How I built the award-winning OloriSupergal brand – Tosin Ajibade

It’s not what we do occasionally that shapes our lives; it’s what we do consistently. Tosin Ajibade, popularly known as OloriSupergal has been a consistent player on the Nigerian digital media space since 2008. This has earned her including The Future Africa Awards and EbonyLife 2017 Prize for New Media. In this interview with TopNaija’s Isaac Oladipupo, the blogger convener of the annual New Media Conference shares on what makes her tick.

Congrats on recently winning The Future Awards and EbonyLife Prize for New Media. What does this mean to you?

Thank you! It means a lot to me. It was a dream come true.

Please tell us about your background, childhood dreams and growing up.

I am the first child from a family of six, I attended Lagos State Model College, Igbokuta, Lagos State University, Pan Atlantic University.

What was your first job?

I was a marketer with no experience at Laffmattazz incorporation.

You founded OloriSuperGal in 2008. Tell us how it all started?

It started in 2008 in a small room and it all started on Facebook and now we are here. The website started in 2010.

What inspired the choice of name OloriSuperGal?

It was an inspiration and I merged two names together – Olori and Supergal. Olori means Queen in Yoruba language and Supergal came from the name Superman.

What parts of your job keep you awake at night?

The website and social media.

In terms of exponential growth, what marked the turning point for OloriSuperGal?

When we expanded to other brands and we started running our annual conference – New Media conference. We also have a travel platform and we organize tours in Nigeria and South Africa.

We’ve seen lots of online brands go into extinction while others simply lose relevance. What are the main factors that helps OloriSuperGal maintain its relevance to date?

I will say the God factor.

What is the staff current strength and net worth of OloriSuperGal?

The staff strength is eight.

Aside OloriSuperGal, what other ventures are you working on at the moment?

We have a travel and tour company – OSG travels – and a travel website – Travel Africa story.

In your opinion, what are the top reasons why you have been successful at blogging?

Staying relevant and be spontaneous so you can move with the trends and be able to expand the business when you need to.

What’s the best way to prepare for a career in blogging?

Preparation comes from your mindset. What do you want to achieve? What are your short and long term goals? These will determine how far you want to go because they will be renewed everyday.

What do you consider your greatest accomplishment so far?

In 2016, I covered one of the two biggest awards in the world. One is the BET awards in L.A and the MTV MAMAs in South Africa. The two events were the first to be covered by Olorisupergal for the first time and it was big for us. So we were not giving updates via posts we saw online, we were live there to experience everything and we gave our updates live from the events. They say dream come true. My next goal is to cover the Grammys and I know this is possible.

Tell us about the future OloriSuperGal. Describe where you see the brand in twenty years?

It will be a global brand because we are on our way there.

Ultimately, it is in giving our lives away that we find meaning. Have you any plan to mentor or empower upcoming generations?

When it comes to mentorship, most times I get scared. The reason is because some people want to learn once and then they leave. I have mentors and role models, I don’t run from my mentors. When I am in distress, that is when I ask questions on how to overcome the problem because we faces different problems everyday and my mindset is to make sure I conquer them. Those who come to me for mentorship, I don’t see them after a week and some of them think they are smart by leaving after one session. So when this is mentioned, I am always skeptical. I love to teach people on how to but I don’t like people who are not loyal. They say once bitten twice shy. I have been bitten so many ways but my doors are open for close mentorship so I can pass what I know to others.

What advice would you offer a forward-looking young Nigerian looking to startup a successful blog?

Be consistent, find a niche and learn to grow daily.

How and what do you majorly invest in, and what are your future plans.

They say the future is now so we have been re-inventing and expanding the business. We are beyond a website now as we have our annual conference which started in 2015. We run travel platforms and we have more things coming up. We are taking it one at a time because of sustainability which is key.

Most Nigerian businesses fail in the absence of their owners. What systems are you putting in place to guard against this?

I am doing what I can to gather all that I need to make sure the business continues even when I am not around. This is one of the most difficult things to do because one of the requirements in Trust. You need to trust the person coming to oversee the business. Commitment is also one of the requirements too.

Give us a brief rundown of your daily routine…

Wake up 5 am, read a verse in the bible or a daily devotional to set the day and work starts right from the bed till I am out to the office.

How do you develop yourself?

By reading which is key to me, doing research on the job, asking for questions relating to the job, learning more from different people in the industry.

We know you work really hard, but then what do you do to relax?

I relax when I an tired because most times I work till late in the night. At times, I go to the cinema just to catch up with what’s happening in the movie world. I spend time with my family too.

Your top three favourite books of all time?

Gifted hands by Ben Carson // What a little bird told me by Biz Stone //

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

What is the greatest lesson life has taught you?

Never to waste the resources you have and invest in your future

What would you love to be remembered for?

For the impact I have created and passed on to other people.