Funto Ibuoye is the founder of The Beautified Network, a for-purpose initiative that is focused on enabling women discover and live in the fullness of their God given purpose. Funto is a Chartered Accountant who graduated from Covenant University, she’s a dynamic Speaker and Author. She published her first book Beautified in 2013 and The 31 Woman in 2015.
She is also the Convener of the Becoming Conference, a yearly conference for women between the ages of 18 – 35years with the sole aim of raising inspired women, who will live up to their full potential and contribute their quota to transforming their society and world at large.
In 2017, she was listed among Y-Naija and Leading Ladies Africa 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria. Funto is the Lead Creative Designer at Five28 Interiors, an interior design and decorating outfit.
She is blissfully married to Akinade Ibuoye, a fast- rising Afro fusion artiste popularly known as Gaise and they are blessed with two sons.
Lilian Imoni had an interview with her conducted as part of the HIGH HEELS WITH LILIAN series, a column dedicated to profiling women in business and careers and sharing their inspiring stories, their trials and triumphs. Women who are game changers in their various field of endeavours across different sectors of the economy are featured. If you will like to be featured on this column, please call 07013105041 or contact @lilianimoni on Instagram
What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?
My alarm wakes me up at 3:55am daily because I have a prayer call by 4am so the first thing I think when I wake up most days is “time to pray!”
What has contributed most to your success?
I was recently telling a staff of mine that asides God’s grace and favour, one major thing that has brought me this far is honour. I give honour to whom honour is due. I honour God and I honour those He has surrounded me with who have lifted me up in one way or the other. And this boils down to character/attitude and as the saying goes “your attitude will determine your altitude.”
The key to success in three words.
Trust and Obey (Trust God and obey the instructions He gives per time… that’s the surest way to success!)
What is the greatest piece of wisdom you have heard?
“Don’t worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself.” – Jesus. Worrying kills our creativity and productivity. You can’t do anything creative or productive when you worry. And I’ve come to realise that indeed, tomorrow always takes care of itself.
What motivates you to carry on?
Knowing that everything I’m doing is what God has called and graced me to do and whenever I feel tired, His strength is always available to see me through.
If you were to start all over again what would you do differently?
If I were to start all over again in business, I’d put proper structure in place from day one. In ministry, I’d treat the initiative as a proper organisation from day one.
What has been your greatest challenge as a woman in business?
My greatest challenge in business so far has been hiring and keeping the right staff and I don’t think this is a gender based challenge. It’s been so hard to find the right staff, most young people are just attracted by the glam but are not ready to put in the work required to produce the glam. And when I finally feel like I’ve found the right staff, they don’t want to stay and grow with a start-up because they are fascinated by the multinationals and big names.
What keeps you awake at night?
Work, majorly. Either I’m working on invoices for clients or I’m working on the books I’d soon be publishing.
What is your biggest fear?
I really don’t have any “biggest fear” I might not know exactly what the future holds but I know who holds the future and He says His plans for me are good and not evil, so why should I be afraid?
A seasoned professional, an adorable mother, a loving wife, a mentor to many. How do you strike a balance?
Help! I get help when I can, both paid and unpaid. I ask for help if I have to and I receive help when offered. I cannot do it all by myself and I don’t even want to try to. From volunteers to paid employees to domestic staff to friends and family; it really does take a village to help a woman who wears so many hats strike a balance.
Advice to women in business
Take care of YOU first! You really can’t give what you don’t have. As women in business and/or ministry, it’s so easy to give of ourselves to everyone and forget to take care of ourselves and when we do that, we easily burn out. Our spouses need us to take care of ourselves, our children need us to take care of ourselves, our staff needs us to take care of ourselves because when we take care of ourselves first, we can take care of others better.
How do you relax/unwind? I spend time with my husband alone or with friends, read books and sometimes I just sleep. LOL! I joke with my friends that when I get to heaven the first thing I’d do is sleep for a whole 3 months because I didn’t sleep enough on earth.
