my first course, my next two courses (which I worked very hard on) came back with big Fs. To be honest, I struggled to hold back the tears, but I have been accustomed to failure. In business you learn to be weighted on the bottom and bounce right back up. That’s the only way you keep fighting the leviathan. The chase of failure after business is like playing tag in the school playground: don’t get tagged. If you do, fight back hard.

So here I am, working towards beating failure. That’s the true entrepreneurial spirit. From the High Tower to the Ivory Tower….

Olu Amodeni
Graduate Teaching Assistant (Entrepreneurship), Doctoral Researcher.

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