HOW BABATUNDE, A WAVE ALUMNUS STARTED HIS BARTENDING BUSINESS AFTER THE TRAINING

"I've done different things to earn money, ranging from teaching instruments to playing instruments, to waiting in my free time to other minor things." This was Babatunde’s life before the WAVE training.

He was introduced to WAVE, by an alumna to whom he complained that he needed a stable job with good financial benefits.

Babatunde gave insight into his training journey; “At first, I just wanted to get the training over with because I needed a job. As the training went on, I realized that the skills that were taught would be beneficial to me so I decided to pay rapt attention and learn. I learned many soft and technical skills but the most important were the classes on Effective Communication, making conclusions, and decision making which I struggled with then. I also learned how to market products because we were told to sell bags out of papers and I knew I could sell anything as far as I'm determined to”. 

Babatunde also mentioned the timing and punishments he received as a challenge he faced during the training, “I was caught making calls in class and my phone was seized for 2 days, I got it back with more than 60 missed calls”, he said laughing.

Babatunde's job shadow location was Nyla's food express where he moved from one department to another learning new things. He enjoyed the bread-making and food presentation classes even though he didn't like having to clean the kitchen walls.

After his job shadow, he got his first job through WAVE as an Assistant Event Decoration Coordinator at an event center before leaving due to personal reasons and got another job through WAVE as a Bartender at The Seetle Restaurant.

Babatunde also has a Freelance business called Shooters Bartending where he is also a mixologist and a bartender.

Now, Babatunde assists his parents financially and his dream is to become a well-known mixologist in Nigeria. He also intends to push his business to the next level and he is gathering all the experience he can at the moment.

His advice to job seekers was clear; "Never give up in pursuit of a job, never get tired of learning and when people say no to you, keep believing and it will pay off at last."