It is one thing to become a Christian. It is an entirely different thing to build, first, a fellowship, and then, a church.

On this episode, the concluding part of our conversation with Pastor Dele Osunmakinde, we explore the birth and growth of, first, the Vessels of Honour Foundation (a fellowship Pastor Dele started in the University of Ibadan as a student), and then, The Baptizing Church.

Pastor Dele will also talk about the sacrifices he's made, his most alone moments, lessons he's learned on his journey, as well as what's next for him.

Pastor Dele Osunmakinde is the Founding Pastor of The Baptizing Church. The church started in Abuja in 2005, and was formally commissioned in 2007 by Pastor Tunde Bakare, with a vision to raise a generation who will influence things to the ends of the earth. Today, the Baptizing Church has expanded beyond Abuja to several states and cities.

#DeleOsunmakinde #TheBaptizingChurch #OriginsAfrica #OriginsAfricaPodcast #VesselsofHonourFoundation

***

1-2-1 Newsletter by Origins Africa

Catch our 1-2-1 Newsletter where we share with you 1 Lesson, 2 Quotes, and 1 Question from each new guest interview. You can check it out and subscribe here: originsafrica.substack.com

 

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"But the day I gave my life to Christ, nobody invited me. I was on my way home; that kind of encounter you just have with God and I couldn't just go home. And I just had this strong urge, became troubled, "Go to that fellowship". I'm like, "me?" You know, then I was a big boy in school. "Go to fellowship? What will the girls say? News will go everywhere. I mean, everybody will be disappointed." But I went. In fact, I still remember the experience -- the moment I entered, you'd see everybody just turning back, everyone was just whispering, "Dele Osunmakinde, Dele Osunmakinde..." - Dele Osunmakinde, Founding Pastor, The Baptizing Church. 

On this episode, the first of a two-part conversation, you will hear Pastor Dele talk about being 44; the lessons learned and mistakes made. He will also talk about his early years, how he has been able to organize his time effectively juggling multiple responsibilities, the spectacular encounter he had with God in 1993 which has led him on the journey he has been on since then, as well as how he has through the years learned to hear from God.

Pastor Dele Osunmakinde is the Founding Pastor of The Baptizing Church. The church started in Abuja in 2005, and was formally commissioned in 2007 by Pastor Tunde Bakare, with a vision to raise a generation who will influence things to the ends of the earth. Today, the Baptizing Church has expanded beyond Abuja to several states and cities.

#DeleOsunmakinde #TheBaptizingChurch #OriginsAfrica #OriginsAfricaPodcast

 

***

1-2-1 Newsletter by Origins Africa

Catch our 1-2-1 Newsletter where we share with you 1 Lesson, 2 Quotes, and 1 Question from each guest interview. You can check it out and subscribe here: originsafrica.substack.com

 

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"The confusion for us was -- Every time we ran trainings, people would say to us, "This is the best thing we have ever experienced in our lives." We were that good; we just felt the world needs to hear us, but we were not getting jobs with the world." - Bankole Williams, Founder & Principal Consultant, LYD Consulting; Founder, Live Your Dreams Africa Foundation.  

On this episode, the concluding part of our chat with Bankole Williams, we explore Bankole, in pursuit of his dream, leaving Guaranty Trust Bank to start his consulting career at Visible Impact, moving on from there to start Edgeecution with Steve Harris, and then, moving on to birth LYD Consulting. We also talk about his lessons, challenges, habits and practices.

Today, Bankole Williams is a Management Consultant, Peak Performance Expert, Author, Speaker, Therapist, and Entrepreneur.

He is the Founder & Principal Consultant at LYD Consulting, and has delivered consulting interventions for banks and different organizations including The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), the World Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank (now GTCO), Access Bank, Diamond (now Access Diamond) Bank, Skye (now Polaris) Bank, Union Bank, Heritage Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, First Bank, Fidelity Bank, Oando, NLNG, Google, UTC, and the Nigerian Stock Exchange. 

