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Hello World! Trust you’re all having a great weekend. Temmy Balogun’s blog brings to you a vibrant, creative and self motivated young entrepreneur who knows his unions well when it comes to producing inspirational podcasts .
I met Samuel Adeoye a.k.a. Seven in an entrepreneurship programme tagged #MeetTheExecutives, apart from his unique business idea, the love he has for photography was very obvious during the programme as he united everyone together indirectly with group pictures. It was fun having him on the programme.
Samuel is the brain behind Podlobe; an online platform that produces, manages and distributes podcast content for your creative use. They believe that by listening, you can think and create a future others can only imagine. Their ultimate goal is to inspire creativity.
They have carefully designed their channels to meet the needs of their target audience who are students and fresh graduates either they are working or not.
Samuel shared alot of interesting and motivating experience in this interview, kindly read between the lines as you enjoy the weekend,you will sure have something interesting to hold on to after reading this!
Welcome to Temmy Balogun’s blog Mr Samuel Adeoye,please tell us briefly about your education, your ethnicity, your family and the most interest part of your days in the university ….
Thank you so much for having me here. I don’t mean to sound rude or proud, but I don’t care the number of Samuels you may know, I am the Seventh Samuel, after the first Samuel, a Prophet #laughs I am a civil engineering graduate of the University of Ibadan. I am a Nigerian who thinks we need to begin to forget our ethnicity; It is the very root of our divide. I am the first child out of five.
What stimulated your passion for entrepreneurship? How and when did it all began?
I would say it all started with one act of Engr. Ajibola Obakin (now my mentor) during my IT at his company. And one day, he just walked up to me, give me Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad and Poor Dad.
I was shocked and honored at the same time. Imagine the CEO of a big Construction Company walk up to you and ask you to read a book? Aside reading it, he ask that I report to him every week what I had learnt from each chapter. Who was I not to read it ?#laughs
During that period, I had the opportunity to also work closely with a lecturer of mine, Dr. Oladejo. She is also my mentor now. Her philosophy of multiple relevance (what people call multiple streams of income), struck me. She made me realise that life is worth more than being able to provide for yourself and your family. Life is about purpose. She introduced me to Enactus Nigeria and encouraged me to be self-sufficient rather than wait to be fed.
Then Pastor Fela Durotoye, the CEO of Gemstone, came to my Campus on a leadership transformation tour. I participated in my first ever entrepreneurial competition that his organization organized.
Fortunately for me, I was among the top three entrepreneurs of the competition. I became a campus star after the competition. I told myself, I could do this if I wanted to.
And in recent times, my Uncle, an “Astute entrepreneur”, Mr Remi John, whose guidance and words of wisdom during my service year made me stronger. I also have to mention my boss during NYSC, Engr. Femi Ebofin. I know what it feels like to be encouraged to venture into the entrepreneurial world by the same boss you work for. It is priceless and confounding!
What personal ethic(s) have helped you so far in your entrepreneurship journey?
I can be very stubborn when I want to. Persistence is a better way to describe what has helped me so far. Maybe because of how I was brought up and what I had to face, I hate to be looked down upon. And who ever did, always did it at his/her own peril.
Let me share an experience in line with what i just mentioned, sometimes back while i was much younger I had to my change environment and stay with my cousin. My cousin would make jest of how bad my English was. #laughs, I never found any of his jokes funny. One day, he was doing his Technical Drawing assignment when I walked into his room. He bragged I could not do what he was doing. I took his drawing sets, and did it to his amazement. The next day, I dropped Agricultural Science, and joined Technical Drawing class. I remember my TD teacher sending me and a couple of other friends I had inspired to join me out of the class. We had to sign a document with the principal to join the class. No one had ever joined her class in SS2 first term, and passed WAEC, not even with a C6. I ended up becoming the first student to make an A in TD both in GCE and WAEC.
Your startup produces, manages and distributes podcasts; please explain to us in your own words what podcast means and its key function?
Podcast is to me, is much more than just another audio or any digital file for that matter that is uploaded unto the internet on a regular basis and can be subscribed to via RSS feeds. Podcast is the best way to create a closer relationship with people. It is a movement. And this is why I say that: I remember those days, when I copied my class mates notes any time I couldn’t catch up with the teacher cause I was busy disturbing others, I would hear their voices in my head as I read their notes. I would imagine how they are doing it. Even your conscience speaks to you in an audible voice. When you read people’s letter, your mind makes you hear their voice. As the real essence of a man is his spirit, the real essence of a message is the voice that it comes it.
With video or text (with no discredit to this means, they have their place too), you have to giving your whole attention to it. But with podcast you could be walking to class, driving to work, cleaning your room, or doing other stuffs and still get the value out of it. The key feature of podcast is to pass the most important information to people with your own voice and leaving the rest of the message to be interpreted with their imagination.
