NOVEMBER WAS SUCH A GOOD MONTH

As I recount the joy the month of November brought my way, I can only expect the very best this December.

It all started on a Wednesday as several "Happy New Month" messages filled my social space. "Yuppie its your birth month" said some of my close allies. we gonna have a blast. "Did they mean it or was it just for the gram?" these thoughts filled my head, as I smiled and clicked "Like".

Fast forward to few days later, my long awaited miracle confirmation came in, I was the happiest. You know how they always warned us not to shout too soon, I just kept the good news to myself.

Friends, good news has an antidote for moods, the thing can like to sweet person belle ooo. Come and see me dancing, praising and giving God all the praise as I recount how much I had prayed for this day.

Suddenly, the devil tried to steal my joy with doubt and fear of "what if?" what if what? I said to myself. This one won't go no where. I will amplify my faith level to its peak.... (no situation can battle faith in God).

Each day passed by and it was good, then a call came from the GEM WOMAN team, (they want pastor and I on the cover of their Christmas edition). Whoop! whoop! "mama I made it on the cover of an inspiring magazine". That was surreal as I recount the year I subscribed for the magazine that seeks to inspire women to aspire. Wow! now its going to be me, my story, my life inspiring others.... Oh God, this has to be you. I told them I was grateful and that will discuss same with my husband and get back to them, so we hung up with pleasantries there after. Guess what happened next.... (Thanksgiving praise activated again). This is indeed my NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER! and its not even mid month yet.

Hallelujah! its a brand new day as I get up to prepare my boys for school. We gist in between bathing and dress up time and shortly after they left for school, I just had that prompting in my spirit to write a letter to parents of creative children in Nigeria, at least those that can relate with our economy and governance.

Line after lines, I typed the words, I saw myself getting deep into it. Lunch hour passed and I was still engrossed. You know that feeling of not letting go? like you just have to get this done and over with, that was my mood all day. The inspiration kept flowing. Then I started researching, wow! 2000 words gone, 3000, ah 4000 words! this is serious ooo. I was proud of myself. 

Took out my phone and did a snap chat about my day in a snap and how I will be putting it all up in a blog post, so I thought o before people started signifying their desire to read it once I'm done. "Could this be an assignment from God to meet a need, solve a unique problem or enlighten His people though the thoughts He's placed in my heart"?  I began to take it even more seriously.

Over 5000 words, abeg I don try! as i read through, hahahahaha, see grammar "lol".Humor, Aha! God must be in this with me. Even I, started nodding at the deep insight. Thank You Jesus for inspiration. Then like the devil trying to show his ugly face, my system crashed, every button ceased. Ah! my book, the over 5000 words, how on earth do I start again. Oh no! I need a new laptop o. I sorbed as hubby looked at my worried and unhappy face, he whispered "don't worry, I will buy you a MacBook". Ehn? okay sir, then I smiled. This November sha, you are good to me o.


Gradually, days ran into weeks and the month is almost over. Its the weekend prior to my birthday, what's this feverish feeling? I can't be sick o, "lai lai" I reject it in Jesus name. Friday had better be good, its sunday in a bit and I won't miss church for no Fever. I said my prayers, took some time off to rest and didn't realize something had been cooking "low key" for me. 

As I drove with pastor into the parking lot on sunday morning, the bulletin was handed over to us by the protocol team.... wait o! its my face on the cover page of the church's weekly publication and it reads "Happy Birthday Firstlady" oh dear, I felt special. My birthday came early! Omg, this was November 19 so they pulled the surprise off nicely. It felt soooo good. I felt super loved and yes it got me teary. 

Check out my baby pink cake with golden trimmings and cream rose ensembles, by Flan cakes confectionaries, Tolazee serenaded with his sax, as he played the tunes to the popular "happy birthday to you" song, I was just giggling anyhow in the face of the whole church. 

This was my cinderella moment, as I smiled to shots by Alaranimi studios and shinnex photography respectively. This November sweet ooo. Then my hubby handed me what seems like a light weight gift in a rose pink gift bag. I didn't realize it was what I had always wanted. He prayed for me and with a heart of gratitude I said "Amen, thank you sir".