Bankole Williams is also a Social Reformer with a goal to solve the problems of unemployment and underemployment through his foundation – Live Your Dreams Africa Foundation.

He is often regarded as the mind surgeon.

#BankoleWilliams #LYDConsulting #LiveYourDreamsAfrica #OriginsAfrica #OriginsAfricaPodcast

 

***

1-2-1 Newsletter by Origins Africa

Catch our 1-2-1 Newsletter where we share with you 1 Lesson, 2 Quotes, and 1 Question from each new episode published. You can check it out and subscribe here: originsafrica.substack.com

 

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"Desire is such a powerful thing. At the point when I started, I wasn't a great speaker. I wasn't; I just desired it. All that time I heard Fela and all that, I was a very quiet person. But something on the inside of me always got excited when I heard people speak and speak well. I believe that desire is a seed of greatness. It is an indicator of what the future holds, of possibilities." - Bankole Williams, Founder & Principal Consultant, LYD Consulting; Founder, Live Your Dreams Africa Foundation.  

Bankole Williams was not always a great speaker. In fact, he was a very quiet person.

On this episode, the first of a two-part conversation, you will hear Bankole talk about his early childhood fascinations and the light bulb moments that shaped who he's become today, including his encounter with Fela Durotoye and Steve Harris. He will talk about leaving the rap music group that later evolved into Rooftop MCs, starting his career in Guaranty Trust Bank, and his early embarrassing moments as a speaker.

Finally, Bankole will talk about the events that led him to laying himself off in the middle of the worst economic recession the banking sector has faced, in pursuit of his management consulting and speaking dreams.

Today, Bankole Williams is a Management Consultant, Peak Performance Expert, Author, Speaker, Therapist, and Entrepreneur.

He is the Founder & Principal Consultant at LYD Consulting, and has delivered consulting interventions for banks and different organizations including The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), the World Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank (now GTCO), Access Bank, Diamond (now Access Diamond) Bank, Skye (now Polaris) Bank, Union Bank, Heritage Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, First Bank, Fidelity Bank, Oando, NLNG, Google, UTC, and the Nigerian Stock Exchange. 

Bankole Williams is also a Social Reformer with a goal to solve the problems of unemployment and underemployment through his foundation – Live Your Dreams Africa Foundation.

#BankoleWilliams #LYDConsulting #LiveYourDreamsAfrica #OriginsAfrica #OriginsAfricaPodcast

 

***

1-2-1 Newsletter by Origins Africa

Catch our 1-2-1 Newsletter where we share with you 1 Lesson, 2 Quotes, and 1 Question from each new episode published. You can check it out and subscribe here: originsafrica.substack.com

 

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"5 hours to the event, no ticket sold. We were still on full panic... Next thing, we just saw the whole of Lagos. I'd never forget standing in front of the stage, just looking, saying "My God." I'm like, "Jennifer, we did it." So those are the things I live for." - Bukky George-Taylor, Founder & Managing Director, Robert Taylor Media.

 

On this episode, the concluding part of our chat with Bukky George-Taylor, we explore the birth and growth of The Bobby Taylor Company - a certified Public Relations company Bukky started in Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada, in 2007 at the age of 25.

 

Bukky will talk about how she was able to penetrate the Nigerian market, the subsequent rebrand of the company into Robert Taylor Media, as well as her mistakes, most alone moments, habits, and general life lessons.

 

For well over a decade, Bukky, with her agency, has represented local and global brands like Dubai Tourism, Pernord Ricard, BAP Productions, ONE, WARIF, Cece Yara, Lagos Social Media Week, GT Fashion Week, Eterna Plc., British Petroleum, and more.

 

Bukky is also the brain behind hospitality and tourism tech start-up "Crawl", and in 2020, became a Director of one of Nigeria's first digital publications "The Lagos Today Newspaper" which covers stories, sights and happenings around Lagos, Nigeria.

