This user is going on a sabbatical

Friday, September 27, 2024 was my last day at myStash, the solution we designed to make finances seamless. We started out with the goal of making savings painless—you could set up instructions that saved for you without thinking about it. That solution has evolved into a suite of tools that make managing your finances even easier—budgeting, payments (and within the realm of possibility, credit).

My time at myStash was, without a doubt, fantastic.

I'd left my role as an Operations Associate at a logistics powerhouse, Fembol Group, to take on the technical part of product management at myStash. The role of a Technical Product Specialist was, in effect, the go-between for the engineering and product teams. I had little to do with crafting a new product and more to do with managing the existing one. All customer support requests came through me and I translated engineering-speak to solutions for our users.

The scope of that role evolved into full product management and at the end of my time, my primary responsibility was the success of the product called myStash App—its business, users, engineering and growth. Specifically, I was, in effect, the go-between for those teams.

Allow me reminisce on some of the memorable moments for me at work.

• Being everywhere. As soon as I joined the company, I got to work. I was described as 'being everywhere', though I remember it as giving more hours, solving a bunch of problems for users, and organisation knowledge and information that was useful to everyone. To put it mildly, I dominated!
• Solving problems. Dashboards. That was one big thing everyone seemed to need but did not have. But I was right there to surface the data and present it. Creating dashboards on redash was one big part of solving problems, but talking to customers, debugging issues with engineering, and gear-seven. Oh, gear-seven.
• gear-seven. I built an internal web app that powered a bunch of analytics, scripts, and audit tools.
• Launching in new countries. This came with the thrill of building–actually, building from scratch. And for multiple markets at that.
• Ownership change. At some point in the myStash journey, it became a part of Princeps Africa. Memorable because I lost a number of my colleagues at the time. It was not fun, not at all. But as it were, I cannot forget it easily.
• Growing friends. Though we worked closely together before the change, it was all casual. After the change though, we got closer–gradually, then all at once. At least, that's how it felt when taking trips together and talking outside of work has since become a thing. I'm so thrilled about that. Hi, Temi.

Ah. What a time. And now, my watch has ended.

As stated, I am going on a sabbatical. This just means I will try to so as little work as possible, for the next three months–the rest of 2024.

It however does not mean I will not work at all. To the contrary, I still have very active responsibilities at The Deji Joseph Consulting, Sterling-Craft Co., Cardinal Healthcare Foundation & Pioneer Medical Initiative, Ribbon Healthcare, and Pioneer Healthcare.

My sabbatical is a time for grounding, exploring, and growing. I will chase curiosities and deepen focus. I will learn and unlearn. I will grow closer to God, my family, and my friends. I will become familiar with the uncomfortable. I will live through habits. I will take the time to build the life I desire, for myself, my family, and my country.

This decision is not sudden. Nay, it has been a long time coming, and as of July 31, I started writing about it. I'll continue writing about it here.

It is thrilling to be here.

Here's to all that comes afterwards.

Deji Joseph.