Immigration gets plenty of bad press, but the press doesn’t give the whole story.
That’s why I started The Newcomers Podcast: To tell the whole, real, human stories behind immigration.
Each episode shares the human perspective behind the immigrant experience.
Each episode
On August 15th, 2015, we lost our first child.
We had named him Naeto, and he was two hours old. In the days that followed, friends and family called and visited us at the hospital. They would ask my wife how she was doing, and the conversation would always end with a variation
Men are endangered species.
I have a brutal annual reminder of this when reviewing MT Scholarships application. The number of students who say they have lost their father is alarmingly high. It qualifies as an epidemic.
I’ve lost count of those I personally know who are below
Yup. This is why informational interviews are an immigrant's best job hunting hack.
By the time I stepped off the plane at the Toronto Pearson International Airport, I had spoken with over 15 content and social marketing professionals working in Canada.
It was great for my
On 30th of Sept. 2020, 11 yr old Miss Favour Okechukwu was raped to death.
By four men!
In Ejigbo...
We need your help.
The Ejigbo police have one of the culprits, but they are dragging their feet about the case!
One month after Mom passed on, I joined Guinness Nigeria. The combination of trying to settle into a new job plus planning for a South - Eastern burial was a crazy one. There was this lady called Ufuoma who loved to drink tea every single day.
Road trips should be fun. But in Naija, na...You have to first deal with the traffic caused by bad roads, then the various extortion points by our men in uniform. 15 points and counting and I haven't gotten to Benin
This country na just zero sum game
If you know anyone we can talk to that can either get them to seat up and do their job
or
transfer the case out of that station, My friend and his family would appreciate that.
Please help out - my DMs are open.
5 years ago today, I spoke to my Mom for the last time.
She passed away suddenly three days later.
The memory of her voice has become a motif for a time in my life when everything was bright and beautiful.
I don't know if I ll ever fully recover from losing her. But the
Started
@naval
's 60 Day Meditation Challenge today.
This is the first time I have been able to meditate for one hour - even though at some point I checked my timer because it felt like I had spent 2 hrs seating already.
@Ikwerreman
"You are here, speaking English for me."
This statement is why I left Nigeria. It irritates me down to my bones.
It's our way of waving aside any stuff that runs counter to what we've come to term productivity...make we do am sharp sharp.
Once you want to spend some time
@thekenndubisi
Hey Ken, I host a podcast called The Newcomers Podcast where I chat with immigrants about the immigrant experience.
Would you be up to coming on the show to chat about your experience?
Love your story.
The link is in my bio as I don't want the algo to tank this tweet.
If you are looking to learn more about the immigrant journey and all the feels that come with it, please sign up for my podcast -- The Newcomers Podcast.
Link in my bio so the algo doesn't tank the tweet.
We've got an amazing episode with
@TundeTASH
dropping soon.
One concept I formalized from reading
@ShaneAParrish
's Clear Thinking was putting together a list of exemplars who make up my personal board.
Now Shane says you don't have to meet these people.
Well, I met two of them this week...
@philwinkle
and
@brianjlange
My heart is so
@_buildspace
Everyone wants the fresh start that comes with immigrating.
But no one talks about the feeling of overwhelm, the challenge of settling into a new culture, and all the feels that come with starting afresh in a foreign country.
The Newcomers Podcast aims to document and share
@zeroolvidon
Hey Mak.
Here's one I sent to some fella from a webinar I attended.
"Hi xyz,
Thanks for taking out time to share Pinterest with us.
Would it be possible to book an informational with you - dependent on your schedule of course?
I am migrating to Canada in Jan and really
I left Lagos to Mozambique last week. I planned to be there for about a week and return to Nigeria. As I always do before travel, I researched travel & visa requirements. What I found for citizens of Nigeria is that we can get visa on arrival.
My father passed away suddenly six weeks ago.
The consensus seems to be he never recovered from losing his wife (my mom) 4 years ago.
Grief is physical pain.
And the craziest part of it all is the micro-moments.
Like discussing with my brother what we'll need to do with
Geopolitics is an interesting subject. First chapter of Prisoners of Geography, and you instantly understand why Putin makes certain moves. Thanks
@DoubleEph
for the recommendation. I wonder what geopolitical tactic national pride falls under?
I have read some great books this year. But Clear Thinking & Wanting by
@lukeburgis
are the best things to come into my life by way of books and new ideas this year.
Damn!
I really want to hope...
But na- we won't do better.
The core of this message has been repeated over the years in different formats and languages.
