MEET CAPTAIN WILD

February 10, 2023

Shalom, Shalom, Sisters!

Happy New Year! Happy WILD Resumption!!!!!

How was the break? Did you take out time to rest and strategize for the New Year? How are your goals coming along this year?

I know there may be a bit of anxiety since we are in the second month. But, fret not, because our opening edition will feature an interview with…… *drum roll* ……. Captain WILD herself!!!

Yes, Coach E will be letting us into her world and sharing personal insights to help us win this 2023. Please sit back, relax, take a sip of lemonade, and enjoy this sumptuous interview.

BLESSING: Shalom, Coach! It is such a pleasure to interview you, ma’am. Can you please introduce yourself?

COACH E: Hey, Sisters! Shalom Shalom! My name is Eziaha Bolaji-Olojo, and when it comes to Discipline, Systems, Strategy, and Structures, you can call me Queen. I love order, and SPACE is my number one value in life. When everything is orderly and there is SPACE, many beautiful things can jump in and make their home there, especially JOY! I am joyfully married to my Boo, Bolaji-Olojo – now 10 years in marriage! And we have two boys. By profession, I have a First-Class Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, however, I have found myself in Health and Wellness, helping women (and men) to rock out a healthy lifestyle in a body that’s built for PURPOSE.

Beyond all of these, I am a stay-at-home mom with a full-time job of cooking and cleaning… while also figuring out how to get PAID in my current unpaid yet highly demanding role as Negotiator and Conflict Resolution Expert for my 2 boys. Oh, and I (and Toluwani, my Exec Assistant and little best friend) founded The WILD, hehe. They call me Captain WILD, and that name came from my sister, Oluwatoyosi Bakare!
*Exhales* LOL

BLESSING: Wow! What an introduction! Intellectual, Cook, Home-maker, Negotiator, Captain, Fitness Coach, Queen, Mother, Wife! A woman of many hats! You are truly modeling success to us young women.
So, how do you do it all? What is your “secret sauce”? What are the 3-5 leadership principles that you have discovered and executed that have contributed to your leading The WILD?

COACH E: The Secret Sauce number 1 to last is JESUS. I just follow JESUS when it comes to leading The WILD ‘cos, lizzzzzzzen sisters, this girl knows NOTHING! I just do as my Daddy says and so far, He is doing SO WELL. Just that I am the human people see, but it is ALL HIM. I don’t even have any sense to do this on my own, and THANK GOD I don’t have to try!

Per leadership principles, the first is the principle of REPETITION. I never say things once and expect them to be done, so I am happy to REPEAT until we hit a point in Neuroscience called AUTOMATICITY. But first, lots of repetition. I really I’m Chief Repeating Officer.

Another is MENTORSHIP. I am a woman who submits to mentors, both close and distant. I mean, I lean all the way into the spiritual leaders God highlights to me. I stalk them SO MUCH that I can correct their personal stories, haha. I am a FOREVER STUDENT, and so I read like crazy, especially content on leadership. Some of my BEST mentors, I am yet to meet and may never meet, but in my mind, we are BESTIES, hehe. Like Joyce Meyer, Christine Caine, Lisa Bevere, Priscilla Shirer, and Craig Groeschel. I also have some mentors that MERCIFULLY, I have direct access to like my Rev and Daddy Albert Femi Oduwole, Pastor Mildred Kingsley-Okonkwo and Pastor Debola Deji-Kurunmi who is spiritual Father over The WILD.

A final principle will always be LOVE. This one, I give all the glory to God because NATURALLY, I am not the most loving person, but God has REDUCED ME TO LOVE and now, I just want everyone saved, loving Jesus and whooping Satan’s butt. That drives me like nothing else, especially in how I lead and serve in The WILD!

Okay, I know I said final, but there is another final one, which is closely related to LOVE, and that is staying UNOFFENDABLE. People are going to hurt you both knowingly and ignorantly, so I have to keep reminding myself that deeeeeep down, in the bottom of all our hearts, we are good people, so I do my best to keep my heart offense-free, and thank GOD for how He is helping me!

BLESSING: Incredible, just incredible! Jesus is the secret sauce! Leadership principles that we need to cultivate this year are REPETITION, MENTORSHIP, LOVE, and a LIFE OF NO-OFFENSE. Thank you, Coach, for simplifying these steps for us. God has been really good to you and you are such a treasure.
Having learned about your methods, could you please share with us what stands as your core values in life and the steps to work with those values?

