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Justin Brady: From the Jethro’s BBQ studio, I’m Justin Brady. This is the Iowa Business Podcast. And you- I, I didn’t know this, I was today years old when I found out that in welding you can’t have long hair. Why? Well, today’s guest found out why. Maybe found out the hard way, I don’t know. We’ll, we’ll get into that. And, um, didn’t wanna cut her hair, so she invented a product that allowed her to do welding and not cut her hair, right here from Iowa. Uh, Boluwarin, Boluwarin Ojo joins us today,

Bolu Ojo: Yeah, thanks for having me. Uh,

Justin Brady: of, uh, SparkDefy. Thanks

Bolu Ojo: yeah. Thank you for having me. This is

Justin Brady: Absolutely. We’ll talk about the tech, we’ll talk about what you’ve innovated and why.

Justin Brady: Uh, Bolu, thank you so much for coming in here. Let’s, let’s zoom out, 30,000 foot view. it is… I’m not even gonna tell people what it is, but it’s, um, I kinda hinted at it already. What was the problem, and why did you think that problem needed to be solved?

Bolu Ojo: Yeah, so I have been working at Howes Welding Metal Fabrication in Ames for, like, two years, and when I first started, I was just kind of doing cleanup, handling tools, hauling around. And one day, I talked to a coworker who told me he once caught his hair on fire while welding overhead. And I wasn’t welding at this point, but I was like, “What do you mean you caught your hair on fire?” He’s like, “Caught it on fire, and I then cut it off because, I mean, I had burned it so bad.” And I’m, like, standing there frozen. I mean, what do you mean you caught your hair on fire, first of all, and then you cut your hair off after? And I’m like, I mean, I wanna get into welding some more, so is this gonna happen to me? Like, what do I have to do? So I start looking at different ways to cover my hair. Well, I found out there really wasn’t anything on the market that was gonna cover my hair sufficiently. I was using, like, lock caps and beanies and stuff, but these were made out of, like, polyesters, and I quickly learned, yeah, they cover your hair, but if they ever catch fire, you’re going to have burns and now melted plastic. yeah It’s far worse than just… Yeah. So, um, while in school, I had developed this product because I had a project where it was develop something with sewing and technology. So I was like, let’s look into fireproof materials, hair covering. What, what’s out there, you know? And through that project and that, like, time, I went through the whole design process, and I did research. I made prototypes. I tested it out, and I made the cap, which was made out of different fabrics, but it was something that was actually long enough to cover my hair, made out of, you know, FR materials and fabrics, and I was like, awesome, my hair is now safe. So that’s kind of how we all started. Wasn’t thinking about business at all,

Justin Brady: Oh, really? Just a practical solution for

Bolu Ojo: solution. Yeah, and what I studied is product design, so it’s how to design products. You see a problem, how do I design a product or solution to solve it, whether it’s an app, a physical, uh, furniture, whatever it is. So I wasn’t thinking business at all until Iowa State, um, kind of pushed me into entrepreneurship through the entrepreneurship center with pitch competitions and a summer accelerator program, and that’s when I started to shift into let’s do this as a business because a lot of other people have the same issue out there. And what are they doing? They’re just doing makeshift solutions and hoping it works. Yeah. So that’s kind of how it started.

Justin Brady: to say great design is only obvious in retrospect, right? So this is one of those things where you’re like, “How is this still a problem?” But it was a problem needing solving, and so I, I have to a- obviously you solved it. And so it’s essentially a, a large sock or hair-covering thing you wear on your head. It’s fire retardant, that way if sparks from welding fly and hit it, nothing happens, right? Is the general idea.

