Toke Makinwa is a Multi-Media Personality, Actor, Author, Entrepreneur, and all-round superwoman. Revered for her zest, defiance of society-imposed stereotypes, and work ethic, Tokstar has graciously worked her way up the ladder of prominence while positioning herself as one of Africa’s most sought-after entertainment personalities and Nigeria’s foremost new media influencer.
Her desire for greatness while inherent from the very beginning paid off when she stood as a co-host on Rhythm 93.7 FMs “The Morning Drive” show which would later serve as her foundation and eventual catalyst to drive her multifaceted personality.
This led to Toke making a number of major television appearances, first in 2012 as the host of the prestigious Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN) beauty pageant which was broadcast live to millions across Nigeria as well as Flytime’s 3 Live Chicks which debuted as a web series before expanding to terrestrial television in late 2012. 2012 also saw the launch of her still-running vlog series, Toke Moments on YouTube which brought her to pioneer status of YouTube vloggers in Africa. Through this, she built a strong community of fans and followers and became a prominent lifestyle commentator and thought leader.
Toke has a laudable track record as an event MC who has helmed hosting duties in different settings, from corporate gigs to concerts, brand activations, and awards shows. Some of such notable events include: MBGN 2012 & 2018, Future Awards 2013, City People Awards, Mary J Blige in Lagos 2013, Microsoft Unveiling 2013, Ebonylife TV Launch 2013, Headies Awards 2014, Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) red carpet 2021 – 2023. She has also partnered with a large number of brands due to her reputation as a respectable figure who is identified as an aspirational figure and a high-end brand who is able to wield an influence that every brand loves to tap into. Some of these partnerships are reflected in her positions as a Lipton Ambassador (2013, Maggi Ambassador (2014), Payporte Ambassador (2015), Ciroc’s first female Ambassador in Nigeria (2017), Darling Hair (2019-2020), Hollantex Textiles (2021 till date) and many more.
In addition to her successes, Toke has been the host of BBNaija’s The Buzz available only on Showmax, which is now in its third season, adding depth and insight to the analysis of one of Africa’s most-watched reality shows.
Toke’s go-getter mindset has led her to launch her high-end handbag line under her eponymous label ‘Toke Makinwa Luxury’. The leather bag, currently available in various colours, is handmade from genuine crocodile hide and has since released 5 collections that have been sold out each time. In May 2024, Toke expanded her entrepreneurial ventures by launching her highly anticipated perfume line. The glamorous launch event in Lagos attracted celebrities and influencers, marking a significant milestone in her career. The perfume line, inspired by her personal style and love for luxury scents, quickly gained popularity for its sophisticated and long-lasting aromas, demonstrating Toke’s ability to excel across diverse industries. She has also launched the TM Beauty Brand and has released her critically acclaimed memoir titled ‘On Becoming’ which takes the reader through her personal struggles, dealing with the betrayal of her now ex-husband and drawing strength from her faith in God. The book has been an Amazon bestseller cumulated in her book tour which cut through Nigeria, South Africa, East Africa, London, and the US. She has also followed this up with launching the Toke Makinwa Foundation and Empowerment Project which is geared towards giving back to people with a terrific small start-up business plan but with little or no initial capital in May 2018 as well as the “One Less Woman” campaign which was launched with the aim of helping fellow women battling with fibroid. She has changed the lives of two (2) women by financing their operations and medical costs.
Read our exclusive chat with her, and be inspired.
We are thrilled to have this exclusive chat with you. Let’s start by diving into your early career. You’ve come a long way from your days as a radio host. Your journey from a media personality to a successful businesswoman is truly inspiring. Can you share some of the pivotal moments that shaped your journey?I’ve always wanted more for myself as a person. I’ve always looked for opportunities where I can evolve into being more. Even when I started out on radio, I was not content with being just a radio presenter so I started my YouTube channel, and from my YouTube channel, I dabbled into television, then came acting, and then came the book. Then obviously, I got to a place where I felt like I had certain passions that I would like to turn into a livelihood, such as dabbling in fashion, in terms of making bags. We started that as well. It was an incredible business we grew organically, and now we have the capacity to add a beauty line as well. So far, it’s just always come from a place of hungering for more and just thinking of making use of the platform that I have as much as I can.
Beyond your media career, you have successfully ventured into various businesses. Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind your entrepreneurial journey?
I never saw myself as a businessperson. I would lie if I sat here and said the goal was to do business. I am just always curious about what more I can add to what I’m doing at any given time. I feel like we’re all born with certain gifts and talents, and it’s our duty to find and exhaust them. When I started, I wasn’t really thinking about business. I was in banking, and then my media career started. I just wanted to explore and try different things.
There are certain things that I’ve tried that I failed at, and certain things that, God willing, I’ve tried and been extremely successful at as well. For me, any entrepreneur out there needs to get comfortable with taking risks. I think that very early on in my career, I wasn’t afraid of failing or falling. I just saw myself as finding new ways to do different things and discovering more and more of myself. The entrepreneurial side, I think, would probably have come from my mother because she’s the quintessential jack-of-all-trades who is also not satisfied with one thing, and who keeps adding one thing to the other. So far, I’m grateful that it’s been amazing.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Actually, the planning stage of every business is the most humbling. Things going even better than you planned is very rewarding. Failing forward, as I like to tell people, you never see it as failure. You find new ways to reinvent your brand. Also, being teachable, for me, has been very rewarding. There are things that we tried many years ago that I laugh at when I think about today because I was clueless. So being grounded, being teachable, and just literally watching a project come to life from an imagination is the most rewarding feeling ever.
