Last year, I got accepted to the Grooming for Greatness Fellowship, its been an amazing few months of personal development, self reflection and learning. But by far one of the biggest rewards has been meeting other Fellows, who challenge, inspire and encourage me in every way.
Temi Giwa-Tubosun is one of such Fellows. The girl is a ROCKSTAR. Honestly I do not kid. Intentional, passionate about what she does, focused, driven, ambitious and down to earth! But don’t take my word for it, all you have to do is read the answers to the recent questions we asked her.
IBG: Why do you do what you do
Temi: I run LifeBank. LifeBank is a social enterprise trying to stop blood shortage in Nigeria by building a movement of 1 million Nigerian blood donors.
I do what I do because blood shortage is a major problem that needs to be solved. Look its simple, people are dying. 26,000 pregnant women, thousands of kids under 5, and everyday Nigerians just die because of these highly preventable problem. So I decided to solve the problem.
IBG: What motivates you?
Temi: My work. Everyday when I go to work, I get to save lives, what bigger motivation is there? Each donor I convince to give blood gets to save 3 lives, it is just amazing.
IBG: How do you define success?
After I moved back home, and had my son, things got clearer for me. Its simple, being useful to my community, my country, and the world is what success looks like to me.
IBG: What keeps you grounded?
Temi: My son! No matter how well dressed I am, or awards I bag, or people I know, the little boy just wants to spit and drool all over Mama and give me kisses. It grounds me and gives me wings at the same time.
IBG: Biggest entrepreneurial challenge?
Temi: Staffing! Its the biggest challenge I have. Look, your company is only as great as your team. They will do the work so when you don’t have a solid team, things start falling apart. So my biggest challenge is hiring. P.s. if you have sales experience, please send me a note at temie@lifebank.ng.
IBG: Biggest Success?
Temi: I have helped to collect 3,200 pints of blood that saved almost 10,000 people.
IBG: Advice to Female Entrepreneurs?
Temi: Just do it. No one can argue with your user data, or your revenue. Also women founders have to be brave enough to use your emotional intelligence to win at work. This is something I learnt from Mrs. Awosika, Mrs. Alabi, and Mrs. Tara Fela-Durotoye, be kind at work, it really works
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