Adeola Jayeola has come a long way in carving a niche for herself in the supply chain and logistics landscape. From making her first infant steps in the sales industry to navigating the myriad of challenges she was faced with in transitioning to a new career path, her resilience and drive against all odds keeps her on track. She talks about the setbacks and pivots while underscoring the importance of resilience, adaptability, and how crucial decisions can lead to new opportunities, breakthroughs, and success in one’s field.

There are industries that are traditionally and predominantly male-dominated, even in today’s age. Supply chain is no exception. Women make up only 20% to 30% of the supply chain workforce across Africa compared to the nearly 40% globally. Despite this gender disparity, the supply chain industry is experiencing a surge with the growing presence of women, which is inevitably advancing economies.

Women’s active participation in this industry is positively reshaping its dynamics and also propelling broader economic progress. Thanks to remarkable names like Joey Mulaudzi, Nobantu Mboniswa, Lungile Ntuli, Esther Ndichu, Lyn Chiweshe, Galetlowe Semenya in Africa and Deborah Patterson, Malinda McFarlane, and Lindsey Graves on the global space, whose stories stand the test of time and change the narratives.

Today, one woman adding her vision and voice along this transformative movement is Adeola Jayeola. She is determined and resilient, pushing her path among these industry changemakers. She brings fresh perspectives, drives strategic decisions, and champions inclusivity, an approach that not only marks her own breakthrough but also lights the way for a new generation of women ready to shape the future of supply chain and logistics.

“The Supply chain and logistics industry is not for the faint-hearted. It is a highly demanding one and only those who are proactive rather than reactive win in this space. This reality shaped Jayeola’s approach to work and leadership. “I keep a “to-do” list which I update with priorities daily” says Jayeola, demonstrating her discipline in staying organized. “She also recognizes that supply chain is fraught with uncertainties and challenges, and tries to balance agility with foresight, constantly thinking about possible scenarios that may occur. This, coupled with monitoring data and KPIs to detect issues early, help her stay ahead of situations.

A moment of test

Jayeola’s breakthrough in the supply chain industry did not come without its fair share of challenges. But through great resilience, perseverance and adaptability throughout her career, she recounts such moments. Her greatest test happened while working as a shift manager, logistics, in Nigerian Breweries.

Managing a multi-billion dollar operation, Jayeola disclosed that “working in logistics, particularly on the shopfloor, can be overwhelming.” It is a constant cycle of unending but necessary activities with a myriad of challenges that were sometimes unexpected and unplanned for.

She recounted her experience: “We once had a budget cut that resulted in labor being slashed by two-third. This adversely impacted the logistics department, because our delivery targets and warehouse needs remained unchanged. Although my associates were unaffected by this labor cut, I had to figure out how to effectively deploy the men that did the floor jobs.” Jayeola said she often had to assign and reassign “127 third-party employees to important but competing activities during my shifts, a significant drop from the original 382. It was a tough call to make and there were lots of setbacks and failed projects. Every operation was crucial but prioritizing them was necessary, and the choices I made had ripple effects on others. I was tested beyond my limits and often looked forward to an end in sight. I needed to align with new business goals and priorities, but not at the expense of the core purpose for its existence; sales and revenue generation, which all those activities supported.”

With the saying that tough times don’t last, but tough people do, Jayeola soon came to terms with this fact. While acknowledging that challenges bring out the strength, competence and character of each individual and that being a logistics manager was not just a change in her title—it was a recognition of her skills and ability to solve problems and drive impact, managing the multibillion naira operations and leading the large teams entrusted to her.

“My position was never meant to be a comfort zone, but a challenge as well as an opportunity to not only step up, but also prove my value, demonstrate authentic leadership and ensure the continuous flow of revenue,” she emphasized.

For Jayeola, failure was not an option nor a reason to quit. She recognized that many things hinged on her continuation; the thought that women across the globe had walked that path before her and succeeded, fueled her drive.

“Knowing that those ahead of me had travailed and thrived, and that I could easily be replaced, I put my best foot forward. Sequel to this, I prepared an irrefutable justification for increased labor for our operations, which clearly showed that the benefits outweigh the losses. As a result, a reinstatement of an additional one-third of labor was done.”

Adapting in unexpected disruptions
Having worked in her field for over 10 years, Jayeola concludes that to work in supply chain is to be “disruptions or roadblocks ready,” as they are inevitable.

“You must anticipate possible challenges and have contingency plans in place. In my own case, beyond managing my composure and carefully analyzing situations to unravel root causes and possible solutions, I constantly engaged my team.

“Firstly, I brief them about new developments and seek their inputs, noting the value of team work. Experienced team members often offered practical solutions based on past trials and success. This inclusive management and bottom-up approach always worked.

Jayeola once had to make a crucial decision that changed her career trajectory. Her proactive approach to managing one of her businesses’ critical key performance indicators (KPI), the “Proof of Delivery” (POD), changed her career trajectory.