As someone with a strong brand, how do you ensure that your products and professional obligations align with your personal values and image?
If we don’t believe in it, we don’t do it. And we’re always constantly keeping our ears to the ground to see how each product does. I work for the TM brand, I am a staff member of my brand. I don’t make all the decisions. I run a team where every single person’s voice is heard. And we go back to the drawing board at each point to try to see how we can serve our clients and customers even better. So it’s a very interesting team. Once you see yourself as a staff and not as a boss, it kind of changes the dynamics of how a business is run.
Congratulations on the launch of your new perfumes. They have been generating a lot of buzz. What inspired you to enter the fragrance industry and what makes Dive, Vogue, and Intense special?
I have a huge perfume collection. I started collecting perfumes, I think, when I was in university. The very first bottle of perfume that got me so in love with perfumes has to be FlowerBomb by Viktor & Rolf, someone gifted that to me while I was in university, I think for Valentine’s. And I just loved that everywhere I went, people asked, “What are you wearing? You smell so nice.” That is the highest compliment ever. It absolutely just boosts your morale, boosts your self-confidence, and you just can’t wait to tell them what you’re wearing.
Then I became the girl who would buy perfumes for myself. People used to look at me like I was crazy then because perfumes were things that girls waited to be gifted. But I’m the girl who would be like, no, I like this scent. Smelling good is good manners, right? When my collection started growing, I started thinking about the notes and what really goes into making perfumes.
And I had friends that would say to me back then, “Is it that in your former life you used to smell? Why do you spend so long in the perfume hall?” I’m the girl who would sniff everything. I want to know what’s in this. I want to know when you layer this with another scent note, what you get. It’s so fascinating. And then I thought to myself one day, you know what? Why don’t I actually share this with the world? I love how perfume brings people together. We can talk about perfumes for an hour. Everyone just keeps saying, “Have you tried this? Have you tried that?” And it’s such an engaging spot. So I started to shop around the idea and travel around looking for manufacturers, looking for people who were the actual geniuses in the business. It took about three years for us. But finally, we’re here with our first line, which consists of Vogue, Dive, and Intense.
Why did I name them that? With each fragrance, the name just came to me. The first time I sprayed Dive on, it felt like something had dove into or like I had dived into the scent. It felt like the way it sat on my skin, it was just a romantic match made in heaven. With Vogue, it makes me feel like the “it girl.” There’s something about Vogue. You walk into a room and everyone turns, and you’re like, “Who’s that girl? She thinks she is who she says she is.” And she is. Intense, for me, is the big dog. The scent was very intense when I sprayed it. It just felt very sensual and I fell in love with it.
Speaking of The Buzz, you have been hosting the BBN talk show, The Buzz, for a few seasons now. And it has been a huge success. What has been your favourite part about being a part of this show?
The X (Twitter) fights. I love it when people come at me on X (Twitter). I love how mad they get every time they watch every episode. I love their opinions. I just love how it’s such a huge social experiment and people will not let you down. They will definitely live up to your expectation of, you know, either being against it or for it. It’s just the communal feeling that Big Brother Nigeria brings.
And BBNaija The Buzz is a show that literally talks about everything. The gossip, the juicy clips, we talk about it! We have guests, celebrity guests, and also fans of the show as guests as well. So it’s wild, it’s amazing, it’s one of those things that I’ll do over and over and over again.
BBN has a massive following. How do you prepare for each episode of The Buzz to ensure you engage, entertain, and most importantly for us, inspire your audience?
I think I watch the show just like every other person. I even have to watch it a bit more because I have a show which is almost like the analysis of the show itself. So I have to familiarise myself with the show. My TV, once BBN is back, is always on the channel because I can’t miss a moment, literally. So I love the conversations on Twitter. I get involved and it just makes me feel close to the fans.
What role do you believe The Buzz plays in shaping public perception and conversation about BBN and its contestants?
We scatter tables. We definitely go where people are afraid to go. And I tell people, like, instead of you getting offended at what is said about your fave on The Buzz, be thankful we’re even talking about them because you can be in that house and no one takes notice of what you’re doing or why you’re there. You’re buzzworthy and that’s why we discuss you. So hopefully, they will go from being offended to actually being appreciative of, you know, their faves being talked about.
With so many accomplishments under your belt, what are some goals you still aspire to achieve?
I want to be a mummy one day. I hope that, you know, that happens for me in this lifetime. I also really want to, you know, build a brand that outlives my personality. I want to fill every available space with our products. We started sowing the seeds, and hopefully, we’ll be here to reap the harvest.
Looking back at your career so far, what are you most proud of?
My tenacity. I just love the fact that I’m unbreakable, unshakable. I remain undefeated. Cheers to me!
What’s next for Toke Makiwa? Can you expect more products or new ventures in the near future?
Definitely. As a business person, you’re constantly reinventing yourself. There will be more perfumes, more beauty lines—you never know what might drop soon. We love to keep our clients and customers on their toes. Everything they think we’re about to do, they might just be right. You never know.
