Adeola (Addy) Olubamiji (PhD) is an Industry-4.0-expert and she is one of the few who have indeed used the power of technology (specifically 3D-printing) to navigate and thrive in the North American job market. She is a multi-millionaire real estate investor, career coach and currently the Director of Additive Manufacturing Solutions at Desktop Metal, Massachusetts, USA. Prior to this, she co-led a multi-million-dollar new business 3D-printing start up for Cummins Inc. USA. She is the chief consultant at Tech Centrix Ltd. (Canada & USA), the founder of STEMHub Foundation Canada and she sits on the board of several organisations such as Health & Science Innovations, Indiana, USA and AfricaHacks, USA.
In June 2017, Adeola received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the 113-year-old University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada and made history as the first black person to have received this PhD from the university. Her academic contributions have yielded several scholarly scientific publications, scientific conference presentations and a TEDx talk.
You are known as a digital transformation leader, can you tell us about what this means?
We are currently in the 4th industrial revolution industry 4.0, and if the vision of industry 4.0 is to be realized, most enterprise processes must be digitally transformed, with introduction of digital technologies into how we do business, communicate, improve supply chain processes, optimise manufacturing operations and how we deliver value to customers. The nine pillars of Industry 4.0 include the internet of things, cloud computing, autonomous and robotics systems, big data analytics, augmented reality, cyber security, simulation, system integration, and additive manufacturing. Specifically, I focus on Additive Manufacturing popularly known as 3D-printing, and help companies understand how 3D-printing can impact their manufacturing processes, select the 3D-printing technology that is right for their manufacturing, then help support the adoption through piloting, production readiness and scaling up to mid or large volume production.
Are African businesses leveraging digital transformation opportunities?
Over 70 per cent of Africa’s population has a mobile phone subscription, thereby opening up digital economy opportunities across the continent. We are seeing adoption of digital enterprise, Fintech services, public health services and so on, across the continent. Digital enterprise, for example, is enabling intelligent linking and analysing of data for fast and confident decisions. Businesses who have online presence are able to use the infinite amount of data provided to them by customer traffic, to cause a continuous open loop of understanding of customer behaviour and optimisation of their services or products, for customer retention.
You have lived in several countries within the last 10 to 15 years, tell us what to look out for when trying to study abroad or relocate to a new country
When planning to relocate abroad for studies, it is important to consider your long term goals and whether you plan to settle abroad or not. While most people focus on just leaving Nigeria and going somewhere, not every country is welcoming towards immigrants and not every country offers opportunities for immigrants to secure high paying jobs, secure their permanent residents or citizenships, thrive and live a good life. In addition, it is important to understand what type of career is competitive and offer good opportunities within the country you are moving to, and use this information to help position choice of education programs to study.
What impact has your professional career had on your marriage?
With the right partner (someone who is comfortable in his skin and has his life together) and the right foundation (an understanding of the ambition of both parties and how far they want to go), one’s career should not stand in the way of one’s marriage. As women with high ambitions, it is critical that we find partners who want us to win as much as we want them to win. I have enjoyed having a partner who believes in me, recognizes my strengths and continually supports my vision, and I am thankful for this.
How did you meet your partner and how has your marriage positively impacted you?
Surprisingly, I met my husband on LinkedIn. As professionals, LinkedIn is a platform that we all use to connect to other professionals, job opportunities and so on. My husband connected with me on LinkedIn in 2017 and sent me a friendly and polite DM. We became friends after a while and remained friends for a year before we decided to date and got married two years later. For me, gaining a new connection is not just about growing my number of followers, I strive to connect with my audience and in some cases, I have developed meaningful relationships, partnerships and contributed to visions of those who I came across through social media platforms. This is another testament of how digital transformation is changing the way we approach dating.
What are some of your attributes that has impacted your journey as you climb the career ladder in corporate America?
