Dr. Dayo Olomu is one of the five most respected and renowned black speakers in the United Kingdom. Born in London, but raised in Nigeria, his life has been a mixture of sour and sweet times. 49 years of age and still very ready and willing and eager to go, the top human capital development, business transformation and inspiration expert let YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AZUH ARINZE, into his inner world on Wednesday, November 5, 2014. This was somewhere at Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos. Highly sought-after at home and abroad, the truly influential CEO of Dayo Olomu & Associates is indeed an engaging and enchanting personality. Very well versed in different fields, he shared his thoughts on speaking, business, family, success and more…But before you dissect his interview, please know this: His passion for adding values to lives, growing people and businesses get him out of bed far too early every morning. Also, his experience interacting with people for over two decades has led him to discovering that if we help people to see themselves as they can, not as they are; then the way they think, the way they feel and the way they act will eventually be altered, thereby resulting in achieving optimum performance. Come with us…
What makes a good success coach? What makes a good motivational speaker?
Let’s put it this way – I would rather you take me not as a motivational speaker or success coach, but career and business development strategist…
Noted. So, how do you juggle all these things?
You see, where the world is going, people need to develop career portfolio, people need to develop multiple streams of income, companies have to understand the concept of diversity, and now what makes anybody in any profession? One – you have to be good at what you do; either you are a coach, either you are a trainer, anything. You have to be on top of anything you do. If you are a publisher, if you are a career coach, if you are a motivational speaker, you have to be good at what you do. That is developing the skills; the skill set that you need. When you develop the skill set, you also need to develop the mindset of the next level of what you need or what you are trying to do. But most importantly, you have to continually be raising the bar of excellence, because without that, what got us to where we are today cannot get us to where we are going. That is the truth of the matter. Every business has got its methodology. What makes a good motivational speaker, for example? You have to be good at public speaking. That’s not negotiable. You have to be able to give a transformational message – message that will transform people from where they are to where they want to be. A coach is also the same thing. Because the difference is just that a coach is helping people; a coach is not talking, a motivational speaker is talking and you have to do the required training. So, how do you develop your public speaking skills? For example, I joined Toast Masters to develop my public speaking skills, because you can’t read public speaking from the book. A lot of people like reading public speaking from the book, but you have to practicalize it. It’s like learning bicycle. But as a career and business development strategist, I have to educate myself. I have the highest qualification. I have a Master’s in HR and I have a degree in Business Information System. If you want to create wealth or to make money to be able to sustain your lifestyle, you either go by two routes. But now in Nigeria, there’s the other third route – government, governance, politics. That’s supposed to be service, but let’s leave that one for another day. You either work for somebody or you run your own business. So, what I do is that if you fall into any of those categories, for example, career; if you are in a career, if you work for somebody, you have to see your career as a business – and that’s the first thing. Because if you see your career as a business, if anybody has a business, you will invest in your business for it to grow. You buy machinery, you invest in it. You know that the only way that business can grow is to invest in it. So, if you now see your career as a business and you invest in your career, you take responsibility for your personal development, your chances of moving up is very, very high. If you are earning XYZ and you are not happy with it and you want to go to the next level; for example, if you are an assistant manager and you want to become a manager, I will walk you through that process. One, you have to develop the right skills, you have to develop the mind set, you have to develop the skill sets, you have to develop the your social capital and that social capital is your network, your contacts, because the job will not come and meet you at home. And you can also look at people who have been there – maybe mentoring. Get somebody who has been where you want to be to mentor you and the chances of moving up are higher. In terms of business, do you want to start your own business? Is it business start up or business development or business acceleration or you want to increase your business? When you look at the secrets of success, it is always the same thing irrespective of any industry. So, in a nutshell, what makes anybody successful in any business or in any career is one – the basics. You must have the right mind set and mind set comes with the belief that I have what it takes to be successful. Then, you must have the right skill sets. You must build your social capital, then you must be continually raising the bar of excellence. It’s called the Kaizel approach. That is what the Japanese use – continual improvement and that’s what I do for my life. I invest 10 percent everyday – if I had the opportunity to do this presentation again, what will I do differently? That is the way they do it. It’s incremental increase. You increase it a little and a little and you will be surprised what will happen in one year.
What is the costliest mistake that anybody in your line of business can make?
