On her way to building one of Nigeria’s most exclusive luxury goods lines, Toke Makinwa shows women that they can work hard and still be ‘baby girls.’
Toke’s journey to becoming one of Nigeria’s most recognised media personalities started about ten years ago. She was relatively unknown in 2010 as the co-host of Rhythm FM’s Morning Drive Show, but now, it is undeniable that the ‘Radio Girl’ has come a long way.
Toke’s first experience with radio was as a teenager on Cool FM, where she fell in love with being on air. Though short-lived, that experience fueled her passion, and she went on to study Mass Communication at the University of Lagos. She returned to the air in 2010 as the co-host of the Morning Drive Show on Rhythm 93.7 FM and has since held several positions as a media personality.
Toke’s voice and candid personality drew listeners and fans to her. She soon branched out to TV in 2010 when she anchored the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria beauty pageant. She also co-hosted Flytime TV’s 3 Live Chicks with the late Tosyn Bucknor and Oreka Godis. The TV show featured three on-air personalities discussing everything from fashion to politics and entertainment.
She created Toke Moments in 2012 on YouTube, where she started vlogging and sharing her views on her platform. The channel continues to thrive with her repertoire of guests ranging from ex-BBNaija housemate Dorathy Bachor to actress Bisola Aiyeola and musician Timi Dakolo. In 2015, she co-hosted the Moments talk show on EbonyLife Television with Michelle Dede and Bolanle Olukanni and successfully became an all-around media personality.
Since the entrepreneur first ventured on air, she hasn’t stopped working, growing or learning. As a result, her social media platform keeps getting bigger and stronger, and her brand more recognisable. Ranking as an A-Lister on the SocialCred App, Toke affirms her position as the undisputed Queen of Nigerian social media.
In 2017, she launched her luxury bags collection under Toke Makinwa Luxury. Then in 2018, she launched Glow by TM, her skincare line. In 2020, she launched her beauty brand, TM Beauty, which houses lipstick, eyelashes and eyeliner collections. Toke is not just a media personality and an entrepreneur; she is also an author. She released On Becoming in 2016, a brave tell-all memoir that shared all the challenges she had had to overcome, including losing her parents at a young age and the struggle to keep her marriage together. She had a successful book tour across the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Nigeria.
In 2020, Toke Makinwa was mentioned among Yahoo! Finance’s “Top Entrepreneurs to Follow in 2020”. She was also the recipient of two NET Honours awards for Most Popular Female Media Personality and Most Searched Media Personality. This year, she proved she is still Nigeria’s biggest ‘it’ girl by winning the 2021 NET Honours People’s Choice Awards for Most Popular Female Media Personality.
Congratulations to this hardworking woman.
Written by Dara Oluwatoye
