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‘Self-confidence is the most challenging issue adolescents girls face’

By Tope Templer Olaiya
12 November 2016   |   3:21 am
After nearly two decades of living her dreams as a marketing veteran, working with some of the world’s biggest multinationals, Mrs. Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi ...
Bolajoko

Bolajoko

After nearly two decades of living her dreams as a marketing veteran, working with some of the world’s biggest multinationals, Mrs. Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi has turned the corner and picked up a newfound passion – coaching and mentoring the girl child.

She has managed such global brands as Coca-Cola and Guinness, amongst others, and nurtured them to achieve sustainable growth, but now, the mother of three is devoting her time, talent and treasure to managing tomorrow’s mothers and women leaders.

In a report made by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), about 31 million girls of primary school age are not in school, and in most developing countries of the world, one out of every four women never completed their primary education.

So, lack of education has severely restricted their access to information and opportunities, which has made most girls to go into early marriage or migrate into big cities as child labourers, where they end up being sexually exploited.

On October 11, 2016, the International Day of the Girl Child, Bolajoko unveiled her new project, the EveryGirl Empowered Foundation, which is focused on building the confidence of the girl child.

She believes that self-confidence is the most challenging issue adolescent girls struggle with, most especially those in the vulnerable age bracket of 11 to 15 years.

She said: “It manifests in diverse areas of life and may limit how far they can go in life. I have always had a passion for the girl child, in terms of the cultural challenges they face, the internal battles they fight on a daily basis and the stereotypes they live with. I, therefore, decided to go beyond empathising to taking action. This is what led to the establishment of EveryGirl Empowered Foundation.

“The foundation is the fulfilment of a lifelong vision to impact the lives of every young girl within my sphere of influence to be the best they can be. It is a burden to build up the girl child, and help her express her individuality confidently, as well as, empower them to take pride in who they are in order to chase after their dreams.”

The thoughts to start the project only crystallised last year.

“I didn’t have a name for it, as I just wanted to give something back to society,” she explained. “I had a flipchart in my office, where I just wrote NGO. Over time, it became very clear, when I started my coaching training at the London Coaching Academy, as a personal performance coach.

“I remember having a session on limiting belief and it just struck me that no matter the goals and plans, limiting belief is bound to draw you back. Self-belief is key to becoming anything in life and then I decided to anchor my project on empowering the young girls with confidence.

“By April, I started the process of registration and partnering with the Lagos State government and the Association of Private Secondary Schools to buy into the project and that was when I actually chose the launch date. We decided to launch out on the International Day of the Girl Child and we settled for October 11.”

Her work experience has exposed her to various world-class processes, training and global best practices. In the course of her career, she has interfaced with people across diverse cultures and geographies, an experience that has broadened her perspectives and thinking.

Bolajoko is passionate about building brands and believes that the marketing principles can be applied to practically every facet of life.

She belongs to several professional bodies, including Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM – UK), Nigerian Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), Internal Coaching Federation (ICF), Associate Advertisers Practitioner Council of Nigeria (APCON) and Women in Management, Business & Public Service (WIMBIZ).

“My passion drives all I do. All my life, I have done marketing. In 2015, I left Coca-Cola to start my private practice as a marketing consultant and my coaching training. Presently, I am happy doing this.

“Coaching and mentoring has given me a breath of fresh air to something I have always done all my life and with this foundation, I have never been this motivated since I was born. Money is good, but nothing compares to the fulfilment of making a difference in somebody’s life,” she said.

Has the Economics graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University always been this confident from childhood? She smiled and nodded in the negative.

“I wouldn’t say I wasn’t a confident person, but I had some of the issues. As a child, I could talk in front of everybody; I could do anything in school. I don’t know the precise point I went into myself and I became more withdrawn.

“I guess it was at puberty, the stage when young people recognise the change in their bodies. At home, I would be my normal self, but in public I became more withdrawn. As I grew older, I began to focus on those things that limit me and I faced my fears.”

With the official flag-off, the foundation is set to start visiting schools to mentor the girl child, commencing with one educational district in Lagos State.

“We will also ride on the state’s programme for education to reach the students and boost their self-confidence. We have a pool of accomplished individuals, who have volunteered to serve as mentors. By having them interact with the pupils and sharing their stories, they inspire and build the confidence in the young ones to face the future despite what is happening around them.

“We will also focus on factors that limits self-belief among teenagers, one of which is bullying. You will be surprised to know that girls bully each other and they become victims of peer pressure. Others are inferiority complex, hygiene, etiquette, public speaking and understanding how their bodies talk and how they can appreciate themselves for whom they are. We will also have a one-week summer event and an annual conference on each International Day of the Girl Child.”

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