It’s for the things you do to get into your head. And it is the same in any business, any career. If you are successful, and you feel yes, I am at the top, I am the best…that’s what happened to Kodak. The Chief Executive of Kodak; they were saying digital cameras and he said nothing can happen. The same thing happened to encyclopedia. Don’t forget, in those days, when you go to any office, they must have encyclopedia there. And when they were talking about internet, they said no, no, no; don’t worry about that. People will always buy encyclopedia. Before you knew it, they moved encyclopedia to the internet. Virtually everything that you read on encyclopedia, you can get it now from your phone. That was how encyclopedia went under. Kodak did not believe that their competitors are smart phones. Yet Kodak started digital cameras. But when they saw the competitor from the other area, they were telling them no, no, no; phone is different from camera. But before you knew it, it happened. In those days, we had a camera, we had a phone. When you take a picture, you go to your office to download. Then, in those days, the people that took pictures were men. They were the ones doing all those kind of stuff. But now the smart phones, it is the women that are taking pictures more. They did not see it coming. Before you knew it, Kodak went under. So, anything you do, if you can’t respond to change, if you don’t understand the concept of agility; you have to be agile, you have to be able to respond to change. So, if you feel you are the market leader, and change is coming and you can’t respond to the change easily, you will be out of business.
What do you like most about what you are doing?
The cornerstone of what I do is making a difference. And that’s what I love most. Because for me, life is moving from struggling. When we move from struggling, move to success. That is, you’ve achieved your goal. You are now a lawyer, you are now a doctor, you are now a publisher. But ultimately, you have to move from success to significance. Significance is about making a difference, leaving a legacy, so that when I die, if anything happens to me, people will talk more about the difference I have made. Yesterday, I spent the day with somebody. I asked somebody to shadow me. This guy lives in Ajegunle, he’s an up and coming speaker and he spent the day with me. We went all round for my speaking engagements. By 6 O’clock, his mind set had changed. He said you’ve turned my life around, and I know what will happen to him in 6 months’ time when I meet him. So, you can make a difference in somebody’s life; one person at a time.
What don’t you like about what you are doing?
There’s nothing I don’t like about what we do because it’s like a calling. When you go into any industry, you must understand the challenges that come with that terrain. It’s like going to the public sector or becoming a public figure and you say oh, what I don’t like about what I do is that you don’t have privacy. No! You want to become an actor, you want to become a TV star, you want to become a politician and you say you want your privacy. It is not possible. It’s your ability to be able to respond to those changes…
What is the greatest thing that what you are doing has done for you?
The greatest thing that I think it has done for me is that it has developed me. I am not the person I used to be. I have a different perspective about what I do and it is about understanding my philosophy, because it’s enabled me to develop my own philosophy of life; it’s enabled me to develop my own goals, it’s enabled me to build my own personal values, it’s enabled me to build my own professional values. For example, my values, things that I hold dearly, I call them the 5Fs. The first one is faith. That’s the cornerstone of my life. No. 2 – family. Private victory precedes public victory. If I’m not successful at home, my success outside is meaningless. No. 3 – fitness. I have to be fit to be able to make any difference, to be able to be a good father, to be able to be a good professional. No. 4 – friendship. I have to build relationships. Then, No. 5 – fulfillment. Fulfilling my destiny, fulfilling my purpose on earth. Those are the five most important things to me. They are my personal values, and my professional values are…I call it the FACE values – Fairness is everything I do; Agile – agility. I have to be able to do that because change is coming, I have to be able to respond to change in my career, in my business. Then, C – creativity. I have to be creative in what I do. Then, E. It’s about striving for excellence.
What you do, what has it not done for you?
