Summit Spotlight : Featuring Lola Owolabi

Read time: 4.5 minutes

Welcome to Spotlight Hustle, my weekly newsletter, where I celebrate Black women making bold strides in life and business.

Quick One: Your Ticket Is On Us! 🎉

We’re thrilled to announce that tickets to the Top 100 Most Powerful Women Summit are FREE this year!

This is your chance to connect with powerhouse women, hear inspiring stories like Lola Owolabi’s, and walk away with strategies that can transform your business and life.

👉 Reserve your free spot now — and don’t come alone. Forward this to a sister, colleague, or friend who needs to be in the room.

What’s Inside Today’s Newsletter:

Feature Story → Lola Owolabi’s journey: From responsibility-filled childhood to global youth empowerment
Wisdom & Advice → Myths to bust, lessons for women in business, and what she’d tell her younger self
Routines & Hustle → The daily rhythms that keep her grounded and intentional
Looking Ahead → Lola’s dream of taking ProudToBeMe global
Rapid-Fire Round → Tea, morning rituals, mantras, and discipline hacks
Summit Spotlight → Why we can’t wait to hear Ashley live at the Top 100 Most Powerful Women Summit

Feature Story: Lola Owolabi’s Rise

“I was raised in a single-parent household, the eldest of five children, in a community where survival often took precedence over dreams.”

From a young age, Lola carried the weight of responsibility. While her peers played, she was helping her mother keep the family afloat. Money was scarce, but what her household lacked in material wealth was replaced with love, dignity, and faith. These early lessons toughened her skin but softened her heart — shaping her into the woman she is today.

There were moments when the challenges nearly silenced her. As a teenager, Lola often felt boxed in by her circumstances, unseen and unheard while doors seemed to open for others. But in that silence, she felt a whisper: “There’s purpose in your pain.” That whisper became her fuel.

Her professional journey began in finance, where she faced steep learning curves and moments of deep self-doubt. But the fire to create impact never dimmed. She hustled early on by selling handmade accessories, discovering the thrill of creating value from nothing and the power of connecting with people.

Still, the defining moment came later, as an adult. Despite her achievements in work and community service, Lola felt an ache — the realization that she wasn’t yet living her fullest purpose. That clarity shifted everything.

She founded ProudToBeMe, a youth empowerment movement designed to break cycles of limitation. Her mission? To help young people rewrite their stories, step into leadership, and embrace radical self-belief. “I saw brilliant young minds drowning in self-doubt, locked out of opportunities because of their postcode, accent, or skin tone. I knew I had to change that.”

But building ProudToBeMe wasn’t easy. Funding challenges nearly broke her. Big ideas with no budget meant sleepless nights and heartbreak, knowing that lives could be transformed but resources were scarce. Yet she pushed through — amplifying her story, finding champions who believed in her vision, and refusing to let lack define her legacy.

Today, ProudToBeMe has grown into a platform for transformation, giving young people the tools, confidence, and opportunities to lead. Lola has become more than a founder — she’s a mirror for those who feel invisible, a voice whispering: “You belong. Your story matters.”

Her story is a powerful reminder: from humble beginnings can rise a force that transforms nations.

Behind the Scenes with Lola

Every powerful story includes valleys as well as mountaintops.

Biggest obstacle: Funding. “Knowing young lives could be transformed but being blocked by finances was heartbreaking. I pushed through by amplifying our story and finding partners who saw our vision.”

Moments she almost gave up: Many. But watching once-timid girls grow into leaders keeps her anchored: “Those transformations are my oxygen.”

How she deals with setbacks: With grace and grit. “Failure isn’t final. It’s feedback.”

Wisdom & Advice from Lola

Advice to younger self: “You don’t have to shrink to fit in. Speak, even if your voice shakes.”
Myth to bust: Hustle is not the only way. True success is holistic and honours your body, joy, and boundaries.
For women in business: Your lived experience is leadership gold. Your truth is your power.

Routines & Hustle

Lola balances hustle with rhythm and rest.

Morning affirmations → aligns her mindset
Time-blocking → keeps chaos at bay
Weekly vision check-ins → ensures she’s moving with intention

Her reminder: “Rest is not weakness, it’s wisdom.”

Looking Ahead

Lola is dreaming big:

Taking ProudToBeMe global, especially into underserved communities
Building a digital mentorship hub for youth empowerment
Expanding reintegration programs for young people in correctional facilities

Her vision is bold because the need is urgent. And the legacy she’s building? A generation of purpose-driven youth who see themselves as change-makers.

🔥Rapid-Fire Round

Tea or Coffee? → Tea, always
Morning person or night owl? → Morning
One word for this season? → Blooming
Current read? → If She Can, So Can You (by Lola herself!)
Mantra? → “If she can, so can you.”
Favourite activity? → Walking
Discipline hack? → Tithing my time