Ayo Mairo-Ese (nee Thompson) is a multiple award-winning Broadcaster, Event Compere and Public Speaker.
She was the co-host of the widely acclaimed breakfast show on Smooth 98.1FM ‘Smooth Breakfast”.
She began her career in media on TV with Cool TV in 2014 as a co-host on the popular talk show ‘The Blog’. As part of her duties, she produced content for the daily show.
She went on to co-host a daily news and lifestyle program ‘Hello Nigeria’ on the same TV station (rebranded as WazobiaMax TV) where she had the opportunity to engage notable guests – thought leaders, captains of industry and other local and international high-profile guests.
She has had the privilege of interviewing CNN’s Richard Quest, Hollywood Actor, Eric Roberts, International Gospel Artistes Don Moen, Travis Greene, Sonnie Badu and Nathaniel Bassey. In addition, she has been privileged to interview Dr Frederick Faseun, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, Tonye Cole (Co-Founder Sahara Energy), Tara Fela-Durotoye and Ade Bakare.
Furthermore, in radio broadcasting, Ayo co-hosted the primetime Breakfast Show on 99.3, Nigeria Info FM ‘Morning Crossfire’ (a 5-hour interactive daily show discussing a cocktail of topical issues including Politics, Economics, Social Issues, as well as Life and Style, with audience engagement).
In 2016, Ayo won The Future Awards Africa Prize for On Air Personality of the year (Radio), the ELOY award for TV Presenter of the year and the 19ROM (Role Model) Awards for TV Presenter of the year.
As an Event Host, Ayo has hosted big-budget events and productions including the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) Awards, Access Bank / Diamond Bank Brand Identity Launch, Annual UBA CEO Awards, Stanbic IBTC’s Arts and The Acts Event (for High Networth Clients), Arise Women’s Conference, Stanbic IBTC Young Leadership Series and the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Awards.
Right now, she’s the hottest female MC, hosting events, back-to-back. She was in Dubai recently to host Mrs. Ibukun Awosika’s International Women Leadership Conference. City People’s Contributing Editor, IYABO OYAWALE recently caught up with her and she spoke about her life and job. Enjoy it!
You recently hosted the International Women Leadership Conference in Dubai, how was the experience like because from you, I got to know it was your first international event as a compere physically.
You know the world has changed as we know it, I’ve had the opportunity to compere international events virtually but this was the first one in which I could physically travel to another country. It was a phenomenal experience. It was an experience not to be forgotten, it was also an opportunity to open more doors in the area of hosting events and see the possibilities that exist in this industry.
If you were not in the talking business, what would you have been doing?
If I was not in the talking business, I would have ended up in politics, even though that involves talking to some extent. I studied International Relations for my first degree and actually started in politics for a bit and I was told to study International Relations to give me a broader perspective and option. Politics is often done by people who didn’t get their original desire but I genuinely was interested in politics and governance. I also have a background in not-for-profit. I love to work with young people, women empowerment, upskilling, promoting job creation, that’s my passion. So, somehow, I’d be in administration.
Does that explain why you love women empowerment?
Absolutely. I love working with women and I’ve found myself working with women. I love to see women thrive and it’s really a joy for me.
So, how did this presenting thing start?
I didn’t go into it with the full intention to go into broadcasting. I just had a flair for it, right from childhood and that’s why I tell parents to help their children nurture the things they like doing. I used to present in church on special occasions, like the Father’s Day and as I grew older, when I went to University, I realized people were willing to pay for such services, I got hooked. Someone actually invited me to host her wedding and was willing to pay! I earned about 300 pounds for my first official engagement and I was like this is not bad as side income. So, when I moved back to Nigeria, I was willing to explore that part of me, from TV to radio and that’s how I got in there but I still continued hosting events and that part of my life grew with referrals.
Which year did you return to Nigeria?
2013.
You grew up abroad?
I grew up in Nigeria but went to University in Wales in the UK.
You won 3 awards for both radio presentation and TV presentation in 2016, how did those awards make you feel?
Wow, number one was that, especially for radio, I wasn’t expecting it. We were nominated and we had to defend our nomination by going through a rigorous process. It was an honour. It was an unexpected honour. It validated the hard work that I’d poured into my work. I also celebrate the grace of God upon my life as I hold my faith dearly. For me, it was surreal. I remember that day I got notification that I’d won the Future Awards, my friend, Bodam took me to lunch celebrate. I then got another phone call that I’d won another award while still celebrating. I’m grateful to the Lord for these awards as they give me the opportunity to be a role model to other young girls. I think it also exposed me as more people have approached me. For me, it’s not just about the awards but people who see me and say “if Ayo can do this, I can too.”
