Mrs. Adejumoke Anike Odulaja is a Wellness Coach. She is also a Spa business owner. She runs what has been described as one of the best Spas on the Mainland in Lagos. She is the lady behind the GoldCard Spa, Wellness & Fitness Centre at 2, Yusuf Okunade Close, Idiroko Estate, Maryland, Lagos. It is located within a serene and quiet estate opposite LASU Centre, Anthony, on Ikorodu road.
It offers various services from Gym to Weight Loss, Massage Therapy, Facials, Nail Treatment, Waxing, Makeover, Steam Tent Treatment, Pedicure/Manicure (Foot Spa), Skin Rejuvenation, Physiotherapy and many more.
“With the Spa and Gym, we are committed to helping build a Total You, Body, Mind & Spirit, through Dedication, Determination & Consistency”, explained Mrs. Jumoke Odulaja who is a widow. She will be 59 in December but she looks a lot younger than her age, because of her daily exercise.
A few days back she told City People how committed she is to helping other women (and men too) to look good and commit to healthy living. “Right now, what I am actually focused on is Spa business. I run in the Wellness & Fitness Industry. I am very, very passionate about health because I believe health is wealth.
I have seen so many things happen in my lifetime. I have seen a lot of people died carelessly. My mum died when she turned 61. That was like some 24 years ago and I still believe she should still be alive because most of her friends are still there. I come from a very Obese family. And some people will just tell you, don’t bother, a ba ola ni ile ni (we were born into wealth in our family).
The sad thing about it was that when she fell sick, that was the first time she ever stayed in the hospital bed, and if didn’t last for one week. The doctor made us understand that they could not locate her veins. They were really searching for her veins. If she had not been so Obese, maybe, just maybe something could have been done to save her life. At the end of the day, in less than 1 week she passed. It was a highly devastating period for us because at the time she passed was the period we needed a motherly love. Even though I was married that was when you needed motherly love and care most, so, I just told my siblings I said do you know that if mum hadn’t been so big maybe, just maybe, she could have been saved by the doctors.
There and then, I told everyone that we needed to watch our weight. We don’t have to say simply because you come from an Obese family, we all have to be very big. That made me go too deep into this wellness industry. I also partner with other big organisations to know what and what to use when you want to drop your weight. For instance, I am a business owner with Forever Living Product. I know what to take. I know how to manage myself.
I know that I am from an Obese family, so I get to watch what I eat and I exercise a lot, even though I still believe that I am on the big side. But I tend to want to manage myself. That spurred me to go deep into wanting to make something out of it, not just doing it for myself, but for other people to benefit from it.
When I first started the Wellness, honestly, you won’t believe it, I bought so many equipment worth millions and I was using it for me, myself and I. A friend of mine (she is late now) came and said Jumoke, it seems you are getting it wrong. How can you buy this for yourself alone? And I paid someone to come around to do massage for me and to take me up with Aerobics classes and we worked out together and I paid the person at the end of the day. She said you can make money out of these things. I said okay. Fine. So, I started to learn more.
Then, I had my office at the Onipanu area of Lagos. Every month, I give health talks. I invited people to come and talk about health. We pick a topic and we talk about it. I did a free medical check-up for everybody that comes in. We take their Blood Pressure to make sure they are free to exercise. I check their blood sugar. I check their BMI, the level of fat in their body, all free, once in a month at Onipanu. We were on a very big floor. We had a lot of space there. The Gym was actually moving.
At the end of the day, I realised that the class of people that I wanted to attract to my spa were not coming. A few came. But the classy people I had as friends will just say Jumoke, that the Onipanu area is too noisy and rough. There are area boys around there.
They made jest of me that I am the area mother of all the area boys in that neighbourhood. So, I am used to them. So they stopped coming. The Spa was not doing well and it was not making me happy.
So, an opportunity came up here for me to open up. I got a place here in this estate and I moved in.
On the day of the opening, all those I invited were so happy. We just opened here, early in the year. I think end of February or early March. They will all said this is just it. This is the kind of place they want. I am quite happy with the location. We are trying to work hard to make out good, better and our Best Best. We are dedicated to improving other peoples health.
I have realised that a lot of people are gone. Some due to act of God, a lot out of carelessness. People slump and die. A lot of people don’t check their BP. A lot of people are not exercising. Some don’t know what to eat. A lot of people are not eating right. I used to ask my members what are you doing with beef when you have passed the age of 40? People eat Eba, Yam and such.
A lot of people don’t have the kind of nutrients they are supposed to get to give them Good Health. So they need supplements. You need to keep checking so many things about yourself. We females spend a lot on Aso-Ebi. During this Covid period, I began to ask myself: what have I gained from all these stupid things we are acquiring, when we can’t even spend N100,000 on your health. My message to many is: You have to stop that sickness before that sickness stops you. And it is not every time you run to the doctor, you must be your own doctor.
You must be able to study your own body system and know exactly what is wrong with you. My message to everyone is that you must be intentional about your health. You have to give your health priority. There are things you need to do. Not a doctor doing it for you. A good bed cannot give you a good sleep unless you decide to sleep.
It is when you are healthy that you can say you can do so many things. So, I decided to dedicate myself to okay, Jumoke, this is what I want for myself. I have to prioritise what I want. So, I started working out. I started cutting down my calories. Behold, I am better off for it.
I agitate about people having sound health. Most of the time, it is not about the money I want to make out of it. But it pains me so much when people just suddenly pass on. My husband’s death also taught me a big lesson. My husband passed on some 6 years ago. He was a sportsman.
At least he played his game 3 times in a week, which made him to be very good. His game is Table Tennis. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t smoke. He stopped eating beef since he turned 40 years. And he passed at the age of 59. I was like see, this is a man, even with all the righteousness he put into it, he just slumped like that and died, then, we need to watch our health.
I realised at the end of the day, he must have overstretched himself in doing the game. Your body will always tell you when you are doing something you are not supposed to do. The body will always give you a signal. So slow down. But we tend to always ignore that signal.
So, we give health talks. We tell them what is good to eat. We want everybody to live in sound health.
This is why we are propagating the Gospel of sound Health, Body and Mind. We want people to know that we care about their health.
