 Okay, welcome back. It's time for our first hot topic. Are you into the fashion industry? Are you wondering how to grow a sustainable fashion brand by leveraging technology, or are you just a keen observer? And you're wondering how fashion has evolved, and how is it that fashion today is so glamorous, it's so smooth, it's so clean. Well, I have someone here with me who is going to give us all the answers that we have questions to. Mobalaji Jaji is my guest this morning. She is a fashion designer. She is a highly trained Nigerian fashion designer. One of the few fashion partners in Nigeria delivering versatile and trendy fashion to her very, very clientele. Good morning to you, Mobalaji. How are you doing? Good morning, I'm fine. So good to have you join us. Thank you for having me. First of all, tell us a bit about yourself. Okay, I'll say my name is Mobalaji Jaji, and I'm the creative director of Olam Creations and Fashion School. At Olam Creations Fashion School, that's where we provide ready to wear base book and bridles and pattern training. We also run an initiative where we train secondary school girls in the art and skill of tie-dye making and dress making just to catch them young. So Olam Creations has been, I've been in business for I'll be 10 years in the coming year. Oh, that's a decade. Yeah. No joke. Yeah, I'm a graduate of marketing from the Yaba College of Technology. Tell us, how did you start the journey of Olam Creations? Yeah, it was more of a passion and also of a yearning, you know, to satisfy a need. And that need is the fact that growing up, I'm growing up, we had challenges getting to, you know, get the right outfit, you know, get you to have what you tell them to do. Most times it's like giving you something else. They can follow specifications in terms of, you know, delivery. And so that also gave me the drive towards, you know, coming up with my business. So it's more of a passion and a yearning, you know, to bridge that gap. Interesting. What challenges did you face? Challenges or was it smooth sailing for you? Well, if anyone tells you there are no challenges, I guess they're actually lying to you. So coming into the fashion industry, I'll tell you, it's not as easy as it looks. You know, you see the glamour, you see everything and the struggle is real. Yeah, there's the challenge of getting the right persons, you know, that understand how you work because I work with the pattern drafting kind of sewing. So getting skilled workers in that area is a bit challenging. So most times you have to school them and in the process of schooling them, you also have to grow them, you know, into your business. But sometimes some of them fall out because they get frustrated because they do not really know the basics of it. So that's the challenge. Then we have the challenge of, you know, I would say financing too is part of it because if you're going to grow a sustainable fashion brand, you need a lot. You need a lot at least to start with. When you say you need a lot of money. Not a lot of money in that sense, you need capital because running a business is not just about you starting a business but sustaining it. So in having to sustain it, you need, you know, a little bit of finance to back you up. So that's one of the challenges we face. So how do you overcome this challenge? Yeah, this is just it. There's this thing they say about fashion that it's always good to create a niche. In the process of you trying to create a niche, you also have to be oblivious of the fact that you need, you know, you need running costs and everything. So in that process, I also diversified. But it was still under fashion. Instead of me, you know, having just a niche, I also created other classes of products that is under fashion. So it's just sticking to ready to wear or whatever. I'm also into baseball. So I did different classes of products but I'm still under fashion. So at least we know the ready to wear brings in income fast as opposed to the baseball. So that way I was able to use a set of products to also sustain myself for the other ones. So instead of just facing the sewing and all of that, you diversified into other things that will bring income for you. And I imagine that being a marketer, having started marketing school, also came to play, became a strength for you at that point. Yes, it was part of what helped me out. I also have experience spanning across clientele service also. So what would you say is the best, you know, how did you adopt technology? Wow. So there's this thing about you being in business. It's not just about you being in business. You also have to, you know, keep upgrading yourself. You have to, you know, keep acquiring skills and learning because you can't, if you don't acquire more learnings, you're going to get obsolete on the job. So what I did was I was always watching out for a lot of, you know, trainings that have to do with the business side and not just the practical aspect of it because sometimes we're always thrown deep into the practical aspect and we forget the business side and that makes us lack behind. So that is where we have a lot of technological tools and platforms, you know, to grow your business. One of them is the Google, Google course that I took because I see Google has one of the very versatile platforms, you know, that allow small businesses to thrive. And so I was exposed to a lot of tools. Did it do that online? Yes, it was a strictly online course. It was just one week and it was