Over the last ten
years, Funke Bucknor-Obruthe has become a household name alongside Zapphaire
Events, her flagship events consulting, planning, marketing and management
company which she started after stints in Law and Advertising. Fresh out of Law
school in 2000, Funke endured practising in a Law firm for three weeks before
following her love for Public Relations into an advertising firm, where she
eventually found the real deal: events planning! Her resilient entrepreneurial
drive led Funke to turn her passion for organising events for other people into
a business, and by 2006, she had earned herself the “Entrepreneur of the Year”
award at The Future Awards, Nigeria’s most prestigious youth recognition
platform. A year later, she was announced the Wedding Planner Magazine’s
“Wedding Planner of the Year“. Four more years later, in August 2011, event
planner extraordinaire Funke’s work in planning a Nigerian royal wedding was
highlighted on CNN International’s Inside Africa. In this exclusive interview
with Gbenga Awomodu, Funke talks passionately about her journey to amazing
business success, the making of the Nigerian events planning industry, and lots
more. Enjoy!
Tell
us about yourself – education and childhood memories?
I am Funke
Bucknor-Obruthe and I studied Law at the University of Lagos and the Nigerian
Law School. Growing up was fun with all my cousins and my sister, Tosyn Bucknor
and my parents, Mr. And Mrs. Olusegun Bucknor. My dad is very very intelligent.
He helped us with our homework, took us to examination centres, got extra pens
and papers, and did revision with us. He used to be a musician, worked for a
while at Xerox, then as the Chairman, Lagos Mainland Local Government Area.
After that, he still went back to his music. My mum has been a businesswoman
for as long as I can remember. She had a tailoring outfit. If you want to organize
anything just call her. Their lifestyle influenced me a bit, till today. Even
my sister Tosyn [Bucknor] is in entertainment. Tosyn writes, Tosyn sings, Tosyn
blogs, all kinds of things.
When
and why did you start Zapphaire Events?
Zapphaire Events
started in 2001, but officially started in 2002. I just loved planning events
for my friends, especially weddings. A few friends advised that I do it for a
living.
What
is the origin of the word “Zapphaire” in your company name?
(Laughs) It was
just like a joke. I got inspired by sapphire (the stone) and I changed the “S”
to “Z” to make it different.
How
did you transition from Law into Event Planning?
I never liked Law
from my first year in UNILAG. Everybody kept telling me that when I got into
the next year I would like it better, so I got into Year 2, even into Law
school, I hated it, though I still passed very well. I thought if I went to
work at maybe I might like it a bit, but for three weeks I was frustrated. I
left to work at Tie Communications, an advertising agency, during my Youth
Service year. I liked PR, but the advertising agency didn’t specialize in PR.
They were more into core advertising, which wasn’t what I really wanted. It was
while I was there that I started planning a few people’s weddings and realized
that this was what I wanted to do. The experience taught me about discipline
and has really helped in running my business today. I spoke with a few business
minded people who helped and advised me on how to develop it further. Then I
went to Fate Foundation and did an entrepreneurial course there.
When
you started out, who were the key global leaders and your role models in the
industry?
We had people like
Preston Bailey, Colin Cowie, Mindy Weiss and David Tutera. Those were people I
respected and looked up to internationally. I’d been hearing about them. Most
of them had been in business for over twenty years. In Nigeria, there wasn’t
really anybody. It was just one or two of us: Lara Akande of Just Weddings, who
started a little bit before me and Mrs. Yewande Zaccheaus, who started the same
year.
What
is the size of your team at Zapphaire Events and what qualities do you look out
for when hiring new staff?
Our team of
co-ordinators is made up of eighteen staff while our support staff are eleven.
I look out for drive, passion, creativity etc., depending on the role the
person is assuming.
How
would you describe your target clients?
Our target clients
are the everyday bride, corporate organisations, etc. generally, people who
want value for money.
Could
you share highlights from your experience working on international events?
I worked with one
or two people on a wedding in Dubai. In a place like Dubai, you already know
that at your event maybe you just have about 400 or 300 people, but it’s well
laid out and you have a lot of waiters and other of service providers at your
beck and call. To do that in Nigeria, you have to have a lot of money, and
people are not ready to do that. A peculiarity with our events here is that
they are usually very large. I saw that the standard was very high in Dubai,
but when I did an event in Accra, it was the opposite, really. I just felt that
they were too slow-paced and not close to the level of excellence that we
usually had. I felt Nigeria was far better. We imbibed a level of excellence in
planning the event and everybody thought the event was very good, like “for
Ghana? This was really good!”.