Bolu Ojo: Essentially, yeah. That way, you know, you have something that’s FR rated. Um, if it does ever catch fire, it will self-extinguish rather than continue to burn or melt or anything like that. So you want something that will self-extinguish and char versus continue to burn- Sure. or melt or something. So yeah

Justin Brady: this, the current solution in the industry for welders, you mentioned overhead welder, I’m assuming it’s someone working on a car. They were like weld underneath it or

Bolu Ojo: Yep, so overhead, it’s just a position. You’re

Justin Brady: so overhead- Oh, just a

Bolu Ojo: over your head. So you can weld f- you can weld flat, you can weld out of position. Yeah. Overhead is stuff you’ll do kind of funky stuff. It’s not super common, but I mean, it happens and people do it every day, so yeah

Justin Brady: So I’m assuming the current solution then is everybody who does welding just chops their hair off

Bolu Ojo: Not everybody. Some people figure it out.

Justin Brady: Some people risk it.

Bolu Ojo: Some people risk it, some people don’t know the risk. Oh. Right? Like, I mean, I didn’t know the risk of polyester until I really thought about it consciously, right? Sure. So if you don’t know, you just kinda continue with what you’re doing, depending on how much safety’s enforced at your place of work, right? Um, some people weld only flat, so it’s not as big of an issue. The sparks are- Right … kinda just, kinda maybe hitting their midsection or their arms, but not the head. But depending on where you work, you might be doing flat today, overhead tomorrow, this, that, whatever the case is,

Justin Brady: You mentioned testing. I’ve gotta ask what testing looks like. Were you straight up putting this thing in a booth and shooting flamethrowers at it? Or what does this look like?

Bolu Ojo: um, my first one was, like, a fit test, just making sure it was actually comfortable. Can people figure out how to use it? And then some more testing with, like, um… I mean, there’s, there’s– because I’m getting the fabric from a reputable source in the US, they have their stats on the fabric and how it’s made and all the tests there. So going through all those kind of rigorously and just reading up and understanding how it’s tested. But yeah, primarily just a fit test. I wanna make sure it’s actually comfortable, it actually fits your head, and can you actually put on this thing with your gloves on or in a shop or in those settings, right? I can do it if I’m clean and here, but can I actually do it in a shop where I’m not in front of a mirror? Just different things like that.

Justin Brady: that actually makes a lot of sense. Yeah, you don’t think about that stuff until you’re practi- okay, interesting. Yeah. Is this a … You know, you’re working with, you call them FR, fire retardant, I’m assuming is what that means. Um, you’re working with these fire retardant fabrics. This is a problem that people have had before. So is it, is it, the, why wasn’t this invented? What, what, what was the problem you identified? Was it the fact that, um, the f- getting the fire retardant materials to behave is difficult, or is it just the fact that no one really thought about it? ‘Cause mostly in the skilled trades, it’s men, and most men, not all, but most men don’t have long hair, so this is just kinda off everyone’s radar, or was it a little bit of both?

Bolu Ojo: Primarily like the second one there, just kind of off everyone’s radar. I mean, it’s been an issue, and again, kind of like you said, like it’s been men historically for the majority of the time with short hair. Women-

Justin Brady: it’s 5% of women in the skilled

Bolu Ojo: Exactly. So it’s just becoming more of an issue as we see more, um, diverse welders coming into the trades, right? Now people are coming in with longer hair, men and women, different backgrounds, but it just kind of was overlooked primarily for the most part there. Yeah

Justin Brady: I wanna ask about, I, I, I don’t remember where we picked this up, but you self-funded this whole project, this whole company, this whole startup by just winning pitch competitions. Yeah. And you like… Can you tell, can you tell us a little bit? I mean, this is crazy because everybody thinks, every startup founder, uh, reads the Bloomberg pieces, the Wall Street Journal pieces about the $20 million Series A, everybody thinks they need to go raise money. Everybody thinks that. Yeah. And a lot of the founders and startups and companies I’ve talked to, they’re like, “No, we bootstrapped it.” And so tell me the bootstrap story of how you just went out there and won a bunch of pitch competitions, and what you did with that money.