What has it not done for me? Maybe if I had gone into some other line of business, I would have become a billionaire (General laughter). Because if I decided to be a trader or to do some other things, it would have been different. Primarily, I call myself a social entrepreneur. And social entrepreneurs measure their success not by the amount of money they have, but by the amount of difference they are making. I remember when I started about 10 years ago, I had to develop myself and I said if I can have one of my CDs in 180 countries, I will be fulfilled, if I can write a book that will become a best seller, I will be fulfilled. But life is so funny. When you achieve something, you set another goal. I wrote a book in 2005 that became a best seller. In 2008, my CD was sent to 180 countries. At ezinearticle.com, over 55,000 people have read my articles, on my website, over 1000,000 have read my articles. And these are goals that I set by the time I will be 50 next year. And I have already achieved them. Any country I step into; if I say I’m going to Germany or any country, I see people contacting me and saying oh, you made a difference in my life; I’ve read your book, I’ve read your articles, I want to meet you. Nigeria’s centenary in America, I announced that I was coming to America, a Nigerian came with a Limousine for about 3 days, taking me around, telling the organizers no, no, no….he’s my responsibility. I want to take him round. In fact, the guy over-spoilt me. On this trip (to Nigeria), somebody who was nowhere before now, lives somewhere at Abule Egba (a Lagos suburb). He said please, come to my house, it’s a small place; you don’t know, you came to Nigeria few years ago, you spoke faith into my life, I have now turned my life around and my wife wants to know the person that changed my life. Those things matter to me more than anything.
Why do some people attain success in what they do, but find it difficult to sustain it?
A lot of people are not prepared for success. Because we think that what we need most in life is to achieve that thing. To be successful is easier. But when you understand one principle, and that is the cornerstone; when you understand the principle that it is God that makes this thing possible…It’s not because I am the smartest, the way you look at life will be different. When you even get there, at the back of your mind, you will know that it is God. Especially position. Because, for example, if somebody becomes a House of Assembly member or a Senator or a House of Reps. member, they know that it is just 4 years and they know that they may get re-elected or not. Or even a governor. Just 8 years of their lives. What will happen after that 8 years? They will forget. So, if you know that one; that it is God that makes it possible, you put it in perspective. I live a lifestyle that is sustainable, that I can maintain. I won’t fly a first class if I can’t maintain it. I will rather fly Business Class or Premium Economy. It doesn’t make any difference because those things don’t define me. I know who I am. So, if you are successful, you keep it real. How come people like Soni Irabor are able to sustain that level of success? He’s a very good example, he’s a very good case study. How come Dele Momodu can sustain that level of success? The reason why I mentioned Soni Irabor is that if you hold a certain position, and it happened to me when I was 26 years old. Maybe that’s what changed my life. When I was 26 years old, I was the Promotions Manager of Polygram Records and when I became Promotions Manager, life was good. I had a driver, a 505 car, I was collecting entertainment allowance. That was the year I received over 100 Christmas cards and ten hampers. The following year, I left that position, 1992. I left that position in October; 3 months after I left that position, I received two Christmas cards! In fact, one of them was from Charles Okogene (now Editor, Saturday Independent) and no hampers. And that changed my life – that if they remove this position from me, who are mine? That has been my guiding principle. So, I am Dayo Olomu and you can’t remove that from me. I live a sustainable lifestyle.
You have an inspiring story. From helping your mother to hawk and all that to where you are today. Can you summarize that story for us and maybe also tell us what nudged you to where you are today?
Okay! The summary of that story – I was born in Islington in June 1965 when my parents went to England to study and when I was 2 years-old in 1967, my parents came back to Nigeria. And when they came back to Nigeria, things were good. We were living at 34, Abeokuta Street, Ebute Metta. Life was very, very good. When I was 8 years-old, my father died and life became a challenge. From Abeokuta Street; that was a nice area then, we moved to Orile-Agege. Imagine using a proper toilet and you now move to a place that they use what is called shalanga? Life became a different ball game. I remember my 10th birthday. I celebrated it at Iyana Ipaja. The bus stop to be precise. 