5 MINS WITH ADENIKE BALOgUN

The society constantly reminds us that we live in a male dominated planet, where it is believed that women should always live in the mediocrity of their belittled gender. But, nike Balogun, Ceo diamond incorporated events, young, beautiful, intelligent, and savvy business woman has over the years, proven otherwise. she is the never-quitting goal getter and game changer in the industry which reveals that she’s more than a sandy hour glass figure. in her quest to inspire and motivate a younger generation of women to be high flying achievers, styleCorrespondent MOJI ALLEN shared her day with the event planning mogul as she shared her story on the journey to success What makes diamond incorporated events different from other event planners and establishments?

Diamond is an event design group with a niche for intricately planning your event to reflect every bit of your persona. how do we achieve this? we are constantly reinventing our skills, updating our inventory with state of the art event props, attending conferences and courses around the globe just to ensure we meet clients standards and are able to offer them much more. you own a prestigious event centre in lekki-lagos, what inspired the berthe of diamond inc. event Centre? How affordable is it in terms of price? is it for the masses or exclusive to a selected few?

The event center is called The Event Room by diamond-ink. It was inspired by the desire to create small event spaces for people to have intimate events without messing up their homes. The event room has three event spaces with different guest capacity. The largest will hold up to a 100 guests in banquet style. It’s affordable and gives you the freedom to do what you like within the space. It’s equipped with toilets , a stand by generator and beautiful interior designs. It breaches the gap between the large marquees and the hotels. The marquees are too big for a 50 man party while the hotels might be ideal but the issue of corkage gets in the way. So the event room is just perfect. I call the Event room luxury on initiation. I don’t believe it’s for everyone but for a select few who know what they want. diamond ink. is 7years and the event Room is a year already, congratulations! you have been able to build your brand from scratch to the impressive state at which it is today. looking back at when you started did you think you’d come this far, understanding the complications of being an entrepreneur in the country and the challenges that come with your line of business?

I never even envisaged such a huge event business. All I did was not give up. I have so much passion for my job and it keeps me going. Over the years, it’s been a mixed grill with ups and downs but somehow I made it to this point. It took a lot of dedication and FAITh. Staying afloat is difficult. As an event company if you cannot reinvent yourself, update your inventory (acquire new props) and so on, you become obsolete. So I spend a lot of time and money researching and purchasing to make sure we have new props as well as personally upgrading my event planning and design skills by attending courses and conferences around the world. Will you say its a general misconception that people tend to perceive the business as more of glitz and glamour than the actual business itself? What struggles do you face and how have you been able to deal with all these struggles?

I have heard side comments like is it from events she makes all this money? I smile. A lot of people do not even understand the intricate details of an event business. They literally see it as a joke. I mean where do I even start from? Is it from sleeping at venues, ensuring the work is done to perfection and clients are satisfied, or to dealing with crazy employees, or going crazy over failed logistics and trucks breaking down at out of states events, Site accidents and much more. I don’t even sleep when I’m working. Even when I’m on holiday I’m constantly working. Calling my office, working my staff through events, dealing with clients even when abroad. This business is not a joke. It’s hard, very hard but it pays off at the end of the day. If you are not ready to get your hands dirty and swallow series of insults per project please do not dabble into the event business. you are from a privileged background. Has this been a contributing factor to your business and also made you business-savvy?

My mum is my biggest mentor and my parents are my biggest fans. My family support me so much. watching my mum work as a civil engineer for 25 years made me realize I have no excuse, but to be successful. She instilled in us the idea of your education as your gateway to success and so I knew I had to get it. Failing was never an option. I always wanted to make my parents proud. Today my dad looks at me and says I am

Watching my mum work as a civil engineer for 25 years made me realize I have no excuse, but to be successful. She instilled in us the idea of your education is your gateway to success and so I knew I had to get it

super proud of you. That means the world to me. Recently, you planned birthday gigs for Aliko dangote, Musa danjuma and the likes which turned out to be a talk-of-the-town and successful grand occasion, tell us about your experience of planning an event for Africa’s richest man and others.

Oh this! This is our biggest event yet. I thank god everyday for the opportunity. I didn’t go looking for this event. It came knocking on my door just like that. It was an amazing experience. I planned it for a whole month until execution. They wanted absolute luxury and nothing less so I had to bring on my A-game. It was a big event with a big budget and to god be the glory the client was totally satisfied. I will always be grateful for this opportunity and hopefully it opens more doors for diamond-ink. It has placed us on a pedestal and that’s just awesome. your infatuation with florals has grown, as has your skill and creativity. Will you say there is a symbiotic relationship between floral designing, arrangement, event planning and co-ordination?

I love flowers! Lay me in a bed of flowers and I’ll be just fine. Flowers brighten up my mood. Fresh or faux flowers are everything in event design and more. From your corporate events to your weddings and little dinners, flowers honestly bring out the beauty in every design. My love and flare for designing with flowers increases everyday. I literally stalk top floral designers, the Lebanese wedding designers and any one who designs with flowers. That is where I pull my design inspirations from. Attending the floral design institute in America was the best decision I ever made. Months of stress but today it has totally paid off and still paying. What are the everyday challenges you go through as a young business woman? the down moments you have had to go through and how you overcame them.

My everyday challenges are my staff #crying. It’s so difficult building a team of personnels that can think like me, work like me and have passion for my business the way I do. It’s frustrating. Sometimes my parents, especially my dad come to help me with addressing staff issues at my office. Lol. Don’t even test my dad he will take you out fast if he sees you are trying to take advantage of his baby girl. But yes, it’s truly my biggest and unraveled challenge yet.