While it was time to close the service as we all closed our eyes to say the grace, I couldn't even talk....lol, I was just smiling and relishing the surprise in my head. Suddenly, it dawn on me, my gift....ahahah, light weight, four corner, hahahaha WOW! MY MACBOOK of course. I smiled sooooo wide as the church said Amen to the grace in fellowship, and we all sat down to pack our bags. 

Service is over. Thank you My King, Our Families, Thank you Royalty Pastorate, Thank you Tolazee, Thank you Royalty Family, Thank you Royal Minstrel and thank you Fabulous and King Zii..... ROYALTY FAMILY.... still the best yet.

As you can guess right, I'm typing on my new MacBook and the book is almost done. Y'all should watch out for it, as I intend to release it soon by God's grace.

You want to know how my birthday went, check that out on my facebook and Instagram page respectively. The social space went wild with wishes, prayers, testimonials and sweet words. Brands sent in gifts and church had another surprise for me. I was in tears this time as the love was overwhelming in a good way.

When I say "May December be good to you" you better yell out a resounding AMENNNNNN!

  

THE ESSENCE OF BEING IN BUSINESS

CUSTOMER SERVICE (by Sunmbo Adeoye)












The essence of being in business is to add value. However, the ESSENCE of serving is not just to execute a mandatory job, but to make a lasting impression in your client's heart.


I remember vividly an event that I was privileged to plan, style and coordinate this morning, while looking at the seamlessly perfect pictures and couldn’t help but recall all that happened behind the scene.


It was a one day wedding event and the couple had chosen to conduct the Traditional engagement, White wedding and reception all on the same day.


On the morning of the wedding, the groom’s father had an accident on his way to the venue. Immediately I heard this, amidst the tongue talking approach I engaged as a believer, I immediately made plans for him to be taken to the nearest hospital while we concealed this information secretly from the couple. (Well, they eventually heard after he showed up a bit late for the traditional engagement, but he was better and the nose bleeding had stopped) Glory to God.


As if that was not enough, the car to convey the groom to the church was also locked and we had to hurriedly make provision for a driver and a jeep within the hour. (Some James bond moves oo)


While it was time to change into the white wedding outfit, it was discovered that the best man’s outfit and that of the groom had been mishandled….. Omg!!! It’s his big day and he’ll be the cynosure of all eyes.


What do I do? It’s a Sunday morning, home is too far away and dry cleaners don’t open that early. There goes my thinking cap. I called up a relative of the bride who lived on the island and zoomed off to go iron the outfits myself.


Yes you heard that right. I wasn’t sure delegating that to just anyone would be a good idea, I immediately assumed responsibility and did it myself. Was I angry? No way. Neither was I irritated, nor disgruntled, and not with any reason other than that for my clients satisfaction.


That made a lasting positive impression even in the heart of the bride’s aunt, who opened her house to me for the suits to be ironed. (Good people are soo valuable).


I can’t count, how many “thanks sooo much Sunmbo” I received…. But beyond the appreciation, is the satisfaction my team and I guarantee. And that Exceptional service and extra mile effort, demonstrates our Job essence at Esobevents.


So please, being an event planner can be very humbling, it’s not a place for those who aren’t willing to serve others and take instructions. If you want to boss around, or you feel too proud to get dirty on the job, please don’t consider events planning as a profession.


It is a voluntary act that demonstrates a genuine desire to satisfy and delight a client, at whatever level (regardless of age, class or social status).


Happy Customer service week to all our clients, from all of us at EsobEvents.

You deserve a “wow+1” event experience and we care enough to help you achieve it.


Call us now to book an appointment 08023199887.

Sunmbo adeoye Shares an Inspiring Story

My ENTERPRISE STORY by Sunmbo Adeoye

Propelled by the need to be there for my boys on their special days, especially birthdays which I was deprived of by my banking work schedule.  I decided to start throwing a class party And the very first one I did was for my son who turned 5 in the month of january.

The beauty and joy of finally being there for them, made me put in the very best concept together to ensure he gets a wow celebration even though the budget was slim.

Most kids in his class were wow'd too and I deliberately  put my business flier inside the goodie bags so their parents can contact me to replicate same celebration for their children.

And it worked. Because I later got to know through their class teacher that parents were calling to find out what was special about nino's class party that made their kids insist they want his kind of party. And thank God, his party was in january, I soon had client for the whole year calender starting with 2 in the month of february.

