December 31, 2024 • 24 mins
In our conversation, Demi opens up about the emotional facets of entrepreneurship, revealing her battles with self-doubt and how embracing vulnerability became a strength. Her experiences with fear and anxiety in launching proposals remind us of the resilience needed to thrive despite setbacks. As we highlight the unique hurdles faced by young female entrepreneurs, Demi's anecdotes of hiring challenges and leadership growth emphasize staying true to one's mission as a guiding light through adversity. Listeners will find insight in Demi's belief that revisiting past challenges can be therapeutic, with once-daunting obstacles often becoming footnotes in a larger journey. Join us for a heartfelt episode rich with wisdom and inspiration for entrepreneurs at any stage.
Ready to optimize culture and transform engagement?
Visit https://commix.io to learn more.
Read to optimize culture and Transform employee engagement? Visit Commix.io
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carol Park (00:03):
Good morning again everyone.
Welcome back to the CourageUnmasked podcast, where we just
continue to talk about thecourage of vulnerability, and
I'm very pleased to announce ourguest this morning, demi Aloyde
, who is a young femaleentrepreneur who is raving the
world of entrepreneurship.
(00:25):
So, demi, welcome again.
We're so pleased to have youand to hear your story, and so
tell us a little bit about yourjourney and what made you decide
to become an entrepreneur Ofcourse.
Demi Oloyede (00:39):
Well, thank you so much for having me today, carol
.
I would say that I've alwaysfelt an inkling and a spark
towards entrepreneurship.
Growing up, my first businesswas when I was about 11 years
old.
Right, I was the youngest outof 12 kids and I would always
get sent an errands by my oldersiblings, and it was going to be
(01:01):
either of three differentlocations, and that was to go
out and, like you know, buy somesweets or like, buy some
cookies or things like that, andI had a bicycle.
So I started and I noticed thatsometimes, when I, you know,
bought these things anddelivered successfully, they
would tip me or give me, likeyou know, a couple, a couple
dollars, like a cup of naira,because I grew up in Nigeria.
I grew up in Nigeria, so Istarted to charge for it.
(01:25):
I said, you know, if you'regoing to this location, it's
five naira, if you're going here, it's 10, it's 15.
And, you know, they started tosupport me and actually pay me
to do it.
Of course, I lost interestafter a while, because then you
get people who are older thanyou who don't want to pay and
you know, as a younger sibling,I can really argue too much
about it.
So I stopped doing that.
But that was really my firstintro into business.
(01:48):
But after I graduated highschool in Nigeria I was 15 at
the time, you know I just knewthat I wanted to you know go in
that business light, so ended upmoving to the US for college.
My family wanted me to studymedicine and be a doctor and I
was like no, I want to be anentrepreneur.
Like, I want to study business.
And you know, they're like hey,like, if you study business,
(02:09):
you're going to be a bank telleror be an Uber driver and
there's nothing wrong with that.
But when you're paying so muchmoney for an education, you
don't want that to be theoutcome.
And I basically had to run awayfrom them and move to Oklahoma
and say, hey, I'm studyingbusiness.
And you know, at the time theydidn't see the benefit of that.
(02:29):
But of course I was an F1student, I was in a student visa
, so there was a lot oflimitations in what I could and
couldn't do.
So I, you know, rolled out thewave but somehow, even through
college, like you know, Istarted two businesses.
I started a cleaning business.
I also started an e-commercebusiness where I would sell
(02:50):
return goods to students oncampus and around our town.
So it just it was always thereand it just really found ways to
manifest.
And I would say like if you putpeople in the right situations,
anybody could become a businessowner and could start a
business, like it's, a lot oftimes it comes down to survival.
Carol Park (03:10):
Well, survival's a good word in the world of
entrepreneurship.
I also think you have to havethe courage again to venture
into that arena, becauseentrepreneurship is so much
about vulnerability, theuncertainty, the risk, the
emotions that go with that, andI know when we spoke the first
(03:31):
time, you said that people havea lot of misconceptions about
entrepreneurship.
I thought that you were spot onwith that.
So tell me a little bit aboutwhat you shared with me of
people's misperceptionsmisconceptions Of course, you
know what's so funny.
Demi Oloyede (03:47):
It's like three days ago, I was so fed up by my
LinkedIn post as well and Idecided to make a post about
this.
But I think there's a generalmisconception that if you're
looking for freedom, looking formore income, then go start your
business.
Right, and it's just, it's sohard to start a business and
it's so hard to sustain abusiness as well, and there's a
(04:09):
lot of people online that areposting hey, you know, I started
my business.
I made like $2 million in thefirst six months.
Or you know, I made $300,000before breakfast.
Like you know, there's all theselike false success stories and
nobody's really talking aboutwhat it really takes to get to
that first profit, to get tothat first customer.
Right, there's so much workthat needs to be done, and I
(04:32):
feel like people need to sharemore of their authentic stories
about how they actually cameacross to that revenue that they
generated.
Right, like, my first revenue Imade at Olympia was about $60
out of $60, about $5 with profit, and I was, I was excited, I
was like I made some money, likethat's good, right, so it's
(04:53):
like celebrating those thingstoo, but at the end of the day,
it is a hard process.
