Black Rise

How To Build A Tech Empire From Scratch - Oyin Adebayo's Trailblazing Story

• Black Rise • Season 1 • Episode 24

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From the roots of ambition instilled by her parents to the blooming success of her seven-figure tech enterprise, Oyin Adebayo's story is one of unyielding determination and strategic brilliance. Join us, as we engage with Oyin in an enlightening conversation on how her favoured status as the first child came with towering expectations that she transformed into a driving force for her entrepreneurial journey. Get ready to be inspired by Oyin's story, which underlines the pivotal influence of early family dynamics in forging a trailblazing path in the business realm.

The cultural tapestry of Oyin Adebayo's life is rich and varied, stretching from the vibrant landscapes of Nigeria to the dynamic bustle of the UK. This episode takes you on a journey of adaptation and growth, as Oyin contrasts the educational and cultural differences between these two worlds. Her activism in her youth blossomed into a passion for economics and management, and the seeds of community service planted during her university years have grown into initiatives that champion women and technology. Listen as Oyin shares her experiences of nurturing dreams in unfamiliar soil and the love for one's homeland that transcends borders.

This conversation is more than just a tale of personal success; it's a blueprint for empowering a million women in tech by 2030. We unravel the intricacies of manoeuvring through governmental contract landscapes and the strategies that turn bureaucratic mazes into runways for policy and societal transformation. Oyin provides a glimpse into an upcoming tech platform promising to revolutionise the integration of learning, rewards, and job opportunities. Her insight is a lighthouse for aspiring entrepreneurs navigating the complex waters of tech and business, illuminating the path to not only financial prosperity but meaningful societal impact as well.

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Black Rise is not just a podcast but an extension of our Business platform. We are on a mission to bridge the gap between businesses and the immense potential of Black talent. We provide a dynamic platform where businesses and individuals can connect, collaborate, and prosper with Black professionals, entrepreneurs, and black-owned companies. We strive to showcase the value, creativity, and innovation that Black talent brings to the table, fostering partnerships that drive economic growth, diversity, and mutual success.

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Speaker 1:

When we think about entrepreneurs that are successful, the foundation of where they've got to is so important, and I think this is why, if you're a parent, listen to this. If you see potential in your child, do not underplay it and actually nurture that, because you just don't know where they're going.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Black Rice Podcast, your getaway to inspiring conversation with la crème de la crème of Black talent, who are leaders of seven figure and above businesses across a spectrum of industries. I'm your host, flavilla Fong-Gang, an award-winning serial entrepreneur, who will guide you on this journey. Black Rise isn't just a podcast. It's an extension of our business platform, allowing the business world to connect with skilled, talented and experienced Black talent. Our mission is to serve as a bridge, connecting Thank you to the table, fostering partnerships that drive economic growth, diversity and mutual success. Visit theblackrisecom to find out more.

Speaker 3:

Hello everybody, welcome back to another episode on the Black Rise Podcast and I hope that you've been enjoying the last few episodes. I just want to say, oh, very good. I've been receiving so many messages. People say, oh my gosh, it's so good. I've been listening to you three times.

Speaker 3:

So if you are new and it's your first time listening to this episode because you wanted to hear the story of a fantastic Oyunede Bayo, then I also advise you to take the time to make this your Sunday ritual and listen, because every Sunday we release a new episode and this time I am so excited to have this conversation. It depends. I'm always excited to have a conversation just because I'm a voracious learner and I love I think you learn so much from other people and this conversation I'm going to learn a lot. So you heard me say her name a little bit Oyin Adebayo Adebayo. I didn't express it properly Oyin Adebayo. Let me not destroy her name. She is a tech entrepreneur, angel investor. She's not only just entrepreneur, she's not under tech, shall I say in French, under tech, but she also invests in others, which is brilliant, and she has built her business her business is not just one from bootstrap to seven figures. So we're going to hear her story to where she is right now. She's probably swimming in diamonds. Are you swimming in diamonds? Oyin.

Speaker 1:

I wish I was.

Speaker 3:

It's so funny, right? Because the Twitter that we know now is very different from the Twitter that we used to know before. Because I remember I talked to someone on Twitter and she came to my event when I launched my nonprofit and she was the first, she was the only black woman on the reach list of it was either the Sunday Times or something and I said, ah, reach out to her, she's never going to be spawned. And she did, cause she was like you know you black, I'm black and I'm the only one. Let me tell my story so we can inspire more people.

Speaker 3:

So it's good to hear your story and and you are such a humble person you never, never, take yourself above, and I know you work hard there, hard. There's one thing about you you work hard, yes, and that's something that I really admire. So I feel like we should start from the beginning. People like me who don't know you. I know you as the entrepreneur, but what's the journey like? Tell us about you, you know, when you were younger. Are you from a big family? Are you? Are you the favorite child? Are you um, are you the one who always say everybody tell me what type of child were?

Speaker 1:

you. What's funny is that you know, like I don't think anyone would ever call himself the favorite child I do but I have evidence from my dad's colleagues my dad is now, unfortunately that I was his favorite child in their books. So you know if my siblings are listening to this. I was dad's favorite child in their books. So you know if my siblings listen to this. I was dad's favorite child. I'm not trying to cause division between me and my siblings but for the record, I am my dad's favorite child position in the line.

Speaker 3:

Are you the middle child? Are you the last one? First child, I'm the first child it's interesting because your first really has it the hardest and you say you're the favorite, so do you know what.

