Tosin Adefeko at 50: The Tenacity to Keep

Progress Eyoh

Milestones often make people look back. Tosin Adefeko, however, has always seemed more interested in what comes next. At 50, her story is not only about what she has achieved, but also about her willingness to keep learning, changing and building. That instinct has shaped a career spanning banking, media, marketing communications and entrepreneurship. More than a record of success, it is a story of continuous becoming. The thread running through it all is what she has helped make possible for others.

Today, Tosin fondly called Tosh by her friends is the Founder and CEO of AT3 – The MUVMNT Agency, a brand growth agency that grew from the specialist communications consultancy she founded years ago. Her career may look carefully planned in hindsight, but the path was far from obvious. She studied English and Literary Studies and grew up around books, ideas and lively conversation. Her father, the late Dr Femi Adekanye, was a banker, author and former Chairman of Commerce Bank. Tosin has spoken about reading and editing his books, reading newspapers and business magazines, following the news and debating current affairs. That early curiosity that would later shape her work in communications was already taking root.

Her first major career chapter, however, was banking. Tosin worked across five banks and built a successful career, but she came to an uncomfortable conclusion: being good at something does not always mean it is where you belong. At 31, she chose to change direction. After earning a master’s degree in Marketing Communications in England, she returned to Nigeria and moved into media through Arise Magazine and NN24. She later sought an opportunity to learn from one of Nigeria’s leading marketing communications professionals, Dr Biodun Shobanjo. She joined The Quadrant Company, rose through the ranks and eventually became Chief Operating Officer of QuadrantMSL, working with major local and international organisations across technology, financial services, FMCG and other sectors.

Those years gave Tosin experience, but they also helped her see what was missing. She began to notice market gaps and opportunities to do things differently. Eventually, she decided to build something of her own. That decision became AT3 Resources. The early years were not glamorous. Tosin has spoken openly about having more time than briefs and taking on opportunities, including some unpaid work, to build experience and credibility. She volunteered her expertise to organisations such as Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), sometimes asking only for AT3’s logo to appear on a backdrop.

In many ways, she was building a reputation before recognition. The work eventually began to speak for itself. More briefs came, local and global brands trusted the agency with their businesses, and AT3 grew from a specialist communications consultancy into the wider brand growth business now known as AT3 – The MUVMNT Agency. Her experience offers a useful reminder that success rarely looks as neat while it is being built as it does when the story is told years later. Much of it happens quietly, through patience, consistency and a willingness to keep doing the work before anyone is paying attention.

People who have worked closely with Tosin will recognise that persistence. Once she decides something is worth doing, it can be difficult to convince her that it cannot be done. She can be warm and demanding, encouraging while still expecting more. She questions ideas, challenges assumptions and often pushes people beyond their first answer. Underneath that approach is a strong belief in possibility. A difficult idea is not always impossible. Sometimes it simply needs more thought, better execution or someone willing to keep working at it.

Perhaps the most interesting shift in Tosin’s career came after she had already built a name for herself in communications. For years, she helped organisations find and tell their stories. Over time, she began creating spaces for others to tell theirs. Through The Muvmnt Studio, she hosted conversations with women leaders, industry trailblazers, and corporate executives, including The Uncovered Series. Through #ToshTalks, she created a more personal platform to share her thoughts on leadership, entrepreneurship, communications and life. Then came PodFest Naija, bringing together Nigeria’s growing community of podcasters, creators and storytellers.

The inaugural PodFest Naija in 2025 attracted more than 2,200 registered podcasters, creators, storytellers and enthusiasts, with more than 40 storytellers participating. By 2026, it had grown into a broader gathering of creators, brands, culture shapers and others in the storytelling community. That growth says something about the direction Tosin’s work has taken. She spent years helping brands find the right stories to tell. Today, she also helps create spaces where others can find an audience for their own stories.

This evolution makes sense to anyone who knows Tosh beyond her professional titles. She loves a good conversation. She reads, questions, debates and becomes deeply engaged when an idea catches her attention. Her interest often goes beyond what someone has achieved to the person behind the achievement. That curiosity helps explain why conversations, storytelling and creating opportunities for others have become such an important part of her work. She believes ideas deserve to be explored, people deserve to be heard and knowledge becomes more useful when it is shared.

Recognition has followed. Tosin has been honoured among leading women in Nigeria’s marketing communications industry, named an Outstanding PR Personality of the Year, recognised among industry women change-makers and listed among leading women in Africa. She has also served on international and regional awards juries, including the IPRA Global Awards and SABRE Awards. These achievements matter, but at 50, there is another way to look at her success.

The more interesting question may not be what Tosin has accumulated, but what she has multiplied: people, ideas, opportunities, and confidence.

That impact is often harder to put on a résumé. You can see it in the colleague who accepts a bigger challenge because Tosin saw more in them, the professional who leaves a conversation believing an ambitious idea can work, or the woman who looks at Tosin’s career and understands that changing direction at 31 was not failure. Her journey shows that success can have several chapters. Reinvention does not mean the chapter before it was a mistake. Sometimes it simply means you have learned enough to know it is time to write another one.

At 50, Tosin Adefeko has been a banker, media professional, communications strategist, agency leader, entrepreneur, storyteller, podcaster and convener. The thread connecting these different chapters is clearer than any single title: she has continued to grow while creating room for others to grow too. A meaningful career, after all, is not measured only by what a person builds, but also by what becomes possible for others as a result. Tosin’s journey so far shows that another idea, another conversation, another room to create, and another story are always waiting to be uncovered.

Progress Eyoh

Project Co-ordinator – Podfest Naija