in depth, practice-based, you know, and they exposed us to a lot of tools, you know, that would help us, you know, on how to run a business seamlessly and then be able to deliver, you know, practically and professionally. So it gave me, sorry about that. So it gave me, I was able to position my brand well and it also grew my revenue, you know, then I gave me visibility, grew my visibility. Tell us more about how it helped you to expand your business and gave you visibility. Yeah, so, you know, there's a lot about social media now. The social media space is, you just need to take advantage of that. It's one of the things that, you know, helped my business. Those are one of the digital tools. Being able to run online ads, being able to run classes online, those are one of the platforms for that. And so that also grew my audience. And it also brings me out to, you know, I can be here and I can have, like, audiences all over, you know, globally. So that's one of the advantages of, you know, being exposed to digital tools. When you talk about training young people, how, how, how many of them do you train in a month or in a year or in a quarter? Okay. What was the level of interest in fashion? Oh, okay, yeah. There isn't a standard number. But my kind of training is not more of like, okay, everybody's in class, you know, the mass production kind of training, no. My kind of training approach is more of like a mentoring coaching type of training. So I saw the need for that and I needed to bridge that gap because I noticed a lot of people go to fashion school, they go learn, you know, the fashion. And the next thing they want to come out, you know, to have their own fashion houses. So I saw that gap and I wanted to bridge it. So that's why I had to offer my own kind of training, which is more of a mentoring and coaching, where, you know, I have to deal with the foundation, the problem from the foundation, not just teaching them the practical aspect, but also letting them understand the business side of fashion. And also that mentoring, you know, mentoring also, you know, helps you reach your goal faster. So all the mistakes that I have made, I'm able to like let them know about it. So it helps them, you know, jump that huddle of that long time stretch of struggling through before getting to their goal. So mentoring is, you know, key for me in training. You know, it tackles through a bit because of time, you know, we won't be able to talk much, but a bit of how fashion has evolved. I mean, there was a time when it was more like cotton, cotton join, but today everything is so smooth, so beautiful, so glamorous, African prints. We're doing a lot with African prints now. Talk to us about the... So I can remember during my time when I went to train in fashion, it was more of freehand training. So I wasn't satisfied with the freehand. Not like freehand is not good, and not undermining the importance of using freehand. So the thing is, most times a lot of these freehander, they're not able to, you know, transfer the knowledge, right, to tell you this is how it works. So for example, now you want to cut a sleeve because that was one of the challenges I faced, you know, at my early stage. You tell your boss and say, oh, how did you derive this sleeve? How are you able to achieve this sleeve? And then they just give you a number for everybody. Like, okay, just a guess, use one to four inches from here, and you don't... I still don't understand it. So that one actually, you know, pushed me into, like, getting to a fashion school. And that time then I registered into a very good fashion academy. And those days, back in the days, were top designers. So my boss was a monomy teacher then. So I learned from monomy, and he gave me, you know, the training on a practical level. And it was pattern making training. And it's one of the recent patterns that a lot of designers actually use out there. So the pattern, you know, has... The advantage the pattern has is it gives you options to be able to derive a lot of things. There's no design you can't do once you know how to draft your pattern. So far, you know the basics, you know, how to draft the basic blocks. From there, you understand and develop your style analysis. You can do any design as opposed to the freehand. Because if you want to do some very complex designs, you can use freehand. Probably you could make a mistake and you could just do a guesswork. And you might not really get the desired result. But for pattern, it gives you the desired result. Once your measurement is accurate and correct, you come out with a very, you know, top notch. Yes, so when I'm at the freehand, and then you have the pattern. And the freehand is the reason why we have what I ordered versus what I got. Yes, most of the time. Horrible differences between what you ordered and what you got. You also need to tie and dye. Yes. What I do for the tie and dye, I have the basic knowledge in tie and dye, but I don't train. All I do is I collaborate with those that would be able to train, you know, on a large scale. So that's what I do to be able to deliver my trainings, to work with my initiative to deliver trainings to secondary school students. So you got the award for, or is it nomination? Yes, to... Woman in IT. Yes, I did. Tell us about that. Yeah, the Woman in IT series was by Google and I was nominated. It was, you know, a very, very big, big one for me. And it's the turning point for me in the sense that it's going to bring me out