Speaker 1:

I think I had it the hardest. But I also have to give kudos to my parents, and when parents say their first child was almost kind of like a trial and error, I think that they gave me their best shot. Um, honestly, when I, when I just reflect back on like how I've grown up and how they've essentially helped me to get to where, um, whether they realize it or not, they have really helped um. But yeah, anyway, thank you so much for having me. Flavila, it's been, it's really lovely to be on this podcast with you and I don't take it for granted that you've allowed me to be on your platform. Appreciate it, I had to interview.

Speaker 3:

You don't don't downplay yourself. You know you, you're brilliant. We interview big, big, big money winners and impact makers, change makers, so you had to be on this podcast. So one thing that you mentioned that I love is that sometimes we don't really know the impact that we have on someone else, and I always say that. You know, I spend a lot of time being on socials, not just to you know, launch flyers to myself, but to look at people, look at me, say, oh, if she can do it, I can do it too, because I know that other people have had an influence on me and did that. So you mentioned that your parents did that and they were the ones who influenced you and then, to this day, they probably don't know what they did, but when you think about the values that they raised you into, what was those?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I would say that my parents have raised me to be kind of academically smart child, but also someone who was really street smart.

Speaker 1:

This is something that they, you know, they realized when they were, when I was a lot younger. They still this, this kind of child that they had brought to life, doing really well in school, excelling in school, but also was quite shy. And I remember my mom and dad would be like oh you know, you can be academically smart, but, you remember, I have to be street smart, you have to, you have to be smart, smart. And I never knew exactly what they were, what they would mean, and so they didn't take their eye off the ball when it comes, came to like me excelling in school and always coming first. I remember when I'll come home and I'll come forth, because I grew up in Nigeria, I went to school in Nigeria, I'm up up until I was 13, and in my schools that we went to in Nigeria, like pretty much the grades of kids were very much publicised. So like one day I'll come forth and my parents will be like, oh, you know, you're much smarter than this, and so on and so forth, and so I always knew that there was something about me that was different, if that makes sense, and they nurtured that, especially my dad.

Speaker 1:

So my dad he's now passed away. So my dad he's now passed away, but before he passed away he was responsible for putting together all the massive telecommunication mass to make sure that Africa's most remote villages, especially Nigeria, was connected to their mobile phones. So you know, you have to thank my dad for a lot of that work when it comes to making sure that we have a more connected world. And so he had lots of like large contract with large telecommunication companies. But he would get me to sit with him to basically watch how he wrote proposals. My dad taught me how to write proposals, how to piece together my english. He was very strict on those different things, but but yet such a welcoming and open father, and he would teach me how to write with excellence at a tender age of seven. So some of those proposals I remember there was one proposal that I wrote at that age and that he actually won the contract of, and so that's the type of like culture that my parents kind of let me go through.

Speaker 1:

But as soon as I, like I kind of got into high school, you know, they enrolled me into one of the best schools in Nigeria at the time, and again, yet again, it was like a really good foundation to be able to enable me to continue to grow, and so when we think about entrepreneurs that are successful, the foundation of where they've got to is so important, and I think this is why, if you're a parent, listen to this. If you see potential in your child, do not underplay it and actually nurture that, because you just don't know where they're going. So that's number one. But I think both parents of mine taught me how to be stand out in my world, but also they also taught me how to put care at the center of everything I did and how to be philanthropic.

Speaker 1:

In my approach, my mom is a philanthropist at the heart of everything she does. Like my home in Nigeria, we literally have like lots of strangers that roll into our house, that become family, and so I'm just used to knowing having helping people as like the bottom line of my life. It's never something separate, it's never I'm trying to give back. It's actually no. This is actually part of what makes life worth living, and so I have to thank my mom especially for how she has imparted that kind of ethos and values to me, for how she has imparted that kind of ethos and values to me?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's important. I love what you say that, from a young age, having to write a proposal and actually getting it, that gives you the confidence that you need, and quite often what people don't have is access to opportunities and access to experience. Yes, and what your partner is giving you is that confidence from a very certain point. But as well, you can sell the business just to make money and disregard everything else, and you can start a business while still being philanthropic and impact driven, and that's super, super important. Yeah, I love that. So now I'm thinking about you. You grew up in Nigeria, yes, and you are now in the UK. Yeah, so did you study? Grew up in Nigeria? Yes, and you are now in the UK. Yeah, so did you study? You really did you study. You always studied, and you? When was the move and when did you come to the?

Speaker 1:

UK. Yeah, so I started visiting the UK literally from like 10 years old, I believe. Um, I didn't really like it, if I'm being honest. Um, it was a weird place to me in my brain. I was like why is the house so small? You know why? You know why? Why do I have to do everything? Like you know, like I sound really stumpy, but your average people in nigeria literally have a lot of help. Yes, um, it's, it's normal. So, for, for those that might be listening to think to this, thinking I'm from, like you know, crazy money that's not the case necessarily. Um, but like I, I remember just coming and really really hating it. Like I didn't understand why, like people just didn't greet each other. I didn't understand why, when someone would fall on the street would help them.

Speaker 3:

Was it london? Was it? Which city did you?

Speaker 1:

did you first came in, so I came into London, you know, to visit, because that's where my cousins lived. But I just didn't understand, I guess, the individualistic culture, because the culture that I was used to was a culture of, I guess, community right, where everybody knew each other, everybody just helped each other, no matter how like our differences. There was just the culture of help, and that was just not the case in the UK. So, yeah, I remember when I came here that was my immediate thing and so my parents kept making me come to visit. I guess this was their strategy to. You know, allow me to kind of, you know, slowly, kind of embed myself into the culture, but they never kind of, you know, slowly kind of um embed myself into the culture, but they never kind of told me that I was going to be moving here.

