AWEC Alumnae Spotlight: Kunbi Osinoiki, “AWEC Saved My Business and My Sanity!”

Kunbi Osinoiki

Due to the nature of their professional careers, the Osinoiki family became accustomed to travelling and relocating homes quite often. With a third move on the horizon, Kunbi Osinoiki, realised that the constant uprooting would be disruptive to her then-3 year old son’s formative years. In search of a flexible career that would allow her to be with him after school, she gave up a career in IT Consulting to become a franchisee of a music education company in the UK, focused on early childhood development. Already armed with a musical background (she had learnt to sing and studied piano from the age of 5), Kunbi took the plunge. 

Being in a new neighbourhood, she had no knowledge of the area, nor did she have any contacts, but after 6-weeks of initial training, she was running her first class. Kunbi reflects on those early days, saying,

“It was a LOT of work. The brochure had said, ‘flexible career, works around your family, choose your hours’; it was anything BUT that! Yeah, I WAS taking my son to school and picking him up after but as soon as we walked through the door I had to plonk him in front of the telly because I then had to do my marketing, sales, bookkeeping AND lesson planning. I was doing EVERYTHING. I couldn’t believe that the company was still using cassette players at the time when technology had moved forward with CD players. So because of my IT background I spent a lot of time creating playlists and re-writing things. This meant long days and nights and while I would like to think I was with my little one; I was not really present.”

Her original plan was to sign up for a 5-year licence but before she knew it, ten years had passed and she was still loving every minute of it. But in the back of her mind, Kunbi always knew she wanted to build a music school in Africa so she sold her franchise, moved to Nigeria with her family and set up Kunbi’s Music Company, a music education academy for families and schools. They use pedagogically-sound teaching approaches that are designed to help children grow in confidence, cognition, character, courage and creativity.

Kunbi says it was the positive impact and physical and emotional results she saw in the lives of the children and their families that kept her going. Not only were children with neurological differences beginning to develop their multi-sensory skills through the work of her academy, but she witnessed the transformation in mothers who had previously struggled to bond with their children, using the academy as a safe haven to build a relationship with them.

Over time the academy grew, they started teaching older children, offered a wider range of instruments, hired more staff and expanded into schools. 

Life through AWEC

A series of events that took place then changed the trajectory of her journey. During a trip back to the UK, Kunbi’s middle daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia and her son, who had just been diagnosed with ADD, failed a crucial set of exams. Kunbi decided to remain in the UK and thought about shutting down the academy, but her staff wanted to carry on so she continued to supervise it remotely. 

“AWEC was an answer to prayer! I had just managed to keep the business hanging on a thread but I knew I needed help. It had no structure and very little direction. This whole idea of a community of African women doing what they do on the continent...I thought ‘WOW - some like-minded people. That’s tough to find.’ I was surprised about what AWEC was offering and the demographic they were catering for so I kept searching for the age-limit on the site...I kept thinking ‘I'm sure I am too old for them’.”

Kunbi was surprised to learn she’d been selected into the program but she met the news with both excitement and anxiety. COVID had spread globally, and the whole world had just gone into lockdown. “I thought about deferring on AWEC because I was so worried that I had too much on my plate. It took me a while to confirm my acceptance because I was terrified…but I gave myself permission to drop out if it didn't work out.”

In hindsight Kunbi admits that the program actually gave her clarity and gave meaning, context and structure to the ideas that she had. 

“If I’m being honest, AWEC saved my business and my sanity. It really helped me define what I was trying to do. I developed the boldness and courage to make the changes I needed to make and knowing that there were other women like me experiencing the same upheaval gave me reassurance and confidence to keep going.”

On Giving Back

The AWEC program relies on the support of a generous community whose donations, both financial and in-kind, allow the year-long program to operate. Upon completion of the program and knowing the impact it had on her life and her business, Kunbi’s first instinct was to find ways in which she could offer her support so she took it upon herself to make a financial donation to the organization.

With a degree in Economics and an MBA, Kunbi knows a solid curriculum when she sees it. “I have been fortunate enough to put my children through private education so I know how much these things cost and yet the AWEC program which is incredibly well put together, was offered to me for free. So when the opportunity arose for me to make a financial donation, there was no way I would pass it up. ”

But she didn’t stop there! In June 2021, Kunbi accepted the nomination to serve as a voluntary member of the AWEC Alumnae Advisory Board. As a beneficiary of the program she sees it as another opportunity to support and guide the strategic direction and activities of the AWEC Alumnae Network (AAN) for the next year. 

 “This program has given me so much that giving back is not even a discussion! The staff kept our entire cohort going throughout a FULL year, in the middle of a pandemic...that's going beyond generosity. I don’t even know how I found AWEC but I am so glad that I did.”

This giving season, you can help empower women like Kunbi to gain the skills and confidence they need to succeed in business. Please consider making a gift to AWEC today.