Faces of Freelance: an interview with Hannah Ajala
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If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
Psalm 139: 9-10
We've got another edition of Faces of Freelance!
Hannah Ajala is currently a freelance journalist and has spent the past year travelling across West Africa working on a range of stories and broadcasting for organisations such as the BBC. Hannah is passionate about travel and shedding more light on engaging stories about marginalised communities, which has led her to reports on positive and uplifting international stories. She also runs We Are Black Journos, a platform connecting and supporting Black Journalists.
Having had my own challenges with travelling to be able to get material for an article I was writing, it got me wondering about how journalists can do so sustainably and actually make money from it. But beyond making a living, what else is it about being a traveller and journalist that makes it worth it?
In Conversation with Hannah Ajala
Tell us a little bit more about yourself, who you are, what do you do?
Yes, thank you Yasmina. My name is Hannah Ajala. I am a journalist and I'm also really passionate about running and supporting communities in marginalised parts of the world and I love travel.
And what kind of stories do you cover in your journalism?
Yeah, absolutely. So, I began working at the BBC about seven years ago now, wow… and it came with an initial passion, exploration and just generally being intrigued by all the stories.
Before I joined I was very big on building my own portfolio because I guess it just comes with that question of “I want experience, how do I get experience?” And how I started was literally creating my own pathways, shall I say. So, I bought an iPad, I had a best friend who loved helping me film documentaries. So, I would just do random documentaries about stuff like homelessness and Black hair and consumerism, and the oil and gas industry on the continent and I would just put that on my YouTube as well as my first blog that I made just documenting my journey. So, when it came to having that first interview with the BBC, I literally just spoke about my passion for storytelling and how really big I am on challenging stereotypes. So, the past seven years has seen me work in UK news because I'm originally a Londoner… UK news, female empowerment stories, breaking news, live reporting, TV, digital, documentary, short form, long form… lifestyle as well, like I really love just digging into people's lives, and I guess you know giving a different view of that to the public. And I absolutely love storytelling. I feel like it’s something I can do in my sleep. I'm so passionate about it.
And how did that end up bringing you to West Africa?
I would definitely say, it's been the past two-ish three-ish years when I slowly started working more in international news. It was no longer something that I was dipping in and out of, so… the world for me was like this massive door of opportunities because I learnt more about how I see worlds on more of an international perspective and that was just so humbling and so incredible to experience, because… I don't know… you know when your mind expands it's almost like being a little child going on a plane and you end up in a different destination and it's like ‘wow, there's so much world in the world’ and I feel like, you know, having the privilege to travel from a young age, but then also realising, wow, my job can give me access to the globe… so, before the movement began, I think it's important for the knowledge to be there, especially journalistically. So, I was working on a platform, a radio programme at BBC Africa where on a day-to-day we are literally reading and learning and reporting about stories coming out of the continent whether it’s Mauritania whether it’s Madagascar, South Africa… you know Guinea-Bissau, like all over the continent…
Ayy I’m so happy you shouted out Guinea-Bissau!
Ohh yes, absolutely. We need put more of these incredible places to the forefront in every sense of the cause.
So, yeah, honestly it was just really getting so much information from these places on a daily basis, and it really helped me to adjust myself more, and to shift my perspective and to also encourage me to want to tap into what is life like for people in these countries I had been learning so much about. And I also had a really big passion for challenging stereotypes as I mentioned earlier. Really really big on just putting a different face on the continent and it's been so great to do that not only journalistically but through travel platform.
So, I was in Ghana funnily enough – I think Ghana is definitely my second most visited country – I was in Ghana and you know when like you've booked off your holiday from work and you're preparing to go back and I was in the car with two friends and I said, ‘Oh my God, I actually don't want to go back’ and those two friends work for themselves, so they don’t book holidays. They take holidays when they want to… and they said ‘oh, why don't you extend your time’ and I said, “I can’t” like I've actually booked holiday off and then one of them said, “but what if you just choose when you want to work” and I just had like a *explosion sound effect* in my head, like wow. So, from that moment, July 2019, I started just planning it, “how can I make this a reality?”
