You Are One Cringe Post Away from Being Seen
That post you are hiding in your drafts might be the thing that changes everything.
Ed Note
“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness." — Oprah.
If you find this newsletter in your social or promotions tab in Gmail, please drag and drop it to your primary tab to ensure future emails are delivered there.
So Shall We?
During Hauwa's last TEDX speech at Babcock University, she asked the students if they had ever made a video, posted or written something before and then felt like “Eew, this is cringe.”
Many students echoed, “Yes,” and she replied, “That is why you are broke.” 😂😂😂😂😂
If we are being honest, she didn't lie.
Imagine if Jarvis had made her first video imitating a robot, watched it, found it cringe and deleted it. You would probably not know who she is today and what she was capable of doing.
The same goes for Veekee James. If she had sewn her fire designs in silence without posting online and putting a face to the brain behind her designs, she would probably still be in one shop with random aunties pricing her luxury gowns like Bend-down Select.
There are thousands of women out there with different talents but are just sitting on it because they are scared people will find it cringe or they would look “somehow” online, and you are probably one of them.
Let me whisper this in your ear:
You see that TikTok video you rolled your eyes at? That babe you swore was embarrassing herself? She is going to make money from it. She will continue to build her brand while you keep scrolling and judging.
And that is what is going to continue happening until you decide it is time for you to build your own brand and stop wasting time.
The problem is, you are waiting for everything to be perfect before you take a step, but you forget that nobody’s first post is perfect, not even your favourite tech creators. You see that awkward after-work selfie, the mid-code screenshot, the write-up in your draft, your Figma design PNG, the nervous LinkedIn update you have in your drafts, they all matter. So instead of deleting it, post it and quickly go offline. Let the internet deal with it.
You don’t even need to go as far as creating a YouTube channel immediately, you can start from TikTok. You can post what you are currently learning each week, share a screenshot of your project on your laptop, write mini blog posts, or X (Twitter) threads.
You can talk about anything relating to your work, your journey, your wins, your struggles, anything at all. And to be honest, you don’t need to go viral, the idea is to be visible. You just need to be visible enough to one mentor, one recruiter, or even your future self.
And while you are at it, please own your voice, whether it is your accent, humour or personality, own it. Your vibe will attract your tribe.
Lastly, be consistent. Keep showing up regularly until you no longer remember what you were afraid of. With time, the cringe will fade.
So, go ahead and start now. Post that weird selfie of you after debugging for 5 hours, upload that tutorial video, and write about your design or coding process. In fact, when you do, tag The Stack Journal on your social media platform, and we will celebrate you.
Normalize showing up and owning it. Do anything to be visible and in a few weeks or months from now, you'll be glad you didn't let fear or cringe get the final say.
Remember, the world cannot hype what they can't see.
Learn Canva for social media graphic design and video editing for free.
Mastering Wordpress: Wordpress Development and Monetization.
In case you missed it
Bridging Nigeria’s digital and language skills gap to unlock global opportunities.
Aproko Doctor’s healthtech startup wants to be the first point of health contact for Africans.
Nigeria, Kenya lead as African startups raised $460 million in Q1 2025.
MTN Nigeria's spectrum deals raises telecoms monopoly fears, Adenuga's Globacom alleges in NCC Petition.
Flutterwave, Yellow Card, join Circle Payments Network to facilitate global payments with stablecoins.
Check out our latest article on the TSJ website as well.
Opportunities
Graphics Designer needed at IDEANEST.
Cybersecurity Instructor Needed.
Project Manager Needed.
Social Media Manager at RedLantan.
Freelance Content Writers.
Data Intern Wanted.
Junior Website Content Creator.
Part-time UI/UX Design, DevOps, Cybersecurity & Ethical Hacking, Web Development, Digital Marketing — Abuja. Send CV, cover letter & portfolio (if applicable) to contact@gmtsoftware.tech with subject: Part-Time Instructor Application
Graphics Designer & Video Editor.
This newsletter is brought to you by Miracle Okah.
Read our latest articles and think pieces on women, technology, and everything else!
Your continued support has brought us this far. Upgrade to a paid subscription to ensure our newsletter remains free and accessible to all. Thank you for being part of our journey!
Want to share this with someone you think might like this?