Speaker 3:

So by the age of 10 their intention were already set to get you to come to the uk.

Speaker 1:

This is not something they have said, but I feel like this was part of their plan what do you think about as an adult now?

Speaker 1:

yeah, so that's, that's number one. I think number two when I lived in nigeria, I finished my junior high school, and I finished my junior high school at the age of 12. So I finished year nine at the age of 12. Because it was about like ability rather than age in Nigeria and I remember like cause I was used to like flying from Nigeria to the UK on a company to no one will come with me, like my dad, I think, will pay like an extra fee for an accompany type of arrangement, um, and so I remember coming on a company at one point and I got here, um, I finished my junior high school and my mom was, like you know, you're not going back, here's your school uniform, you're starting school tomorrow. What I was just like, what is going on? Like me, this place, no way like. And the thing is it was so devastated because my like the way my, my school worked.

Speaker 1:

It was like when you're in your last, your final year of your junior high school, which is year nine, you you don't go home for Easter holidays, you literally study all throughout and then you finish early in May.

Speaker 1:

You'd finish your Cambridge checkpoint. So you're junior IGCSE, basically you finish your Cambridge checkpoint exams and then you have a super extended holiday. So I was really looking forward between May and September to have the biggest amount of fun I know. And then, and then I was like my dad told me like before, like you're going to the UK next week. And I said why? Like I want to spend time with my friends. And then he was like no, you're just going, you know. So I got here, I had my uniform laid out and then I was told that I was going to do some grammar school exams, which I didn't understand the magnitude of this, these exams, and so, like I was just like really upset, basically. So I went to like the mymere school at the time, which was like a comprehensive school and, um, I remember like being the only black girl and I was like I found it cool, that's in london, this is a birmingham now sorry, so okay.

Speaker 3:

so when they made you come back to the UK Birmingham, why Birmingham? Is it because also you had family in Birmingham?

Speaker 1:

No, I think my mum got invited. I think she got placed because mum's a nurse. Yeah, that's kind of how we ended up there. I was the only Black girl and I also quickly found out, because imagine, coming from a school where everyone's Black, aside from like three mixed race kids in the entire school, to being like, the, like, the opposite. Um, I was just like what's going on here. But at the same time, there was like nobody was like excited about learning, like in, whilst I was coming from a school where, like, if you were not excited about learning, you'll be. You're actually unpopular amongst the kids. If you're smart, you're popular, but the opposite again, I literally was living stark opposite of the life.

Speaker 1:

I was living in nigeria, so that that I really hated that.

Speaker 1:

And my mom was like, oh, you're gonna do some like grammar school exams because apparently this was meant to be my temporary school.

Speaker 1:

Now I didn't understand the magnitude of this because my mom made me get like three buses, mind you remember, like I don't, I don't take public transport anywhere in nigeria, get driven everywhere. I literally barely, we barely walk where I come from and I was like, screw this, I'm not, I'm not getting two buses and the concept of a grammar school was really negative in my mind because a grammar school in Nigeria is like a low level school, so like a grammar school in the UK is, like you know, like a really ambitious school to go to. So my mom had a really great plan for me but I wrecked it because I didn't actually answer the questions on the exam. I left the paper blank. I failed it on purpose. Um, I think I only had a go at like the maths, which I passed, but I did. I left everything else blank because I just didn't want to get a bus or two buses going from having to take two buses.

Speaker 3:

That is wild. Your parents literally took you for a while it was so traumatic.

Speaker 1:

Um, but I will say that I I will say that I didn't settle into the UK until I was 19,. Properly, I only accepted that this is where I am now. So, yeah, I guess that's like my childhood journey to here. Do you know what?

Speaker 3:

I love is that most people have this vision that everybody wants to escape Africa, and I love that. Your story is that you loved it. There was no reason, no desire, and that's something that I love to hear that people who've never been to Africa and Africa on itself, what does that even mean? Nigeria, ghana, cameroon, south Africa each country is different. We have our similarities, but it is still very different, right, and people have that and love that sense that you know, you cherish your country and you are happy. And I mean you're still going back now, I'm sure, but, yes, it's still traumatic.

Speaker 3:

I mean coming from a place where and I think when I see my friends who may have moved back to Africa and see how, the way they live, the amount of money they have a chef, they have a chauffeur, they have a garden and entrance, and I'm thinking, huh, what am I doing here? Trying to buy property here Half a million? You squeeze in and you get something else. It's a different mind, it's a different way of living, isn't it? Yeah, exactly. So by 19 you really settled. So now you're about to make your I'm presuming, not 19, but you're probably still studying or you decided that I'm going to make an entry into the real world. Why did that happen?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So my journey continued when I moved here and I started to see all the problems here Because, again, I remember coming from Nigeria and the way my dad had brought me up, especially with I was used to seeing problems and wanting to solve it very quickly. And so when I moved here, even from the age of 13, I won an award for unsung hero of the community, because I remember seeing girls being sexually exploited and then bringing them together to teach them. Bringing them together to teach them. I don't even know what I was teaching them now, but I was teaching them something about, about like how to like be empowered and how to empower themselves and all of that. And then also looking at like the fact that kids used to talk about getting drunk on the street as like a civil school, and I remember enrolling myself to be the street as like a civil school and I remember enrolling myself to be um and um to work with alcohol concern, to put together like the dry January campaign.