COACH E: I have 10 unshakable JOYFUL core values, and I repeat them to myself at least 3 times weekly. For the sake of this interview, I want to highlight 5:

• Work-Life cohesion
• Authenticity
• Minimalism
• High-quality Healthy Lifestyle
• Excellence

If you want to know the remaining 5, pay meeeeeeee!!!!
But yes, these values GROUND me because, again, REPETITION. I repeat them often to myself.
And these are not stuff I googled up, nope. They are all original to me. I sat and asked myself what are the things that are really important to me, in a playfully curious and unrushed atmosphere, and after tearing and canceling many papers, I finally came up with these sometime in 2021. And yes, I am a paper and biro chick. I only type when I am finally done with papers and pens. LOL

BLESSING: Honestly, at this rate, we need to clone you because the wisdom that flows out of you is such a blessing. These are collectibles! As a matter of fact, I learned the ‘excellence’ principle from you. It is one of the things I say so often these days (that makes me look 100% smarter than I feel). Thank you, Coach!
Next, we get to the hard questions, how do you handle disappointments or unmet expectations? Especially if it’s something you’ve received God’s word for.

COACH E: Hmmm. One day, and quite recently too, God told me (and He was laughing when He told me). He said, “I don’t get you these my children; I gave you a WORD, then you are now under pressure to make it work. Did I tell you it is you that will make it happen?”
And He proceeded to show me His friend Abraham in Romans 4 vs 21.

He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.

Romans 4:21 NLT

I love how the Igbo Bible puts it:

“O nwere otu obi na Chineke PURU IMEZU ihe niile o bula o kwere na nkwa!”

Like!!!!!!

What He promises, He can do. If it delays, wait for it.
If it doesn’t come, then I don’t need it. I just stay trusting God because He has better for me. I am happy to admit that perhaps I heard wrongly. At the end of the day, it is a TRUST game, and I have seen so much of His goodness to not believe. And so, like Abraham, I keep on praising, giving glory to God, and thanking Him both for what He has already done – seen and unseen.

I am not about to complicate my life, please. Also, I have no desire to appear a certain way to people, so I am never under pressure to prove that something is working in my life to humans. I think it is when we feel that pressure that we are thrown off balance. As for me, I am not. God is good, whether He does what I want or not. And I TRUST HIM ridiculously

BLESSING: Such an incredible faith in God. The part that struck me was when you said, “I am happy to admit that perhaps I heard wrongly”. Oh gosh, that statement is so liberating. As Christians, there is this urge to get it right all the time, to hate mistakes, and to think that we just HAVE TO be right. But, when we take the pressure off ourselves, faith becomes easier.

Now, let us go into your marital life. You seem to have a happy, wonderful home; the single ladies would like to know how you met your husband and how you knew that he was God’s perfect choice for you. Your personal experience.

COACH E: I met my husband serving in Winners Campus Fellowship, University of Ibadan. At the time, He was one of the Pastors and I was an Exec. In our Excos meetings, my husband would show such wisdom, especially in matters that seemed tough, and just one word from him and everything would be settled. He was and is still SO WISE and that for me was a major attraction, of course after the fact that he was really born again, and loved Jesus. Also, He was and is still extremely generous, always putting me first even back then.

At 16, I used to listen a lot to Pastor Bimbo Odukoya, and one day, inspired by the Holy Spirit, I wrote a list of the qualities I wanted in my husband, some of which included his height, and tribe (LOL), even his family background. He ticked all those boxes, but I would not have married him regardless of my list if my SPIRIT disagreed. It was a tough journey because of tribal differences, and my parents refused to give approval. I insisted and fought because I was certain I had heard from God, and I thank God they eventually accepted him. Now, they vibe so well with him, hehe.

We also had similar values back then and still do. For example, we both agreed to no sex before marriage, the number of kids – 2, the church we would attend, and more. Plus, we used to pray, study, and fast together, and we promptly submitted our relationship to Rev Femi from the start; and even today, we still carry him along our marital journey.

BLESSING: We thank God for early Christian influences on your life. It really pays to know God in our youth. I am sure our single sisters are noting, and even some married ones are taking notes. I once heard that singles spend their ‘dating’ season eating food and watching movies. But you spent yours ironing out important details that may seem little but have led to the breakup of many homes.
What is your current word for the season? What are you currently working on in your Christian race?

COACH E: I am currently ridiculously enjoying my current season which is a WAITING season and one word that is helping me navigate it is REINFORCEMENT. A waiting season can be tough and Satan will do any and everything to weaken what you are believing in, BUT I am always reinforcing myself actively by reminding myself what I know, following those that God highlights to me, and RUTHLESSLY eliminating anything that will attempt to weaken my reinforcement.

