TEN MINUTES WITH BRUNO

A well-known and respected name in the Nigerian beauty lexicon, Bruno’s Place gradually shot-up from obscurity to prominence. Since its establishment a little over four ago, the unisex hair salon has grown from just one outlet to several in Lagos and Abuja. The brain behind the outfit is Bruno Oaikhinan; an ex-banker and one that could be described as the “Spirit of Courage” for his resilience and tenacity towards entrepreneurship when forced to resign from Skye Bank.

In this brief chat with Splendid!, he revealed the secret of his success, obstacles he surmounted during his formative years and his vision for the future.

By contemporary Nigerian standards, you are a successful businessman. What have you done differently from other Hairdressers?

We are the first to operate a salon in a Mall in Nigeria. Ours is a one stop shop. It's trending and very expensive. My kind of customers value SAFETY first, CONVENIENCE before TRANSFORMATION. We offer these through the mall.

Looking back what were the major obstacles you came across?

Paying our rent in dollar equivalent. Our rent is not fixed. It keeps increasing. So, we keep innovating and coming up with new strategies. By God's grace we have spent over 4 years so far and we are surviving and pushing ahead.

Do you sometimes regret not starting Bruno’s Place much earlier?

I knew earlier that God's time is always the best. No regrets.

Tertiary Education vs Vocational Studies, would you consider tertiary studies a waste of time?

They work together. Though they are independent, they are dependent on each other. But tertiary education first before vocational education.

Please, tell us about current challenges faced with your kind of business?

The ability to manage people is a key success factor in this business. You need to have relationship skills to succeed and be successful in salon business.

Despite challenges faced, Bruno’s Place is still waxing stronger. What is the secret?

We cannot rule out the God factor in business. The grace, mercy and favour of God has been our portion.

Where do you see Bruno’s Place in another 5 years?

In different countries USA, Canada, UK and Ghana etc.

How do you think the problem of youth unemployment could be resolved?

Encourage small scale businesses. This is the heart beat of any economy. As small as Bruno's Place, we have over 80 staff.

Obviously, Hairdressing has been profitable. What other area(s) are you venturing into?

We are building a brand. A Brand once formed can be expressed through several platforms. People are already asking for out t-shirts, tea cups and our shoes because it has our logo on it.

Would you encourage your kids to take after you?

Why not? I'm taking ordinary business and making it extraordinary. It's not really about the business but who is behind the business. I'm a brand.

What’s your advice to upcoming talents?

Discover your story. Your story is not what happened to you but what you make out of what happened to you. I was asked to resign from the bank but today I'm giving jobs to people. The sack from the bank was a blessing in disguise.

VETERAN ACTRESS, JOKE SILVA SHARES STORY BEING AN ADOPTED CHILD

Speaking at the August occasion of the Annual Conference of Heritage Adoption Support and Advocacy Group (HASAAG), which had the Vice President’s wife, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo in attendance, veteran actress, Joke Silva-Jacobs disclosed that she was an adopted child.

According to kemiashefonlovehaven, Joke was living in a foster home of the Red Cross in Yaba, Lagos, and she recalled that her foster parent was Mrs. Desalu.

She said;

“Everybody would be calling me whenever my adopted mum (Dr. Silva) came with cakes and a lot of things during her visit. I went to YWCA Nursery, which was not too far from the Silva’s home in Yaba. I also have memories of moving in with them when they moved to Glover Road in Ikoyi.

“I remember reading newspapers to my Dad in our sitting room and pronouncing Brig-General Aguiyi Ironsi, the then Nigeria Head Of State, Agolo Iresi! My father could not stop laughing at my hilarious interpretation of the newspaper.

“Also I remember making them proud, when performing at St. Saviour School. My parents would be standing and were congratulated by other parent too for my acting skills. My parents were so excited that this child was incredibly talented.”

She continued:
“I have memories of going to Holy Child College Lagos because my parents insisted on me going to Holy Child because that is where Julie Coker, Pearce Olusola and Ibidun Allison went and they believed with all my performing talent skills, that is the kind of school I should go to too.

“I remembered going out with my cousin and we met a big cousin She introduced me as ‘my cousin’s daughter and this is Dr Silva’s daughter.’ Then, the older cousin was like, ‘Dr. Silva ke? Se Doctor Silva bimo ni? (meaning does Dr. Silva have a child?) . Did Dr Silva ever has a child?”

“I was so confused and when I got home I told my mum, ‘I met this lady that says you never had a child.’ My mum froze and she said, ‘don’t mind them, they are used to rubbish talk.’

“But I got to know years later when I wanted to travel and was looking for my passport where my mum kept it. Since she was not around, I opened the box in her absence and I saw my adoption papers. I never discussed it with my mum because I felt it was something that would hurt her, that was why, it was kept secret from me.”

Speaking about her foster mum, Dr Silva, she said:

“Amazing Parents But I had incredible memories of my amazing parents for allowing me to do my A Level in England and going to one of the best schools in Bournemouth (a seaside resort on the southern coast of England) coming back after my A level with two of them having an argument on what I was going to do because I had failed my A level having done it for the third time then.

“I had done it thrice because I changed from science to Arts— I didn’t do well at all.
My father said, ‘Joke, go back and do your A levels again and my Mom said, let this girl go and do the drama.’ They came into middle ground, and as you can see I am still in drama today.”

-Vanguard

HOW I OVERCAME SEXUAL HARASSMENT FROM WOMEN – COMIC ACTOR, SAKA

Popular Nigerian comic actor, Afeez Oyetoro, popularly known as Saka, has recounted how some of his female fans sexually harassed him.

The Theatre Arts lecturer cum comedian said although the pressure was much, he was able to overcome the temptation.

In a chat with The Punch, the MTN ambassador said, “Suddenly I can no longer go anywhere without people rushing to greet and hug me. I used to go to the market to do some shopping a few years ago.

“I can’t do that again because I don’t want to be mobbed by admirers. I don’t feel free to mix with the crowd anymore.

“If you are a celebrity, women will always come to you.

“Most of the time, their intention is to seduce you. Well, in 2016, some of them tried to seduce me and to make me do certain things that I had sworn never to do when I got married.

“But, I thank God that I was able to resist them. It was not by my power; God gave me the grace to resist them.”

Speaking further, Saka swore he had never had an extra-marital affair since he got married.

He said, “Why should I? My wife is young and very pretty. Besides, it is not in my character to be chasing women around,” he said.

“The fact that I teach Theatre Arts, which involves a lot of practical work, also gives me an advantage to be a comic actor. I practice what I teach and I am not exactly an extrovert.

“I am so busy that I don’t have a social life any longer,” the ‘Oko Ashewo’ actor added.