EP. 28 Leading the Sisterhood: Bolanle Ogungbe-Gogo on Support Systems and Peer Influence

Bolanle Ogungbe-Gogo balances her demanding role as the Financial Controller of IBILE Oil & Gas with her election as the Global President of the F.G.G.C. Calabar Old Girls Association. In this episode, she unpacks what "sisterhood" truly means to her and why she felt pulled to take on this massive responsibility. We discuss how the bonds formed as teenagers in boarding school translate into the support systems we need as executive women, and how she adjusts her leadership style to influence peers and childhood friends when she has no direct structural authority.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:00

Hello everyone and welcome to the WeWin podcast, powered by Accelerate Her Africa in partnership with the Human Pattern Institute. It's such a pleasure having you here with us today. I'm your host, Lolita Ejiofor. Okay, some of you may know I attended Federal Government Girls' College Calabar, FGGC, a place where hierarchical order and class seniority were everything. But out of that very traditional structure, a leader has emerged who broke that mold entirely. She now serves as the global president of the FGGC Calabar Old Girls Association, where leadership is not attached to the forces of institutional authority, but where people follow her because they believe in her and the vision she carries. She has two decades in finance across retail, financial services, and oil and gas. She has mastered everything from treasury management to strategic planning. So she knows exactly how money moves and how to make it work. She is also a co-founder and vice president of a women's cooperative society and has been building a culture of savings, route investments, and wealth creation among women from day to day. There are people who build careers, and then there are people who build legacies. My guest is the latter. Please welcome Bolanle Ogungbe Gogo. Bolanle, welcome to the WeWin podcast. I'm so excited to have you here with us today.

Speaker 1:44

Thank you so much for having me. I'm really glad to be here as well.

Speaker 1 1:48

Awesome. Bolanle, congratulations on your election as the global president of the FGGC Calabar All Girls Association. Thank you. You have a demanding day job as the financial controller of Ibilé Oil and Gas. Why at this specific stage in your life did you feel the pull to take on this massive responsibility? What does sisterhood mean to you now that made you say yes?

Speaker 2:16

Okay, great question. You know, before now, pre 2022, I've always wondered why we didn't have a thriving association for our old girls. I mean, I see the quality of women that have come through FGGC Calabar. I see some of the things that they are doing in the corporate world, in business, in entertainment, you know, and in different sectors. And then I've always wondered why can't we come together? Why don't we have something going for us? A platform, you know, that brings us all together. That's one. And then, two, I see other associations. I mean, you know, we all have friends that went to different schools. Now that we're out of school, we see what everybody's doing, and I see what they are doing in their other associations. And I was always puzzled and a bit, you know, even annoyed that we don't have that platform because I know what such a platform can do for us. In my class sets, I see the things that we've been able to do coming together. But you see, there's so much more that we can do if we're able to pull ourselves together across generations, across class sets, across countries. Because we have girls all over the place, we have girls abroad and even in Nigeria, and I see what is going on. And I know the power of collaboration, you know. So I was always bothered. And I kept thinking, well, perhaps it's not up to me to do this, to get us together, you know, and then who will do it? And then in 2022, I got a call that a Keteka committee was being set up, and I was nominated to be on that group. And as usual, I gave everything to it, you know. I gave everything to it. And my style usually is to walk behind the scene, and that was going on. Unknown to me, people noticed, and when it was time to do this election, they didn't want me to step aside. And I got encouraged to say, Ubala, you have to continue what you had started. And it took a bit of convincing, but then again, I took time to go and think about it, and I felt like, okay, I think I've reached a stage in my life where I have clarity, I've built a career, and I've kind of put that on autopilot, you know, because it has taken on a life of its own. And um, I'm also at a point where I don't have young children, so the demands of the family is also a bit less. I've come to a point where, yeah, I need I think I have a message to preach, and it has gone beyond my little corner. The influence, you know, has also come beyond the things that I do within my immediate environment alone. And also because, you know, I mean, I understand my purpose better. I just felt like, okay, this pool to serve this call is not about ambition. It's from people who have seen what I have done in the three years that I've been caretaker committee secretary. And then because it also aligns with the vision that I have, I jokingly say to people that I'm called to women, you know, and um, I know what I've benefited from my little collaborations with my sisters. And I just felt like, okay, I mean, this is the time to give back on a bigger scale, and so why not? So that's why I have stepped up, you know, to do this. And then for what sisterhood means to me right now, sisterhood means responsibility. Um, it's not just friendship or nostalgia, like going back and thinking of what we enjoyed or the memories we have from Calabar. It is now, you know, choosing to show up for one another, carrying each other's burdens, opening doors for each other, building structures that will outlive us, you know, bringing the younger ones. There are many people that have come behind us out of LGGC Calabar who don't even know that they've got sisters in places where they want access to. And so I just felt like, okay, I mean, I think it's the time, and that's why I accepted to take on this role.