Speaker 1:

I also did a lot of work with the advertising standard agency to change the way alcohol was advertised to young people. So I did a lot of like social action stuff. I was a proxy shareholder with a company called ShareAction. This is all when I was young, by the way, to go and lobby in McDonald's about how they back then, when the food quality was very terrible, how they need to start using, like, the right type of ingredients for their food because it was affecting young people, did a lot of stuff with trading standards in terms of corner shops selling alcohol illegally to young kids and fake alcohol to young kids, and I was a bit of a spy, so I did a lot of those really social action campaigner, activist type stuff when I was younger, um, and then I realized that all of that work was really great but I couldn't see tangibility and sustainability in it, um, as I was growing older, um, and so I did a, an economics and management degree for my, for my bachelor's, um, and this was actually like out of after negotiating many times with my dad, because my dad wanted me to do computer science.

Speaker 1:

Funny enough, um, but I was like what the heck is that like? What that is, what is, what is computer science that's like for, like geeks and boys, yeah, you was already there.

Speaker 3:

He was already ahead of the future.

Speaker 1:

Wise men literally that was incredible, because at the time he was working with microsoft and skype to to um, what was he trying to do? I can't remember the project because I probably wasn't really listening too closely, but he was working microsoft and skype to deploy the internet to nigeria and to remote villages, and so he was like my daughter you must be a computer scientist. I said what I was, just like I don't understand, I don't understand what this man is talking about. Um, so I was just like I don't understand, I don't understand what this man is talking about. So I was just kind of like oh, like no, no. And then the closest thing to that was maths, because I was studying maths, further maths, politics, philosophy and economics on my A-levels and, like I remember, both of us went to an open day, loads of open days, and we both ended up sleeping off at the lectures. Do you think that this is something that I will excel in? Because this is not really maths. It's like quantum physics at this point, where we're just talking about like theory.

Speaker 1:

So anyway, my cousin, who is an investment banker, ended up convincing him to allow me to do economics and management. He trusted her and so he let me do it. And so I, and actually what I really me to do economics and management. He trusted her and so he let me do it. And so I, and actually what I really wanted to do is politics, philosophy and economics, because I had this ambition of wanting to make a change, wanting to be the president of Nigeria. But he was like no way, you're going to, no way you're going to go into politics, because he got appointed to, he was commissioned by the government to come and work for the government for a short time and he he saw the realities of working for government and he was like there's no way you're going to be going through that, so, so my, my journey was very much like focused on that. And then I was like I'm still going to find a way to become the president of Nigeria regardless, so let's just do economics. And he was like, okay, fine, so I studied that.

Speaker 1:

But at the same time, I was braiding my sister's hair and I was growing my clientele from like that age of 13 upwards. As I was growing my clientele, I was also building this community of people, of women, who will come to me to help them for different things, and I will help them with their CVs. I will help them with um interviews, yeah, and their business plans, um. But at some point it got really too much for me. At this point I was in university, so I said let's put together an event that was going to enable everybody to get the help that they need, so that I can just do your hair and then focus on my goal of becoming an economist to eventually become the president of Nigeria. It's not too late, you can still do it, I mean. I mean, yeah, I mean I feel like a lot of people need to go before me before I can do it I mean it's possible, but it's.

Speaker 3:

It's not like an easy, easy thing to yes, you have 10, 20 years to think about it.

Speaker 1:

You have time yes, yeah and yeah, and build, and I think, build relationships with the right people to understand like what's what's what it's what it takes to be in politics, um, in the, and doing it correctly as well. So I basically, um, you know, did did my first ever event called beyond hair um at the time, and one of my senior management team members, laulu, basically, was like you know, common. I asked her to come and help me. She felt sorry for me, helped me to plan it together, and then we gathered loads of people and at that time it was like 80 women, um, and they all loved it.

Speaker 1:

I thought this was the end of it. I I'd created like a journal where they were all going to journal like what they had learned, so that when they go home they have accountability with their journal, um, and it would enable them to build their businesses and their careers. But then people were like, oh, my gosh, it was a brilliant event. When is the next one? Oh gosh, okay. So I then did the next one. We had 150 people there, and then they kept going like that and the next one, we did the next one. It was 350 people present wow, when was that?

Speaker 3:

was it when you were in, in your still at?

Speaker 1:

university yes, when I was at university, my first year of university, I did the first one. Um, well, if I know wasn't the first year of university? Yes, it was yeah. First year of university, I did the first one. No, it wasn't the first year of university yes, it was yeah, first year of university, I did the first one. Second year of university I did the first one. My third year, which was my placement year, I left something out.

Speaker 1:

I did a placement, I did a program management placement at Rolls-Royce and I did the second one at that point and that placement experience was really interesting because I actually worked on 17 digital transformation projects within the Rose Rose Marine Department, um business, should I say. I basically enabled the company. I saved the company three million pounds, um, with the projects that I did, because that business was currently going through some challenges before they got sold to Kongsberg, um. So I learned a lot about program management, logistics and a bunch of things during that time and I learned about the fact that I I don't think I the corporate world was something that I could last in because I was too creative and I was too restless, I think in terms of like I and I was too fast-paced, I think, for it, especially the bigger the company the more layers of you know we've worked with big organizations.

Speaker 3:

We know how long sometimes things get to make take a decision and it's an issue. And this is why, as well, I'm like you. I love the fast-paced life of startup. You have an idea, you think about it, you know, work on, you, test it, boom. You know two weeks is lunch, yeah, where you try to do something that the company they can't because there's too much at stake, and you know it's just nature of the size of the business, isn't it?

