ÉMI
EH-me — me. I am. the self.
I think in rooms most people don't enter.
I analyze before I feel... and feel more deeply than I ever show.
I am precise. I am perceptive.
I am intuitive in ways that have never failed me...
except when I chose not to listen.
I am an open book...
but only to the chapters I wish to reveal.
American-born. Yoruba-rooted. Interfaith by inheritance. My father Muslim, my mother Christian. I have never had to choose between them. I don't choose between things. I hold them both.
I was born on February 29th. A day that arrives once every four years. In between months. In between seasons. That has always been my natural habitat… the in-between. I have never fully belonged to one place, one identity, one definition. And I stopped trying ages ago.
Professional Biography
I am a designer of places, experiences, and stories.
For more than three decades, my work has lived at the intersection of architecture, hospitality, branding, publishing, and cultural storytelling. Through all of it, I have been drawn to the same question:
How should this feel?
It shapes the way I approach architecture, the way I curate experiences, the way I build brands, and the way I tell stories.
The first expression of that philosophy became IJORERE, the luxury design service I founded in 2008. What began with bespoke invitation design became a vehicle for creative expression, storytelling, and experience design.
At the time, I was working as an architect and Regional Accessibility Officer for the federal government, a role I held for nearly six years. My work involved reviewing facilities, interpreting standards, and helping shape more inclusive built environments. While the work was technical, it reinforced something I have always believed: good design is not only about how something looks, but how people experience it.
In May 2013, I took a leap of faith into full-time entrepreneurship. I opened a dedicated event venue where my work expanded into creative direction, event design, hospitality, and the curation of weddings, celebrations, corporate gatherings, and immersive experiences from concept through execution.
In 2026, IJORERE entered its next chapter. Drawing upon my first love, architecture… I reimagined the company as a global design house, bringing together the disciplines that have shaped my career for more than thirty years: architecture, interiors, branding, hospitality, experiences, and storytelling under a single creative vision.
Today, that same foundation extends across several ventures: Living In Kigali, the media platform I acquired in 2023 and transformed into one of Rwanda's leading lifestyle and culture resources; Jollof'Appétit, which explores food, culture, and connection through curated experiences; Wasimi Villas, the first sustainable wellness estate of its kind in Rwanda, located on the shores of Lake Muhazi; and my work as an author, where I explore identity, reinvention, and human connection through books, essays, and long-form storytelling.
I am less interested in categories than in creating meaningful experiences. Whether designing a home, a retreat, a publication, a brand, a destination, or a gathering, my role is often the same: to see the larger vision, shape the concept, and bring together the people and ideas needed to make it real.