FUNKE Kuti is a popular face in the entertainment scene as well as the corporate circle. The ever-radiant dancer, who is fondly referred to as FK, speaks with ASSISTANT ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR GBENGA BADA on her life, her son, Made Kuti, and her newfound love, event planning and management.
How has life been for you at 51?
I always find that question amusing because I don’t feel any different than I did at 49 or 48 I mean I felt excited because of all the noise around it. You are as young as you feel. I feel great, loving my life and taking each day as it comes.
I thank God for letting me see this milestone. I have a family I love, friends I love, a career and job I love, and my most amazing son Omorinmade, who means the world to me.
How does it make you feel having a rising star as your son, Made Kuti?
Omorinmade! I feel so so proud, I can’t even explain it. I look at him and think, “Wow, I gave birth to him.” He is such a joy and blessing to have as a son and a blessing to everyone around him. I thank God everyday o! I’m still in awe at the amount of talent he has. Proud of where he has reached in such a short time of his career. I mean he is already a Grammy award nominee at 25, that’s huge. I know he still has a long way to go but he’s so hardworking, resilient, dedicated, and very focused on his goals. He knows exactly what he wants and is very determined to get there. He sings, he writes, he plays over eight instruments, the trumpet, saxophone, piano, drums, alto sax, Bass guitar, amongst others. What some people don’t know is that he played all the instruments and did all the vocals on his debut album, “For (e) ward.” He practices every single day for hours, he lives and breathes music, he was just about four when he picked up his dad’s trumpet and that was it since then. I could go on and on, so in short, I am very proud of the man and the musician he’s becoming.
You are synonymous with entertainment and recently many were awed at your dancing classes. What made you start?
Omg! I was so shocked at the response to my Afrobeat 101 dance class. I had been thinking about teaching for a very long time but never got around to it. I really wanted to teach the ladies how to shake their bum bums and waists the real Afrobeat way. Even my family and friends had been asking when I would start. Then Bunmi who owns Baillamos dance company and I were working on a personal project together and she didn’t let me rest. Sis, you have to do it! You must do it! I have a dance studio you have no excuse! Till I eventually agreed.
The class was sold out in two days! I had a blast teaching. The turnout was amazing and the ladies had so much fun. We had three classes then FK Management events took over my time. I had back-to-back jobs and no time even for myself but I plan to be more intentional this year and have more classes. Some more classes.
So, how did event planning and management come into the picture?
Honestly, I like to say event planning found me. I never thought I would become an event planner. I actually studied Business Administration. I have always loved to bring people together and I am very passionate about my family and friends celebrating their birthdays, Christmas, etc. no matter how small as long as we can spend some quality time together. So I started organizing intimate events first, then every job I had when I entered the workforce always had the event management portfolio attached to it. That’s when I started organizing events professionally for the companies where I worked till I eventually set up mine, FK Management in 1998. I am a super organizer, coordinator, a multitasking master with great people and time management skills. I am also very hands-on and love to make people happy. So it sort of came very naturally to me. It takes a special type of person to be an event planner, we are very rare. I also became interested in event planning because it’s truly a team sport. I love working with experts in so many different areas – catering, floral, venue, music – and I feel like I learn so much from every event I’m lucky enough to be a part of.
What would you say are the personality traits or skills to have as an established event planner?
Well, it’ll probably be different for everyone but for me, a great event planner must first of all be completely passionate and love the job, if not they will not last. They have to be very organized, should be able to multitask, and must be problem solvers and work well under pressure. We have to have a lot of patience! A lot of clients can really bring it sometimes. I feel like a magician a lot with the way I solve problems on my feet as they arise when working on an event. Just call me’ Queen fix it. I have a solution for most problems even outside of event management There’s no impossibility in my dictionary.
Why do you love event management?
Let me start by saying that event Management has been rated top five of the most stressful jobs in the world. It’s not for the faint of heart at all.
Executing a successful event makes all the craziness worth it. But I love the adrenaline rush! I love seeing my creative ideas come to life. I love seeing the joy on clients’ faces after a successful event. We are in charge of creating a vision and making it real from concept to execution. We have to brainstorm and strategize on how the event will be brought to life in the best possible way.
It takes a lot of work, energy, determination, and creativity to conceive these ideas, but this is one of the best parts of the job. There is also no greater feeling than watching the results of several days, weeks, or even months’ worth of hard work and effort end successfully. Even though you are working behind the scenes you can take a moment to soak up the atmosphere. You can also see first-hand how the attendees enjoy and react to certain event elements, what works and don’t and how you can change or improve in the future or next event. I feel a certain sense of satisfaction when an event is successfully completed. The sense of pride I feel when I reflect on all the challenges that we went through to attain the objectives and expectations, all in all, is a huge reward in itself. Also, variety is the spice of life, and working on different types of events is exciting. No 2 events are the same. From international conferences to roadshows, trade fairs, exhibitions, eExpos, workshops seminars, birthdays, concerts, product launches, conventions, baby showers, naming ceremonies, themed parties, etc. We do them all. Meeting new and interesting people, creating connections, and cultivating collaborative relationships from clients to guests to vendors to suppliers to musicians, to comedians to World-class chefs, artistes, Décor experts, branding experts, security, ushers, etc.
Most importantly I love my team. There’s no way I could do any of this on my own. We are one big happy family. We cover each other’s backs. Teamwork plays a huge part in events, which in itself is extremely rewarding and can make it a really fun environment. My team is top-notch and performs wonders if I say so myself.
What are your strategies for dealing with problematic clients?
Event planning is a high-pressure job that requires you to be level-headed at all times. I always put my clients first and look at things from their perspectives. Clients that are unaccustomed to the complexities of the processes and work that lead up to an event can get overwhelmed and high emotions can sometimes make my clients lash out. I never take this personally and instead suggest different ways of doing things until I find the solution that makes my client’s eyes light up. I pay close attention to their wants and needs and balance them with my professional recommendations.”
What are some common challenges event managers face?
There are downtimes for event planners so there are some periods of no work. Sometimes it can be seasonal.
There are quite a few challenges but the one that tops my list are the clients that want to use a pure water budget for a champagne event. Also changes or adding to the guest list after you have agreed on the budget. You would have planned for a certain number of guests then the client adds names at the last minute. You have to perform magic because those guests must sit down and they must be attended to like everyone else. Long stressful hours, no sleep, and long hours on your feet, dealing with difficult vendors and people, last-minute changes. One of the biggest frustrations we face happens while pitching for events,” “Protecting your creative ideas so that a client doesn’t just use the ideas themselves is always a risk. After working hard on a pitch or proposal some clients will take your hard work and use it themselves or give it to someone else.
What they don’t understand is that ideas and proposals are only part of the picture, it’s the delivery and execution of these truly key ideas.