Black History Month Spotlight: Bola Audena

​Kicking off this week's Black History Month Spotlights is Bola Audena, Managing Partner of MBA Growth Partners!  

Q:What is the most important event or milestone to occur in your lifetime? 
A: The most important milestone to occur in my life thus far has been deciding to leave my comfortable cushy corporate job to start our consulting firm and pursue my entrepreneurial career. ​

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Q: Who has been the most inspiring leader to influence you in your personal and professional career?
A: I've had many inspiring leaders in my life, the one that comes closest to home is my Father. I'm very much similar to my dad in that he was a career person all of his life, but he always took time to pursue his interests on the side. Growing up, he always had multiple projects he's working on. He has written fiction books, dictionaries, textbooks for children on the various aspects of living, thriving, and maintaining our Yoruba culture and language. In addition, when he retired from his corporate job as a Pharmaceutical Chemist, he immediately embarked on an entrepreneurial journey in Nigeria to open up a manufacturing plant in the town he grew up in. He kept saying he didn't want the knowledge he'd acquired throughout his career to die with him. My dad inspires me daily by living out the idiom that it isn't over until it's over. Meaning, life continues to unfold in whatever way and direction you want to have it unfold, as long as you have breath. So go for everything your soul can possibly conjure up. I feel comfortable chasing my dreams and honoring my multifaceted self because I grew up seeing my dad doing so every day. Seeing my dad live out loud is a constant reminder that you can do whatever you want. 

Q: What is the most important conversation that the business community should be having
A: The most important conversation the business community should be having right now is one of innovation and abundance accrued by leveraging a diverse workforce. The business community has always been at the forefront of innovating the next iteration of our society and solving our societal ills. A diverse workforce brings fresh, new ideas to the table, and fosters innovation. DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives are at the forefront of our discussions right now, as they should be. And yes, companies that embrace diversity and inclusion have higher engagement, lower turnover and increased profits. However, I urge the business community to see DEI, not as a "do good, feel good" way of giving back or increasing profits, but as a way to collectively better shape our future into one of abundance and access for everyone. The more we innovate for the collective, the more we expand the pie for the collective, and the bigger the pieces of the pie we can all have as a human collective. Life is not a zero-sum game. 

MBA Growth Partners is a business advisory firm, offering strategic growth and operational efficiencies support for organizations. What differentiates us from other firms is the Performance Management support we provide, leveraging data driven analytics.

We assist organizations in identifying their North Star (set of goals and vision for their organization) and then jointly develop and implement a set of activities that ensure the goals are met in an effective and efficient manner. We can focus on the performance of the organization, a department, an employee, or the processes in place to manage tasks.

Learn more about MBA Growth Partners https://www.mbagrowthpartners.com/