Speaker 1:

yeah, um. So yeah, I just knew because I remember like when I wanted to make it, make a decision, like, I spoke to my manager, they were like you're gonna need to. It felt like a very small decision, like approving the design of a packaging booklet that I made. It was going to go through like four layers and I was like really like you could have saved more money if you had approved this straight away. Um, and I knew that that wasn't going to be for me and there was a lot of microaggressions, um that if I'd stayed there for longer than a year, um, I think that it would have gotten on top of me. I was offered to kind of manage, because of kind of how well I did as an intern to manage a whole construction site for turbine engines, to project manage the whole construction site for another year, and they invited me back, but I kind of just rejected it. I wanted to try the path of becoming an economist. That was what I. What's the?

Speaker 3:

word. That's the direction you want to go to. Why building a 350-size?

Speaker 1:

event. No, I mean the 350-size event was always going to be like a side project thing. It was always going to be this thing just to give back. It wasn't giving back, it was like this thing to help people.

Speaker 3:

Just a project? Yeah, a full-time job.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it wasn't really going to be. Yeah, it was always going to be a passion project, and so I. So I finished my undergrad and I went straight to do my master's in development economics. But this is where where, literally, I I got caught caught in all of this. I was my hair business was like my kind of braiding side hustle was growing.

Speaker 1:

This event was also seemingly growing as well, and I was doing some research and I was like, okay, hang on, there's a thousand people in the community that you've now gathered. What are you going to do with this? How are you going to use this to benefit your ambitions to become an economist? So I did a lot of my master's thesis around economic empowerment of women, which is why I now fell into technology, because I fell into oh wow, like these are the jobs, because you know economics, you're looking at variables. These are the jobs that women tend to be in, are in generally in the UK, and these are the jobs that migrant women tend to be in in the UK. And I realised that a lot of those jobs were going to be automated really like in a few years, and I was like, no way, this is a problem, do something about it, do something about it.

Speaker 2:

As we continue this engaging conversation, remember that black rise is more than just a podcast. We're a dynamic platform where businesses can connect, collaborate and prosper with black professionals, entrepreneurs and black owned companies. Our commitment to diversity, inclusion and empowerment reshapes industries and builds a future where Black excellence thrives globally. So don't forget to subscribe and give us a five-star review on iTunes.

Speaker 3:

Can I ask you a question? What are the findings that shocked you the most? You mentioned, obviously, the fact that you could see where the market was going in terms of career, but also changes. We know we're now in the era of AI, layoffs are still happening, and so on. Yeah, was anything else that surprised you when you looked into this data?

Speaker 1:

So, I was looking at this data in 2019 now, so a long time ago, before AI came into existence. Before AI came into existence, what shocked me at the time was that nurses were going to be replaced and healthcare assistants were going to be replaced based upon the research that I'd done, or administrative work was going to be replaced at the time. But I think what shocked me mostly was also the barriers that existed to enable this group of people in this case, women and in this case, women from ethnic backgrounds to kind of get ahead in in life and to enable them to be able to build these things. I think that's what, at that time, shocked me the most. Now it doesn't shock me anymore because obviously that's part and parcel of what I do right now and like now also seeing that come to play practically when I have those conversations and just the gap, the skills gap number one, the knowledge gap, the network gap that existed at the time. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't have all the network that I needed, but I guess, like the kind of training and the mentoring, the coaching that my parents have put me through, had enabled me to know how to build those networks regardless.

Speaker 1:

I remember I got the managing director of a large beauty conglomerate I'm not going to mention their name. I got his number, I don't know how, at the age of 19. And I was texting him to see how he was going to sponsor me. But I didn't know about legal contracts or anything like that and not many people can do that. And so I was like, okay, how can I impart what I have into these women at scale? And so I said you know what? This event we're going to have this? 350 women there. Let's do a 350 women there, let's do a coding class and let's test it out. We did a coding class but at the same time the western midlands combined authority, which is your equivalent of the london mayor office, reached out to me and said um, you know, because at the time I was like talking a lot about this, but also talking a lot about how I wanted to scale this beauty braiding business so that I don't have to be involved anymore because you see like you were talking about it.

Speaker 3:

When you say you were talking about it, talking about it to as public speaking or talking about it for, like, social media and stuff like that, what do you mean?

Speaker 1:

through public speaking, through networking events or networks that I'd already built at the time and I wanted to. At that time, whilst I was studying my master's, I wasn't really trying to build this business, but I was trying to build a beauty business. I was just trying to see how well I built doesn't just go to waste after, like my journey of pursuing an economist career, and so I wanted this kind of like Uber for hair at the time. But I was like I kept saying, but I can't find builders or programmers that can help me build it and understand what it is, because what I want to do is not just to give somebody else to build it. I wanted to make sure that it's meaningful to that person as well.

Speaker 1:

As I was talking, I mean a lot of, a lot of the people from from this organization I'm just speaking about, heard it and said, oh, why don't you? You said that you want black women to build why don't you basically do a program? And we would write a proposal, let's look at it and potentially could, could, um, basically fund it and pay for the contract. And so I was like I'm not a techie, I can't do anything. So I reached out to daniela genus, who was my coach at the time? Do you know anybody? And then she introduced me to Charlene Hunter, the founder of Coding Black Females. I remember on Boxing Day, me and Charlene were working on this proposal together. She did the technical bit and then we won the contract.

Speaker 3:

They were very impressed when was that we're talking about 20. Now we're back in. Yeah, we're now in 2020. Okay, so now in 2020. Because there's one thing that you just fired back a little bit. You mentioned about a coach. At which point did you have mentors or coaches into your career?