It takes courage and it takesgrit through the journey.
Carol Park (05:01):
Yeah, grit grit is a really good word to so many ups
and downs with the journey.
So tell us a little bit moreabout your company and if you're
open to sharing some of the upsand downs because again, it's
like you said, I think that'spart of the misconception.
You're going to start thiscompany, it's going to grow,
(05:21):
somebody's going to buy it fromyou.
You're going to make millionsof dollars and buy an Island or
retire on an Island, and peopledon't understand that.
Oh, there are times and I thinkevery entrepreneur will hit
that wall where you're like amam I going to keep going?
Can I keep doing this?
That's the grit.
But tell us a little bit aboutyour company and some of the ups
(05:43):
and downs, as as you've startedit.
Demi Oloyede (05:45):
Definitely I would say that I've really hit.
I've probably hit that walllike 20 times this year, like
since I started the business.
But yeah, the business iscalled Limp Yarn and we provide
on-demand cleaning services.
We also allow property managersto schedule, automate and
service their cleaning servicesand operations on our platform.
So we're essentially amarketplace that connects
(06:07):
cleaners to people who needcleaning services, mostly
property managers and propertyowners.
A lot of our cleaners actuallycome from underrepresented
communities, so we're talkingabout immigrants just like
myself, refugees, blackBrown-owned businesses.
Refugees, black brown ownedbusinesses which a lot of times,
(06:28):
you know, don't have access tocapital to really acquire
customers, retain customers.
So in a sense, I am reallyhelping the entrepreneurial
community.
We're also partnered with theInternational Leadership
Literacy Advocacy Group as welland what we do is we actually
help these small and cleanbusinesses onboard on our
platform as well to get themaccess to job opportunities on
(06:51):
that front.
But yeah, that's the business.
In terms of ups and downs that Ifaced oh my God, so many.
I started.
I'm gonna say I went full-timeon doing this earlier this year
about March.
We didn't have a full productor a full launch until August,
but product development and allthat started off in March.
(07:12):
So when I first started off, Iactually had my cousin on as a
co-founder this is my oldercousin and we just had a lot of
conflict in terms of direction,conflict in terms of
misalignment in skills and weended up having to go our
separate ways, which really setthe company back about four
(07:32):
months.
A lot of development work wasleft undone.
I left my full-time job at thetime so I was sustaining myself
by the money that I alreadysaved.
There's just so much going onlegal conflicts, all of that and
it was so draining At the timeI was like maybe I just close
this company and start anothercompany and just refresh starts.
(07:54):
So that was one of the biggerthings this year.
Carol Park (07:59):
Wow, yeah, I think that's one of those walls you
hit when you go am I going tokeep going?
Am I going to pivot, whichsometimes entrepreneurship is
all about pivoting and realizingthat it's like, oh, this seems
to be a better idea.
But even with that uncertainty,risk emotional exposure.
And yeah, you touch on theother part of entrepreneurship
that people don't reallynecessarily think about in
(08:23):
advance, don't reallynecessarily think about in
advance.
But the relationships and whoyou partner with and how those
relationships work or don't,sometimes, as you move forward
in the company and then, yeah,to then take on that company
yourself and have to spend yoursavings to live while you try
(08:44):
and make your company work,that's kind of scary.
I mean, that's the epitome tocourage in that midst of
vulnerability.
So how about?
To some of the highs?
Have there been again in theearly days?
Sometimes it feels like, oh,it's just a lot of like oh, oh,
no.
So what about?
Demi Oloyede (09:04):
some of the highs.
Definitely, I would say one ofour first highs was launching
our MVP in August, because ourMVP should have been launched in
April and then it took so muchtime because of this delay and
we launched that in August.
So that was definitely a high.
Another high was actuallyseeing cleaners flow into the
platform Right.
So when we initially started, Iwas reaching out to cleaners on
(09:27):
social media telling them aboutthe platform.
I was getting ghosted.
A lot of times they weren'tresponding or they would book a
meeting and like not show up.
So that was a little likeheartbreaking because I'm like
hey, like you know, we're tryingto help, but like please answer
me, call me maybe.
Like yes, yes, let's talkplease.
(09:47):
But it wasn't until we started,you know, utilizing other third
parties, that we actuallystarted to see breakthrough in
that department.
Right now we're actually wehave too many cleaners in our
platform and we're not takingany new cleaners right now.
So it's like getting from thepoint where we had nobody and
(10:08):
nobody was interested to, like.
Getting to this point now wherewe have like a surplus, is like
it's been amazing and it'sthat's definitely been a high.
Carol Park (10:13):
That's that's definitely a high.
I also really which I didn'trealize from our initial talk
that not only do you have abusiness, but you're supporting
other humans and human beingswith your business, you know.
So it's kind of like a twofoldand such a win-win.
(10:36):
So I didn't realize that aspect.
So tell me a little bit aboutsome of your fears and doubts as
you started or have been inthis process, and how you
confronted or faced those fearsand doubts.
Demi Oloyede (10:51):
Definitely so.
I had this idea like probablythree years ago.
Right, I used to clean houseswhen I was in college.
It's really how I put myselfthrough school, right.
