Ep 72: The Importance of Liking Yourself with Financial Literacy Advocate Tosin Olaseinde

NOTE: Please excuse any errors in this transcript; it was created using an AI tool. Akua Nyame-Mensah 00:00 In today's episode my amazing guests Towson nine discuss the importance of liking yourself and the importance of being practical with your money in business. Tosin is a professional accountant with over 10 years of experience spanning across accounting, auditing, financial management and taxation. She is the founder and CEO of money Africa, which is an edtech platform that enhances financial literacy and investments by leveraging technology money, Africa has a community of over 200,000 people. Tosin is also a Washington Mandela fellow and a LinkedIn top voice and finance and economy. She has been recognised as one of the top 50 African business heroes and is championing the financial literacy movement on the African continent. Let's get into this week's episode. Unknown Speaker 00:50 Hello, and welcome to the open door conversations podcast. Akua Nyame-Mensah 00:53 My name is Akua Nyame-Mensah I also respond to Aqua and Akua. I'm a certified executive and leadership coach recognised learning and organisational development facilitator, speaker and former startup executive. And I am so excited because this year I'm celebrating five years of working for myself five years of supporting leaders. And I am so grateful because I've had the opportunity to partner with amazing organisations, from hydro startups to multinational brands all around the world. In 2022. Alone, I serve over 600 Yes, over 600 leaders around the world. And in this podcast, you will have the opportunity to learn my three step leadership framework. I actually break it down in Episode 71. I use this framework with my high achieving and entrepreneurial minded clients that are juggling a million responsibilities so they can easily build wealth. This three step framework is going to teach you how to leverage your innate personality to learn how to prioritise and maximise not just your time, but also your money. You don't have to work harder or turn into someone else. To get more done. Let's tune into this week's episode. Hello, and welcome to today's Open Door conversations podcast episode. I am so excited about today's guest, we have an amazing woman who has been involved in tackling financial literacy. And I am so excited to have the opportunity to connect with her and share her story. On today's podcast episode, Towson, Happy New Year, Unknown Speaker 02:42 Happy New Year to you. I'm really excited to be here. And you know, I look forward to this conversation. Happy New Year once more. Akua Nyame-Mensah 02:49 So Tosun. And I actually met in a really interesting way. I believe he met on a radio show randomly. While I was living in Lagos. Unknown Speaker 02:59 I remember vividly, it was quite interesting. We had we had Akua Nyame-Mensah 03:02 some some fun conversations and some fun questions. From from listeners. Unknown Speaker 03:08 Yes, we did. It was quite an interesting time. Yes. So Akua Nyame-Mensah 03:12 to start us off, I would love to share some of the things I know that you're really proud of. And I think you know, being comfortable with sharing your strengths, understanding your value, right, and the value you provide is really key. So I'd love for us to sort of start off with some of the things that you shared with me earlier on, that you're so proud of this first one on here, I think is absolutely incredible. So congratulations. So the first one that you shared was building a 20 man team across two companies. And then you share the story of having this meeting where you got to see everyone. And what I loved most about what you shared actually, is that you've never missed a salary, which I think is incredible. You've built these amazing businesses. Can you tell us a little bit about these two companies, you have Unknown Speaker 04:01 the we built two companies. We started first with money Africa, which is our ad tech company that basically educating people about money. Now on this journey. Once we started educating people, the next thing was people would say, oh, Tosun you know, we want to invest, how do we invest? Where do we invest? And then we built a ladder ladder was our FinTech platform where we then help people invest, you know, savings funds, and just basically every other kind of fund out there. So money Africa is our ed tech or education technology platform, while nada is our FinTech or financial technology platform. Akua Nyame-Mensah 04:32 Amazing. And the second accomplishment, I think it's such a great segue, actually, to talk a little bit more about the amazing impact that you've had and your companies have had is that the Nigerian Stock Exchange gave you an award for Financial Inclusion. What did that feel like? Unknown Speaker 04:48 It felt really good, you know, and they called us on stage and we're given an award for Financial Inclusion and financial education, which is our primary work because basically educating people about is a reminder that our Work is important and that there is room to even do more. So I loved love, loved it. And I was very excited that you know what Africa was able to win that I was Akua Nyame-Mensah 05:08 incredible. And this last one I have on here is you share that you like who you