'Jide Adeyemi: Father, entrepreneur, and global citizen

From just the 40 minutes spent in his auspicious company, you quickly come to realize that ‘Jide Adeyemi is someone who knows what he wants in life and business and is not going to let any of it slip through his fingers. He has a steely look in his eyes and is adamant that what he sets out to achieve, he will excel at. It’s just in his nature of never settling for second best. Do it right or don’t do it all should, we think, be one of his mantras.

Based in Nigeria, ‘Jide is the CEO and Chief Brand Strategist for a marketing consulting firm called Big and Bold Communications and is a proud MBA graduate from Nexford University.

He tells us that he is a proud graduate and is extremely grateful that he came across the online university in the first place. Why so grateful? Well ‘Jide tells us that he couldn’t start a master’s program elsewhere despite how much he tried because he wasn’t able to sit in any class for a year or two as he was really struggling to create time due to his very busy schedule. One that at the end of this article you will come to realize quite how hectic it is.

That said, ‘Jide did not leap right in feet first with his Nexford education. He did his due diligence and asked a couple of friends what they thought. Even though it seemed too good to be true with the affordable and flexible way of learning, he soon realized that it was all above board and that was enough. He applied, was accepted, and great things started happening quickly.

With Nexford your classroom is wherever you are

As we said before ‘Jide is a busy man, a very busy man, which is why he loved the flexible way of learning at Nexford. He smiles as he reflects on when he started his MBA, saying, “When I signed on for the MBA program I was in Lagos, and the next month I was in Mauritius speaking at a JCI conference. My job and Junior Chamber International takes me to the four corners of the globe, and I loved that I could learn whilst I earned, and my workload never got in the way of my studies. I could study on a plane, train, in an Uber, and in between meetings. It was like it was tailor-made for me.”

It sounds like the title of a movie, planes, trains, and automobiles, but ‘Jide recounts studying on a long-haul flight from Dubai to Osaka and then continued learning when he was over there attending meetings. It’s all a bit higgledy-piggledy and at some points he is seven hours ahead of his family, and seven hours behind his business. Quite exhausting really, but he seems to have a lot of power in his batteries to always press on and get the job done. And his studies are no different.

Learning, networking, and developing the Nexford skills to succeed

As a consultant by trade, ‘Jide is always on the lookout to procure the latest business skills required to stay ahead of the chasing pack and continue to succeed.

He tells us, “As a consultant, the skills that I acquired during my Nexford MBA made me a better business leader and consultant, because I’ve been able to plug the learnings from the class directly into my business. It's helped me to make more informed decisions. I'm also able to grow and become a better strategic leader because during my Nexford MBA I was taught about leadership strategy, analytics, and change management.”

‘Jide went on to tell us that there was a particular class that stood out which he loved because it talked all about business expansion, doing business in Asia, and doing business in Africa. It was a God send because at that time he was he was looking to take his business to other parts of the world and those Nexford skills that he procured proved to be invaluable.

Through the case studies and that class, ‘Jide was able to learn from others mistakes and avoided repeating them in his business. Saving him a load of time and money.

The family life

As we discovered in the conversation ‘Jide is a real family man, so it did not surprise that he had an amazing family life growing up in the Itire/Ijesha area of Lagos and owes a lot of his success and drive to his hard-working mom who put a premium on education. There are many good things in life, but he is quick to admit that there were also a lot of challenges. Poverty being the biggest. That said, he refused to let that part of his background dictate his lot in life, which is probably why he is so driven as his mom always wanted to believe that her children had a great future ahead.

Once he was old enough to fly the coup, ‘Jide started his journey to greatness starting with his primary education and then on to his secondary education at Ogun State Polytechnic (now Moshood Abiola Polytechnic) where he went on to study mass communication because he always wanted to be an advertising practitioner. Getting a decent education, he was able to discover what was required to shape his career and began his training to help him get there.

