Succeeding as a Black executive, board member and mom

Opeyemi is Senior Vice President, Consumer Marketing at Teladoc Health and serves on Stride’s Board of Directors. In honor of Black History Month, she's sharing a bit of her story with us.

Opeyemi, can you start off by telling us about yourself and what you do?

I see myself as having two jobs: First, I am a mom and a wife. On the weekends, you'll find me driving my kids to soccer games. I am usually cheering for my kids very loudly from the sideline. My kids are my pride and joy.

Second, I'm a marketer at heart. I discovered marketing more than 20 years ago in school. I lead Consumer Marketing at Teladoc Health, where I set marketing strategy and revenue growth targets. I lead growth marketing, paid acquisitions, strategic partner marketing, retention, marketing automation, and analytics. I'm very passionate about changing ingrained consumer habits in a mission-driven company where I can positively impact people's lives. We are making high-quality care more accessible to people everywhere. That’s what inspires me to get up in the morning! 

I'm a first generation American, I was born in NYC. My family left the US when I was six, so I spent the formative years of my life growing up in Nigeria. This has shaped who I am today and the way I see the world. I came back to the US to go to college. 

I love to read and travel. Before I had kids, I read all the time, but now that I spend a lot of time driving to soccer games, I listen to audiobooks. I also spend a lot of time reading the news — I just love knowing what’s happening around me. For our next family vacation, I’m trying to convince my family to go to Kazakhstan.

What would you say are some of your proudest accomplishments as a Black woman?

I'll answer this question as a woman — I'm sure I'm proud of similar things as other women regardless of race — but also as a Black woman. I'm most proud of how I’ve used my voice as a mentor, as a Black female leader helping to shape diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and as a Black woman and mother helping to shape health equity initiatives.

I’ve had many strong women role models and mentors as I have advanced in my career. I am who I am today because of them. I am proud of “paying-it-forward”. It's so important that I mentor and develop women the same way my mentors have invested in my growth.

I'm proud of how I have used my experiences as a Black woman to help shape diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at work. I’m able to lend my voice to educate and to inform. I have strong relationships with other senior people where they feel comfortable asking me questions. I'm proud of having honest dialogue that has helped shape initiatives where I work. 

Finally, as a Black woman and a Black mom, I have experienced health inequities first-hand. I’m proud to be able to lend my voice and my experience to help define initiatives that will provide culturally sensitive care for People of Color regardless of where they are.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a Black woman?

Some of my challenges as a black woman are a result of unconscious biases or microaggressions where people are not aware of how their actions impact me or other people of color. I'll give you two examples, one personal and one at work.  

On my daughter's first day of Kindergarten, I was waiting to pick her up, like many other parents. Somebody left their child in a car seat on the playground near where I was waiting. An overzealous mom marched up to me and said, “Are you the one who's supposed to be taking care of this child?” Of the 40 parents who were standing there, I was the one Black woman.

Why was the one Black woman the nanny?

I'm hoping that with my experiences and interactions with this person — from kindergarten to 8th grade while my daughter was in elementary and middle school — have shifted how they see and interact with other Black people they may encounter. 

I have also had many experiences at work. Earlier in my career, a leader told me that I wasn’t getting promoted because I had a very strong voice and very strong conviction. It was very confusing feedback, since I wasn’t doing anything differently from my peers.

At the time, my Senior Vice President was a woman, and she was having a talent calibration with senior leaders in our department. My leader brought up my development areas. The Senior Vice President paused the conversation to ask him, “Does Opeyemi do anything differently than any of you guys or her peers?” The answer was no. My leader came back to me and apologized.

I remember that woman and the impact she had on me and my career. I’m still very close with the leader who give me confusing feedback. I am sure that was a teachable moment for him. But now that I'm in the same position as the Senior Vice President, I can be the voice of reason in the room.

What would you say you're most proud of when it comes to your heritage?

I am a first generation Nigerian American. The one anchor that I always go back to when I think of my heritage is my grandmother. She grew up in a very small village in Nigeria, and she didn’t speak English. What I remember the most about her is her strength and her drive. And I look at who I am today — I look at the emphasis that I place on education and the emphasis she placed on education with her children. This is somebody who did not have any schooling, but I look at my kids today and I know that my grandmother's strength has been passed down to my children. 

My heritage comes through in who I am, the way I dress, the jewelry I wear, and the jokes that I tell. I truly am proud of being Nigerian. It has shaped who I am and how I live my life.

Lastly, what does Black History Month mean to you?

It’s a time to celebrate Black culture and the contributions that black people have made in their communities. Often, Black people’s contributions are overlooked or are not taught in schools, Black History Month is a time to educate. Finally, celebrating Black History Month and celebrating the people who came before us provides role models for younger Black people. It empowers the next generation with knowledge that can shape and inspire their futures.