HANGING OUT WITH TEE
Titi Oyemade has a degree in Russian Language from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. During the day, Titi works as an Executive Assistant. She is also the convener of Hangoutwithtee, a free to attend four hours ladies’ hangout that brings women together to network and have fun in a safe space. A platform for women, single or married, working or not, to get together, learn, get inspired, laugh, network and chill out with other smart ladies in a relaxed environment.
In this interview with Pride Magazine Nigeria (PNG), Titi Oyemade (TO) tells us what her day job as an executive assistant entails, what led her to start Hangoutwithtee, and what she finds rewarding about being the convener of the hangouts and her philosophy about life.
PNG: Can you tell us something about yourself – your childhood, family background, and school days?
TO: I am the third child of my parents, and had my primary, secondary and university education in Lagos, Nigeria. As a child, I had this feeling that there was more to life than just going to school and going to work so I kept searching for that thing early in life and how I can do more and make an impact in my community. I have discovered a little of me and I am still searching.
PNG: In addition to being the convener of Hangoutwithtee, you are a busy professional working as an executive assistant. What does your work an executive assistant entail?
TO: I am an executive errand girl (lol).
PNG: How did you come up with the idea of getting women to hang out together?
TO: For the past 8 or 9 years, I have been attending women events (mostly free to attend) and I am still attending cos I never get tired. Some of these events were really fun and some were not so much fun. I attended so many of these events that I felt that the organisers could include more fun things and discuss other issues affecting women like health, career and more. So instead of complaining, I decided to start something and decided to focus on the mainland part of Lagos as only few fun things happen in this part of Lagos. And that was how Hangoutwithtee was born.
PNG: Having come up with the idea, how did you go about organising the first-ever hangout? Was it difficult?
TO: The first hangout was like hanging out with old friends. I invited old school mates, friends I had not seen in a longtime, my former colleagues, my present colleagues at work and of course some ladies I had met at some women events I attended and they all came to my home out of curiosity (lol) to hang out with me on a hot Sunday afternoon under the canopy eating small chops and drinks.
PNG: You have held four hangout events so far. What takes place during a typical hangout event?
TO: It is always fun, fun and more fun. There is usually a theme for each hangout and I invite 2 or 3 speakers to speak on the theme, after which we have questions and answer session, there is always so much to learn. Then we have music performances, poetry performances, dance competitions, raffle draws, games, free brand products to be given out to all the ladies, then we have exhibition tables where about 10 women display th
eir goods for free and the attendees can buy books, bags at affordable prices. We have a nurse on standby to answer medical questions, we have a nail painting table where the ladies can paint their toe and finger nails for free and much more…just too much fun and little time.
PNG: What does one expect to “gain” from attending a hangout event?
TO: A lot…………………you make new friends, you learn something new, you get inspired, you get free gifts from our partners and you have lots of fun.
PNG: What are the age ranges of the women that attend a typical hangout? Are there any age restrictions for attendance?
TO: We have women mostly between the ages of 18 to 45 attend, and sometimes we have women who are younger asking to attend and we open the doors wide open for them to come, learn and have fun too.
PNG: How are the hangouts funded since it is a free to attend event?
TO: Hmmmn, the hangout is funded by me for now, but we have magazines like yours supporting the hangout and helping create awareness for the event. I also have companies who generously give the ladies their company products. Companies like Sofy Nigeria, Mysha, Eko Supreme Resources, Food Concepts and many more have supported the event in the past. I am hoping to get more companies to partner with me, give us gifts like return tickets to very beautiful cities and much more.
PNG: What are some of the challenges you face planning an event?
TO: I think it is the financial aspect. I have a lot of ideas and dreams for this hangout but I can only do so little. I want more and more women to benefit from this hangout and I am hoping I can get companies who can support these hangouts financially to help me achieve these dreams.
PNG: Having held a number of events, how are the hangouts being received by women?
TO: The feedback has been awesome. It is surprising that a lot of women have never attended women hangouts like this…with the number of women events happening in Lagos I assumed a lot of women would have attended a few. It brings me a lot of joy when women walk up to me and tell me they learnt a lot and had so much fun at the hangout.
PNG: Being in full-time employment and also the convener of Hangoutwithtee, how do you manage to find the time for both?
TO: Very easy…when you are passionate about something, it is not hard work. It is like falling in love with someone, you will always create the time for that person you love no matter how busy you are, you want to satisfy that person, give an arm or a leg and you are never too busy for that person. That is how I see that thing you are passionate about….it is very easy to create time for it, it gives you a lot of energy, you keep pushing and thinking of more ways to make an impact with what you are doing. I pray every woman finds that which they are passionate about and I can tell you that you are on your way to living a fulfilled life.
PNG: What do you find rewarding about being the convener of the hangouts?
TO: The smiles on people’s faces at the hangout while they are having fun because a lot of women are too busy to have fun and they are letting life go through them instead of going through life. If you are not careful, you will clock 60 and you are wondering what happened to you and when you look back, you realize you have not really done anything with your life, apart from waking up, going to work, eating and sleeping. No fun, you haven’t followed your passion, you just grew old without achieving your purpose on this earth and that is my greatest fear.
PNG: How do you see the future of the hangouts?
TO: Bigger and better by each edition. I am hoping to take it outside Lagos and in future, outside Nigeria.
PNG: What would you say is your guiding philosophy in life, if any?
TO: You only live once, live life to the full.