Storytelling

My girlfriend sometimes teases me when I’m sad, suggesting that I listen to Bidemi Olaoba sing, as his style of music might cheer me up. And honestly, it works sometimes. For context, Bidemi is a gospel singer whose energetic style blends Yoruba worship with English seamlessly. He has a unique way of transforming contemporary songs into fast-paced, danceable tunes—African-style danceable, to be precise. What I love most about his music is the fusion of instruments: the gan-gan (talking drum), omele (African rhythmic drum), and jazz drum, all coming together to create an authentic African sound. His energetic backup singers also double as dancers, executing the perfect choreography for each song while somehow communicating through the talking drum.

I’m sure you’re wondering why I spent so much time describing Bidemi Olaoba’s style—it’s simply because I’m listening to his music as I write this first draft.

In the early hours of this particular day, as usual, I spent some minutes praying before reading my Bible and daily devotional. While I was praying, I suddenly heard my roommate exclaim, “This is good!!” His excitement distracted me a little because I wondered what was so great that he had to say it out loud. After finishing my morning devotion, I went to his room to ask what was up. He was thrilled because he had just read a post from a designer. At first, I was a little disappointed—it was just an article, not some groundbreaking innovation or discovery. Don’t judge me.

Little did I know that this article would be the reason I’m writing this note at exactly 11:26 PM on a Sunday night, after telling my girlfriend I was going to bed. (She’ll probably find out by reading this—sorry, love.) But I digress. The LinkedIn post was written by Opemipo (sorry for not mentioning his name earlier). My roommate started telling me more about him, explaining how he co-founded one of Nigeria’s unicorn startups—Paystack. At that moment, I developed respect for the guy, though I still didn’t find the article extraordinary. I walked back to my room, not disappointed, because I had at least learned something new.

Later, while sitting in my room, trying to figure out how to tell better stories with my portfolio, nothing was coming to mind. So, I decided to apply for some jobs on LinkedIn. Guess what I saw as I signed in? Yep! Opemipo’s post—the same one my roommate had shown me. This time, I was more settled and decided to read it properly. Then, as I usually do with designers, I checked out his portfolio. That’s when I stumbled upon his notes and realized he writes about everything—personal beliefs, relationships, lessons he’s learning, and more. His notes were simple and engaging, and I slowly became a fan of his work. More importantly, I started getting ideas on how to tell better stories through my portfolio.

Prior to this, I had always wanted to be consistent in documenting my thoughts and experiences. Occasionally, I wrote about my faith and personal experiences but only shared them with a select few via Google Docs. Going through Opemipo’s notes, I realized I didn’t need to find a niche to write about—I could simply document everything about my life, and that was okay.

So, while I was working on making my portfolio more accessible on Framer, I decided to write a short note about my hangout buddies back in Nigeria. I posted it on WhatsApp, and one of them read it and told me she shed a tear (or two :)). That response gave me the push to write more and document my thoughts freely. Immediately, as I was walking to church in -10°C weather for drum rehearsals, I opened my notes app and started listing stories I wanted people to know or tell.

Moving forward, you’ll see me writing more and possibly posting some of my old write-ups. Hopefully, I’ll continue learning and experiencing things worth sharing.