Honestly, working in African news as a journalist and working in an organisation, I have contacts everywhere. Like, I have contacts all over the world whether it’s journalists or bloggers or people I've interviewed. So, I was sort of asking them questions like “what’s it like living there?” “What's the weather like this time?” “What’s it like for solo travelling females?” And just, these random questions.
Through all that research, through all that planning, through the millions of Google top rated, I decided on my first five, I like to call them. So, I decided to do a total of six months in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Senegal and Nigeria. And before that, I made sure I saved a goodish amount of money, I made sure that I secured commissions as a journalist, particularly an assigned piece of work that should get you through. So, working on everything from podcasts, to news stories and interviews, and honestly just a bit of everything. And I realised my list was being complete, it wasn't such a wild and crazy thing to do because I had done a lot of research, and before you knew it, I was off.
And it's been incredible! Those six months turned into eight, partially due to the pandemic, but no complaints. It was incredible you know working on my podcast about people moving back to their parents place of origin, which comes out this year. January 18th, 2021, which is really exciting that comes up with the BBC. And just local stories from people doing incredible things. I’ve spoken to musicians, artists, activists, all of that.
It’s honestly been the most life changing, incredible eight months of my life. After that, returned back to the UK when things were a little bit normal, which was great. It was a very humbling to say I have not experienced lockdown in the UK, and then I went off again back to the continent, back to Togo, Ghana again because it’s next door, Benin, and then Nigeria, which I've officially decided to make my base for a good chunk of 2021. So, that's all the madness and beauty in it.
So, like, based off of that I actually do have quite a few follow ups and they're like different sections of the interview. So, I guess the first one will ask is…this was listener submitted like someone submitted this question for me to ask you, ‘how did you take the fear out of making this decision?’ Of deciding that you would we were going to like travel across West Africa? Or maybe more than just West Africa… because it can be quite daunting… so how did you remove the fear from that?
One of my favourite quotes is “alone versus lonely, there's a difference” because lonely is an emotion, it's a mindset and alone is just a physicality. There isn’t any effect on mind at all, like currently staying in my friend’s spare house – I know, who has a spare house? – in Accra and I have not felt lonely or scared or worried at all so I think it's really just establishing how you are or how you will be, knowing you're going to be alone for an extended period of time. And I'm very grateful, you know that – I guess the privileges of having a British passport and Nigerian passport – I’ve been to a lot of countries in Europe, and actually one of my first solo trips a few years ago, I went to the south of France just to test it out and I absolutely loved it. That's why I fell in love with the idea of being alone.
I am quite extroverted, so I love humans, oh my gosh. Like, laughing whilst we’re chilling, falling asleep on one another, cooking together, dancing together, singing together… So, it's a nice healthy balance of being around a lot of people being with myself.
But of course, we have to be mindful, because bearing in mind, as a journalist it means I know a lot, I’ve read a lot, I’ve researched a lot, so I'm aware of the fact that in many parts of the continent to be seen as a woman is, unfortunately, to be seen as inferior. So just being aware of the fact that there will be those moments and instances of sexism, of misogyny… I carry my own pepper spray which by the grace of God I've not used at all. And just asking questions to locals like, “what area would be good for me?” you know, “what do you advise to wear in certain places?”
I don't always like to stand out. I have dressing up clothes as well as very plain, bland clothes. So, I sort of like blending as much as possible. But I think one of the best ways to eradicate the fear is to really understand what kind of traveller you are, because I'm very comfortable in my own company and I'm very organised as well, and I just believe in simplicity and throwing fear out of the window.
I have this idea of what it would be to be like alone as a woman travelling across West Africa, like being back home, already, and I'm not even alone here, I’m with my family, but already it's so… like… stressful sometimes. And so, to go somewhere that I don't know, and to experience stress I think that would be… like I’d have to figure out how to manage that. That’s good to know though, like knowing what kind of traveller you are… yeah, I hadn't thought about what kind of traveller I am.
