By: Jessica L. Dupree
Photos by Kai Tsehay
Olayinka Adeniji a young African mother immigrated from Africa to America in the early 1990s with two immaterial things – a dream and determination. They served as guiding forces to help navigate the uphill climb. In those days, severe systemic economic challenges and deep-seated patriarchal norms undermined the pursuit of better opportunities. Quality education, land, and financial capital was scarce in Nigeria for women. But hope for a better future was ten thousand miles away. A capitalist, free market economy. “The land of the free and the home of the brave” is how they branded themselves, it was The United States of America back then they welcomed immigrants seeking economic opportunity.
One look in her daughter’s eyes and she knew there would be no excuses, she knew that she would set an example through her actions, not words. When she arrived in the states it was blood, sweat, and tears. Each day she would look into her daughter’s eyes as she held her close to her heart. She was holding love within arms reach – her future, her legacy, her only daughter – Joy Martins, who she would both live and die for.
Now Martins didn’t grow up in Nigeria, but Nigeria grew up in Joy. She was raised in America but the moment she walked through her front door the world shifted – the food changed, the music changed, the language changed and the expectations changed. While countries like Ghana, Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cameroon have battled Nigeria through various ‘Jollof Rice Wars,’ the intense, ongoing cultural rivalry only deepened love for African food and culture. Martin’s love is for Nigerian Egusi soup, Efo Riro and plantains – these dishes will never escape her taste buds.
“My mother brought Nigeria with her, not just in the way she cooked or the way she spoke, but in the way she carried herself. She came to this country as an immigrant, alone in so many ways, building a life from the ground up with nothing but determination and an unshakeable sense of who she was. Watching her do that – quietly, consistently, without complaint , was my first lesson in what resilience actually looks like. Not the dramatic kind. The everyday kind. The kind that just keeps going,” Martins tells Heart & Soul.
Being raised by her mother, as an only child, meant young Joy saw everything. There was no buffer, no sibling to share the weight of witnessing what it costs to start over in a new country. She watched her mother code-switch before she even had a word for it. Watching her mother navigate spaces that weren’t built for her while she held her dignity through all of it was something Joy internalized. If her mother could arrive somewhere foreign, with no roadmap, and still build something meaningful then there was no room in her for excuses.
“I’d walk out into America and have to become someone slightly different. Not fake, just fluent. I learned how to adjust my frequency depending on the room, how to translate not just language but culture, expectation, identity. For a long time, that felt like tension. Eventually, I realized it was training,” Martins explains.
That training seeded an entrepreneurial spirit that has birthed two powerful brands. The astute businesswoman has spent the last decade of her life building her firm Joy & Co from the ground up, wearing many hats as she masterly executed leading roles in Live event production, Talent Booking, Marketing Strategy, Brand Development, and Strategic Partnerships for brands like Gillette, BET, Verizon, T-Mobile, all while having a front-row seat in the global rise of Afrobeats.
Having worked on awards shows and for entertainers in world music, Martins will tell you that the music industry is one of the most exciting yet one of the most unforgiving places you can build a career. And she learned fast.
“I spent years walking into rooms where I was the youngest person, the only woman, sometimes the only Black woman. I had to decide in real time whether I was going to shrink or stand. I chose to stand, but I won’t pretend that it was always easy. There were people who didn’t take me seriously until they had no choice but to. There were deals that fell apart. There were moments I poured everything into something and it didn’t work out the way I planned. Those moments didn’t break me, but they did change me,” she says.
And although she wouldn’t change a thing, Martin admits that there were things she wished she knew someone had told her earlier. If she could sit down as a wise woman amongst a group of young entrepreneurs thirsty for truths in business, a sneak peak at her curriculum would reveal chapters titled: Keep God in everything that you do, Know your worth and then add tax, Instincts are data, Failure is not the opposite of success and Protect your peace like it’s a business asset.
“The industry will always try to pay you less than you deserve, give you less credit than you’ve earned, and undervalue what you bring to the table. You have to be the first one to decide what you’re worth because no one is going to come and offer it to you,” she tells Heart & Soul. “And your instincts are data. Every time I ignored mine to please someone else or follow someone else’s playbook, I regretted it. Every time I trusted my gut, even when it looked crazy from the outside, it paid off. That inner voice is built from every experience you’ve ever had. Trust it.”
