I’m Bukola Adisa, founder and CEO of Career Masterclass. I’m a Senior Governance, Risk and Controls expert who has held leadership roles in global financial services organisations such as Barclays, HSBC, RBS, JP Morgan and Deloitte, in a variety of roles spanning Audit, Compliance, Financial crime, Risk & controls.

Where did the idea for your business come from? 

While I was leading 100+ employees in a blue-chip firm, I saw how rare it was to see underrepresented professionals in leadership positions especially those from black and ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Overtime, I began to see clearly that there were knowledge gaps,  and this was why the C-suite seemed elusive to many of them. I started hosting career development sessions in my free time to help professionals, particularly those from a black and ethnic minority background, by arming them with necessary tools to succeed in their career. This has now turned into a lifelong passion and a growing business. 

How did you move from idea to actual business?

Our journey is unique as I did not actually set out for Career Masterclass to be a business. It was something I started as a direct response to the shocking stats of black people’s progression in corporate organisations. I was a successful executive and I ran the organisation in my spare time with the help of volunteers. The growth was organic and the evolution to an  EdTech platform that it is today was as a result of glowing feedback from the community on the efficacy and uniqueness of the content. It just shows that there are so many different paths to building a business.

Who will Career Masterclass appeal to and why?  

Any discerning and aspirational professional who wants to take the reins of their career will find the Career Masterclass proposition full of value. Our platform speaks to every career moment they will ever face - from getting a new job to being a first-time manager and so on. From expert-led masterclasses, to insightful content, they will find answers to all their career questions here.

What problem does Career Masterclass solve and how do you address it?  

Under-represented professionals are not prepared for the workplace, nor are they properly positioned for the opportunities that exist today and the ones that will arise in the future. Career Masterclass’ mission is to become the one-stop career development platform working to level the playing field for professionals from under-represented or under-served groups. We provide a career development platform that brings together professionals, experts, curated content and a thriving community all in one place.

What’s been the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome? 

The biggest challenge for me was transitioning from a successful corporate career to running my own business. I was fortunate to work for global multi billion dollar companies and it took a while to adjust to having to be the boss, to speak to clients, hire people, build structures etc.

Also it is no secret that black women get less than 1% of all funding which means the playing field is not level but the good thing is that this forced me to be nimble, to run an incredibly lean and efficient organisation and to be ruthless in prioritisation which means we are a very agile organisation with an impressive pace of execution.

And your proudest moment so far? 

 I’ve had so many amazing moments - it’s difficult to pick just one. My biggest achievement has to be the work we do at Career Masterclass, helping underrepresented and underestimated professionals build their careers. Oftentimes, we come across incredibly talented people who for one reason or another have been consistently overlooked and through the work we do, we give them hope, confidence and motivation to continue pushing themselves. The results we get are phenomenal and make me so proud.

Who inspires you? 

I’m inspired by a number of people who are pushing past limits to fulfil their dreams and make real impact. One of them is Sara Blakely- CEO of Spanx. She is a person of purpose and has built an incredibly successful organisation without taking external funding. Another person who inspires me is Bozoma St John- CMO of Netflix. She is unashamedly herself and makes no apologies for who she is and she is doing amazing things at work.

What are your three top pieces of advice for someone wanting to set up a business? 

- Appoint an advisory board as soon as possible. They are worth their weight in gold

-Get the right people on your team. Not just people with the right skills, but people with the passion and drive

-It doesn’t have to be perfect but it must be done excellently