On a rainy Friday in Lagos, Nigeria, our team visited the home of Toyin Odulate. Founder of Olori Cosmetics, and a keen collector of contemporary African art. She shared her journey into entrepreneurship, motherhood and art collecting with us.
Enjoy.
OBIDA: How has your experience growing up in Lagos influenced the woman you are today?
Toyin: I grew up with a very Lagosian sensibility. It's a boisterous way of life; where ambition is the norm and it's expected. Growing up was a non-elitist experience for me. For example, when we got picked up from school, we always stopped to buy roasted corn at the side of the road. My dad would always stop at the street side oven in Central Lagos to get freshly baked bread that we would fluff in our hands because it was still piping hot!
I grew up in a very supportive home. My father was a feminist and he was very pro-girl power and pushed his daughters to attain the very highest goals and ambitions. He taught us to dream very big. I also grew up with very accomplished aunties and an incredible mother who was fearless and showed that anything was possible.
OBIDA: What aspect of your environment has been instrumental in your journey to becoming you?
Toyin: Community is a big part of who I am today. I grew up with aunties, uncles and cousins from my parents who both came from very big families. There's always someone coming through the house. I'm a single mom and I'm a slightly older single mom at that, which is a slightly different category to be in and honestly the only way I have been able to cope is because of this community.
I came into motherhood desiring it very much, but the minute it happened, I had no clue what I was doing and it was a scary period for me. But everybody just swooped in to help to take over when I initially returned to Lagos after having my baby. Then I started to learn to figure it out, and it got easier as I went along. It's because of this village that I am able to do this now.
For instance, if I can't pick my daughter up from school for whatever reason, I have at least three options of people I can call to help pick her up from school or if I'm out of town and she needs to be taken care of, I have my mother to help with that. I have my brother, sister, cousins, and nieces. I couldn't have done what I'm doing now if I lived in another part of the world. It's been amazing how this community has stepped in to be part of this experience for me.
OBIDA: As a woman who wears multiple hats, how do you balance all your interests?
Toyin: The truth is, there's no balance for me. As a mother, running two companies in two different time zones, I am also trying to juggle my family and be present in their life. Managing a business in the USA and Nigeria affects my sleep pattern because of the time difference. Honestly, some days are better than others, but I have learned to take the moments in and enjoy it. When it’s quiet in the mornings and my daughter has gone to school and I’m working from home, I take at least 15 to 20 minutes to enjoy my coffee before settling in to start my day in full.
I am learning to enjoy my mornings, to meditate, and collect my thoughts before my day really starts. My coffee, my plants and my art are important elements of my surroundings. I enjoy having homegrown tropical flowers around me.
OBIDA: You are an avid lover of African Art. How did you get into collecting African art?
Toyin: I started consciously collecting art when I was 17. Mostly in the forms of prints and posters that I would get at street fairs or little curio shops. But I started seriously collecting art when I moved back to Nigeria after my first degree. I was 24 and the art scene was slowly coming into my consciousness. A childhood friend of mine invited me to an art fair run by the Freedom Foundation in Victoria Island. There was a piece I absolutely had to have, by Ade Odunfa, and my friend Titi Ogufere put me on a payment plan for it. She kept getting calls from bank executives who wanted to know who bought the piece. I got offered twice the amount for it, and I thought, okay, so I'm definitely going to keep it now and that was literally how I started my art collection. Soon after I attended another art exhibition sponsored by Guinness Nigeria featuring a solo collection by Kelechi Amadi-OBI when he used to paint. Again I purchased the most highly coveted piece in the collection and I’ll never forget Kelechi coming to my office at MTN to deliver it to me in person. I felt so special!
OBIDA: How important is Art to you and how does it influence your well-being?
Toyin: Art is a way of life for me. If I am having a rough day, I will find a nearby gallery I can go to de-stress. I consider it a necessary way of life. That provides a haven or an oasis to escape to from the chaos of Lagos. Art helps me recharge and reconnect. It is a feeling I give to myself. I guess the way someone else would gift themselves a Chanel bag, a piece of art is my Chanel bag. Once in a while, I'll make room for a Celine bag, but my Chanel bags are my art pieces.
OBIDA: Which artist do you love and have in your art collection and if you had to start collecting all over again what would you do differently?
Toyin: I really like Deborah Segun, but I don't yet own any of her pieces. She has been on my radar for a while. In my collection though, I like Cyril Oma and I like Ndidi Emefiele. She's my perfect example of the artist I loved, not because I foresaw some crazy career trajectory for her but because I liked her personal story. The other artist I wanted to mention as well for the record is Adewale Alimi. One can never have too many Alimis.
As someone who has been collecting for over 25 years, I would advise that you start by collecting what you love. Seek works that allow for an acquisition timeline. There is a joy in collecting the pieces that motivate you to work harder to acquire it. It gives you the feeling of earning the piece. If you are starting out, pace yourself and don’t hoard works just for the sake of it. It shouldn’t be about quantity. I think newbie collectors should establish a focus on their collection.