Speaker 1:

I think I've always had mentors, but I've been intentional about building a mentoring circle since I was 15. But in terms of my first ever business mentor, I got when I was 16. So I always knew. And the thing is, I've had mentors all my life and like sometimes they will not expire but they, like their need has been met or my need has been met and their need have also been met in terms of and so naturally and organically, I personally feel like this is a good thing, like I then get a new set of mentors that will come into my life to now help me with my next level, and I've just gotten used to that journey of my life generally. So I tend to have, like business mentors, I have spiritual mentors and I also have like personal development mentors as well.

Speaker 3:

Um, to kind of me in terms of like me holistically so I'm like you don't have to have one mentor, you can have multiple. And as you see yourself, as your career changes, your life evolve, you will you realize that you need somebody on another level of what you're trying to get to. And then you go another level or different types, you know and so and people can be your mentor, while knowing that they're mentors, people that you, that you can come to for advice and guidance and they're there to support you. So, yeah, I like that 16. It's great.

Speaker 1:

So, yes, um, we won, won the contract and we I I think I was like charlene, what do you think of this name? Black coder and then?

Speaker 3:

so that's why we started the black coder boot camp yeah, uh, you, when you you won your contract, that was how long ago it was, in 2020. Okay, we were just four years away. Wow, okay, so we're four years away. You won the contract. And how did you meet Charlene? Because Charlene is back in London.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it was through Daniela Genis. Daniela knew Charlene.

Speaker 3:

Yes, you did mention her, sorry. Yeah, I need to pay attention yeah yeah.

Speaker 3:

So charlene was a great girl, great woman. I love her to beat as well, brilliant. Yeah, I love the idea that you find, because I'm trying to make sure people understand your journey, because of what's interesting about this that you, you, if you realize, oh my gosh, I have an opportunity here. I can just reject and say no, no, no. Self-disqualification, like, wait a minute, who else can help me to make this a reality? And that's super important, because people sometimes self-disqualify themselves from opportunities that are in front of them instead of thinking outside the box. A number of times I tell you, I say that often to people. A number of times I sign up for a project. I don't know how to do it, but I'm sure I'm going to find somebody who can help into this project and that's how it works.

Speaker 1:

An entrepreneur is that um that continuously ability?

Speaker 3:

to just find solutions instead of problem right, exactly, exactly. So you go in the contract, you want the contract, you shut in. Now you get it. What happens next?

Speaker 1:

yeah, then we, we, we run the like, like pretty much at the time there was nobody doing well, not that I could see anyway running boot camps specifically for black women to get into tech. I just we didn't see it. Um, you know, I know at that time Charlene Code and Black Females was very much a community, very much like a meetup community, and what I didn't know is that she's always wanted to train women, or train black women to get into tech. And actually me coming to her to say, hey, this is the opportunity, what do you think Was like almost serendipity for her as well. So I would say we almost unlocked a catalyst when it comes to training women, black women specifically to be able to get into tech. And since then we ran the Black Coder Bootcamp.

Speaker 1:

Both of our companies have grown tremendously. Both education businesses have grown tremendously. And we wouldn't have I don't think our businesses would have grown if, um, and we wouldn't have. I don't think our businesses would have grown if we didn't do that project together. I think her business would have grown but it might have gone through a different path. I don't know. But, like, since then at neo, we've upskilled 700 black women to get into tech and to thrive in tech, and a lot of them work in different companies, um, but at the same time, I was still running the beauty business and now I couldn't become an economist any longer. Because this, because this I'm in, and like there was no way that I was just going to leave this contract that I was now responsible for to go and be an economist was it?

Speaker 3:

was it the educational business that led you to a seven-figure business, or was it the, the hair?

Speaker 1:

it was the education so the hair business has been a side hustle for the longest, but I will only say that we only started taking it like taking it. I always started taking it seriously as a business, probably only last year. Um, it was one of those businesses that was we. We are six figures, but I've just not like some of the energy that I I'd put into, how I've um put into the education, because I didn't think I have put it into the beauty business or else it would probably start farther than where it is today, probably simply because I was dealing with government contracts and now and now private sector contracts and I didn't really want to mess that up because that has a different kettle of fish, whilst obviously the business is direct to consumer.

Speaker 3:

Can we come back? I would like to come back to you as well. We're getting to, because this is an avenue that a lot of people don't think about, because you know, when it comes to government contracts, it's often so. We were in Berlin for the opening of GTA Black Women in Tech and again I admire it because I think the two of you have done such a great work in combination with what we're doing. And you know we don't GTA Black Women in Tech doesn't do education and that's something that people say go to coaching black female, go to NEO, because that's not us, right, and I love the complementary of we can. You know, as an ecosystem can also be sister organization. But I think that sometimes we don't realize the impact of what we do and really applaud you for that. But I feel, like you say, which is very important is that people necessarily don't think about the opportunities that sit within government contracts. For example, we were in Berlin at GovTech campus, really interesting. So we created a campus where the government has its requirement.

Speaker 3:

But think about it Germany is different from the way the UK runs, so each state has to have their own technology. Again, this is their history Hitler, blah, blah, blah. So they have to run each decision as a state. So you can sell to one state the technology and another state will buy another technology, which is super fantastic. So there's millions and millions and millions sitting like that in opportunities that people are not aware of. So you can literally say, ok, what do you want to build? Ok, I created it for you, then I sell it for you. That's basically how it works there.

Speaker 3:

So I'm curious in terms of your journey, as you mentioned, you've approached this a couple of times what advice would you give to some people maybe thinking about you know, working with the government. It's not easy and I guess the application, the tender and so on might go away. But you know, you did it, you know and, uh, so, and also people also self-disqualified and think that, oh, I have to be a big business to work with the government and so and so on. So what advice would you give him?

