Students of the Department of Sociology, Covenant University, Ota, experienced a paradigm shift during a recent Town and Gown Seminar of the department, where an outstanding Alumnus, Miss Aderinsola Omirin, was the Guest Speaker, with a presentation titled, ‘Sociological Tips for Start-Ups and Brand Building.’
Her presentation which was delivered based on her personal experience and journey while still a student in Covenant University, was phenomenal and it is important to note that she graduated in 2021, with a degree in Sociology and won the Entrepreneurial Award of the 16th set of Eagles.
During her presentation, Miss Omirin, who is also the Chief Executive Officer, Solasoles Ng, a Nigerian handmade footwear brand, stated that she became a millionaire at the age of 18, while still in school, and by 19 in 400 level, her products had been shipped to the 36 states of Nigeria, including the federal capital territory and internationally.
She decried the current unemployment level in Nigeria which she validated with the statistic in a recent publication by The Punch Newspaper, sometime in August 2022, “The number of unemployed individuals in the country has hit 23m, a report by Jobberman in collaboration with Young Africa Works and MasterCard Foundation.”
However, she stated that despite the tragic data of unemployment rates, we still have people that are making millions daily, weekly, monthly and doing that legitimately. She encouraged young people to start thinking about developing, and using their gifts and skills early as age is not a barrier to great achievements and impact.
She pointed out that when she started making shoes while in school, she had a number of challenges but overcame them because of the kind of teachings she was receiving in Covenant University especially the ones focused on the development of Possibility Mentality and Discipline.
According to her, she started with basic slippers shoes, but soon, with tenacity and focus, she began to diversify and make more number of foot wears and today, her products focuses on the production of sustainable foot wears for women and kids, as well as the production of orthopedic foot wears for people with special needs,
She stated that she was recently featured on BusinessDay, Nigeria’s top financial paper, exploring her remarkable entrepreneurial journey as an Outstanding Creative Footwear Manufacturer. She launched Solasoles in 2018, at the age of 17, in her first semester of 200 level in Covenant University.
Miss Omirin pointed out how Sociology has helped her on the way to becoming who she is today, and appreciated all her Lecturers, while emphasing on the teachings of the Chancellor, Dr. David O. Oyedepo, which she said helped greatly to chart her course and give her the vision she runs with today.
In fact, she stated that she can still remember the particular Chapel Service and the particular message the Chancellor preached that day which sparked the entrepreneurial vision she is running with today.
She advised the students to imbibe spirituality as it is the key to their rising and elevation in life. She noted that her case shows clearly that one’s destiny is beyond their course of study in school.
Omirin, advised aspiring entrepreneurs that in other to succeed in business, they must be willing to start from where they are and also to be confident in starting little. She encouraged them to love the business they are engaged in, understand the importance of processes, go at their own pace, maximize technology, acquire knowledge, understand the power of association, implement goal setting and be ready to get out of their comfort zone
Aderinsola’s Brand Solasoles, currently has over 22,000 sessions from over 47 countries globally on Shopify, the third largest e-commerce platform in the world. She has certifications with honours in ‘successful presentation’ from University of Colorado and ‘preparing for launch’ from the University of Illinois. Not only that, she has influenced the growth of over 200 start-ups with Startupspaceng since the beginning of the year 2022 and has also recently been nominated for the 2022 UNDER25 awards in the category of Manufacturing and Logistics.
Earlier in her opening remarks, the Head, Department of Sociology, Dr. Tayo George, expressed her excitement at having this great opportunity once more, to host yet another outstanding Eagle. She noted that a great number of Eagles are blazing trails all over the world and advised the students to pay attention and learn how to soar from an experienced Eagle.
Also at the event were other Senior Faculty members of the Department.