On the other side of that, Ibought my first multifamily
property like four years ago,four and a half years ago, and
you know, that's when I knewthese issues existed, but I just
(11:13):
didn't feel like I was theright person to solve them.
I'm like, oh me, like I can'tdo this.
Like what is this?
You know?
So I really face that and Ifeel like sometimes I
continuously face self-doubt.
Um, our first client that we had, I sent out a proposal and I
like logged off of my computerfor the whole day because I was
(11:34):
scared.
I'm like, just take it, like Idon't know what I'm actually
this.
Like there's always going to bethat fear.
Um, right now I'm just learningto roll with it.
I keep like I have this likewhat's the worst that can happen
mentality, right, maybe theylike it, maybe it actually lands
well, like you know, what's theworst that could really happen?
(11:55):
They say no, they don't wantyour product, they hate you.
Like there's so many people inthe world to sell to and there's
, like you know so muchopportunity, this one person,
this one situation is not goingto make a difference if you
don't go for it, but if you, ifyou go for it, but if you don't
go for it, that's when it makesa difference, cause now you
start to have the regret and youdon't learn from that.
(12:17):
The first proposal that I sentout to a commercial client they
actually didn't respond to me.
I sent follow-up emails.
It didn't respond to me.
I look back at that proposalnow and I cringe because it was
missing so many elements that,like, if I was a business owner,
I would not be signing thatproposal right.
So it's just like you live andyou learn, and for me, as I said
(12:39):
, like self-doubt was really thebiggest thing at the time and
I'm just really learning day byday to like overcome that
self-doubt and that anxiety,especially like this takes us
back to the first question.
Like, when you see peopleposting about how well they're
doing, you start to doubtyourself and you're like, maybe
I'm, maybe I'm not cut out forthis right.
Maybe, like this is not mydomain, maybe I should like go
(13:02):
do something else with my timeinstead, because if this person
is so successful and I'm not,then I must be doing something
wrong.
But that's not the truth, right?
Everybody's journey isdifferent, like you could try to
replicate.
You could try to do whatsomeone is doing.
It might not work for you andit really all comes down to like
knowing yourself and that'sreally what helps you through
like these tougher situationsthat you will.
(13:23):
You will experience them Likethere's you're so right about
that.
Carol Park (13:29):
You will.
This isn't a you might, this isa you will.
And when we go into that arenaof vulnerability, there will be
times you will fail.
I mean that's, that's a given.
It's not like the guaranteethat you said people are, you
know, touting on social media.
Oh, I did this and it was justa success.
I mean, we have successes butwe also have those failures.
(13:51):
I also really like just youtalking about your ability to
what I might call perspectivetaking.
You know that, instead of justbeing so focused on that one
proposal and that one customerand that this is the end, all be
all, your ability toperspective take, to stay in the
arena.
You know that it's like, okay,there's lots of customers out
(14:14):
there.
This first one, if I don't getit, there's more in that that
you just stayed the course andhad the ability to perspective
taken.
That, I think was is reallygood advice to entrepreneurs and
not get so in the weeds aboutthis one.
I also you're which I thinkevery entrepreneur, uh, me
(14:38):
included look back on some ofthe initial either product or,
in this case, a proposal, andyou kind of do cringe.
Or maybe it's your firstmarketing thing you put out
there and you look back and yougo.
Did we really put that outthere?
But I know, for me, when westarted a company, the thing
that one of the individuals whowas one of the co-founders which
(15:01):
she had read in one of herentrepreneur books, was,
basically, if you wait till youget the product perfect, you've
waited too long.
So when you talk about your MVPand putting it out there, it's
like it's not going to beperfect and if you wait is
perfection even a possibility,but if you wait too long, you
(15:23):
may have missed your opportunity.
So having the courage to put itout there, I think, is
definitely a big part of it,right?
So let's see.
So what about unique challengesas a young female entrepreneur?
I know when we first talked,you used the phrase that I think
(15:44):
you spoke to yourself, or stillprobably do woman up.
So talk to us about thechallenges of being a young
female entrepreneur.
Demi Oloyede (15:55):
Of course.
I think the challenges reallyis the biggest challenge is
people not thinking that you'recapable or you're up to the task
right.
So that's been my biggestchallenge so far, and I feel
like I'm constantly having tosell myself, which I really
don't mind doing, and I hopethat one day I get to the point
where my work speaks for me andmy you know, my track record
(16:17):
speaks for me.
But today I have to do that.
And actually, a reallyinteresting story.
So I'm currently hiring.
Well, I was hiring for head ofoperations.
We've made the decision to makethat more of a fractional
position instead of a full-timeposition.
But I was in the middle of aninterview this was about a week
and a half ago actually and Iwas talking to this man on the
(16:38):
call.
He's this middle-aged guy.
The call's going good.
You know he has a background infacility management, which is
going to be really great becausewe're working with a lot of
these facilities, right.
So I'm like okay, this is likeawesome, like you're checking
all the boxes, which is good.
And so then, through the call,he asked me.
He's like okay, when will I bespeaking to the hiring manager?
(16:58):
I'm like oh, I am the hiringmanager for this role.
And he's like, you're thehiring manager.
I'm like, yes, I'm the hiringmanager.
And then he's like, okay, well,I will have to respectfully
pass on the position.