Speaker 1 6:09

The journey that you just described really showed that you were made for for this purpose. And the fact that you knew there was something you wanted to do, that you you recognized there are people who could add value to the association, they're doing so well in their lives, and you still had that stirring. And that phone call was your call to become a steward of this sisterhood which you are now leading, and that's why it's easier for us as members of the association to follow in your steps. What I also love about what you said was that you are now in that point in your life where you have less distractions and you're ready to give this your all, even though at some point you were hiding your light under a bushel trying to stay behind the scenes. And here you are today. So well done. Thank you. You attended FGGC Color Bar from 1986 to 1992. Those boarding years in Nigeria are a unique crucible. They strip away pretense. How do those bonds we formed as teenagers translate into the support systems we need now as executive women?

Speaker 7:16

Okay, you know, at the time we went to FGGC Kalabar, we were young girls of say 10, 11, 12 year olds, most of us getting into school. And we lived together. It was not a case of going home and then coming to school. And even if anybody was going to pretend, there's so much pretense that you can carry on or for so long. There's no way you know anyone will be able to keep up a show or pretend for as long as we were in school for. We lived together, we ate together, we slept together. Our vulnerabilities all came out, even if you didn't want it to come out. There were different events that happened back then in school that will bring out, you know, the true persons that we were. And so, you know, we were stripped down really to our truest selves. We saw each other without titles, without privileges. I mean, I've had colleagues who said that, oh, at the point when we went to federal schools, federal schools were levelers. You know, we had children of the really rich come into those schools, and children from middle class coming to our schools, and even children from some low-income homes were also in federal caliber and all the unity schools across the nation. And so it was like a level playing ground, and everyone was without privilege, without title. It was raw humanity, you understand. And then we all went through the same thing, we shared experiences, and you know, those experiences were kind of like sorting people out, like it was just creating clusters of different people. And so it was easy for you to find people who were of like minds, people who thought like you, people who had shared values like you. And then somehow we began to bond in our different groups, and those bonds have outlived every other bond that personally I have created in even in the other environments where I have found myself. I went to university with people and I'm barely in touch with up to two people out of you know, the people I went to university with. You know, my strongest and truest connections came from Calabar. And over time, those connections have been connections that I've fallen back to in times when I needed doors to open, in times when I needed support. Would you believe if I say to you that at some point in my life when I had to take my ICANN classes, all the ICANN schools that had value that were very good were far from my home. And I fell back on my FGC Kalabac connection. I lived in a friend's house in Nkeru's house. And I lived with her mom. Interestingly. And this was from like 1997 to 2000 when I qualified. And so these are the connections that I've had to fall back on over the years because they were the purest form of connections that's been built at the time. So now, as executive women, you know, those bonds have translated into safe spaces, spaces where you don't have to explain yourself. You just come with your vulnerability and you're not viewed as being a weak person. Because these women have seen you at different points in your life. They have seen you display strengths, they have seen you at your weak moments, they have supported you. And you in turn have done the same for them, you know. So that support is instinctive. It just comes when you need it. You can always count on it. So we may be different things now: CEOs, finance leaders, entrepreneurs. But you see, at our core, we are still those very little girls, you know, who have learned to come through things and to survive and to collaborate together. And honestly, today we're still there for each other.