are. And you've really enjoyed the journey so far, which I think is so incredible. Maybe we should do this next, I should give you an opportunity to actually properly introduce yourself. So who is Towson? And what is she do? Unknown Speaker 05:28 So Towson is a passionate person, right? Wanting to lead a purposeful life, I initially struggled with my money, and I had to figure it out myself. And once I did, I wanted to share the gospel with other people just basically learning and improving my skills about money and sharing that with a lot of people. So we're leveraging technology to be able to build out this company where we've reached over 500,000 to 1 million people about financial literacy and retail investment. Now, you know, coming back to us saying, you know, one of the achievements is just realising that, you know, I'm actually I like myself, and I'm glad of this journey that we've come so far as an entrepreneur, you know, how hard it is to you know, sometimes you get no, sometimes things work out, it could be really, really hard. And just being able to go through that process, go through that journey. And, you know, wake up, look yourself in the mirror and be like, you know, what, I'm proud. And you know, I like this person that I see. And it's a journey of constant growth. And I do not take that for granted. Akua Nyame-Mensah 06:24 I love that, thank you so much for sharing it. And I think for so many people listening to this, they would love to learn a little bit more about how you've changed, you know, Tosun, before starting one of her businesses to Towson now, what do you think are some of the biggest lessons that you've learned about yourself? And maybe even what you've learned about business? Unknown Speaker 06:43 Okay, I'm, no one has ever asked me that question. And thank you for asking, You are so welcome. That also makes me go into, you know, thoughts, you know, prior to building money, Africa, and nada, I've always been a finance person. I've worked at CNBC, Africa, Bloomberg TV, African British American Tobacco as a commercial finance manager. So over those years, you know, I think, then my big cause, were you not wanting to climb the ladder and just meet, wanting to go to the next level, and also delivering at work. And it feels good to be a part of something that you have to consider your impact the considered good work you've been doing. And now an entrepreneur life is a whole different ballgame together. Because even when I was at work, I mean, the worst case scenario is, let's say you're really, really like, you know, it would be like, maybe you wouldn't have a job anymore. But you know, that obesity, actually, you're going to get paid. But now you're responsible for all the people, right. And now, nobody knew prior to starting money, African lead, I never had any experience as a CEO, right. So you're also learning on the job, you're being vulnerable physically, I remember one of our meetings, and I was telling them, I need your help, you know, this is my core strength is the strength, they're not mine, we hired you for both, and I actually really do need your help. So that's one mobility, learning more below, empathy, as well. So it's constantly learning and then lots of learnings to be honest. And it's quite, it's been quite some growth. And also, I'm seeing that I'm also able to leverage in the experiences I had, you know, prior to building the company. So really, it's been somebody said something that no experience is ever lost, that we're able to compound on it and make the most out of it. So it's just been really a series of continuous journey that I'm really grateful for. Akua Nyame-Mensah 08:22 I love so much of what you've shared. And once again, I think a lot of what you shared will resonate with a lot of the listeners as well recognising that you can learn while doing, we don't have to know all the answers. And I think for so many of us, when we think of ourselves as leaders or we start our entrepreneurial journey, we think we have to have all the answers or that we have to come across a certain way. Absolutely. So I'd love to hear a little bit more about how you spend your time. Right. So you mentioned you have these two different businesses, how do you split your time between the two of them? And how do you decide on what makes the most sense for where you spend your energy? Unknown Speaker 09:01 antastic? That's a very good one. So, you know, one was speaking to investors, they also asked us this question a lot. Okay. Like, this is what worked for us. We spent I mean, Lara is relatively young, she's about 18 months old, right. But in the beginning, Monday, Africa was all we had. So we had built that brand, build that strong economy by asking for financial illiteracy in Nigeria, you definitely hear, you know, many African mentioned, so we are putting so much energy beauty in that. So because we have that strong pace. Yeah, it's been easier to be able to, you know, build the other arm of the business. So in terms of allocation of time, when Africa has a relatively strong team, you know, we have a process and all of that, I mean, the bit of also not showing too much in spirit of being vulnerable. You know, there was a time that I was not feeling well, and the businessman, right, so that's putting structure in place, and the business can actually run, you