Speaker 1:

I mean. My advice is it's not easy, but it takes somebody who is disciplined to be able to get discipline and patience, both for large government contracts as well, as I'm sure you would know, with corporate contracts as well. It just requires a lot of patience, but the reward is so, so high. My advice, really, for anyone who wants to do it, is that you have to be willing to embrace the bureaucracy that exists, but don't allow your business to fall in line with it. In fact, you can still be disruptive. This is where, as an entrepreneur, creative thinking comes in place.

Speaker 3:

Can you give us an example so we can understand what you mean by that In?

Speaker 1:

getting government contracts, you have to be in things called frameworks. Then, once you get on a framework, then you need to bid. Then there could be various different levels of bidding. It could be selection of questionnaire for you to be selected first of all, to be invited to bid. Then you have to bid, then you then have to get accepted, then you might have to wait for the contract to come in, which can be months and months right of waiting and of like admin work and of writing and so on and so forth, and then eventually, when you do get it, depending on the government contract and depending on I guess what framework. For those that don't know what I mean by frameworks, and frameworks are basically places where government, government puts their, the things that they want to buy or procure on.

Speaker 1:

So there's various different ones that exist. You know, a good place to start is going on contracts finder and you'll be able to see what exists out there and who's bidding for what Once you get in those. The bureaucracy can also be quite annoying and long when it comes to them reporting back what you have done, and that could be quite you know. This is the bit that I actually think it's valid that you know small businesses or businesses run by Black people could be really discouraged about because it could actually make you bankrupt if you don't know how to play the game. Yeah, because a lot of it costs you before you can pay for it, if that makes sense, yeah. And so I don't know, like honestly, in terms of how I've been able to get it to this point, bootstrap has honestly been a magic. I don't know, because it's very difficult, but if you're smart about it, you can always build your pipeline with these contracts and then go and raise it. Well, I say, I say like it's that easy. I was going to. I was going to say, then go and raise investment. It's not that easy.

Speaker 1:

Another way you can look at it is getting you know, getting yourself building a relationship with people who already have those large contracts you know as a starting point, because that way you don't have to deal with all the bureaucracy and you just deliver for them, and then that way you can build your confidence with these types of contracts and then build your way up, build your business up and also build your way up as a founder so that's the way I think about it way up as a founder, um, so that's that's the way I think about it.

Speaker 1:

Now, like it's not just about the money for me when it comes to government contract, because there's been so many times where I've wanted to quit that model, um, it's more about how I can influence policy for the long term and change systematic issues that exist. And it's really fun when you see what you're basically telling. You're directly telling to the I directly, directly speak to the Minister for Skills, directly speaking to the Minister for Tech, and say this is exactly what I'm now seeing, and now seeing how that gets changed slowly, even though if it's not fast enough, that for me is very impactful and that for me is much more scalable, not from a money perspective, but from an impact perspective, and so that's why I will continue using that model.

Speaker 3:

So yeah, impact perspective, and so that's why I will continue using that model. So, yeah, I love that. I think there's quite a lot of few learnings that you send. You're really good strategies that you just shared.

Speaker 3:

First thing, cash flow. And you're right, and you know I haven't worked government but I work with. You know local, like entities that I take forever one year of waiting, you know, and so on. So if you don't have cash flow, you can run out very quickly and I love the fact that you know you, you might not get the big k, but can you get the crumbles? Crumbles?

Speaker 3:

Is it like the, the little piece on the side and be friends with a big guy? You know them and they do that a lot. You know, as, from an agency point of view, we used to do that as well. So we go and you know the big companies, the big agencies, win the contract, but then there's, you know, a set contract. You see people at the pitch and then you never see them again and you're there all the time in that process, right?

Speaker 3:

So, and again, one element that you say and it comes back a lot, which is building great networking, get great network so you can count on people. I mean, you are as strong as the people that you know around you, right? So that's super important. So seems like this is a great place to be the business. This business is going and I think there's still a need and we know the lack of just women in general in technology. And so what's the ambition with the? And tell us more about the hair business, because it's not, it's not just a hair salon, because I've seen, I've visually seen it, but people have not seen it. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. If I just finish off with education, business, so 1 million. I want to upskill 1 million women by 2030 across the world to be able to grow in tech. Basically, that's my goal and once I've done that, I know I've done my job basically. So that's my goal. That's a great plan. Yeah, so that's our North Star. That's what we're going for.

Speaker 3:

Can I change a little bit? So how are you planning to go about it?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so I remember we run boot camps right, everyone knows us for that, but we're secretly testing a platform that we've launched internally to our alumni where, basically, we're building this robust tech solution where you'll be able to learn, get rewards and get jobs on the same platform, and we're doing that again through public sector and private sector kind of clients as well. So watch the space. It's not going to be publicly out there till end of the year, but a lot of like the testing metrics are looking good, so yeah, it's really good.

Speaker 3:

We love edtech. It's a big, big market, especially knowing that there's jobs right now that don't even have a name and there's so much space of what AI disrupting is there and we can't go back, unfortunately, but we just have to move the way the world is moving. Nothing we can do about it, Because we talk about upskilling women, but I also feel I don't know for you. But I also feel I don't know for you, but I also feel for people who are a certain age, who are left behind. You know, you hear about a number of things as well, but you know the population is aging. The population is not dying as fast. They're still whatever on the market. So I think people listen to this. There's another market that you can tap into it, but it is what it is. Or you still want to talk about the ethnic?

