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Zainab Adenaike

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Bio

Now a rising fourth-year marketing analytics student, my desire to explore entrepreneurship brought me to Northeastern University. My journey here has broadened my interests and pursuits at the intersection of marketing and technology. Through my excellent business education at Northeastern and wide range of experiences in market research and analysis, digital marketing, and startup operations, I have honed key communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills. My inquisitive nature and passion for discovering innovative product and marketing solutions for overlooked users, have led me to explore paths in product management and digital marketing. So far this year, I have acquired skills in Project Management, Content Marketing, JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. In the future, I plan to continue advancing my skills and experience by exploring UX Design Fundamentals and Java. I am currently on my second co-op at SOS as a Product Manager Co-Op.

Education

Northeastern University

Bachelor's degree program
2019 - 2023
  • Majors:
    • Marketing
    • Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, Other
  • Minors:
    • African Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Bachelor's degree program

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Information Technology and Services

    • Dream career goals:

      Founding a successful company

    • Global Digital Marketing Intern

      BlackRock
      2019 – 2019
    • Marketing & Accelerator Program Associate

      LearnLaunch Fund & Accelerator
      2021 – 2021
    • Marketing Operations & Content Strategy Intern

      Gemini Sports Analytics
      2022 – Present2 years
    • Product Manager Co-Op

      SOS
      2022 – Present2 years
    • Marketing & Venture Associate

      LearnLaunch Accelerator
      2021 – 2021
    • Marketing Research & Product Innovation Associate

      SARA Inc.
      2021 – 2021

    Research

    • Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, and Group Studies, Other

      Northeastern University — International Affairs Research Assistant
      2021 – 2021
    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Northeastern University — Research Assistant
      2019 – 2021

    Public services

    • Advocacy

      Northeastern University Center for Financial Independence — Thrive Ambassador
      2019 – 2020
    • Volunteering

      Northeastern Women in Finance — Peer Mentor
      2022 – 2022

    Future Interests

    Advocacy

    Volunteering

    Philanthropy

    Entrepreneurship

    Snap Finance “Funding the Future” Scholarship
    Winner
    During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, my mom opened a new business. Like many people affected by mass layoffs, she had just lost her job and needed to figure out how she would support our family. She had always been tenacious and driven, so her sudden spring into entrepreneurship did not surprise me. However, her faith in my abilities to market her business did. In hindsight, I realize that her confidence in my capabilities and my desire to make her proud instilled a deep drive to excel at marketing in me, which has blossomed into a love for digital branding and marketing strategy. While the creative and strategic nature of digital marketing is intriguing for me, it is most rewarding knowing that as a first-generation Nigerian immigrant, my mom's pursuit of entrepreneurship ignited a zealous ambition in me. She not only ventured on a new path in a world where only 2.3% of US businesses are black-owned but also built a small business during one of the most uncertain periods in recent history. Getting the chance to help my mom pursue her business goals during a grueling pandemic opened my eyes to the possibilities available to me in digital marketing. It allowed me to witness the birth and growth of a small business and its positive impact on a local community. The following fall semester, I declared a concentration in marketing analytics at my university. Through classes in that concentration, I expanded on my experiences by refining my knowledge of digital marketing and exploring the tools I could use to guide the growth and expansion of other companies. After performing a variety of tasks associated with digital marketing: measuring customer engagement, tracking analytics, and curating digital marketing strategies for my mom’s business and a few other startups and large firms, I acknowledge how challenging it can be to grow a brand without the abundance of resources and funding that larger companies can more easily attain. I also know how overlooked and under-resourced small businesses, particularly minority businesses, can be because of systemic inequalities. Therefore, after graduation, my ideal plan would be to help rectify these inequalities while working for a small startup in a digital marketing or brand strategy role. Whether through socially-conscious social media campaigns or by recentering human experiences in targeted SEO content strategies, I hope to employ my skills to create innovative digital marketing solutions that underscore the unique experiences of a diverse set of overlooked users. I also intend to open doorways for black women pursuing marketing through industry leadership, peer advocacy, and community building. Ultimately, my long-term career goal is to make strides toward reducing these disparities by utilizing industry expertise to help other minority-owned small businesses bring their brand goals to fruition through the power of digital marketing.