Vanessa Oluwole

I am a serial entrepreneur, Events Designer, Projects/Events Development Consultant and a charity fund raiser for Sickle Cell Anaemia and Breast Cancer Care, philanthropist and a passionate person for success.Currently, I am the CEO of LvLv Events Ltd; a Certified International Events Planner, Prince2 qualified Project Manager Networker, Venue Stylist and an Events Management Trainer. We have built London’s leading Luxury Afro-Caribbean Event Management Company – LvLv Events from the scratch during perhaps the toughest economic period in the history of London’s entertainment scene since 2008.
I have a very positive attitude and what I call the ‘pants of power’, and have led a small team of 4 people forward, recruited an apprentice yearly and developed the team’s skills, empowering them to grow their business and diversify.
LvLv Events is a UK based events and entertainment management company that deals with every aspects of events and entertainment such as Event Mgmt. & Designing, TV Interviews, Exhibitions, Mentorship and Workshops.
LvLv Events organises the Annual Int’ll Women of Power Biz Show funded by powerful women; 1st edition was held at the prestigious Central Hall Westminster Abbey with highly successful 300 women in attendance & promoted to over 15 million on TV. I have built the brand nationally & international with Speakers from across all nationalities. Past Speakers at the business shows includes Mayor of Enfield – Kate Anolue, Celebrity TV Star – Kimberly Davies of the Apprentice, Sonia Brown MBE, Muzvare Betty Makoni (CNN Hero) and a host of other powerful speakers.
Our monthly Meet up night out for UK Black, Asian, Minority Entrepreneurs & Professionals have over 380 members across the globe within a year – Http://Meetup.com/ukblackenterpreneurs – where people come together to share top tips, ideas and collaborate.My business acumen is to build a successful business with a strong focus on Female entrepreneurship, Media, Branding, Promotion and Awards Presentation. I have mentored many SMEs while I have brought the business into a positive financial situation and always gives my time freely to advise others where I can.
LvLv Events & Designing Academy is a Bi-yearly Venue Styling Workshop in Floral, Balloons & Drapery Artistry. The workshops organised by me since 2010 have helped over thirty new businesses in U.K by training, mentoring and coaching the Business Owners in the art of Events Decorating and my company have planned, coordinated and decorated over 500 social and corporate events since establishing the business in the UK in 2008 including The Olympic Dinner Party organised by the Nigerian Embassy in 2012, The Enfield Mayoral Ball, Park Inn Hotel Thurrock Xmas Parties, Obi of Onitsha Royal Wedding, Women for Africa Awards 2012 & 2013.
I was the Committee Chair – Decor & Catering for the Nigerian Centenary Awards UK. My company co-designed the venue and catered for over 700 guests at the high profiled event that had the Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK, Dr Tafida with of his 16 ministers in attendance.
My company also co- founded and organise the Annual Prestigious Red Carpet Black Tie Nigerian Events Awards UK which is in its 3rd year and have over 250 Professional Events People based in the UK celebrating their successes yearly. This prestigious awards show was endorsed by Mayor of London – Boris Johnson in its inaugural year.
I won Exemplary Business Award by Life Changer for my Networking Platform (Black, Asian Minority Entrepreneurs) Mentoring and empowerment role (IWOP Biz Show) in UK; a recipient of the Star Award from Lift Effects Organisation and a finalist at Women4Africa 2013 & 2014 and a national recognition as a nominee for Entrepreneur of Excellence of the National Diversity Awards UK. I was the Sub-Chair for event dinner & decor for The Centenary Awards UK 2014. I was profiled for the OHTV/DSTV Show – The Making of a Business Mogul, interviewed so many times on TV and have been a guest on Pauline Long Show and radio programmes.
I was a guest columnist on The Nigerian Times of London, All About Najia Weddings and I speaks at Business Shows, Charity Events & Bridal Shows.

Beyond my notable business success, I am most passionate about my family. I lives in South Ockendon, Essex with my husband, Victor and our two beautiful children, Lisa and Louisa.

