ProWoc Celebrates | 17 Edition, June 2024
Moyosore Adenmosun
Senior Manager | Logistics Centre of Excellence team at Arla Foods
This June, ProWoc celebrates Moyo Adenmosun.
Moyo is a Senior Manager in the Logistics Centre of Excellence team at Arla Foods who loves cooking and is intentional about cooking meals with a diverse range of vegetables, grains, cereals, legumes, seeds and nuts as diversity in our food supply is a good thing for planet!
“Find out what you’re good at that creates the most value and get even better at it, especially in your early years. This will make you stand out” advises Moyo.
Read about Moyo’s inspiring journey and her excellent advice here.
Who is Moyo?
Hello, I’m Moyo. My name loosely translates to ‘I’m happy’ in Yoruba, one of Nigeria’s many languages. Currently, I’m a Senior Manager in the Logistics Centre of Excellence team at Arla Foods. Throughout my career, I’ve found my sweet spot at the intersection of Supply Chain, Strategy/Business Development, and Transformation Projects.
Before joining Arla Foods, I earned my MBA from TIAS Business School in the Netherlands, following a five-year degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Bath in the UK and a year working at a Heineken production site in Utilities Engineering. At 16, I chose Chemical Engineering to understand consumer products better. I’m the type of consumer who meticulously reads labels and dives into research papers before making purchases.
In my down time, I enjoy listening to fiction audiobooks, doing ‘non-footwear requiring’ exercises like pilates, solving sudoku puzzles, and occasionally writing short stories or songs. I also enjoy cooking. A few years ago, I read a WWF report that stated that 75% of the global food supply comes from only 12 plant and five animal species, which impacts the resilience of our food systems negatively. So I am intentional about cooking meals with a diverse range of vegetables, grains, cereals, legumes, seeds and nuts. Diversity is a good thing for planet!
Coming to Denmark and First Impressions
My first impression, walking the streets, was that the Danish population was very homogeneous, compared to the other European countries I had lived in. I would soon come to realise how culturally ‘opposite’ (which is neither a good or a bad thing) Denmark is to my home country, Nigeria and to some extent the UK, where I have spent most of my adult life. I think my time living in the Netherlands definitely helped cushion my landing here.
One of the other things that struck me was how good a standard of living most citizens experience due to the strong welfare state. I still remember calling a friend back home in my first few months here just to tell her all about it. Conversely, social security in Nigeria is family, friends or some sort of community e.g. religious as opposed to the government – which helps to foster a more collectivistic culture.
Challenges and key contributors to her success
The greatest challenge I have experienced in Denmark is the feeling of not-quite-belonging. In the majority of the professional spaces I have been in (apart from ProWoc), I have very often been the ‘only’. This in itself, is not particularly the issue. However, when certain topics are being discussed e.g. sustainability, I sometimes have a very different worldview to those around me as a virtue of growing up in Nigeria and being a Nigerian woman. I did not always feel this alternative perspective was welcomed.
Over the years, I have become more anchored in who I am, my leadership style and the value I bring. I see this in the recognition I receive at work and one of my achievements is being one of a select group of ‘Talents’ by senior leadership due to a track record of performance and leadership as well as potential to accelerate into more senior positions.
Openness and adapting to whatever context I found myself in, in a way that is authentic to me has been key to my overcoming the feeling of not-quite-belonging. I think there will be different degrees of receptiveness to this. However, I believe openness alongside a healthy amount of discretion can be a great filter in finding and being found by people with whom your values align – even though perspectives or opinions might differ.
Key contributors to her success
Being Nigerian, my father’s influence, and the support of incredible people are three things that have shaped my journey. I love the ambition and self-assuredness ingrained in our Nigerian culture, and fostering dreams despite challenges. I always tell the story of my last year in secondary school. Sixteen year old girls in boarding school, studying in the evenings with torchlights when there was no electricity. We talked about writing various international exams so we could attend the best universities in the Europe and America. Despite the higher barriers to entry for us as Nigerian citizens, some of which we were blissfully unaware of, we dreamed and had aspirations.
My father instilled in me the power of dreaming and has guided me through career planning. Family sacrifices paved the way for my career. Additionally, I’ve been fortunate to encounter mentors who’ve generously invested in my growth, enriching my career journey with invaluable support and resources. I think one of the most unfortunate realities about the world we live in is that talent abounds across the world but privilege and consequently access to opportunity is not evenly distributed.
Aspirations
Aspirations, motivation and advice
I’m fascinated by the possibilities in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Industry. I would like to use my experience so far in shaping a Supply Chain fit for the future to one day address industry-level challenges and further down the line end up shaping and influencing (food trade) policy between the Global South and Global North.
The best piece of advice that I have received is to train your strengths. Find what you’re good at that creates the most value and get even better at it, especially in your early years. This will make you stand out.
On the other hand, knowing what I know now, the advice I would give to myself at the beginning of my career is that being yourself does not mean being unadaptable or remaining stuck as you are. Embrace your personality – it really is your star quality.
Rapid Fire Question for Moyo.
1. Who is one of your role models and why?
A Danish friend once said I reminded her of the writer, Chimamanda Adichie. That was such a great compliment. She’s a thinker and has an eloquence and poise I really do admire.
I’m also a huge fan of Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the first woman and the first African to lead the World Trade Organisation. She has had such an interesting career and presents herself as unapologetically Nigerian in her dressing.
2. If you could live and work in any country, which one would it be?
I think living and working in Nigeria (or any other African country) after over a decade in Northern Europe would be an interesting experience!
3. What is one book you think everyone should read?
The Culture Map by Erin Meyer. I used to have the sense of straddling two worlds. Africa and Europe. Despite being fully myself in any context, I was cognizant of the fact that each world required or maybe more accurately brought out something different from me as I navigated it. I started writing my observations and sharing with friends in an attempt to bridge both worlds. Reading The Culture Map was such a lightbulb experience for me. It helped me resolve some of the internal tensions I felt as I adapted to my environment.
4. What would be the title of your autobiography?
I haven’t settled on a title yet, but I keep promising to dedicate chapters to people who have played a meaningful role in my life and career, so it’ll be a very long book.
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