Olufunbi Akinyosoye , a graduate of Marine Biology of the University of Lagos is also an alumni scholar and certified entrepreneur of the prestigious Enterprise Development Centre of the Lagos Business School ( which is under a World Bank initiative and UK affiliate ParkRoyal Finishing School).
With over 20 years in the event industry, her passion and dogged determination for improving and contributing her quota to the growth of the event sector and industry as a whole is immeasurable. Olufunbi has undergone several courses like the IMEX Conference at Las Vegas, Project management courses in the UK and Customer Service and Human Relations training within and outside the shores of this country.
Olufunbi is on the board of directors of the Association of Professional Party Planners & Event Managers of Nigeria (APPOEMN) and shes presently the Vice President.
In this interview with Oyinlola Sale, Olufunbi Akinyosoye, CEO of Dunamis Events takes us through the Evolution of Nigeria’s Events Industry.
Now, tell us what inspired your journey into setting up Dunamis Events?
I have always loved colours, so I believed colours have a way of passing across a message then.
So it just started by loving colours and just wanting to add colours to people’s lives.
At 200 level in Unilag, I realized my passion and the path I wanted to walk on in this life.
I wanted to put orderliness in people’s life, make them a guest in their own party and to take the stress off them and at the same time make lasting memories.
Compare and Contrast Nigeria’s Events Industry, 20 years ago and now?
You can’t compare the event industry of now to back then. it is more of a huge contrast. When I started in the event industry, I was much younger, so when I tell people that am a wedding decorator or event decorator, they say it’s fine but what is your day job. In those days it wasn’t perceived as a proper job then but now people have come to a wider acceptance of it and we still have a long way to go, but obviously we are not where we used to be.
Narrate your experience, when you won Exquisite Lady Of the Year (ELOY) Award?
It was a beautiful awesome experience that I can’t even put into words, yes there was a voting time where you get to solicit for votes and we saw the list of other nominees next to Dunamis and I wondered if we could win this award.
The truth is that there is nothing bad in believing in yourself and when I found out that we won, I was over the moon and ecstatic.
As the Vice President Association of Professional Party Planners & Event Managers of Nigeria (APPOEMN), how has Covid-19 changed the standard of operations of Events Companies in Nigeria?
It has opened us up to the perspective that anything is possible, there is no hard and fast road about it and some way a particular event has to go. It has broadened the horizon and has made our world smaller as a global village.
Now you can have a private ceremony where people can still watch it online. This has opened so many opportunities within this challenges.
It has made people realize that multiple streams of income is a necessity.
Were you ever afraid, when you ventured into this business?
When I ventured into this business , I wasn’t afraid. It was more like serenpedity. I just wanted to fix a particular need and for us to have a colourful event.
What does it take to set up an Events Company Like yours?
Grace and Grits is what it really takes to set up an events company like this.
You just need to roll up your sleeves and get to work. It’s more about being a strategist, planner , vision leader and a game changer. You have to be everything, like a psychologist to your client.
For some of us in the industry, is more than just the money but to have a place to express ourselves to the world.
If you have that burning passion, you have all it takes to start up a company like mine.
What are some of the challenges you have faced so far and how have you managed to overcome them?
The African Market Place is a rocky terrain to thrive and grow, so sometimes you have some policies that will not favour us.
We deal with artisans and some times we need to come down to their level and let them see your world through your eyes and it’s Certainly not as easy task at all. So a major challenge is actually getting the right crop of individual to form a team that can make you get to the top seamlessly and as well as share your vision.
What Impact has your training school made in the Events Industry?
We have made an Incredible and Commendable Impact. We have churned out a whole lot, hundreds of individuals and that way if you have trained anybody, you have raised the envelope and helped in people equipping themselves.
You don’t just learn about event planning but you learn how to be an ambassador to carry yourself as an individual and the brand that is called you.
This has been my calling to impact people and when you empower a person ,you empower the world at large.
Over the years the Events Industry has churned out so many event planners, what makes Dunamis Events Unique?
We don’t just do the needful, I tell people that your attitude determines your altitude. When you come to Dunamis you are like a sponge, you absorb it all because we take you hand on in the area of how to be an Events Professional.
I do things with my heart and with passion
We are Impacting generations in Dunamis.
Tell us about a highly difficult period, where you probably thought of giving up and how you managed to overcome that situation?
Something we never experienced which the world was not prepared for, was Covid-19.
We were shut down for over a year and it has never happened before.
I never thought of giving up but we realized this is a new normal and it is something we are not used to , so how do we survive in this and innovate without being irrelevant.
At some point events became a secondary thing and I had to look inside of me to look at what else can I do to be in people’s lives.
So we started the surprise package where we come into people’s homes to celebrate them and that has been an awesome experience so far.
How did you manage to finance this business in its early days?
Honestly it was self financed, I financed the business myself because I started my business with no money at all.
I just had that vision that I wanted to add colour and beauty to life.
This vision became a passion that drives me because I didn’t start making much money from the beginning, the first wedding I planned at the client’s residence was just 2,000 Naira and I think what we gained at the end then was 800 Naira and I shared it with the boy that worked with me.
It was certainly a humble beginning and if you have the passion to do the Work, the position comes.
What is your growth Projection for Dunamis Events in the Next 5 years?
We have come a long way but we are not still there, our growth projection is to give value added services to our clients and making sure that we go the extra mile and ensure we do extraordinary things for our clients.
We hope to keep improving on our quality of service and our culture to work. We are proudly Nigerian but we are world class standard because we keep improving ourselves and not resting till we reach the top. Use
