Experts drawn from diverse field of endeavours have charged individuals, business owners and employees to imbibe the spirit of tenacity, resilience, and the right mindset in order to overcome adversity in life or business.
This submission forms part of the highlight at the third edition of the Imperfectly Awesome Conversations Summit hosted by Omotola Bamigbaiye and held on Sunday, April 13, 2025 at Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
Imperfectly Awesome is Omotola Bamigbaiye’s ode to Resilience and Tenacity, which she first put together in her book titled, “Imperfectly Awesome”. It was written in an honest and relatable tone to help people love themselves, reinvent, and bloom.
Delivering her welcome remarks at the occasion, the convener, Imperfectly Awesome Conversations Summit, Omotola Bamigbaiye, noted that the platform remains a veritable avenue for experts to share their experiences so that people can be inspired and learn from them.
Bamigbaiye said her experience had shown that failure or pitfall is not the end but an opportunity for growth.
In his keynote remarks, the Project Delivery Manager, NLNG, Amos Ologunleko, urged the gathering to begin to act like reformers who are ready to go against the norm and rebuild systems with clarity and courage.
Ologunleko, emphasising the need for the gathering to learn to take ownership as this remains a key principle of transformation, said learning to take responsibility as against passing the buck or blaming one another would go a long way to usher in growth and progress not only as an individual but as a business.
Speaking during the first panel session, the Marketing Manager, FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Omolara Banjoko, while drawing from her childhood experience noted that resilience was pivotal to overcoming challenges in life.
Banjoko, charging everyone to keep pushing regardless of whatever maybe confronting them, emphasized the need for young people in the workplace to give adequate priority to their personal growth as they strive to reach their desired heights. She underscored the significance of soft skills in the work place as it remains a tool for professional excellence.
“These days, we take soft skills like precision, consistency, and discipline for granted, yet these are foundational to both personal and professional excellence,” she said.
In her remarks during another panel session, a transformation expert, Dr. Folakemi Fadahunsi explained that the best approach to overcoming impostor syndrome by any individual is to believe in oneself or develop a can-do spirit.
Also commenting, Senior National Program Specialist, United Nation Women, Patience Ekeoba stated that the society has been structured in a way that women suffer all forms of exclusion. Ekeoba called on men, employers of labour to reverse the trend by ensuring that women not only sit at the decision-making table or but also given equal sense of belonging.
Also speaking during one of the panel sessions, Managing Consultant, BusinessMax Consulting, Alex Goma, stressed that every business person must learn to be persistent as this remain a key driver for success. Drawing from his experience, Goma stated that no business leader or person should see setbacks in sales as rejections, but rather as opportunities for self-evaluation and recalibration.
“If sale doesn’t happen, it means you haven’t sold the benefits in a way that meets the customer’s needs. Go back and refine your message. Don’t give up,” he said.
On her part, the Marketing Director, Moët Hennessy, Osato Evbuomwan, stated that mindset remains the cornerstone of both resilience and tenacity.
“Your mindset is the story you tell yourself when something goes wrong. It’s what determines how you show up the next day. If you tell yourself you’re a failure, you’ll show up as one. But if you believe it’s a lesson, you’ll keep growing,” she said.
The event featured three distinguished keynote speakers who dwelt on topics such as authentic storytelling, resilience and tenacity among others.
There were three panel sessions with a line-up of impressive speakers such as Global Strategy Consultant, Franklin Ezekhome, Founder/Creative Director of The Indigene, Abigail Tiwa Olanubi Host of The Word Café Podcast, The WordSmith, Amachree Isoboyei, Author/Founder Exquisite Magazine, Tewa Onasanya, among others.
