Toyin Edun, a graduate of Political Science from the University of Ibadan, retired as an assistant general manager from the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) at the age of 40, to start a real estate and hospitality business. In this interview with TAYO GESINDE, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Fusion Group speaks about her career and the secrets of her success in the corporate world. 

Background information

I fell in love with banking during my university days; this led me to choose a career in banking. I started at Eko International Bank from their Human Resources Department, went to FSB International Bank and thereafter, Metropolitan Bank Limited. I later joined FCMB in 2005.  While at FCMB, I started as an assistant manager and rose to the position of the assistant general manager having worked in different departments of the bank. I retired from banking at the age of 40 to start a real estate and hospitality business. I bought into a family business in 2015 where I became a director and subsequently took over the operations in real estate and facilities management. We expanded our focus to co-working space with the setting up of our virtual hub. I also have a keen interest in tourism and hospitality and did quite a lot of work in hotel management, short letting as well as consultancy for the hospitality and tourism sector. Currently, I run a group called the Fusion Group with subsidiaries in South Africa and the United Kingdom.

What informed your choice of career?

While I was in the university, I had the opportunity of meeting several high-profile bankers who held top positions in the banking industry at the time. I liked the fact that they were always smart, well put together and always looking sharp in terms of dressing. They also came across as intelligent, very well rounded, exposed and personable. These were all characteristics I could connect with and the fact that the business is about figures further interested me as I have always been fascinated by numbers and how it translates to earnings. So, it was just a natural fit for me when I left the university in search of a job. I have said in a previous interview that my first job came quite early because I wanted to secure a job early in anticipation of my youth service, however, I got a pre –NYSC opportunity at the first place I dropped my application letter – Eko International Bank. I was asked to start immediately and since then, there was no looking back until October 2014, when I retired from the industry.

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What price did you pay to get to where you are today?

I am not a great fan of words like “price” because people always feel that it can be interpreted to  mean “letting go of certain things.” For me, it was being able to harness all of my strengths together and being able to position myself in a place where I could have everything I wanted so, it wasn’t about letting go of anything. I have been able to combine work, family, socials and recreation in my career. I will just say that it was more of focus rather than sacrificing or paying a price because I was single-minded about what I wanted out of life. It was a matter of being principled, organised and ready to achieve a work-life balance.

What will you say is the secret of your success in the corporate world?

I will say knowledge has been the secret. This is because being knowledgeable is quite attractive. And that is why anywhere I worked, I ensured I gathered as much knowledge as possible. I was truly interested in what I was doing and the onus was on me to learn as much as I could at the different times I worked in different departments of the bank. I was also focused; I knew what my goal was and how I could get to the pinnacle of my career. I was very hard working and was willing to take on tasks that other people shied away from, I was always ready to go the extra mile and I was also quite submissive and humble in learning from whoever I needed to learn from. I understood the place of structure and I deferred and submitted to my superiors. Even when I had one or two things to say, I put it out politely. I will say I also connected with my clients because I was passionate about providing excellent services to them. I had customers who had remained my greatest fans. In the corporate world, there was politics, but I would not say I played politics. However, I  understood the place of diplomacy and therefore knew what to say, when to say it and where to say it. I believe that wisdom really helped me to survive corporate politics. These were the critical things that assisted me to succeed in the corporate world.

What were the challenges you faced when you started your own company?

I started my company at the time when Nigeria was about to experience recession and this really  affected a lot of our projections, our business started off on a very slow note, we did not have the kind of clientele that could afford our services so the sluggish start was sort of troubling but we found our way around it and we were able to understand what the market could absorb. We were also able to offer packaged services to attract international organisations that could understand and afford our value proposition and wanted to come to Lagos, Nigeria to do business. I will say even finding the market was very challenging initially.

