Underestimation has its Pros Sometimes; They Don’t See You Coming — Tomilola Adejana
#SCAIWD2022: An interview with the co-founder and CEO of Bankly
In honour of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, 2022, we had an editorial series that featured female (co-)founders in the African tech space. Every year, in March, women are celebrated worldwide across different fields and industries. The theme for this year’s IWD is #BreakTheBias. As we all know, the tech industry is largely male-dominated, and at She Code Africa we constantly work to enlighten, encourage, celebrate, and empower women in tech to #BreakTheBias.
For our second episode, we had an interesting interview session with Tomilola Adejana, the co-founder and CEO of Bankly. We talked about her journey as a woman and founder in tech and the lessons she has picked up in her journey.
Tomilola Adejana is Co-Founder and CEO of Bankly. Bankly, the “Bank to the Unbanked” is an establishment that has shown consistency in meeting the needs of the financially excluded by enabling them with digital ways to grow their income safely and seamlessly.
“Please note that some parts of the interview have been paraphrased for readability sake and pleasantries have been skipped. ”
SCA: What was your earliest contact with tech?
Tomilola: In high school, we used to do computer science as a subject. We didn’t really know about tech as much as people do now. I just knew what computers were and the basic ways to operate them. We would later take it a step further by going to Cyber Cafes to surf the internet.
SCA: So how did you go from that to becoming a co-founder of a fintech firm?
Tomilola: I usually refer to myself as an accidental tech founder. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur in the agricultural space. Bankly started because I followed a problem and was obsessed with solving it.
I had initially started a company that didn’t turn out well. I see it as my first failure. I went to get an MBA outside Nigeria and was exposed to working with companies using tech as a means to solve things. I see tech as a solution enabler and not necessarily a default solution. Having a background in science, I was able to do research effectively. I wanted to solve a financial problem, so I focused on that as the research element and tech as the enabler.
SCA: So basically, it started from the desire to solve a problem. Awesome! During the journey from conceiving an idea, researching it, and then becoming a co-founder, what would you say has been your lowest point and how did you get through that?
Tomilola: I think that, as a founder, there’s always a mix of emotions. One moment, you’re pumped about what you are building and happy to be killing it, and the next moment, you are wondering, “Which way next?” I’ve had quite many low points; however, there’s one that sticks out to me the most.
There was someone I looked up to in the industry at the time, and I was hoping he’d be some sort of a guide during the journey. I had hoped he would show me the ropes and help me unblock whenever I had questions. I saw him as a coopetition instead of a competition. However, he didn’t. So he treated me as a competition and did some painful things. I was naive and didn’t see it coming.
SCA: So sorry about that, Tomi. Would you say that any bad event occurred simply because you were a woman? Tell us about your experience with gender inequality.
Tomilola: Hmm. Around the time we were starting Bankly, I was to have a meeting with a company, alongside my CTO who is a man. We had had conversations virtually and were almost at the final stage; hence, the physical meeting. All the reps from the other company were men.
During the conversation, my CTO and I pulled out our business cards. And, on looking at both cards, the men on the other side looked at themselves and laughed to my face. One of them looked at me and said, “You? You are the CEO?” I think it was a mix of sexism and ageism. You know, people will always judge someone by something. He realised that the young, unmarried woman he was undermining was actually the boss of who he thought was the boss. You could tell he was shocked. As the conversation continued, they would ask me at intervals whether I truly knew what I was doing.
“Women are underestimated, significantly so. You may lose some deals and opportunities. But underestimation has its pros sometimes; they don’t see you coming.”
SCA: They don’t see you coming, so you get to shock them.
Tomilola: Exactly! You get to shock them. The more you shock them, the more likely they are to extend the opportunity to another woman coming after you.
SCA: That’s a beautiful way to look at it. Thank you, Tomi. What values would you say you have held onto during your journey thus far?
Tomilola: The first one and the one I hold dearest is learning and development. I just want to learn. I always want to talk to people who know. Once I find someone who is saying something I can learn from, I am willing to listen and learn. And that’s how Bankly was formed. We fell in love with a problem and continually sought ways to solve it. Even now, we learn how to redefine and modify our solution and seek ways to solve it differently.
The next one is Authenticity and Honesty. We are constantly changing. We change because we are developing and learning new information, and building is hard. Everyone seems to have an opinion on and off the internet of who you should be, especially as a woman. It’s important to recognize that you are who you are because of a unique thing you possess which makes you you. You are constantly growing; however, you shouldn’t lose your authenticity in the process. Hold on to your core values. It’s your journey; own it.
Another one is Courage. It takes courage to build, speak your truth, go out of your comfort zone, and say and do unpopular things. When I quit my job where I was already a stakeholder to start Bankly, I didn’t tell my parents. There were a lot of uncertainties: what if it failed? What if I didn’t turn out to be what I thought or hoped for? What if people started referring to me as the girl that tried to build her company but failed? It takes courage to take risks and face failure in the face. It takes courage to say, “I don’t know what the end looks like, but I’ll do it anyway.”
SCA: Wow! That’s very profound. I love how you have allowed your personal values to shine through your corporate brand. Thanks for that. What are you most proud of as a founder?
Tomilola: I am proud of the journey so far and the possibilities that walking this journey has shown to other women. I’m proud of how tech has shown young people that there are several opportunities out there. I’m proud of how you can sit at the other end of my screen to interview me without any barrier or power dynamics. I’m proud of how we constantly show people that we can accelerate growth.
SCA: We are proud of you too! Finally, what’s your IWD message?
“Tomilola: Leadership is usually portrayed from a male’s perspective — tough and aggressive. While we work to #BreakTheBias, it is important to be comfortable being a woman. Leadership and femininity are not mutually exclusive. Live authentically with courage. Speak up; don’t conform.”
Glossary
Coopetition: the act of cooperation between competing companies by forming a strategic alliance designed to help both companies. [Adam Hayes, Investopedia, 2021]
Interview by Olamide 'Pearl' Makinde and Ekemini Okpongkpong
Catch up on our last interview episode with Damilola Olokesusi, the CEO of Shuttlers.
