A enterprise intelligence marketing consultant, serial entrepreneur and pastor, Mayowa Ijisesan, tells FAITH AJAYI about her profession, pastoral calling and different points
Can you describe your journey from Silicon Valley to your present roles in ministry and enterprise?
I began my profession in Silicon Valley (California, USA) as a software program engineer in 1999, after bagging a Grasp’s diploma in Electrical Engineering with emphasis on Software program Engineering. I labored in Silicon Valley for 3 years earlier than quitting my job to begin a church, Kingsword Chicago. My background was so tech-heavy that I discovered it difficult to get a job that matched my skillset in Chicago. So, I retrained myself in Information Analytics and Enterprise Intelligence. In 2007, I acquired a chance to begin a enterprise intelligence firm. All of the whereas, I used to be absolutely concerned within the ministry on the native church stage, and thru the worldwide ministry that I help my husband in main.
Kingsword is a ministry with expressions in Africa, Europe, and North America. I began an annual ladies’s convention in 2008 to satisfy the wants of ladies throughout the ministry. By 2014, I used to be having these conferences yearly in Chicago, Lagos, and London. I grew to become the resident pastor of Kingsword Chicago in 2019. In 2021, after launching my ebook, Expensive Pastor’s Spouse, I began a ministry with the identical title to minister to the wants of pastors’ wives globally. In 2023, I used to be invited to be on the board of an Synthetic Intelligence start-up by a enterprise colleague, and we’re presently engaged on getting our product out to market at a livid velocity.
What impressed you to transition from engineering to enterprise intelligence after which into ministry?
I transitioned from engineering to enterprise intelligence out of necessity. I imagine that one is rarely with out choices. One simply must look very rigorously and be keen to place within the work. After I couldn’t get a software program engineering job that matched my background, I had the choice of both quitting or evolving. So, I selected to evolve. I began with utilizing the Entry Database to organise our church funds. We have been a small church then. Based mostly on the talents I acquired there, I acquired a contract place, which allowed me to proceed to hone abilities in information administration and reporting. In the meantime, I had taken a course in Databases, only for the enjoyable of it whereas I nonetheless labored at Silicon Valley. I used to be idle within the evenings and determined to take a course to make higher use of my time. After my first contract in Chicago, I used to be employed as a Crystal Experiences Developer at a metal manufacturing firm. I didn’t know Crystal Experiences earlier than then, so I learnt it in two weeks. I acquired skilled in enterprise intelligence in that firm, and began my agency afterward. Ministry, however, is one thing I’ve all the time been concerned in. It’s my calling and ever since I realised that in my teenagers, I’ve been dedicated to ministry in a single form or one other.
What are you able to inform us in regards to the founding and progress of Dyvintel, and its impression on the manufacturing sector?
The corporate was began once I turned in my resignation letter to my boss, and advised her I might keep for so long as it took the corporate to discover a substitute for me. I even supplied to coach the substitute earlier than leaving. My boss referred to as me into her workplace three days later, and stated she had had conversations with the pinnacle of IT on the firm’s headquarters. She stated they’d determined that they couldn’t exchange me, and that if I began an organization, they’d be my first shopper.
I went from that one division to servicing the 13 divisions of the corporate. Quickly after that, the corporate that offered the instrument I used primarily for enterprise intelligence approached me to be a third-party enterprise intelligence options supplier to a few of their different clients. That was what opened my firm as much as manufacturing firms everywhere in the US and elements of Canada. There have been nonetheless lots of challenges to the adoption of BI again then, which is a part of the explanation my enterprise colleague and I are engaged on our new startup. Nonetheless, a few of the impression that my firm had was giving manufacturing firms readability to make higher choices about totally different features of their companies, from gross sales to stock administration, procurement and finance.
How do you steadiness your roles as Resident Pastor of KingsWord Worldwide Church and the founding father of Dyvintel?