Speaker 1:

yeah, we can finish with the beauty business. So the hair and beauty business. At the moment, everyone thinks it's like a e-commerce website or like a salon, but my, my ultimate goal is what I started off with this kind of uber and siri for hair. I think that, although I say it's like an uber and siri, it's, it's not not the way it's been built. So let me, if I was, to explain, um, there is a lot of people trying to be an uber for hair, um, but I think the strategy is different from how I want to kind of go about it.

Speaker 1:

So my strategy really very much is very much seeing how the technology almost acts like an assistant for every single person, not even just women every single person on earth for everything to do with your hair. Hey, and you can actually ask the technology. You know what. You know. I'm going to a wedding, like, recommend me a hairstyle. It knows about your hair and it can recommend products and services for you, um, but behind all of that is salons, behind all of that is products and behind all of that is professionals. Right, I'm playing it the slow way, um, hence why so like?

Speaker 1:

So I'm starting off building up the stuff um for it in order for us to be able to get there. So so, essentially, what we have today is like you can try on a hairstyle. Um, again, that's, we have to kind of pull the try on element from the market because we're going through a painted patent process. Come, try on a hairstyle, see what the hairstyle looks like on you, and then able to book a hair appointment from that hairstyle in our salon, but also you could get products as a resource of it. Eventually, we're building this kind of like co-pilot and like a kind of virtual consultant for your hair, but in a scalable way, in a way that virtual consultant for your hair I love it, but in a scalable way, in a way that is really, really scalable.

Speaker 3:

So yeah, yeah, I want this to work. I think it'd be very interesting. I must say, I always say that if something ever happened to my hairdresser, I don't know what I would do, because I've been with her for years, right, and I'm always conscious about changing. But I think this is something that get people curious. They just want to. You know, at least they can try tests and and so on and then explore, I think, the element of that. This is super cool. So I'm sure, I'm sure you're going to make a success. I mean, you know, I just realized that you haven't, you weren't straight into entrepreneurship. You know, from the start, you need to just work for those voice. That's what you did right.

Speaker 1:

Yes, it's entrepreneurship. It's a bit crazy, yeah yeah, wow.

Speaker 3:

So what does the future looks like for you then?

Speaker 1:

so, yeah, future for me. I'm very excited because I think a lot of my friends tell me I started early. So future for me, to be honest, is building my companies into a group of businesses. I'm already on my way there. I'm like like already working on that. I want to build a tech conglomerate that not just has beauty, not just has education, but build other kind of businesses in basically high impact industries. I want to empower and raise leaders. So my exit plan from the education business is the 1 million mark. Once I have achieved that, I'm exiting and I'm going to raise up another CEOo to take my place and I'm just going to continue to replicate that yeah you know, throughout.

Speaker 1:

That's, that's my that's that's my ambition.

Speaker 1:

Yes, on top of that, I want to continue to angel investor.

Speaker 1:

I'm an angel investor and I have to thank the likes of Ada Ventures for helping me to actualize that, because now I have I have like two African businesses in my portfolio and now I have four UK businesses. I have a portfolio of six people, but I want to be more bullish with that moving forward, but then find other ways in which I can create like a I investment club or investment hub to enable underrepresented founders to get funded, because I think that when I play in the investor space, I realize that that space is also quite broken and there's like a huge hole in the middle between founders and investors. We can actually plug that hole is if people who have actual wealth are the one doing trying to plug both. I think when we speak to investors, they're actually investing other people's money on their behalf, and so they have to be very careful on how they go about it. So I want to build my wealth, so then I can have a say in how my own wealth gets invested. That's how Serena Williams is able to.

Speaker 3:

Found businesses that she's building with her money, which is amazing what she's doing.

Speaker 1:

Exactly because she's built wealth. She's built a good amount of wealth to get to where she is. So I want to be the same thing. I want to build my personal wealth. I want to build the wealth of my businesses um to billions of pounds, like you know, and show that you don't need to raise loads of money. I like completely bootstrapped, but only just raised my first round of investment for my education business just to plug a small hole, um, and I want to show that actually you don't have to build unicorns. You can actually build rhinos, fast-mo moving businesses that are profit making.

Speaker 3:

So yeah, you can do that. I'm really excited. You know for you. I know that you are. You are definitely a winner.

Speaker 3:

Looking at your career, you're still technically still at the beginning of your career when I think about what you've achieved. You've achieved so much in such a short amount of time lot. You know the next 10 years of your life will be super exciting and I think we should be definitely watching what else is coming for you. But it's been a pleasure to have you. I think we've learned a lot about the journey of learning, changing, pivoting, being aware opportunities, change maker and and knowing how to partner and and build a network.

Speaker 3:

This is something that is brilliant and I think there's a lot people can learn from you and and I'm excited to the next 10 years what's going to happen and, who knows, in 20 years we might see on the throne of nigeria for us. Dear listeners, this is the end of this podcast, or you've been a pleasure to have on this episode and I think we learned a lot. And I just say over time, listen to this episode twice when you're driving, when you you're walking and you know when you're sleeping. Just listen, and I hope you enjoy it and I will see you very soon for the next one. Bye everybody, see you next.

Speaker 2:

Sunday. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Black Rise. We hope that you found this conversation as inspiring as we did. Share your takeaways on social media and tag us as we wrap up. Remember that you can always stay connected with us. Join us on this journey of elevation, motivation and empowerment. Let's rise together, break barriers and create lasting change. Subscribe now to stay updated with our latest episodes and visit the blackrisecom to find out more. This is black rise, where excellence and impact converge to redefine the future. Until next time, keep rising. Blackrisecom to find out more. This is Black Rise where excellence and impact converge to redefine the future. Until next time, keep rising.