 

Bukky's expertise and dedication to her community has seen her land on publications such as Forbes Africa, Business Day CEO Magazine, Genevieve Magazine, TW Magazine, Schick Magazine, Shoppe Black USA amongst other prominent publications.

 

#BukkyGeorgeTaylor #BobbyTaylorCompany #RobertTaylorMedia #OriginsAfrica #OriginsAfricaPodcast

 

***

1-2-1 Newsletter by Origins Africa

Catch our 1-2-1 Newsletter where we share with you 1 Lesson, 2 Quotes, and 1 Question from each new episode published. You can check it out and subscribe here: originsafrica.substack.com

 

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"So, I've had receptionist jobs. I mean, I worked front desk...but before then, I was cleaning rooms at UMass. And I'm glad I have had every experience that I've had, because I think it just helped me and shaped me for today." - Bukky George-Taylor, Founder & Managing Director, Robert Taylor Media.  

Bukky George-Taylor is a Strategic Communications & Special Events Expert, Public Speaker and an Entrepreneurial Coach.

In 2007, at the age of 25, Bukky founded "The Bobby Taylor Company" in Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada; a certified Public Relations Company. In 2017, the company evolved to become a prominent household African Strategic Communications agency, now known as Robert Taylor Media.

For well over a decade, Bukky, with her agency, has represented local and global brands like Dubai Tourism, Pernord Ricard, BAP Productions, ONE, WARIF, Cece Yara, Lagos Social Media Week, GT Fashion Week, Eterna Plc., British Petroleum, and more.

Bukky is also the brain behind hospitality and tourism tech start-up "Crawl", and in 2020, became a Director of one of Nigeria's first digital publications "The Lagos Today Newspaper" which covers stories, sights and happenings around Lagos, Nigeria.

Bukky's expertise and dedication to her community has seen her land on publications such as Forbes Africa, Business Day CEO Magazine, Genevieve Magazine, TW Magazine, Schick Magazine, Shoppe Black USA amongst other prominent publications. 

On this episode, the first of a two-part conversation, you will hear Bukky talk about her early exposure to the world of PR as a kid, and how she hadn't realized that she could make a career out of it. Bukky will also talk about leaving Nigeria for the United States of America at the age of 15, her early careers, as well as the birth of MyCrawlApp, Africa's first social calendar app.

 

#BukkyGeorgeTaylor #BobbyTaylorCompany #RobertTaylorMedia #OriginsAfrica #OriginsAfricaPodcast

 

***

1-2-1 Newsletter by Origins Africa

Catch our 1-2-1 Newsletter where we share with you 1 Lesson, 2 Quotes, and 1 Question from each new episode published. You can check it out and subscribe here: originsafrica.substack.com

 

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"...Every time anybody gave me words of encouragement, I was, like, another step higher than how I came. They'd just say "Wow, this guy is good!"...I'd just feel like "Okay, I can do this." You know, all I needed was a boost..." - Olanrewaju Fasasi (Sound Sultan).

On Sunday, July 11th, 2021, we lost an industry titan and veteran, Olanrewaju Abdul-Ganiu Fasasi, whom we popularly called Sound Sultan.

August, last year, Origins Africa Podcast met with Sound Sultan to have him share his origin story with us.

On this bonus episode, celebrating the life of Sound Sultan, you will hear Sound Sultan talk about where his inspiration came from, his songwriting process, his early years, and releasing his 8th album in 2020 in spite of the pandemic.

#SoundSultan #OriginsAfrica #OriginsAfricaPodcast

***

1-2-1 Newsletter by Origins Africa

Catch our 1-2-1 Newsletter where we share with you 1 Lesson, 2 Quotes, and 1 Question from each new episode published. You can check it out and subscribe here: originsafrica.substack.com

 

Follow Origins Africa Podcast:

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"...I am selling a cup of smoothie for a thousand naira. Like, I couldn't imagine it. That was easily my sales tripling. So if I sold 10 cups in Ogba and I sold 10 cups in Ikoyi then, it was triple... I said I went to take cooperative loan. There was no doubt..." - Olagoke Balogun, Co-founder & CEO, SoFresh.