When he is not working like a mad man, ‘Jide likes to feed his passion for travel. He tells us that this is his biggest hobby and that he has seen about 55 countries to date and is still counting. Of course, whilst that is a great hobby, it can also prove costly, so he does have others closer to home which include golf and football. By his own admission his football skills are better than his golf swing, and when he is not kicking a ball around, or spending time with his amazing friends, he likes to tune in to the TV to watch Super Eagles of Nigeria, Manchester United, and his local team 3SC FC of Ibadan play.

That is the exertive side of his hobbies, but when he wants to slow everything down, ‘Jide tells us that he reads a lot as he always wants to be in the know and know something about everything. Of his love for reading, he says, “One of my biggest assets I would say is my bookshelf. I have books from different industries and most things that you could think of. So, I will say that my hobbies include travelling, reading, golf, sport, but above all of that, I really enjoy spending time with my family. It's one of my biggest passions.”

‘Jide’s wife, Adefolajuwon is an early learning educator and just loves to see children grow in life, which is admirable. Of his offspring he has a boy and a girl. The son, Jibade is 17 and a footballer and harbours the dream of playing for a top international club one day. But, as a backstop, he is also getting set to be an aeronautical engineer. That aside, his first passion is, and always will remain, football. So, both ‘Jide and his wife are doing whatever they can do to support the dream.

As is always the case, his daughter, Jadesola is a whole different kettle of fish. She is a ballerina and loves to dance, but as of yet is not showing too much interest in turning that into a career. But that may change in later years.

Talking to ‘Jide about his family you can just see his chest swelling with pride. He says that they give him every reason to continue to push himself to achieve more because they believe in him, and he doesn’t want to let them down. His faith in God as a Christian also helps to get him through the challenges and excel.

Learning never stops!

As we said at the beginning of this article, ‘Jide is never one to sit still and stagnate. He is always open to learning and is currently taking some analytics courses to ramp up his understanding of artificial intelligence. A highly important area of business right now.

Of his continued education, ‘Jide told us that he is about to settle down to start a PhD focussing on consumer insights and buying behavior. Of the degree he says, “I want to do research into why people buy, what they buy, and what influences them to make that purchase decision.”

‘Jide firmly believes that the PhD will help broaden his horizons and help brands and organizations grow. Part of that is opening his scope in terms of where in the world he will find himself a year or so from now.

“I’m a global citizen,” he says. “So, looking to stay in Nigeria is not an option. I want to live in the world. I'm looking for a world that has no borders, and I'm starting this campaign very soon where we would have an Africa without borders, where people will be able to move from one place to the other, and countries can share knowledge and benefit from human resources from other places, without any form of restriction. If I'm looking to be in a global boardroom, I can’t have a specific location.”

And he wants to be a part of organizations that are forward thinking and where there is an opportunity for him to help them connect their brands with consumers. Interestingly, ‘Jide also has lofty ambitions of becoming a legislator in Nigeria to develop laws that will foster accelerated growth and getting involved in global politics by being a diplomat who oversees how countries relate and collaborate.

No man is an island

They say that behind every great man is a great woman, or in Jide’s case, a supportive family that he draws great inspiration from. They drive him to be the best he can be and part of that he says is doing everything in his power to make sure that they don’t have to go through the same struggles and challenges that he had to endure. Rather he wants them to get to where he is in life and beyond.

Jide’s mom also inspired him, as when he was growing up, he truly believed that whatever she took on, she would achieve, and do so to make sure that he and his siblings were as comfortable as could be. Part of that was making sure that all five of her children had the best education possible.

That is closer to home, but on the world stage ‘Jide tells us that he drew massive inspiration from Barack Obama. He says, “I found it incredible that a boy with a Kenyan background would have the vision and the audacity to lead the biggest country in the world, America."

Well, he may not become the next President of the United States, but does harbour ambitions of becoming the future president of Nigeria. And we firmly believe that he may just get there. Whatever his future may hold, we truly believe that ‘Jide will be soaring to even greater heights in the not-too-distant future, and we wish him the best of luck with that.

Seeing is believing, so check out 'Jide’s video below.