For instance, my collection celebrates the African female form in her multiple realities and roles. I've always been very conscious of the strength of the African woman. I usually collect what resonates with me the most, especially in that moment of discovery.
These days though, I am back to collecting what speaks to my heart. Art has become a bit transactional, because everyone is looking to buy into an artist who will demonstrate high short-term auction value. I try not to purchase because of peer pressure because it can defeat the purpose of collecting. I am back to collecting instinctively, collecting what speaks to me.
OBIDA: What would you say is your Lagos personality?
Toyin: I always say I am Lagosian first. Then I'm Nigerian and then I am African. That's the order for me. I think there's something very distinct about being a Lagosian, vibrance and grit is very much a part of who we are.
When we were growing up, the buses were an energetic shade of yellow. Right? Such vibrant energy! Weaving through life, Nigeria went through so many economic and social cycles. If things were tough for your parents there was no petrol to get to school, your mom would give you to an aunt to put you on one of these colorful buses so you could get to school.
So, it was not intimidating or separatist. Lagos is not about separations we are all co-existing within the chaos, which usually only makes sense to us.
OBIDA: Can you tell me what Lagos fashion means to you?
Toyin: Lagos fashion is you sitting in traffic and your eyes wander out the window and your fashion inspiration is literally crossing the street or walking by carrying a tray of bread on her head. Meanwhile, she made this flared Ankara skirt and the top has a frill and she’s wearing knock-off JW Anderson’s. And probably had it sewn next door to her house for next to nothing. That's real Lagos fashion. It's literally what we see happening on the streets. Your latest hairstyle is inspired by driving through Obalende. For me, Obalende and or Tejuosho are like the repository of what's happening in terms of fashion and style.
OBIDA: Your journey as an entrepreneur is incredibly inspiring, building a brand that prioritizes using ethically sourced ingredients Made in Africa. What is the motivation behind this?
Toyin: At Olori Cosmetics, what I've done now is to infuse a conscious self-care attribute into our products to feel like a conscious self-care event; treating yourself as a part of your beauty routine. Some of the key ingredients that we use are Ori (shea butter) and palm kernel seed oil, which comes from the palm fruit. We also use other ingredients that occur naturally and sustainably across different parts of the African continent. I think it hasn't been celebrated enough but rather it's been exploited by foreign entities that discovered it and thought, oh, they found gold, but they didn't celebrate it. They just took it and used it and claimed that narrative as theirs.
OBIDA: Looking back at your journey into entrepreneurship, what are the lessons that stick out that are peculiar to African founders ?
Toyin: Things are tougher for us because we lack certain infrastructure. Some of the structures that entrepreneurs from other countries take for granted we lack those structures here and that slows us down significantly. For example, electricity. For me, manufacturing is tough without constant electricity. You are your own supply chain. You are the one to deal directly with regulators. You're the one to deal with the driver bringing the shea butter from Niger state and if they are out of season, you have to deal with the market women from Kwara state to get it down to where you are.
In other climes, things move so much quicker and they can innovate faster because they don't have the issues that we have. It helps us appreciate our resilience having created an excellent product despite all those things.
OBIDA: What impact would you like Olori Cosmetics to have in the beauty industry?
Toyin: I am on a mission to take African beauty global. The same reverence given to other beauty rituals from other parts of the world such as Korea or Japan or parts of Europe. I want that same reverence and appreciation for African beauty and for our unique beauty rituals to be widely celebrated and respected.
OBIDA: Tell us about your personal style?
Toyin: My personal style is chic and comfortable. I do love introducing a quirky element to pieces that I love, whether it's through a fringe or this cube Jewel by Lisa earrings. My style has pieces that I can wear and enjoy on a regular basis, not stowed away waiting for a special occasion. Not too precious. Some people mix high street with h
igh end. My ideal is mixing high end with contemporary African design.
OBIDA: What about the OBIDA brand do you find attractive?
Toyin: I think Obida has always been distinctive. It is a distinctive print. It is a distinct style and it has a distinct identity. It's not a print you can go to the market to buy and copy. So if you see me coming, if you know, you know and I love that about the brand. I feel like that identity is something I can fuse into my home lifestyle via cushions and soft accessories. If I'm not careful, I could wear an OBIDA piece almost every day because you can mix it with denim, khaki, silk and other steady pieces. OBIDA is a bit androgynous and I like that as well.
I like the versatility of the OBIDA design. OBIDA needs more blouses.
OBIDA: What is contemporary African design to you?
Toyin: A great example of that is OBIDA! Because you can pop it on while walking the streets of New York and you're not standing out like what is he wearing or what is she wearing. But you are fusing with the energy that's there and I think that transcends beyond Lagos. That identity travels to any part of the world and can be seen with the best of the best.
OBIDA: Thank you, that was wonderful.
