I had heard of Ayodeji Megbope for years, the mega businesswoman who started her business with 1000Naira selling moimoi. Her achievements have been celebrated at home and internationally and I walked into her office hoping to get a peek at the face of this woman that has graced the screens and the covers of magazines. I got more than a peek at her face as she opened up her heart for this interview. Prepare yourself for a journey of encouragement as she shares her story and in between the lines, read of a God who is still in the business of bountifully blessing His children, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.
May we get to know you please?
My name is Ayodeji Megbope and I am the founder and CEO of No leftovers Nigeria Limited. I am a pastor’s wife and have been married for 25 years. I am a mother to two amazing children. I grew up in Lagos state. I had a primary and secondary education and then went to a secretarial college.
Tell us about your journey as a child of God.
I come from a Christian home. We are Anglicans by birth. My father is a retired Anglican priest. My consciousness of my status as a child of God came when I was about 19. I attended TREM for 16 years and got married there. I was taught there that whatever you couldn’t get it in the word did not exist. The foundation I developed has shaped the way I do life and business. My husband was a pastor in TREM for 7 years and God gave instruction to move to the fountain of life church where he also serves as a full time pastor and we have been there now for 11 years.
Your business ‘NO LEFTOVERS’ is a source of inspiration for many young people. Can you tell us about the journey to where you are today?
No leftovers started 11 years ago. I never intentionally set out to start this business. I was turning forty then and I grew depressed just thinking about my life. I couldn’t think of anything I had achieved outside being married. I was happily married but felt there was more I could be doing, I felt I was not fulfilling purpose. I had worked as a secretary for 20 years and my last place of employment was Corona school in Ikoyi where I worked as a secretary for 9 years. People would come to drop their applications, and I would go through their resumes, young people in their early 20’s with post graduate certificates and I felt sad because I didn’t have a university degree to advance in my career. I had attempted going for a part time programme while working but I had some childhood experiences that made my husband and I resolve that we would give full attention to our children. I started a program in UNILAG but I would be in class and have pictures of something terrible happening at home. I decided to wait until our children were of age. My pressing thought at that time was that I was turning 40 and I had not achieved anything substantial. I had heard so much about passion and I just could not place my finger on what my passion was. I felt that since I loved working with children, I would open a daycare center. I attended a Montessori program but after the course realized that as much as I loved children, it wasn’t bringing a spark to my life. My only confidant at that time was my husband and he said to me “Ayo, you can’t make a mistake at 40, be sure of what you want to do. Wait on God.” It was a daily struggle to make ends meet and manage the resources we had. This day I was sad because there was no food or money in the house. I asked my husband for some money and all he had was 1000Naira. I looked at him and tears started dropping from my eyes. I cried my eyes out, I felt frustrated as a Christian. People came to me for counseling and got good results so why was I so stuck. At the market, I sat down and looked at the 1000Naira and thought of how to stretch the money. I decided to buy beans to cook and later make akara and moimoi from. I heard God say “ you will make moimoi today”. That night, my sister in law paid us a visit and asked for a wrap, which I reluctantly gave her. She loved it and requested I made some for her the next day. I gave some to my neighbors and they loved it as well and wanted to know how much I was selling it for. A light bulb went on in my head at that moment. I could sell moimoi!
My sister in law gave some to her friends and they placed orders. That was how the calls started coming in.
When you started out, did it occur to you that NO LEFTOVERS would come this far?
I had no idea then. I did not know anything about business; I was just satisfied with turning the 1000Naira into 5000Naira in a week. I was able to debunk the lies of the enemy that there was nothing good about me and that I was an empty brain because I didn’t go to school. I found I could do something with my hands. I could turn over money given to me. It was enough for me then. People started asking me about my moimoi business and it dawned on me that this was actually a business. At that time I was just selling to family and friends and I wanted more outlets for my business. I heard God telling me to go to Corona school but I shut down that idea. How could I go back to Corona school where my exit was celebrated on the premise that I was leaving to set up my school, only to return selling moimoi? I argued extensively with God but at the end I gave in and encouraged myself. I stood at the gate, praying fervently not to run into a particular set of parents who had discouraged me then from leaving Corona, I remember then how they painted a picture of how tough it would be surviving on my husbands’ salary as a serving pastor. Imagine my surprise when the first person that came out with her child was one of the parents. My initial reaction was to hide but as I looked down at my cooler and the parents trooping behind her, I knew I couldn’t afford to let that opportunity pass me by. I remember screaming “buy this moimoi and your life will never remain the same.” I was desperate! That parent grabbed me “Ayo what are you doing, what happened to the school?” I replied, “my friend, the school is coming, you just buy the moimoi.” We had a good laugh and she bought some and other parents bought as well. I knew they were buying for different reasons but at that point I wasn’t bothered. The fact that I had started with 1000Naira and was already making 20, 000Naira, from a product I made with my hands; I didn’t care what anyone else thought. Selling out that day gave me the courage to keep going back there. There were times I didn’t sell but I had developed such confidence in myself and faith in God. I started seeing disappointments as blessings. My outlook and attitude to life began to change.
