Meet Our Rainbow Rose, Toke.

"I would say the rainbow roses because I have different dimensions to myself. I am very multitalented and I am a very diverse individual."

Meet Oluwatoke Salami. She was born in 2001 and went to the American Christian Academy in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Who was Toke in secondary school?

I was a leader in secondary school. I was someone who people would tend to follow, in terms of the things I did.

I was also in various leadership positions when I was in school.

And I would say I was someone who was very insecure in secondary school I wasn’t really sure of myself. I doubted myself a lot, which kind of affected my self esteem. This was why I felt like I needed to be in these leadership positions... to validate my strengths and my abilities.

Who are you now?

I am still a leader. I am still someone who takes initiative. I'm still someone who puts myself at the forefront of things but I have definitely improved in the whole aspect of validation. I’ve definitely improved in just not seeking validation from other people; from being in leadership positions and doing certain things. It’s more of me doing those things because I actually enjoy it rather than secondary reasons. I definitely have improved in that sense and yeah... I'm me now. I'm a boss chick!

What dreams did you have when you were younger?

The dream I had when I was younger was to own my own business. I always wanted to do that. I’ve always known that. I don’t know whether that’s because both my parents are entrepreneurs, and I just wanted to follow in that line, or I just wanted to do it because I felt it would suit me. I did have other dreams. I wanted to be a lawyer, but that has definitely changed. And I also wanted to manage events.

Have they changed over time?

It hasn’t necessarily changed but I feel that it has shifted more towards something else. I still want to manage events but it’s not the main thing I want to do. From the age of 14, I kind of knew that I wanted to do something that involved food, but I wasn’t sure what it was, and 'cause I always enjoyed being in the kitchen with my dad. I loved business studies so I knew I wanted to go into business. It hasn’t necessarily changed drastically, I just think now it’s a bit more clear what I want to do, and it wasn’t really as clear when I was younger... which I guess is quite normal.

Talk is through your interests, what did you do for fun?

I enjoy baking & cooking. Recently, I've actually just enjoyed watching series, which is not necessarily my thing, but I'm talking about reality shows! I really enjoy them. I enjoy going out for brunch/lunch. I don’t necessarily enjoy going out for dinner but I love lunches, brunches and even breakfast dates. Those are really fun. I cook for fun, genuinely. I go out for fun, I go out to eat for fun. I love going to church for fun. To be honest with you, it’s quite fun. Especially my youth church. I'm not a sports person, but I like to swim.

Do any of these interests reflect your passion?

Yes, cooking and baking is an interest and also a passion. I think it’s an interest that turned into a passion. It wasn’t something I necessarily took too seriously up until lockdown; when everybody was literally forced to cook. So I feel like without that interest, I would have never discovered this passion.

When did you realize you were interested in Baking?

Lockdown. Everyone was kinda forced to cook, I think there was a banana bread saga that was going on at the time. I would just always try different recipes because there was literally nothing else to do. There was nowhere to go, so I was forced to do that and I feel that lockdown was meant for me. I genuinely discovered something that I really loved to do. I knew I loved cooking, but I didn’t know I liked it THAT much. I didn’t know it was a serious passion of mine and God really revealed that to me at that time.

Who/What inspired you to take Baking to the next level?

I think what inspired me was just seeing a lot of people actually putting their passions out there. Basically, not hiding behind closed doors. When you see people do that, especially your friends/people in your age bracket doing that, it creates this drive or this buzz in you to also want to do the same thing. Around that time, everyone was starting things... doing things... and I think that definitely made me key into what I could do. What could I do with my time? What could I do to showcase this talent? I don't want to just keep it inside; I don’t want to just keep it within my friends who know that I love to cook. Why not share this with the world and see where that goes? And God was a huge factor for me. In fact, I did a fast three days before I launched my blog, and the fast was essentially to discover one’s purpose. After that fast, the word came so clearly to start a food page. It was so obvious, I couldn’t even say I didn’t want to do it because it was so obvious that this was something that God had approved of. I wasn't just going to disobey and not do it. Now, I see why God wanted me to start. It has opened so many doors for me. I won’t say "what" inspired me. I would say it was more of a God thing that made me start it... or that made me take it to the next level. Seeing a lot of people do something made me key into what God was saying.

Were there any discouraging factors in your process?

