Sabrina Agasha fondly known as ‘Sabrizzy’ is a Ugandan media personality who has worked with some of the most reputable media houses in the country. From hosting the breakfast show at HOT00, to presenting at Vision Group and Next Media Services, her 5-year-old career ascension has been nothing but inspiring. Sabrina currently works with Next Media services as a TV/radio host and is also serving as the Brand Executive for next radio. In this interview, she shares nuggets of wisdom relating to branding and her rise to the executive suite.
How did you get into branding? Was it accidental or something you always wanted to do?
I have always wanted to do branding. I am always fascinated by it and I am always curious about how big brands get to the level that they get to. It’s always interesting to watch people like Beyonce. Individual brands for me are the ones that fascinate me the most, so I would want to understand the technique that goes behind creating them. I am glad I am doing this now in my current role
As Brand Executive for Next Radio, what does your work entail?
My work entails coming up with campaigns that will run on Next Radio, sporting out events and things that are going to be of interest to our target audience, building on them and making sure that we package them well so that we as Next Radio can appeal to them.
How do you generate new ideas?
Well, we draw inspiration from many things and the team that I work with has had vast experience and run very many successful campaigns especially within Next Media itself. As you can see NBS is like the biggest TV station right now. So the team usually sits together and we have brainstorming sessions. Nothing is off limits, everybody is creative and it’s a joint effort from everybody. It’s a combination of experience and team effort.
Any exciting project you’re working on that we should look out for?
We can’t exactly tell you about the projects we are working on but you can stay tuned to NBS, Next Radio, Salaam and Sanyuka, and anytime there is a new campaign coming up you will be the first to know.
What are some of the best branding strategies that you think every company should at least try out?
Team work, you can never go wrong with that. You can never know the person with the bright idea. It is always best to work as a team as opposed to one person generating ideas, and everybody else just executes.
Were there any important mentors or influencers in your life that led you to your current position?
My current boss and immediate supervisor called Pamela Adongo who is also the Chief Marketing Officer at Next Media. She has been a mentor and helped me in my journey up to where I have gotten to. But internationally, there are people that I see online and I am impressed by the way they do their things. I am always curious as I said, watching big brands like Beyonce. I don’t mean to sound a cliché but there is a reason why those brands are what they are because of the branding that goes behind them.
What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as a leader?
Listen, I don’t ever think that you can know everything and you can know enough so I am always eager to learn, look for people that I can learn from, always trying to get better by reading, looking for articles online and people I to follow and look out for so that I can just continue to learn and grow. So for me, I just feel like you will have to want to go for you to go.
If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
If I had a chance to start my career over again I would make smarter negotiations because life is all about who can negotiate better, life is all about asking for what you think you deserve and going after that thing and never letting other people make you feel like you don’t deserve to get it. Just go after what you want regardless of what people think and know your worth. I have recently seen a lot people standing up, making changes and fighting for what they believe in and I am proud of that.
What do you put your success down to?
Success is a huge word because I don’t feel like I have accomplished even a fraction of what I want to do, so let’s have a discussion in 5 years and then I will tell you what has made me successful.
