Workplace Multiplier by Tola Akinsulire

March 10, 2026

Welcome to the Workplace Multiplier newsletter. Published Monday to Friday, equipping you to achieve your professional goals faster and without burnout or overwhelm.

Today, I’m doing something different. I’m sharing the tribute post I wrote to celebrate International Women’s Day.

She Never Met Me. But She Built A World For Me.

One of my best memories of visiting my hometown during Christmas was climbing the rocks behind my grandfather's house.

Our family comes from Ondo Town in Ondo State. As you enter the city through the Ondo-Ore road, huge rocks line the horizon, an open invitation to any child with an adventurous spirit.

We accepted that invitation every single time.

My uncle taught my brother and me to climb backwards, sitting and pushing ourselves up as far as we dared.

We envied my grandparents' goats, whose hooves were made for this. They would go all the way to the top without breaking a sweat.

We dared not follow, not before my grandmother would holler at us to come down.

City boys, we loved every second of it.

Rock climbing. Bush rat hunting. Cocoa pod harvesting. Shooting birds with catapults. Memories I will carry for life.

What made all of this possible?

My grandfather left the family house in Erinketa to build his own home in Oka, Ondo Town. That move created the stage for everything.

But the real architect was someone further back - Madam Ogunbu. My great-great-great-grandmother. I am the sixth generation from her, if you are counting.

She is the one who got the land in Oka that became the foundation of our family's story in that town. She raised 14 children, 8 of whom survived.

She planted roots deep enough that six generations later, her great-great-great-grandchildren are still climbing rocks on land she secured, still gathering memories in a home she made possible.

The things we do today can echo across generations we will never meet.

Our family tree draws much of its strength from a woman.

Today, on International Women's Day, I celebrate her.

Happy IWD, Madam Ogunbu.

Tola Akinsulire

Your Strategic Workplace Mentor