know, without me being there, you know, 24/7 amongst others. So in terms of time allocation, because that's sustained for money, Africa is strong and been there longer, right? So you're, you're most likely going to see like a 6040, or sometimes even a 5050 play in ladder, because now you're fleshing out. You want to distribute your pinata motors amongst others. And also, again, same thing, Tim. So we always ensure that we get a team right so that we nobody, none of the businesses suffer. So yeah, and rad, like, the sigma is a strength, like, you know, how does one complement the other? And how does the other complement, so basically working more as a strength as opposed to each suffering that the other one exists? So yeah, Akua Nyame-Mensah 10:37 incredible. And I'm curious, how did you find out what your strengths were and who you needed to compliment you on the team? Unknown Speaker 10:45 Okay, so I think it was more about brutal honesty, you know, after a while, is when you start to see, like, I'm a natural marketer, and the natural, speaking about the work, you know, also having the knowledge, right, so you wake me up in the middle of the night, I can literally write a book about financial literacy, like it's uncomfortable, it's a very strong call. Now, I did not go to school to learn about technology, I don't know much about it, of course, my knowledge now, compared to when I started, it's better. But still, you know, technology is not my strong, strong, strong, sweet. So you have to be able to put someone's there also, in terms of operations as well, because now my primary job is to ensuring that we're always liquid, this cash flow businesses in all of that. So you also want to put somebody else as well in the hops to ensure that the business also do all the operations are running smoothly. So as time goes on, you're able to set surely as you get bigger, you're able to see where the gaps are, maybe we need to fill and just being brutally honest, because if you don't fill up those gaps, the business will suffer, you stagnate, you wouldn't grow. And you know, you kind of just go for the 10 year horizon. So it's either you keep quiet, or you let the gaps be there, we open your mouth into your pick of time, fill up the gaps, and then see growth. So yeah, Akua Nyame-Mensah 12:00 I love that. So all you leaders listening to this, that are resisting, getting the support that you need, that you deserve, right, especially if you're looking to build a business that outlast you, right, where when you're sick runs like tostones business, it's important that you put your big girl pants on, like toss Tosun said, and get real with yourself right and recognise you can't do it yourself. Absolutely. So one of the reasons why I initially reached out was because of your amazing perspective and experience talking about ethics issues, inflation, and you create a lot of amazing thought leadership around this as well. What have you kept in mind about the current economic systems, the current economic issues? And what should other founders and leaders keep in mind? Unknown Speaker 12:49 So I know that I remember like, earlier in the year, no, sorry, late last year, I was speaking with BBC, and he spoke about how the US market is seeing a decline in investment compared to Nigeria and other African countries. And I was like, you know, we can't compare both parties, right? I guess the data in my field and I'm talking about FinTech at TED and things like that. It's relatively young, right? The businesses, they are about six years old, if you look at the US, gosh, those guys you see some companies that are fintechs, 25 years 50 like they are the market is more matured compared to us, right. So even the bulk like was there was seen a rise in investment money flowing in, if you look at them in terms of nominal numbers, they're incomparable. Right? So should we look at those percentages, now taking you back to the economic situation? Right, it as much as I'm trying not to be overly optimistic, and July's the young country, whether you like it or not, even if you distribute condoms, everybody wants to continue to pay for education, they will need to eat, they will need health care, right? Those kids that they've given birth to will have to survive, you know, so don't need to eat though the health care that we need for education. Right. So what we need now is we need some leadership, right? So you're not left channel all of that growth are able to see compounded long run. Right? They also say that, I know that we've seen a drop in investments in Nigeria, we see a couple of other African countries as well struggling. So I will not be too focused on those peaks, right? I am more for what could happen in the next 10 years. How can we get there? What could happen in next 20 years and how can we get there? So we need that spouse in the right direction. So very aggressive about these like policies, because in as much as you can preach from now to to the next year. I can't change the inflation rates. I can't change the exchange your data, the dollar able to Ghanaian and CDs to the dollars exchange rate or we need leadership, right. So the future can't be bright, depending on what we put in now. Right? So very, very aggressive about the fact that the future the possibility will be bright is there. We just need to make all the right