This particular event taught me a huge lesson. And thats because I goofed at delivering. It was for 2 clients, same school but 2 days apart.

I had hired a new vendor to make the birthday cakes a‎nd gave her the different dates for the celebrants.

She wanted to exceed my expectations and so she delivered the cakes 2days earlier just to convince me that she could do so.

You should have seen the disappointment on my face when I realised the problem that would cause since I didn't have an appropriate storage for cakes ‎and I wasn't knowledgeable enough to even tell how it can be preserved.

To make matters worse, she made a huge sized cake that didn't even fit into my medium sized refrigerator and at that point I knew I was in for a lot of surprises. I gave her the feedback from my experience and what my fears were and She assured me that if I opened up the cake to natural air,  ‎it will be preserved. I did as adviced and that only caused more damage, as ants found their way straight to the iced fondant on the cake and in no time, made it their play ground.

I couldn't wait for the days to pass so I can deliver the cakes and conduct the class party.

The first was a huge success but the second was not and that's because the celebrants mum noticed the cake was spoilt and was so agitated that it was delivered for small kids to eat.

She feared they were going to get sick had she not noticed the slimy effect on the knife she dipped into the cake to cut it. I apologized, took the blame, assumed responsibility by replacing with a better ‎cake few days later but the damage had been done and my client wasn't pleased with what went down on her daughters birthday. Although she thanked me for going extra mile to replace the spoilt cake, she also adviced never to use unreliable vendors and suggested to me other bakers she has used in previous times. That meeting ended well with a new list of reliable vendors to my list.

Soon after that episode, I needed to regain some sort of confidence that I could still do well in this new venture I have chosen, I continued my daily bbm broadcast, advertising with excitement my events planning prowess. I even uploaded pictures on my social media page, telling my friends what we are capable of doing with a slim budget at esobevents, and the effect of the party on the child.

This pictures and post attracted  a lot of parent whose 9-5 schedule also deprived them of being there for their kids, or who couldn't throw a large party because of minimal budget.

From sorting and packaging the children party packs, to the cake and their favourite carton character, i was soon becoming the "go to source" for a good quality children's party.

From class parties, I was recommended for ‎house parties and later large children's party because I wouldn't stop talking about how good we are at handling that social aspect.

At one of such ‎parties, I would act as the Mc, dance with the kids, paint their faces and create activities just to manage the budget.

It was fun for me and I didn't put to thoughts the energy involved . Most times,i'll return home tired with only N5000 ($10) as my take home. Out of which I'll have to pay some of my team members and also transportation which later leaves me with a profit of less than ($3) at the end of the day.

I landed my big break December same year when I ventured into packaging hampers for christmas and distributing it to corporate and high networth individuals, I submitted proposals through my network of friends and always drop my  ‎contact card inside the parcel.

I went for a follow up of my proposals one day and in the midst of the meeting , my proposed client mentioned that he will like to celebrate his wife and needed someone who can put things in place for him. And I said that's what I do as an events planner.

He told me what he wanted and sooner we were already on the planning and execution phase.

My ability to deliver exactly on the brief made me become their official events planner.

From surprise parties, to official meetings, corporate ‎seminars And lots more, i started gaining hands-on experiences and I was excited I was finally doing what I envisioned to do. I was so happy someone gave me a chance to serve and so I out did myself at every opportunity. Working over night to ensure all i's are dotted and T's crossed. Paying rapt attention to details and sometimes Sleeping at the venue to ensure workers don't fail to do the work assigned to them.

Sometimes, I goofed because I didn't understand pricing and so i'll pay so much for the effort without a good knowledge of what payment structure was applicable to the service rendered.

By this time I was simultaneously running a course on entrepreneurial management and we were encouraged to use the services of our course mates.

This I tried and while some delivered, some start up used it as a way to reap money off me without delivering on the quality I expected.

This broke my heart and I decided i'll never engage anyone if I'm not sure they can deliver on my expectations.

Having graduated with a certificate in entrepreneurial management, through the Goldman Sachs scholarship scheme for 10,000 women in Africa, I was paired up for mentorship with funke bucknor, who had that time was an already established events manager with several experience and top notch luxury events to her credit (including the presidents daughter's wedding).