Bolu Ojo: Yeah, so I didn’t even know this world existed, but through Iowa State’s entrepreneurship, they had a pitch competition on campus. Um, I think the first one was $500, and I was like, “Okay, awesome.” I mean, what college student doesn’t want or need $500, right? Um, so that’s what I did, and I just… I won the first one, and I was like, “Awesome.” I f- did it again, I was like, “Okay, cool. Um, tuition.” You know, I wasn’t thinking like a business at the, in the beginning. I’m thinking tuition, right? That’s the first thing in front of my eyes. And it wasn’t about my third or fourth one, I was like, “Oh,” like, “Okay, let’s become a business and let’s put this towards all of our s- our business needs,” right? So, um, patents, we’re thinking LLC formation, my first roll of fabric, um, to pay a contractor to sew this for me, right? Um, so those are, that’s where it all went, is just all those different things. My website, um, just business cards, all the things that you need to be a business that looks like a business, right? And I really wanted to present myself in a manner that was kinda high level and professional, because I’m approaching big companies that are talking about safety, so I need to kinda look the part. And, um, so I had to put that towards those different needs there, making sure the fabric was right, the thread was right, all the testing there, ’cause I tried out different fabrics, different threads. This one sews nice, not as good. Just all those different things

Justin Brady: Sure. So one, something could be like, uh, good, um, good in one way, but then it doesn’t sell well and it, you know, s- uh, un- Yeah … like undoes itself or something, yeah. Yeah. Um, you mentioned approaching companies. Tell me about the sales process right now. Um, are you actively like out there selling this? How does that work? What kind of doors are you knocking on?

Bolu Ojo: Yeah. So for the most part I was selling just straight to the welder. Um, through a lot of TikTok videos I just made. That’s how I first started, was just making videos online and talking to the welder and, like, just kind of building this community on social media of people who are like, “I have been looking for this. Where have you been? This is amazing. I’m gonna follow. I’m gonna share.” They’re tagging me in other people’s videos. And recently, like, literally last week I went to the Midwest Women in Safety conference in Cedar Rapids, and I was a vendor, and I talked to companies kind of face-to-face for the first time. And I’m talking to these safety professionals and they’re like, “This is awesome. We have welders who need this. Where have you been? W- where’s your card? Can I touch it? Can I feel it?” Like, “What’s your website? Where do I order?” So just kind of being emerged in this community of safety. There’s a quite a large community of safety and, um, PPE work wear, um, and then even, like, for men and women, so just kind of immersing myself in that space, immersing myself there and making those networking connections.

Justin Brady: Yeah. Did you just call people straight? Like, tell me about your sales process, because a lot of founders, I think they make the thing, they post the thing, and then they just assume everyone’s gonna see the things and, you know, m- like money will come to their door. People will just line up and come to their door. Um, of course, that doesn’t actually happen. So break down what your sales process is and how you’re getting the word out there and how you’re starting these meetings.

Bolu Ojo: Honestly, networking has been my best friend in this realm. Um, because you can show my product to someone online, and you can make a video, but when they can touch and feel it, and they can hear you talk about it with the passion in your voice, that’s kinda your best b- friend right there. So handing them that card, sending the follow-up email, sending the other follow-up email, setting up a meeting, you know, talking to them, and kinda just approaching them from a listening standpoint, like, “Hey, here’s my story. Here I am. Let me hear your story.” And from there, it’s either, like, they’ll either be the customer, or they’ll say, “Hey, I’m not your customer, but I know so-and-so. Let’s connect you with them.” And it just kinda continues in that manner and fashion. So that’s kinda been my best friend. A lot of follow-ups, a lot of setting up meetings, driving where I need to drive to go show somebody or, you know, in-person meeting. Um, but yeah, because a- you know, I’m trying to get the companies, right? They’re not necessarily on TikTok or- Right

Justin Brady: That’s a good point

Bolu Ojo: they might be on LinkedIn instead, right? So I made some LinkedIn posts. I might do follow-ups on LinkedIn, um, set up meetings that way. So, you know, just one by one going at it

Justin Brady: That’s a good point ’cause you’re selling to people who may not be watching TikTok dances and stuff, right? So you have to like adapt or just pick up a phone.

Bolu Ojo: Yeah, essentially just pick up a phone. Like, I’ve picked up the phone many times and just made a call, um, sent an email s- a follow-up meeting, whatever needs to be done there.

