Soft life starts in the mind before it enters the account — Ore | Proof Of Life, Episode 25.

When I am on the beach on a Monday morning, I will rest.

One month…that’s all it took to know Ore was an amazing human. In just four weeks of working together, from our chaotic chickwhizz-inspired food runs to random office banter, Ore showed herself to be thoughtful, intentional, and quietly brilliant at everything she touches.

Oreeeeeee!!!

As we celebrate the 25th episode of Proof of Life, I am delighted to take you on a journey of dedication, self-awareness, ambition, and softness.

Meet Our Ore!

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Ore, you know how we start around here; what does “Proof of Life” mean to you right now, in this season of transition from student to full-time creative?

Right now, Proof of Life feels like me being honest with myself. The first few weeks after graduating were full of questions.

What is the next thing?

Do I really want this path?

Am I making the right decision?

What exactly happens to this degree I just collected?

The ‘what next’ question kept ringing like a bell.

But as the days passed, I started getting clarity in small pieces. I still do not have answers to everything, and I do not even pretend to. I am just learning to breathe, to slow down and take it one day at a time. It sounds simple, but that is my proof that I am still trying, still growing, and still choosing myself.

You recently graduated from the University of Lagos — congratulations! Looking back, what moments or memories truly shaped you? And who (or what) are you most grateful for from those four years?

Omooooo! My fear of being broke shaped me the most. My parents supported me well, but Unilag living will still shock you. I had foodstuffs, but I hated cooking, especially in those hostel kitchens where you literally have to queue for space. I wanted the freedom to buy Korede Spag anytime I wanted. That was my biggest motivation at the time, I will not lie.

A major moment that changed me was joining the CIPM HR Club in year one. I am forever grateful for them. Seeing the executives then working, running businesses, partying, and still getting good grades made me believe I could also do something with my life. If they could juggle all that, why not me?

Unilag byeeeeee

And on the flip side, who should not try to find your trouble anytime soon after those four years? 😂

Ah. I do not want to mention names, but those hostel portals. As someone who squatted in years one and two, I saw shege from those portals.

If I catch some of them🫵🏾.

And those people who would stand outside a cab just to sit near the door instead of entering the back seat. I hope you people are proud of yourselves.

Very proud.

You were a working student, balancing school with your role as a marketing associate at NotchHR. That’s no small feat. What tactics or mindset helped you stay afloat? What did that season teach you about consistency, burnout, and ambition?

If you want me to come here and say I was focused and disciplined and balanced everything with grace, I will be lying. Half the time, I was fighting for my life. I was trying to meet deadlines while reading for exams. I worked overnight on some days, then rushed to class immediately. There were weeks when exams were close and we still had a major campaign at work.

What truly helped me was the people around me. Omolade reminding me about assignments. Tolu teaching me topics I either missed or did not understand. My friends sending PDFs and study materials and attending tutorials because school must not suffer.

Even at work, I had a solid team that understood my schedule and tried to assign tasks that fit it.

That entire season taught me that I can do many things at once and do them well. It taught me that consistency is not about perfection. It is about showing up even when you are tired.

I am not the same marketing associate I was three years ago.

Growth is real, and it comes with practice.

Back in school, you planned and executed The Edge Conference, themed “GREEN HRM.” What inspired that, and what did you learn from leading such a big project — any funny or dramatic stories from the event day?

First, let me correct something. I did not do it alone. I led the content, media, and publicity team. Edge Conference is an annual event hosted by my department, and as an executive, we had no choice but to make it great.

And we did.

I worked with a team that understood the assignment, and we brought the vision to life. It became the biggest student-led HR conference in West Africa, with almost two thousand attendees and speakers like Seye Bandele of PaidHR.

To the hard part, sponsors go too whine you. They will promise you heaven and earth until it is time to drop money. Even speakers will assure you and then start giving you stories. That season taught me the importance of having strong networks.

And on the day of the perfectly planned event, the first keynote speaker could not connect virtually due to technical problems. I almost cried. I was the head of media, but the screen monitor was not producing sound. Everything that could disgrace me tried its best. But it also taught me to be solution-oriented. My team and I found a quick alternative and fixed it immediately

Doing Interesting Things.

You’ve said your proof of life is being surrounded by love — family, friends, and that one special person 😉. What does love look like for you these days, especially being in a long-term relationship when most people no dey gree say, “Young love dey last”?