Speaker 1 10:53

I totally agree with you. And you mentioned that those bonds we formed when we were in secondary school are the purest forms of relationships, and that's what have carried us to today. And you're 100% correct. Um, one of my best friends is actually my son's godmother from secondary school, and your example of staying with a friend's mother during your ICANN years is a typical example of that support system.

Speaker 11:20

Exactly. Yeah.

Speaker 1 11:21

There is often a stereotype that women's groups can be fraught with rivalry. But your work seems to prove the opposite. From your view, what is the biggest misconception men or society have about the way women collaborate and support each other in these networks?

Speaker 11:40

So I think that the biggest misconception is that women compete more than they collaborate, or that women beaker and fight in their clusters or in groups where they find themselves, or that women are not sincerely supporting each other. In fact, sometimes, you know, when I read some of these comments online, I'm slightly offended when I see those comments because people say things like, oh, women supporting women, and they put them in quotes to say that I mean that's sarcasm, or, you know, that's not the true situation. But I've had experiences that are completely contrary to those misconceptions. I think what they misunderstand is um the passion that we bring to things that we do. Because in reality, for me, women are very intentional, especially when our purposes are aligned. I think women are powerful collaborators. I don't believe, I have not seen that. In my corporate, for example, we have women from across the world in different careers, on different platforms, and from different countries. We have people who are living in like six to seven countries, and we've recorded successes over the last five years since we started. You know, so we have high standards, we have passion, and I think we challenge each other. I've never been in a space where I've seen women pull down other women. That's that has not been my experience, or the experiences of those I've been close to. I'm not saying that doesn't happen, but you see, it also happened amongst the men. I see them also that they also compete, you know, and sometimes they compete, they don't even compete in good faith. So I don't believe that women don't support each other or tear each other down or don't collaborate properly. That has that has not been my experience.

Speaker 1 13:27

Yeah, I think the notion of women competing against each other is real. Um, but I believe that the underlying issues seem to be misaligned values, and it seems to me like you're in the spaces where you all manage to align in terms of your objectives and your values and your vision, and you're able to move forward. So it says a lot about you being intentional in the sort of spaces that you occupy. So we'll leave it there. You didn't just stop at Alumni Networks, you also co-founded the Pro-Cooperative Multipurpose Society to help women cultivate a culture of saving and create wealth. Mixing friendship with money is often considered dangerous. As a chartered accountant, how do you structure that trust so that the money grows without the friendship suffering?

Speaker 14:22

So, the first thing I'd say is being transparent with all that you do. I'm sure I mean coming through secondary school and how we have related with each other. So now the other co-founder happens to be a federal caliber alumnus as well, Chi Chi, and it was while we were talking about how to support each other and the privileges that some of us who have had good jobs and worked in good places have, and how we have seen our sisters not have the kind of opportunities that we have had. So that's how this whole thing started. So you see, I would say that if you are able to also put structures, proper structures in place, our cooperative for one is being supervised by the state because we're registered with Lagos State, and then there are guidelines that have been given to us on how to operate. We have bylaws that were issued to us, okay? So we have set it up putting the rules in place. Now, even though it's supposed to be like an informal organization, as it were, because most of us are friends, it's friends who came together and then we brought in our other friends from different places. In fact, there's nobody who has joined the cooperative now who didn't know somebody that is in the cooperative already. So technically, we're all friends. But you see, by putting structures in place, by organizing ourselves and having everything go through a laid-down process. It would be funny if I tell you that we have a platform on Trello where we put our transactions when we want to do anything, and then everybody, all the management committee members will go in there, put in their comments and approve. And we must have a minimum of four approvals. When there are five of us and when there are six MC members, we must have five approvals. We took our time to read the bylaws. In fact, when we started, every evening we will spend two hours reviewing the bylaws, and it took us weeks to finish reviewing the bylaws. And as we read the bylaws, we were defining the structures we wanted to put in place to guide us. Now, so those structures are there, it's known to everybody. I think it would be unfair for my friend who is a member of the cooperative to ask for me to step out of those structures we have built or put up in order to do them a favor. So being able to put those structures in place, that's like the guiding principle for the cooperative. And so that helped us. So it removed ambiguity, it just showed clarity and rules. And so once that is in place, we have the strong governance structure, there's transparency reporting. So people saw the transparency, and then people began to pull out their investments in other places and bring it into the cooperative. We've had people pull out of, you know, this thrift that people do informally, friends just come together, they put money together. People began to pull out of, you know, such structures and bring their monies into the corporate because we will do reporting every six months. We will share quarterly, we were sharing statements, and every six months we'll share our performance reports. People saw the transparency, they saw the structure that was there, and we've not had a problem till date. So I would say that if we define the structure, puts a proper governance system in place, I think friendship will thrive when your expectations are explicit. You said how you want to run, and you go ahead and you run like that. I don't see how there will be a problem. We haven't had any actually. So in the cooperative system, the structure we have built, it comes before sentiments, and everybody understands what the workflow is and we follow it. And so the trust just keeps on growing organically.

