Tolu

Interview with Tolu Aladejebi – Black in Hospitality

When Tolu and Natasha first met, it was amazing how connected they both felt. It wasn’t an if, but a when in terms of finding ways of working together.

Almost immediately, they began to brainstorm and neither could have expected the types of opportunities that presented itself.

Being a Recruitment and HR firm, DEI has always been infused into the work we have done here at Career Contacts. When it came time to celebrate Black History Month, we wanted to ensure we were honouring it in a way that was authentic and lacked the performance we often see.

If we wanted to be true Ally’s we wanted to amplify the voices of black (women) and share their stories, their businesses, and their advocacy.

We decided that the idea of interviewing Tolu on her work (both with us and what is to come) aligned to our recruitment work, our DEI work and her ability to use her voice to share her (work) story!

We love learning about how candidates got to where they are today. Follow us as Tolu shares a bit about her path!

Tolu

Q: What was your first job coming out of school?

A: Wow! My first job after graduation was a night audit position at a resort in Banff. Coming from a city like Toronto and moving to Banff not knowing when I’d come back home was a bit surreal but I enjoyed my time there and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.

Q: What was your dream job when you were younger?

A: When I was younger, I wanted to be a pediatrician. I’m not sure if I ever said it out loud but I definitely thought about it and I sat with it for a bit. That all changed in high school when I took a hospitality class and fell in love.  It’s been hospitality ever since.

Q: What is your dream job now?

A: My dream job now is to get into HR, in a learning and development capacity within the hospitality and tourism industry.  I believe that this is the place that I can make the most impact in the industry and where I’d be able to implement anti-racism training and created more safe and equitable workspaces for BIPOC hospitality professionals.

PAUSE

We absolutely love this and if you don’t already, follow @blackinhospitality on Instagram to hear about Tolu’s experiences within tourism and how she is ready to see some change! We fully stand behind the work Tolu is doing and are proud supporters of @worthassociation who also is working hard to do some serious work within DEI.

Q: What do you for work now?

A: Currently, I run a business called Black in Hospitality which assists hospitality and tourism businesses create and maintain inclusive spaces for BIPOC hospitality professionals. Its really something that I am passionate about and I truly feel that there is shift that needs to happen within the hospitality and tourism industry.

CC: Tolu is also supporting one of our clients who works in the DEI space and we are so proud to work with both parties and to learn from the work they do. Representation in employees, clients and vendors all create space for learning and unlearning within the space of DEI.

Q: How did get to know / work with Career Contacts?

T: Who would’ve thought that the new way of networking would be through social media? This is how I heard about Career Contacts.  I would constantly see Career Contacts posting informative reels and truly cheerleading for other women, this was something that captivated and motivated me on a daily basis.  We slid into each other’s DMs and it’s been a wonderful connection ever since.

CC: We are so grateful that Tolu reached out and during our time of working together, we have had an opportunity to explore so many ways that we can support one another with the work we do, the communities we are building and voices we are amplifying!

Thank you Tolu to sharing a bit about your career journey – we can’t wait to see what is in store next!

Tolu can be found on Instagram @blackinhospitality or on her website at https://www.blackinhospitality.ca