Another thing I am really working on is my character. I just want to act like a Christian in ALL THINGS whether I am being seen or not. God is taking me deeper, purifying, and refining whatever needs to be dealt with so I can be more like Him. It is painful, but I am enjoying the pain because I TRUST my FATHER!
He does all things well and never mismanages my life.

In addition, I am also intensely leaning into my home church, Daystar, and the WORD for the year is “Much Fruit”. So after every service, I sit down again with the Word and squeeze out every juice from the sermons. Right now, I am feeling my Church and Pastors so much.

BLESSING: Powerful! Waiting seasons are hard and I can relate with you, especially the ‘apparent’ uncertainty and the urge to ‘do something’ since others are doing it, but REINFORCEMENT is certainly a way to win. On sitting down with the word after church, not a lot of Christians do that, and it still baffles me when you say the pace of your life is “SLOW”, yet you are doing and achieving more than folks with “FAST” lives.
Now, let’s talk about relationships. In your relationship with people, do you have deal breakers? What makes you distance yourself from a person, teaching, or action?

COACH E: Hmm! I answer this cautiously because sometimes, God just wants people in our lives to make us more like Him, so there are people that I would not necessarily choose but I give access to a level because God wants them there.

If I may flip this, let me share the qualities I look for in people to allow them closer access and give some examples. This is not an exhaustive list.

• The ability to be corrected and not rebellious. For example, Vcaps and Blessing Umeh are prototypes here.
• People who actually apply what they learn and ask the BEST questions. Ah, here my QueenD and Toolz are prototypes
• People who are DRAMA FREE and my Bisola Kuku is QUEEN here.
• People who truly LOVE Jesus and want to obey Him and I see that in Blessing Odiaka and Yejide.
• Finally, people who know how to deal with Satan well. Hehe.

BLESSING: Knowing the purpose of relationships in our lives would definitely make us live happier lives. I am a testament to the fact that you give wonderful advice on friendships. Thank you!
What does The WILD mean to you? What has been your biggest WIN since starting The WILD?

COACH E: The WILD is a privileged assignment. I know where I am coming from, and for God to entrust this to me, BLOWS ME AWAY. I mean, this crazy girl! Ah!!! I am IN AWE daily and I am just like, “GOD help me do it well, please.”
I am also absolutely in LOVE with and so THANKFUL for the current set of Leaders. They are literally a GOD-SENT ARMY. In fact, sometimes I sit back in absolute shock, wonder, and silence… HOW DID I GET THIS BLESSEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD??? My biggest win would have to be the ability to look back and trace the hand of God through it all. I love this scripture

what mighty miracles and your power at work—just to name a few! Depths of purpose and layers of meaning saturate everything you do. Such amazing mysteries are found within every miracle that nearly everyone seems to miss. Those with no discernment can never really discover the deep and glorious secrets hidden in your ways.

Psalms 92:5‭-‬6 TPT

God’s ways are SO DEEP, so it is easy to MISS it. We need depths, slowness, and a lot of wisdom to be able to discern HIS ways because truly, depths and layers of meaning saturate everything He does. I am HUGE on strategy, but my goodness, I could NEVER have strategized this one. God’s hand all the way, and the ability and privilege to look back and see it all, makes me look ahead with so much joy, peace, and trust that no matter where HE LEADS, even if it involves laying it down, it will ultimately be a GOOD PLACE!!!

I am enjoying the ride and, of course, the bonus points of having so many sisters!

BLESSING: We enjoy it too, and our lives are living proof of God’s presence and goodness in and with us. Sisterhood is a blessing, and God is using you to redefine what it means. We are grateful to have you.
On a final note, is there any parting wisdom for us?

COACH E: I am super excited about everything God has ahead of us. I just want us to please PLUG IN and stay switched on FOR REAL! Let’s take Jesus seriously while enjoying Him, too. Let’s be quick to OBEY and make room in our lives always for fellowship, slowness, and Shabbat. A life of hurry and overwhelm should NEVER be mentioned among any of my WILD sisters.
And if you are a new WILD Sister reading this, welcome, strap yourself in, and get ready for an AMAZING WILD ride!

And oh, here are the remaining of my CORE values. Hehe (I attached the Word document here)

BLESSING: Thank you very much, Coach! It was such an incredible pleasure to interview you. God bless you!

There you have it, sisters. Now, do not say we never did anything for you. We have dished out a bomb welcome and love gift for you since we are in the season of love. Please read, share your comments, engage, and use this gift as we navigate the FULL year God has for us. God bless you!

Shalom!
Blessing
For the WILD Editorial Team