investments and have leadership so With the inflation and the rest of that, you know, just basically how do we stay that cheap now, to ensure that it's steady in the in the future, and better long term on Africa, we just need the leadership to actually pay it because they're Akua Nyame-Mensah 15:13 amazing. And then in terms of what business owners themselves can do during this current economic crisis, or maybe crisis isn't the right word climate, I think is a better word. Any advice or thoughts? Unknown Speaker 15:26 You have to be very practical be cash flow, right. So back in the days when we're seeing lots and lots of investment coming in, people could actually play in the sense that sometimes, lots of people were running businesses that didn't have units economy. So you need to kind of mix means that based on the numbers, that we're not making a profit on average, or even breaking even per user, right. So it's almost as though let me give you an example. Let's say, I have a product worth 20,000 Naira, but because I want to get users that the cost is 20,000 an hour, because I want to get users and giving leads to that user at 18,000 hours. So technically, I'm paying that user to even have that product. So they win. Even if the user were to go elsewhere, they wouldn't have gotten that product, but it's 1000. So I'm literally paying them to actually have it. So I'm not breaking even I'm not making a profit. So lots of tech companies usually used to do that because they want to play long term play and acquire users or based on what's happened now that economy, there's also some a down flow of foreign investment coming, everybody now needs to sit up and actually go for businesses that will break even that you're actually building a profitable business and you're more intention, I'll actually sync cash flow and building a profitable business. So everybody doesn't need to look inward, you know, what can we build? What can we sell, that is cash flow driven. This morning, I woke up, I don't want to mention names. There's somebody in their 80s that their birthday that they called one of the biggest dump, they own a very big limb FMCG products. And I was just looking at basic products like regular things like lotion, plastic cups, things that people actually use profitable businesses that you know that they've been in the market for such a long time. So you're actually looking, even in terms of tech, what are people actually using that they will pay for, you know, that it's actually the unit economics makes sense that they are actually on track to build a profitable business. And that's what, you know, lots of business owners need to start looking at, especially during this time, because we don't know, you know, how long this is going to go on for and you need to pay for it, because it's been in business, you'd actually be making some kind of money. So yeah, I love Akua Nyame-Mensah 17:28 that. Yeah. So a huge part is about sort of shifting those expectations and being very practical, right. So really trying to drive money now as opposed to waiting for money later. Absolutely. Yes, yes. And I mentioned this earlier on, but I'd love to hear a little bit more about how you create time to share your thoughts how you could you know, create time to teach and share a little bit about your life on social media, because you are a thought leader, right? You have amazing people who follow you. So I'd love to hear a little bit about how you're able to create time for that. Unknown Speaker 18:03 I think it's also I think, personality could also come into play then I genuinely love to share. So prior to being Mali, Africa and things like that, I was looking back at my Twitter about 10 years ago, even though they were not much people read it. So my personality is coming through there sort of as a strength, right that I generally want to share. It's almost as though when I see something remarkable, I want to share it. And I'm going to share my Oh, this is happening. What do you think also, you must remember that whenever you share or you love to share your thoughts, there is also room for error in the sense that you will not always carry right there sometimes you might be off so many a time people sometimes keep to themselves because they don't want to also be wrong, right? They could be so I think that it's a numbers game, you just want to be right more times than you are wrong. So just being vulnerable, knowing that there are some times that you take, you know, might be wrong, you know, and be open to that. And you know, so how do I create time for this? I naturally want to share Twitter anyways. So when I particular tweet is making sense, I just I just repurpose it. Sometimes I could even get somebody on my team to prompt me, you know to do that. And for longer newsletters and things like that. We have you seen that? Share that. So whenever I write personally on my LinkedIn, Yes, that's me. And I'm tweeting on my Twitter that we will put some other work social media channels, you know, we have somebody on the team that is then repurposing and, you know, sharing it on different platforms as well. So yeah, so in summary, my natural strength of wanting to actually share number two, sometimes I get somebody on the team to prompt me that you know, this has gone really well. Do you want to share that other platforms with