I ‎was privileged to be graduating with her on the same day but she couldn't attend due to her busy schedule and so I kept giving her updates on the phone about the happenings at the hall of graduation, just to see if she could still meet up.

This act of kindness gave me closer access to her. I remember visiting her at the office to discuss some of the problems I have encountered and asking how she feels I could handle it.

Funke was ready to walk me through it and soon after I would attend conferences put together by EDC for people in my sector and i'll learn more.

Often times, we meet up at this meetings with other events vendors and planners, and I started networking, and meeting reliable people in the industry.

In class, we will take on practical events case studies and plan to perfection with the brief given. This phase marked the beginning of a whole new level in my events planning and management career.

Later on in the following year, I set up a training arm of my events planning company, to share the knowledge I have acquired with other budding event managers and I leveraged on relationship to get experienced and leading events practitioners on board as ‎facilitators and they obliged. This include Funke Bucknor of Zaphire events, Olufunbi Akinyosoye of Dunamis events, to mention a few. They never charged for it and this kindness i'll forever be grateful for because they showed up as scheduled and gave the students their very best.

It was a 3days eventful training and I used my experience in banking as well as my experience at other learning institutes to put together what I call a complete academy.

My mum had a vacant flat at her house and I pleaded to use the space for 3days before she rents it out to the final occupant, ‎she noticed my dedication and tenacity towards ensuring this training turns out a success and accorded me all necessary support.

I was allowed to use the space for free, and I sort the support and advice of my life coach who released his projector, and gave me some hands to support with logistics. We rented tables and chairs, printed training materials, bought generators and airconditioner to ensure we had a hitch free and conducive learning centre. Having completed the first 2days successfully,  my mentor adviced that we take the 3rd day which is the graduation day to a more conducive facility and we ended up renting a hall in ikeja .

We projected 50 students but we had in attendance 12 students, 8 of which registered and 4 others attended free of charge.  We didn't make profit off this training but it gave room for impact, as I was also impacted and I used the medium to learn more and also train my staff/team member.

Today esob academy has broken even,we have graduated ‎several men and women. We now have a more structured classroom, and a detailed itinerary for field work, and practicals.

Esobevents on the other hand, now offers more than just class parties. We Plan,Style & Coordinate all types of
💼corporate
💍Weddings
🎂Social Events.
And we are willing and ready to Give you a "WoW+1" event experience. Call 📲 +2348023199887 🇳🇬

So if you're considering the entrepreneurial journey just because you want quick money, think again. ‎Or your own desire to quit the 9-5 schedule is so you can have enough time to sleep and wake up anytime you like, Think again.

Entrepreneurship isn't about being the Boss only, noooo, it comes with Huge responsibilities , dedication and most times a 24hours discipline. You are going to fail sometimes, loose customers or even get disappointed. But in all you'll gain experience, win some and above all you'll be fulfiled.

Still considering Entrepreneurship? RETHINK.....

And see you at the inspiring change conference 2017 on march 4,2017 by 10am at the Wisdom Arena.

I'll be waiting to share with you more practical insight that can help ‎your entrepreneurial journey.

Admission is Free but registration is required. Click here ‎https://t.co/1KIBGekvhN

#InspiringchangewithSunmbo

The More Skillful You Are, The More VALUABLE you'll Be

Many have asked how I juggle between being a senior Pastor's wife, a mum, an advocate for girl child education, a public speaker and an event planner.

Well, Rome wasn't built in a day so I grow at it daily. Constantly learning and never relenting on my effort to become better. (The more skillful you are, the more valuable you'll be).


Once upon a time, I suck at this duties and seldom delegate my important duties to care givers.

I felt bad when my children started speaking differently from what I thought I was instilling in them.

So I took that bold step to quit my 9-5 job.

Little did I know, it was only the beginning of a 24hours discipline.

With joy and enthusiasm, I looked forward to being a better mum and a successful entrepreneur.

6years down the line, I'm not doing badly. As I pat myself at the back and say 'Sunmbo well done' ye are indeed a super woman with a SUPER GOD.


#DiaryOfAnEntrepreneur #inspiringchangewithsunmbo

YOU ARE MADE FOR MORE