Standing apart from others is not the same as being outstanding. Consider a corporate amazon like Yemisi Edun, the delectable and brainy MD/CEO of First City Monument Bank (FCMB). Despite being so impressive at her job as the leader of a rising institution, Edun is warm enough to draw people close. At her recent 60th birthday party, this became very obvious.
Many things about Edun distinguish her from her peers. First, despite being 60, she could be mistaken for a 40-something-year-old lady. And she did not have to travel to India to meet some beauty guru. Her beauty is natural, inside and outside, reinforcing her charm and magnetic presence.
Secondly, Edun’s mind is special. Nothing has made this more obvious than the level of finesse she currently wields as she pilots FCMB to greatness. Since taking over the bank’s leadership as MD/CEO in 2021, industry breakthroughs have become as every day as dinner, earning her cheers from board members and staff, customers and onlookers.
Together, these two points lend Edun her magnetic personality, one that she wielded when she recently invited Nigerians to her 60th birthday celebration. Even though it was a high-octane shindig, the guests were warm and the hostess was warmer, sharing glass clinks and short, funny stories with her happy invitees.
Looking at Edun’s smiling face, one struggles to believe that she is 60 or that she climbed the corporate ladder through sheer grit. This now-seeming soft woman is the same that started an arduous career in 1987, intent on riding on the back of corporate finance and succeeding due to diligence and well-timed choices.
Edun remains a bright star in a sky full of twinkling lights. It is no coincidence that her birthday almost matches International Women’s Day. She is an exceptional industry leader, one who accompanied the emergence of an era of graceful leadership in Nigeria’s banking sector.
