Georgia Akuwudike has established a successful career in both music and business, proving that she is not your typical corporate woman.
The 34-year-old Nigerian native started working as an accountant at Seamfix after earning a B.Sc. in accounting from the University of Port Harcourt in 2011. Later, in 2011 and 2012, she took the Chartered Accountancy (ICAN) Exams and went on to become a financial services audit associate at KPMG in 2012 and a senior audit associate at PwC in 2015.
However, after discovering a life-changing opportunity, she relocated to France to pursue a master’s degree in International Accounting and Finance at EDHEC Business School with a full scholarship from Total Energies.
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While attending school, she decided to seize another opportunity that Amazon presented. “As I was wrapping up my M.Sc. program, I started looking for jobs back in the finance industry, both in Nigeria and France, and nothing was working out, but one day Amazon came to my school for a career fair, and talked about the Pathways Operations Management program, which is an accelerated management program for recently graduated MBA students with ~4years of experience,” she told Leading Ladies Africa.
She quickly joined the program because she knew it was going to teach her supply chain operations, how to become a good people leader, and also help her become an executive in the company.
Akuwudike didn’t have an MBA but an M.Sc. However, she said she still applied in faith, and by October 2016, she had started her first role with Amazon UK.
“7.5years, 5 promotions, and 6 cities later, I’m thriving in a job I love, I lead and I’m also led by great people, I get appreciated, recognized appropriately, and I keep learning each day. What more could a girl ask for?” she told Leading Ladies Africa this May.
Now, as the Director of Sub-Saharan Africa Operations for Amazon, the go-getter is in charge of initiating and carrying out the region’s operations, which include supply chain, procurement, warehousing, distribution, and shipping its inventory to its online clients, beginning in South Africa.
Out of her Amazon accomplishments, Akuwudike has also earned the title of Executive DJ-Pip, after honing her craft so exquisitely.
She started her DJ career in 2023 while at Amazon. She recounted to Leading Ladies Africa, “It irks me when I attend events and witness DJs with poor transitions that just kill the vibe, so I often thought to myself that I could do a better job. However, with my busy schedule I just never had the time to explore that thought deeper. But in 2022 I changed roles and had a bit of breather on my schedule, and seized the opportunity to enrol in DJ school and I fell in love with the craft. Graduating from the beginner to professional courses within three months, I made the bold decision to move from the practice studio to the dance floor. I reached out to club and event managers on Instagram, offering my services initially for free.”
She told Bella Naija that although she began as a DJ playing at clubs and parties, her real desire is to become a corporate DJ with a wedding flair.
“To reflect this, I carefully chose the name ‘The Executive DJ’ for my brand. It was a deliberate decision to wear a suit for my first gig, and it quickly became a defining element of my brand. For PIP, the phrase ‘Primus Inter Pares’ (PIP), which translates to ‘first among equals’ in Latin, has always resonated with my life.”
She said her stage name is a symbol of a level of excellence that she has embodied most of her life as seen in the feedback and multiple awards she has received on her journey, from Best Graduating Student awards (B.Sc, M.Sc, ICAN) to UK’s Women in Logistics ‘Above and Beyond’ award, African Achievers award, and so on.
Following her career debut, Akuwudike disclosed that she has performed at more than sixty events, such as festivals, weddings, and carnivals. She also shared that she was invited to DJ at Roots, one of Manchester’s most well-known afrobeats clubs on Saturday nights.
She has learned to manage the demands of her two hectic professions by working Monday through Friday at her corporate job and taking on the role of resident DJ at the club on Saturdays.
Besides garnering numerous honors, she also founded Raising Giants, an organization where she coaches young girls between the ages of 16 and 21 by showing them how to be powerful and decent women who succeed in life without sacrificing their moral principles.
She stated in January, “Currently, I mentor 10 girls per year, but my goal is to expand the program over time and impact hundreds of females annually.”
