Meet Malobi Achike | Founder & CEO of DEI Directive

We had the good fortune of connecting with Malobi Achike and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Malobi, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
At the beginning of the pandemic, my husband and I were both working from home and two young children. My son was 5.5yrs old at the time and had to be homeschooled. I can tell you that the stress levels we felt was immediate and we quickly realized we simply couldn’t continue this way. Because I was already thinking about a career shift, I made the decision to step away from my job, and gave my 2 weeks notice.

Within the week I submitted that 2 weeks notice, George Floyd was murdered. And because I was winding down on that job, I had a lot more time to be present and take in the news and actually feel the depths of how tragic it was. But like most Americans, I was lost and didn’t really know what to do until the Tuesday after his murder, when organizations started participating in blackout Tuesday by changing their social media profiles into a black tile. Having worked on corporate DEI initiatives for years, I looked at that action, recognized it for what it was – shallow gestures and something clicked. I knew organizations could do more, they could do much more and so my quest on how to help them do just that started.

That was the day that DEI Directive was born.”

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I am the CEO of DEI Directive, a diversity, equity and inclusion technology company helping organizations prepare for the future of work by leveraging actionable data in order to ensure their DEI efforts yield real and lasting results.

As a career driven person, one of the most painful things for me to see is when people do not get the shot they deserve, have earned or do not have the opportunity to develop to their full potential. It is for these reasons that I am so incredibly passionate about what I do. It is an honor everyday to get up roll up my sleeves and help organizations figure this out in a way that is tangible. It is also a pleasure to see those organizations start to realize that this work goes beyond employee under utilization but that it also a major driver of culture, engagement, productivity, retention and financial performance for the organization.

It has been quite the journey for me. As an attorney who practiced law in Minnesota for a couple of years, I knew very quickly that the business world was where I belonged but running a tech startup was not really where I thought I’d end up. I will say my journey to now was really born out of experiencing what I experienced in corporate America, and realizing change was needed and when I got tired of not seeing the type of change I wanted to see, I decided I was going to do something about it. As you can imagine, this has not been easy at all. There are daily challenges and sometimes those challenges could feel insurmountable but the passion and drive keeps me going and because of that I’m more fired up about what I’m doing even during the difficult times.

Overcoming challenges is a must in entrepreneurship. The most important thing to embrace in entrepreneurship is the ability to pivot because there will be so many things you didn’t anticipate and this will be the case no matter how well planned you are. So adjusting and pivoting is how you evolve and keep the momentum going. It also helps to surround yourself with mentors, colleagues who understand what you’re going through (either through their own experiences or through observing lots of people go through that experience).

Lessons learned – entrepreneurship is a lonely journey, find your tribe. Also, you will get a lot of advice from well meaning people (some who do not understand your business at all, others who may but have a different idea on how you should approach) – know what to take in and what to discard. This was something I had to develop very early on after going back and forth after each meeting.

We are data driven and results focused and help organizations operationalize and optimize DEI within so they can drive employee engagement, retention, productivity and innovation.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Monument Valley is one of the spots I would love to visit. I have never been there.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’ve been so lucky to have so many people inspire, guide and mentor me on my journey. Whether it be my parents, my husband and children, or fellow entrepreneurs.

But I would really love to give a shoutout to an incredible group of people who have really championed and advocated for me (far beyond what I will ever know): Allan Younger, Hannah Horne, Nate Branscomb, Abi Olukoye. To then I say thank you so much!

Website: https://deidirective.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deidirective/?r=nametag

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dei-directive/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deidirective/