Leaders We Love ??: Get To Know Titilope Adedokun, The Founder Of Sisterly HQ

Welcome to 'Leaders We Love', a series of interviews that spotlights pioneering leaders who are creating purpose-led brands with a focus on conscious marketing. My goal is to inspire brands to adopt a more positive, sustainable, impactful, accessible and inclusive approach to marketing.

This week, I am so excited to feature Titilope Adedokun , the Founder of Sisterly HQ . She is such an inspiration, and I’m grateful for her participation.

But before we dive in, I just wanted to take a moment to share an exciting opportunity Titilope has to offer.?

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What's your brand's mission, and how does it align with your personal values?

Sisterly HQ provides the platform, tools and community for Nigerian women to tell their stories their way. We also connect Nigerian women with opportunities and resources to achieve their goals and get ahead in life.?

I’m very passionate about empowerment and creating safe spaces for young women to be seen, and heard. Storytelling is empowerment and stories, when told the authentic way, can change the trajectory of generations. As a Nigerian and African, my people have always been storytellers. My ancestors told folktales and moonlight stories that still wield so much power, and change today. With digital storytelling, Sisterly HQ is eliminating the single story, and empowering Nigerian women, in all our diversity to take control of our narrative.?

Another thing I am very passionate about is paying the help that I receive forward. I show up and take up space but I’m not doing it alone. I’m bringing other women with me to the top - period! And, this informs the things I do and influences the work we do at Sisterly HQ. By curating opportunities and resources for women, we are bridging the access gap, and shattering the glass ceilings of exclusion and discrimination faced by women on the journey to achieving their goals.

How do you integrate social impact into your marketing decision-making process?

The work that Sisterly HQ does lives and breathes social impact, from top to bottom. And so, everything that we do is driven by the need to positively impact at least one woman’s life. We also prioritize accessibility, inclusion and representation in our decision-making process.?

The work we do, from creating posts on social media to interviewing Nigerian women and publishing their stories, inspires, empowers and connects.?

It inspires women through powerful stories of women who look like them thriving in spaces that were not traditionally built for women. It empowers women to tell their stories their own way, and use their voices. It reduces the barriers that women face in accessing opportunities, connecting them to hundreds of tools that will help them succeed.?

For instance, all of our visuals, from social media to our website, are representative of the women we serve, in all their diversity. Social impact is what we do and at its core, who we are.

How do you educate and engage your community about your brand's mission and social impact?

As a digital community, it’s key to acknowledge the importance of conversations that lead to action. So, we are clear about what we do, why we do it and how we do it throughout our channels of communication.

Lately, I’ve been working with my mentor from a program with Fora Network for Change and Bain and Company on impact measurement strategies. I believe that it’s also important to measure your impact and communicate it clearly. This is something that I am passionate about, and Sisterly HQ is implementing.??

Conversations are a two-way street, and engaging your community is an interlocked series of conversations. Feedback is not at all overrated, and so we listen, learn, share and are vulnerable with the people we serve.?

Lastly, I’d say it’s important to walk the talk. At Sisterly HQ, we embody the ideals of our mission and our impact, and this informs the way we work with our team and our community.

What marketing activity, campaign, or initiative have you worked on that has brought you the most joy? Why?

Honestly, working on every project at Sisterly HQ and seeing the impact of the work we do has brought me so much joy. Also, seeing how much we’ve grown, as a community and in the way we work has been amazing.?

Since we launched our website in 2021, we’ve shared over 800 opportunities and resources, helping hundreds of women across Nigeria and the rest of the world find their big break. We’ve created a space where Nigerian women feel safe enough to share their stories and brave enough to learn from the stories of other women.?

We’ve shared the personal stories of 31 Nigerian women, reaching over 27K views in one year, and averaging almost 1.5K unique visitors to our website monthly. To think that we have done this, with zero funding but with the help of amazing Sisterly HQ volunteers, is mind blowing. Sisterly HQ is living proof of the power of community.?

But if I had to pick just one thing, it would be Period Diaries, a short series sharing what it’s like to be a Nigerian woman on her period, and highlighting the work of organizations fighting period poverty in Nigeria. Periods are still a taboo topic in Nigeria, and to be sharing these real and raw stories of Nigerian women on a public platform unashamedly is amazing.

What has been your biggest challenge in marketing a purpose-driven brand so far, and how did you overcome it?

For many start-up initiatives, a big challenge is funding. And, since I’m bootstrapping Sisterly HQ, I’ve always had to be very resourceful and scrappy. By managing the limited resources I have, and using the unlimited creativity I have, I’ve been able to find sustainable ways to help Sisterly HQ achieve its marketing goals, alongside my amazing team.?

I love a good challenge, especially if it will save resources. I learnt how to build a website with Squarespace in a few days, by literally getting into and building it. I will search the internet, ask questions, test things out and ask for help. I don’t know everything, so I am curious and always seek knowledge from people who do.?

With facing any challenge and finding solutions, patience is very important. It’s not the easiest thing to be patient when it seems like the world is going miles ahead of you, but take it one step at a time.

What new developments, trends, or technologies give you hope for the future of marketing and keep you energised?

I’m excited to see more accessible and affordable tools for non-traditional marketers and folks in social impact. I look forward to seeing more tools like Canva and their free program for non-profits pop up everywhere in the marketing industry.?

I am also excited to see DEI and social impact be an intentional early consideration in marketing, not an afterthought or buzzword to drive profits.

These days, companies and individuals are infusing these important principles into their marketing plans and strategies, early on and I’m here for it.

A Final Word?

Thank you again, Titilope Adedokun, for sharing your insights and expertise with us. Your participation has given us valuable insights into creating a purpose-led brand. And thank you to you, my awesome reader, for joining me on this journey. Every one of us has a role to play in making the world a better place. Let's continue to learn, grow, and make a positive impact, one step at a time. ??

Pssst… Do you know anyone who would be a good fit for this interview series? Here's how to nominate them ??Nominate A Leader — but the next slot available is only in 2024!

(And yes, you can nominate yourself. Haha. ??)

TL;DR

Get inspired by Titilope Adedokun , Founder of Sisterly HQ , who is on a mission to empower Nigerian women by providing them with a platform, tools, and community to tell their stories their way and connect them with opportunities and resources to achieve their goals. In this interview, she shares how Sisterly HQ integrates social impact into its storytelling, prioritises accessibility, inclusion, and representation in its decision-making process, and overcomes challenges in bootstrapping a purpose-driven brand. Join the conversation and learn from this remarkable changemaker how to make a positive impact on the world.

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