Jemimah Sarah Aupata, the fuels specialist and sales manager of Rubis Uganda, has encouraged Ugandans to create personal brands as they do for their workplaces.
Aupata was having a conversation with Crystal Newman at the Groove Cafe yesterday when she said this is one of the values she has learned in her professional journey.
“As companies, we focus on the brand image but as individuals, we should consider building a good name. When you talk about Crystal, people recognize her for the things she has done. Often we tend to forget that we also have brands of our own. So even as Jemimah works for Rubis, Jemimah should still be a brand because when customers want services, they interact with her. If Jemimah lacks work ethics, that’s what she will be known for,” she explained.
The Rubis sales manager noted that empathy has kept her committed and hardworking. “It teaches us how to listen, communicate, and define who we are,” she explained.
Being a sales manager, she expressed her passion for organizational culture as a tool for productivity. “The kind of culture set up at your workplace defines how happy your employees are at work. It defines how motivated they are to wake up every morning for work,” she said.
Aupata, a sales manager at Rubis, wanted to do Quantitative Economics after high school but pursued an information technology course.
However, as she searched for a job during her senior six vacation, she landed one in sales. Because of her productivity, her first bosses were convinced she was born for sales.
“I remember the Indian telling me I was wasting time doing I.T. He told me that somehow I will end up in I.T, and I think that Indian was a prophet,” she said as she burst into laughter.
After campus, she joined Hashi Energy in the I.T department as the Operations Assistant. However, somehow her supervisors realized how good she could be in sales and decided to shift her roles.
“My boss sat me down and told me I could do better in sales. I cried because I was running away from sales. It came in as a shock because I had changed my career path from quantitive economics to I.T and when I was trying to settle and build a career in I.T, I was offered a sales role. But with time, I realized that it is where God has called me to be,” she explained.
Jemimah Sarah Aupata worked for Hashi Energies for nine years until she resigned as the company’s Country Manager. In May 2021, she joined Rubis Energy Uganda Limited, where she has since worked as the Fuels & Specialties Sales Manager.
The Groove Cafe with Crystal Newman airs every Weekday from 4-5 pm on RX Radio.
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