Earlier
this year, you launched “The Essential Bridal Handbook”, one-of-a-kind in this
clime. What was the motivation behind that project, how long did it take you to
compile the materials for the book, and what has the reception been like in the
market?
I have been in the
industry for quite a long time, and I saw the need and cravings of a lot of
brides for a handbook which would serve as a guide to planning a flawless
event; a journal, a resource book, where you can also get tips on planning your
budget. The Essential Bridal Handbook is packed with all that and much more. It
contains tips from different service providers and it’s just a book you want to
recommend for every bride. It took about two years to compile, because we had
to put a lot of effort into researching and publishing. The reception in the
market has been quite impressive.
You
easily impress me as a very energetic and highly entrepreneurial person. How
have you developed your business savvy over time, and how do you constantly
ensure that you are growing and improving in your profession?
(laughs) Very
energetic and highly entrepreneurial, and I put all my energy into my work. My
business savvy comes from a lot of experience, business seminars and from my
mentors. I’ve done a few short courses, seminars and workshops. There’s a
resource book called FabJob Guide to Become an Events Planner. I go for courses
in America at least twice a year where they teach the rudiments of event
planning, new technologies, new ideas, marketing ideas, and new trends. You
meet all the top international planners. I’m also starting the Preston Bailey
Design Course soon, which I should have done way back. No knowledge is lost. I
just finished a course at the Lagos Business School, Pan African University,
where the EDC [Enterprise Development Centre] is organizing an Events Planning
workshop/training which I’m facilitating next week.
What
notable challenges have you had to tackle in your business?
I’m not sure I had
so many other notable challenges aside staff retention, because of the type of
industry we’re in. It’s very new, and I think people think that, “you know
what, if I stay here for ten years, what am I going to be doing?” That’s a bit
of a challenge because people come in to the office, they’re green horns, you
train them, they work with you for a year or two, you are used to working with
them, then next thing they’ve gone to start their own. You have to constantly
keep on training people. I think that because of the industry, it’s something
we can’t avoid right now and then I’m trying to change that and I’m working on
something that everybody would see in the future.
For
those who want to be the boss, what are the essential attributes that they can
imbibe and the pitfalls to avoid in becoming event planners
To be an event planner, you have to be someone
who pays attention to details; someone who has good listening skills, and good
verbal and non-verbal skills; someone who is very diplomatic; not necessarily
friendly, but be a people person; you have to be personable, and someone that
is able to manage crises, because crises will come; be someone that people can
rely on because your job is about taking the stress off people. I have a lot of
my ex-staff who we call on sometimes when we have so many events at once that
we can’t even handle. If I’ve trained you, I know that the standard you have is
quite high.
Have
you had some staff who were so resourceful and good at their job, and you just
had to encourage them to go start out on
their own
I have. I have two
of them; two people who did very well. Debola [Lewis, of Yvent Couture] was one
of them. I encouraged him to start doing what he was doing, and when I saw that
where he was working was stifling him a bit, I felt that he could do better and
said to him, “Debola, I can see this is what you need to do. I think you need
to leave.”
I
don’t hear about that quite often – people encouraging some of their best staff
to move on, on this side of the world
I think that
people are afraid. To me, the sky is really big and Debola today is like my
brother. I can call him up for anything. He’s like my brother. I mean, we are
competitors o, but he’s still someone I respect, because he’s good at what he
does. You must give honour to whom honour is due; that’s how I am. There is
someone else as well: Niyi NYBD [Niyi Badmus]. He is very good with drinks. He
started doing drinks, icing and serving of drinks, and I encouraged him and he
is doing it now; he’s doing very well.
What
major changes have occurred since you started business a decade ago, and what
are your projections over the next decade in the Nigerian events space
From about 3, ten
years ago, we now have over 500 planners in the industry. Events are now
technology-based and decor has changed. Event planning was very basic. Even
down from the décor, we used satin chair covers; satin that would be making
people fall down. It was a novelty then, but if you use it for the chair cover
now, people will laugh at you. Five years ago, we were not using mood lights
for our décor; we were using the Fairy Lights, the Christmas light, but now if
you don’t use the mood light or LED, it’s like your wedding is not great. We
now use Plasma screens and do documentaries as well; videographers have also
evolved. Back then, the late Jaiye Aboderin’s band was the only band that was
fantastic and they were so expensive. Now, there are so many music bands. Even
the MCs, the way they deliver their jokes has changed. Until recently,
hostesses were just drab, but now you’ve made the hostesses so elegant, and
everybody copies that. Competition opens up the market and also allows people
to see the quality of service you deliver.
