Raising your Child on Purpose

In this Episode, David Folaranmi tells his story of a 7 year addiction to hard drugs. He also explains what led to this addiction and how he became free from drugs. David explains that despite being raised in a christian home, this didn't prevent him from becoming addicted to drugs. David's compelling story is a must listen for parents, teachers, policy makers, counsellors and more. He emphasises the need for parents to gain knowledge and seek professional help to prevent addiction and treat people who are addicted to drugs. David, his wife and team now run a foundation focused on Drug abuse prevention through  education, treatment and enlightenment. They also provide advocacy for drug use policy reforms.  Recently, the foundation started offering treatment to drug users abandoned by their families. So far they have treated 28 people in 3 years, helping them integrate back into society - for instance, in school, in jobs, business and reuniting them with their families. They have a drop in centre in Enugu.Support his foundation by making a donation: https://davidfolaranmi.com/my-cause/A bit about David:  David Folaranmi is a Christian and a fervent Lover of Jesus Christ. The recipient of several awards at home and abroad, David is a qualified Economist, a Public Speaker, a Writer and a Certified Counsellor with specialty in addiction and substance abuse recovery. Masters degree in Applied Social Psychology in view…. David earned his Economics degree over a decade ago from Covenant University and a Post graduate diploma in International Management from Brunel University, United Kingdom. David is a seasoned public servant but his interests lies within counselling, psychology, mental health issues, understanding behavioural patterns, addiction counselling and rehabilitation with an aim to provide a better life for youths and young adults. He is a strong advocate for drug abuse awareness and drug use policy reforms. He is a member of Association of Advocates Against Alcohol Harm in Nigeria (ASAAHN) Community Intervention Network on Drugs (CIND).You can find out more about him here: file:///Users/ebierebolu/Downloads/David%20Folaranmi%20Profile%20FA.pdf

In this Episode, Afia a seasoned homeschooling mum discusses why she chose to leave her job as a teacher to homeschool her 3 children. She exposes the myths and treasures of homeschooling as well as the importance of intentionality in parenting. Afia also discusses challenges in her upbringing that led to a lot of the decisions she makes in her parenting.  There are lots of nuggets in this Episode, whether you are thinking of homeschooling your children or not!About Afia and how to reach her (IG: @teambayayi | YouTube: Team Bayayi)Afia Bayayi is the Founder and Creative Director of Afmena Events. She started her Bespoke Design Company in 2013 to combine her love of flowers, styling and people. In this time, Afmena Events has won awards and been featured in numerous print and online publications. Prior to entering the world of business, she was a Social Sciences teacher. Her specialism was in Psychology – the study of human behaviour and by the age of 24 she was promoted to Head of Department. Drawing from her organisational and management skills, as well as her understanding of people, the transition to running a service-based business was a natural one and she went into business to facilitate homeschooling. Launching the company at the same time as starting a family, Afia is no stranger to the skill of effective multi-tasking. She currently runs her businesses whilst raising her young family of 3 children who have always been homeschooled. Her husband of 16 years is a Pastor and together they serve in the ministry in South East London where they are based. 

CAUTION ⚠️: Some parts of this episode will be unsuitable for very young children. On my Instagram page I put out a video on IGTV called 'African Parenting' (also on YouTube). In this video I discussed the dark side of what people describe as African Parenting and the harmful consequences for young children growing up in Africa. As hard as it was to make/share the video and as difficult as it is to listen to, this is a necessary conversation that needs to be had until the narrative is changed!On this Episode, I have Atinuke Akinseye sharing her childhood story, raised by what we call the typical 'African Parents' and the effect that this had on her adulthood. Atinuke is a graduate of Mass Communication, working as a Project Control Engineer. She lives in Lagos and writes an incredible blog called Twisted (click link to her blog), where she has kept an interesting and thought-provoking diary called Diary of a Broken Child. She is currently writing a book called HER STORY, out soon!Visit Atinuke's blog https://twisted499.wordpress.com Here are some key points to note on the 'African Parenting' series1. There is nothing inherently African about beating kids as a way of discipline so please let's stop calling it African parenting!2. There is a need to change our thinking. Consider the impact on our children, our nation! Africans must unite to raise our children to confidently be all they were born to be!3. Where did this idea of beating humans to comply come from? And why have we held on to it?4. The world will not treat us better than we treat ourselves. So we must start by how we treat ourselves, our own children.5. African parenting should be known as loving, nurturing, caring, fun, full of joy, dancing and singing, full of faith and wisdom. African parenting should be described as uplifting, purposeful, tender and encouraging! It is time for a change. 6. Our children deserve better, our nation deserves better. Lasting change will only come from us and it starts in our homes!