My first one is risk-taking. I am often not afraid to take on new opportunities and spend a lot of time planning my next 5-10 years with plans to adjust as I go. In addition, leveraging my network and asking for help when needed have really helped me. Instead of making the same mistakes those ahead of me have made, I usually stand on the shoulder of giants and this makes it easier for me to see further and move faster. The desire to improve and commitment to smart learning allows me to understand how to continue to up skill as needed, and navigate the changing workplaces. Over the years, I have also learned to understand that we can’t wait for success to arrive in front of us, or be promoted to where we want without asking for it. Therefore, we must go out there to ask for what we deserve and show our results to justify why we merit our desires.
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You are passionate about financial empowerment and generational wealth creation, can you share how you have used real estate as a path to financial empowerment?
While working my 9-5 job gives me pride and fulfilment, creating generational wealth is not attainable through the 9-5 career for most of us. For most 9-5 professionals and middle class individuals, we never learn to think big as our families encourage us to get education, then jobs and push us to keep working for the next 30-40 years. Through investments such as real estate investing, I have found opportunities to start building generational wealth, and my family has since continued to build real estate portfolios leveraging our 9-5 income as the launching pad. With U.S. inflation now running at an annual pace of 8.6%, a four-decade high, saving a large part of our income will only lead to loss of money year in year out. As such, each individual must consider investment vehicles that may work for them depending on your location, interests, risk tolerance and so on.
Share with us on waiting for your child, delivery and your recovery
In 2021, we decided to try to have a child again. We got pregnant and despite all the advanced maternal age scare, we welcomed our bundle of joy in July 2022. The baby girl was delivered through caesarean section and I am recovering well. For many, a C-Section is a topic that is completely hidden from everyone as it is tagged a thing of shame, as the preference is for people to deliver vaginally “Like the Hebrew women”. Hiding such information and our lack of sharing about C-Section makes it difficult for women to support one another and for black women to have access to the right resources needed to make our recovery a lot easier. As a scientist who firmly believes in how technology advancement is transforming every area of our lives, I took this option once it was provided to me.
Advanced maternal age describes a pregnancy where the birthing person is older than 35. You recently gave birth to your first child at 37, did you encounter any issue?
As life will have it, I decided to have my life together first (got a PhD and a career) before pursuing marriage and childbirth. In December 2020, I miscarried my first child and blamed myself for waiting for too long before having a child. I cried multiple nights knowing that I had just reached the advanced maternal age (35 years) and could be susceptible to complications like miscarriage, congenital disorders and high blood pressure. For many professional women who are climbing corporate ladders or back to school to pursue advanced degrees, we are faced with societal backlash and tongue-lash for choosing to have a career before having a child. With the miscarriage, and because of the state of my mind and vulnerability at that time, I told myself that society or family who hurried women to get married early, and some at the detriment of these women’s careers, were right. This should never be the case. Everyone’s timing is different and as we work towards fulfilling God’s mandate for our lives, we must be careful of the words we allow in.
What is motherhood teaching you so far?
Having a newborn is a blessing as the physical and emotional bond with a new child is able to change one’s view of life. There is no manual for raising a child as a new mother. I am figuring this out as I go and getting support from family and friends. This moment is full of joy and warmth for my family and having a supportive partner makes the process a lot better. As we get back into working again soon, I am hoping to do all I can to ensure that there is minimal impact on my career and business and preparing for this new life-changing adventure with our princess.
We gave her the name Omoleye, as we are using this name to honour my late sister who died from her battle with cervical cancer caused by HPV. My sister was a professional woman who made her way to the USA through the visa lottery program and continued to strive to be great and focus on her career. However, just like many African women, health wasn’t too much of a priority as we found out about her cervical cancer situation when it was already too late. I have always wanted another companion and with this little princess, I have gained a new companion who will be here with me as a friend and grow with me as I journey through life. Having this bundle of joy is the most beautiful thing and an evidence of God’s love for me and my household.
What advice do you have for couples awaiting conception?
Believing in God is also believing in science. While it is easy for some to conceive naturally, it may not be so easy for others. Therefore, understanding the available options and having the willingness to try these options out when dealing with infertility is of high importance. Fertility treatment options such as the use of medicines, surgical procedures, surrogacy and assisted conception such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) are options that those waiting on their bundle of joy can try out.