I'm like, why, like you know, Ihope everything's okay.
And he just goes off and startstalking about you know, he had a
female boss once and you knowshe was Gen Z and she was not
(17:25):
the most pleasant person to workwith and he went off to call
her the B word.
And I'm just sitting here onthe call and this man's going
off about this thing and he'slike, yeah, I really don't think
that Gen Z's should be leadinganything today in business,
because you guys don't know howto show up for work on time, you
don't know how to deliver.
Like he just went off airingall these things to me and
(17:48):
before I could see anything heleft the call.
So that was so like I was.
I was really shocked that thateven happened in the first place
.
But at the same time, like Itruthfully, I logged off for the
rest of the day, like this wasthis call probably happened
aboutm.
And I just like sat on the couchand it kind of led me to start
(18:08):
doubting myself.
Like, maybe I don't, maybe Ishouldn't be hiring right now,
maybe I shouldn't beinterviewing people right now,
maybe I should just do this allby myself.
But there's only so much that Icould do by myself, right?
It gets to a point where youstart to need the external help,
and I was like you know, thinkthrough that.
But I was just reminded.
You know, at the end of the day, the right people will only
(18:30):
care about the mission and whatneeds to be achieved, and not
really who's driving the bus.
Right?
If he really knew me and if hetook time to look through my
background or look through thecompany and what we've achieved
in such little time, he wouldknow so much about me as a
leader, know so much about whatneeds to be done, the vision,
understand the mission.
(18:51):
But I think he just used a badexperience and generalized that
and completely projected that onme.
Carol Park (18:59):
Definitely.
That's what I hear too, andthat's part of that in the
vulnerability, the emotionalexposure to other people's
emotions, as well as then whatit elicits within ourself, and I
think that's a piece ofvulnerability that people like
we we're beginning to understand.
It's like, okay, I get theuncertainty and the risk, but I
(19:21):
don't think people reallyunderstand that emotional
exposure is such a real piece ofvulnerability, so even your own
emotions.
In that.
And you know I also appreciatethat you can take the pause.
You know, I know sometimes it'slike Whoa, can I keep going?
(19:41):
But when you said, said, I justhad to log off.
You've said that a couple oftimes, I just had to log off.
But when you do, you go to thatplace of perspective taking and
your mission or your valueswhich I think too, it's always
keeping those in front of us togive us the courage, to help
motivate us to not give up.
(20:03):
And so, certainly inentrepreneurship, your mission
which, again, I hadn't heardthat part when we first talked
it's such a mission that has somuch value to you and to others
in it too, which I think is aguiding light for you as you
continue the ups and downs, asyou continue the ups and downs
so well.
In closing, especially to youngpotential female entrepreneurs
(20:28):
either beginning or thinkingabout beginning, any words of
wisdom that you might impart.
Demi Oloyede (20:34):
Of course, I feel like everybody's always gonna
say this but just do it Likeyou're never gonna know.
You know I'm very type A and Ilike to treat my life like I'm
playing chess, so I know, likeall the moves ahead of time.
You can't know that in business, like the plan that I made for
this business three months agois not what we're doing today.
(20:55):
Right, there's always going tobe that change that you can't
map out every single day becauseit's so like it's, it's so
unpredictable so you can't mapout every single date, because
it's so like it's, it's sounpredictable so you can't map
out everything.
So unless you start, you're not, you're never gonna know.
So start, go on the ride andenjoy the ride as well.
There's days I cry and I startlaughing and I'm just like this
(21:15):
is silly.
This is actually.
I started to record myselfcrying, actually because I was
telling my, telling my friends.
Like this is very therapeuticfor me.
Like I cry and like I feel likethere's a lot of clarity, like
I suddenly know what to do next.
And after I do that, I look atthe recording and I laugh and
you know I cried about asituation three months ago.
And I look back and it's likeit's not even that big of a deal
(21:37):
, like now I'm facing biggerchallenges.
I wish that was my realityright now.
So until you do it, you'renever going to know.
But do it because there's nosuch thing as failing to right.
It's like, and depending onwhat point you get to in your
journey, you feel there's ahierarchy to failure, so you
feel hired in other people.
If you have the idea and youregistered your business, you're
(22:00):
better off than somebody whojust had the idea and never
registered the business.
If you acquire your firstcustomer, you're better off than
the person who registered thebusiness but didn't take the
steps to acquire the customer.
You know and there's alwayslearning you can go back and try
this again in four years, butif you never do it, then you
don't have that experience tolean on and you know you're
basically starting afresh.
Carol Park (22:30):
So I would say, do it, try it, see if it's for you.
You never really know.
Yeah, that is great advicereally throughout our talk today
.
So much wisdom, so much greatadvice that you're giving, and
what a beautiful idea again foryour company that's going to
help others in so many ways.
And so, yeah, I just continueto wish you success along your
journey and with your businessas it grows, and it's been such
(22:51):
an honor to have you on thismorning, so, thank you.
Demi Oloyede (22:55):
Likewise, it's been such an honor to be here
today.
Thank you so much for theopportunity, carol.
Carol Park (23:00):
Absolutely Well.
Everyone tune in next time toofor another episode of Courage
Unmasked podcast.