I believe that in all of us are strengths, passions, talents and gifts that if realised and applied will make us better parents. We have areas of strength and success that if we applied the same principles to our parenting we would feel more confident and see huge improvements. We however separate the two areas, not realising the huge parallels. This episode sheds some light on the parallels between our areas of success and our parenting, if we only knew where to look.In this Episode, I speak to the phenomenal Damilola Bode-Ogundipe, a Fitness Communicator, Coach, Speaker and Author with over 5 years experience of actively coaching and helping Mums and women in general make fitness an enjoyable and lasting lifestyle.The founder of theFitMumHub-a wellness & fitness company whose vision is ‘Raising Fit & Healthy families,One Mum At A Time'-she has worked with over a thousand women to make fitness and healthy living an integral part of their lives . She teaches thousands daily via social media on how to build sustainable and realistic habits & routines that not only suit their lifestyles & preferences, but helps them achieve goals and keep their results .A wife and mum of 2, she is passionate about helping Mums become their own family's wellness coach, she has made it her life's work to make this possible by making information,knowledge and resources readily available and easily understandable.

In this Episode, Dr Wura Arowosegbe shares her challenging yet beautiful story of being raised by a single mum of 4 daughters. Her story takes you into what life can be like without a father present and how this impacted the family financially and emotionally. As an adult, the true impact on her world view, her self esteem and sense of identity begin to unravel and she begins her search for Abba. Join me in listening to this beautiful story which she has also written in a newly published book titled, Raised by Mama, Built by Abba. I would recommend this book for teens too!Order your copy at www.builtbyabba.com More about my guest:Fondly referred to as Abba's girl, Dr. Adediwura Arowosegbe is a speaker, writer and youth mentor. She is a crusader of the ‘Built by Abba' message, spotlighting God as our life's master builder. She leads the Built by Abba Youth Club and Building Beautiful Lives online community, platforms that encourages people to become their very best by acknowledging God's intentionality about their lives, no matter what they have been through. Wura is a researcher who loves to work with women and children. She advocates for improved care for mothers and their babies through her work with Birth Counts, a Maternal-Child Health Organization. Wura holds a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology and Public Health from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria where she also spent some years lecturing undergraduate students. She is currently a graduate trainee at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA.More about her on her website: www.wuraarowosegbe.com

CAUTION ⚠️: Some parts of this episode will be unsuitable for very young children. In this episode Tolu Osula, the author of "His Treasured Possession" shares her story as a child who upon losing her mum at the age of 3 began to seek love to fill the void in her heart. Unfortunately she found love in the wrong places until she eventually found Jesus. She shares her fascinating story in her book (available on Amazon)Tolu Osula is a God lover || Author || Mentor || Cake Decorator A Goal Getter who lives in the UK and a mother of two amazing teenagers. She SERVES young people and singles by empowering and inspiring them to know who they are through her personal story. Her first book titled “His Treasured Possession” (available on Amazon), is A journey from pain to purpose, true forgiveness and healing. An outstanding read!Her passion to empower young people has led her to undertake an MSc counsellor for children, young people and families. Tolu also bakes, helping people to create bespoke, stylish and yummy cakes and treats for their special celebrations. She run a pastry workshop, teaching individuals how to make the most delicious pastry and filling for pies that they can proudly share with families and friends. See her creations on IG @tees_gloriousbakes Her inspiring post on IG @ htpbook Read her blogs @ www.toluosula.com

In this Episode, Evan Weinberger shares his story as a child who struggled with ADHD and how important the support and expertise of his parents was to him. He talks about the importance of academic coaching over tutoring, to help children navigate the difficulties of studying so that they have a better chance at performing to the best of their abilities. For Evan, teaching children how to learn is way more important than just teaching them. I agree completely.More about Evan Weinberger (Instagram: @illuminos_coaching) Evan Weinberger is the CEO of Illuminos LLC, an academic coaching and tutoring company. He co-founded Illuminos with his cousin, Wendy Weinberger, in 2016, after a decade of success growing the sister company - Staying Ahead of the Game LLC - he founded in Texas. The focus of his program is helping students build the executive functioning skills they need to be successful in the classroom and beyond. The core components include helping students with organization, time management, and influencing the perceptions of others. Following decades of his own struggles with learning differences, Evan particularly enjoys speaking to parents, counselors, and educators all over the country about the power of executive functioning skills and the most useful ways to assist students in getting the most out of school and achieving their goals.