It is one thing to launch an idea. It is an entirely different thing to build a successful company across 14 locations, and still counting.

On this episode, the concluding part of our chat with Olagoke Balogun, Co-founder & CEO of SoFresh - Nigeria's pioneer and #1 healthy food chain, we explore how 'Goke was able to navigate the trying period when he felt like quitting, the crucial roles customer data, business location, systems and standards played in the profitability and expansion of SoFresh, as well as his mistakes, general life lessons, and habits.

 

***

1-2-1 Newsletter by Origins Africa

Catch our 1-2-1 Newsletter where we share with you 1 Lesson, 2 Quotes, and 1 Question from each new episode published. You can check it out and subscribe here: originsafrica.substack.com 

 

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"...in my head, I'm like, I just need to get 50 people to walk into the store every day. I thought that was easy. If I got 50 people to buy pineapple, watermelon, and some apples every day, then I should be able to make, like, N100,000 every day. This was 2010. If I made N100,000 every day, every month that was N3 million. And I felt, like, yeah, it's a good business, right? That was the premise. And then we started, November 6th. We opened the next day, and there was nothing..." - Olagoke Balogun, Co-founder & CEO, SoFresh.

 

SoFresh started in 2010 from a very simple idea of selling whole, fresh, healthy and dry foods to people in an organized, serene, hygienic environment. The business started as Fruitivegies, and as the name implied, they sold mostly fruits and vegetables.

10 years, several iterations, and 14 locations after, Fruitivegies has evolved to what we know today as SoFresh, Nigeria's pioneer and number one healthy food chain, providing fresh, delicious, nutrient-rich healthy meals and committed to promoting a healthy lifestyle. Today, SoFresh sells a wide range of fresh salads, juices, smoothies, parfait, fiesta wraps, sandwich and other quick-on-the-go healthy meals. 

On this episode, the first part of our chat with Olagoke Balogun, Co-founder and CEO of SoFresh, you will hear Goke talk about his early years and defining moments, how SoFresh started in 2010 as Fruitivegies, and how he came close to quitting the business. 

 

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1-2-1 Friday Newsletter by Origins Africa

Catch our 1-2-1 Friday newsletter where we share with you 1 Lesson, 2 Quotes, and 1 Question from each new episode published. You can check it out and subscribe here: 1-2-1 Friday Newsletter

 

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"...By December 2016, customers were paying one month ahead for our products. By March 2017, our revenue had dropped 90%, because we took a price increase in February and everybody stopped buying." - Gbola Lawson, Co-Director, Fastizers Food and Confectionery Limited.

On this episode, the concluding part of our chat with Debby & Gbola Lawson, Co-Directors at Fastizers Food & Confectionery Limited, we talk about the challenges they faced as the business rapidly grew and how they were able to effectively navigate those challenges on their journey to building a successful company. This is our first partnership series on Origins Africa.

Fastizers is a rapidly emerging food manufacturing company, which started from a kitchenette in 2010 with very basic equipment, and with N960 only. Ten years after, Fastizers runs a 2-acre automated production factory in Agbara, Ogun State, fitted with modern baking equipment. Their current distribution covers over 20 states with a production of over 600,000 Fastizers Fun Cookies daily.

 

Episode Preview

02:41 - Introduction

13:00 - Need to Hire a Managing Director

21:00 - Mismanagement at Fastizers

25:31 - Economic Recession & Impact on Fastizers, Price Point Problem in Nigeria, & Innovation/Failure Lessons

38:20 - What Debby & Gbola Look Forward To

41:10 - Doing Business in Nigeria

42:15 - General Questions/Life Lessons

 

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Season 1: Origins Africa Podcast Feedback

As we wrap up Season 1, we decided to make this survey to check how you feel about our current content as well as our future direction. The survey should only take a few minutes to fill out: bit.ly/originsafricapodcastfeedback. Thank you!

 

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