This document accounted for shipments and “returnables” directly tied to a distributors’ funds. While the distributors and brewery experienced significant losses due to persistent delays by drivers in returning these documents to source, transporters faced minimal consequences—a major sore point for the stakeholders involved.

To address this, she leveraged underutilized tools to implement a sustainable solution that ensured the timely return of PODs, thereby restoring confidence in the company’s distributors.

“This outcome not only created a win-win for all parties, it also highlighted my ability to deliver results with a high level of competence,” Jayeola emphasized. Copying from Ibadan brewery, this unprecedented move, the innovative way of tracking PODs changed the modus operandi of Nigerian breweries location handling of PODs, which led to a significant increase in the credit ratings and the purchasing power of our distributors. This fostered the increased turnaround time for trucks, growth in sales for the company, distributors and transporters.

The role of networking, collaboration in overcoming challenges/setbacks
When Jayeola joined the logistics team of Nigerian Breweries in 2017, she stepped into a highly competitive environment with colleagues who had decades of operational experience.

Although she brought in higher qualifications and fresh skills to this highly competitive space, she also brought her A-game, approaching her role with a bottom-up learning mindset, which proved highly effective. “On several occasions, their solution to problems worked well and I made it a point to acknowledge and adopt them.

“By encouraging suggestions, listening openly and rationalizing differences rather than imposing my opinions, I was able to build mutual trust and respect, which helped me navigate challenges early on, as well as create a thriving environment for my team and I” she expressed.

A moment that changed her outlook on managing supply chain

When her career started to blossom, one failure impacted her perspective on managing her supply chain teams. Here, she narrated her ordeal; “A packaging line that had commenced bottling at night relying on my assurance of pallet availability was on the brink of shutting down, because suppliers had failed to meet their delivery timelines. There was intense pressure on me to either provide a solution or make the call for the line to stop running. I chose to pause parts of my operations and reassigned my team to de-palletize empty bottles, which freed up just enough pallets to keep the line running through the night.”

Though the packaging line continued without interruption, according to Jayeola, her own shift’s operation took a major hit. She described it as a trade-off that demonstrated the weight of operational decisions; “Every call affects someone somewhere in the chain. This changed her perspective about being totally dependent on one plan. She realized then that for every plan made for a crucial operation, there must be an alternative, especially in territories fraught with uncertainties.”

Developing habits, practices to maintain adaptability

Jayeola realizes that being proactive rather than being reactive to supply chain disruptions was the game-changer. She developed a “to-do” list which she updates daily with her priorities. As a professional determined to excel, she navigates uncertainties by balancing agility with foresight, and always anticipating possible scenarios that may occur.

She posits that she stays ahead of situations by monitoring data and KPIs to detect issues early. More importantly, she encourages open communication and collaboration across her teams, to encourage synergy in crisis resolution.
Drawing from her wealth of experience, Jayeola encourages supply chain professionals to remember that setbacks and failures are inevitable.

“They refine and not define you,” she said. “Early in my career as a logistics manager with Nigerian Breweries, I made a critical error by entering the wrong empties stock for a major brand, which could have caused significant production losses. Rather than dwelling on this, I swung into action. It was a race against time! I sourced materials from trade partners and sister breweries to turn the situation around. She confirmed that the experience taught her that resilience and the speed of executing a decision pays off.

Jayeola posits that to ensure transparency and inclusiveness in logistics during a crisis, stakeholders, including operational teams must be briefed about the developments. She makes her team understand that challenges are opportunities for them to show their exceptional skills and prove themselves worthy of their positions and more.

Taking the lead to share possible solutions to the problem; like reallocating resources or rethinking a plan, she encourages open dialogue among the team to safely share their views. “I acknowledge the stress brought on by the situation but also assure them of our collective strength. This way, I keep them motivated, solution driven and in unity,” she expressed.

Imparting and shaping minds across borders

Jayeola is not your regular supply chain and logistics professional. She has been a judge at Technovation Girls – A global entrepreneurship program designed for girls aged eight to 18, to empower them with Coding, AI, Leadership and Entrepreneurship skills.

The apps developed by some of the participants, drawn from across the globe and used to tackle the immediate problems in their community in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) were appraised by Jayeola, two of whom emerged world champions.

Jayeola also mentored at GreenLead-ACLF, a sustainability and climate capacity building program for young Africans aged 18 to 35, where she equipped participants with knowledge, skills and experience, as she carefully guided them to drive climate actions and sustainability at their community level.

In the spirit of impacting her community with her expertise, even as she networks in furtherance of her knowledge and skills, Jayeola is currently mentoring at Global Mentorship Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping young professionals from underserved communities across the world, successfully launch their careers.

Despite stormy days, Jayeola remained resilient, adaptable and continues to strive to drive transformation in her career. “I have come to realize that what makes great professionals is not avoiding failure, but how they adapt, recover, and use their experiences to build more sustainable systems.