Entertainment executive, talent manager and content creator Joseph Layode, known as Mc Tourkhey, has had to build his career twice.

The first attempt began with comedy and a growing social media audience. The second followed the theft of his phone, which left him locked out of the accounts he had spent years building.

In an interview with Guardian Life, Layode recalled how the loss affected him mentally and forced him to reconsider the way he handled his career online.

“That experience really taught me not to depend on one platform or one account. I lost access to my social media, and it felt like I had lost everything I had built. It was painful, and honestly, it affected me mentally, but I refused to give up.”

Rebuilding from scratch made him more careful with his digital assets. It also pushed him to value his audience and think beyond posting content on social media.

The experience marked a shift from simply entertaining people to understanding the business behind the work.

“Starting again taught me to value my audience more, protect my digital assets, build my brand properly and think beyond just creating content. I began looking at entertainment not only as content but as a business and a long-term brand,” Layode explained.

That change now guides his work at Tourkhey Entertainment, the company he established to create content and manage emerging talents.

His interest in entertainment, however, started years before social media entered the picture.

Growing up, Layode performed with his church’s drama team. He later tried rap, but comedy eventually gave him a clearer direction.

His cousin, Morrison Mark, noticed that he could easily make people laugh and encouraged him to explore comedy around 2017.

Layode began by testing jokes and observing people’s reactions. Their response convinced him that entertainment could become more than something he did for fun.

He officially began his career in 2018.
Morrison also gave him the nickname that later became his stage identity.

Because Layode had a long neck, his cousin called him “Turkey.” He disliked the sound of it at first, so he changed the spelling to make it less obvious.

“The name actually came from my cousin, Morrison Mark. He gave me the name ‘Turkey’ because I had a long neck. Honestly, I thought it sounded awkward at first. Since I used to rap back then, I decided to use wordplay to change it without making the original meaning too obvious, and that was how I came up with Tourkhey.”

The “MC” was added after his first hosting job, which Morrison also helped him secure.

What started as a family nickname has followed him through different parts of his career. For Layode, it carries the memory of his early performances, his cousin’s influence and the road that brought him into entertainment.

As his career developed, he began to pay attention to the struggles of other young entertainers.

He observed that while Nigeria has no shortage of talent, many creatives lack guidance, structure and access to opportunities. That gap influenced his decision to establish Tourkhey Entertainment.

“I want Tourkhey Entertainment to be a platform where creativity can be properly developed, managed and connected to the right opportunities, while also creating quality entertainment that families can enjoy,” he stated.

Running the company has placed him on both sides of the industry. As a creator, he understands the frustration of trying to grow an audience. As a talent manager, he has to consider discipline, character and consistency.

On what he looks for in emerging talents, Layode was direct: “Talent is important, but talent alone is not enough. I look for people who are hardworking, creative, disciplined, willing to learn and consistent. I also look at their character and how serious they are about building a career.”

He is particularly interested in people who understand that entertainment requires patience and steady work, especially when success does not come quickly.

Beyond managing talents, Layode is exploring comedy and family entertainment.
His interest in children’s content comes from what he describes as a need for programmes that young viewers can enjoy without making their parents uncomfortable.

One of the ideas he is developing under the Junior brand is an AI-powered cartoon project. The plan is to use technology to create stories and characters for children and families.

“What I want to achieve is not just to make another cartoon. I want to build characters and stories that can become a proper brand, with content that is entertaining, relatable and suitable for children and families,” he noted.

Getting those ideas off the ground has not been straightforward.

Layode identified funding, limited resources, a lack of useful connections and the difficulty of getting people to believe in an emerging company as his biggest challenges.

Some ideas have had to wait because the resources needed to execute them were unavailable. His experience of rebuilding his digital presence has, however, shaped how he responds to such delays.

“The biggest lesson for me has been learning not to stop because something is difficult. I have already had to start over before, and that experience taught me that setbacks don’t mean the journey is over.”

Over the next five years, Layode wants Tourkhey Entertainment to develop successful talents, produce major projects and reach audiences outside Nigeria.

But he does not want the company to be the only measure of how far he has come. He also wants his experience to encourage people who have lost something important and are struggling to begin again.
“I started with very little, faced setbacks, had to rebuild and still kept going. If my story can inspire someone else to believe in themselves and keep pursuing their dream, then I would consider that a major achievement,” Layode added.