Living and Leading with Impact | Miracle Olatunji, Founder of OpportuniMe Can I Laugh On Your Shoulder?

There is nothing more encouraging to me than seeing young people making a difference and pursing entrepreneurship; being the change-makers. They push me to do more and be better. My guest today is an incredibly inspiring young leader named Miracle Olatunji. Miracle is an entrepreneur, international speaker, and the author of the book, “Purpose: How to Live and Lead with Impact.” In high school (yes, high school), she founded OpportuniMe, an education startup that connects high school youth to summer experiential-learning opportunities for passion, career, and self-discovery. Miracle is absolutely that. She is an incredibly inspiring young leader and you’re going to love my conversation with her today!
2:27 - The Miracle 101
Miracle’s story starts before she was born. The fact that Miracle is alive today is exactly why she got her name. When Miracle’s mother was pregnant, she started having premature contractions and doctors told her that the changes of her baby surviving prematurely were pretty much non-existent. Despite that grim statement, Miracle was born full-term and healthy. Her path to entrepreneurship started in a program called The Diamond Challenge, a entrepreneurship contest for high school students. Miracle decided to try it out and pitched an idea with her friends. That experience gave her the confidence to never limit herself based on her age, gender, or anything else. Through the Diamond Challenge, Miracle started her first organization, OpportuniMe. OpportuniMe helps people realize and reach their full potential through connection to opportunities and resources to explore different career paths and connect with other young people. Miracle’s first book “Purpose” was published in the summer of 2019. 4:25 – The Diamond Challenge
The Diamond Challenge that Miracle participated in is a competition run through the University of Delaware but is specifically for high school students. The program gives students access to video courses about entrepreneurship and the process of turning an idea into reality. There are two tracks to the competition, the business side and the social enterprise side. Various colleges, high schools, and churches all over the world host “pitch sites.” Students can also pitch their ideas virtually. Miracle participated in the follow up event after the Diamond Challenge. While in her first year at the follow-up event, she was inspired by the closing keynote speaker who said that one of the key parts of entrepreneurship is solving problems. When she returned to school in the fall and talked about her experience with the Diamond Challenge, she realized how many of her peers didn’t know about the opportunities out there for them or that these programs existed. Miracle learned that your passion must be cultivated. It doesn’t fall from the sky and into your lap. She knew her peers simply didn’t have the same access to opportunities that open the doors to interests and passions. 9:05 – OpportuniMe
Miracle started OpportuniMe when she was just 17 years old. Since then the biggest lesson she’s learned is the power of her mindset. She didn’t know a lot in the beginning. She had to work on herself push through the fear of rejection when starting things she’d never done before. She realized that if you don’t ask for anything, you don’t even have the opportunity for a “yes”, “no”, or “not right now.” Miracle is realizing now in college, that many college students are experiencing the same feelings of trying to discover what they are passionate about and that they are also trying to find purpose. She has extended the mission beyond high school students to also include people who are going to be entering the workforce soon, are entering it now, or have been in it for a few years. 15:37 – Purpose: How to Live and Lead with Impact
At the start of the new year in 2018, Miracle made a vision board. She researched about visualizations and how thi