Justin Brady: Yeah. Um, is it… Now are you, I’m fuzzy on the details here. Are you graduated from school yet or are you

Bolu Ojo: I’ve graduated.

Justin Brady: graduated, and so is this your full-time thing now?

Bolu Ojo: So between this and still working at the metal and fab shop in Ames, that’s what I do basically half and half.

Justin Brady: That’s the bill, ch- pay job, and then this is the startup side hustle kind of thing, getting it off the ground. Yeah, everybody’s been there. I’ve been there like four times. Um, yeah, it’s, it’s… This- it’s, it’s really hard, especially if you have a full-time thing and you’re doing the other full-time thing, ’cause people are like, “Oh, is this your part-time job?” It’s like, “No, it’s my, my full-time job.” Right. like, wait, I thought the other job was my full-time job. Yeah, it is too. Yep. Like people, you know, people who aren’t founders don’t get it. But we can have two full-time, full-time jobs. What are some of the… That’s obviously a challenge. What are, uh… I wanna ask you about for other startup-minded people, other students that are starting companies, other f- just founders in general, um, what are some of the challenges that come up? Because one of them I wanna ask about was you did a name change. Why?

Bolu Ojo: Yeah. Um, so initially I called myself No Spark. That’s what I went by when those pitch competitions were going about- Mm-hmm … ’cause I needed a name, right? So I ended up switching the name, one, just trademarking. What I learned about trademarking, I, like, looked it up and I was like, “Oh, it’s been taken.” Wow. So that was basically the biggest push, and I just found a new name. So that was kind of really it. Yeah.

Justin Brady: get, like, sued or anything, did you? or anything? No.

Bolu Ojo: I mean, I wasn’t a business selling or anything at that point. Oh, it was just a product. Just a product who was in school kinda using a name. So when I learned about trademarking and all that process, I was like, “Oh, it’s just best to just change my name.” Like, I’m small enough and early enough that it doesn’t make much of a difference.

Justin Brady: So you were going through the trademark process on your own to maybe look into trademarking certain things, and that’s when you discovered, “Oh, I can’t even trademark

Bolu Ojo: Yeah, exactly. I had- They had, um, education session with a attorney, and he kind of taught us, like, “Hey, this is what it works with patents. This is a little bit about trademarking and all that world and copyright.” And I was like, “Oh, well, thanks for that. I’m gonna go change my name now.” Right.

Justin Brady: Oh, yeah, great. Yeah. Um, do you see a lot of, um, when you were in school, did you see a lot of, like, students… In my day, you- when you got out of school, whether it was high school or college, you went and got a job. That’s just implied. Um, I think that’s generally the belief, but I’ve been hearing more and more students that are starting companies in college, and then when they graduate, going into the companies. Not the majority, but I’m seeing this starting to catch on maybe. But did you see that? Like, did you work or did you go to school alongside other entrepreneur-minded students, or were you kind of alone in that category?

Bolu Ojo: Definitely went along, there was definitely others out there. I mean, I’m starting to notice a lot of universities are having entrepreneurship centers or hubs or initiatives to kind of push and promote it. So I think that’s really a big part of it too, and then a lot of people are just like, “How do I start making money and income now? Like, why do I need to wait till I’ve graduated? Why can’t I start something now? I have a skill. I like to bake. I like to cut hair. I like to paint. I like to do whatever.” So they’re just using their hobbies and their skills. Like- Yeah … how do I monetize off of this right now? Why not? So yeah, I’m starting to notice a lot more people are doing it, for sure.

Justin Brady: Yeah. Are they like, um, is it still hesitancy? Like, people are like, I w- they, they talk about it, they wanna do it, but then they just don’t pull the trigger? Or are you seeing a lot of people that are getting the resources and actually going and doing

Bolu Ojo: I would say half and half. I

Justin Brady: I would say half and half. Really? Okay.