For sure! I think the major thing was just fear that people wouldn’t engage or that people wouldn’t enjoy the content. Or just things like, “I feel like I'll run out of recipes...”, which has happened. I know it’s not the end of the world. It’s happened and I’ve picked myself back up. I’ve run out of things to make & I don’t know what else to do, I don’t know what else people want to see.

A fear of not being consistent. I think that there are times even right now, I'm not even as consistent as I used to be and that’s life... it happens. But at some point, you’ll get consistent again. It just happens and I think those were things that I was super scared of but now that I'm in, this is normal.

Did your secondary school play any role in elevating/deterring this passion?

No, they did not actually. I mean, I shouldn’t say they didn't, they did have some means. I think they had a baking/cooking club, but it stopped there. There wasn’t really any further development. There wasn’t really any other opportunity to properly develop or hone the passion that you had. But even then, I didn’t know that I loved to cook that much, so I don’t even think I would have seen the opportunity... but you never know.

Do you think secondary schools encourage entrepreneurial minds?

Not really. I think a lot of secondary schools are mainly focused on “If you work in this company, you should be a lawyer or be a banker.” They even say that right from primary school, when we’d do "occupation day". They’d always bring doctors or lawyers. It was barely ever, “You should start a business or you should be an entrepreneur…”. So, 100%, I don’t think that they encourage students' entrepreneurial minds. But, I don’t think they discourage it. I just think they don’t talk about it as much as they should, especially with the world that we’re in today. We’re in Nigeria, where a lot of people are entrepreneurs.

What are the most difficult & most rewarding aspects of Bekiri?

The most difficult thing was balancing a "9-5" job with Bekiri. You work 9-5 every day, come back, and then you still have to bake... and then you don't sleep till like 1 a.m... and you'd be up again by 6.a.m. It's super tasking and I didn't know, a lot of people LOVED banana bread. The demand is crazy. I would actually bake so much in the week that I couldn't even keep track. It's a lot of “Go, go, go go.”

That balance of managing both at the same time... it's definitely not for the weak.

But I think the most rewarding aspect is when you actually get it done. I think that just makes me feel like, “Yeah, I did that all by myself.” And I'm running this business all by myself. I have no help, literally. I think it's actually rewarding knowing you have this inside of you; to do both, and do both really well. When I get my reviews... Oh, my reviews always make me so happy! When people are like, “Oh, I love banana bread. It tastes good.” It gets me every time because you know that your hard work is not going to be in vain. People love it so much that they keep coming back for more. That's super rewarding.

Have I ever wanted to give up? Why?

To be honest with you, no. I just started not too long ago. I think because it's still quite fresh, and still quite new, I'm still finding my feet with it. But no, I haven't actually thought of that before. It's a bit too early for that and I think because I enjoy it, I'd rather give up my 9-5 than give up this one. If I was able to give up anything, it would be my 9-5.

Where do you see Bekiri in 3 years?

I think in 3 years, I would love to move back to Nigeria and set up a delivery service. If possible, maybe open up like a physical store, where you can come in and actually get banana bread, fresh! I feel like three years is a bit too short of a timeline, but you never know what God can do. I definitely want to add more to the product line. So it's not just going to be banana bread in three years... it's going to be brownies, cookies, other baked goods, essentially. So yeah, like a full blown Bakery.

Where do you see yourself in 3 years?

I see myself being done with a 9-5 completely in the next few years. But, that could change depending on what my goals will be. I should be fully focused on Bekiri & making it a household name. A name that people will not forget.

Whether you know it or not, we think you're inspirational. With how you've one about life so far, any words to someone reading this?

Hmm. I would say, Dare to dream! The thing is, if your dream doesn't scare you, then you're not dreaming big. Once you have that mindset of, "I'm going to do this thing", things just start working out for you. Never do anything without God at the center. I'm telling you the way that I've grown bakery is only because of God. It's only because, I've involved God in my plans and what I want to do. I've involved God in my future. And God is the ultimate strategist. Whether you employ the best marketing strategist in the world, there's nobody that is as good a strategist as God is.

Do you have any advice for IgeLead & what we're trying to do?

Honestly, I think you guys are doing something amazing. You are really preparing the next generation for big things and setting them up for success, which is super important. I love what you guys are doing. I love the mission & the drive behind it. It is something we didn't have growing up, but now we're giving to the future generation so I'm super excited to see what they are going to do. Well done guys!

Thank you for growing with us.