Out of Office: Recent Episodes
aSO Originals
Every day, ordinary people build extraordinary businesses, brands andmovements that go on to change the world. Out of Office tells the humanstories behind products that are shaping Africa's future.
Even as a kid, Kanyinsola’s life revolved around sports. It’s the legacy her father left with her and it was the beginning of her personal journey into fitness. Years later, Kanyinsola would join a sports academy in the United States and even become a certified trainer. After her first degree, KY moved back to Lagos where she started off working in a fashion company before quitting to figure things out as an entrepreneur. In no time, she was training clients and then expanded into online courses.
Kanyinsola’s passion for fitness has always been infectious and her wholistic approach to health helped her build a loyal community that would eventually inspire Sweatbox Lagos, a fresh vibrant gym in Lagos that now serves hundreds of members every month. Members also have access to trainers, group challenges and a diverse set of fitness classes including ones led by KY herself.
While it may all seem sweet now, Kanyinsola and Sweatbox’s story is filled with lots of lemons. On this episode, Jamal talks to Kanyinsola about the realities of moving back to Nigeria, building a fitness startup and why Nigerians need to change their perspective on working out.
Mosun and Dare are the sibling/co-founder duo redefining bartending culture in Lagos. In 2018, they were a part of a gin-club, where they could freely experiment with new flavours and recipes, creating cocktails you wouldn’t find anywhere else. The siblings' drinks were a hit and in 2019 they started Quacktails, a mobile bar that served small gigs.
During a global pandemic that left many of us house-bound, Mosun & Dare hit gold when they realised they could still safely deliver their drinks in their own “Quacktail Pouches” to customers around Lagos. Fast forward to 2022 and Quacktails’ branding and cult-like following are only growing stronger. The Quacktails online store now has over 150 different drinks customers can choose from and the quacks deliver thousands of Quacktails every week.
On today’s episode, Jamal speaks with Mosun about the Quack story, balancing branding vs. profitability, working with her brother and of course her favourite drinks. Stay locked in and make sure you check out @Quacktails.ng if you haven’t tried them out.
When Oreoluwa Shonibare first shared his poetry on Twitter, he just wanted to connect with other poetry lovers. After a couple of viral tweets, he decided to print some of those poems on tees and start selling hundreds of them across the country.
After seeing a tweet about starting a merch company from his then business partner, what started as a fun way for Ore to make some extra cash, quickly evolved into a full-scale merchandising company called Wii Create. Ore and his team at Wii Create now ship tens of thousands of t-shirts and other custom items each year and serve most of the start-ups in Nigeria’s fast growing tech ecosystem, including Paystack, Eden Life, Cowrywise, and many more.
On this episode, Jamal and Ore chat about how he handled his co-founder leaving in the first year, how love and relationships shape the way he works, and how Twitter has remained the constant in a lot of his big life wins.