Bibi Bunmi Apampa is an internationally sought after Amazon Best Selling Author on Personal Transformation, a top motivational speaker, business consultant, wealth strategist and life coach. The Director of The Empowerment Centre Ltd who is also a Chartered Accountant and a fellow of Chartered Institute of Taxation shares her success story with TAYO GESINDE.
Educational/professional background
I’m a Chartered Accountant, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. A Certified High Performance Life and Business Coach with certification from University of Cambridge Uk, The Coaching Academy and the Academy of Professional Coaches.
I had all my educational training in Nigeria; primary and secondary school in Ibadan, while I had my tertiary education at the University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University and Masters Degree at the University of Ibadan. I run a Life Coach and Business Consultancy outfit called “Bestseller Consult” (www.BestSellerConsult.com) that creates elebrities with International Best Selling Books, Products and Global Exposure.
What motivated me to go into entrepreneurship
I started my career in the banking sector as a loans and credit officer. I was exposed to many business opportunities that l had to analyse for approval. That ignited the entrepreneurial spirit in me so l set a target to start my own business after five years in the bank and God made it possible for me to become a serial entrepreneur.
The price I paid to get to the top
Diligence, sleepless nights and prayers. I had to work and create workable businesses at night after my family had gone to bed. I also needed to have a strong prayer life as l encountered a lot of obstacles building and sustaining different businesses while maintaining the home front
The most defining moment of my career so far
In 2015 at Hollywood, USA, l got an award from the Academy of Best Selling Authors for my contribution to the book Boom which l was invited to co-author with Mark Victor Hansen (Chicken Soup For The Soul series). The book reached the best-seller status in two Amazon.com categories on the day it was released. It was a nice and pleasant surprise to be nominated and honoured at the Academy Awards in Hollywood. Since then, l have written other books that hit the best seller list like Make Maximum Impact in Life which hit number one on the Personal Transformation Best Seller list in different countries on the day it was released. This has opened so many doors for me more than l could ever have imagined or thought possible. I am really grateful to God
Combining the home front with my career
I thank God that l have a very understanding husband who is my best friend. We worked together in establishing a stable and happy Christian home. When my children were younger, l spent a lot of time with them, my daily schedule was built around them as they grew older, l was able to take on more activities. I was also blessed with the support of the grandparents on both sides so if l had to travel or work late, l made arrangements in advance for my children to stay with their grandparents.
Lessons life taught me
Your dream does not exist. You have to create it. There are some people who live in a dream world. There are others who face reality. Then there are those who turn their dreams to reality. I’ve learnt in life that for my dreams to become a reality, l have to create it. It takes having a resilient and a fighting spirit that refuses to give up. I thank God that many of my dreams,with God’s help, have become a reality
My driving force
LOVE – often a misused word but it is a powerful force. It is the kind of love that wants to empower people to succeed, to excel and to prosper by providing workable and sustainable solutions and giving them the necessary skills, tools and assistance either financial or professional.
God gave me a special gift of being able to break down complex and difficult procedures into simple step by step instructions that make projects and goals achievable. Maybe that is why l have been successful as a high performance business coach.
Inspiration for my books
I love solving challenges especially because l know you are rewarded by how big and how many challenges you’re able to solve. The inspiration for my books comes from challenges that l try to solve.
I’ll give an example. A couple of years back, I was getting many enquiries requesting for coaching from people who were either approaching 50 years of age, or were asked to leave their jobs due to mergers and acquisitions like the banks did a few years ago or were getting worried about spending all their working years in the same career path and needed to do something else. In trying to solve the “40pluschallenge” as l called it later, l came up with the book “Retirement Business Ideas” which can be downloaded for free on one of my websites www.RetirementBusinessIdeas.biz This developed into the Retire Rich Strategy book which has evolved into a coaching/mentoring program from “The Retirement Business Mentor” with 18 profitable / flourishing businesses that can be done in retirement
Tips on how to have a successful career as a woman
I learnt very early in life the 5Ds for success which l have applied in my life, family, career and business. They are: Dream – You need to have a Dream for the dream to come to pass
Desire – There must be a burning, unquenchable desire for your dream to become a reality
Decision – You have to cross over a mental line in your mind on your decision to be successful and go all out.
Diligence – with diligence and perseverance the snail entered the ark. No compromise on doing things properly with a diligent spirit
Discipline – the reason many people fail is broken focus. You have to be disciplined in body, spirit, interactions, relationships, etc.
On the way to your breakthrough you may encounter some “NOs You may encounter some closed doors, you may encounter some difficult people with insults but that doesn’t mean it’s the final answer. It just means “keep going” with God on your side, you will succeed
How to survive recession
The word survive is not an inspirational word. l think more in line of thriving and flourishing in recession than survival. I would counsel people to create at least an additional stream of income, be more creative with their resources, pick up an additional skill, cut down / eliminate waste, take business online, look for new markets, invest in skills and productive capacity that would be future cash cows.
What are “future cash cows” these are businesses and services that people will need in the future like Healthcare, Coaching and mentoring, Specialised skills, Training camps, transformation agents, self publishing, self launching of products, virtual media, virtual office and locational freedom skills.
Advice for young people
My interaction with many young adults shows that many of them have a “microwave” attitude and approach to life. They want things now without struggle or hard work. There are some basic principles which govern life. One is “karma,” the law of sowing and reaping. You need to give and invest your time, resources, and skills to achieve success.
I would also advise them to work hard, be diligent, be open to learn and be accountable to a mentor. Do not go in for get-rich quick streams and have a strong connection with God.