Age: 23 | Height: 5’5″ | Calgary, AB
Olawumi Adeniyi was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta on June 19th, 1987. Her parents and three older siblings immigrated to the USA before settling in Calgary.
Olawumi is the only 1st generation Nigerian-Canadian in her immediate family. She is a 3rd year business student pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resources at Mount Royal University.
Olawumi has been involved with performing arts since the age of 4 when she began dancing in cultural shows with the Nigerian Canadian Association of Calgary Children’s Dance group.
From there, she became involved in other dance styles such as Hip Hop and various Caribbean dance styles including Soca and Dancehall. I
n 2006, Olawumi became a member of Cstylz Dance Crew, a local group based in Calgary. With Cstylz, Olawumi travelled to Los Angeles to compete in the World Hip Hop Competition where they represented one of three Canadian dance groups and competed against groups from over 30 countries around the world.
Later that year, Olawumi created a cultural dance group called Amara Ijo. Her group has performed at many local events in Calgary including Afrikadey, Nigerian Independence & Gala Night, Black History Month Celebrations at the University of Calgary, as well as City TV’s Breakfast Television Show.
In addition to performing, Olawumi enjoys listening to music, cooking, reading, traveling, shopping, and playing sports. She was a member of various sports teams in Junior High & High school, including basketball, soccer, volleyball, track & field, wrestling and rugby. Her favourite foods are ice cream cake, seafood, and hot wings.
Sponsored by: Family and Friends
Languages spoken Fluently (please include your native language if English is not your native language)
English and Yoruba
What would be your “dream job” in life?
I would love to be a travelling news reporter (like Anderson Cooper from CNN). It would be an amazing experience to be live at the scene of major world events and be able to give feedback and reports on the action to the rest of the world from my point of view.
List any interesting or unusual jobs you may have had.
My first job was at the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede as a Sanitary Engineer (that’s the nice way of saying I picked up garbage for 10 days). I was 12 years old and I worked on a team of seven. We all had to wear bright yellow uniforms and we picked up garbage and animal feces from the grounds.
Where is the most interesting place you have been?
When I was 7 years old my mom, sister, and I were travelling to Nigeria and had a 2-day layover in Amsterdam. We had travelled before, but this was the first trip I could remember vividly. Everything was so different from Calgary, I felt like I was in a movie. I’ve always said I would like to go back and visit Amsterdam as an adult so I can get the full experience and actually go out and do things. I would really like to visit the Anne Frank exhibit in the house she lived in.
What is your philosophy of/in life?
One of my philosophies in life is perseverance. When I was 12, my older brother gave me a picture of a man playing piano. The picture has a quote by Samuel Johnson that says “great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance”. I truly believe that hard work and diligence is more valuable and admirable than physical strength, and I keep this in mind when I’m faced with tasks that feel impossible. That picture has been hanging on my wall ever since.