Take care, Take care.
Demi Oloyede (23:11):
Thank you guys.
Commix.io (23:14):
Thanks for tuning in to the Courage Unmasked podcast.
If you enjoyed today's episode,don't forget to subscribe and
leave a review.
It really helps us grow.
Follow us on social media forupdates and a look at what's
coming next, and a big thank youto our sponsor, comixio, for
supporting this journey.
Until next time, keep leadingwith courage.
Good morning again everyone.
Welcome back to the CourageUnmasked podcast, where we just
continue to talk about thecourage of vulnerability, and
I'm very pleased to announce ourguest this morning, demi Aloyde
, who is a young femaleentrepreneur who is raving the
world of entrepreneurship.
(00:25):
So, demi, welcome again.
We're so pleased to have youand to hear your story, and so
tell us a little bit about yourjourney and what made you decide
to become an entrepreneur Ofcourse.
Demi Oloyede (00:39):
Well, thank you so much for having me today, carol
.
I would say that I've alwaysfelt an inkling and a spark
towards entrepreneurship.
Growing up, my first businesswas when I was about 11 years
old.
Right, I was the youngest outof 12 kids and I would always
get sent an errands by my oldersiblings, and it was going to be
(01:01):
either of three differentlocations, and that was to go
out and, like you know, buy somesweets or like, buy some
cookies or things like that, andI had a bicycle.
So I started and I noticed thatsometimes, when I, you know,
bought these things anddelivered successfully, they
would tip me or give me, likeyou know, a couple, a couple
dollars, like a cup of naira,because I grew up in Nigeria.
I grew up in Nigeria, so Istarted to charge for it.
(01:25):
I said, you know, if you'regoing to this location, it's
five naira, if you're going here, it's 10, it's 15.
And, you know, they started tosupport me and actually pay me
to do it.
Of course, I lost interestafter a while, because then you
get people who are older thanyou who don't want to pay and
you know, as a younger sibling,I can really argue too much
about it.
So I stopped doing that.
But that was really my firstintro into business.
(01:48):
But after I graduated highschool in Nigeria I was 15 at
the time, you know I just knewthat I wanted to you know go in
that business light, so ended upmoving to the US for college.
My family wanted me to studymedicine and be a doctor and I
was like no, I want to be anentrepreneur.
Like, I want to study business.
And you know, they're like hey,like, if you study business,
(02:09):
you're going to be a bank telleror be an Uber driver and
there's nothing wrong with that.
But when you're paying so muchmoney for an education, you
don't want that to be theoutcome.
And I basically had to run awayfrom them and move to Oklahoma
and say, hey, I'm studyingbusiness.
And you know, at the time theydidn't see the benefit of that.
(02:29):
But of course I was an F1student, I was in a student visa
, so there was a lot oflimitations in what I could and
couldn't do.
So I, you know, rolled out thewave but somehow, even through
college, like you know, Istarted two businesses.
I started a cleaning business.
I also started an e-commercebusiness where I would sell
(02:50):
return goods to students oncampus and around our town.
So it just it was always thereand it just really found ways to
manifest.
And I would say like if you putpeople in the right situations,
anybody could become a businessowner and could start a
business, like it's, a lot oftimes it comes down to survival.
Carol Park (03:10):
Well, survival's a good word in the world of
entrepreneurship.
I also think you have to havethe courage again to venture
into that arena, becauseentrepreneurship is so much
about vulnerability, theuncertainty, the risk, the
emotions that go with that, andI know when we spoke the first
(03:31):
time, you said that people havea lot of misconceptions about
entrepreneurship.
I thought that you were spot onwith that.
So tell me a little bit aboutwhat you shared with me of
people's misperceptionsmisconceptions Of course, you
know what's so funny.
Demi Oloyede (03:47):
It's like three days ago, I was so fed up by my
LinkedIn post as well and Idecided to make a post about
this.
But I think there's a generalmisconception that if you're
looking for freedom, looking formore income, then go start your
business.
Right, and it's just, it's sohard to start a business and
it's so hard to sustain abusiness as well, and there's a
(04:09):
lot of people online that areposting hey, you know, I started
my business.
I made like $2 million in thefirst six months.
Or you know, I made $300,000before breakfast.
Like you know, there's all theselike false success stories and
nobody's really talking aboutwhat it really takes to get to
that first profit, to get tothat first customer.
Right, there's so much workthat needs to be done, and I
(04:32):
feel like people need to sharemore of their authentic stories
about how they actually cameacross to that revenue that they
generated.
Right, like, my first revenue Imade at Olympia was about $60
out of $60, about $5 with profit, and I was, I was excited, I
was like I made some money, likethat's good, right, so it's
(04:53):
like celebrating those thingstoo, but at the end of the day,
it is a hard process.
It takes courage and it takesgrit through the journey.
Carol Park (05:01):
Yeah, grit grit is a really good word to so many ups
and downs with the journey.
So tell us a little bit moreabout your company and if you're
open to sharing some of the upsand downs because again, it's
like you said, I think that'spart of the misconception.
You're going to start thiscompany, it's going to grow,
(05:21):
somebody's going to buy it fromyou.
You're going to make millionsof dollars and buy an Island or
retire on an Island, and peopledon't understand that.