 Our new product line the Luxury ‘Joliette’ Collection is made from oils and butters inspired by the Caribbean. Joliette is a luxury hair care brand for women of colour of style. Our luxurious blends not only look and smell amazing but give your hair the special care it needs with no harsh chemicals or artificial colourants. “I created Joliette in honour of my mother, for whom the brand is named and for my daughter and her growing head of gorgeous curls” Alicia Thornthwaite, Owner , AfroDeity Ltd.http://store.afrodeity.co.uk

Mavis Amankwah
Entrepreneur| PR Guru | Author| Motivational Speaker | Business Ambassador
“One of the most influential people in PR” – PR Power Book 2013
Mavis Amankwah is an award-winning entrepreneur; specialising in marketing, PR, diversity communications and business sustainability. Her vision began in 2002 when she noticed that there was a major gap in the market where corporate and commercial organisations needed to tap into diverse and hard-to-reach audiences but did not know how to engage with them. Mavis founded Rich Visions to bridge that gap, she has successfully steered the company to become one of the leading diversity communications agencies targeting niche audiences.
Now in its twelth year with Mavis at the helm, Rich Visions has become a multi-million pound agency. Rich Visions has worked and created campaigns with over 50 established commercial and corporate organisations including ASDA, Comic Relief, HMRC, Metropolitan Police, HSBC and MoneyGram. In 2011 Rich Visions won the contract to deliver a communications campaign aimed at ethnic audiences for the Digital TV switchover. The Digital switchover was the largest public infrastructure change operation since the change to natural gas in 1967.
After realising that small businesses were not consistently promoting their businesses/brands, in 2009, Mavis launched another arm of the agency; Rich Visions Small Business which has helped over 500 enterprises increase sales, marketing and revenue growth via business support, social media and PR. In January 2012, a digital arm of the company was also formed; Rich Visions Digital was set up to serve millions of ad impressions to over 10 million unique users online. All in all, Mavis has amassed a network consisting of over 10,000 SME businesses.

Public Speaker
Mavis is a motivational speaker who has shared platforms at various conferences and seminars with high profile dignitaries and celebrities such as Diane Abbott MP, Apprentice winner Tim Campbell, Reggae Reggae sauce business entrepreneur Levi Roots and CEO of the MOBO Awards Kanya King. She has also been a keynote speaker at the prestigious Business 2012 event, alongside Stedman Graham (Oprah’s partner) Lord Alan Sugar and Sir Richard Branson. In 2014 Mavis became an accredited advisor and spokesperson for the government’s Growth Voucher programme which offers up to £2,000 growth vouchers for small businesses.

Women’s business club
Fuelled by a love of sharing her expertise on how to turn passion into profit Mavis developed the women’s business club Diva Visions in 2011. The club enables women to network and nurture their personal development skills in the professional and business arena. Diva Visions currently has over 250 members.
In April 2014, Mavis held a conference to celebrate Diva Visions’ 3rd Birthday. The event was entitled ‘Women in the Boardroom & Women in Business’ and was supported by RBS NatWest. A line up of inspirational and influential women in business joined Mavis as guest speakers at the event: Ann McPherson (MD of Diversity in Business), Heather Melville (Director Strategic Partnership Transactions Services UK), Lola Owolabi (President of the Women of Destiny Ministries & Proud to be Me) and BBC 2013 Apprentice Candidate, Sophie Lau.

Become Your Own Boss Campaign
In January 2014 Mavis along with Sophie Lau, championed the success Become Your Own Boss Campaign, which included bus advertisements on London Buses across North and East London.

BBB Powerlist
Most recently in October 2014 Mavis co-founded The BBB (Black British Business) Powerlist 2015, a definitive book/guide of the most influential and inspirational people in the Black British Business industry. The BBB Powerlist 2015 is being supported by RBS & NatWest.

Author
Mavis debuted as an author in September 2011 with her book “44 Ways to Grow Your Business or Brand: a step-by-step guide to increase profits”. The self-help business book is an indispensable guide for businesses, sole traders, social enterprises and charities. It includes how to successfully plan, conduct and evaluate marketing efforts as well as providing advise for budding entrepreneurs on the fundamental marketing/promotional techniques they must use to sustain their business and increase profits.

