Omotola Olatunji is the Executive Director of Imagecliniq, which specialises in bringing out women’s beauty in a unique way. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LATECH)- trained engineer speaks on how it all started, her inspiration and more.
WHAT is the focus of your organisation?
I am the executive director for Imagecliniq. Essentially what we do at Imageclinq is to help women look more beautiful and attractive. We work on them to be able to express their innermost person, to be able to express their beauty and confidence. Who they essentially are inside and on the outside. I have been doing this officially since 2013, pretty much officially. But unofficially by the side, I have been doing this for about six years.
What exactly does it take to look beautiful?
To look beautiful, you have to first believe that you are beautiful. It is about how you feel inside and then it begins to show or what you feel inside. What we essentially do is to help reveal what is inside, help people rediscover themselves and have the self esteem that is required. We also ensure that what you look like outside now affects how you feel inside. To be beautiful you have to be functional.
How did you discover that you had the skill to do this?
I think that some part of it was inborn. It was part of the things that I picked up while I was growing up and it helped me a lot. At a point, I did not particularly know if I was doing what was right. I began to do this that other people admired and they always wanted to know how I did them. Then I remember that my mum would be like ‘why do you have that on? You shouldn’t have that on.’ That was the first part, and by the time I got into adolescence, I began to pick up the real skill from watching people and began to watch a lot of the fashion shows and put them to practice. At that point, I didn’t even have so much access to fashion shows but people gave me feedbacks and eventually I went to a make-up school, MUD (Make up Designery) Nigeria, and trained there. Then I also trained online with an international make-up brand in the United States.
What do you do outside the beauty and make-up line?
I trained as an engineer. I studied at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology.
Why did you go into engineering?
I would say that growing up, I happened to be multi faceted; what you would call a multi talented person. I was very hands on. So when I had to leave secondary school and thought of what to do in future, I chose to go to the technical class. I did technical drawing, woodwork and metal work. It was good and I was on top of my class. When I got to the university, I initially wanted to do chemical engineering but there wasn’t chemical engineering. So I got into food engineering and I didn’t really know what it was about at that point. But when I started, I found that it was something that I could do.
What was the course like?
It was a lot interesting and I began to find out that it was a lot like mechanical engineering. We essentially took the same courses, and it was just that we took some food science courses in addition. It was pretty much a stretch but I enjoyed it.
Where did you work?
As I told you earlier on that I am multi talented, I started out in engineering manufacturing with Pharmadeko. They made Sans cream soda for about two and half years. While I was in Pharmadeko, I did procurement, which is supply chain management. Then I left to go and work in a printing firm to do the same thing and then I resigned and moved to the Irede Foundation. I essentially ran the programmes and activities of the foundation before starting Imagecliniq.
The Irede Foundation is a non-profit organisation working to ensure that every child amputee becomes a champion; living above the limitations of missing limbs whether congenital or acquired. Our major activities are in the sphere of empowering children with prosthetic limbs, encouraging the children to live a normal life, educating care-givers and the society.
Our targets basically are children between the ages of one and 10 years because they are in the most vulnerable position to personally live above the limitations of amputation. Our support for them is continuous till they attain the age of eighteen (18years). This support includes continual replacement of their prosthesis as they grow and having support group meetings to ensure they are living life to the fullest. We are ecstatic to have restored hope to so many children over the years and we are determined to do more.
How are you using your food engineering training for the things that you do?
Food engineering is not about the diet or even the content of the food. It is about the equipment that makes the food, equipment that is used in the manufacturing process. For me, no knowledge is lost. There is a way that I am making use of food engineering for now; it is not by the side for now but by the side completely. This is because I have found something that I am more passionate about. I think what happened is that growing up, you don’t have proper direction about what it is that you want to do. So you just go to the university, study a course and just get out of it.
What are the other things that you do for your clients?
I do make up. I help my client choose the right clothes for their events. I also help them buy the clothes and accessories that they need. We therefore decide what they are going to look like and be at their best. It is a one-stop shop where ladies would get everything they need. A full package of what to wear, where to get it from. Your hair, make-up is treated as a consistent package and we help to vary your looks in a unique way. If you are somebody that goes somewhere consistently and you change your career path, then it would be great to change your looks. You also need to change your wardrobe, especially if you are moving from the health sector to the boardroom in a business environment.