Oh, there are times and I thinkevery entrepreneur will hit
that wall where you're like amam I going to keep going?
Can I keep doing this?
That's the grit.
But tell us a little bit aboutyour company and some of the ups
(05:43):
and downs, as as you've startedit.
Demi Oloyede (05:45):
Definitely I would say that I've really hit.
I've probably hit that walllike 20 times this year, like
since I started the business.
But yeah, the business iscalled Limp Yarn and we provide
on-demand cleaning services.
We also allow property managersto schedule, automate and
service their cleaning servicesand operations on our platform.
So we're essentially amarketplace that connects
(06:07):
cleaners to people who needcleaning services, mostly
property managers and propertyowners.
A lot of our cleaners actuallycome from underrepresented
communities, so we're talkingabout immigrants just like
myself, refugees, blackBrown-owned businesses.
Refugees, black brown ownedbusinesses which a lot of times,
(06:28):
you know, don't have access tocapital to really acquire
customers, retain customers.
So in a sense, I am reallyhelping the entrepreneurial
community.
We're also partnered with theInternational Leadership
Literacy Advocacy Group as welland what we do is we actually
help these small and cleanbusinesses onboard on our
platform as well to get themaccess to job opportunities on
(06:51):
that front.
But yeah, that's the business.
In terms of ups and downs that Ifaced oh my God, so many.
I started.
I'm gonna say I went full-timeon doing this earlier this year
about March.
We didn't have a full productor a full launch until August,
but product development and allthat started off in March.
(07:12):
So when I first started off, Iactually had my cousin on as a
co-founder this is my oldercousin and we just had a lot of
conflict in terms of direction,conflict in terms of
misalignment in skills and weended up having to go our
separate ways, which really setthe company back about four
(07:32):
months.
A lot of development work wasleft undone.
I left my full-time job at thetime so I was sustaining myself
by the money that I alreadysaved.
There's just so much going onlegal conflicts, all of that and
it was so draining At the timeI was like maybe I just close
this company and start anothercompany and just refresh starts.
(07:54):
So that was one of the biggerthings this year.
Carol Park (07:59):
Wow, yeah, I think that's one of those walls you
hit when you go am I going tokeep going?
Am I going to pivot, whichsometimes entrepreneurship is
all about pivoting and realizingthat it's like, oh, this seems
to be a better idea.
But even with that uncertainty,risk emotional exposure.
And yeah, you touch on theother part of entrepreneurship
that people don't reallynecessarily think about in
(08:23):
advance, don't reallynecessarily think about in
advance.
But the relationships and whoyou partner with and how those
relationships work or don't,sometimes, as you move forward
in the company and then, yeah,to then take on that company
yourself and have to spend yoursavings to live while you try
(08:44):
and make your company work,that's kind of scary.
I mean, that's the epitome tocourage in that midst of
vulnerability.
So how about?
To some of the highs?
Have there been again in theearly days?
Sometimes it feels like, oh,it's just a lot of like oh, oh,
no.
So what about?
Demi Oloyede (09:04):
some of the highs.
Definitely, I would say one ofour first highs was launching
our MVP in August, because ourMVP should have been launched in
April and then it took so muchtime because of this delay and
we launched that in August.
So that was definitely a high.
Another high was actuallyseeing cleaners flow into the
platform Right.
So when we initially started, Iwas reaching out to cleaners on
(09:27):
social media telling them aboutthe platform.
I was getting ghosted.
A lot of times they weren'tresponding or they would book a
meeting and like not show up.
So that was a little likeheartbreaking because I'm like
hey, like you know, we're tryingto help, but like please answer
me, call me maybe.
Like yes, yes, let's talkplease.
(09:47):
But it wasn't until we started,you know, utilizing other third
parties, that we actuallystarted to see breakthrough in
that department.
Right now we're actually wehave too many cleaners in our
platform and we're not takingany new cleaners right now.
So it's like getting from thepoint where we had nobody and
(10:08):
nobody was interested to, like.
Getting to this point now wherewe have like a surplus, is like
it's been amazing and it'sthat's definitely been a high.
Carol Park (10:13):
That's that's definitely a high.
I also really which I didn'trealize from our initial talk
that not only do you have abusiness, but you're supporting
other humans and human beingswith your business, you know.
So it's kind of like a twofoldand such a win-win.
(10:36):
So I didn't realize that aspect.
So tell me a little bit aboutsome of your fears and doubts as
you started or have been inthis process, and how you
confronted or faced those fearsand doubts.
Demi Oloyede (10:51):
Definitely so.
I had this idea like probablythree years ago.
Right, I used to clean houseswhen I was in college.
It's really how I put myselfthrough school, right.
On the other side of that, Ibought my first multifamily
property like four years ago,four and a half years ago, and
you know, that's when I knewthese issues existed, but I just
(11:13):
didn't feel like I was theright person to solve them.
I'm like, oh me, like I can'tdo this.
Like what is this?
You know?
So I really face that and Ifeel like sometimes I
continuously face self-doubt.
Um, our first client that we had, I sent out a proposal and I
like logged off of my computerfor the whole day because I was
(11:34):
scared.
