Video: Many believe women participate in BBNaija to sell themselves – Anto

Abdullateef Fowewe

Anto Lecky, a former housemate of Big Brother Naija, has shared her experiences of overcoming the stereotypes and biases she encountered in her career following her time on the reality show.

Video link: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/173BPmnxjV/

At a public event, Anto shared that many people often questioned her intelligence and professional capabilities solely because she had been on the popular reality series.

She emphasised the significance of concentrating on one’s skills, talents, and education as the most effective way to demonstrate competence in any job.

“It’s crucial to ignore negative perceptions and instead focus on developing your strengths,” she remarked.

Anto encouraged people to commit to ongoing self-improvement by learning, unlearning, and relearning, while maintaining the belief that their unique talents will be appreciated by the right opportunities.

She also highlighted that being prepared and having confidence are crucial since opportunities can arise when you least expect them.

She continues, “You do not want to work for a company that does not give you the opportunity to prove yourself. So I’ll use myself as an example. Many of you might know me.

“I was on a reality show. However, many years ago, everyone had this idea that people who go on Big Brother, especially women who go on Big Brother are going there to sell themselves and I don’t mean sell themselves professionally, literally sell themselves.

“So oftentimes when I go into rooms, people who might not, you know, might not know me. So I’m like, Oh, don’t you know her? She’s Anto from Big Brother. And I really see that look in the person’s eye. I just want to do things for the back.
You know, it’s something that I have accepted that people will say, I don’t cry about it. I don’t feel bad about it. We will always face these challenges as women who think that we’re less strong.

“They’re not as smart and we belong in the other room. These companies will exist. What you have to focus on is like we’ve said, your skills, your talents, your education, what you can do.

“Someone out there is looking for the skills that you have. Don’t worry about the people who are not looking for you. There’s someone who is looking for you. So continue to, like we said, learn, unlearn, and relearn. There will be a day when someone will see your CV and they’ll be rushing to you. That exists.

“It is what it is. And when it comes to these opportunities, Oh, they say 10-year, three-year, many of these things, the experience applies to those jobs. One year, however much your experiences apply, you never know, sometimes it just happens by magic that someone says, Oh, I like this person.

“This person’s work is up to it. But of course, keep practicing. There are other ways to get opportunities. Like they said, there are communities, there are groups, there are places where you can find people that are fine with the entry-level experience.”