Oluwakemi Oyedeji is a woman of many parts. Asides from a choice career in operations, she is the CEO of HIKOD, an ushering agency that caters to event hosts. The wife, mother, and author speak on her new book, ‘The Business Of Treating People Like Royalty’, and the business of ushering in this chat with GBENGA BADA.
Many a time, people casually believe ushers are an escape to being a sex escort, what’s your take on this?
Ushers are not prostitutes. That you find a few to have exhibited that trait does not give you license to generalise, a lot of people are doing it prestigiously, and they have a name to protect. In every profession, some miscreants and traitors do not understand the vision and mission. When you start a business without a vision, mission statement, or core values, what are you doing? These values are what you instill in your staff and they carry. For example, if as an agency you don’t spell out that no matter how much a guest pesters you, you must never give out your personal number then you have not started. When such issues arise, the proper thing is to refer them to your team lead or supervisor. This is not an economic issue that people may argue that things are hard and girls need extra money. No, that is a personal decision.
So what stands you out?
As an usher, you are an adult who is mature enough to know right from wrong, except you also just want to do it. I don’t take every job or contract that comes my way because I want HIKOD to be known as a reputable firm. Are we reliable, are we excellent in our service delivery, are we professional? These are our core values and the rules we follow at every point of engagement.
These things also come when unprofessional, unlicensed, and untrained people dabble in ushering and just gather girls from schools and throw them into events. When I started, one of the first things I did was to create a structure, register the business, and then joined the necessary associations. We also organise periodic training.
Was this why you decided to write a book on the ushering business?
Before I started, there were many errors and failures because I didn’t have any professional training. My research beforehand yielded no material on what to do and how to do it. People had been in the event industry before now, but I realised that most of them learned on the job, so I reached out to some of them. Only three or so had my time and gave me some tips. It was at that point I decided I would learn. I knew I was not the only one in that pursuit of knowledge.
Also, in many cases, there’s a kind of rift between event managers and ushers where they feel that yes, ushers are needed but they are not compulsory. They forget that no matter how much you spend, if your guests do not feel comfortable and they don’t have a good testimonial post-event, then it was rubbish. Humans are the most valuable asset one can ever relate with, and everyone likes to feel respected and be treated like royalty. That was what birthed the book, ‘The Business Of Treating People Like Royalty’. Ushers are the eyes and hands of the host, they bridge the gaps.
Tell me more about the book
It is a manual and a guide for aspirants of the business. I want anyone that picks it to understand the intricacies of the ushering business. In a way, it will make you value people in service; from the person that opens the door for you to the person that seats you, to the person that serves you. You understand that indeed, it is a prestigious job. It also teaches you to respect people in their profession. A lot of people underestimate ushers. That someone takes in emotions from different people and waits upon you is not something to be taken lightly. It is also not an opportunity to throw insults and be disrespectful to them. That N2000 or N5000 you give cannot repair the damage you do.