Bolu Ojo: I would say I see some who are like, “I’m on it. Let’s go.” Like, I have some peers of mine who are, like, kinda like serial entrepreneurs, even at 20, 21, 23 or whatever. They’ve started, they’ve started one and they’re like, “I wanna start my next business. I wanna start my next one.” They’re thinking about exit plans and the whole thing. Yeah. And then I have some who are like, “Hey, I’m kinda hesitant,” and they might need a bit more of a push. I think that’s just kinda with anybody at any age, to be honest. There are some who are like, “I’m all in,” others who are like, “I’m on the fence.” So I’m seeing both. Yeah

Justin Brady: When you have younger entrepreneurs come up and talk to you, do you… Are they all asking the same questions? Do you give them the same advice? What’s the, do you see patterns there?

Bolu Ojo: Um, I think it’s just general, even younger and some older people, I think it’s just kinda the same questions in general, like how do you start? Where do you find funding? Um, how do you make a logo? How did you do that? Um, how did you become an LLC? Kinda like just the generic questions honestly more than anything. So yeah, kinda the same questions, but yeah, pretty much generic ones

Justin Brady: Yeah. Do you w- give the same answers?

Bolu Ojo: Uh, I guess it depends on what they’re trying to do. Yeah. Right? Are you trying to create just a side hustle? Okay, maybe you can go on Etsy. Maybe you can go on TikTok Shop. Are you trying to become your own thing? So maybe you use a Shopify web builder or you go a little further. Are you trying to raise capital? Did you wanna go on loans? Do you need connections? So it kinda based off what they’re trying to do, right? I only know so much about the world I’ve kind of found myself in, but you know, a lot of it is just, like, you gotta start. I mean, a lot of advice I give people is just start something. Um, you only need, like, 70% to start. You don’t need 100%. You don’t need to be a full-out fleshed out thing, just 70% of an idea is all you need to start. Um, a lot of feedback I gave is just get some feedback from people, right? Just put it out there in the world. What does your audience say? So sometimes I’m giving the same generic advice sometimes, yeah

Justin Brady: Yeah. Um, what have been the… I guess, how do I ask this? What, what are, what are some of the obstacles that you see other students running into, other founders running into often? Like, what are the things that you’re like, “Dude, we’ve been over this.” Or, you know, like what are, what are the things that people keep running into?

Bolu Ojo: I think more than anything, they’re just overthinking it. Yeah. Um, they think they need, like, this full-out shelf-ready 125%-ready product. Mm. And I’m like, “You have a great start. It might have a little bit of hiccups here and there. It might be a little janky in your eyes because you made…” But, like, when you make something, you see every flaw, right? Your customer might, customer might be like, “That is all I need. It’s perfect. Take my money.” So I think a lot of times they’re just overthinking it, right? Sure, sure If you have 60, 70% and it’s pretty much they’re solving all the issues, your customers will give you the feedback on how to make it better. Mm. You just can’t keep it… You can’t be a secret and a success, right? You can’t keep it in the closet and be like, “I’m gonna work on it forever and it’s gonna get better.” You need feedback. I mean, I’ve made changes to my design based off the feedback from my customers. So that’s just how you gotta start. Yeah.

Justin Brady: Minimum viable product. You have to get it out there ’cause if you don’t get it out there, you can’t improve it and you can’t change it. And yeah, a lot of people just leave it on the bench and they never get it out there to begin with. Yeah, because they’re like, “Well, I’ll just tool around and I’ll just change this one more thing, and I’ll just cha-” And they’ll change things for 10 years and never launch it. Um, w- what are the… You, you mentioned this a few times, uh, or you kinda hinted at it, but I like to ask, what are the helpers, or what are the organizations, what are the things that you’re like, the resources you tapped into, like, what’s the laundry list? You mentioned earlier that ISU had a pitch competition,

Bolu Ojo: Mm-hmm

Justin Brady: but what are all the resources that you’re like other founders really need to know about and probably don’t?

Bolu Ojo: Um, I don’t know if there is anything that, like… Sometimes I feel like I need the list.