My next question was about COVID and navigating that as a traveller and journalist. How's that affected your work? How's that affected you personally?
So, I would definitely say “wow” at the pandemic. I just remember at the start of it being in Sierra Leone, actually, in January and, you know, speaking to these other people who, these other students, sorry, in a restaurant who actually studied in China that were talking about their fears of it, and one of them said something that really stuck out to me: “if it ever comes to this continent, it’s either a miracle that will save us, or something else…” and it's so interesting to even see, statistically, the continent still remains the least affected by the pandemic.
So, being in the continent for the duration of it has made me more grateful for it, because I genuinely felt safer. My state of my mind has also been in a good place as well, and I'm very grateful to have been in the right place at the right time because I was in Senegal when the World Health Organisation announced it as a pandemic, I remember getting the notification on my phone, I was in my little cute apartment. I was preparing to go to Nigeria, and it was very important for me to go to Nigeria because I was meant to celebrate a family occasion, which obviously couldn't happen because of COVID. But for me after all of that travelling around, I saw Nigeria as my chance to just sort of take a breather just to like *big exhale sound* “okay, wow Hannah you've been in all of these different countries, you've done very well! Well done! You're about halfway into your trip now, so this is a good time to be with family, have that bit of security” and whatever.
None of my family were able to come to Nigeria, so I was literally with a very close friend, who's basically like a best friend now because we were lockdown buddies, and I am so grateful because when I landed in Nigeria, I remember people at the airport said “Ahn! Madam, you're lucky oo! We go close am, we go close the airport! You’re lucky!”
So, very, very grateful to have been there because the thing about somewhere like Lagos is, it’s a really great hub, especially for journalists – any industry! We've got a BBC office there, so I was actually getting quite a lot of work during the pandemic, just to go in and you know describe what's happening in Lagos and know “what can the whole world learn from how African countries are dealing with it?” So, it was quite nice and peaceful.
I mean if it wasn't going out for work to do like interviews in the studio or the glamorous supermarket trips, I was mostly indoors relaxing on the balcony, enjoying fresh fruit. So, I'm very, very, very grateful just for the timing, and I guess just being at the right place at the right time, and I say that completely understanding how blessed I am, because I know it was a horrible year for many people work wise. I'm very grateful to have been very well looked after, because I think as a traveller, where you lay your head at night is so important. I don't ever want to wake up anywhere and feel uncomfortable, so, it was a win-win that I got to work, and I was also in a very lovely environment.
My next question is more like logistics, and I'm going to kind of like introduce it with one of my own experiences. I’ve just had an article; it's just come out about the archipelago in Guinea-Bissau. It's about how they [the Bijagó population] understand climate change etcetera, etcetera, but getting to the islands is quite expensive and staying on the islands quite expensive, and what I got paid for the article just didn’t match up with what I was spending to be able to do this article, but I decided to like tell myself internally, “it's okay, Yasmina. This is an investment in yourself just so you can like build up your portfolio etcetera, etcetera, etcetera… but eventually, you know, I would like to make money off of something like this. I wouldn't want to spend more just to be able to report a story than what I would get from the story. And so, I was wondering like, logistically, and you said you have been getting quite a lot of work, but how would you like… I don't know if you have any kind of input or insight on something like that.
Absolutely, I think… it’s actually one of my favourite Bible verses as well [Ecclesiastes 11: 4-10], if you wait for perfect conditions, you'll never be ready. So, I feel like it just comes with a bit of a risk element, because I had so many meetings, and so many discussions and so many phone calls and text messages before I left the UK, not knowing that my remote working that I chose to do would later on become everyone else’s reality.
