Success Stories

Ayodeji Megbope

CEO, No Left Overs Nig. Ltd

Ayo Megbope started her journey into entrepreneurship after a twenty-year long career as a Secretary. She felt it was time to move to the next level and engage in an entrepreneurial venture that would increase her income substantially and ultimately run as a going concern that could be handed down to her children. She decided to setup a Montessori school because she had a passion for children. However, after an honest self-appraisal of her strengths and weaknesses, she realized that a more important skill was the resilience and patience required to tackle the various emotional issues associated with nurturing kids. She was encouraged to drop the idea although all the resources in their home had been expended in the Montessori training.

Time was ticking and the pressures of survival were biting harder and Ayodeji was still at a loss over what next to do with her life. Ayo commented:

”You know what? Sometimes failure drives you to a point where you tell yourself, I won’t take this again. When I was in school, I failed and failed and failed up to a point where my mother will look at me and say, there must be a black sheep and you are just that black sheep. But today she looks at me as says, Thank God for you. I will always give praise to God because people have written me off. I am the only person among my siblings that did not go to the University. I didn’t go, not because my parents couldn’t afford it then, but because I was very un-serious. Therefore every opportunity that comes my way now, I vowed to use it wisely”.

On a certain occasion, her sister-in-law confessed that the meal of moinmoin prepared by Ayo was simply irresistible and could form a basis for a commercial venture if well managed. At the initial stage the production process was quite labour intensive, and a lot of time was lost in market negotiations. Little or no time was spent in marketing or accounting for profits.

Early Entrepreneurial Strides

After initially selling outside a school’s gate, she started getting large orders. Sales were increasing, customer base was increasing, and product lines were gradually extending, from moinmoin to joll of rice, spaghetti, porridge beans, etc. Ayo subsequently incorporated her company as “No Left Overs Nig. Ltd.”

It was at this stage that she came across the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women program being implemented by the Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan-African University. Though the selection process was tough, Ayo became one of the first 10,000 Women scholars globally. It was a unique opportunity for Ayo to reflect on the current state of her business and learn new skills and techniques for structuring and planning her business better. She practically over hauled all aspects of her business to enable it to gain a unique and sustainable position in the marketplace.

TRANSFORMATION

Her company No Left Overs Nigeria Limited continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Ayo has become a Motivational Speaker, Conference Speaker, Mentor and Role Model. Today she is an ambassador of the 10,000 Women Initiative. She was a speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York with world leaders in attendance and has also addressed the Annual General Meeting of Goldman Sachs in New York, both in 2009.

In December 2011, Ayo was invited by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey for the Second Global Summit on Entrepreneurship to speak on the panel session titled “Global Entrepreneurship Revolution. In April 2013, she was one of the three women, nominated to represent Nigeria in the Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Programme – a partnership which connects talented, emerging women leaders from all over the world with members of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Leaders for a month-long internship programme, in the United States of America.

In March 2014, Ayo was invited to speak at the White House in celebration of International Women’s Day .In June 2016, Ayo was invited as a Panelist at the United State of Women Conference Summit where she spoke alongside Mr. Warren Buffet on her journey as an Entrepreneur. She was also privileged to deliver an address at a State House Dinner in Washington DC where she welcomed the First Lady of the United States of America, Mrs. Michelle Obama. In January 2019, Ayo was at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland total about her journey as an entrepreneur.

Apart from being a graduate of the Enterprise for Development Centre (EDC) where she completed her Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management program. She is also a graduate of the Manchester Business School where she earned a Diploma in Business Administration. She is committed to spreading and sharing the importance of women empowerment and inspire others on the possibilities and advantages of starting small and growing big.

She is the Convener of the Grace Ladies Business Fellowship, an initiative she setup ten years ago to mentor, inspire and build female entrepreneurs. Ayodeji is also one of the founding Trustees of Mercy Jet Foundation (a benevolence organization). Her rare dedication &selflessness has impacted & still impacting lives in her community.