“Always get back up,” Oby Enyia from The Coca-Cola Company

Meet Oby Enyia, Head of North America Consumer Connections and Media at The Coca-Cola Company where her experience across media strategy and digital marketing allow her to drive consideration through strategic partnerships for the brand. Her award-winning marketing plans are always consumer-oriented and have reinforced brand awareness and aided in business ROI.

She is a proud first-generation Nigerian American and her leadership is grounded in empathy, curiosity, culture, and creative components that create real change for the business and the communities around it. Beyond her work, Oby is passionate about mentorship, serves on TelevisaUnivision’s Client Council, and is an active member of the Junior League of America.

Oby sat down with Jocelyn Hudak, Senior Director, Content & Digital Marketing at SiriusXM Media to discuss the lessons learned along her career journey, the power of letting go of perfection, and the value of proving your worth to yourself and not others. 

Listen to the full interview below, then check out some takeaways from the conversation.

When a door closes, open two others.

Highlight: “When I think about mistakes and failures and what could be considered as failures, it's only really a failure if you decide that you're not going to get back up again. And I always get back up. That is not in my nature to stay down. Sure, a door might close on me, but I'm going to make sure I go open two others. That, to me, is the way that I look at those moments that could have been considered failures. Not that they went perfectly, I'm not trying to be delusional by any means, but I don't see them as fails because I feel like I learned something from all of those moments that have helped build the person that I am today.” - Oby Enyia

Lean into the discomfort.

Highlight: “Listen, I'm a Black woman in corporate America. I cannot afford to fail. And so, I knew that this was an opportunity. I couldn't not take it. And so I didn't back away. Instead, I leaned in. I leaned into that discomfort. And I just essentially started asking the right questions. I stopped trying to have the perfect plan, the perfect answers, and I just started asking more questions and bringing in different people, different voices, and just leaning on the collective to help co-build this project and the agenda…

That moment really helped me also understand being able to know when it's time to pivot when things are not necessarily going the way that you intended or the way you started. And my big key takeaway at that time—that was a moment I truly learned about what it meant to be agile.” - Oby Enyia

Prove it to yourself.

Highlight: “I'll say it again, I'm a Black woman in corporate America, I'm a Black woman in marketing, and I come from a past of knowing that you have to be twice as good to get in the room. Shout out to Papa Pope from Scandal. But I don't take that as a chip. I take that as, ‘Oh, I am just really driving excellence.’ So even if that's how it started, I've now translated it as something that works for me. That's not about me always feeling like I'm at a deficit when I show up, or that I have to prove something when I show up. It's more about, ‘This is who I am, I strive for excellence, I like to get things done, and I push for efficiencies and effectiveness.’

So, I see it as that versus thinking that I'm here to prove something because I'm not really here to prove anything to you. I'm only here to prove something to myself, that I can do what I set my mind out to do, and that I could deliver the ambition and the goals that I had for myself.” - Oby Enyia

You don’t have to be perfect.

Highlight: “I think it's very empowering when you realize that and you kind of release yourself from that chokehold of perfection. And honestly, perfection is kind of boring… So the more I feel like we should embrace that. And even for me, when I speak to other female leaders in the industry or up-and-coming leaders too, I always just talk about pushing and making sure that you don't feel the need to always be perfect and show up in any exact one way, because that's how you grow into your own and understand what path you need to chart for yourself.” - Oby Enyia

Don’t take work personally.

Highlight: “One of the things that I'm actually very proud of myself for is that I don't take work personally. When you don't take work personally, you're able to first lead with grace, not always assume mal-intent and actually give grace when you're walking into scenarios that might not be the best. But I find that when you first start with that mindset of not taking things personally, you lead with more clarity. And you're more focused on the end goal rather than the things that are happening on the way to getting there.” - Oby Enyia

Focus on your growth.

Highlight: “The grass ain't always greener, guys. I'm not saying don't take chances because exploration is a gift. And this kind of sounds like it's contradicting the first thing I said, but no, really. I feel that knowing when to leave is one thing. But when I make a move, I've always said to myself that I want my moves to be focused around growth rather than escaping something.” - Oby Enyia

No matter if we stumble or fail, getting back up, focusing on growth, and letting go of unreachable standards are some ways we can get to the other side with resiliency. For more inspirational content like this, check out the Pass the Mic page.

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