On this episode of no limitations we’re going to be learning how Mercy Williams Adedokun defies the norm, embodying the spirit of a true multi-hyphenate. As a Customer Success Manager at Accrue, Mercy seamlessly bridges the gap between customer needs and business objectives, ensuring that every interaction is not just a transaction but a meaningful experience. Yet, her professional achievements are only one facet of her dynamic career. A passionate writer and storyteller, Mercy is deeply committed to creative advocacy, inclusivity, and the transformative power of art.
Mercy’s journey is a testament to the idea that one need not be confined to a single path. Whether she’s leading a team at Accrue, penning poetry, or nurturing creative communities like Naija Haiku & Poetry and Denlaa Creatives, Mercy demonstrates that the intersection of diverse passions can lead to extraordinary outcomes.
Let’s dive into Mercy’s world—exploring how she balances her role in product development with her love for writing, the inspiration behind her creative projects, and her vision for a future where storytelling and customer success go hand in hand. Join us as we uncover how Mercy embodies the philosophy of “No Limitations.”
– Can you share a bit about your background and what sparked your interest in customer success and creative writing?
I grew up listening to a lot of folklore from my dad, and I think it set the foundations for my love for stories. My mum’s proficiency in the English Language also rubbed off on me. So I discovered early on that writing was my preferred method of expressing myself. And because over the years, my creative writing allowed me to develop a strong sense of imagination and empathy for my characters and audiences, while picking up transferable skills like written communication, I was able to transition smoothly into the Customer Success role.
– Who or what has been the biggest inspiration in your career and creative pursuits?
I’m mostly driven by the passion to learn new things, and a zeal to make some form of impact anywhere I find myself. So once any opportunity opens up for me to do either or both, I jump at it wholeheartedly.
My parents also taught me to recognize greatness and latch onto it, regardless of the source. If there’s a skill or trait someone has that makes them excellent in some way, I try to learn, and stay on it until I perfect it.
I also draw strength from people around me who exhibit greatness (including my parents and siblings).
Balancing Multiple Passions
– How do you manage to balance your role as a Customer Success Manager at Accrue with your passion for writing and storytelling?
To be honest, both involve slightly similar skill sets like I mentioned earlier. Here’s what I mean:
A good storyteller is typically not judgemental towards his/her own characters & audiences, can convey his core message or ideas and often writes stories with clear resolutions (lol, yes. Stories have resolutions also known as dénouements). In summary, this person has empathy, communicates clearly and ensures all conflicts raised in the story are fixed.
In the same manner, if one is to excel in Customer Success, you’d need need to always put yourself in the shoes of your customers, speak in a language that they understand, and try to fix whatever problems they have – or even pre-empt those issues and remove the bottlenecks before they even occur. In summary, a good CX specialist also has empathy, communicates clearly and tries to always reach a resolution for his customers.
Such similarities make it easy to navigate both fields at a basic level. And tackle even more complex issues once there’s a problem-solving mindset
– What strategies do you use to stay organized and efficient while juggling multiple interests and projects?
Because being multi-passionate can be both exciting and exhausting, I’m learning to compartmentalise, prioritize and delegate where necessary so that i can stay on top of things
In simple terms, I try to identify the things most important to me, and categorize them into what I’d like to call anchors. For now I have 4 main anchors.
My work, my personal brand, my passion projects and other volunteering engagements. Everything I do is tied to one of these four items. And by prioritising those main anchors, it’s easy to know what to give attention to per time. I also use everyday tools like alarms and calendars to stay organised.
Professional Journey
– How has your experience in customer success and product development influenced your approach to storytelling and creative writing?
Interacting with so many different personalities teaches you to view life through a broad lens. Some customers can be interesting, while others are eccentric. Some can be warm and friendly while others may be cold or abrasive.
So I often think of some of my interactions with certain customers and try to imagine what some of these customers are like in their everyday lives. How they speak, their mannerisms, why they’re using our products, and how it makes their lives better. I also wonder what they may be going through when they message us and what their real lives are all about.
These definitely help my imagination and ability to self-express when it comes to storytelling and creative writing, knowing that i’m drawing inspiration from real people and events.
– Can you share a particular project or achievement at Accrue that you’re especially proud of?
The Reports!
Our Customer Success Reports are gems! The process of gathering insights from calls, surveys, and interviews always excites me because it lets us tap into the heartbeat of our growing customer base. We get to closely examine customer experiences and ideas, brainstorm possible solutions, and deploy improvements with combined efforts from our cross-functional team.
I know that our products/services are a culmination of hard work, ideas and data-driven decisions from a lot of brilliant minds. But I’ve seen how the reports have also contributed in some way to where we are today.
I’ve seen our onboarding improve, marketing evolve, and our apps blossom into products that make people happy. Some of this comes from the insights gathered in the reports. Accrue has an amazing team that truly prioritises its customer needs, and I’m grateful for these reports because when I look back on them, I’m able to appreciate our journey so far.
Other honourable mentions would be our Self-Help Knowledge Center and some of my contributions to our marketing efforts.
Storytelling and Creativity
– What role does storytelling play in your work at Accrue? How do you leverage it to enhance customer success?
Storytelling helps me harness the power of my imagination. And this helps enhance my understanding of customers and their pain points.
When crafting stories you need to be intentional when writing the goals, the beliefs and personalities of your characters so that they’re well rounded. This teaches one empathy. It makes every emotion that a character feels very real to you as the writer.