As my business grew, the need to go to a business school arose so I began to pray about it. When you ask God for something, you have to be open and ask God to be sensitive when opportunity comes. I saw in an article that an American company wanted to invest in women who had been running their businesses for not less than 6 months but didn’t have a clue on how business should be structured. I saw this as my opportunity, but when I found out they were running the programme in conjunction with Enterprise for Development Center (EDC), the devil came to taunt me. He reminded me of the university degree I didn’t have and I became afraid. I showed the article to my husband and he encouraged me to apply, reassuring me that if God was behind it then all I had to do was believe. I applied and was admitted. It was a scholarship program and the fee was 200,000Naira then but as a commitment fee, we were told to pay 60,000Naira. I didn’t have the money at that time but I went to the authorities and they allowed me pay in installments. We shared our stories before the Americans and they were so intrigued that I had started with just 1000Naira that they requested to see my kitchen. I became very uncomfortable and gave them different excuses to prevent them from coming. “I didn’t have an office, I cooked from my husbands kitchen, and I live in a rough neighborhood.” None of my excuses deterred them and they came the very next day. My husband seeing how distressed I was, calmed me down and helped me give the house a quick makeover. I look back now and wonder why I made such a fuss.
One of the things I was worried about was light. We never had light at that time of the day, but that day there was light from the time they set foot into the house and went off immediately the Americans left our house. All they came to see me do was wrap moimoi in my kitchen. Some months later, they sent me an email inviting me to the United States. That was my first visit to America!
Would you say you have found and are living your life’s purpose?
I have learnt that you can fulfill purpose on any platform. Every day it dawns on me that it’s not about moimoi, God gave me moimoi as a platform. On My first trip to the United States, I stood before the board of directors and I had flashbacks of how I would stand in front of the mirror as a little girl addressing a crowd. I remembered how as a girl I enjoyed reaching out to people but I had been abused and that made me recoil and I lost confidence as a result of that. I understand now that everything I went through was to bring me to this place. Moimoi is running on its own with or without me and I sit in my office everyday counseling and encouraging people, this is it for me. God has given me No left-overs as a platform and I don’t take it for granted. I am careful and mindful of the fact that it isn’t about me but it is the grace of God. There are times when I am breathless from activities but I am conscious of the fact that if I lose His presence, I lose His testimony. I can see fulfillment of purpose in the lives of my children, I can see it in my marriage and I am eternally grateful to God.
Besides running NO LEFTOVERS, what other activities do you engage in?
I do a lot of counseling. I convene a fellowship that started in my office. I mentor women and girls. I have adopted two schools and I run an NGO called Ayodeji Megbope Inspires (AMI).
What is your big goal for life? Would you say you are on your way there?
My big goal for life is to see people fulfill purpose. To share my experiences and encourage people who have found themselves in situations where they feel stuck, especially those whom the world has labeled “can do no good” because that is the label I wore for years. To inspire them and see them rise to their full potential. That is my goal. I am seeing it and I am grateful to God. I pray God continues to help me.
What principles guide your life?
Integrity. I find that it is not so common now. I learnt this life principle from my biological father who would rather lose every material thing than soil his name. I learnt this principle also from my spiritual fathers Bishop Mike and Pastor Taiwo. Hard work pays. Knowledge is important. Everyday I ask God for grace to acquire more knowledge and for me to be able to apply this knowledge.
What is your typical day like?
Right now I am more organized because I have people who do different things for me. By Sunday I have a clear breakdown of the things I need to get done during the week. I try to take a lot of rest. No matter how busy I am with the mentoring and counseling, I need to keep my eyes on the business, but there are processes in place so I don’t need to micromanage everything. We train teenagers in catering and life skills. No leftovers is now more than just moimoi. We are rebranding and the tag line is moimoi and much more.
What inspires you and do you have mentors?
Results inspire me. And the lives of my mentors inspire me. Peoples stories inspire me. You can’t talk about result without seeing growth. Getting feedback about how every little step has inspired someone else to get up and start running inspires me.
I have mentors like Mrs. Ibukun Awosika. My husband is my mentor. My pastors are my mentors. Some of my family members are my mentors. I even get mentored from books I read.
In your walk with God, there must have been some landmark moments that have greatly impacted you. Can you share some of those with us?
The start of my business is really a landmark moment for me but there have been some seeming failures that have been landmark moments for me. I remember when we had to take the decision to shut down the Abuja branch. We had huge dreams when we opened up in Abuja but didn’t know that there was an existing tussle on the location. Judgments were given in favor of the other party and we had to leave. That affected business. In all of that, we decided to look at the big picture and not just the loss. We had staff shuttling Lagos and Abuja and there was never any accident. That is worth being grateful for. I am also grateful that we came back from Abuja with all our equipment, which we plan to use to open another branch. For all these, I am grateful. God’s word tells us “many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him from them all.” I see affliction and I see deliverance.
10 years from now, where do you see yourself?
10 years from now, I will be 60. I will be retired. I see my husband and I on a beach just having fun, answering phone calls. Dividends of our labor are still entering our account and we are still making impact in the name of Jesus.
In a world that appears to be very male dominated, how do you advice a woman find herself, stand out and make a success of every area of her life?
It starts from us as parents, we need to stop telling our daughters that their life begins and ends in a marriage. We grew up hearing that success in life is dependent on the man you marry. We need to change this narrative from the home. Don’t tie your life to marriage, marriage is beautiful no doubt, a lot of women are stuck because they are not married and they end up making wrong decisions in desperation. Make the best use of opportunities that come your way. Don’t be envious of anybody. Learn from the people God sends to you.
What do you say should be the lifestyle of the woman who will make a difference in her world?
God first. I love my husband so much and he has been a blessing to my life but his moods should not determine my happiness. I must have my life as an individual. Your sufficiency should be in God. For a woman, fix your attention on God and ask Him to help you. Be content. If you are not content, you will be miserable even if you have the whole world. Being content shouldn’t stop you from aspiring to be better.
Last Word.
Know God for yourself and learn to depend on God. Be confident in who God has made you, believe in yourself and stay focused. Remember that life has the good and the bad, when it is good, celebrate it, when it is bad go back to God and ask Him to turn it around for you.