Growing up, Adeola Babatunde was often jeered for her speaking ability. According to her “my grandma used to call me ‘Sokuro’ ( a yoruba word which loosely translated in English means Parrot”. Today, Adeola Babatunde, is what we call a speaking maestro and through her speaking gift, she is empowering women all over the world to hone their voice and become confident speakers.
She currently sits as the Founder of -Publicspeaking4women, an online school which teaches and equips women with practical knowledge on how to speak more confidently in public so they can get promoted at work and make more money in their businesses. She is also one of the Co-founders of Consulting Youth, an International firm which helps organizations find interesting solutions to problems by engaging children from 8-year-old and above in the problem solving process.
Today on our Ladyboss series, Adeola shares with us her motivation,what informed her decision to start her business and how she has been able to stay firm on the bad days. If you can, please get comfy on a sofa, grabbing popcorn won’t be a bad idea too. Ladies, we present Adeola Babatunde. Enjoy!
Can you briefly describe yourself and your business?
Adeola Babatunde is a Business Consultant, Public Speaking Coach and Founder of Publicspeaking4women; a fast growing online school for teaching women how to speak more confidently in public so they can get promoted at work and make more money in their businesses. Publicspeaking4women has trained women in Europe and Africa.
She is also one of the Cofounders of ConsultingYouth, an International firm which helps organizations find interesting solutions to problems by engaging children from 8-year-old and above in the problem solving process. When she is not managing her businesses, she is facilitating trainings on Entrepreneurship and Nigerian Content Compliance in the Oil and Gas Sector.
What is it like being a female entrepreneur, and why did you chose to be one?
It has been a roller coaster! Some days I feel on top of the world and sometimes I feel the world is on top of me, lol. I didn’t choose to become an entrepreneur, it chose me. I was born with an entrepreneur’s heart. All entrepreneurs around the world are my brothers and sisters! Lol.
I remember as a little girl, as young as 9, I always wanted to have a building with my name on it. I was inspired by the ‘Akintola Williams, Deloitte and Touche’ building on Ikorodu road, Lagos Nigeria. What that really meant was that I wanted to have a successful business. I am the kind of woman that believes entrepreneurship is the solution to all problems. To improve a nation, increase her entrepreneurs.
My Social Enterprise- Teen Entrepreneur Academy, was born out of this need to raise more entrepreneurs through awareness because of what I suffered when I was 17. I started a web design business called ‘Desoft Solutions’ but it died a natural death because I didn’t know what to do or how to go about it. So today I say to teenagers, start now, start with what you have, you will learn along the way.
What new innovation have you introduced to your business?
I took public speaking online. Usually, public speaking is taught in a physical classroom but I was able to take it online so that more women around the world would be able to take advantage of this course.
I noticed most of the public speaking courses online only did not have practical classes and so I took advantage of technology and introduced practical sessions into my online public speaking course.
What will you say is responsible for your success so far?
God and consistency. There have been days I was just tired and it seemed like nothing was working and nothing was moving but I kept praying and showing up.
I read that it takes courage to complete a routine but I also want to add that it takes courage to be consistent in business, to keep showing up even though it seems like not much is happening, you keep showing up, giving it your best and reinventing yourself and your business.
In your opinion, would you say that there are any unique challenges that female entrepreneurs face?
There is a limit to how much time you can stay outside the home and away from the children to network and do meetings if you are a mother. Some people would just think you can’t do the job just because you are a woman
Another challenge is that generally we women have been made to believe that being driven, decisive, firm, goal oriented are not feminine traits and so we limit ourselves when it is time to fly!
What values and principles have helped you so far?
Hard work, Consistency like I mentioned earlier, constant self-improvement and believing in myself. I am constantly looking for what will make my service irresistible to my customers.
Why did you decide to go into this particular line of business?
Because this is my area of gifting. When I was much younger, my grandma used to call me ‘Sokuro’ which means parrot in Yoruba language. As I grew up, I wondered what I could sell with my gift and voila I am now helping other women become confident ‘Sokuros’ so they can get promoted and make more money in their businesses. Being a business consultant is natural to me because I wanted to help many small businesses succeed.
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced, and what’s kept you going?
Balancing family and work life, maintaining a healthy cash flow for the business, getting enough customers, learning new things quickly have been some of the challenges.
What has kept me going is the knowledge that I can only succeed if I keep moving. If I stop now, then I would never know if my business would have been a success. I also keep going because I know persistence/consistency/grit has its rewards.
What’s your five-year plan for your business?
Help 10,000 women get promoted in the work place and increase business profits through public speaking. Be the online speaking academy for women in Africa.
What do upcoming female entrepreneurs need to do to be successful in this path?
To female entrepreneurs to be successful in this path, I would say, Believe in yourself, you are enough. They also need to endure the tough moments because there are tough moments in the entrepreneurial journey. Deciding to stick with it on the bad days as well as the good days is a formula for success.
During the bad days, re-strategize, change plans if you have to but stay committed and you will definitely see the reward of your labour.
The LLA Lady Boss Series is a weekly interview series that highlights the achievements and entrepreneurial journeys of African female entrepreneurs. The idea is to showcase the Leading Ladies who are transforming Africa and the African narrative through enterprise and business.
It is an off-shoot of Leading Ladies Africa, a non-profit that promotes leadership, inclusion and diversity for women of African descent.
If you know any kick-ass women of African Descent doing phenomenal things in enterprise, email lead@leadingladiesafrica.org, and she could possibly be featured.
