Continuing our series featuring some of Tooting’s great young entrepreneurs, we introduce Jeffrey Frimpong-Manso, videographer, host, presenter and all-round entertainer!

Jeffrey recently joined the team at Digilab Tooting, the vibrant new tech house based out of the Trident Business Centre and is already making his mark by harnessing his energy and passion to help local entrepreneurs, businesses and organisations grow their awareness through the power of video.

It’s over to Jeffrey to tell us his story.....

“I’m a North London boy, born, raised and living in Kings Cross all of my life, except for my time at university in Coventry. During my Business Management degree, I took a digital marketing placement year at my friend and Digilab Tooting colleague, Obed’s company, CV Snip, which helped creative students and graduates to better showcase their work in order to get interviews and jobs, rather than by using a traditional CV. It was during my time working with Obed, that I too decided that I wanted to work for myself.

“At this time, I also started hosting events, acting as a compère at talent shows and loved the buzz of making people laugh. If I make you laugh, I make you happy. I’m very opinionated, I like to speak my mind and think that doing this in the right way when I have the microphone is a great way to get the best out of other people. Growing up, my friends always told me that I was a naturally a funny guy and that I should get into comedy. Obed encouraged me to try stuff out and so I have! 

(Jeffrey as host: asking people on London’s streets some basic business questions – watch out for some funny responses!)

“I’ve built up a good following on Instagram where I act out different real-life scenarios – one of these is what it’s like growing up in an African household and the challenges you face when you want to work for yourself in a creative industry, whilst your parents want you to be a doctor or a banker. With my parents being from Ghana, this is definitely real life for me! I’ve loved working on this and other comedy material, have enjoyed a great reaction to it and know that this is something I want to build into my career.

(Jeffrey as comedian: feeling the wrath of his Dad.)

“I recently finished uni and so Obed asked me to join him in his new venture at Digilab Tooting. I initially started working one day a a week but there’s so much going on there that I’m in Tooting most days now – I don’t want to miss out! I’m excited as I can combine building my experience and career as a videographer, host and presenter with my other passion which is helping people.

“Apart from the presenting, filming and editing, the most compelling thing at Digilab for me is the opportunity to have conversations with other people – to find out what makes them tick and what their interests are outside business. By revealing the true personality of the person behind the business, I think that people are more likely to connect with them and their brand. I like being myself and I encourage others to be the same. One of the key things we want to do with Digilab is hook up with schools. As well as helping kids to learn about tech, we play games, talk and look after each other – we’re friendly and make them feel welcome and comfortable so they want to come back.  We feel as though the kids will really relate to us and so we will get more out of them. They will help to shape the way our offering evolves. 

(Jeffrey as presenter: interviewing Caroline Odogwu, fellow Tooting young entrepreneur and head of youth marketing agency, Y-Connect.)

“In terms of which presenters out there I look up to, two stand out. Charlamagne Tha God from US national radio show, The Breakfast Club, because he is so raw and honest when he interviews people. I love his style – he asks questions that get people thinking on their feet! I also admire Reggie Yates because, when growing up, I saw him as a role model being one of the few black people on radio and television at the time.

“Just like these guys, I have passion and a purpose – I want to provide value and a service to people. And if I can provide that service through videography, then that’s cool. I’m looking forward to bringing my energy and excitement to local businesses, schools and organisations and helping them to realise the increasing power of video. Video is the new TV!”

Watch out for more of Jeffrey on your screen very soon! And if you can’t wait for that, you can visit Jeffrey’s website, follow him on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook and contact him at jeffrey@creativejeff.com

Based in the Trident Business Centre on Bickersteth Road, Business Launchpad offers free business support & counselling to young entrepreneurs aged 16-30 in Wandsworth. To find out more about Business Launchpad, click here.

If you’re a young Tooting entrepreneur who’d like to be featured in future articles, then drop us some details via email – we’d love to hear from you!