Success Is Not For Lazy People...
23:09
I
have a confession.
Even
after I wrote about procrastination, sometimes I still deal with it daily. At times I have to push myself to do things,
prep myself to be extra. I have also discovered that if you do not have
passion for something, there’s a slim chance that it’ll last very long.
If
I have learnt anything, it is the power of hope. The Power of One Person. A Washington, a Lincoln, King, Mandela and
even the young girl from Pakistan, Malala. One
person can change the world by giving people hope.
Know that life is not fair,
that you will fail often. But if you take some risks, step up when the times
are the toughest. Face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden and never ever
give up. Know that if you do these, the next generation and the generations that
follow, will live in a world far better than the one we have today.
Last
week at the MSME Fair held at Teslim Balogun Stadium, there was this incredibly
talented young lady. To be honest, I had stumbled on her instagram page a day
before. Guess what she does? She uses old tyres to make furniture… genius
right?! But that’s what I would call thinking outside the box, beyond the circle.
The
beautiful thing is that she’s a slay queen! But this is a total slay, because even her brain slays with brilliant ideas.
You
might have heard about Cyrus45 maybe stumbled on their page on the gram. Cyrus45
Factory is a company that focuses on not only recycling but also producing
bespoke and ultra-modern furniture and products for the art savvy Nigerian. Olabanke Banjo, the creative director of Cyrus45 is a writer, Digital strategist and an all
round creative. A graduate of Foreign Languages (French) from the prestigious
Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife Osun State, Olabanke always stood out as
an artistic child with an unmitigated interest in literature and fine arts.
When and Why did you start Cyrus45 Factory?
"Cyrus45 factory is an idea
that was birthed last year May after several attempts to put my creative skills
to good and impactful use. I was living with my elder sister in Lagos and at
the time, there was a pile of about 20 tyres in her compound which her neighbours
planned to dispose of. Being a lover of revamping old items, I told them to
give me the tyres. The initial idea that popped in my head was to make a coffee
table. So I went ahead to consult Google on recycling and reusing old tyres. I
made a table for myself and after getting great responses, I thought "why
not turn this into a real business?" And that was it.
What Motivates you?
Not to sound cliche, but my
motivation has always been firstly God. He is the master creator of all things
beautiful. Secondly, I have always been a lover of the Arts and more
importantly, unconventionality. My family and friends have also been a strong support
system. These are the things that inspire me. God has been my drive. He is the
one who gave me the talent to be creative. All I know is Cyrus45 factory (which
is derived from Isaiah 45) was established by God.
What
Challenges Did You Face?
Just like any business or
startup at its baby stage, things were not so smooth initially. There were
production challenges and also, low sales. There were also very few people who
truly appreciated my products and treated them as works of art. As a result of
these challenges, I decided to shut down the business in May this year for
about two months to restructure and re-strategize. After going back to the
drawing board and tidying up to backend, I changed the business name from
'Revampe' to Cyrus45 Factory and relaunched in August. Let's just say the
reception and recognition I have received after relaunching has been nothing
but overwhelming.
In addition, I have always
wanted to impact the society through my art and knowing that Cyrus45 is
reducing environmental pollution, global warming and also conserving energy
gives me the utmost joy.
Any Future Plans?
My
plans for the future is to expand in furniture designs, create more functional
products and also change the general perception of Made in Nigeria products. I
also hope to be named one of the game-changers in the creative industry.
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Sometimes
forget about winning or losing. Put your focus on learning and developing. It
is a much better long term strategy, trust me. In her own little way Olabanke is changing the world, but the question is what are you doing?
One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks. Hold on to whatever you believe in, forget tribe or religion and just know there is God. Trust in that Supreme Being and watch things take shape.
One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks. Hold on to whatever you believe in, forget tribe or religion and just know there is God. Trust in that Supreme Being and watch things take shape.
Don’t
let one bad day stop you from reaching your goal.
Keep
pushing, every dream is attainable.
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