We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Toju Sunmola. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Toju below.
Toju, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?
My dad is my hero, he taught me almost everything I needed to know about starting and sustaining a business.
When I was younger my dad would hire us to work in his construction company as a cleaner and in his bread business as a distributor.
My brother and I would drive around town with a truck full of bread to sell to different bread sellers.
At first, I was ashamed of the work, but as I grew older I learned to appreciate it.
This experience taught me customer service and how to make money.
Toju, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hello, my name is Toju Sunmola. I am a fashion designer and a nail technician.
I have been a fashion designer since 2013. I started my sewing journey by making custom-made clothing for men, women, and children but with time I transitioned into teaching sewing and inspiring young fashion designers. My goal is to teach and uplift people interested in making it in the fashion industry.
As a nail technician, my main focus is to design and custom-make your nail design to fit your personality and style while also providing quality service for my client in a conducive environment.
I am proud of my growth and how far I have come, I am proud of my students, clients, and everyone I have influenced positively during my journey.
My brand and goal are to keep learning, experiencing, teaching, and inspiring people to always be their best selves.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I used to think that my biggest client would be my friends and family but I was wrong. Although I have supportive friends and family, my biggest clients are people who randomly found me online. Some of them have also become friends and some even family.
I am glad I was able to unlearn that misconception and wrong expectations placed on friends and family.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I used to want to be a famous/semi-famous fashion designer. I wanted people to wear my clothes to parties and events (“the fashion designer dream”).
But as I got deeper into fashion and as the years went by I realized I found more joy in teaching sewing than actually designing.
Although it was difficult to let go of that ” fashion designer dream”, I am glad I did because it has allowed me to mentor and teach a lot of aspiring fashion designers and wig makers.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Tojus
- Instagram: tojusfashion
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPI5IpMNJlBfK2Hp1e1LNig
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tojus-fashion-and-nail-studio-houston
- Other: Nails IG page- Toju_nails