unknown 18:07

Yeah.

Speaker 18:08

So for me, I would say money doesn't ruin friendships, it's a poor structure. Or when you don't define a structure, that's what will ruin it.

Speaker 1 18:15

Absolutely. I think even having the wisdom to put the structures in place, to read the bylaws, to think about governance, especially when it comes to people's money, that is where trust gets established because everyone knows the rules. And you mentioned transparency. Everyone knows how the system works. So there are no hidden agendas that can create spaces for uh distrust or um ambiguity.

Speaker 18:46

And you know, if you step out thinking you're doing somebody a favor and you step out of line to do that, then the person will think, okay, if it's not me, will you be stepping out to do this for other people? And then that puts their own monies at risk as well. So that's why we stick by the rules that we have put in place.

Speaker 1 19:01

Yes, of course, yes. You've been responsible for the keeping of the books and managing the funds for the society since its inception. Do you see financial literacy and financial independence as a critical part of modern sisterhood? Is teaching your friends how to invest a form of love? Absolutely. Honestly, yeah.

Speaker 19:26

So I started keeping the books as a way to save costs. I didn't think we should have employed anybody at the time. And so I felt like, okay, I mean, this is a vision and I'm passionate about it, and I have the skill required to do the job. So I started to keep the books, you know, to save costs. And then we didn't even buy a software, we just continued to use Excel and Google Sheets to do that. And so after a while, I saw people struggle to keep up with their monthly savings, and so we started to teach people. First of all, we did webinars on how to plan your finances. Personally, I have Excel, I have a personal Excel that I used to plan my finances month on month. And even when my income was not regular, because at some point I left the regular nine to five to do other things, and I was able to run my life on unearned income, on passive income. Standard of living didn't drop. I mean, my home didn't suffer. And I kept on and I saw that look, there are many people who walk, work, and work, and they're not able to meet up. Like I had friends, for example, who left the corporate world and went into businesses. And I found them that they couldn't even pay the rent for their business spaces at the end of each year. They would have to probably look for money from other places. I know, too, whose spouses had to keep paying the rent for the business spaces. And I felt like, look, there is a lot that I needed to teach some of them on how to plan and manage their finances. And so we took the opportunity of the cooperative to do that. And I also saw the need again. There was a Wimby's session I attended, and um, the speaker at that session was talking about an opportunity that came for women business owners. And they all knew a woman who was very hardworking and had done very well in her business. But because she didn't keep her books correctly, she didn't, you know, separate her personal finance from her business finance, she wasn't able to show the organization that was looking to give grants and to sponsor the women. She wasn't able to show them what she was doing with her business. She lost out. So we had to use the opportunity of the cooperative to teach our sisters how to plan their finances so that, first of all, they don't have to continue to work and slave, so that what they put aside can also work for them. They can grow. Their income, they can protect their wealth. So I think you know, being able to teach a person how to fish or how I was able to augment my earned income is the purest form of love. And we started holding monthly webinars at the beginning. We would share tools, some software, some apps, and some just Excel spreadsheets to help our women, you know, to plan. And that's how many of us began to grow our wealth. In fact, we sent statements out to members one time, and one of my friends called me that when she saw her statement, she was in tears. That she had no clue that she could do that, that she could actually put money aside and leave it to grow because we put conditions around not just you know withdrawing the funds anytime you like. So it forces people to put it aside and then grow it. So I don't think there's greater love. Well, maybe apart from the love of Jesus. I don't see greater love than teaching people, you know, giving people options. I've seen people stay in situations they don't belong in because they didn't have options. And teaching financial independence, you know, gives options. I've seen women stay in abusive situations, not just domestic violence, really. Some workplaces are toxic and abusive, but because women didn't have options, they couldn't come out of those situations. So teaching financial independence, empowering people financially, no, there's no greater love, honestly.

