Ezenwa Chukwuemeka is the founder and Creative Director of The Sharpy Emmy Movement, a graphic /brand Design Company that caters to the creative needs of brands across various industries. Though officially launched in 2015, The Sharpy Movement has provided effective branding solutions to numerous top brands it has worked with. With this creative powerhouse successes so far, one may find it difficult to believe that its founder, Ezenwa Chukwuemeka @Thesharpyemmy-movement is a student entrepreneur. Fascinated by his impressive following on social media, we got to notice this young talent and upon realizing something even more interesting – that he is a student entrepreneur, we got glued to his page, double clicking hundreds of beautiful brand masterpieces. As we kept viewing, the desire to clarify our doubts as to the possibility of a student entrepreneur founding such a promising company kept burning, until we reached out to him. Here is what he has to say.
Related: jumoke Oseni: Being Financially Independent is a Good Thing
What originally made you want to become a graphic designer?
I have always had passion for Designing. Back in the days, I never uploaded any of my picture without editing/design it with my mobile phone. I was always fascinated by the work of artists and designers and I realized I needed a way to express myself better, so I started playing with my best friend PHOTOSHOP. I always tried to recreate Designs done by great designers. Watching video tutorials from YouTube was a great challenge then since I had no money to subscribe for Data but I always tried to find a way around it so that I kept improving my designing skills.
Tell us about your graphic arts company The Sharpy Emmy Movement all started.
I started this company officially in the middle of the year 2015. I called it SHOKE NATION (Sharpy home of Kreativity and Entertainment) because at the time, I was fully in Music Production. I actually got Admission the following year into the Federal University of Technology Owerri and then I stopped music production for some personal reasons and focused more on Design. I felt there was need for rebranding so I came with the name THE SHARPY EMMY MOVEMENT. Lots of packages (which I don’t want to mention for now) will be added to the movement in coming months.
In an industry like yours, you need to be very creative to stay relevant, what do you do to inspire your creativity?
Related: Ayomide Akintade: 24 Hours a Day is Too Short to Meet My Customers’ Target
I try to beat the best in my field, subscribe to newsletters and catch up on trends too. Social media is also very helpful. It has helped me as a designer to improve my Craft. It gives inspiration from different forces. Designers can collect and curate whatever it is they feel can influence their designs to generate better result through social media. Social media is playing a great role in the growth of my business. It has made work easier and faster for me. Connecting me to both local and international clients.
As a student entrepreneur how do you juggle academics with your graphic design company successfully?
For me it’s not really hard to manage both my academics and work. All one needs to know and understand is time management. I do not allow time for school activities to clash with work time. I do most of my works on weekends and sometimes in the midnights.
Who are your target markets and how do you reach them?
I target big business Brands. I make sure to always deliver quality jobs to my clients as you can see from my works and in that way, they refer me to other big brands.
How profitable would you say your business is?
Yes. I earn good. I charge clients according to their value.
What’s the best piece of advice you have heard?
People don’t care about your business. They care about their problems. Be the solution that they are looking for.
Your advice to aspiring student entrepreneurs
With the way things are going in the country there is no guarantee of one getting a job after school, even with a good grade. So my advice to students is to get a skill, explore in it and help other people grow too. And to aspiring student entrepreneurs, ‘’ don’t wait to start when you are ready, start now!
If you are an African student entrepreneur and you want to share your inspiring start-up stories with our growing community Across Africa, follow on INSTAGRAM @ideaslaneafrica and send us a DM to that effect.
