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Name: Yetunde Macaulay
Business: MyDreamConnect
Location: Lagos, Nigeria
Industry: Education & Training
Reason for starting? Immediately after my secondary school education in 2001, I went to a computer school to learn desktop publishing. Eventually I stood out among my peers, so I was given the opportunity to become the computer instructor for them. I was 15. After my university experience, I began to see many gaps in the way people work and live their lives. I see laziness, carelessness, people who lack vision, the ones who don’t know purpose, and I began to work on ways to meet these needs through human capacity development. So I focused on developing myself through learning new skills because I want to be the best example that I can be, instead of using other people as examples. I was disturbed by my experience with many young people who didn’t seem to take personal dedication towards advancement (both at work and in life) seriously. I conceived of MyDreamConnect in 2008 to develop a plan to resolve issues plaguing youth development — helping teenagers master life concepts and envision a brighter future for themselves, their families and their community. In 2013, I opened MyDreamConnect Library in Idimu, Ikotun, to encourage people to come in read, learn computer skills and have access to one-on-one mentoring. And in 2015, I registered the name and began to work with a number of young, certified and experienced teachers, mentors, counselors and administrators to run the affairs of MyDreamConnect.
Related: Read about another Education & Training entrepreneur here.
How do you define success? Since we launched on October 1, 2015, we have helped 920 teenagers and over 200 young adults. As a result of the success we have achieved so far, MyDreamConnect is awaiting Lagos State government approval to be in partnership to work with secondary schools in Lagos teaching pupils life skills, entrepreneurship and sustainable development.
Biggest success: Setting up MyDreamConnect and consistently working on the big picture. MyDreamConnect started as an idea that grew to become a library where I could meet with people. And now we are going into schools and we are working towards getting into homes. It started with zero naira, but now MyDreamConnect is worth more than 6,000,000 naira.
Related: Positive Attitude, Positive Change
What is your top challenge and how you have addressed it? MyDreamConnect needs to develop its products for the market. I have always worked hard on doing many things that can be outsourced like the website, printing of flyers, marketing due to low availability of funds. This takes time and affects my ability to balance work and life. We are seeking sponsorship (in terms of profit sharing investment) to do a lot more than we do now.
Who is your most important role model? Pastor Sam Adeyemi. He’s pursuing his purpose by strengthening the quality of leadership and affecting the economy of Africa through his work.
[box_light]Website www.
Twitter @mydreamconnect
Facebook www.facebook.com/MyDreamConnect
Instagram @mydreamconnect [/box_light]
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Edited by The Story Exchange