Speaker 1 23:27

I agree with you. Um, I love that you're building an empowering structure which helps women gain freedom, financial knowledge, and freedom to make decisions, and even gaining the skill of passive income while you work or while you're not working is another way to balance out your lifestyle. In your corporate life, you deal with revenue recognition and multi-currency reporting. In a cooperative, you are dealing with people's personal savings and dreams. How does the pressure of stewardship differ when you are managing the money of a sister versus managing the money of a cooperation?

Speaker 24:11

Okay, so I'll tell you where it differs and you know where it aligns. Um, it's the same if I look at it from what I'm responsible for. I'm responsible to maintain my integrity as a person and as an accountant. So that doesn't change whether it's in my job as financial controller for Ibele or in my role as the bookkeeper or the head of the investment committee for my cooperative. So it aligns there. But then where the differences are is like you have said in your question, you know, for the cooperative, it's emotional because I've seen people's lives change just because they are able to save up and achieve a dream. I'll tell you, the first loan that we gave out in the cooperative was to a member who was building a house for um rental income. And so she had built this house and um she had come to the stage of putting the tiles in and she ran out of funds. So she came to us to say, Look, this is what I'm doing, and I need money for this. And we encouraged her and we gave out that loan. So we gave out the loan, she bought the tiles and she put the tiles in and she finished the house. When she did the video, she took a video of the building and she sent to us. It was very emotional for us because this was the first thing she was doing for herself outside her job as a lawyer because she's a legal practitioner, and all she's ever done is, you know, the usual nine to five work. You know, so yes, there's emotion when it comes to doing the work for the cooperative. You know, in corporate finance, you're managing an organization's funds. There are rules, there are standards that you have to comply with. And so that's that's yes, I mean, and then there's a whole structure there around how those funds are managed. But for the cooperative, it's different. You see people, you see what they are trying to do, you know, you're handling your sister's savings, you are holding her hope. You know, it's probably her children's future, it's probably her safety net. It's something that she's putting aside for herself. Because the message we're passing across is look, putting money in this savings in the cooperative is you paying yourself first. Because you get your salary, and then what you want to do is you want to rush and pay other people. But being able to put something aside is you paying yourself. And so even if the numbers are small, the impacts are very high. Because after we gave that loan to that member who had to do the tiling, she came back with the video, and you know, she was she was speaking as she was doing that video. It was very emotional for us. And then when she put out the houses for rent, we saw the improvement in her savings in the corporate because it was easy to translate into more savings for her, because hey, this is additional income coming to her. So that's where it's different. You know that you have to be more passionate with these people's savings, their dreams, and their hopes for their future. And then you have to be careful how you manage, especially because it's at my discretion, or it's at the discretion of the investment committee which I lead. So if you make a mistake in putting the funds somewhere and they don't come back, you're dashing people's hopes. So that's where the difference is. I mean, forget the rules or the regulations or the standards that are guiding the corporate world. Here, it's more personal, it's it's it's actually deeper.

Speaker 1 27:38

It is so much deeper. I mean, I've had a guest who talked about it not being about KPIs, but being about people and name to the impact that you are making. And so this example you gave must really give you a sense of, you know, almost like a motherlike pride when you see how this lady who could have been stuck, but the cooperative stepped in, and now she's also managing how she saves and how her relationship with money. Okay, so leading an old girls' association is very different from being a financial controller. At Ibilet, you have structural authority. People have to listen to you. In a voluntary association, you are leading your peers, your seniors, and your childhood friends. How have you had to adjust your leadership style to influence people over whom you have no direct power?

