Jeff Osuji, co-founder, and CEO of Eventnoire, is known as an entrepreneur, business builder, connector, and revenue driver; but if you ask him, his most important title is father to his fourteen month old son.
Jeff tells us that the idea for Eventnoire was born out of the desire to increase access to cultural events. “It occurred to me that the general market platforms were too oversaturated, making event discovery difficult,” he says. So, he and co-founder, Femi Masha, decided to launch a ticketing platform that supported community organizations and helped people everywhere find more relevant events.
With a brand-new son, he works at balancing his professional and personal life. “I try to make time to put everything away workwise and spend time with my son for certain times during the day and during the week,” he explains. “As a new father,” he continues, “I constantly struggle with the role of trying to be a provider and focusing on growing my business so that I can provide and spend the quality time that’s needed as my son grows.” He finds that scheduling time, even if it’s as little as twenty minutes during the end of the day, can be quite fulfilling. Balance is important to Osuji. “It comes with prioritizations and also
designing the life you want,” he tells us. For this new dad, that means a life where he will have time to spend with his family.
He easily speaks of the challenges he has faced while running his business, and how he’s overcome those challenges while still being there for his family. One challenge he’s overcome is running an event-based company during the pandemic when event revenues went to zero. “This forced me to be creative,” he says. As a result, he became a realtor, and that enabled him to help over thirty families secure homes and realize their dreams of homeownership. At the same time, it also allowed him to keep the business afloat. “I struggled to fundraise for the company,” he says, “and everyday is a struggle, competing in an industry where there are behemoths that have had nearly a decade head start, however I overcome this by being innovative and putting community first.” Striving to be an event partner, as opposed to just another event platform, has paid off for the company. “Eventnoire is where culture, community and events intersect, and we’ve achieved great success, but the struggle made the success that we have achieved feel even greater,” he says.
He tells us that he is grateful for the fact that as CEO is now able to work from home, which allows him to see his son during the day when he takes a break from working. And since his family is his motivation, “this encourages me to work harder so that I can provide and be around for my family.”
He admits that being a father has influenced his approach to business and leadership in positive ways.
“I realize that people will often do as you do, not as you say, so it’s important to lead by example and also to be empathetic,” he says, “I think work life balance is important and now as a father, I understand that family comes first for my employees and for me, and I try to always be respectful of that.”
Osuji tells that that he’s had his share of memorable moments while organizing events through Eventnoire. One such experience was hosting an I.A. launch party, which was well attended during Super Bowl 2022, and another was seeing DJ Envy bring his vision to reality in Atlanta during his car show when he hosted on the Eventnoire platform. Also, a week ago, during Tech Week Chicago, it was announced on stage that Eventnoire was the winner of Google’s Black Founders Fund, which means this year all events will be hosted on Eventnoire. Osuji smiles and says, “It’s really going to be awesome July 10-14.”
When we asked him how he involves his children in his business or help them understand the importance of entrepreneurship, he reminds us that Jeff, Jr. (J.J.) is only fourteen months old. “So, I will have him help in the business once he gets older,” he promises, “for now, I will try to ensure that he learns the importance of hard work and dedication.” He also says he will strive to instill in his children certain values, family first always and respect for womanhood, “especially MVP Mom.”
Even though he’s seen plenty of successes, as a minority businessman, he has faced his share of obstacles and discrimination. “Yet, as a Black man in America, the only thing we can do is over perform, outwork the next man or woman and show up as professional as we can be,” he says. He states that he has overcome these types of barriers by waking up every day and being consistent as well as surrounding himself with a great team. “Unfortunately, discrimination and bias aren’t going anywhere,” he says, “So my advice is for minority businesses to seek to be experts in our fields and start businesses where we have unfair competitive advantages, whether it’s based on skill set, experience, location, or being first in the market.”
Osuji tells us that he has found ways to use his platform and influence through Eventnoire to create positive change in the community. For instance, they have recycled over six figures in ticket fees back to community organizations and creators who host events on the Eventnoire platform. They have partnered with many nonprofits and organizations to help them sell more tickets via pro bono marketing and sponsorships. “Furthermore,” he says, “we connect hundreds of thousands of people to safe spaces and places where they can be comfortable and be their authentic selves through our event discovery platform.” He reminds us that “Eventnoire was built to help event lovers find events for them in a world where many people from our community are challenged in many ways.”
What advice would he give to other fathers who are also aspiring entrepreneurs, trying to balance their dreams with their family responsibilities? “I’d tell them the most important thing is taking time to get on a program with their wife or significant other,” he said. “Having a great partner is key to being able to find personal and professional balance and working together to schedule quality time, work time, support each other’s businesses, babysitting duties, etc., is important.” He told us that he and his wife recently moved to be closer to her dental practice, “which is a sacrifice for me<” he admits, “but she also has taken on the majority of childcare duties after 5 pm, so that I can have time to do extra work. Compromise and sacrifice are the only ways to achieve dreams together.”