Yet...
Nigeria has been a nation ruled by very poor people with money. They are poor in value, character, duty, empathy, love & compassion.
We can do better. We should do better.
Lol.
You guys are just beginning to realize that women have a way stronger automatic in-group bias.
If you like build logic as high as Eiffel Tower, we ll repeat the same circus next time something of this sort happens.
@kaihavertz29
@ZRAFC
@NoahsArkHospice
@KHStiftung
Hi
@kaihavertz29
If you score against Liverpool on Saturday or when you score your next Arsenal goal, please could you dedicate it to my friend, John Ayerume who just passed away. He was a massive fan of The
@Arsenal
And finally came around to your quality and impact at the
"I think I had one of the worst experiences as an international student in Canada."
Then, he goes on to found a startup aiming to ease the woes of international students.
@TundeTASH
is a gem of an immigrant.
My biggest takeaway from our conversation:
YOU almost can't get
Brilliant advice. And this applies to almost everything in life.
Start small. Build momentum. And when you look back someday, you ll be surprised how well you have done.
Most of us start with a very low base capacity for deep focus.
Don’t try to jump into a focused work habit with 90-minute sprints.
Slowly build the muscle:
• Week 1: 30 min
• Week 2: 35 min
• Week 3: 40 min
• …and so on
Progressively overload your focus muscle!
Hi
#MarketingTwitter
, Dozie here. Just moved from Lagos to Ottawa and looking to network with folks both client-side and agency-side with a focus on B2B. I love to riff about social, content marketing, and mental models.
Plus I am a huge fan of
@ThatChristinaG
Not sure it's healthy to follow
@cchukudebelu
,
@DoubleEph
and
@gidimeister
at the same time, but the level of knowledge I glean is super amazing, you however lose hope in Nigeria.
Self alignment is everything.
But you'll have to earn the privilege of finding the intersection where your passions align with your work by putting in the work.
There's no shortcut.
@akinwolemiwa
@Karnythia
Oh man, or why the heck are you trying to eat Silica gel?
Like why is everything food?
Ronan made me Google if Silica gel is poisonous.
Losing my Mom earlier this year had a devastating effect on my productivity, focus and my approach to tasks.
Not completely out of that hole, but
@JamesClear
's article on the Seinfeld strategy was immensely helpful in kickstarting my journey back.
@ShaneAParrish
@tferriss
Some folks really believe a kid shouldn't do homework?
Hahahahha. The Nigerian parent in me is guffawing.
Homework is an important part of growing up in my home. And will always be.
Here's
@TundeTASH
on some red flags to look out for when hiring Canadian immigration consultants:
1. Check for their name on the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants portal. If it doesn't show up there...scram
2. Does the offer sound too good to be true? Are they
This year, I met 2 international students in Canada from Nigeria who unknowingly were given fake admission letters.
Thankfully, IRCC has launched a way to verify Acceptance Letters online.
If an agent gives you a letter, just go to: to verify it.
One of the greatest Nigerian delusions is we think we are a great nation. Maybe we were once one, or we had the potential to be one, but currently we are shite. We can't even provide the basic primary healthcare.
Our political elite are not really that smart. At some point, they ll end up between a rock and a hard place with this, and only end up turning Deji into a hero.
FLASH: The FSARS are presently taking
@adeyanjudeji
to the Magistrate Court in Wuse Zone II.
We are yet to confirm the other charges aside that of social media “Terrorism.”
If you are around Abuja please join to demand
#FreeDejiAdeyanju
Enrollment for my Content Marketing 201 course is open!
Join the last cohort of the year and learn how to:
• Create zero-click content
• Power the rest of your marketing with content
• Track success & manage up
Use code EARLYBIRD100 to save $100.
Every day, as a black parent raising two boys in the West, I hope for a world that's a bit different from the one I have grown up to meet.
Every day, I am reminded that might be a fever induced dream.
Grit.
That's the feeling you leave with when you speak with
@TundeTASH
.
Tomorrow, his episode goes live. Link to sign up in my profile.
Or you can search for The Newcomers Podcast on
@YouTube
,
@Spotify
, and
@ApplePodcasts
Hard for most folks to see but this is the ultimate truth.
Then add in context of how you came, skillset, community and network.
I could go on and on.
But while the immigrant experience has recurring themes, how everyone experiences these themes differ.
But I guess it's
Truth is, immigrant living in Yukon has a different perspective from one in Ottawa.