Speaker 28:33

So, for the association, what I've come to realize is people have seen the intention. At the beginning, when we started as a caretaker committee, the passion that um we brought in to be able to, I mean, we felt like look, it is now or now. I don't want to say now or never. It's high time. Our school is 50 years old and we don't have a thriving ogre. You know, so we were deeply passionate about it. And so even people who had misgivings about our intentions, by the time they started to see results, you know how they said you can't argue with results. By the time they started to see results, and they thought that look, these people have nothing to gain, because honestly, we had to spend our own resources to reorganize the association. Yes, some people had registered the association, but they were not filing returns with CAC, and that cost money to do. So when we came on board, we had to pay the backlog of 13 years filing returns with CAC. So they saw that our intentions were pure, and then they saw results. And you don't need everybody before you start. So, contrary to the workplace where I mean the title comes with the power. When you're giving people their tasks or their objectives at the beginning of the year, they know that their bonuses are tied to it. When you don't perform, you may lose your job. If you don't lose your job, you get queries that are put in your file. It will affect the reference that you're going to get when you're going to another job. You know, so they are compelled. So, and I then I feel empowered to be able to lead the team because there is authority backing the title and the responsibilities that have been given. But in this space now, it is not the same thing, you know. And then the seniors, in fact, the biggest support that I had when I eventually agreed to run for president came from the seniors. And these are seniors who I didn't even meet in school. I'm talking about seniors from 78, set, 79, 80, 81, 82. Honestly, people I didn't meet when I was in Federal Calabas. So they didn't know me at the time. But in my work in the caretaker committee, they came to know me, you know, and they thought that I mean, honestly, I'm a servant leader at heart, even if I have to say so myself. So I was able to serve them. The things that they couldn't do, I would volunteer to do it. You know how while in a group and there's work to be done, I looked beyond my role. I was secretary for the Caretaker Committee, but I did way beyond the secretarial work. Other people who also were nominated, a lot of people didn't show up. There were people named who never showed up in the group. And then the work had to be done. I was so focused on delivering on the work that I just took on other things. I also started working as the financial secretary since I'm an accountant by training. I'm secretary. Yes, we had a thin circle, never showed up. I took on the job. Anyone needs help, I would do it. So they saw the passion. And so when they saw the way I was serving, it wasn't for me to say, Oh, senior, maybe senior Miriam, give me this quickly. They would say, Oh, how do you want me to do it? They would type it up, they will send it to me. It was easy for them to follow the results that they had seen. Oh, this girl is passionate, oh, she wants to work, she's helping us, she's putting things together. So it was very easy. And that's why when it came to now we're about to elect an exco, the support was the love was quite overwhelming. So for the association, yes, there's no formal authority, but it's by leading in love that I was able to win people's hearts and then they, oh my president, what do you want me to do? People are asking me, you know, various ways that they can support and how they can help. And that came because they also saw the passion with which I had served the association. So I've learned to lead with empathy, with transparency, and there's no one I can't get along with, honestly. I've never been in a team where I couldn't get along with anybody. I mean, we don't have to be friends, but I always made sure that I had an environment, you know, I had an environment around me where we would do the work, we will collaborate, do the work, and then everybody would go their way. So that's how I've been able to serve the association and then win people over to also follow.

Speaker 1 32:51

I think what you're winning is hearts and minds through your servant leadership. It's clear that you're dedicated and you're bringing your skills to the fore to help the association meet so many requirements. So I guess the question is: why wouldn't you receive support? Why wouldn't your seniors and peers stand behind you? Because you offer love in your leadership style and guidance for the goals of the association. Okay, you have a master's degree in entrepreneurship. How are you applying that entrepreneurial mindset to the association? Do you see the alumni network as a startup that needs to be disrupted or revitalized?

