Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dayo Olatokun. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Dayo, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The True Colors Arts Festival is an event I host every year (2nd year now) two give both my students and local artists a platform to showcase their talents with our community. I’m from Far Rockaway, Queens where there’s so much untapped potential. My students get the opportunity to share the stage with professional artists that look just like them and have similar backgrounds. That kind of environment and energy gives them hope that they can pursue a career doing what they love too! I started the festival in 2021 on the boardwalk of Rockaway Beach. We had over 100 people rotating in the audience supporting our students and encouraging their talents. With this success, we’re back at it again this year with more talent, bigger production, and including a fundraiser component. What started out as just a platform to showcase talent has now evolved into forming partnerships with local businesses and community organizations to help provide funding for our arts program throughout the year.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Going into college, I initially was pursuing business and communications majors. The plan was to be a sports analyst in case I didn’t make it to the NFL. I took an acting class as an elective my freshman year and got “bit by the acting bug”. My professor encouraged me to get into the business so I changed my major, moved to California and haven’t looked back since. While pursuing an acting career in LA, I would always have these thoughts of wishing I would’ve known about this gift of performance I have back in middle school or high school. It would’ve cut my learning curve. One night on my way to sleep, I had a vision of encouraging young people in my community to discover their talents early, so they could pursue a career doing what they love! A few years later, I moved back home to New York and started my youth program doing exactly that. The company is called GPA, which stands for The Gifted & Purposed Alliance, Inc. Using the arts as a platform, we help young people identify where they are gifted, talented, and show the most passion. We then create a pipeline to get their teaching them our P.I.P.E. Dreams curriculum of Punctuality, Integrity, Purpose, and Excellence! These principles help streamline their creative careers in order to earn a living doing what they love!
What makes me proud doing this work is watching our students discover their purpose! They start coming to school with intention to make their “pipe dreams” a reality. They get clarity on what it is they want to do with their lives, and begin taking the steps to pursue that passion. The most recent testimonial is of one of our former students receiving a full scholarship to Wake Forest University to study sociology. She credited GPA in helping her find her purpose and getting clarity on how to turn how passions into profit. That has to be in my top 5 greatest moments since starting this work in 2014.
I want people to know that detours are key components towards destiny. If I had it my way, I would’ve been a full time working actor at 18 years old, solely doing that. The hardships I encountered on this journey allowed me to discover different parts of me that I didn’t know existed. I was able to discover my passion for the youth, my community, and the level of impact I can make for years to come doing this work. I’m able to now look back at those detours on my journey as preparation for a higher calling. GPA is and will continue to be a safe space for young people to freely express who they are and pursue a career doing what they love!

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Yes. The goal is for me and the beautiful people I have the opportunity to share space with love Monday’s! I read a post years ago that said “Mondays don’t suck, your job does.” That quote stayed with me ever since. There are too many people in this world waking up Monday morning, or what I like to call “Monday MOURNING” feeling miserable and frustrated because they have to go back to a job they don’t like in order to keep the lights on. I want to be able to change that state of being for as many creatives as God allows me to.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In June of 2017 I was laid off from my job due to some changes in the company. It was a really good paying job at a law firm that provided the stability I needed to provide for my family. I had started GPA around November of 2014, but it wasn’t taking off as rapidly as I expected it to. When I got married in 2015, I needed more stability so I put GPA on the shelf in order to take the job at the law firm, which allowed me to care of my family. During that time, I would always have visions of doing GPA workshops, events, programming, and all the things I’m doing now. But I always put it off or said things to myself like “I don’t have enough time.” Welp, when I got laid off, I had all the time in the world to take it off the shelf. I revised my proposal, and all pertinent documents and began pitching my programs to schools and organizations around the city. By spring of 2018, I was fortunate enough to land my first GPA contract at a high school in Far Rockaway, and GPA hasn’t stopped since!

Contact Info:

• Website: dayoolatokun.com
• Instagram: @dayoolatokun @gpaincorporated
• Facebook: facebook.com/dayo.olatokun
• Twitter: @dayoolatokun @gpaincorporated
• Youtube: youtube.com/dayoolatokun3
• Other: GPA website is gpainc.org

Image Credits
Monroe Media ( Personal Photo)