The corporate doesn’t exist within the kind it did anymore. My husband and I spurn it off as an actual property firm the place we handle our properties, and properties for some purchasers. Information nonetheless turns out to be useful in that regard. I began one other firm referred to as Mackae Tech, which we’ve got additionally spurned off to offer media (video partitions, sound, and lightweight) options to principally church buildings in Africa, Europe, and North America. Now we have even had purchasers in Australia. Know-how-wise, what I’m engaged on now could be a startup in addition to ramping up my training in Synthetic Intelligence to be prepared for what’s subsequent. My ministry roles are fairly various.
Along with being resident pastor at KingsWord Chicago, I’m additionally the convener of Thrive Ladies’s Conferences, and founding father of Expensive Pastor’s Spouse, a ministry of therapeutic, hope, and connection to pastors’ wives globally. I additionally oversee a world ministry with my husband. There are lots of methods I steadiness my roles. A type of methods is by realising that I don’t need to do all the things. The organisations I run can’t get one of the best outcomes if I run all the things myself. I have to delegate successfully. To delegate successfully, I have to develop folks, which requires efficient management. I’m blessed with superb people who work with me in ministry, on the native church stage, in addition to globally. They attempt for excellence in all they do. They’re merely superb. In my earlier years, once I ran Dyvintel extra actively as a enterprise intelligence firm whereas I used to be nonetheless very a lot concerned in ministry, I discovered steadiness by leaning on my strengths. My space of energy is my space of grace. I attempted to and nonetheless attempt to steer clear of issues I’m not graced for.
What are the numerous milestones you’ve achieved in your companies?
A few of my best achievements in enterprise intelligence have been the folks I’ve skilled, who now have thriving careers in that discipline. They could not work for me or be round me anymore, however seeing how nicely they’re doing offers me the best pleasure. I’ve been captivated with enterprise intelligence and information analytics for a very long time, even earlier than it grew to become so in style. I used to be referred to as a BI evangelist earlier than that time period grew to become a factor. My ardour again then was to ignite that very same curiosity in others, as a result of I noticed the potential in it. I used to be particularly focused on serving to contemporary African migrants who had some background in expertise purchase useful abilities to assist them get profitable jobs within the US. I used to be in a position to do lots of that by my enterprise, as a result of I’d rent them, practice them, and put them on initiatives that may problem and develop them. That’s a major milestone for me.
One other important milestone was spinning off two of my companies into totally different enterprises which can be principally run by my husband immediately.
I’m presently a part of an AI and information analytics startup, and we’ve got a product launch arising. That’s going to be a major milestone.
What’s the function of the Profession Assets programme you initiated?
I began it to make sure that my church members didn’t have the identical struggles I had in rebuilding my profession once I moved to Chicago. It was a protracted and tedious course of for me. After I was attending to the tip of that irritating journey, I felt I wanted to cross on the data I had gained. I began by writing my first ebook titled, Knowledge for the Office. I moved on to producing month-to-month newsletters titled, Profession Assets: Heavenly Assets for the Office. I felt that our congregants spend most of their time on the office, and we would have liked to allow them to know God cares about that area, and He has issues to say about that area. I interviewed individuals who have been thriving of their fields and uploaded the movies, in order that my church members may watch them. I even performed resume assessment clinics and mock interviews. Aside from inspiring folks with my profession journey tales, I applied programmes that may assist them with their profession journeys. The impression has been profound. Through the years, we’ve got had numerous superb tales of profession path and transformation. It created a really robust profession help system inside my native church. Outdoors the church, it has had an impression on members of the ministry. There was a time I’d go do coaching at different church buildings within the metropolis. I didn’t realise the impression a few of these programmes had on folks till a lot later.
I intend to let folks see that God doesn’t simply ask to your tithes on Sunday and cling you to dry the remainder of the week. He desires you to thrive within the market, and though your major ardour ought to be His kingdom, you may rely upon Him for knowledge within the office too. I proceed the initiatives by a programme referred to as, Profession Journeys: Tales that Encourage, which is accessible on social media, and can quickly be accessible as a podcast. Final 12 months, I had a web based profession empowerment programme for ladies titled, She Builds.