The one in Calgary has an entirely different experience from one in Windsor. Same thing with Toronto in comparison to Churchill in Manitoba.
Canada is too big to put experiences in one bucket.
Hey, people of X, I need your help.
I am building a media publication that tries to answer one question: what does it mean to be an immigrant?
It's called The Newcomers. If you know someone who might find it useful, please share it with them.
@thesamparr
This is such a lovely story, Sam.
I host a podcast called The Newcomers Podcast, where I chat with immigrants (old and new) about the entire immigrant experience. Do you think she would be open to coming on the pod to share her story? 🫣
Link to previous episodes here (even
I waited about a year for
@ericasmyname
to launch her content editing course.
And you know what...it was worth the wait.
This pro tip alone is everything:
"**When writing, ask yourself:** "If I were at my audience’s awareness and knowledge level, what would I need to know?"
My family and I will be honoured to have u attend our mom's funeral on April 26th, 2019 at Umuchu.
Requiem Mass is at at SS Peter and Paul's Catholic Church, Amanasaa, Umuchu.
Burial follows at her husband's compound.
Let's talk about those 'faux winter jacket' moments, shall we?
Picture this: You stopped by Yaba Market and picked up a jacket before traveling to your new country. Who migrates during the thick of the winter season, though?
This coconut head called Dozie did just that.
You
Why are we so quick to accuse the other party of jealousy or bullying once they don't agree with us? No society ever grew on its members being given a free pass with their ideas. Debates drive collaboration >>> collaboration drives advancement.
2023 has been some year.
Started a podcast.
Launched a newsletter focused on wine.
Changed jobs.
Visited London for the first time.
Started film school.
Lost my Dad.
Lost my closest Aunt.
Lost a really close friend.
But all in all, I am grateful for everything,
One of my biggest takes from
@naval
's conversation with
@joerogan
was - Learning to ignore your peers.
I am still a WIP with this, but some of my biggest moments of personal growth have come from actively ignoring the status games...
@ericasmyname
, The teacher who became an editor. The editor who became a creator. The creator who's changing the writing culture one newsletter at a time.
Y'all have to sign up for Erica's Cut The Fluff newsletter. Today's lesson was bee's knees.
I love Canada. But mahn, we need to incentivize building business.
There's something fundamentally wrong with a country if all you talk about is real estate.
And your banks are cleaning out.
The combined net profit for the three major Canadian grocery chains (Loblaw, Sobeys, and Metro) over the past 12 months amounted to $3.8 billion.
Today, we learned that RBC's profits for the last quarter alone were $3.95 billion.
One year ago, I launched The Newcomers Podcast
Grateful for friends like
@dsimonsayz
, who helped me test out my recording gear and then agreed to come on the first episode.
And boy, has it been something. It's been a lesson in you learn by doing, and reading, and crying.
2K+
💯. This is why I absolutely detest the Nigerian idea of being "sharp."
It's just you coping with a low trust society.
No one should have to deal with that sort of cognitive load when interacting with other humans every other day.
Streetsmart is copium for people who grow up in low trust, uncivil environment where everyone is constantly trying to take advantage of each other
Anyone can learn to be "streetsmart" from dealing with low moral people, its not a special form of intelligence
@GoddyGoodman
@thisisnnazoba
@asemota
Lol. No offense intended, but we need to stop this blind patriotism. Most of our handy men shouldn't hold a tool talk more of take a job
Hi
@kaihavertz29
,
If you score against Brighton tomorrow or whenever you score your next Arsenal goal, please could you dedicate it to my friend, John Ayerume who just passed away.
He was a massive fan of The
@Arsenal
and finally came around to your quality and impact at the
February 4th will be 12 months since I first stepped foot on Canadian soil.
Here are three points that helped me and my family make the move more successful than we imagined.
I told myself I wouldn't buy any courses this year.
But January isn't over, and I already:
- Joined
#Ship30for30
- Paid for
@EvansNifty
's Pencil Pirates course
- Paid for
@joshspilker
's playbook
- Got Devin's LinkedIn course
- And
@coreyhainesco
's Swipefiles
@is_salsu
@ronaldnzimora
The biggest word here; "I Am". People love to say I will, I want. When you say I am, you have literally started the process of Visualization.
@eldivyn
@EbubeIsaac
It's a terrible coping mechanism.
But probably a subconscious reaction to the fact that deep down...we know that all we can do is make a meme out of it.
Hoping that it turns into an issue the authorities take serious is a pipe dream.
So no need trying to sound serious. I