I am inspired by people who genuinely make great impacts – Temitope Balogun

Temitope Balogun is the founder of Temmy Balogun Motivates, an online media firm that renders content development, public relations and digital marketing services to individuals and businesses.

Temmy has not only carved a niche for herself but she is gradually becoming an household name in the entrepreneurial world. In her words : “Believe, work hard, read, learn, and do not let the world or anyone define what you can and cannot do. Here is my inspiring interview with the young woman who is so confident that she will interview Oprah Winfrey one day.

YES, it partly did. My childhood played a role in the creation of my motivational platform. I grew up listening to inspirational songs, which I still do and I find that they always seem to lift me up when I need that extra boost.

Growing up, I felt I should, in my own way, help lift people, motivate them in the same manner that music and my family did and still do.

I, at a point, wanted to do this through music too. I was very passionate about building my music career and started writing my own songs and got a studio in Bariga through a Facebook friend where I went to learn about songmaking after lectures. I was 17 years old at the time, I auditioned for MTN Project Fame but was scared off by Uncle Ben’s height and tough look.

As time passed, I got caught up with school work and my passion for a musical career waned though it’s still part of me. The passion to inspire still burnt bright, so I started writing and in 2015, I created the motivational platform that is now Temmy Balogun Motivates.

On the other hand, my childhood didn’t prepare me for the media career and entrepreneurship journey I embarked on. I didn’t grow up surrounded by entrepreneurs or media personnel. I owe my parents for my self-confidence though especially with my early enrollment into school which I believe helped me grow into this decisive and focused woman.

Meet Me!

My name is Temitope Balogun. I hail from and was born in Epe, Lagos Nigeria on the 17th of August 1993. I am a focused individual who believes there’s no unattainable dream as long as the dreamer is ready to make it a reality. I am a strong lover of Christ, and I try my best to live by the word of God daily. I appreciate creative, hardworking, humble, and impactful people.

In 2016, I founded Temmy Balogun, a media firm that renders content development, branding and digital marketing services to individuals and businesses.

We also have a motivational platform called Temmy Balogun Motivates, where we share content geared towards driving youths and entrepreneurs in Africa to be innovative, not lose hope and become better versions of themselves.

Inspiration behind “Temmy Balogun motivates”

Temmy Balogun is a brand focused on adding value and impacting lives and brands positively. It was established to provide media-related and bespoke solutions to Individuals, entrepreneurs and organisations within and outside Africa.

Temmy Balogun was established as a solution to the lack of a one-stop channel for quality content development and publicity services for Africans within the continent and in diaspora, especially Nigerian independent consultants and entrepreneurs. I made this discovery during my stint as a freelance content development provider.

The creation of Temmy Balogun Motivates was driven, among other things, by a desire to correct misconceptions most Africans have about the entrepreneurship journey. It’s also to fill the motivational gap as both problems play significant roles in the fall in numbers of promising entrepreneurs as a large number of those that decided to venture into businesses give up and return to job searching.

After speaking with a few Nigerian entrepreneurs who experienced this and strategically observing online African youth communities, I discovered two major reasons for this. Firstly, many don’t get have clear picture of the journey before venturing into it.

So when they face many unplanned challenges, they get demoralised and give up. For instance to be self-employed in Nigeria, in addition to all known skills, one needs a thick skin to overcome the many unique unexpected challenges that will surface while running the business.

But many young entrepreneurs don’t know this, as business books don’t extensively discuss these challenges.

Secondly, most African entrepreneurs surf the internet daily but they hardly find indigenous motivational content uniquely created to keep them going while in this tough time.

I believe the misconception and lack of motivational support for African entrepreneurs needs to be eradicated, so we don’t continue losing promising entrepreneurs. Africa seriously needs more employers of labour in order to grow at a geometric pace.

I decided to solve these problems by providing insights into the entrepreneurial journey in Africa, including Nigeria on my motivational platform, Temmy Balogun Motivates.

The motivational contents will hopefully enlighten and inspire youth both aspiring and existing entrepreneurs to persevere till the journey becomes fruitful.

Our Interviews are targeted at Africans living within and outside the continent.

Being of the 43 semifinalists in Sterling Bank’s Meet The Executive Series in 2016

It was a memorable one for me. I felt so happy that an idea I coined based on the problem I was facing as a full-time worker could pass through the intense screening conducted by the Bank of Industry (BoI) and still get selected.

When I got the selection mail, I was dumfounded. The experience actually boosted my confidence enough to get me started my entrepreneurial journey.

The two-day training we received at Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) helped shed more light on the practical side of the entrepreneurship journey, and preparedme for the journey ahead.

Challenges

There were quite a number of challenges when I started my brand fully in 2016. Though they have reduced now, I will touch on few. The first issue I had was the paucity of funds.

There wasn’t adequate funds to set up as a startup, and I had to rely heavily on my knowledge of operating a lean model.

At the time, we had no physical address and had to wait till this year before getting an office space and studio in Ikeja, Lagos state.

Output was adversely affected during this period but we beat the odds.

Then, as a media firm in the online space, we need to get our content out there more, but Nigerian banks wouldn’t allow us use our Naira card for promotions, except we open as dollar account which has vigorous process.

So after going through the stress of production, we can not promote the content as much as we desire as we run on a lean budget.

But I count these challenges as part of a phase we have to pass through as a growing firm.

New project coming up

I have few ideas which are going to be in the tech space. One of them, which I hold dear to my heart, will be my next baby when I am done putting Temmy Balogun on its two feet.

I also have bigger plans for Temmy Balogun Motivates, as I want to impact more lives and brand positively. So I and my team are working on innovative motivational concepts.

Greatest Reward

Positive feedbacks from clients I work for, people whose stories I tell and the audience who read our content are my greatest rewards so far. Youths and entrepreneurs following my platform frequently talk about how we inspire them to continue working on their dreams. All these are priceless to me because my brand is out to impact lives and brands positively.

My brand in the next five years

I am on a mission to build a globally-recognised brand that in five years would be known for the provision of bespoke content development, branding and digital marketing services as well as production and sharing of impactful content in Africa.

Giving up

Yes, there were times I felt like giving up but the thought of not posting in a day, not conducting interviews to inspire more people, and not rendering services that I have the skillsets for does not sit well with me.

Who and what inspires me

I am inspired by people who genuinely make great impacts in their field against all odds. I am inspired by the works of Chimamanda Adichie, Mo Abudu, Tunde Kelani, Kunle Afolayan, and Oprah Winfrey. Their works speak creativity, originality and add value.

I am also driven to do better on my platform because I understand that values placed on hard work and creativity in this part of world has deteriorated, but I still want to see youths who are interested in giving their best in Africa, so my platform has to grow to the extent that when they are celebrated on it, the world will become aware of them.

Being a woman of rubies

Have been faced with situations that should have driven me back to paid jobs which I get offers for frequently, but with my focused, determined and relentless spirit, I chose to stick to my entrepreneurship journey as it is where I believe I can make the most impact.

Final words of advice for women all over the world

If you truly believe in your ability that you can get something massive done, you will. Remain focused, be your number one cheerleader and let no one define what you can and cannot achieve.