me? Go ahead and do that. Akua Nyame-Mensah 19:36 I love it. So really being connected to I think once again, this purpose you have right, really connected to the why it's important to you and then using your team to sort of reinforce that and help you stay on track. Unknown Speaker 19:49 Absolutely. Absolutely. Akua Nyame-Mensah 19:51 I mean, I think you know, the last I think questions I have for you the first one I have on here and this I think relates to the work that you've done around on money in around finances, what is one piece of advice you would give to another business owner right now in relation to to money and finances in general? You know, based even on your own experience, you mentioned that you sort of started somewhere. And now, you know, you've made strides. What advice would you leave for leaders maybe that find it difficult to deal with their own finances or even look at the finances of their business or department? Unknown Speaker 20:26 Yeah, I mean, that's a good one. I think one thing that we've always done is carry everybody along. Right? That could do it alone, there is no point getting them on putting on the paper, like, how are we going to get you? This is where we want to go to how do we get there? Right, knowing that another thing that we're also learning, again, like I said, learning from that when when ideas fail, or when something fails, you know, we don't want to pinpoint the person on the team and just, you know, make them bear that burden a lot. We want people to be able to experiment, right? I know that some of your some will succeed. Right? And also, it's also always nice to have just a little bit of what did they call that same little show so that you're not under pressure? Now, I know that all into it, but I prefer doing that. No, we have the technical ones. Yes, yes, yes, there's a buffer and a runway that can be used on the other founders, that team or something, they don't have a two month runway or and that's fine. But each tree is old. I don't work like that I want to have at the St. St. It sort of gives me an internal peace, and also helps come up with good ideas as to you know, how do we extend those from wave? What do we do bring everybody on board, or China? I mean, at the end of the day, we'll succeed we'll get a bonus increments. But you see how they also become the winner? Right? So when they when we win, everybody wins them? You know, we're having everybody along on that journey. Yeah. And also, it's also very interesting to reiterate this, it's possible to do all the right things that sometimes the market is just not ready for that product. And then you have to pivot and you know, try something else. Akua Nyame-Mensah 21:56 Yes. And now I see why you've never missed salary. Yes. Such great pieces of advice. So with my last question, I'd love to know what's next for you Towson. What are you excited about this year? Unknown Speaker 22:09 I'm excited about growth, right, I want us to go to the next level. Every time people talk about the educated adults about wanting to like oh my gosh, I wish I learned earlier, I wish when I was a kid. I mean, we used to always have boot camps for children during the summer holiday. But we're not taking it to the next level, we are building an app out for them. And they can actually get educated on that app to do all the nice things for children. That's what we're currently working on. We are hoping that it's going to get launched next month. And we can put it in the hands of children. So that's a very big deal for us. Also want to experiment on we want to explore because so many Africans share news about other African countries now and then we could we could get a bit more intense into about sharing those news as well. So those are the two big things that we're very excited about. And also colada to also have a deeper, which I mean, it's an exciting year, I feel so much energy. Our team is energetic. You know, we're very positive about this year. And you're hoping that by December, we'll be kicking and ticking all our goals. So yeah, Akua Nyame-Mensah 23:10 very excited. I look forward to seeing all of it. And you know, I already follow you. So I'm looking forward to being able to celebrate you on your journey this year. How can people find out more about what you do and more about your businesses? Unknown Speaker 23:24 Alright, so you can find us on social media, it's money Africa on Instagram Ladda. It's money, Africa and ladder on LinkedIn as well for Twitter. It's th e mommy African ladder is always ladder a ladder. It's called La dee da. So we are cause Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and our response rate is very fast, basically so myself. So please reach I want to connect with you. Akua Nyame-Mensah 23:50 Thank you. Thank you so much Towson for your time, for your energy and for your amazing thoughts. Unknown Speaker 23:55 Thank you very much. I'm grateful. Akua Nyame-Mensah 23:58 Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode, please share this episode with someone who can benefit from its contents. If you found this episode helpful, I want to ask you to leave a review. This makes it easier for other people to find my podcast and also allows me to bring on even bigger guests, and even more fascinating stories. Thank you so much for listening again. Stay safe and stay sane