The other challenge was the power issue, we were fortunate enough to be in a location in Ikeja GRA  where we have a special power purchase arrangement with IKEDC, this has really helped in managing our power cost within the last one year. The third challenge is people. We have had our fair share of human resource challenges with staff turnover. This is mainly a challenge with SMEs with people being in a hurry to jump in and out. My experience coming from a structured environment and especially the banking industry has helped in weathering the storm and being able to retain good talent, in some cases we had to let some people go but generally, it has been a learning curve. We have gathered experience to keep improving daily.

What do you miss about banking?

I would not say I have missed banking because I’m still a customer of the bank (laughs). But now I am on the other side being served by people. Having said this, I must confess I miss my customers whom I connected with while I was in banking. What I do now is still customer focused and my business model is built around my clients. I operate in a client facing environment and I still pretty much do what I did while I was still in banking.

What is the most defining moment of your career as a banker?

It was the wake of the whole banking crisis of 2002-2005 when the bank where I was working then was challenged and knew that the bank was not going to survive the next stage of the banking sector reform. Everybody was worried and people panicked on what to do next and where to go. But being a loyal person, I told myself I was going to stay with the bank for as long as I had to and ensure that first, my customers got their money back and they were safe knowing that I had not left the bank for another job and abandoned them because of the crisis. I was conscious of the fact that I was going to take my customers to any new bank I moved to and therefore needed to take care of their interest. I had also benefited a lot from my bank and I just did not want to give up on its existence, so I was still there hoping and working hard to see how we could salvage the situation.

I was one of the very last set of people to leave. It was a defining moment for me because people had said” if I wait too long there, I might not get another offer.” But for me, the next place I went, I got the job just because they could connect to my loyalty, commitment and passion in my last place of engagement.

It was defining for me because it seemed like a dangerous place to be, it seemed like it will be the  end. In fact, that marked the end of several careers in the banking sector and some people never rose from it again. However fortunately for me, it was a smooth transition because I was well prepared for it and committed to what I was doing.

 How were you able to combine the home front with your career?

I am an advocate of “how you do anything, is how you do everything.” I understood that my career meant a lot to me, I also understood that I love my family so much and I needed to have time for them. What I did was find out how much more it would cost me to get professional care for my children so that while I was at work, I could concentrate on the work. On the other hand, I worked so hard and so efficiently that when I was away from work, I had the peace of mind to actually parent my children and to be there for my family.

It was a two-fold thing- first, I had to secure the home front while at work and secondly when I was not at work, I had to secure the workplace so that my home front would have peace. At home, I paid the extra by engaging professional nannies for my children and at that time, it was not a popular thing to do but I was willing to pay for it because I knew the value of professional care. In the office, I made sure the hours I spent was totally dedicated to working and you could hardly find me take an excuse to run to check on my kids. I structured my home properly and I had to get a second car and driver for my kids, so I could concentrate at work. I think it is all about planning and understanding that there is a cost to that plan and you are willing to accommodate the cost to make sure everyone was happy.

As a woman of substance, what are you doing to empower younger women?

First, I want to say a shout out to every young woman out there who is trying to make a difference in her family and the society at large. I empower young women by coaching, mentoring and rendering service. As a person, I believe I have mentored a lot of people whilst I worked in the banking sector, I raised a lot of other women because I believe as women, we must hold and raise ourselves up, we                   must be able to keep each other going, I believe this I have done so much of and will continue to do.  As an entrepreneur, I have also coached other women to be successful and live a balanced life as a wife, mother and nation builder. I have always made my principles and ideas accessible to anyone aspiring to make the best use of their opportunities.

What advice do you have for young people?

My advice to young people is first, set targets, secondly set limits and then execute!   Also, you need to reappraise your strategies over and over again. If you can follow this principle: set targets – set goals, set limits – have boundaries, that is, things you will not do; like not compromising at X level to get to Y. And then execution is very critical, a lot of. people drop the ball with execution because they do not know how to do that. You need to execute and keep executing and then review your strategy from time to time.

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