Justin Brady: Yeah

Bolu Ojo: I learn so much just from talking to people more than anything. Like, I have some peers of mine who are, like, really into tech, and they’re, like, light years ahead of me with, like, some of this, like, technology they’re using, like tools and AI things, and I’m like, “I don’t even know how you did that. Like, help me out.” Um, but I guess, like, the common ones out there, like I use Shopify to make my website. I think that’s a great resource. Um, I’ve used a lot of ChatGPT to help me kind of like go through things. I’ve used Iowa State’s resources. I think if you’re in a campus or some kind of space where you’re like they have all these tools, please capitalize off of them. Like, they had the maker space I was using, so I could sew. They had, um, coaches for entrepreneurship. I would talk to them. They brought in attorneys every f- other Friday that I could go talk to there. If you’re in a space like that, please use the resources. They’re, they’re right there. You’re only a student for so long. Please do them. Like, use them. So for students, I would say that’s like your best friend. But, like, Google AI has been really helpful. LinkedIn has a lot of resources. Um, going to conferences and, like, going in person to things, just absorbing real life information from somebody has also been eye-opening for me, so. Sure. Yeah.

Justin Brady: That’s interesting, going out… Yeah, that’s actually interesting because I think a lot of people will probably, and I wanna ask about AI, but a lot of people will turn to AI but not actually go out there in the real world. And so you mentioned you’re going to conferences, you mentioned you’re going– you were a vendor at one. Yeah. I would imagine, we don’t need to talk about this in too much detail, but I would imagine that actually going in the weeds has been helpful in not just acquiring customers and relationships, but also iteration.

Bolu Ojo: That’s like the most helpful thing I’ve learned. I mean, I’m entering this world of safety and workwear, and there are people who have been in this industry for 10 plus years. They have so much knowledge that I just, I don’t even, I don’t even know like the tip of the iceberg, right? They just drop a gem here and there and it changes my world. I mean, I was just talking to a woman last week and she dropped one thing just casually, and I was like, “What? You just blew my mind.” I mean, she’s been in the game for 20 plus years. So talking to the people in the industry is probably your best friend above anything else. Yeah

Justin Brady: Yeah, and people are scared to do that

Bolu Ojo: nerve-wracking at times, but I mean, you share your story, they see your passion, they wanna help. People naturally kinda wanna help each other out and see one another win. So just share your story, show ’em what you got. They’ll give you feedback. They’ll tell you where to go. They might connect you to somebody even help- more helpful. So

Justin Brady: Yeah. I mean, especially in Iowa because have… You know, people are very, very helpful

Bolu Ojo: I would say so.

Justin Brady: Iowa. Like, That’s what I tell a lot of founders and a lot of startup people. Like, all you need to do is go ask for help, and people, like, kind of spill it around here

Bolu Ojo: I mean, I went to the Iowa Startup, um, Week, was it two weeks ago now? Or ISW about two or three weeks ago. And I, I pitched at that, at that competition and they… It’s open to all Midwest states, and there was people I met from Kansas, Minnesota, Illinois, who were like, “Iowans are really nice.” Yeah. Like, everyone is super helpful. Nobody is saying… Like, everyone is just so inviting and welcoming. And I was like, “That’s just kind of, that’s just kind of what it is out here.” People are just ready to help and see each other win, so just share your story, and they’re like, “Have you talked to so and so, and so and so, and so and so? I’ll email you and connect you, and let’s just chat, and let’s go for a coffee chat or dinner or whatever. They just wanna see you win.” Yeah.

Justin Brady: of the Toyota design principles is genchi genbutsu, which means, uh, in Japanese, go look, go see. And I think one of the original CEOs of Toyota was, that was one of his, um, things he would do is tell new recruits, he would put them on a shop floor and just say, “Watch stuff. Take notes.” And then he’d just walk away. And he would come back and say, “What did you learn?” And if they didn’t learn anything, he’d walk away again. And so just what you said earlier about you’re just ca- some woman’s just casually telling you something, and then that one little thing she said, you’re like, “Wait, whoa, whoa, what was that?” Yeah. And that’s the advantage of getting in front of people’s faces in a good way. Um, and go, you know, go look, go see. That’s where some of the iteration comes from. Um, Tell me a little bit about, um, women in the trades, and trades in general, because you’re in the trades right now. That’s your, that’s y- one of your full-time

Bolu Ojo: Yeah.