Media Coverage
Mavis has been featured in over 220 press titles including the Guardian and PR Week which has named Mavis as one of ‘the most influential people in PR,’ for five consecutive years in its Powerbook (2009-2013). Mavis has also been featured in London Live on the front cover of Ghana-based publication Pleasures Magazine, as one of the most successful Ghanaians in the UK.

Recognition & Awards
Mavis has been widely celebrated for her achievements, in 2012 she won two awards on the same day out of four nominated categories.
• Winner of the 2008 Black Business Awards – Innovation category
• Winner of the 2010 ‘Outstanding Achievement in Business’ Women In Enterprise award
• Winner of the ‘Innovation Award’ in 2007 GAB Awards – Media category
• Winner of the 2011 ‘Outstanding Career Achievement ’ Powersis Award
• Women4Africa Awards in 2012 – ‘Business Woman of the Year’
• Women4Africa Awards in 2012 – ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’
• Winner of the Junior Chamber of Commerce ‘Outstanding Young Persons of The World’ 2013
• Finalist of the Great British Entrepreneur Award 2013
• African Business Excellence Award 2014
• Ebony Business Recognition (EBR) Awards 2014 – Nominated for two awards: ‘Women’s Business Coach of the Year’ and ‘Motivational & Inspirational Business Women of the Year’
• Divas of Colour International Women’s Day 2015 – Diva Entrepreneur nomination

Dr Diahanne Rhiney is a successful award winning business woman with a proven track record in personal PR and reputation management. Her interview with the late Coretta Scott King, was a poignant reminder of the courage and inner strength one person could pass on to another together with the importance of empowering others to strive to achieve better. Her company 15 Degrees paved the way for diversity marketing in the UK. Diahanne has led targeted marketing campaigns for the NHS and brands such as BMW USA and Budweiser.  She was also instrumental in negotiating business contracts worth £3.2bn with The Post Office and The Bank of England to implement banking services in local and rural areas. Her expertise also extends to psychology and counselling with vulnerable or hard to reach young people, in areas such as child abuse, domestic violence and emotional and physical abuse.  After acquiring her Phd in Psychology, which was to become a stepping-stone in what Diahanne now considers her true calling – family, community, children and young people. Diahanne is now the founder of The Rhiney Practice Group, which includes The Diahanne Rhiney Consultancy and The Practice of Change. Her consultancy is a cutting edge multi-faceted media production company specialising in personal PR, personal branding, reputation management and TV.  The Practice of Change works with vulnerable young people giving therapeutic services, as well as delivering programmes that build and shape the next generation of leaders by providing the right environment for children and young people to access care and support.  Having successfully experienced several major transitions of change, she is well positioned to use her knowledge in media and psychology as a vehicle for change.Whilst Diahanne has no children of her own, many children and young people call her ‘mother’. This privilege has allowed her to positively influence young lives for the better and has made her own personal struggles worthwhile.

