Motivator and entrepreneur was a force and dear 'sista'

April 9, 2020

A shining light has been dimmed.

Entrepreneur and motivational speaker Kike-Lola Odusanya died suddenly on March 30.

She was 43.

In 2013, Odusanya launched ‘My Boss is Me’ which was a boutique personal business and development firm geared towards women of colour.

“Kike was a force, and dear ‘sista’ who brought people together,” said award-winning playwright Trey Anthony on Facebook. “She was the type of woman who would send you a message to just check in on you. She supported other women. We bonded as two Canadians living in Atlanta and trying to go for our dream. She was a guest on several of my shows in Atlanta and Toronto. We shared resources, gave each other pep talks. She loved life and was always creating new ways to empower women in business.”

Olive Branch of Hope members Juliet Creary (l), Leila Springer (second from right) & Winsome Johnson ® presented the Eugenie Gardner Memorial Award to Kike Odusanya in March 2011

Odusanya spent time in Atlanta and visited Ghana and Nigeria recently.

Nearly 13 years ago, life wasn’t fun for the product of Kittitian and Nigerian immigrants.

Feeling stuck with no way out, she would often cry on the way to work hoping that an accident would prevent her from getting there.

“I would be alone in the vehicle with gospel music playing and hoping that I wouldn’t meet my destination,” Odusanya recalled in an interview in 2017. “That was how bad things were.”

Her slide downhill started about two years earlier when the relationship with her boss at a telecommunications company soured.

To add insult to injury, she became extremely ill six weeks after the birth of her second child.

“I suffered a serious medical emergency that left me in excruciating pain, immobilized and dependent upon family and friends to care for my most intimate needs and my new baby,” Odusanya, who completed high school at W.A Porter Collegiate Institute, said. “…Suddenly, I was in a fight for my life. I spent my days high on painkillers, literally living on my living room couch. I couldn’t move without the assistance of a rented walker and I had to be carried to the main floor powder room that had been adjusted to fit my new condition.”

Losing her fiancé during this challenging period added to the challenges of the Centennial College’s developmental services worker program and certified coaching professional.

Kike Odusanya (r) with ‘sistas’ Moy Fung (l), Karlyn Percil, Makini Smith, Angel Deen, Monique Prince and Emily Mills

With her life in a nosedive, Odusanya pulled herself together and decided she had to move on for her children.

Back in the workforce after recovering from the debilitating illness, she spent almost 18 months working with World Financial Group as an insurance agent and financial services representative.

After just over two years as a business development coach at Ardyss International where she initiated and built a global distributing team generating monthly sales averaging 200k, spearheaded a record-setting sales team that helped grow the company’s gross revenues, trained frontline distribution representatives and facilitated motivational team events and tele-seminars, Odusanya launched ‘My Boss is Me’ to help women plan, launch and grow their businesses to the point where they could quit their 9-5 jobs.

Some of the tips she picked up along the way about building a business are shared in a book, ‘My Boss Is Me’, which was released in 2016.

Odusanya is survived by her mother and stepdad, daughters Adajee and Azaina and four siblings.

A virtual funeral service will be held on April 14 at 1 p.m. followed by the burial at Resthaven Memorial Gardens in Scarborough.