Justin Brady: Yeah. Um, why? Because obviously you’re now part of, you’re like part of 5%. Yeah. Well, 5% of people in the trades are women right now. Yeah. And so why you? Why did you think, “Hey, this sounds cool. I’m gonna do this”? And I guess the follow-up question to that would be, how do we get more students in the trades? Because I know a lot of companies are freaking out because they cannot get younger people in the trades. But for… We’ll go back to why you. Why’d you wanna get in the trades?

Bolu Ojo: It was honestly just by accident I fell into this. I mean, I was just talking to a professor. He told me he had a friend who wo- owned a welding shop, and I just asked to come and sh- job shadow. I just wanted to learn how to manufacture to be a better designer at the time.

Justin Brady: it was research.

Bolu Ojo: I just wanted to be a better designer. I was like, “If I can learn some manufacturing, it’ll inform me to be a better designer when I make sketches or blueprints or ideas,” right? We worked hand hand in hand. But I just kinda fell in love with it ’cause I quickly realized, like, I really love working with my hands. I love being able to pull out measuring tape and, like, feel the material and problem solve and think it through and sketch a little bit. Um, so that’s truly how I got into it. But I think had I known about the trades younger, I would’ve gone that direction right from the get-go. Mm-hmm. I just didn’t… I wasn’t pushed in that world. I was kind of pushed towards STEM and music and arts, which I still love, but I found that I flourish in the trades where I can kinda touch and feel and work with my hands. So I think when you ask that question, how do we get more women in the trades, we need to introduce it to them younger, right? Um, 12, 11, 8, whatever the case may be. And when you think about it, um, based off of kinda how society works, sometimes we kinda push children based off gender into certain avenues a little bit. Maybe boys are kinda pushed towards cars and trucks and Minecraft. You don’t even realize it, but I mean, it’s kind of funny in Video games. but in these video games you’re building and you’re ki- you’re understanding, right? Oh, absolutely. Whereas some, sometimes you’re pushing girls maybe a certain direction. So I think if we stop pushing one or the other and just kinda introduce everything and see where they kinda land, you might see like, “Oh, this little girl really loves, um, woodworking and wants to build chairs and furniture and wants to get dirty and do that kinda stuff,” and just push them where they naturally go. So just introducing them into these things earlier, honestly

Justin Brady: interesting. You mentioned STEM because that was like, I don’t know if it was like five years ago, I remember when, or 10 years ago, when that was like all the rage from a governmental, but a, an, a NGO. Like everyone was like, “We need to push STEM. We need to push STEM.” And then there was a, “We need to push STEAM,” science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. Yeah. And I would say those skills definitely apply to the trades, but it’s really interesting that it seems like it’s being narrowly pushed, and you’re mentioning that… I think what the compelling thing here is that you’re like, “If I would’ve known about this earlier, I probably would’ve gone into this.” Right So why, and you may not know the answer to this, but when you were in high school and junior high, you really didn’t see anything about skilled trades and welding and woodworking, anything like that? I

Bolu Ojo: funny enough, my school offered it and had it. I just never thought it was for me. I was like, “This, that’s cool. I’m gonna go over here now.” Like, I just was never really encouraged, like, “Hey, think about it. Give it a shot.” Or like, I wasn’t… There was never, like, an intro class where everyone had to try it out one time or anything. I just was like, I just was like, “Uh, I don’t really see anybody like that, who looks like me in there. I don’t think it’s for me. My parents aren’t really encouraging that. No one’s really telling me that’s for me. Like, let’s just kinda go music technology and, you know, STEM and stuff like that.” So yeah

Justin Brady: Do you see other young people in the trades like you, or again, you’re pretty alone and it’s like a bunch of older people?

Bolu Ojo: I work, actually funny enough, I work with four other women in my shop. What? Yeah. which is kinda rare.