10th June 1975, selling ice water! And it’s not just that, you had to go to Oju Oye market to buy milk, to buy provisions and I will put it on my head to go and sell at Iyana Ipaja. And when I was 17, I determined that I was going to make a success out of my life. The two most important days in life are the day you are born and the day you discover the reason you are born. I said what do I want to do with my life? I wanted to become known in the entertainment industry. So, I gate – crashed into the album launch of Terra Kota, Lamentations for Sodom, at Lord’s Club and that’s how I started in the entertainment industry. It is actually about asking; if you don’t ask, you don’t get. I remember a quote by Bernard Shaw. He said, “The people who move on in life look for the opportunity they want. If they can’t find it, they make them”. So, I had tomake mine. All my life, I’ve been creating my opportunity. I never had any godfather up there. That’s also how I started as Artiste Manager. From there I got a job at Ideas Communications, when I was 21 or 23 years old and from Ideas Communications, I moved to DP Lekki Limited. From DP Lekki, I moved to Polygram Records, before I started my artiste management company. And life was good. I won so many awards. Because of the challenges I experienced when I was growing up, I relocated to England, thinking that being a British citizen, it will be a roller coaster for me. But I discovered that a crook had stolen my identity; he had used it to open a bank account and he even got married and I wasn’t invited to the wedding and life became a challenge. I had an option – to raise the white flag of surrender and come back to Nigeria. But I never give up on my goals. I was determined, and I thank God that that little boy that celebrated his 10th birthday at a bus garage, whose identity was stolen when he came to England, is now a motivational speaker, a peak performance coach, a career and business development strategist, a community leader, a key person of influence in the Nigerian community in UK, a school governor, somebody who is on the Board of Church of England, a father and a husband. And my story is that if I can do it, anybody can do it. Human beings are incredible. We can turn penny into fortune, we can turn adversity into success and make anything happen if we believe that we have what it takes. But the cornerstone; what drives me is that fear of poverty. So, as a result, I went into multiple streams of income, different professions so that no matter what happens, I will never be in that position. I also equipped myself with good education, got a mentor and that was it.
What distinguishes you from the other people who do what you do?
I think I am one of the most educated persons in what I do. I am very, very qualified and I’m also an iconic brand who has come a long way. Most of the people doing business with me know my story, they know my history. So, when you say a motivational speaker, they say Dapo is credible. People send money to my account without meeting them. They will say you don’t need to say anything, we already know. Apart from having a very good education, my looks distinguish me too (General laughter). The way I dress, my punctuality, my integrity, because in my line of business, it is so easy for you to run into trouble, if people believe that you can’t keep to time. In fact, in the mainstream, at conferences, when they say Dayo Olomu and they say African time, you will hear no, no, no; forget about Dayo Olomu. If you ask him to be there by 12 O’clock, he is hanging around by 11am. By 11.30, Dayo will be there. When I am speaking anywhere, I have a 2-hour rule; I have to be at the venue 2-hours before, and that’s my value. Those things are very, very important to me. Then, apart from that, I just don’t do one thing. I’ve developed a career portfolio. Everything I do is very, very interwoven. If you say Dayo Olomu, the first thing that comes to mind is a motivational speaker. But I am more than a motivational speaker! In fact, I am a career development coach to a career development group in UK. It is voluntary anyway. But I help people who are unemployed to get jobs, people who are on benefits to get jobs. I teach them interview skills, I teach them confidence building skills and I am able to do that because I have a Master’s in HR. I am also a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. Nobody in my line of business has those qualifications. No one black person, either in UK or Nigeria.
You happen to be one of the most respected Nigerians in the UK, how does that make you feel?
That is the reason why I keep it real. I know if God doesn’t build a house, those who build labour in vain. I prepared for this journey long ago. It is about having a vision. It is knowing what you do, and doing it very well. Having integrity, having credibility, because credibility in your line of business is that you are good at what you do. That is what makes you credible. Building a reputation. Henry Ford said, “You build your reputation based on what you have done, not what you haven’t done”. Apart from my education, having a stable marriage, celebrating my wife, calling her Goddess. Those are all the things. But let us look at this – I’m also a community champion. And I’ve paid my dues. I have earned it. I didn’t say I am one of the…You used that word. I have been a black mentor since 1996. That’s a long time! 1998, I was involved in organizing Afro Hollywood Awards. The best awards then. In 2005 – 2010, I was invited by the Ambassador, His Excellency, Dr. Dalhatu Tafida, CFR, OFR, to serve in Nigeria @ 50 Organising Committee. I spent 10 months doing that. Then, during the Olympics, when Nigerians came for Olympics, I was also one of the people that organized their dinner. All these things I don’t earn any money from. Then, recently, I was a member of the team that organized Nigeria’s Centenary Awards. Anything I do for the community, I don’t earn money. I sacrifice time, I put in my money. So, it’s different from people who attain some positions and exploit it. So, when they are talking about Dayo Olomu, they know that when it comes to leadership, Dayo is about service. He’s about responsibility. Apart from being a mentor to the Nigerian community, I also organize events, I assist a lot of Nigerians to get jobs because of my HR. I do free interview skills, help people to sort out their CVs. So, when you look at all of that, it is easier, because they know the story. Then, by the time they compare it with what I have done in Nigeria, that person will be respected.
