I started my career, optimistic, in May 2008, in one of the banks in Nigeria, having qualified as a chartered accountant just aged 22 years whilst in 200 level at the Obafemi Awolowo University where I read Economics & Education. I had always wanted to be a world-class investment analyst and only saw the banking job as a launchpad but due to the uninspiring work environment of the bank, I soon forgot about my dreams and abandoned the pursuit of my self-development.I stopped writing my Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) examinations and did not take the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) examinations to set me on the path I wanted to follow.
Unfortunately, I lost my job in the bank in January 2012, four years into it. The job loss was a jerk back to reality for me on the kind of career I should build. Whilst hunting for another job, I completed the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) examination I had abandoned for years, and I commenced preparing for the (CFA) examination.
I learnt an important career lesson during that period of my job loss that completely recalibrated my orientation about my career. The lesson is this: “As far as my career is concerned, I must be the strategic thinker and take responsibility for creating the success that I want from it. I should never leave my career to chances again”. Through the job loss, I was able to discover, re-invent, and re-define yourself. Now, I constantly check my career map to know where I am and what more I need to do, with a commitment to lifelong learning.
It took me nine months of active search during the global financial crisis to get another employment in investment banking in September 2012. I joined the Financial Advisory team of UniCapital in 2012 and was there till December 2014 before I joined Meristem Securities Limited as the Head of the Financial Advisory Team in January 2015. I had a one-year industry stint at Petrolex Oil & Gas Limited as the Corporate Finance Manager from January to December 2018.
I finally got employed at Ernst & Young (EY), one of the global Big Four firms in December 2018, nine years after I had failed to get a consulting job in one of the Big Four firms.
Following on from qualifying as a chartered accountant in May 2004, I became a chartered stockbroker in March 2012 and a charter holder of the CFA Institute in August 2017, a rigorous examination I completed successfully whilst working full time as a wife and mum of three young kids. I was conferred as a Fellow of the Institute of Charted Accountants in April 2022.
I am currently a Director at EY. I do deals on a day-to-day basis. I help my public and private sector clients invest raise, preserve, and optimize capital. I do these by conducting valuations, financial modeling & analysis, market analysis & research, feasibility studies, due diligence, mergers & acquisitions, public sector advisory, and project finance.
I am also a CFA lecturer and I facilitate various finance-related courses and trainings for different institutions.
I am passionate about helping others find fulfilment in their careers, and I have over the last five years, released articles weekly on my LinkedIn page using storytelling as the main tool to cause behavioral change. I created the initiative C.L.E.A.N in 2018 to inspire people to achieve their career and life potentials. C.L.E.A.N is a mentoring platform that uses storytelling to re-energize and inspire people.
I have volunteered in various capacities. For instance, I am currently the Chairman of the Board of the Covenant Community Groups, a position I have held since August 2021. I am a third-year member of the Technical Sub-Committee for the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), having been opportune to join in 2021. I have also volunteered in the Gender Diversity of the CFA Society Nigeria and Covenant Capital, a not-for-profit making organization that provides financial, mentoring, and advisory to budding intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs.
I have won several awards such as the third-best overall student in ICAN examinations in 2001, one of the Top 100 Career Women in Nigeria in 2021, and the Young Achievers Nigeria Award in 2022.
I am married and blessed with three kids. One of the things I love to do is meet new people. I would love to meet you.