ARINOLA ADENIYI, A TRAIL BLAZER IN THE SPA AND WELLNESS INDUSTRY- THE VENIVICI STORY

Arinola Adeniyi

 Nothing beats the feeling of fulfillment that comes with pursuing one’s vision with a passion and a tenacity of purpose. And no one understands this better than Arinola Adeniyi, the well celebrated health and well-being specialist. Fifteen years ago, when Adeniyi left her blossoming banking career, that spanned almost 16 years and veered into the beauty world, she had no inkling that she would be charting a career path for some other young female enterprenuers.

 Today, Adeniyi is a trail blazer in the health and wellness industry. She is the visionary of VENIVICI, the highbrow Spa in Lekki, Lagos, which is regarded as one of the best in the country. Her outfit provides diverse beauty and health therapies such as, body theraphy, aromatherapy, body polish, back flip, mud rap, body brushing and wrap, steam therapy, stone massage, foot detox, colonic irrigation and other body treatments that bear resemblance to  preventive health and beauty enhancement.

 Adeniyi had nursed the ambition of rising to the position of a Managing Director in the bank. So, while in the bank, she did her professional examinations and got qualified as a chartered banker. Later, she became an associate of Chartered Institute of Professional Bankers in Nigeria. Before she called it quit with her banking career,  Adeniyi became the second vice-chairman of Professional Women Banker. Although, she rose to a management position in her organisation, Adeniyi was driven by the quest to aspire for more. Invariably, her ambition of attaining the highest position in her career was thwarted by an eventual decision on her part to pursue and and walk in the reality of her vision-making an impact in people’s health and wellbeing.  

 According to Adeniyi, ”My calling to run a Spa is a vision. My experience in the banking industry was an ambition, because back then, that probably was the most popular thing. So, it only followed that it was going to be the next step to take. But along the line, I realised that God had a lot more for me to do. I found my purpose. I found my vision and I began to pursue it”, she claims. And so far, Adeniyi has no shred of regret about taking that decision.

 Quite ironically, when VENIVICI commenced operations in the late 90’s, Spa therapy was very novel in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, the practice was almost alien to the Nigerian society. But nothing could stop Adeniyi from berthing her dream. She dared to set the pace and brought with her to the industry, sound professionalism, ambiance, and ethical standards. Predictably, VENIVICI has played a significant role in the promotion of complementary therapies in Nigeria. The Spa outfit also partners with several beauty schools in Nigeria by accepting their students for industrial attachment as well as presenting papers at their graduation ceremonies. Adeniyi also mentors several young therapists. She attends several health and beauty exhibitions, to continuously update herself with the latest in the industry, which is a rapidly growing one, so as to give her clients the best.

 In Arinola’s submission, there is no better alternative to healthy living and living longer than Spa benefits.
This is because the immediate effect and the cumulative effect cannot be denied.
While stressing the inter-connectivity of the human’s body, soul and spirit, Adeniyi stresses that there is a need to service the body from time to time. “As human beings, we are three dimensional being. Man is a spirit. He has a body and a soul is also in that body. And that is where we see the man as a total being. Of course, we cannot separate one from the other. So, we help take care of the body. And there is no way it will affect body and not affect your soul. This is because when you are happy, the people around you are happy. So all the three are interrelated’, she asserts.

 Through Venivici, Adeniyi has been able to make people appreciate that complementary therapy is not frivolous. More people have also come to accept the fact that it is not just for relaxation, it is also very therapeutic. And over the years, complementary therapy has grown to become one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Every corner of the world you turn to, there is a massage going on-in the plane, in shopping mall and even, in some offices.

 Adeniyi bagged a B.Sc degree in Economics from the then University of Ife(now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) and an M. BA from the University of Lagos. She also bagged a diploma in Beauty Therapy from Ceteum Academy, London. An Associate of the Chartered Institute of Banker, Adeniyi rose to the post of Deputy General Manager in the defunct Lion Bank before she left to set up VENIVICI. She is a recipient of many prestigious awards, notable among which is the Dr. Kwame Nkruma African Leadership Awards for Excellence in Enterprise.