Meet Oladiwura Fakiyesi, Director and Co-Founder of Flenjor Foods

Born and raised in Southwest Nigeria, Oladiwura Fakiyesi was exposed to business and entrepreneurship at a very early age. Her parents were both business people and her earliest memories include following her father to his place of business to receive reports from the workers. She studied Anatomy at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria and also studied general sciences at the Community College of Baltimore County, USA. She currently serves as the director/co-founder of Flenjor Foods, a leading provider of international specialty grocery and beauty products in Atlantic Canada. In her spare time, she likes to volunteer for community organizations. She is happily married and is a proud mother of three boys.

My first job ever was… as a child care provider.

I decided to be an entrepreneur because… as a little girl, I grew up helping my mum in her grocery store. I saw how she interacted with her customers and made sure they got the best service. When we moved to Canada in 2016, I saw a gap in the specialty grocery segment. I saw that there was a big vacuum to fill and jumped in immediately. The decision to start the business is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

My proudest accomplishment is… being able to go above and beyond in meeting my customer’s needs. 

My biggest setback was… hmm, where do you want me to start from? I think the biggest setback was the difficulty in getting funding at the start of the business. 

I overcame it by… working extra hard with the little we started with, and within two years we opened our second location. It wasn’t easy, but we made it work. 

If you Googled me, you still wouldn’t know… that baking relaxes me.

My best advice for small business owners is… that nothing beats hard work. Set goals for your business and work towards your goals daily. 

The one piece of advice I give that I have trouble following myself is… slowing down and taking breaks. 

When starting my business, I wish I knew… I couldn’t do it all by myself, that getting help makes it easier to run a business

The future excites me because… my business is like a book that gets better with every chapter. I have a lot of innovation that will take my busses to the next level of success.

Success to me means… helping others around me succeed and reach their full potential.