So, one thing that I would definitely suggest is just having those contacts and really letting people know who you are, what you're about, and having some sort of rough idea of what you're going out there to do. So, journalistically, I can honestly say from the beginning till about maybe May, June so, the first solid six months was looking good. But then the pandemic also introduced other opportunities for me. So, as well as being a journalist, I run a network supporting Black journalists and it's called We Are Black Journos, and I would say that we got a lot of attention, funny enough, after the murder of George Floyd. So, there were lots of people reaching out wanting to know how they can support more Black journalists, and we hosted quite a few online events, and through that got a lot of exposure. I would get invited to speak on so many panels as the founder, so that added as an additional stream of speaking engagements, doing loads of speaking engagements.
So, I now do some talks at universities, anything journalism related, anything to journalism and justice and diversity and inclusion, so that has been really great because I'm essentially just talking about something that I'm very passionate about. So, it's very interesting to see how that also became a very helpful source of income. But I would say, just based on the two things I've said, like my job as a journalist and also being the founder of a network, it’s just being connected and being as responsive as you can to those emails… refreshing their Twitter feed… Make sure you’re checking those LinkedIn messages. And I guess it's actually promoting yourself, because that's one of the things I love so much about social media, you know, because I'm very humbled to receive requests from people DMing and etcetera because I make sure that I at least have some channels that I put out there presentable it's easy to approach me. So, I would say branding and just being connected in the right rooms has really helped me to keep that financial flow going, and to keep it as consistent as possible.
As a freelancer which I have been for a year now, your salary will kind of fluctuate so it’s taught me a lot about independence. And definitely just being as responsible as you can because, me going away wasn't totally just for work opportunities and travelling, but it was for self-development as someone that's never left the UK for longer than a month. So, I really just wanted to do this and just bring out new strength within myself. So, I'm really grateful for that. It's not a walk in the park, it can be a beautiful struggle, but if you plan ahead, you realise wow I can actually have a good amount of control of my life and it feels very good to be able to say that.
So, what has been the hardest part about being a freelancer or being back on the continent. Because I’ve heard the great parts of it, what are the most difficult ones, do you think?
I would say the most difficult part of being a freelancer is…The thing is… not knowing what’s around the corner that doesn't even scare me because that's life… no one saw a pandemic around the corner…
Fair enough!
Do you know what I mean?
But I would definitely say it’s chasing. Not chasing stories or trying to find people, but I worked full time for six years, so I got a paycheck every single month, I didn't have to ask for it, I didn’t have to chase it or anything. But I've noticed this, and it's very interesting to see, people will get in contact with you, they’ll want you to write for them or do this or do that, the email conversations are going back and forth, you're getting response every hour but when it comes to getting paid there can be a different energy for some people. So, the chasing bit can be annoying because number one it makes you realise that people are mad, and number two, it kind of makes you question how, then, people view you. Because if they were that honoured and chuffed to have you write for them, or do this or do that for them, what happened to the same energy when it came to giving me essentially what I'm worth?
So, I realised that a few times and it is quite disappointing… It can be quite disappointing. And I'm talking big names as well. So, that has been quite interesting. But yeah, I would probably just say that, and a very difficult thing about living in the continent, I could say from the beginning, is just really adjusting. I mean I'm someone that regularly have been here anyway, so, you know growing up when the power cuts, like I know what to do and etcetera. But maybe it's realising that you've come from a place of privilege where power cuts don't exist, and just really understanding that and going with the wind. But with me I adjust to things quite quickly.
Mosquito bites be very, very irritating cause it’s left a few scars on my body, but I guess me being an optimist, I see it as “oh,” you know, “this is a story on my legs. These are stories of the little experiences that I had, and they’re not scars, it just shows that I'm strong and I was able to endure.”
So, I wouldn't say that a specific thing, but yeah there can be some annoying things like mosquito bites… some roads can be very rough… you know no streetlights… it’s really just immersing yourself in it and throwing your western expectations out the door. I think it's an adjustment of the mind first before the body. But with me I is sort of like before I even jumped on a plane, I was already readjusting my mind and I love it so much. I’m not romanticising it, it's not easy at all but the reason why I love it so much is that I'm doing it with open arms. I'm just taking whatever is given to me and listening more, listening to people.