Most people still don’t believe that it is possible to earn a decent living from motivational speaking and so on. How easy is it for somebody to make money from your line of business?
If you want to make money from my line of business, you must not be a motivational speaker. You must become an expert who speaks, and it’s different. Before Reuben Abati became a Special Adviser to the President, he was doing a lot of gigs. Prof. Pat Utomi does a lot of gigs. They are not motivational speakers, they are experts who speak. I started as a motivational speaker, developing myself, encouraging people. But things have changed. Because virtually all those things, you can get it on the internet now. Just like in any business that you do – either you are a motivational speaker, a success coach – you should have a business model. Business model is how does this thing make money? So, when I started speaking, the business model I approached was what I called free to business model. When I publish a book, when I go and speak for free, they will buy my book and I make money from that book. I also went to a coaching school to study coaching, because you don’t necessarily need any education to become a motivational speaker. People call me more as an inspirational speaker than a motivational speaker. They always say we find you inspiring. So, I see myself more as an inspirational speaker than a motivational speaker. Now, after using that business model, I now moved from a motivational speaker to an expert who speaks. So, I went back to the university to do a post-graduate certificate in Further Education to become a trainer. I started doing training on business ideas. Then, from there, I went to university to do a degree in Business Information Systems in Human Resources and I became a chartered member. So, when I go to an organization, I help them to develop their staff. But I also use motivation to inspire them to take action.
What makes a great leader?
What makes a great leader is the ability to deliver his or her vision through inspiring people. Are leaders born or made? I don’t believe that leaders are born. I believe that leaders are made. History has shown that anybody can be a leader. Then, there is charismatic leadership. Gandi was not charismatic, but you can’t say he’s not a great leader. Anybody can be a leader, but only if you are determined and you develop yourself. So, what makes a great leader? A great leader must have a vision. Where are you going? Because the kind of leaders we need now are authentic, inspirational and transformational leaders who can turn the vision into action with the help of others. A leader must tell us where he’s taking us to. So, what is the vision of that leader? Then, how do we key into that vision. Before anybody can say they want to even aspire to be a leader; what do you want to offer? Leadership is about responsibility, leadership is about sacrifice, leadership is about vision, leadership is about integrity. Do you have that? So, when people are going into leadership positions, they need vision; they must be able to articulate that vision. When they are able to articulate that vision, then followers will follow them. Steve Jobs was able to convince the Chief Executive of Pepsi to leave that place and come and join Apple. How was he able to do that? He was able to sell the vision. So, a leader must have a vision.
You mentor a lot of people, who are your own mentors?
Pat Utomi is one of my mentors; Robin Ceiger is one of my mentors. In terms of business, I will say Richard Branson is my virtual mentor. I have met him. In terms of spiritual mentoring, I admire Desmond Tutu. But generally, I draw a lot of inspiration, one on one mentoring, from Prof. Pat Utomi.
What is the place of mentoring in business?
Let’s look at any business that wants to grow in an effective way. Mentoring is very, very important. And for individuals, the best way to short – cut your way to success is through mentoring. Talent management is a very big issue for most organizations. But if there’s a mentoring scheme, it is easy. And what is mentoring? Mentoring is getting somebody who has been where you want to be to assist you to get there. So, if an organization has a mentoring programme, it will be easier for them to discover leaders in their pipeline. If you introduce a mentoring scheme; one, you will be able to spot talents, you will be able to fast-track their progress, then there is something they call 70-20-10 role in training. It says that about 70 percent of how people learn take place in the work environment; it is by looking at people who are doing it and that is where mentoring comes in. You can send somebody to go and do a course in a business school, when he comes back, he may not be successful, he may not be able to do the job. But if you get somebody to mentor them, somebody who is where they want to be, it will be easier for them to short-cut their way to success. I think most modern organizations now should introduce a mentoring scheme to fast-track the success of the organization. But apart from that, they can make it a formal mentoring programme – because there are formal and informal mentoring programmes.
