Bola Balogun

Mum of the Month: Bola Balogun

I first noticed her on the pages of This Day Style as one of the most stylish women in Lagos. I wondered how this woman I hear has five children looked so chic – how does she make motherhood seemingly effortless. I had to know and made up my mind to feature her as a LagosMums Mum of the Month. This month, we would like to honour Mrs. Bola Balogun as our Mum of the Month for May.

Bola Balogun is Chief Creative Officer of Glam Networks/ Glam Brand Agency. She grew up in America and moved back to Nigeria with her husband in 2005 – together they have been happily married for 14 years! Now a proud mother of five between the ages of 7 and 13 years old, she was more than willing to talk about parenting, raising children and managing the whole work life balance equation.

Enjoy the feature below – Bola Balogun as interviewed by Yetty Williams for LagosMums

On Doing It All

In Nigeria women do too much, they try to do so many things at the same time and they try to do it all alone. Women should make more time for themselves because there is always so much going on in our lives. My day ends at about 5:30PM; followed by my one hour “me time.” My children understand the importance of this time and it’s usually treated with respect.

On Raising 5 Children

Two words: structure and boundary. Raising children can be overwhelming and it is critical to set boundaries and to respect each other’s need for time and space. I have a solid support system with my husband who is hands on and very involved in the family and with raising our children.
Non one can raise my children except me and my husband and since this is important to us, I make the sacrifices necessary to ensure I spend quality one on one time with my children. I pay someone to do the chores and other roles around the house so that I can spend the quality time I desire with my children and my loved ones.

[Tweet “On raising children two words structure and boundary”]
Parents tend to forget that children need emotional growth and I find that my husband and I are the ones in the best position to make this happen – so we do. As parents who are hands on we spend time every two weeks getting in-depth updates on how each of my children are doing in school with their teachers.

“When you have as many children as I do, everything has to work like clockwork and there is a routine everyone follows to make sure things go well”. Bedtime is strictly enforced for the children so that I can have time for myself as well as my husband; our time together starts at 8 pm after the children have gone to bed.

Bola Balogun
On Parenting

Find what works for you as a parent and stick to it because the home is the best place and the one place for children to learn the values parents would like to impact. Be able to define what kind of child you want. For example I do not believe in sleepovers.

Ask questions about education that matter to you, for example if you want your child to go to an Ivy League university, ask questions and do your research. It’s your duty to prepare your children for the best future possible.

It is all about conditioning, children can be anything and everything that they are meant to be. Unless there is a learning disability every child has what it takes to be the best in what they do and to excel. Every child is different so it is important to work with each child’s gifts, talents and interests – conditioning can bring out the best.

[Tweet “children can be anything and everything that they are meant to be”]

On Passion/Purpose

Vision – have one for every area of your life. How do you want to be remembered as a wife, mum, or friend? It is not always about what the world thinks of you but what the people closest to you think of you. The world’s view can be misleading.

Work Life Balance

I am only now becoming more ambitious at 38. I got married at 22 so my family comes first, hence why I sacrificed a lot for my family: quality time raising my children, and my husband’s business.
It is now time for me to start growing my business as well. I hope to take my business to the next level; through hard work. There is a time and place for everything. Now is the time to be the Chief Creative Officer of Glam Networks / Glam Brand Agency.

Wow! All I can say is she is even more amazing than I might have ever imagined from a distance. When it comes to doing motherhood right it’s evident Mrs. Balogun knows more than one or two things about that. I experienced so many “aha!” moments that it felt like I had known her all my life.

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