So, how did you get into Cool TV then, which is now WazobiaMaxTV?
Thank you very much and I also want to thank you for the questions because it really shows you did justice to my profile.
I did. I did.
When I moved back, I did whatever my hand could find until a friend told me she’d just gotten a job at Cool TV. I’d also seen the job advert and applied but I didn’t get a reply. I didn’t know thousands had applied but my friend told me she was in the content department and she could talk to them to give me an opportunity. I was like fine. So, she referred me and they called me for a screen test. At the time, they had a show coming up which had 4 women as presenters and they needed one more woman. I think one person had dropped off the show because they’d finished recruiting. So, when I got in there, I did the screen test and I was told the MD really like how I looked and presented on screen. Thereafter, I went for an interview with him and he was quite impressed. He really liked the fact that I had a background in International Relations. The AIM Group of Companies is the owner of Cool FM, WazobiaFM, NigeriaInfo FM and they were branching into TV which was Cool TV then. So, the first day I started work on TV, radio had a vacancy on NigeriaInfo FM and the MD said he’d interviewed me and since I had a background in International Relations, they should put me on air. The programme was a current affairs programme and that’s how I started work on TV and radio on the same day and I haven’t looked back since then.
Interesting story. What about Smooth FM because you were with Valentine Ohu at a time?
After I got married, I felt the need for a change. I’m grateful to Cool TV and WazobiaMaz TV for the opportunity to work. But after a while in a place, you feel the need to grow, so, I was actually poached by a number of organizations including TVC but we didn’t come to an agreement but Plus TV came and I resigned from WazobiaMax TV to interview with them. So, I got to Plus TV and it wasn’t really what I liked so I decided to take a break. While on that break, I travelled with my husband on holiday and I got in contact with Folu Storms, the previous host and she asked if I was interested and I said yes. So, when I was on holiday, I got a phone call from the Manager and we did the interview on WhatsApp. When I got back, I got to meet the MD and I spent over 2 years, working with Valentine Ohu.
How was growing up for you?
There are many aspects to my growing up and I want to really talk about the role my mum played when we were growing up. My dad wasn’t very present but my mum raised us in a loving and wonderful way. She made us dream that nothing was impossible for us to achieve. She made our childhood very funny. My mum was an intentional parent. Born Muslim, we were raised in a Christian setting, with the fear of God. We were raised to find our voice and own our voice. Our house was always full, our mum taught us to share and be content with what we had. I was a science student. I was head girl in primary school and prefect in secondary school. I finished as the best science student and I was going to study Medicine but I told my mum I couldn’t do it because I wanted to dress well like my mum who’s a working woman and I heard that Doctors only wear white overalls (laughs). As a science student, I loved reading and I did Literature in my School leaving certificate. I got the permission of the school authorities to drop geography for Literature. So, we (myself and a colleague) were the only science students that did Literature. I also did Economics so I was able to change to Arts.
You also left Smooth, what’s the next project?
Okay, I can share some bits. The truth is that I felt it was time to move on, just as I felt in WazobiaMaz TV then. I’m very big about growth, I’m also a loyal person and I always stay the course in any organization I work in. The minimum is 2 years after that time; I felt the need to move. Hosting also became lucrative and more people were asking for me to host their events and it was clashing terribly with work. So, I was using all my leave days to work and it was an early morning shift I was running. So, Smooth is in VI and the event could be in Ikeja. I’ll finish work and be running and the event planner is calling to ask where I am. I’ll do my makeup by 5 am, my makeup artiste will meet me at work to do a touch up. I’ll be reading before the event, it was tough. I had to make the difficult decision to quit. I had to evaluate whether I could survive on this, without a regular income. Y husband encouraged me and felt it was time to expand. I have a wonderful supportive husband and the joy of work is to come home to my husband. He really helped me. He’s my unofficial manager. Without his encouragement, I wouldn’t have left. It’s difficult to leave the known for the unknown. During COVID, I was earning even though I wasn’t working and during COVID, no one was calling me to host events. But, I left Smooth FM and still do freelance work in radio and TV but not the 9 to 5. I basically do pre-recorded shows. My husband and I set up a production and Media Company and our services range from reputation management to producing events to equipment hire in addition to hosting events.
You’ve been married for 5 years, how has marriage been?
I’m so grateful to God for my marriage. Of course, nothing is perfect but my husband is a solid man. It’s good to marry a solid man and he’s happy to see me succeed, just as I’m happy to see him succeed. I thank God for the man that he is.