To successfully run a business, what is the most critical thing required?
One, is yourself; a leader, the person who drives the business. It’s very, very important. What is the vision of that business? Because if you can’t articulate that vision yourself; that is a big problem. No. 2 – getting the right team. To run a business, you must have the right skill; you must have the right mind set. But you can’t do it alone. You have to get the right set of people and that is where the problem comes in. A team that shares the same values and the same beliefs with that organization is important. The greatest challenge in leadership now in the world is trust. And that’s what happened in Tesco – when they said that they fiddled with figures; Enron that went under. The last time I was in America, I sat on an interview panel and they asked what book are you reading at the moment? First question. Second question – what are your personal and professional values? Because they are looking for people whose values align with the values of the company. So, getting the candidates. Then, having the right system in place. It is very, very important. Now; ability to be able to share the vision with the people. How many staff understand the vision of an organization in this day and age? We remember when they said the American President went to the NASA Building. When he got there, on his way out, he asked the janitor, what do you do in this organization? The janitor said I am doing what every other person is doing; I am working to take the man to the moon and bring him back. So, the staff understand the golden thread. The golden thread is the staff must understand where they fit into that business to be able to achieve the overall aim. Now, you are able to communicate it, you have the right system in place, you have the right process in place. That is sorted. Then, transforming that business. How is that business able to respond to change? So, a modern business must be agile; it must be able to respond to change in a timely manner. How can you leverage technology? It can be a one-man business, it can be an international business, but a business that is able to leverage technology will go far in this day and age.
In business and in life, what are the best ways to cope with challenges and difficulties?
One of the things that we don’t talk a lot, that we don’t teach a lot is resilience. I call it resilience leadership. When challenges come, what do you do? Either in your business or in your career? The first one is your faith. Faith is very, very important. No. 2 – seek help. It’s very, very important. Les Brown, one of my speaking mentors, said to me, “Seek help, not because you are weak, but because you want to be strong”. No matter what happens in life, we are going to face challenges. And one philosopher said, “It is not how much you fall that matters, but how much you rise”. So, everybody must have a resilience mechanism. If this business goes under today, what will I do? And that is where agility comes in. If my main sponsor pulls out, what am I going to do? Adidas was doing business with JD. So, Adidas’ mind set was manufacturing. They will manufacture and sell to JD to distribute. JD went under and that is 75 percent of their business gone. What did they do? They had to change the mind set of their staff to selling directly to people. The same thing with Dell. Dell changed their mechanism. The business model that Dell used was customer service. In those days, when they were selling computers, they sold computers to a company, an agent and won’t sell directly. The same thing with travel agencies. So, one, God, seek help, then coping mechanism. And that is where mentoring comes in. Because you go and meet your mentor and tell him the challenge, he assists you. Richard Branson asked his mentor when he wanted to start his business. In fact, the mentor he got was the first person who was trying to do what he was trying to achieve who failed and that was who helped him. I think if people can understand those two concepts, then when you are down, you know what to do. When you are down and you want to bounce back, it is better to start very, very small. If you are down, you are out, you can use visualization; you can use affirmation and then start small. But most importantly, faith and seek help.
What is the place of discipline in success?
Discipline is the cornerstone of success. It’s just like saying time keeping. You see, there are some basic principles that have never changed, that technology can never change. We’ve seen it – ability to be able to bounce back that we’ve mentioned. Steve Jobs, he was edged out of the company he started. But he was able to bounce back. When they talk about resilience leadership, I think everybody should study Steve Jobs, because it’s going to happen; we are going to face challenges in life, we are going to go under. How do we bounce back? So, discipline – what is discipline? Discipline is to do what you are supposed to do, at the time you are supposed to do it. It is very, very challenging, especially when you have to make that decision at the appropriate time. Discipline, hard work, determination, they are the cornerstones of any success story. I remember when we were growing up, they will tell us hard work, education and God. Our parents, they believed that those were the cornerstones of success and if you can master those three… Discipline is a very, very challenging thing in business now and success. And I’m going to give you a very good example. For good managers, one of the challenges they are facing is distraction. Our young kids, one of the greatest challenges they are facing is distraction. Senior management is his work flow management. You say you are going to a meeting at 8 O’clock or you will write this proposal this morning. But you don’t have the discipline to put your telephone away, to switch off your telephone, to do what you are supposed to do. By the time you go on Facebook, by the time you go on Twitter, by the time you go on Email, you can do that for 4, 5 hours. I know some young people who say they can’t take their hands away from their phones; they can’t discipline themselves. You can never achieve any success without discipline. That’s like basic.