With ten years and counting under her belt dominating multiple industries as the powerhouse behind Joy&Co and her latest venture BRDRS – Martins has crafted innovative strategies that resonate globally and produced culturally relevant campaigns. The global CEO has proven that when African and Caribbean voices lead, the world listens. With a portfolio that bridges domestic and international markets with surgical precision, she continues to create authentic connections that drive sustainable growth.
“That’s really what everything I’ve built comes down to. I spent my whole life proving myself in spaces that weren’t designed for me, so I started designing my own. Joy & Co, BRDRS, the work I do for artists & brands, it all traces back to the same origin. A girl who watched her mother build something from nothing, and decided she would do the same. But bigger. And louder. For all of us,” she says.
Never forgetting her roots and where she came from, Nigeria became a frequent flier destination. As growing interest in African-Americans and the global diaspora grew with the rise of Genealogy research services like Ancestry.com and Henry Louis Gates docu-series ‘Finding Your Roots’ there was a desire to return home to the motherland. In December of 2019, Ghana led a major landmark campaign called ‘Year of the Return’ that attracted the African diaspora worldwide who participated in celebrations that spanned into early 2020 – it marked the 400th year since the first enslaved Africans landed in Virginia.
Both Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana are known to host the annual Detty December activations that include non-stop, high energy partying, festivities, and concerts that run from mid-December through early January. Coined in 2016, Detty December marks the peak homecoming season for the diaspora and a cultural, economic celebration. If you were in a car with Martins and she was the DJ blasting her favorite tunes, you’d hear a mixture of Afrobeats, Dancehall, and R&B with artists like Wande Coal, Asake, Ruger, Kehlani, Leon Thomas, Frank Ocean, Armanii, SZA, Isaiah Huron, Skeete and Dexta Daps.
But even with the Detty December and heightened exposure from the Year of Return, there were many issues that made travel throughout Africa’s 54 counties difficult to navigate. Issues like limited connectivity, complex visa processes and financial barriers that created road blocks for concerned travelers.
“I was trying to solve the problem of travelers having a seamless experience on the ground within certain countries like Nigeria. The main two pieces of it were connectivity and allocating funds. I knew that in order for foreign travelers to have a seamless experience, they would have to be able to connect with people, communicate effectively and spend their money more seamlessly,” Martin explains.
Home to wonders like the ancient Pyramids of Giza, the serengeti migration, the massive Victoria Falls of Zambia and Zimbabwe , and the vast Sahara Desert, Africa is one of the leading travel destinations in the world. In Nigeria, The Zuma Rock in Niger State, Agbokim Waterfalls, and Idanre Hills serve as natural, historical and cultural wonders while Harrison’s Cave in Barbados and Pitch Lake in Trinidad are major tourism attractions.
“Trips back to Nigeria made it real in a different way. When I was there, I understood something I couldn’t fully articulate growing up in America, that this culture was rich, layered, and powerful in ways the world had barely scratched the surface of. The music, the food, the sense of community, the way people showed up for each other, it wasn’t just tradition. It was infrastructure. I just needed to find a way to show the world what I already knew,” she shares.
Now an accomplished Visionary Architect, Martins is on a relentless mission to unite the world and curate unforgettable experiences. As a first generation Nigerian-America she has embraced international travel throughout the diaspora in Africa, The Caribbean Islands and The UK with a resolve to make travel seamless while incorporating live events, music, and culture.
This spring, Martins unveils her most important work to date BRDRS. BRDRS is a multi-brand travel super app ecosystem eliminating the borders and barriers that prevent seamless exploration of underserved travel markets. Through BRDRS, Martins is building borderless travel and financial infrastructure for Africa, the Caribbean, and the world’s biggest cultural gatherings – positioning these destinations as premier travel experiences while channeling economic value back into local communities.
The tech platform was founded to serve the 200+ million-strong African and Caribbean diaspora alongside international travelers. BRDRS operates through three interconnected worlds unified by one platform and one account: Detty: Come Home to Africa, Mash Up: Experience the Caribbean, and BRDRS events: Global Gatherings.
Inspired by her mother’s plight and pursuit of success, Martin continues to raise the bar and shatter glass ceilings. For More information, follow @mashup.brdrs and @detty.brdrs.
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