Love for me looks like fresh air.

The comfort of knowing that you have your person and they love you deeply. The freedom to be yourself without fear. Someone who has seen you at your finest and your worst and is still holding you. Someone who knows the smell of your fart and still claims you publicly.

Love looks like celebrating the small wins, communicating with kindness, and having a partner who genuinely cares about you. Someone who laughs with you and listens to your yapping, and even the quiet moments. And someone who has sense.

Please let us not forget sense.

Your faith shines through everything you do. What’s one piece of evidence of God in your life that you hold most dear — something that reminds you you’re never alone?

For me, it is the peace. There is a kind of peace that only God can give. It is not loud, but it is steady. When I look at the direction of my life, my family, the people he has placed around me, and the opportunities I did not even expect, I just know I am not walking alone.

God has been intentional with me.

Lagos December is approaching fast—how ‘detty’ will your December be this year? And what’s your favourite holiday memory growing up in Lagos?

With the way this involve me trend is going, my December might not be detty at all. I will go home to my parents, hang out with my friends, and maybe attend a few concerts. Nothing too crazy. I want to rest and rest well. And if spontaneous plans come, I will follow them gently.

Growing up, Christmas was one of my favourite times because our area was very community-centred. We always shared food with neighbours and friends on Christmas Day.

My favourite part was the Christmas money from people and the compliments about my hair and outfit. I was such a vain child. I used to dress up in my Christmas outfits and freshly made hair to go around and share food. And honestly, those little things still feel like home to me.

Register Here

Ore and friends are hosting a fun meet and greet for everyone looking to unwind after a loooooong work year. You can get tickets here and learn more here.

Between work, life, and Lagos wahala, how do you relax? What keeps you grounded when everything feels too much?

Sleep.

I genuinely love my sleep. It is my first line of defence and my softest form of self-care. Once I get a good, solid sleep, I feel like a brand new person. My head and mood reset. Everything in my body just aligns again. I always wake up feeling refreshed and ready to continue my work or go about my day without feeling like I am dragging myself.

After sleep, the next thing is food. Good food motivates me in ways that even money cannot explain. I want to travel and actually try food in their real countries.

I want to taste Italian pasta made by someone’s grandmother in Italy, not the Lagos restaurant remix that we are all pretending is the real thing. I want to try kimchi in a Korean restaurant that is truly in Korea, not the ones here that taste like someone Googled the recipe and hoped for the best.

When you think about your future — personally and professionally — what picture comes to mind?

I usually describe my future with one simple line: “beach on a Monday morning.”
It sounds vague, almost like something anyone can say, but it carries so much weight to me.

For me, it’s not really about the beach.
It’s the freedom it represents, the calm of knowing that my career and my finances have reached a place where I don’t have to rush, panic, or chase anything. It’s the peace of sitting by the water on a weekday when everyone else is in the noise of life, and I’m not worried about deadlines or survival.

It’s the kind of freedom that comes after years of intentional work.
The freedom that says I earned this ease.

And in that picture, I’m not alone.
I see myself looking back at the global stages I’ve stood on, the rooms and conversations I once prayed for, and the recognition that came from doing work that mattered. And my family is there, not just hearing about it, but witnessing it with me, present in every win, every pivot, every breakthrough.

So yes, when I say “beach on a Monday morning”, it sounds small.
But for me, it’s everything.

Finally, as always, drop one random, funny, or profound thought that’s been living rent-free in your head lately.

Remain delusional. Soft life starts in the mind before it enters the account

And with that, we say Ore mi ata ta!!! Enjoy your weekend and the most chaotic twitter week in history.

You can follow me here and here if you want to see wetin pass your eye…lol.

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Chaotic Week

What I have learnt from the most chaotic week in Nigerian twitter history is this.

• People are pretenders; they are the very things they pretend to detest.

• Your friendship circle should be well curated and filtered of leeches, who seek to know you, just because of what you offer — I am pointing my fingers of all ye “networking friends”

• We should not excuse terrible behaviour because one is smart or wealthy. Also, you can be a genius and still be sane. The weird aura of dressing weird, speaking weird, doing stupid shit just to create a fake persona is just trash.

• Finally, in all the drama that has ensued, I am sure the Nigerian government has passed one bill codedly wey go finish us for front.

Make I go sleep, I start my own polycule by 4:00pm tomorrow.