CALL ME ‘MR MAHOGANY’ :PERSONALITY OF THE WEEK

Sola (Mr Mahogany) Oyebade is our personality of the week; he is the CEO of Mahogany International.

Sola Oyebade aka Mr. Mahogany, AKA Mr. Mahogany, was born on 18 November 1962 in Hackney, East London England, to Thomas Oyebade, a chartered accountant, and Christianah Oyebade, a nurse, who both originate from Ondo Town in Nigeria, is a multi-award winning show producer and fashion icon. Born in London England, he has spent his entire life working in the fashion and entertainment industry.

Sola has worked on many films behind the scenes, such as Last Flight to Abuja and was the Unit Production Manager on the movie, 93 Days.

Sola (Mr Mahogany) Oyebade has won awards internationally and some includes

• 2017 – CA Awards – Icon Recognition
• 2012 – Ebony Business & Recognition Awards – Nominee Longitivity in Business (Mahogany International)
• 2012 – Ebony Business & Recognition Awards – Nominee Image Development (Top Model of Colour)
• 2011 – BEFFTA Awards – Winner for Best Modelling Agency (Mahogany Models) and so on.

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Tribe and Elan had an interview with Mr. Sola

You started as a model, became a model scout and onto show production. Why did you not explore other areas like fashion designing? Why show production?

This is an easy question to answer, I am sure I would have loved to have been a designer but I don’t have a creative bone in my body, so being a designer was out of the question.

From a very early age I was involved in producing and putting together creative fashion shows, this actually started when I was in form 3 in secondary school. I just loved the whole of idea of creating a spectacle that people would love to see. I get such a thrill out of planning a show, I always felt I would have been a very good General as I am good at pulling many different pieces together to create an entire picture.

A show producer must have many different skills and be able to work with a wide variety of people, understanding the client’s vision and bring it to life. I love to organize, to plan, visualize, conceptualize and eventually see a completed picture.

What will you say is most challenging as a show producer?

I think the most challenging thing I have found in Nigeria so far is the fact that a lot of people don’t understand what a show producer is or the difference between a show producer and an event planner. Many a times I just end up saying I am an event planner so that people would understand what I do and then go on to say we don’t do weddings or parties and people would then ask, so what do you do and I go on and explain.

However to be fair I do think things are changing for us slowly, as more and more people are beginning to understand what a show producer is, especially as we have spent a lot of time educating people and publicizing exactly what our work is and what it entails, which has meant that we get more and more calls from people doing big shows for us to produce it for them.

The second thing that is very hard or I should say is challenging is the level of professionalism within the industry, when Mahogany produces a show we have call sheets, schedules and show plans that we work to and with and there are many times artists feel they can just show up without doing rehearsals or feel they can go on stage at any time they like during a show. They feel that we are very difficult when we don’t allow that to happen or even refuse them to go on stage at all if they are late or not adequately prepared. Over the past years I have had to go toe to toe with a number of top artists and they just can’t believe it when I say they can’t go on stage or I am telling them off (in a nice way).

Finally the most challenging aspect of being a show producer is when a client wants you to produce the greatest show on earth but have no money. To put it another way they want to drink champagne but can only afford Sprite. This is always hard to manage as we have to produce the best show we can with the money available as our reputation is at stake, but sometimes we just have to put our foot down and say no, sorry we can’t do the show with the budget available.
You have other shows that you have produced over time (Please name them for accurate publication) . Can they be compared to producing a fashion show in anyway?

We have produced a wide array of shows over the years which have included such shows as Lagos Jazz Series, GT Bank Food & Drink, African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), Eloy Awards, Nigerian Centenary Summit & Awards, Freedom Rally, Beyond Music, Runway Jazz, Mahogany Bridal Show, Lagos @ 50, Shea Origin Conference, 93 Days Movie, Saro & Wakaa the Musical, Nigeria’s Next Supermodel, Top Model of Color and so many more (more shows can be found in the attached profile).

My first love has always been and will be fashion as I just love the whole buzz of working with designers, models and creating an amazing show. I feel that I can create fashion shows in my sleep and as such they are much easier to do then some of the other productions that I am involved in.

A lot of the fashion shows that we do are not always big budget productions, but when you work on  a show such as GT Bank Fashion Weekend that has a big budget it can be so exhilarating and allows me to let out my creative juices and is as good as doing a big production that is not a fashion show. Fashion has many different elements to it and shows a different side to one’s creativity compared to other productions.

Do you feel that the fashion production sector in Nigeria is on the rise or established?

After many years of being away from Nigeria I came back and did my first fashion event in 2009 and at the time I felt that the industry was there but not there, but since coming home finally in 2013 I have seen an enormous amount of growth.

The advent of an established fashion week season in May/June & October/November  and the growth of such shows as Plus Size Fashion Week, Lagos Fashion & Design Week, Nigerian Student Fashion & Design Week, Fashions Finest Africa and GT Bank Fashion Weekend has meant that fashion is here to stay and growing.

We have an amazing set of established designers that are beginning to make there marks around the world and so many newly established designers that are springing up every day. The only thing that I feel we are lacking to truly show that we have arrived and are here to stay, is an established manufacturing sector.

How does your line of work affect your family life

I am one of the most fortunate men in the world as I have a very understanding and loving wife that never stresses me about how much work I have or the long hours that I work. She is always there for me and very supportive and it just makes my work far more enjoyable and stress free.

If I could give a tip to anyone about how to be successful in business, it would be ensuring you have a supportive, understanding partner.

How would you like to be addressed? Event Planner, Show Producer, Mr. Shola or Mr. Mahogany?

The Name Mr. Mahogany has definitely become an established name within the industry, to the effect that most people believe that my surname is Mahogany (Sola Mahogany). So I guess I love being called Mr. Mahogany the Show Producer.