Mo Abudu, a leading figure in Nollywood, has a birthday message for those who think that they have lost all the time they need to pursue their goals, says age is not a stop sign.
On Friday, September 11, saw the founder of EbonyLife reach the age of 62, and in order to celebrate she looked back on a career which had not begun early and has since then kept going.
She did not start in media until she was 40
Abudu frequently tells people that she entered the entertainment industry later than the majority of others; she started her talk show, Moments with Mo, at the age of 40, which was ten years after many of her colleagues had already established their names in the media.
Her first film came at 50
Ten years later, at the age of 50, she made her first film; this movie dealt with the lives of four women and thus led to a series of successes such as The Wedding Party, Chief Daddy, Oloture, and Blood Sisters; her most recent film, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, is part of that sequence.
She built EbonyLife Place at 55, and is now taking it to London at 62
When she was 55 Abudu opened EbonyLife Place in Lagos, an entertainment and hospitality complex which has since become one of the city’s well-known landmarks; at 62 she is now extending the brand to London, which shows that she has no intention of staying where she is.
She believes that each stage in her life has been the start of something new; when she reached 40 she began something new, at 50 she made her own film, at 55 she was building in Lagos, and at 62 she says that she is still building, still creating and still starting new things.
Her message: it is never too late
Abudu made use of the milestone to inspire other people, in particular women, not to regard their age as a barrier. Her advice was straightforward: no matter what stage of life you’re at, don’t tell yourself that it’s too late to begin. If there’s something you would like to build, start it at this moment, since your best chapters might still be unwritten.
About Mo Abudu
Mo Abudu is a businesswoman, media entrepreneur and filmmaker, and she founded EbonyLife Media and EbonyLife Place; her career has extended across the fields of television, film and hospitality over three decades.