Just to kind of like go back to the first part about being a freelancer and chasing up people that don't keep the same energy, how do you overcome that?
That’s a very good question.
I continuously remind myself of how far I've come. It's their negligence and it doesn't affect anything to do with my work or how I am as a person and just realising that everything that I worked hard for and did, it wasn't a handout. It was just down to me, my passion, my hard work and my ability to be a great journalist. Because impostor syndrome is real, I know a lot of people that have it. I had it at one point. This is when I was still working full time, but whatever way that you can look back to measure your growth and see how far you've come, whether it is scrolling down your Instagram page and seeing what you were doing this time last year, or blog posts that you wrote, like I journal a lot, I document things, I send emails to my 30-year-old self or whatever, like I write things down a lot. So, I don't… it's very hard for me to lose sight of how far I've come, because I always surround myself with those reminders and I think it's so important to.
Another question that was submitted was “how do you stay motivated to do the work that you need to do?”
I actually thought that I would be so bad at it because I thought, “oh my gosh, like I've only ever worked behind the desk” and, you know, this is a very interesting stomping ground for me. I'm so glad though, because it reminded me how disciplined I am. Like, you know I can actually work on the beach on my laptop, and get my interviews done, or edit these clips that I recorded to send to go on radio and stuff. So, a To-Do list has been really helpful. So, I literally just have an online document and I'll just put checklists of what to do each day and I'll tick it off. It genuinely does such a good thing to my soul and brain knowing that I'm doing that. And not overwhelming myself too much, I'm not going to put more than five tasks a day especially if I know it's not like crazy time sensitive. Being a journalist means that, obviously, you will sometimes have to work towards certain deadlines and stuff, but I have just been really disciplined and ensure that I just get things done because, the mindset that I have is, “if you don't work, you don't eat.” Just constantly reminding myself of being disciplined.
I don't have to work every day, which is great as well, so just making sure that I also have a healthy balance. And I don't really like to work late at night, again unless it's like a deadline, so just really understanding how you work, and being proud and happy with your routine. Because if it's good for you, then I don’t any reason why you need to change it.
You mentioned something earlier about like stereotypes and how you work against I'm at work and so I was kind of wondering, writing specifically about West Africa, or the African continent, these mainstream media companies like their stereotypes. For example, with Guinea-Bissau, even if it's an article that has nothing to do with drugs, they will find a way to call it a narco-state. They will 100% find a way to do that. So, I was wondering, how do you report truthfully without pandering to these western expectations of what the continent is?
I would definitely say, shaping my own narrative has been amazing. I guess it comes with the freedom of being a freelancer, so, when people ask me to write things on you know why the lockdown in parts of Nigeria couldn't last longer than five weeks, or why we should put Gambian music on the map, or why having a radio station reporting rape in Sierra Leone is empowering for women, is because it just really gives the viewer a different side… the viewer or listener, however people are getting my content. I think it's important for me that they just walk away having a different view, so having the power to be able to help change those stereotypes is amazing, and how I see it, if someone listens or reads or watches something of mine and they walk away having learnt something new, that's my job done, because it’s education for them.
It can get a bit draining especially spending so much time on the lovely continent and each time you hear on mainstream news, it’s war, it’s famine, corruption, or something negative. I do understand, obviously, as a journalist we have a duty to report fairly, accurately, and people just want to come to us for the facts. Some people don't always want to react, they’re just, “okay tell me what happened, how many people died? Where is it?” etcetera. And that's fine, but that's not the only, you know, story coming out of Africa that everyone wants to hear. So, it's been amazing being able to reach out to the masses and to the niches and to tell them more of what's also happening in the continent.
And editors have been quite responsive to that?
Yeah, absolutely. And I like to be challenged as well, that's another thing that I'm grateful for with the ones I've worked at. Like the BBC, they already have an understanding of how I work, they know how I write, they know my style. So, it's trust, essentially, and that comes after years of building a healthy working relationship together.