When is the best time for one to move from being an employee to an employer?
There’s no best time. The transition from an employee to an employer is different because you have to develop the right mindset and you have to develop the right skill set. When you are an employee, they give you salary; you will be given a specific work to do. If you can do that work very well, you get your salary. End of story! But when you are an employer, you are responsible for paying everybody. And I’m going to give you a very good example. I used to publish a magazine, M & M. Before that, I was a founding member of Ovation magazine. If I write, I submit my story, I leave. When my story is on the cover, I’m happy; I’ve done my bit. When I now started my own magazine, it’s not just about paying staff, I had to source the story. Now, the most challenging bit is that my adverts, I will collect my advert money after publication. The vendors; Lagos vendors, I have to fly down and bring that magazine to collect the money of last month. I don’t know whether it is still like that (It is). But the printer, if I don’t pay, they don’t give me credit facility, if I don’t pay, I can’t get that magazine from the printer. So, the advertisers, they can tell you that you have to run three editions before they pay you. So, everybody, you are paying, but you are not getting anything. So, the mindset is different. Therefore, I had to master how to deal with those vendors, how to get adverts, how to write good stories, how to know the kind of stories that can sell and I’m just a journalist. But before an employee will need to move, it is advisable that you start small. You can start while you are there. But if you are running the same business, you can’t start while you are there because that will be conflict of interest. But when it is time to move, you will know that it is time. So, it means that you have the experience, you’ve developed it. If you have enough money to start, then you start. But you have to look at that business and do I have money to feed my family for 6 months or one year?
What other thing engages your time outside of work?
I go to movies with my wife (Shade). When I am at home, I spend quality time with my family. I’m not a TV person. But to be honest with you, my life and my work are very, very inter-woven. I love community work. What engages my time when I’m not working, you will be surprised: school governor, I am a community member of The Church of England, I am a career development coach, where I help people in the community to develop interview skills, I support the homeless people in Croydon. My last birthday, I went to feed the homeless and I am a business mentor for business start ups. So, the British government gives funds to young people to start businesses, but they tie in mentors to them. So, you can see that even those five things take a lot of my time and I’m also involved in the Nigerian community and there is always one thing or the other in the Nigerian community.
You said you spend quality time with your family earlier. Can we meet your family now, can we talk about them?
I am married to a lovely wife – Goddess. I call her Goddess, but her full name is Mrs. Sade Dayo-Olomu. We met when I was doing my A-levels at Anwaru Islam College and I relocated back to England, she too relocated back to England. We didn’t meet for years, then we came back, we got married. And one of the things I believe is that marriage is the cornerstone of the society. We’ve seen the statistics. Statistics have proven that kids who come from a happy marriage have a high chance of being successful in life. The gang crime that is happening in UK, almost 90 percent of those kids are from broken homes. So, I am one of those who believe that private victory precedes public victory. That if you are not successful at home, your success outside is meaningless. So, I put a lot into developing my marriage, into working on my marriage. And marriage is a continuous thing, you have to keep on working on it. And when you look at it, we also need to develop ourselves as men. We were never raised to be telling our wives I love you. They will call you woman wrapper! But the modern women have changed. For most of us, we were raised to be hunters. If I put money on the table, I’ve done my bit. I love you! So, when I wake up in the morning, when I’m going to work, I kiss my wife to say goodbye and I say I love you. And that nourishes our relationship and also spending quality time together.
What attracted you to your wife?
I think it’s her character. When I was to marry, I said I am going to marry a woman with two Cs – Christian and character. When I was growing up, when they said somebody is Omoluwabi; we call it Omoluwabi in Yoruba land. My wife is an Omoluwabi. It’s a very strong thing. It’s a very strong way of describing a woman. It shows a woman with a strong character and who is also a Christian. Even when you look at Christianity, the first people who were called Christians, they were called Christians because of their character.
You just told us about your wife, tell us about your kids.
