Dayo Olomu is a study in doggedness and an example of how anyone can overcome adversity to succeed and thus become an inspiration to others.
Born in Islington, North London, and taken to Nigeria when he was two years old, Dayo got an early jolt in life when, barely eight, he lost his father. After that, life was a struggle. His mother, a widow who sold all her personal belongings to send him to school, raised him. He greatly benefited from the bottomless well of her wisdom. From her, he learnt sound moral and spiritual values and the virtue of hard work. She made him believe that the keys to success are hard work and faith in God.
When he was barely 10 years old, he acquired the thirst to achieve from hawking cold drinks and biscuits on the streets of Lagos to support his mother. “The best thing that happened to me was growing up, as they say, ‘on the other side of the tracks’, without the privilege of wealthy parents. Anything I wanted, I had to hustle for. Far from a drawback, this was a definite advantage for me”.
At 17, Dayo started his career in the entertainment industry in Nigeria and has had a varied yet interesting career ranging from events co-ordinator, public relations/promotions manager, artiste manager to music promoter. His efforts were rewarded with many national awards.
Dayo studied Public Relations at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism and obtained a diploma in Business and Industrial Law at University of Lagos.
To conquer poverty, which was his greatest fear when he was growing up; he relocated to London in January 1996 thinking that London’s roads are littered with gold and silver. When he arrived, he was shocked to discover that a crook had already stolen his birth certificate and used it to obtain his National Insurance card, credit card, and even opened a bank account. He also discovered he was purportedly married except the crook forgot to invite him. Everywhere he went, he was told somebody was bearing his name. At one stage the authorities did not know who the real Dayo Olomu was.
With a strong desire to succeed backed with action, self belief and his faith, he overcame these obstacles and that little boy who celebrated his 10th birthday at a bus garage in Lagos whose identity was stolen when he came back to live in London is now a motivational speaker, a coach, a best selling author, personal development trainer, infopreneur, brand/PR strategist, publisher, an agent of positive change, a TV talk show host and most especially a husband and a father.
“The greatest lesson I have learnt from my experience is that to be successful you must have strong faith and a vision that drives you. You must have a strong desire to succeed and back that desire with action. You must have absolute believe in yourself, know that you have what it takes to be successful and when setbacks or tragedies occur, never, ever give up; instead see them as opportunities for growth because success thrives on adversity”.
He continued his education in the UK at the Morris College of Journalism where he obtained a diploma in freelance journalism. Dayo studied Business and Industrial Law at University of Lagos and later graduated with honours from the University of East London with a degree in Business Information Systems. He went to University of Greenwich for his post graduate studies and studied Life Coaching at Newcastle College.
In 1997/1998, he served as black mentor for Southwark Council where he helped young people develop self-confidence and value education.
A devout Christian, Dayo went on holy pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 2000. His Christian beliefs and his cultural values are his guiding philosophies.
Dayo addresses more than 100,000 people each year on leadership, personal and professional development, management, relationship, goal setting and achieving, strategic planning, time management, and many diverse topics.
His speeches, trainings and writings are designed to motivate, captivate and persuade individuals and organisations to attain higher levels of achievement and peak performance.
"My purpose and passion is to help ordinary people and businesses achieve extra ordinary result and become who they desire to be while my mission is to inspire and empower people and organisations to higher levels of achievement and peak performance. My vision is to have one of my products in 100 countries by 2012 and to build a global brand dedicated to the advancement of the human potential which by 2020 will reach 1 billion people."
Underpinning Dayo's compelling style is a unique fusion of Nigerian and British culture, which gives his seminars a distinctive edge.
Dayo is a syndicated columnist, a platimun author with EzineArticles.com based in the United States and also a speaker with Find Your Voice, who hold events regularly in Central London. He is the best selling author of “4 Indispensable Strategies for Success” and also the author of numerous articles on the Internet and in publications around the world
Listed in the first edition of UK's Who's Who of Black Achievers (published in 1999/2000), Dayo won the Exemplary Nigerian Award for hard work and integrity in 2004 and also bagged the Competent Toastmaster Award from Toastmasters International.
In 2006 he obtained both the Advance Toastmaster Bronze and the Competent Leader awards from the Toastmasters International.
He is the Founder & CEO of dayoolomu.com, a surrey based human potential development company and founding president of Croydon Communicators Toastmasters’ Club.
In 2007 he completed Flora London Marathon to raise money and create awareness for Leukaemia and on 13 April 2008 he completed Flora London Marathon again to create awareness and raise funds for Hearts of Gold Children’s Hospices, the first children’s hospices and respite care facility in Nigeria
Dayo and his wife, Sade, reside in Croydon, Surrey. They both enjoy reading, walking, travelling, going to the theatre and - most of all - helping to realise the dreams of people they meet.
