Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Oyeku.
Hi Chris, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Sure thing. A lifetime Texan, based in Dallas for the past 9 years, who is 2nd generation American from parents that migrated to the USA from Nigeria in 1983. I’ve been shaped by Nigerian, African-American, and Texas cultures which have strongly contributed to my worldview and career success. I’m family oriented and being the youngest of 3 siblings, I’ve been blessed to come from a household where both my parents and siblings instilled a strong work ethic in me by setting an example through their actions. Applying that work ethic, I’ve attained both a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering and Master’s in Engineering Management and have multiple industry-leading tech certifications. I’ve also been fortunate to have worked in senior roles across Fortune 500 companies like Google, Deloitte, Verizon, and others.
My journey’s success was enabled by professional and personal communities I’ve built around me, which reinforced the power of networking as a key instrument in the creation of career opportunities. This is a well understood dynamic as my parents often of the African proverb, “If You Want to Go Fast, Go Alone. If You Want to Go Far, Go Together.” These teachings, my career experiences, and a strong desire to enable a diverse set of people to gain access to transformative careers at top technology companies are the reasons I started MixerCloud. The tech industry has been buzzing for the past decade and MixerCloud helps the under-represented in tech, to network and build meaningful connections and needed support systems, key to successful careers in tech.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Surprisingly, starting MixerCloud has been a pretty smooth journey thus far. I believe this is because I started MixerCloud in my head over 5yrs ago and have been ideating on it ever since. 2022 is when the years worth of ideation manifested into the MixerCloud people know today. I think the journey has been easier also as MixerCloud’s intent is to give back to the community and many have been interested in contributing to MixerCloud’s success as they have similar desires to drive positive change and bring opportunities to under-represented communities.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
MixerCloud is a network of technology professionals with a primary goal of bringing technology professionals together. Research from LinkedIn, the leading employment platform, found 56% of people look for new jobs in their social professional networks and 85% of all jobs are filled via networking. [1] This makes a person’s professional network extremely important to their career’s success and is why MixerCloud is focused on building networks of aspiring and existing technology professionals. MixerCloud’s core mission is to build the ultimate community where tech professionals in underrepresented communities network to educate themselves and build supporting communities enabling the MixerCloud members to go further, as the proverb states.
The Journey of building the ultimate community consists of 3 main phases (Phase 1 Brand and Community, Phase 2 Bridging the gap, Phase 3 The Ultimate Community). Right now, we are in phase 1 of branding and building community awareness. Since October 1st, we’ve been hosting tech industry mixers creating a space for those already in the tech industry and for those aspiring to join at some point. These events have been impactful to the participants, as measured by the n of positive feedback from those who’ve attended and have helped us to establish MixerCloud as a brand supporting the under-represented and enabling better career outcomes. I love that people have taken a “for us, by us” approach to MixerCloud and are organically driving awareness to the community. The amount of positive feedback, testimonies, and companies reaching out to see how to help sponsor the events, have been a truly humbling experience that motivates me to continually find ways to improve the experience for all of MixerCloud’s members and participants.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Likes – I really love the weather, art scene, and strong sports culture of Dallas (Go Cowboys!, Mavs! & Rangers!). And it’s cool that we have a very centralized city and all of these activities are easy to access.
Dislikes – I love that after many re-assessed their lives due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of people concluded for a better quality of life they should move to DFW, more than any other region according to Zillow. [2] They’ve seen the beauty and opportunity us Dallasite’s have known for some time. What I’ve not been a big fan of is the rise of prices and inflation which have also raised with the city’s increased popularity.
And What’s Next for MixerCloud?
Thanks for asking. MixerCloud is having their next event at the beautiful Dallas Virgin Hotel. We’ve rented out multiple spaces for their MixerCloud event and will have tech speakers, drinks, food and a DJ to make sure all involved leave informed, enabled and entertained. To learn more about participating in or becoming a sponsor for the event, check out MixerCloud.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mixercloud.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixercloud/
- Email: chris@mixercloud.com