Speaker 33:36

I mean, there's nothing to disrupt right now because we're really just building. So this stage that we're in, this is basically infancy stage. So what we're doing now is trying to put structures in place. You know, what um what I got out of bachmaster's degree in entrepreneurship is to look for how to deliver value. You know, one of the things that my entrepreneurship lecturer would always say is people will pay for value. And so your job as an entrepreneur is to find ways to deliver value to people. So that's the same mindset that I have practically put in everything, you know, that I'm doing now. You look at the areas of needs of the people around you or of your association, and if you focus on delivering value to people, they will pay for it. And that's why, even for the association now, we're building. So it's basically a startup, but it doesn't need disruption right now. We're trying to set the stage, we're trying to build a legacy institution that even will carry the young ones along. What we've seen of the association right now is people really thriving in their class groups, people that they are familiar with. So we're trying to build bridges across the classes, we're trying to draw people out of their comfort zone to say, look, don't stay in your class set, come out. There's a lot more to be gained by joining the bigger house, by joining us, by collaborating with us. So that's what we're doing now. So we're setting the stage, we are building, we are laying the foundation. So when that is done, then we can begin to build you know structures on the foundation. But we need to really solidify the foundation that we're building now. So for the association, I mean, what we're trying to do is it's not just a social network, which is why this Lagos Chapter Cooperative, you know, started now. Because there's no point gathering together to um remember your days in school, to laugh and play and dance. And then as you're leaving the venue where this reunion has happened, you're going back to the issues that you have, you know. So we are trying to build it beyond the social network. We want to deliver value, not just socially, but also economically and even for career mentorship. You know, there are older girls or older women, sorry, amongst us who have done great things in their career, and then we have younger ones in the same career path. In fact, one of the first things that I wanted us to do when we started the Lagos chapter was to create career clusters and have the older women mentor the younger women. I mean, this is even scriptural. The older women are required to mentor the younger women. You know, if somebody tells you their story and they're not ashamed to share their pitfalls or to share the tricks or the things they were able to do to help them to pivot, it will be easy for you to see when you see a practical example for you. As a young girl, you don't have to walk that path or make those same mistakes. You know what to avoid. So that's what we're trying to do with the association now, to collaborate even economically and um to empower people. You know, one of the things too that we're doing now is we're trying to create a fund. Okay, we don't want to have to go to people all the time to say, oh, we want to do a project in school, we're raising money and all that. We don't want to always have to come back to ask for money. So we're trying to build an endowment fund. Right now, uh, we're talking to two fund management firms to see the kinds of plans that they have so that the projects will fund themselves. If we have the endowment fund that you know is yielding interest and it is growing, from there we can fund projects, we can impact on people, we can even probably fund startups for our girls. So that is the entrepreneurial mindset that um I'm bringing to the association right now.

Speaker 1 37:48

Yes. The entrepreneurial mindset is definitely very clear to me because what I'm seeing is you're not just building associations for the sake of having social networking events, but you're also talking about empowerment. The scripture that came to my mind was as iron sharpens iron, so one sharpens another. And that's in line with what you said about mentorships. You have the seniors mentoring some of the juniors. So it's an enriching association, and I think you're very clear on that vision, which will attract a lot of people. And you mentioned value, providing that value. So if I am joining this association, I know there's something I'm going to achieve from it, and that value is very clear empowerment. Okay, we often talk about work-life balance, but for you, it seems to be work-life service integration. You have a job, your family, the cooperative, and now the presidency. What is your personal strategy for preventing burnout while holding space for so many other women?

