Meet Teju Aluko | Chief Experience Officer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Teju Aluko and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Teju, do you disagree with some advice that is more or less universally accepted?
This may be an unpopular opinion, but get the future out of your head as a business owner. Getting the future out of your head enables you to focus on what’s important now. We are perpetually taught to have a 5 year plan the minute we begin and continue our business journey & that’s just one piece of conventional advice that I disagree with.

I’ve learned that if you make one decision, based on your trade-offs, said decision will alleviate many decisions to come — allowing you to focus on the now. I inherited this way of life from a book that transformed me, essentialism — it’s been the catalyst for my development over the years. It reinforces this notion.

I’ve never subscribed to the “5-year plan thingy” because I understood how crippling it can be. Sometimes, we become so fixated on achieving what we wrote 2 or 4 years ago that we don’t allow, account for, or accept the ebbs and flows of business , “trying to stick to a plan”.

And honestly, the “5-year plan” doesn’t really encourage exploration or adaptation, in my opinion.

I’ve always been a “a lot can change in a year” type of girl — it’s a large part of the development of our signature approach and these past five years in business have proven that to be true.

Over the past five years we’ve built and sustained brand experiences that have a life span, on average, of about 3 years — the goal was to create/recreate an experience for the next 18 months that is buildable and sustainable. “Plans” created in 2023 for 2028 aren’t feasible to sustain — to me. Because Idk, I feel like no one had the pandemic in their plan — and that’s why it’s important to focus on the now. Just an example.

Remember, the now can be the next 12 months — that’s it.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We’re Branperience, a Full-Service Brand Experience Firm. For the past five years we’ve built, nourished, and sustained brand experiences for various businesses across the country – within eleven industries – using our unique signature approach of utilizing the subconscious minds emotions and feelings to deliver memorable experiences that produce: brand equity, loyalty, and advocacy for an increased return on experience.

Our Stakeholders aren’t scrambling to find several different agencies to handle siloed areas of their businesses, with a bunch of different strategies and tactics, we’re all inclusive – handling their internal & external strategy, email, website, social media, activations + events, text messaging, and much more. In turn, they get to focus on a Return on Experience for them and their Stakeholders while we handle the rest – and that’s what sets us apart.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned as a business owner is to understand, embrace, and choose joy – everyday. Choosing joy has been very advantageous for me, and I can’t express that enough. There’s so many ebbs and flows within business and it’s tough to not get caught up in the singular desired emotions – like wanting to always feel happy.

Business ownership takes you on a whirlwind of emotions and feelings and joy allows you to not get caught up or throw in the towel when the undesirable emotions like fear, sadness, anger, etc come at some point – even for a short while. Joy allows you to embrace those emotions and stay steadfast in your pursuit. And in my experience that’s an important helpful concept to understand as a business owner.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m a self proclaimed foodie, so the entire week with my bestie would include a lot of food at my favorite restaurants around the city. I have a pretty wide palate, although I’ve been a vegetarian for the past 10 years, I’m still able to find food for everyone . We’ll stop at a mix of places from Nobu, Ysabel, World Wide Tacos, Hilltop – just to name a few. And when we’re not eating, I like to stay active, so we’ll do that by attending a few basketball games at Crypto.com Arena, Leimert Park, Culver City Stairs, and more that we find along the way.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’m shouting out my amazing support system again – my family. My daughters – Madi and Bailey, My Mother, Kasandra, my Sisters – Tameya and Taylor, My Niece Zora, my Nephew Milo, my Uncle Kevin, my Aunt Val, my little Cousin Kennady, my Uncle Chris, my honorary Grandparents Auntie and Sammy, and last but not least those who are no longer here on earth with me: my Cousin Ebony, My Grandfather Elvis, and my Grandma Ruby…for all the countless hours of listening, seeing, supporting, and loving me since birth this Shoutout is for y’all.

Website: https://www.branperience.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branperience/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/branperience/?viewAsMember=true

Other: Contact Teju: https://www.branperience.com/tejualuko

Image Credits
Bailey Aluko