What impressed you to begin the Thrive Ladies’s Conferences, and what has been its impression throughout three continents?
I initiated the conferences to empower ladies to thrive, not simply survive. We started annual themed conferences in Chicago in 2008, adopted by Lagos in 2013 and London in 2014. This effort consists of the superb ladies leaders within the world ministry my husband and I oversee. The aim is to discover subjects that shift mindsets and empower ladies spiritually, mentally, and in different areas of life. In 2021, we rebranded with a significant digital occasion, bringing collectively 52 profitable ladies from varied fields as panelists to talk to over 3,000 attendees worldwide. This was once we renamed the conferences to Thrive Ladies’s Conferences. The main target is on figuring out limitations that stop ladies from thriving, and providing Biblical views on overcoming them. Moreover, the conferences foster a way of neighborhood, encouraging ladies to help each other moderately than compete. Thriving collectively in a wholesome neighborhood is crucial. Current themes embody, Publicity, which discusses the significance of data, relationships, and empathy in breaking out of the bubbles we regularly discover ourselves in as Christian ladies. Presently, I’m planning the 2025 version of the convention with the theme, Limitless: Residing Unashamed.
How did your ebook, ‘Expensive Pastor’s Spouse’, result in the founding of a nonprofit organisation to help pastors’ and ministers’ wives?
The ebook was initially simply meant to be about my experiences as a pastor’s spouse of twenty-two years. I wrote the ebook, launched it, and thought that was the tip of it.
Nonetheless, pastors’ wives from totally different elements of the world began reaching out to me on social media. They requested about mentorship or any programmes I might need for pastors’ wives. A lot of them stated they felt a deep connection whereas studying the ebook like I used to be talking on to them. The themes resonated with so many individuals, and I realised there was an enormous want for hope, therapeutic, and connection amongst pastors’ wives, ministers’ wives, and girls in management. These roles can typically really feel isolating, leaving people with out confidants or trusted allies.
Seeing this want, I knew I needed to do one thing. I began with Tea Events, the place pastors’ wives in varied cities may spend two hours collectively having enjoyable, fellowship, and wealthy dialog. We’ve had tea events in Chicago (USA), Lagos (Nigeria), and Toronto and Calgary (Canada).
Following that, my crew and I organised a web based management convention to show essential abilities that assist pastors’ wives and girls in management thrive of their roles. This 12 months, we had our first retreat for pastors’ wives within the UK. The three days we spent collectively allowed us to bond and join in a means that different programmes hadn’t.
We’re presently planning a enterprise and finance summit for pastors’ wives this fall. Moreover, we maintain a profit gala each fall to boost consciousness about the necessity to strengthen, empower, and encourage pastors’ wives inside the bigger church neighborhood. This occasion additionally helps us elevate companions for the work we do.
What are the most important challenges you’ve confronted in the midst of your profession?
The most important challenges I’ve confronted have revolved round balancing my skilled ambitions with my values and commitments. Initially, working in Silicon Valley was exhilarating, nevertheless it got here with the extreme stress of staying forward in a extremely aggressive and fast-paced surroundings. Being the one black individual in my software program division additionally posed its distinctive set of challenges, from emotions of isolation to the fixed have to show my price.
Transitioning from a tech profession to a full-time ministry was one other important problem. This transfer required me to shift my focus from technological innovation to non secular management and other people improvement. It was a interval of intense private progress, requiring humility, flexibility, and a deep sense of dedication. Returning to {the marketplace} after years in ministry introduced a special type of problem. I needed to meet up with speedy developments in information analytics and synthetic intelligence, whereas overcoming my preliminary intimidation and self-doubt. This journey demanded steady studying and the braveness to step again right into a world that had advanced considerably in my absence. All through these transitions, sustaining integrity and balancing my religion with skilled calls for have been fixed challenges. Every section of my profession required a recalibration of my abilities, values, and priorities, underscoring the significance of adaptability and a steadfast dedication to non-public {and professional} progress.