I'm like, just take it, like Idon't know what I'm actually
this.
Like there's always going to bethat fear.
Um, right now I'm just learningto roll with it.
I keep like I have this likewhat's the worst that can happen
mentality, right, maybe theylike it, maybe it actually lands
well, like you know, what's theworst that could really happen?
(11:55):
They say no, they don't wantyour product, they hate you.
Like there's so many people inthe world to sell to and there's
, like you know so muchopportunity, this one person,
this one situation is not goingto make a difference if you
don't go for it, but if you, ifyou go for it, but if you don't
go for it, that's when it makesa difference, cause now you
start to have the regret and youdon't learn from that.
(12:17):
The first proposal that I sentout to a commercial client they
actually didn't respond to me.
I sent follow-up emails.
It didn't respond to me.
I look back at that proposalnow and I cringe because it was
missing so many elements that,like, if I was a business owner,
I would not be signing thatproposal right.
So it's just like you live andyou learn, and for me, as I said
(12:39):
, like self-doubt was really thebiggest thing at the time and
I'm just really learning day byday to like overcome that
self-doubt and that anxiety,especially like this takes us
back to the first question.
Like, when you see peopleposting about how well they're
doing, you start to doubtyourself and you're like, maybe
I'm, maybe I'm not cut out forthis right.
Maybe, like this is not mydomain, maybe I should like go
(13:02):
do something else with my timeinstead, because if this person
is so successful and I'm not,then I must be doing something
wrong.
But that's not the truth, right?
Everybody's journey isdifferent, like you could try to
replicate.
You could try to do whatsomeone is doing.
It might not work for you andit really all comes down to like
knowing yourself and that'sreally what helps you through
like these tougher situationsthat you will.
(13:23):
You will experience them Likethere's you're so right about
that.
Carol Park (13:29):
You will.
This isn't a you might, this isa you will.
And when we go into that arenaof vulnerability, there will be
times you will fail.
I mean that's, that's a given.
It's not like the guaranteethat you said people are, you
know, touting on social media.
Oh, I did this and it was justa success.
I mean, we have successes butwe also have those failures.
(13:51):
I also really like just youtalking about your ability to
what I might call perspectivetaking.
You know that, instead of justbeing so focused on that one
proposal and that one customerand that this is the end, all be
all, your ability toperspective take, to stay in the
arena.
You know that it's like, okay,there's lots of customers out
(14:14):
there.
This first one, if I don't getit, there's more in that that
you just stayed the course andhad the ability to perspective
taken.
That, I think was is reallygood advice to entrepreneurs and
not get so in the weeds aboutthis one.
I also you're which I thinkevery entrepreneur, uh, me
(14:38):
included look back on some ofthe initial either product or,
in this case, a proposal, andyou kind of do cringe.
Or maybe it's your firstmarketing thing you put out
there and you look back and yougo.
Did we really put that outthere?
But I know, for me, when westarted a company, the thing
that one of the individuals whowas one of the co-founders which
(15:01):
she had read in one of herentrepreneur books, was,
basically, if you wait till youget the product perfect, you've
waited too long.
So when you talk about your MVPand putting it out there, it's
like it's not going to beperfect and if you wait is
perfection even a possibility,but if you wait too long, you
(15:23):
may have missed your opportunity.
So having the courage to put itout there, I think, is
definitely a big part of it,right?
So let's see.
So what about unique challengesas a young female entrepreneur?
I know when we first talked,you used the phrase that I think
(15:44):
you spoke to yourself, or stillprobably do woman up.
So talk to us about thechallenges of being a young
female entrepreneur.
Demi Oloyede (15:55):
Of course.
I think the challenges reallyis the biggest challenge is
people not thinking that you'recapable or you're up to the task
right.
So that's been my biggestchallenge so far, and I feel
like I'm constantly having tosell myself, which I really
don't mind doing, and I hopethat one day I get to the point
where my work speaks for me andmy you know, my track record
(16:17):
speaks for me.
But today I have to do that.
And actually, a reallyinteresting story.
So I'm currently hiring.
Well, I was hiring for head ofoperations.
We've made the decision to makethat more of a fractional
position instead of a full-timeposition.
But I was in the middle of aninterview this was about a week
and a half ago actually and Iwas talking to this man on the
(16:38):
call.
He's this middle-aged guy.
The call's going good.
You know he has a background infacility management, which is
going to be really great becausewe're working with a lot of
these facilities, right.
So I'm like okay, this is likeawesome, like you're checking
all the boxes, which is good.
And so then, through the call,he asked me.
He's like okay, when will I bespeaking to the hiring manager?
(16:58):
I'm like oh, I am the hiringmanager for this role.
And he's like, you're thehiring manager.
I'm like, yes, I'm the hiringmanager.
And then he's like, okay, well,I will have to respectfully
pass on the position.
I'm like, why, like you know, Ihope everything's okay.
And he just goes off and startstalking about you know, he had a
female boss once and you knowshe was Gen Z and she was not
(17:25):
the most pleasant person to workwith and he went off to call
her the B word.
And I'm just sitting here onthe call and this man's going
off about this thing and he'slike, yeah, I really don't think
that Gen Z's should be leadinganything today in business,
because you guys don't know howto show up for work on time, you
don't know how to deliver.
