Meet Tolu Onigele the man who ties Gele for a Living & the Brain behind the Onigele Craft
By Kemi Mobuse - Monday, February 12, 2018
In my young mind then, I couldn't help but wonder why on earth I would put myself through that much stress 😖, being a woman is hard enough, biko! I have had to burn my head in the name of relaxing my hair, starved myself in the name of having a flat tummy and tried to stop my heart beat, just to wear a bra and now, I have to suffer myself by twisting my head left and right, up and down like a lizard just to tie gele? Hian! 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
All that thinking changed though, when I had my first chance at tying my own gele..Meeeen!! I felt three feet taller and ten shades more beautiful..just because I had a gele on ohh!
It is therefore not surprising, that Gele tying has evolved to the special art , it is today and spanned across all fields, and it is even more refreshing when a man is the brain and brawn behind the brand...lets meet Tolu Onigele as he is fondly called and read what he has to say about his craft.....
KMB: Can you kindly introduce yourself?
Onigele: My name is
Tolulope Adedara Ademola also known as Tolu Onigele,I hail from Ekiti state, “iluomoba”. The Last
child of the family no (4)...
KMB: How did you find yourself as "Onigele" and for how long
have you been in this field?
Onigele: Professionally
I’ll say 2015 that’s like 4 years...On gaining admission into the University of Lagos, my entrepreneurial spirit refused to be subdued. I decided to learn Make up from (miss p) precious Akele 1000 looks makeup studio in Unilag, that way, I could combine both hair and make up at a go and I loved it. A lot of my friends patronized me and I became known for my craft. I eventually decided to garner more knowledge and hone my craft, so I enrolled in a cosmetology school.
It was in the cosmetology school, that I discovered my passion for gele tieing, although we were never thought how to tie gele in the cosmetology school but I had some basic knowledge from my makeup boss(miss p).
My quest for knowledge took me as far as traveling to warri, to learn Gele from Elohor Akporehe, @lorelperfek just to understand the craft better. Gradually, through practice and dedication, I gained more traction in my craft and I ventured into the trad wedding/bridal industry where I became a household name.
From promoting my colleagues in the same field, who does both Gele and makeup and the likes, I decided to create a niche for myself and focus more on promoting the art of Gele styling, and teaching. The rest they say is history...
It was in the cosmetology school, that I discovered my passion for gele tieing, although we were never thought how to tie gele in the cosmetology school but I had some basic knowledge from my makeup boss(miss p).
My quest for knowledge took me as far as traveling to warri, to learn Gele from Elohor Akporehe, @lorelperfek just to understand the craft better. Gradually, through practice and dedication, I gained more traction in my craft and I ventured into the trad wedding/bridal industry where I became a household name.
From promoting my colleagues in the same field, who does both Gele and makeup and the likes, I decided to create a niche for myself and focus more on promoting the art of Gele styling, and teaching. The rest they say is history...
KMB: What inspired you to start your brand "Onigele"?
Onigele: What inspired
me to start is that: I saw a need, a problem and I felt I needed to solve it,
the need was firstly; (education)…..getting someone to teach the art of
headgear tying holistically, and I found out there was no one ready to offer
that, so I got to work.
Secondly what inspired me to start was the
need to be a part of something greater than me by promoting the art and culture of headgear tying.
KMB: As we can see, you are a man, what is the initial reaction you get
when your clients realize that? (I ask this because the popular mentality is
that, this is a woman dominated field)
Onigele: First
reaction is ”really”? Can you do it? Are you sure you tied that? So you are the
one behind the brand?
KMB: What is the major goal you set out to achieve with your brand?
Onigele: My goal was
to promote the culture of headgear styling and also create a platform that’ll
showcase different headgear artists. We organized the first major gele workshop
in August 2015. We featured 2 top headgear stylists (Ojulewa from lagos and
Lorelperfek from Warri). It was a mind blowing experience for us, we learnt a
lot from both facilitators and immediately, all I started thinking about was
institutionalizing the craft... If I package this very well I can sell this
anywhere, I can empower people with the basic skill required in tying a good
gele.
KMB: Have you faced any major challenges in this Field?
Onigele: 🤔 well challenges are like stepping stones for me, I’ll say one
of my first challenges was being looked down On as a headgear stylist or in
plain word as a “gele tier” some people feel there’s no substance in it, it’s
not a job, common gele…..you get?
Another challenge is with pricing, some
clients don’t appreciate value, they want a good service but they are not ready
to pay well for it.
KMB: What has been your favorite and worst job so far?
Onigele: My favorite
job, I don’t think I have a favorite job yet don’t get me wrong am proud of all
my works I think they are all masterpieces...
My worst job so far, well I must confess I
have done a couple of bad jobs ooo not worst yet, so I can’t pinpoint a
particular one, I have learnt a great deal from this though, to attain a
certain standard for yourself and your work; you must know what works and what
doesn’t, yes gele is art and every mold is a style/art, but every artist has an
expectation and a goal if he /she doesn’t attain it they’re not fulfilled with
that work. The client might love it but the artists knows better and have
learnt that, to get the best result you need quality materials you can’t plant
cocoa and expect coconut, it’s not possible...
KMB: What services does your brand render and how do you get your
clients?
Onigele: We offer
headgear training services, Gele styling services, we sell ready to wear gele
products, gele training materials etc.
We get our clients through: word of mouth,
client referral, and social media
KMB: What words do you live by?
Onigele: It doesn’t
matter how long you live, what matters is HOW YOU LIVE,
LIVE FULL AND DIE EMPTY!!!
KMB: Care to drop words of wisdom for the newbies in the field?
Onigele: Don’t look
for fame or money but instead look for problems in any industry and proffer a
solution to the problem and money will
come, be different, be unique, practice and perfect your skill, learn, learn.
Lastly this is my anthem before a class and
I tell my students this: when you are here don’t give Excuses, (Excuses are
tools of incompetency, monument of nothingness, people that use it rarely succeed
in life.) so aim high, take responsibilities and leave the Excuses.
KMB: Lastly, how can you be contacted?
Onigele: our website: (www.onigelecraft.com)
Call us on: 08166902632
Instagram: Www.instagram.com/oni_gele
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