Speaker 38:58

So, what I've learned to do is to ask for help. I'm not ashamed to ask for help when I need help. And I've also learned how to pay for help as well. In fact, right now, two weeks ago, I just employed a young accounting graduate. She's just finished her BSC in accounting. She has written two stages of the accounting technician schemes exams. She's waiting to go for youth service. So I employed her just to support me. Because beyond the cooperative and even the alumni association, there are other small groups where responsibilities are being put on me. You know how they say the reward for hard work is more work. This, my estate where I live, for example, I've held the purse since 2019. Even when I wanted to drop it, they wouldn't let me. You know, so what this young girl is doing for me is she's handling the bookkeeping for all these other groups that I belong to. So I've learned to pay for help. For example, I used to drive myself to work before, but it got to a point where I realized, look, Bola, your time is too valuable for me to spend it driving. Yeah, I just realized, look, I'm too valuable to spend my time driving and getting angry at you know how Lagos drivers are driving and getting worked up before I even start my day. So I got a driver. I've had somebody drive me now for I think more than 12 years. I've had a driver for more than 12 years now. And even when I had to leave the country, I kept paying them their salary just so that they are there for me when I return. And so that you know they are also available to support my mom. You know, so I've learned to delegate. I had a lot of trust issues before. I didn't think the people would do it as good as I would do it, but I learned to teach them. For example, this young girl that has started working with me for like two weeks now. I first taught her, I explained the vision and why I brought her on board. So I first had to teach her, I have taught her, and she was open enough to ask questions, and so she's working for me now. So, right now, for 2025 accounting year for the cooperative, we're going to submit our accounts earlier than we submitted it for 2024. Because now, and you know, I decided to pay her from my personal funds, but I talked about it in the corporation. No, no, no, we're going to pay her. I mentioned this to my association here. They're like, oh no, we'll contribute to her salary because they see that I had to do that, I had to go out of my way to do that to be able to support these groups, and now they are willing to pay. So I've learned to delegate, I've learned to pay for help, and I carry people along. Where I'm struggling, I'm not ashamed to speak out because I know that I excel in a lot of areas. So if I'm struggling in one area, it doesn't undermine my person or my abilities. So that's how I avoid burnout right now. So I delegate, I pay for help, I ask for support.

Speaker 1 41:53

Ask for support. A lot of women are perfectionists and they want to do everything themselves and then they suffer for it. But in your case, you understand how to communicate to people that you need help and you get that help and you're able to sustain the work that you do. So well done, Bolan le. Okay, so if we should go back to the young girl who entered the gate of FGGC Calabar in 1986, knowing the heights she would reach in finance and the leader she would become, what is the one thing you would tell her about the value of the girls standing next to her?

Speaker 42:33

So if I could go back to uh 1986 when I went into Federal Calabar, um, I would tell myself, you know, that the girls that are standing next to me are not competition, that they are future allies, they are like your Aaron and your whore. I would say to that girl, be open-minded, don't come to Federal Calabar, for example, with um misconceptions, you know, with biases that we have grown up with. You know how we can be very tribalistic in Nigeria, and how, I mean, all tribes do it. They'll say, Oh, this person is from this place, you know, don't associate, don't trust them, don't work with them. But you see, I had my biases before I got into Federal Calabar, but thankfully I was stripped of those biases. And that's what I would say to that young girl at the time to say, Look, the girl standing next to you is your sister. Don't look at her with a preconceived bias, you know, don't think she's competition. Be open. Yes, I mean, guard your values, you know. So, yes, so save through the entire pack and find the ones that have similar values and then cherish those relationships. Build them, grow with them. Because one day you realize that that is the greatest strength that you have. Because a tree does not make a forest. There's no way you will not need your sister. And so don't hold back, don't shut yourself out. Shutting yourself out is rubbing yourself, you know. Have an open mind, build a strong sisterhood that you will benefit from in future. And that's what I've enjoyed. There has been collective power from all these women who have walked the journey of life with me. So, and that's what I told my children too when they were going to secondary school. I said, look, this would be the time in your life where you will build your most valued connections. And that's what it has been for me as well.

Speaker 1 44:35

Yes, and what you've demonstrated is growing from the traditional values of difference, being a threat, and coming to understand that those differences are our strengths and that diversity brings more value and unity and rooms for collaboration. Bolanle, I would like to say thank you so much for sharing your story. I am in awe of your leadership, and I'm so glad to be associated and a member of the FGGC Kalabar Old Girls Association. Thank you so much.

Speaker 45:15

Thank you so much for having me. I'm glad that I didn't waste your time. Thank you.

Speaker 1 45:27

Guys, um, first of all, I'd like to say that I deeply feel affiliated with this lady from the depths of my soul because everything she talked about in terms of her leadership style, her dedication, her hard work, putting differences aside, and ability to convene people to have one mission totally resonated with me. I'm hoping that it did the same for you. Our differences are there for reasons because they become our strengths. And when we share the same values, it doesn't matter what tribe we come from, how old we are, what levels of seniorities we are in our jobs. As far as we have one goal, we can all work together and build a better world. I would like to say thanks again for your time and for listening in. I'm looking forward to our next hangout at the next episode of the WeWin podcast. Goodbye.