Tobi Eyinade perhaps is no stranger to lovers of literature in Nigeria especially literature of Nigerian origin and beyond. She is the founder of Roving Heights. Roving Heights is an online book distribution company providing books to its customers all over the country.
Born in 1992, Tobi is an alumnus of the Obafemi Awolowo University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language. She is also an indigene of Oyo state.
Before setting up Roving Heights, she has worked extensively as a writer for Insidify Nigeria while also taking a writing position at Ventures Africa. She also had a brief stint with Philips Consulting before leaving to found Roving Heights.
Since the inception of Roving Heights, it has fostered a better reading culture among youths especially in Nigeria. However, the book store has a book for everyone regardless of age and taste.
The company has managed to leverage both traditional and new media means to make books more accessible to book enthusiasts and reluctant readers in Nigeria.
For Tobi, it all started in 2015 after resigning from a short stint as a content writer for a blog of a jobsite company. According to her she has always been deeply fascinated by books especially African literature and the observance of the dismal interest with which books are treated in general amongst her peers while growing up.
Having identified a problem, she took it upon herself to channel her passion into finding long lasting solutions. Some of the problems she identified include, the supply chain for book being stunted, books being hardly accessible and the perception that Nigerians do not read. She also observed that apart from the pacesetters series and a few popular African Writers Series titles still in circulation, there was barely much excitement about contemporary African Literature. This need to address some of these challenges and bring good books closer to those interested in reading, gave rise to Roving Heights in August 2015.
Now, Roving Heights sell books that cut across genres to the growing number of book lovers in Nigeria. They also do distribution of books across Nigeria. This helps self-published authors get their book across to their audience by leverage existing traditional modes, e-commerce and new media outlets.
Since its inception in 2015, the compay has been growing in leaps and bounds. Not only has the team grown, Roving heights has also earned the loyalty of customers who have now turned crusaders of the Roving Heights Brand. The company is making profit and with the support of a rich team of advisors exploring other possible opportunities, things are really looking promising. Looking at the fact that Amazon started as a book distribution company, the potentials of Roving Heights is unfathomable.
However, like every other business, Roving Heights has its own peculiar challenges. The notable ones include reaching and engaging a widertarget audience due to the virtual state of the company. However, things are looking up and look promising.
Tobi who enjoys Leisure reading, travelling, attending live concerts and stage, performances and cooking has been largely recognized for her work has she has won the Grill and Read 2017 Readers’ Person of the Year and also making the 2017 SME100 Nigeria’s 25 Under 25 awards long list.
If she ever wants to divest from books, she sees herself opening a gift shop!
I need Femi Adesanya story about the former president of Nigeria urgent.
Looking forward to reply.