there. I know that. And it's also... Is it an award already or it was just a nomination? It's like a series. It's a... No, I was selected. Okay. Because you were selected? Yes. And part of those that were selected in Africa were women. Oh, good. Businessmen, yeah. As far as just being selected for the IT women series, it also has helped me to understand the importance of, you know, how much importance we are... How much importance... How much importance we are, you know, in, you know, to the economy of the country. Because a lot of women are in business. And we're not in business because we actually chose to be in business. Sometimes you could have your passion, fuel it, but at the same time we're in business because the environment warrants us to be that. And we also want to be available, you know, for our families to be able to balance, you know, being there for our families has women and all that. So it's actually increased. And then there's also this stereotype in the workforce for women also sometimes when it comes to equality and equity and all that. So it's so far so good. It's been a wonderful experience, I would say. It's given me exposure to a lot of things and it's also telling me something that I have to continue to position myself well for growth because this meant to me at a point because I actually positioned myself for it. All right, so what next? After this woman in IT selection, definitely this has definitely taken into a new stage in your career. What next? So this also brings to light that I have to do better at the stage I am right now. I have to upscale and I have to leverage it to be able to affect lives and reach more people like being able to impact lives through this program. All right. How would you advise other women who are in tech and maybe some others, you know, who are in fashion and other skills? How would you advise them to take advantage of technology? Yeah, so tech is here to stay whether we like it or not. And if we do not take advantage, like if you do not take advantage of it, you need to also expose yourself to the knowledge you're going to be left behind. There's no two ways about it. You just have to move with it. So tech is going to position you well. It's going to put you out there and we just have to embrace it that change is part of growth and tech is coming here to stay. And so we have a lot of use using tech in the negative way, but there are so many positive things you can do with it. You can deliver trainings, you can reach a lot of people far and wide. You can get your products out globally and practically just communicate. That's what I see. You help you communicate faster. Do women face any kind of unique or peculiar challenges in this sector, in this fashion industry? Well, I don't think... everywhere there are challenges, but the challenges we face individually is actually different. So I don't think it's maybe a woman thing or a man thing right now. So the major challenges we face most time is just about being able to have access to finance too. Because I always say finance is part of you. It's part of you being able to grow your business. You need finance, you need backings, but it's not the major thing. But once you're consistent, you're focused, then that part will also come in. You'll probably just be exposed to that opportunity. So it's part of positioning yourself to leverage on those opportunities. What inspires your creativity? Well, for creativity, I would say... let me just say basically a lot of things inspire me. I would say most times it's about what I see, what I see at that moment that I want to do something, the environment, the current trends. Those are those things that inspire me. Have you gone beyond the shores of the country with your work? Yes. You have clients outside of the shores of Africa? Yes. Majorly most of my clients are outside of Africa. Outside, yes, because of the type of way I make my outreach. So now that is where tech comes in. How am I able to have clients all over and I'm able to make outfits for them? So now I have... most times we are on online calls. That's where I take my measurements. I do WhatsApp calls. We take virtual measurements. That's how it works. So tech has really helped me. So how do you do the virtual measurements? They stay where they are with your own tapes? Yes. All we do, we just... I schedule a time. It's my appointment. We schedule a time when we meet. It's on video call. I get you to have somebody to have the tape measure and then tell you all the things you're supposed to do. You see me. I see you. Whatever I do, I tell you to do. And you do it and then the measurements are down. I draft their patterns, make their outfits and I deliver. Beautiful. Yeah. Beautiful. So good to have you join us this morning. Thank you. Thank you so much. Mobola Ji Olamide Jaji is a fashion designer who has joined us this morning to talk about tech and fashion. She is the owner of Olam's creations. And if you've been inspired, you can locate her online. I'm sure she just talked to you about the beauties of doing business online and using tech to improve your business, especially if you are in the fashion industry. You can take advantage of that, leverage on it and give your business an added advantage, an edge that it needs to move to the next level. Thank you so much, Mobola Ji. You're welcome. All right, so we'll be back in a moment to give you a second hot topic to stay with us because we're going to move from fashion to the aviation industry.