Inioluwa Mobolorunduro (21) was still trying to figure out engineering school when his design income quietly outgrew most entry-level salaries in Nigeria. What started as small ₦500 design gigs evolved into a seven-figure monthly career after he made one uncomfortable decision: to specialise. By stepping away from noise and doubling down on LinkedIn branding, he redefined what growth looked like for a student designer.

As told to Aisha Bello

To the casual observer, I am a third-year Chemical Engineering student at the University of Ilorin. I attend lectures, write exams, and navigate the struggles of a Nigerian undergraduate. 

My reality is vastly different behind the scenes. I earn between ₦1 million and ₦1.5 million monthly as an experienced graphic designer.

This income is the result of a deliberate, strategic pivot I made in 2025, when I did the unthinkable for a digital creator: I went offline.

The Strategic Pivot: Going Dark to Scale Up

By my 20th birthday in July 2024, I had 15,000 followers on LinkedIn and had spent years organising impact projects, teaching thousands of young people, and giving pieces of myself to my social media community. But I was burning out. I was overwhelmed by the pressure to maintain a social presence and balance my engineering school workload. More importantly, I realised I was giving out more value than I was capturing financially. My income was stagnant. About ₦200,000 a month.

I made a radical decision. I announced I would be unavailable throughout 2025.

I followed through: I stopped posting content. I stopped engaging publicly. Instead, I laser-focused on Upwork.

It is ironic that my biggest financial break came when I was least visible. While the world thought I was inactive, I was aggressively applying for jobs on Upwork. However, I didn’t apply as just another graphic designer. I differentiated myself as a LinkedIn branding expert, specialising in visual assets that help professionals build authority and visibility on the platform. That focus helped me escape the overcrowded general design market and significantly increase my earning potential.

This was the game-changer. I used the 15,000+ followers I had built prior to 2025 as leverage. In my proposals, I showed them my profile as proof of concept. I positioned myself as someone who had conquered the very platform they wanted to dominate.

The shift in positioning, from a generalist creating flyers to a specialist branding LinkedIn profiles, changed my life. I landed a full-time role with a structured agency that pays me over ₦1 million monthly. My public dashboard on Upwork might show earnings of around $1,600, but in reality, once trust is established, my clients move me off the platform. That is where the real business happens.

The Origin: The ₦1000 Naira Risk

While 2025 was the year of the harvest, the seeds were sown much earlier. My advantage? I started early.

I was 16 in February 2021, and the world had been locked down due to the pandemic. I was also fresh out of secondary school, waiting for university admission. I had a burning question: How can I make money legally?

I had exactly ₦1000 Naira in my pocket. My sister had given it to me to buy a belt. Then I saw a sponsored post on Facebook advertising a graphic design class for exactly ₦1000. It was a gamble. I could buy the belt or a skill. I chose the skill.

I started designing on a smartphone because I didn’t own a laptop. My first client was my sister’s friend. I was willing to do the job for free just to prove I could, but she insisted on paying me ₦1,200. At the time, that money felt like a fortune.

From there, I relied on referrals. I charged ₦500 per design, eventually scaling to ₦2,000 and then ₦5,000. By July 2022, I finally felt I was good enough. That same month, on my 18th birthday, I landed my first international gig with a UK-based brand run by Nigerians. They saw my work on LinkedIn and reached out. This event marked my transition from a freelancer scraping by to a professional earning a consistent income.

More: How to Make Money Online as a Student in Nigeria, According to Students Actually Doing It 

The Plateau and The Breakthrough

In 2022, I juggled multiple contract roles. I was making about ₦150,000 to ₦170,000 monthly from contract work with brands across Nigeria, the UK and Ghana, while still taking on one-time freelance gigs. When I finally entered university in 2023, I was averaging ₦200000 per month.

For a student, this was comfortable. But comfort is the enemy of growth. I realised that if I continued to position myself as a flyer designer, I would always be competing with millions of others at the bottom of the pyramid. I would have to work twice as hard to earn the money I desired.

This realisation birthed the 2025 strategy. I looked at my comparative advantage. There are millions of designers, but very few understand the intricacies of LinkedIn marketing.

Today, my work is hyper-specific. I don’t just “design.” I create visual assets for LinkedIn: cheat sheets (infographics), carousels, banners, and featured sections. I work with a LinkedIn marketing agency, and my designs directly help clients grow their authority. Because the value I provide is tied to business growth and personal branding for high-net-worth clients, they are willing to pay significantly more than someone looking for a birthday flyer.

Looking Ahead: The Blueprint for 2026

As I returned online on January 1st, 2026, my perspective shifted completely.

If there is one lesson I can pass on to other designers, it is this: move past the basics. There is money in flyer and social media design, but the competition is fierce, and the fees are often capped. The real opportunity lies in specialised niches; the areas others are ignoring.

For me, that niche was LinkedIn branding. For you, it might be something else. But you must look beyond the crowded base of the pyramid. Furthermore, we must embrace AI. In 2026, resisting technology is a fast track to irrelevance.

My journey from a 16-year-old with a smartphone and a belt-less pair of trousers to a seven-figure earner has been defined by the audacity to position myself differently. 

I started early and built a community. When the time was right, I knew when to step back, re-strategise. I learned to present myself not just as a designer, but as a solution.

Next Read: This Designer Went from Earning ₦300k/Month to $3,000/Month in 2 Years. Here’s How He Did It

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