We are like winding down towards the end I have like a few more questions. The first one is, what is favourite story, or like one of your favourite stories that you've covered so far since you've been back?
I would definitely say… it was for that amazing lady called Omotoke Fatoki and she has visited, travelled and explored all 36 states in Nigeria. And not a lot of people know that there's 36 states in Nigeria. And I think what's so incredible is, you know people that read about Nigerian news – I’ve met quite a few people here in Ghana that are actually mortified to go to Nigeria considering it's a 45-minute flight away – I know some people are very scared of it. And if we look back from stories of Bring Back Our Girls, or Boko Haram, or one of those insurgencies, happened, and are still unfortunately happening in many parts of northern Nigeria. What was amazing about Omotoke is that she was one of the first Nigerian travellers I came across on Instagram, and she was on a mission to visit every part of Nigeria, and she started in northern Nigeria. And she showed me signs of it that even journalistically I've never seen anywhere else. She showed us nightclubs, she showed us the art scene, the hipster culture in these places that many parts of the West would name as a destruction centre or somewhere that's unsafe for women, you know.
So, that was very beautiful to see and again, it essentially goes back to one of the things I'm very passionate about, and that's challenging stereotypes. So, it was so great in being able to pick her brains, to interview her especially as a woman travelling by herself. And all of the stories, just imagine how much one can see from taking an adventure on a trip like that. So that’s definitely one of my favourite interviews that I’ve done recently.
The next question is when are you coming to Guinea-Bissau? When are you rolling through?
Oh gosh, I would absolutely love to. Yeah, this year is just looking so fun, and so awesome for African travel. Like I really want to see more of African travel to be put on the map. So, yeah, whichever direct flight I can get from Lagos, I would love to.
You have a guide if you roll through! I will be here!
Amazing! Thank you, Yasmina!
And I just wanted to ask if you have like any last words for people who, you know, want to take the same leap, or people who want to be travel journalists, but don't really know how it would work out logistically? Any last words for anyone wanting to travel and write?
I would definitely say, unless you have that solid security, like a house that you could just live in rent-free, or a sugar daddy, or whatever, I would definitely say, have a plan. It's kind of hard, I would say somewhere, like many parts of the continent that I've been to, it would be hard unless you have a lot of money or you know those options to just find yourself here… it’s different if you just want to travel and do nothing, fair enough. But as a journalist, make sure those contacts and connections are built. Make sure you at least have a clean profile, I mean billions of people in our amazing continent are very active on their mobiles, so make sure you've got a good Twitter profile or Instagram, where it’s easy to connect with people and speak with people because that shapes the experience. From the locals you meet, to the people in similar industries as well.
Pack fairly light as well, you don't need to bring the whole world with you. And don't ever be afraid to reach out to people. I think in a year like 2020 where it was normal for people to speak with strangers – like I’ve met more people in the past year virtually than I've met new people in person, before. Like I’ve spoken to so many strangers that turned into my ‘regularly-speak-to,’ so don't ever be afraid to reach out because it's a very normal time right now to speak to strangers on the internet.
And just continuously remember who you are. Don't ever forget who you are don't ever forget what makes you stand out. There will never be another you. And don't be too hard on yourself because everyone is figuring it out. Just as long as you are focusing on direction rather than speed, just as long as you're surrounding yourself with the right people mentally. And just as long as you just don't sell yourself short of the greatness that you deserve, would be good.
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I hope that this has been insightful! Leave comments, voicenotes or tweet me with the hashtag #FacingFreelance with any thoughts or if you just enjoyed the episode. And definitely make sure you follow Hannah as she travels and continues to do her good work!
I am currently doing some research on who I could bring on here to interview and I’m taking recommendations! Is there anyone in the media industry that you would like to hear from? If so, make sure you send me a voicenote on anchor, leave a comment on the blog, drop me a message, or get at me on my socials!
Finally, make sure you tell a friend to tell a friend so that others can pick up the gems that Hannah dropped for us today.
Thank you for spending this time with me and see you soon! x
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