Have
you ever put in so much effort into an event only to feel so bad about the
outcome
Ah! Wow! Yes, very
recently that happened; we put a lot of efforts, but the outcome wasn’t as good
as we would have wanted it. The client was trying a new concept which had never
been done in Nigeria. Every aspect of the event went smoothly except that
aspect.
Have
you ever failed in any business endeavour and how comfortable are you sharing
about them
I’ll just say I
have made mistakes which I have been able to learn from and overcome. I believe
we learn from our mistakes. Life is a rollercoaster, it’s up and down. When the
client is not happy about an event, for me I consider that a bit of a failure
on our own part and sometimes, it could be circumstances beyond your control.
At the end of the day, it is all about client satisfaction.
In
what ways would you say that your legal education has been a plus
In terms of
realizing that I need contracts and some legal issues that come up, I can
handle them. People I met and friends I made at the university and Law School
are sustaining me now. If probably I had studied something else, I have a
feeling that I might not have had that strong network I have now. For me, the
legal education, that network, fantastic! Right now, I can call any lawyer and
they help me do anything because they’re all my friends.
Zapphaire
is gradually establishing itself as a house of brands. Could you tell us a bit
about Furtullah, the new arm of your company that focuses on décor
In a bid to
expand, we set up a décor company called Furtullah Concept and Design, which is
solely run by a lady called Ayobami Ojerinola. She is the COO; I’m just a
Director. Furtullah does most of our decor now, and in fact they do décor on
their own. We saw that there was a need in the industry when/where people
wanted us to do décor, and were wondering, “why are you not doing décor?” So we
have Furtullah, the Essential Bridal Handbook, the training school, and a few
other things we’re going to be coming up with in the future.
How
about the Zapphaire Events training school and its programmes
Yes, we have a
training school where we train event planners, usually twice a year. We have a
lot of people coming to us saying they want to be event planners. If somebody
was going to do this, we might as well train them to do things properly. We
show them the standard – how it is done internationally and in Nigeria based on
our experience and books. The classes run for like a month, then followed by a practical, on-the-job training
which lasts for about two months. The classes hold like three times a week,
five hours each.
In
what other ways are you giving back to the industry and society
I have trained
quite a lot of event planners. In fact, I can say Zapphaire Events has produced
the most number of event planners. I am a member of Fate Foundation where I’ve
facilitated a few classes and shared my experience from running my business.
I’m an associate member of WIMBIZ [Women in Management and Business], where as
part of a mentoring programme I mentor young women going into the business. We
do that for even Hafsat Abiola’s KIND and my church, Joshua Ville where we also
mentor a lot of young people. I give talks at seminars; did one at the Lipton
Tea Party recently. We support several charities, including the UKF Foundation,
sickle cell foundation, “These Genes”, and cancer foundations.
How
do you effectively manage business alongside the home, and what are some of
your thoughts on family
Well, God has been
good and my husband has been really supportive; my sister and my parents as
well. Family isn’t just about being married to someone or having kids for
someone; the ability to love each and every member of your family regardless,
is what makes you a family. A family that prays together stays together.
I
see that your family is a Manchester United family. Who initiated the other
into football
My husband. I’m a
Man U Fan. My husband is the Man U fan (laughs). Man U for life! My husband
loves football; he breathes football, eats football. We have a Man U flag in my
house.
How
does he find time to do all that
Wednesday night,
Saturday morning, Sunday evening. He works in a Telecoms company, but just
loves football.
And
you’re not jealous that football takes him from you sometimes
I even love it.
Let him love football, please. Is it not better? I like the fact that he loves
football, so it gives me time to be free too now. I work at the weekends, so
he’s watching football – premiership – while I’m working; there’s no demand, so
it’s even balanced.
Do
you sometimes watch football matches with him
I sleep off. But I
sit down with him and watch (laughs).
What
qualities do you like in people, and which traits put you off when dealing with
people
I like smart and
proactive people who can think on their feet. Laziness puts me off, so I don’t
get along well with lazy people who think life should just hand them
everything.
Could
you tell us a bit about your normal daily routine and how do you de-stress after
a rather busy day or week
I get up in the
morning, attend to the home, my children, get to work early (9am), meet with
clients, talk about deadlines, go over events, go to church for meetings. Just
about that. In my spare time, I watch TV, read magazines, and hang out with friends.
Who
is your favourite Nigerian designer, and why
Grey. Her clothes
are versatile and easy to wear.
Where
is your favourite travel destination
I really don’t
have, but will say Cape Town.
If
you had the opportunity to wish for anything and it would happen instantly,
what would it be?
That I make
Heaven!
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