If you are Nigerian, live in Nigeria, know someone who knows someone who lives in/is Nigeria(n), or you have anything at all to do with Nigerian pop culture, chances are you've heard of Patricia and its now famous "crypto made easy" tagline. The technology-driven alternative payments platform is co-sponsor of popular reality TV show, BBNaija season 6.
But have you ever wondered: "What goes under the hood?" "What is it like working at Patricia?" "Who are the people and faces behind the Patricia brand?" "Should I apply to work there?"
Well, wonder no more, as we are about to take you on an immersive tour of Patricia's headquarters in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.
Our tour guide is Patricia brand manager, Rachael Akalia.
Rachael Akalia has been with the company since its humblest beginnings in 2018, when it ran out a cramped boys' quarters (BQ).
Today, the company is headquartered in a 4-storey building, situated in Lekki, Lagos, and is responsible for the livelihood of over 90 team members across over 6 locations in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, the UK and the EU region.
Let's begin the tour, shall we?
Watch video version or continue reading below
From the entrance, you are greeted by the customer experience centre
To give customers a feel of the Patricia brand, the walls of the centre are decked with all the company's products.
So there's bitcoin trading, which we all know about
Then there's Gift Cards by Glover
There's also Refill, a product for handling recurring bill payments
Next is Hank, Patricia's first physical product (launching soon)
Finally there's Patricia Business
Patricia Business helps merchants accept cryptocurrency, as a form of payment, and get settled in fiat currencies.
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Right behind the customer experience centre is the kitchenette and game area
This is where team members go to take their meals during breaks, including the free Friday lunches the company offers, and play games.
Walking back from the kitchenette and unto the customer experience area takes you to the steps that lead to the first floor.
The first floor
On the first floor, you are greeted by the phonebooth...
... Where team members go to take private calls
Most of the first floor holds the breakout area
This is where team members can, well, take a break from work or hold makeshift meetings.
To the left of the breakout area is the training room
The training room is where both in-house and external training sessions are held
Just after the training room is our favourite part of the frist floor; the therapeutic room
"As a company that fosters mental wellness," says Rachael Akalia, "we have a therapist that comes in twice a week to assist team members who want to talk about non-work related issues."
Beside the therapeutic room is the library, which is open to all team members
Sitting behind the breakout area is the marketing floor
The marketing floor is the creative hub of Patricia, where most product campaigns are produced.
Creative inspiration from quotes by the company CEO lace the walls
And right at the corner of the space is the studio, where all the creative magic happens
The most important part of the first floor can be found in the landing area leading to the second floor.
The Wall of Fame
The Wall of Fame is part of Patricia's reward system. It is where monthly accolades given to the most outstanding team members are displayed.
Award categories range from the "Doing the Most Award" to the " Boss Award"
"The election process is completely independent," Rachael Akalia points out, "as everyone on the team gets to vote for teammates who they believe are most-deserving of the awards"
Also displayed on the Wall of Fame are goals for the year...
"This is one of the ways we remind team members of our larger purpose."
... And milestones that Patricia has achieved over the years
Let’s move on to the second floor, shall we?
Second floor houses two departments:
The operations department, which is the powerhouse of the company
Here you will find the customer relations team, complaints resolutions team, and other operations team members.
Then there's engineering department, where all the coding magic happens
Right at the entrance of the engineering department is the Friday games area
The games area also doubles as a breakout area for the engineering team
Right at the corner of where the coding magic happens seats the sales team
On to the third floor ...
The third floor houses the entire admin area
The admin area stretches, from left to right, across two inter-connected sections
The main section houses the research & development, human resources, quality assurance, and finance departments
Of course, as with every floor, there is a breakout area
The second section of the admin area is where most head of departments reside, and most paper work is done
Of course, it also has a breakout area
On to the fourth and last floor; you really want to see this part
Immediately to the left of the fourth floor landing is the waiting room and PA's office
Behind the waiting room is the conference room, where all the decision-making meetings hold
Back to the landing area and rightward, what's behind this door?
And this is his office
Agbodje likes his office to be an extension of himself and the company. This explains personal touches — like the basketball rim you saw earlier, random collectibles, award plaques — and company-related quotes, displays and awards.
Company goals, quotes and inspiration
Let's a step back to the fourth floor landing, where Agbodje displays his heroes
Jeff Bezos, Colin Kaepernick, Muhammad Ali...
Michael Jackson, Steve Jobs...
And most importantly, Late Patience Agbodje, his mother
"She raised my brother and I, and instilled all the values and virtues I have. Without her, all of these would not be possible."
Back into Agbodje's office, a leftward door leads out to our most favourite part of the Patricia office:
The common lounge area!!!
"It's a team-favourite picture and unwinding spot," Agbodje tells us.
"Fridays are the busiest; you can see tons of Patricians sharing a drink, playing board games, just letting our hairs down to unwind after the long week of 'doing the most'."
"It's even ten times more spectacular at night," he adds.
Agbodje's long-term goal for Patricia is to become the SI unit for bitcoin worldwide
For his parting words, he says, "At Patricia, we are always looking for superheroes to join us. We have an excellent culture which will be best experienced yourself."
You can watch a more immersive video version of this post here.