Justin Brady: What is that?

Bolu Ojo: It just kinda happened by chance, but I work with four other women who, you know, some of them went to school for other things. We have, um, a former English teach- or a current English teacher working there. We have someone who went to school for something else and went into the trades, someone who went straight into the trades. Everyone has a different story of how they get into it. Mm-hmm. But again, I th- a lot of them say, like, “If I knew about it younger, I would’ve just gone straight into it.” Like, and I, I know some women who went to healthcare and made a career switch later in life. I mean, that’s a common story too. It’s just people just don’t know what they don’t know, so

Justin Brady: Sometimes there’s something beautiful about, like when you’re working in life, you know, things are sometimes, I don’t know what the right word is, but the result isn’t always from the what you put in. Not always. You know, you can work on a project, you can do a marketing thing, you do, and you can work on it really hard and it can still fail. But in the trades, there is something about the fact that if you build it and if you apply the right principles, it’s gonna happen for the most part. Like, you know, you can build the thing or you can fix the thing. Yeah. I wonder if there’s something about that that is appealing to younger people now. Is, is there something about your shop, like there were women there- Yeah and so when you went to check things out, you saw other women there and you felt more comfortable?

Bolu Ojo: Not necessarily. I mean, There was one other woman working there. Yeah. But we kinda worked opposite schedules. So I heard her name, but I never actually saw her- Mm-hmm … um, until later on, maybe a year or so later in. But it just, I just enjoyed it. I think one of my bosses kind of fostered an environment where he welcomes everybody. Um, there isn’t really any treatment difference in treatment based off if you’re a woman or a man or anything like that. So he just says, “If you can work, you can work,” and lets you do your thing. I didn’t feel as though, like, from my coworkers or my boss that, like, I was treated differently ’cause I was a woman or, like, they doubted my skills or anything. Um, if you know what you’re doing, you know what you’re doing. If you don’t, you don’t. But he kinda just treated everybody the same and just encouraged it, so I think that just made me feel comfortable. And I was like, “I like this space. I wanna continue learning in this space.” He allowed me m- to make mistakes. He allowed me to make wins. He just threw me anywhere, and I was like, “I love that I’m just learning,”

Justin Brady: Yeah, absolutely. So what’s next for SparkDefy? Grow the business, license it, um, eventually go full-time, keep working at the trades full-time and grow this as well? What, what’s next for the company?

Bolu Ojo: Yeah, just continue to scale the business. I mean, I wanna launch more products and create a full PPE and workwear brand. Um, just more products out there. At the end of the day, I went to school for product design, and I’m kinda living and doing it at the same time my business. I designed this product. I made it. I’m working in the trades. I’m being informed by the trades. I’m still connected to that world. So continue to build the brand, continue to make more workwear, because ultimately, I just wanna create workwear and PPE that allows more diversity in the trades, more inclusivity, um, just to bring more people into the trades. Like you said, like we need more. Just continue to scale. More products

Justin Brady: no. What, what, what next– What product is next?

Bolu Ojo: yeah. So we’re just working on more hair accessories essentially. We’re still doing R&D on some more stuff there with, um, you know, hair coverings and different ways to allow people to have their hair fully enclosed and safe. Scrunchies and hair ties and more swag coming out too, so, and as well as more research, right? I wanna push more research on hair hazards in the trades. So- Yeah, partnering with, like, The Safety Rack, who is a great friend of mine who, and mentor, who’s been helping me out with research and putting out surveys and collecting data, just informing the world about hair safety.

Justin Brady: Boluwarin Ojo, the founder of SparkDefy. Thank you so much for coming on the Iowa Business Podcast. If people wanna go buy one or they wanna check it out, how do they do that?

Bolu Ojo: Yeah, my website is sparkdefygear.com is where you can find me. So you can purchase a cap there, and then social medias are also spark.defy on TikTok, um, Instagram, and Facebook. So you can find me on all platforms there

Justin Brady: Bolu, thank you so much for coming on the Iowa Business

Bolu Ojo: Thank you for having me