Podlobe’s ultimate goal is to enhance creative thinking among students and fresh graduates, what is the reason behind this goal?
My team’s desire to contribute our quota to solving Nigeria’s multi-faceted problems, the desire to see Nigerians embrace these problems and see opportunities in them are the main reasons behind this goal. And this is not just for students and graduates, it is also for those still spending creative years writing JAMB, and employed millennials who believe they can do better than what they are currently doing.
If we can tap into the connection between the ears and the brain, we might just be able to encourage Secondary School leavers/Job seekers to see possibilities rather than waste the next 6 years of their lives writing JAMB/looking for a job; we might just be able to help students realise what an opportunity it is to be in campuses filled with some many problems and yet so many opportunities. In Enactus, we believe in seeing possibilities. In Junior Chamber International (JCI), we believe that service to humanity is the best work of life.
Does this mean other individuals outside the circle of the above mentioned target audience, can’t make use of your podcasts?
No, age is a thing of the mind. If Colonel Sanders was still alive just before he founded KFC, he would have listened to Podlobe at some point, Swiych podcast to be precise. It is totally wrong to believe that a fool at forty is a fool forever. Anyone could be a fool at any age. It is when you are unwilling to take advice and change, that you remain a fool forever. What I am saying is this: podlobe is for those who even at 78 still believe they are young at heart, who still want to do something different. We hope to convince Africans, most especially Nigerians that age or status is no barrier to creativity, only the mindset is.
Podlobe is set to launch on 1st of August 2016, will you say all is set for its launch? How will your target audience get access to the podcasts distributed? Are there any fees to be paid before accessing the platform?
We do not have all we would have loved to launch, but we have just what we need to start small. And I do believe that even if it is postponed for another one year, not all would still be set. The world is constantly changing. Companies are going into extinction fast than they are realising because of changes greatly propelled by the internet. So we would have to evolve as we grow. We have decided to launch only the basic features we have in mind and add to it as we begin to interact with our consumers real time.
Our podcast are completely free. We hope to be the largest innovative podcasting platform in the world inspiring creativity, but we are launching with only one channel. Our budding community of podcast listeners can get our podcast via our website and podcast directories like iTunes. With time, we would launch other outlets.
Before reaching the conclusion to launch Podlobe, what were the challenges faced?
They were so much and if am to mention all i will take a whole lot of your time. That’s probably going to be a chapter of a book, and if I’m not careful, a book.
But our biggest challenge has been our mindset. Lack of funds, cultural and societal expectations, supporting ecosystem all comes from a mindset. And we are glad to be breaking that mindset and launching soon!
How do your target audience get notified when you finally launch?
They can go to www.podlobe.com and subscribe to our alert,so they can be automatically informed once we go live.
They can also follow up on;
Facebook: www.facebook.com/podlobe
Twitter: www.twitter.com/podlobe
Instagram:www.instagram.com/pod.lobe
What do you love most about your decision to launch Podlobe?
The fact that we replaced our name! So we use to be My School Podcast and I was a big fan of the name until I realized the potential limitation it could place on our first digital product. Another is the gut we have! It is unimaginable.
What stands Podlobe out from other podcast producing start-ups?
#LAUGHS we are yet to launch. You will have to find out with time. But we know what to do to be different. We have seen a gap and we are stepping into it.
Would you say team work had a great impact on the successful establishment of Podlobe?
A tremendous impact. I remember how much students we could reach when we were still My School Podcast in the early days. It was basically because of volunteers who would share whatsapp episodes with friends. We are where we are today because of teamwork. I am able to speak to you because of my team. The success or failure or any project may ultimately lie with the leader, but it begins with the team.
What other significant features and benefits of Podlobe will you like to share with your target audience?
At Podlobe, we believe that by listening, you can think and create the future others can only imagine. We believe that the purest form of happiness comes from seeing and making others happy. We believe that all you need to do to succeed is in finding that right voice to listen to. Our job is to help you find that voice and inspire creativity in you; we know that you are capable of sorting out the rest.
Your advice for young entrepreneurs like you….
Recognise you need to work closer with God. Find time to thank him for where you are right now. Be willing to work hard. The harder you work, the luckier you become. Things don’t happen overnight. The earlier you realise this, the less likely you are to die of hypertension in your 50s. Stop calling Aliko Dangote, Bill Gate, Mark Zurkerberg, Tony Elumelu, Adenuga your mentor! Do you dine with them or even the people that report directly to them? How often do you visit their home? Do they call you son/daughter? Do they ask about what you are currently up to? Look for someone close to you.
Your words of wisdom to African youths…
Come home and let us build our land.
Thanks for sharing with us Seven!
You can contact Samuel Adeoye through;
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/samueladeoye
Email: samueladeoye_gl@yahoo.com