In this episode, Chika shares her journey through depression and the impact that her childhood had on her mental well-being as an adult. She describes her experience of therapy as life-changing and how she moved from being reluctant to see a therapist to now developing an app to help people connect with the help they need, quickly and without the fear of being stigmatised. Chika stresses the importance of raising emotionally resilient children that can stand confidently in an ever changing and challenging world.About Chika Anajemba (CEO of Marbl Mental Health: Instagram @marbl.mentalhealth) Chika Anajemba is a financial services senior program manager with over 10 years experience, working for a leading international investment bank. She has a bachelors in Computer Science from Imo State University and a Msc. in information Systems from the London School of Economics.Chika has a passion for mental health and is currently in the process of creating a health tech startup called Marbl which will provide telepsychology services, particularly for the developing world, where vital services are grossly lacking and mental health issues are still stigmatised. She is also a writer, singer and public speaker. Her pastime involves travelling the world and she has currently visited 30 countries, with many more on her to do list.

In this episode, Dr Sam Ekundayo, fondly known as the Purpose Preacher, shares his own story of his journey to finding his purpose.  He talks about the void that exists when we don't have a clear purpose for our lives. He explains the importance of children having a sense of purpose and the important role of parents in helping them realise this.Dr Samuel Ekundayo is a Senior Lecturer, Life Coach, Preacher and Motivational Speaker. He is on the mission to inspire men and women to rob their graves of the many untapped treasures they carry, both in and out of the classroom. The Mandate on his life is to help people discover their purposes so they can maximise their potentials towards a fulfilled, impactful and influential life.A Senior Lecturer at the School of Computing, Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), New Zealand, he holds a Ph.D. in Business Information Systems from Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand; a Master of Science in Knowledge Management from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore and a Bachelor's degree from Coventry University (CU), United Kingdom in Engineering Business Management.Samuel has had the opportunity of teaching at various institutions in New Zealand including Victoria University of Wellington and Auckland University of Technology. While currently he teaches postgraduate students at EIT, He is also an internationally sought-after speaker who has been privileged to consult for corporate organisations, as well as speak on various platforms including churches, independently organised conferences and events all over the world.His research interests include Knowledge Based Economies, Educational Technology, Activity theory, Human Computer Interaction, ICT in Education, ICT4D, Pedagogy, Open and Distance Learning, and Mobile Development.Before becoming a full-time faculty at EIT, Samuel was an Agile Business Analyst and a Senior Technical Analyst at renowned New Zealand brands. He has experience in Payment technologies (E-commerce) and Software development (particularly Mobile and the Web).As a speaker, he often speaks on the subject of purpose and human potentials. In 2019, he gave a TEDx Talk on 'Purpose, the ultimate cure to suicide', an inspirational talk that has changed lives and helped many discover their life's purpose.He is the president and founder of School of Purpose and Influence (SPIN), an institution with a vision to raise men and women for transgenerational influence and impact worldwide. He is also the founder of Motivitality, a weekly motivational video series online with the vision of helping men and women find their purpose and maximise their potentials, reaching thousands of people weekly with over 300,000 views and counting.He has authored five books including ‘Arise and Succeed: Becoming the Champion you are', ‘FIRED UP: The ultimate guide to focus and consistency in every endeavour', '30 Reasons to Stay: Say no to suicide and give life another try', ‘THE WORLD NEEDS YOU: Life-changing secrets to becoming a person of value' and ‘Purpose in Crisis: Uncommon secrets to finding and fulfilling purpose in times of adversity', all of which can be found in major bookstores online.He is married to a woman he calls his Treasure - Blessing Ekundayo - and they are blessed with two boys, to the glory of God.More about him on his website: SamuelEkundayo.comSocial Media:  @drsamekundayo