Like he just went off airingall these things to me and
(17:48):
before I could see anything heleft the call.
So that was so like I was.
I was really shocked that thateven happened in the first place
.
But at the same time, like Itruthfully, I logged off for the
rest of the day, like this wasthis call probably happened
aboutm.
And I just like sat on the couchand it kind of led me to start
(18:08):
doubting myself.
Like, maybe I don't, maybe Ishouldn't be hiring right now,
maybe I shouldn't beinterviewing people right now,
maybe I should just do this allby myself.
But there's only so much that Icould do by myself, right?
It gets to a point where youstart to need the external help,
and I was like you know, thinkthrough that.
But I was just reminded.
You know, at the end of the day, the right people will only
(18:30):
care about the mission and whatneeds to be achieved, and not
really who's driving the bus.
Right?
If he really knew me and if hetook time to look through my
background or look through thecompany and what we've achieved
in such little time, he wouldknow so much about me as a
leader, know so much about whatneeds to be done, the vision,
understand the mission.
(18:51):
But I think he just used a badexperience and generalized that
and completely projected that onme.
Carol Park (18:59):
Definitely.
That's what I hear too, andthat's part of that in the
vulnerability, the emotionalexposure to other people's
emotions, as well as then whatit elicits within ourself, and I
think that's a piece ofvulnerability that people like
we we're beginning to understand.
It's like, okay, I get theuncertainty and the risk, but I
(19:21):
don't think people reallyunderstand that emotional
exposure is such a real piece ofvulnerability, so even your own
emotions.
In that.
And you know I also appreciatethat you can take the pause.
You know, I know sometimes it'slike Whoa, can I keep going?
(19:41):
But when you said, said, I justhad to log off.
You've said that a couple oftimes, I just had to log off.
But when you do, you go to thatplace of perspective taking and
your mission or your valueswhich I think too, it's always
keeping those in front of us togive us the courage, to help
motivate us to not give up.
(20:03):
And so, certainly inentrepreneurship, your mission
which, again, I hadn't heardthat part when we first talked
it's such a mission that has somuch value to you and to others
in it too, which I think is aguiding light for you as you
continue the ups and downs, asyou continue the ups and downs
so well.
In closing, especially to youngpotential female entrepreneurs
(20:28):
either beginning or thinkingabout beginning, any words of
wisdom that you might impart.
Demi Oloyede (20:34):
Of course, I feel like everybody's always gonna
say this but just do it Likeyou're never gonna know.
You know I'm very type A and Ilike to treat my life like I'm
playing chess, so I know, likeall the moves ahead of time.
You can't know that in business, like the plan that I made for
this business three months agois not what we're doing today.
(20:55):
Right, there's always going tobe that change that you can't
map out every single day becauseit's so like it's, it's so
unpredictable so you can't mapout every single date, because
it's so like it's, it's sounpredictable so you can't map
out everything.
So unless you start, you're not, you're never gonna know.
So start, go on the ride andenjoy the ride as well.
There's days I cry and I startlaughing and I'm just like this
(21:15):
is silly.
This is actually.
I started to record myselfcrying, actually because I was
telling my, telling my friends.
Like this is very therapeuticfor me.
Like I cry and like I feel likethere's a lot of clarity, like
I suddenly know what to do next.
And after I do that, I look atthe recording and I laugh and
you know I cried about asituation three months ago.
And I look back and it's likeit's not even that big of a deal
(21:37):
, like now I'm facing biggerchallenges.
I wish that was my realityright now.
So until you do it, you'renever going to know.
But do it because there's nosuch thing as failing to right.
It's like, and depending onwhat point you get to in your
journey, you feel there's ahierarchy to failure, so you
feel hired in other people.
If you have the idea and youregistered your business, you're
(22:00):
better off than somebody whojust had the idea and never
registered the business.
If you acquire your firstcustomer, you're better off than
the person who registered thebusiness but didn't take the
steps to acquire the customer.
You know and there's alwayslearning you can go back and try
this again in four years, butif you never do it, then you
don't have that experience tolean on and you know you're
basically starting afresh.
Carol Park (22:30):
So I would say, do it, try it, see if it's for you.
You never really know.
Yeah, that is great advicereally throughout our talk today
.
So much wisdom, so much greatadvice that you're giving, and
what a beautiful idea again foryour company that's going to
help others in so many ways.
And so, yeah, I just continueto wish you success along your
journey and with your businessas it grows, and it's been such
(22:51):
an honor to have you on thismorning, so, thank you.
Demi Oloyede (22:55):
Likewise, it's been such an honor to be here
today.
Thank you so much for theopportunity, carol.
Carol Park (23:00):
Absolutely Well.
Everyone tune in next time toofor another episode of Courage
Unmasked podcast.
Take care, Take care.
Demi Oloyede (23:11):
Thank you guys.
Commix.io (23:14):
Thanks for tuning in to the Courage Unmasked podcast.
If you enjoyed today's episode,don't forget to subscribe and
leave a review.
It really helps us grow.
Follow us on social media forupdates and a look at what's
coming next, and a big thank youto our sponsor, comixio, for
supporting this journey.
Until next time, keep leadingwith courage.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com