When dealing with hundreds or thousands of customers, especially over digital interactions, it’s easy to assume these are faceless entities, and forget that at the end of the day, you’re dealing with real humans with real emotions and real struggles.
Because storytelling teaches me empathy on a deep level, it’s easy to carry over that understanding into the work I do in CS.
Again, because it’s something I do everyday, I have to constantly remind myself that behind every email, comment or call is a person whose needs are super valid, and should be attended to with care.
– Can you tell us more about Naija Haiku & Poetry and Denlaa Creatives? What inspired you to start these projects?
I’m big on creativity, arts, and advocacy, and I love learning new things. During the Coronavirus lockdown, I started NHP and restructured DC, using it as an opportunity to learn the basics of branding. I designed everything from scratch, from onboarding handouts to brand books, and ended up building communities around them. Lol. I’ve also learned to delegate tasks to others who share my passion to avoid burnout—especially since I’m not making money from these projects yet.
Advocacy and Inclusivity
– You’re a strong advocate for inclusivity and representation in the arts. How do you integrate these values into your work and creative projects?
I think uncertainty, pain and injustice forces activism and advocacy out of people who want an end to those unfair situations; Representation and inclusivity go from being fancy buzzwords to tangible phenomenon that you want to see all around you.
People are facing uncertainty, pain and injustice everyday. All we have to think about is how we can make someone’s life better with whatever talent we have, and ideas will come rushing in. That’s my formula for integrating inclusivity and representation into the work that I do.
– What impact do you hope to make through your creative advocacy hub, Denlaa Creatives?
George Bernard Shaw said: “Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.”
At DC, we aim to promote Art and Artist Advocacy. We understand that arts and storytelling make up the fabric of every society
We trust (and hope) that by recognizing, acknowledging, celebrating and promoting the works of arts and artists around us, we are preserving society and making the world a better place.
Personal Growth and Development
– As a life-long learner, what new skills or knowledge areas are you currently exploring?
These days I’m learning more about other CX and Product Management strategies I can adopt to improve my work in Customer Success.
I’m also now learning a bit of operations and growth; just so that I can add more structure to my passion projects because (i now realise) we have to track our progress. We want to work on more impactful art campaigns in the coming days so there’s a lot of housekeeping to be done.
In terms of hobbies, I recently started creating DIY hand-made home decor, 3D textured art and printing some of my designs into wall art.
– How do arts, nature, and philosophy influence your personal and professional growth?
Arts, nature and philosophy keep me psychologically balanced, refreshed and curious. The three elements help me stay zen and self aware while interfacing with the world. Curiosity is also important to me, because it keeps me yearning to learn more and improve myself.
Future Aspirations
– What are your future goals and aspirations in both your career at Accrue and your creative endeavors?
“I don’t wanna be a mechanic, I wanna be a baller”. Just kidding! (I’m not oh lol)
Have you listened to the song “I was here” by Beyoncé? That song epitomises what i want for myself.
I hope to be a thought leader in my field, make invaluable contributions to the growth and success of Accrue, and aim to promote creativity for social good through my passion projects.
My two watchwords are currently ‘Impact’ and ‘Excellence,’ so it’s what I’m working towards. Once a person, a community, or brand does these two things well, they set themselves up for unparalleled success and a lasting legacy. I hope to achieve this in my career as well as my creative endeavours.
– How do you see the intersection of customer success, product development, and creative writing evolving in the future?
I trust (and hope) that the intersection of these fields will increasingly teach us to treat the human experience as sacred and valuable.
I’m very fascinated by the wonders of technology today; but I sometimes worry about the potentially harmful use cases of AI as a means to enhance productivity and innovation in these fields. However, I really have faith that humans will always put humans first.
There’s so much noise in the world today, and I hope we are able to sift through it to build people-first products that progressively push society in the direction of preservation and sustainability.
That also means building products that allow us as humans to connect with each other through well crafted stories. It means promoting platforms that show us how to deepen our interpersonal relationships and that offer thoughtful experiences to users.
If we focus on these goals, we can work towards a future where we build stuff that are not just innovative, but also connect us on a deeper level. And like i said at first, I believe that the intersection of CS, Product dev and writing will increasingly teach us to treat the human experience as sacred and valuable.
Advice for Others
– What advice would you give to young professionals who have multiple passions and want to pursue them all?
Honestly, I know it’s cliche, but be you.
There are people who come to this world, having just one thing they’re passionate about. They apply lazer focus to harness that singular passion, and live to become some of the greatest humans that ever lived.
But some of us come with many. Maybe it’s uncertainty that pushes you in various directions. Maybe it’s the desire for wealth. Maybe it’s curiosity and the joy of learning new stuff. Maybe it’s escapism at its finest. Maybe the need for self expression. And if you’re like me, maybe it’s a combination of everything, lol.
But regardless of what drives you, if you have multiple passions, be true to yourself. And make sure you are excellent at one thing at least. It just might be the one that will open the biggest doors for you.
The sky is big enough for you and your many interests.
How can companies foster an environment that supports employees with diverse interests and talents?
By listening to them and asking for their ideas and thoughts on various things. Also giving them creative power to make certain decisions in their teams or on their tasks and celebrating them when they perform well.
S/O to the management at Accrue because they’ve hacked this right from day 1 and it’s something I’ll always be grateful for.
Any Closing Thoughts??
YOLO. So, Romanticise your life.