Tosin Taiwo
The Visa Denial That Created A Star - M.I. Abaga artwork

The Visa Denial That Created A Star - M.I. Abaga

Tosin Taiwo
E1701:06:47
Play episode

Show notes

Long before the fame, his goal was simply the American dream: an SUV, a Ford truck, and the suburbs. But after losing his college scholarships in Michigan, M.I. Abaga was forced back to Nigeria and officially denied a U.S. visa. Earning a 9,000 Naira monthly salary at an internet cafe in Jos, he had to completely rebuild his identity. Today, he is a legendary hip-hop artist and the architect behind one of Africa’s greatest music ecosystems. In this episode of Growth Through Failure, we cut past the typical celebrity fluff to break down the reality of starting over from nothing. Stop letting closed doors define your final destination. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro 01:47 The Failure Story 09:24 What Emotions Were You Feeling? 16:40 What Were Your Strategies 21:00 Who were the protagonists in your story? 31:33 Three Key Takeaways 37:40 Rapid Fire Questions ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ABOUT GROWTH THROUGH FAILURE: Conversations with leaders who turned setbacks into comebacks. Real stories of resilience, reinvention, and growth. New episodes every other Wednesday. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔔 Subscribe: http://bit.ly/3WYkMTO 📧 Newsletter: https://www.tosinataiwo.com/#subscribe 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tosinataiwo/ 🐦 X/Twitter: https://x.com/tosinataiwo

More from this show

More
  1. From Lagos Fame to £20 in London - Denola Grey

    When Denola Grey moved to London, the world assumed he was living a glamorous, trust-fund lifestyle. In reality, his savings were depleted, he was grieving the sudden loss of a clo…

    E1948:33
  2. Stop Trying to "Make It" Overnight - Adebayo Oke-Lawal

    When Adebayo Oke-Lawal became one of the first African designers nominated for the LVMH Prize, it looked like the ultimate win. But behind the scenes, he was burning out, trying to…

    E1859:22
  3. How to Win When The "Safe Route" Fails You - Taiwo Adeyemi

    Feeling trapped in a "safe" career? Watch this before you make a move. When Taiwo Adeyemi abandoned his civil engineering degree in his third year, his family made him sign a lega…

    E1644:35
  4. How to Survive a Very Public Failure - Moses Babatope

    In 2014, Moses Babatope stood in a room full of Nigeria's most distinguished guests for the premiere of Half of a Yellow Sun. He was the man responsible. From the first frame to…

    E1526:20
  5. How to Recover After Losing Your Dream Job - Lady Kay

    She had spent years working towards it. In 2023, at 32, she finally got the Chief Brand Officer role she had been groomed for since 2016. The co-founders had waited specifically…

    E1450:13
  6. Why HYPE Doesn't Always Equal Success - Tunde Onakoya

    For years, Tunde Onakoya did one thing: use chess to change the lives of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. He broke the world record for the longest chess marathon, 60 conse…

    E1358:36
Now Playing