There are a few women I really admire in Nigeria’s entertainment industry. Ajibola Ayana Olubiyi is one such woman. Her drive, dedication and hard work, tenacity, relentlessness and business acumen is simply beautiful to observe. In February 2010, I had the privilege of interviewing Ayana for LadybrilleNigeria.com in her role as Manager at Swe Bar. I again was very impressed by her. Recently, Ayana announced her departure from Swe Bar, after six very successful years, to run her own business, a full service events company.
I have no doubt she will, once again, be very successful.
Ayana recently granted an interview to Olushola Aromokun of We Run Things (a favorite website of mine back in the days that is now back up and running!). It is revealing of what the future holds for her with her new events company and her role in the entertainment industry. She also, once again, displays that admirable drive, focus and determination to match to her own beat as she looks to change the face of Nigeria’s entertainment industry, from an events production and management perspective.
Ayana is AML’s Nigerian Woman in Entertainment Who Rocks!™
Read an excerpt of her interview below:
My first time at Swe Bar (an upscale bar and lounge located in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria) was in 2008. I was a banker running a blog (WeRunThings) that was growing in demand. The Unrulies wanted to host a party for Bobby Taylor and they wanted WeRunThings.com to cover and also feature the event. That was also the first time I met Chris Ihidero, Lamide Akintobi, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, Buki De La Zaria, Bobby Taylor, Obi Asika, Ikechukwu, Naeto C, Steve Babaeko, Remi Fagbohun, Muiyiwa Osindero, Ayo Animashaun and Ajibola Ayana.
It was a beautiful place and you wished you could bag the ambience, to be enjoyed with a bottle of Hennessy later at your own convenience. It was easy to notice ‘Jibola was the mother of the house, the queen of the palace from the way she carried herself and the confident, but self assured way she barked orders for perfection. Yet, she was warm, a bit shy and welcoming. I had not experienced anything like the service Swe offered and I had my doubts about future sustenance. Subsequent meetings and events changed my perception and I began to respect the perfectionist captain of the Swe ship.
6 years down the line, Ajibola Ayana is bolder and has grown a new found confidence; with a resolved, focused entrepreneurial confidence, she is leaving Swe Bar to start/run her own consultancy services firm. She is taking, not just her experience as the stewardess, but also her relationships with/in the music/entertainment industry which she gave a laudable platform during her time at Swe. We had a quick chat with her on her last day at work, right before she walked out of the door – to possibilities.
We Run Things has the full story.
-Uduak
@uduaklaw
AML’s Nigerian Woman in Entertainment Who Rocks ™ is a feature on AML to inspire, push, demand excellence, support and hopefully build a network of strong Nigerian women in entertainment (primarily in the music industry) shutting things down.
If you are or know of a Nigerian woman in the entertainment industry who rocks, I want to hear from you.
Send your bio and 1-2 pictures (high resolution) of yourself to (africamusiclaw@gmail.com). I’ll follow up if I need more from you!
Thank you!