I have six kids – Seyi Olomu, Femi, Tayo, Rolake, Ade and Ayomipe. They are between the ages of 27 and 10.
It’s obvious that God has been so nice to you, what more do you want from Him?
What more do I want from God? It’s to be an agent of positive change, to be able to inspire more people to high level of achievement and peak performance, to help more people to be able to fulfil their dreams. The other day, one top lady, Genny Okafor, in UK, she put something on Facebook and described me as an award winning public speaker, a mentor, a motivator and a philanthropist. And that was the first time somebody will describe me as that. I’ve never seen myself as a philanthropist, but I give!
What has been the greatest lesson that you have learnt about life?
The greatest lesson is that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. And also, no matter what you achieve in life, it is by the grace of God.
You’ve been invited to speak in different places. Where would you like to speak but has not gotten the invitation yet?
Ah! Two places. I will say United Nation. Yes! I won’t say 10 Downing Street, because 10 Downing Street is not where they do conferences. They can just invite you as a community leader or you participate in conversations and stuff like that and Buckingham Palace. So, I will say maybe United Nation. The reason why I said United Nation is because they invite leaders from different parts of the world and they invite very, very high profile speakers to talk to them.
Can you recollect the most memorable speech or presentation that you have made?
I know that one. It was September the 6th, 2009, in front of 2000 people, at Wesminister Hall in Central London. That was the place where Obama spoke when he came to England. Nelson Mandela has spoken there, Obama has spoken there. That’s one of the most landmark buildings in the United Kingdom and what makes it very, very special is that 2009, September 3rd, I was in Ghana for a speaking engagement and I was just writing. After Ghana, I came to speak in Lagos and I wrote it in my journal, because I like writing – I wrote it that in the next 5 years, I will like to share stage with my speaking mentor, Les Brown. When I now got back to England, they said Dayo, we will like you to speak at Wesminister alongside Les Brown. I was like oh, this is the Lord’s doing, it is marvelous in our eyes. I prepared very well. I was the only British speaker who was invited to speak alongside those from America. They said you are going to speak before he goes on stage. The week was very good. The week was my busiest in my speaking career – about six engagements. But the Monday of that speaking engagement, my mother died! I was actually preparing for it when they called me that my mother was dead. I had to arrange to take my mother to the mortuary. I was very, very weak, because when my father died, it was only me, my mother and Wale that were left. So, it was like the two people that are very, very important to me are gone. Remember that Wale died first? That was on Monday. On Wednesday, I had my biggest speaking engagement. Should I cancel, should I go ahead? And you know the unfortunate thing is that if I cancel, they will not miss me (General laughter). Because I wasn’t the main speaker – Les Brown was there. I would have missed the greatest opportunity of my life by not speaking at that place. But something now occurred to me. I asked myself, what would happen if I were to be the lead speaker and they paid me £10,000? Am I going to return the £10,000? So, I went on stage. But before I went on stage, I went to Wesminister Cathedral to pray. I was to talk about my story, I was to talk about belief, but I was down. I remember that I prayed and I meditated on Stephen’s speech. I think somewhere in Acts – the spirit of boldness. When I finished on stage, I was to speak for about 10, 15 minutes, I spoke about my mother, people should believe in themselves and I said my mother died 2 days ago and she’s still in the mortuary. Les Brown led the standing ovation and people were crying. I was in tears of joy myself. So, that was a memorable one for me.
Can you recollect your worst speaking engagement?
I won’t say my worst speaking engagement, but I will tell you my most challenging and was yesterday – and I will tell you why. I was to speak at Onigbongbon (in Lagos) Day Celebration. I thought they were youths and they needed a talk on the next level. Because it rained, I didn’t want to wear a suit, so I just put on a jumper and a trouser. When I entered the hall, lo and behold, 80 percent of them were market women. So, I couldn’t even speak English. I had to speak Yoruba and 30 percent English. That was very, very challenging. But it went down very, very well. I had to think on my feet. When I got there, I just looked at the kind of crowd there, and I said whaaooh! Unfortunately, when I finished, they said I had to pay a courtesy call to the Kabiyesi and I was putting on English attire. I now said what? I wear native attires even in England, what am I doing with English attire in Nigeria? Meanwhile, I had a buba and sokoto in my bag! Well, it was extra-ordinary and people enjoyed it.