Olajumoke Jummy Ariyo
Jummy or Baronessj as she is popularly known, is a top London based Nigerian Events Industry Practitioner. She is a Certified Events Planner & Organiser and Venue Stylist who studied at the UK Academy of Weddings & Events Planning. A mother of three grown up children, she was a Junior Finance Manager with the Metropolitan Police Service before she left in 2012 to start her own Events company, Splendour Events Design, which has for two years in a row, been responsible for carrying out among others, the venue décor for The Gathering of Africa’s Best (GAB) Awards, and many other highly acclaimed weddings, private, social and corporate events’ including the 80th Birthday Celebrations for the Awujale of Ijebuland., Oba Sikiru Adetona.In 2012, Jummy Co-founded the Nigerian Events Awards UK (NEA UK) the only Awards Organisation in the UK that is specifically aimed and directed at recognising and celebrating previously ignored and under-valued individuals and businesses working in and servicing the UK based Nigerian Events Industry. Many NEA UK Awards winners have since seen their businesses grow and personal status raised immensely due to their Awards and their involvement with the NEA UK awareness programme.Jummy was a Member of and the Secretary for the Nigerian Centenary Awards UK Organising Committee, the one off High-Profile Event that recently celebrated 100 Outstanding Nigerians living in the UK since the past 100 years.
She also founded and organised the highly successful Totally 80s Ol’ School Parties – the back to the 80s disco nights for the over 40s and people that grew up in the 80s.In 2013 and 2014 respectively, she was awarded the prestigious Platinum Business of the year Award at the International Women of Power Business Show in London.
In 2014 she was awared the Inspirational Woman of the Year Award by the UK Empowerment & Networking & Achievements Recognition Awards for her mentoring and inspirational services to the Events Industry and to younger women.A French Education Graduate from the University of Benin, Nigeria, she speaks fluent French and some Spanish aside highly eloquent English and Yoruba.
In 1988, at the tender age of 21, she co-anchored as a Bilingual MC, the highly powerful Conference of West African Finance and Industry Ministers held at the Ogun State Hotel Abeokuta, a task that earned her high commendations from the then State Governor, Col Raji Rasaki.Jummy is also a veteran Television Broadcaster from the Ogun state Television Service (OGTV) Abeokuta, Nigeria, where she trained under the tutelage of broadcasting legends such as Ayodele Sulaiman, Olusesan Ekisola and Chief Yomi Onabolu and worked as a Newsreader/News Anchorwoman, Presenter and Continuity Announcer from 1986 – 1989 and then from 2002 – 2005 while on career break from the MPS.
Also while on career break in 2003, she started Splendour Boutique, one of the premier modern Fashion outlets in the Ogun State Capital Abeokuta where she proudly lists among her clients, an impressive number of who-is who in the state Capital and environs.
In a recent professional move back to her Media & Broadcasting background, Jummy earlier in 2014, started her Media outfit – BaronessJ Media – through which she works as a Red Carpet Hostess, Public Speaker, Event Marketer, Public Relations & Image Consultant. In September 2014 she served on the Organisation & Production Team of the music promotions outfit Home of Music, in putting on De Ultimate Concert – featuring the Megastar KWAM1 from Nigeria.
She is also Radio Chat Show host on GIRL TALK – Naija FM 101.1.Jummy is a hard worker, visioner and a go getter. She is a also keen Social Commentator and Professional Networker, she enjoys, foreign travel, corporate & social events as well as movies and dining out.
Aside her career in the Events and Entertainment Industry, Jummy a Practicing Christian, is a choir member and Praise and Worship Leader in her church RCCG Goodnews Haven, Thamesmead, London.

Theodora Ibekwe Oyebade :Born and raised in Edo State, Theodora Ibekwe-Oyebade originally hails from Owerri in Imo State, Nigeria. Considered a child prodigy by her primary tutors, Theodora’s parents wanted her to pursue education as far as she could take it. This led to a certificate in Education at Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State and later on she studied Accounting at the University of Lagos.Even though she excelled in academics, Theodora also greatly admired entertainers and all things entertainment. After her University education, she decided to move to the UK in order to seek out other opportunities.The multi-award winner and who regularly graces the cover of UK-African magazines, she founded the Miss Elegant international a beauty pageant in 2009. This really propelled herinto the limelight and a few years later, she took the pageant one step further with the Miss Elegant international TV show. The TV show aired on the only African TV station at the time; BEN TV. Through this medium, she became a well-known promoter in the African-UK entertainment industry. An avid entrepreneur at heart, she then became a Director with Starlywood which is a competition-based talent show, which is aimed at discovering young Black talent in the UK. With offers pouring in from African celebrities likeClarion Chukwurah, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, John Utaka,  Ken Smart, PaulineLong, Dayo Olomu etc for her to promote and consult on their entertainment projects, Theodora then created Theodora PR, a media and consultancy PR firm for Black talent in the diaspora(www.theodoraibekwepr.com)A chance encounter as a stand-in MC at an event introduced her to a film producer.Incidentally, the producer was casting for a new movie with Nollywood star Jim Iyke, andwas so impressed by her performance that he offered her the lead role. This led to her big break in movies. She then went on to star in other movies and last February 2013, took on her first role as a producer for the drama Shameful Deceit.She also recently produced her first stage drama Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” adapted by Nick Pelas.Theodora Ibekwe -Oyebade recently tied the knot and the budding entrepreneur continues to create opportunities for herself in the UK-African entertainment industry.