Leadership looks different when shaped by lived experience.
This March, as we celebrate women across the Heirs Holdings Group, HH People features Ibukun Odurinde in a thoughtful and reflective conversation on womanhood, strength, and impact. Drawing from her professional journey and her work empowering entrepreneurs at the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Ibukun shares insights with Priscilla Okorie on what it means to show up fully, without shrinking and without apology. Thanks to her mum!
PO for HH People: Hello Ibukun, thank you for gracing us with your time again. It’s been a while since our last conversation.
Ibukun: Hello Priscilla! Laughs. Yes, it’s been a while.
PO for HH People: This month, the world celebrates women and all the value we bring. From your perspective, what does being a woman feel like? So, let’s start at the beginning — what does womanhood mean to you?
Ibukun: Womanhood means strength, resilience, patience, and love. Those four words capture it for me.
PO for HH People: I like that you said strength because it ties into something that’s been on my mind — and into my next question. There’s always this talk about being strong as a woman: you have to manage the home, and parents especially focus on developing “strength” in their daughters. So now I’m curious — what does strength mean here?
Ibukun: When I speak about strength, I’m referring to what women are expected to carry from a very young age. As the first child, for example, you’re expected to take responsibility early — doing chores, caring for siblings, helping at home — while the boys are often given more freedom. You are constantly being “prepared for the future.”
Strength also means mental endurance: preparing for puberty, managing menstrual cycles, enduring pain, and eventually childbearing. Women are expected to nurture, to support, to sacrifice. The expectations are layered and constant.
And honestly, women withstand a lot — emotionally and physically. Laughs. Despite what some may say, we’re not the crybabies. Hahaha.
PO for HH People: The irony! Because men say women are the crybabies.
Ibukun: That’s interesting, because I once witnessed something that changed my perspective entirely. About 10 or 12 years ago, my neighbour died in a house fire. There was only one exit, and the fire started there. Her husband ran out to save himself, leaving her and their three children inside. One child survived, but when they found her, she was curled around her children.
Her final instinct was to protect them, even at the cost of her own life.
That kind of strength — sacrificial, instinctive — is powerful. You would know that her final thoughts were, “Instead of my kids, I’d rather burn first.”
PO for HH People: Was there ever a time you realised that because you are a woman, you would very likely be treated differently?
Ibukun: I realised it first at home. We were mostly girls, with one brother. He was the most pampered. Even as the youngest girl, I didn’t experience that same level of indulgence because he was “the boy.”
Then later, working as a Client Advisor in Asset Management, I experienced it again. Engaging male clients came with challenges that my male colleagues didn’t face. You see a successful woman, and assumptions are made that a man must be behind her success. But when you see a wealthy man, you assume competence and intelligence.
That consciousness drives me. I never want to be in a position where I’m underestimated because I am a woman. If a man can do it ten times, I’ll do it fifty.
PO for HH People: Have you ever felt the need to shrink yourself — in your voice, ambition, or presence — to make others comfortable?
Ibukun: No. My upbringing shaped that. My parents raised us to be confident and content with who we are, while still striving to grow. I was taught that regardless of who is in the room, I am not less than anyone there. Why should I shrink to make someone else comfortable? Parents need to instil that belief in their daughters — you are enough.
PO for HH People: Funny because I was going to mention that parents somewhat contribute to why women are not confident. They tell their daughters not to be too loud, to act a certain way — but you don’t see those rules applied to boys. By the time these girls grow up and have ideas, they’ve been taught never to be the loudest in the room, so they shrink. Meanwhile, boys who grew up acting like they own the room… do just that.
Ibukun: That’s true, but I believe things are changing. Women are owning their voices more now. They’re speaking up, dominating sectors, entering spaces that were previously male dominated. Even in nightlife and club culture, women are beginning to own that space.
Women bring a different perspective — love, kindness, resilience. There’s a different culture women bring. So yes, even though some parents still do this, a lot more people are focusing on women empowerment and inclusion. That gives women confidence to step out and speak.
PO for HH People: This is really reassuring — that the future is promising for women. In your experience, how true is that in practice, both professionally and through your work at TEF?
Ibukun: When I joined TEF in 2018, our entrepreneurship programme selections were heavily male — sometimes up to 84%. Not because we favoured men, but because fewer women applied. Today, we’re almost at 50:50. In some programmes, women even surpass men.
For instance, in our Aguka ideation programme, the earlier years were male-dominated, but now we’re seeing 53% women participation.
Women are becoming more deliberate — showing up, applying, contending. That shift is encouraging.
PO for HH People: Speaking of that shift — has there been a moment when another woman stood up for you, opened a door for you, or when you did that for someone else?
Ibukun: Hahahaha. Absolutely. In my first job at Glo, my Line Manager was incredibly supportive. Later, in another department, I worked with another woman — you’d expect competition, but instead I found mentorship and encouragement.
At TEF, my first boss, the CEO at the time, always told me to stay in the driver’s seat. She would say, “Never let anyone push you into the passenger seat.” She emphasised creating value — because when you create value, it’s difficult to be sidelined.
I owe a lot to those women. They believed in me, even when I doubted myself.
PO for HH People: What part of yourself are you still learning to embrace fully?
Ibukun: I think it’s more of me identifying areas to improve on. I don’t think there’s any area of my life that I do not embrace or love. One thing I tell myself is: for people to love and appreciate you, you have to love yourself first. Naturally, people will like you when you do.
However, I’d love to improve my skill set and how I work with other people.
PO for HH People: What do you wish more men understood about women, particularly in leadership and ambition?
Ibukun: I think men need to understand that women are naturally hardworking and self-reliant. We’re constantly seeking improvement. Men need to allow women the space to prove themselves and make impact.
Women bring compassion and inclusiveness into leadership, but that doesn’t mean we compromise on results. We deliver.
PO for HH People: Complete this sentence for us: Being a woman means ______.
Ibukun: Being powerful.
PO for HH People: Laughs. Thank you so much, Ibukun. This has been a meaningful conversation. I absolutely enjoyed discussing with you.
Ibukun: Always my pleasure, Priscilla.
