Olayinka Mordi: Building Businesses, Shaping Spaces, Creating a Legacy

Some people build businesses around what they know. Others build from what they love, what they notice, and the problems they believe they can solve. Olayinka Mordi has built a journey that brings together creativity, entrepreneurship, faith, and a desire to make a difference in the lives of others.

From transforming spaces through Querida Living to stepping into paint manufacturing with Qpaints, her journey reflects a willingness to learn, take risks, and grow beyond what she initially imagined. Beyond business, she is also a pastor, author, and counsellor, with a heart for helping people grow into who they are meant to be.

In this conversation with Nigeria Business Info (NBI), Olayinka talks about the experiences that shaped her, the thinking behind her businesses, the lessons of building in Nigeria’s built environment, and the legacy she hopes to leave behind.



NBI: Before we talk about the businesses and everything you have built, who is Olayinka Mordi when there is no title attached to her name? What are the things that matter most to the woman behind the entrepreneur?

Olayinka: I am simply Olayinka. I am a woman who loves God, loves her family and genuinely loves people. I am curious, creative and always looking for ways to make things better. I care about impact more than titles.

I am also a woman who is still growing. I have made mistakes, learned from them, changed my mind, started again and kept moving. Beyond business, what matters to me is my relationship with God, my family, raising my children well, helping people become better versions of themselves and living a life that has meaning.

NBI: You have taken quite an interesting journey through different seasons of life. When you look back at the girl you were, what parts of her personality do you recognise most strongly in the woman you are today?

Olayinka: I still see the same girl who was curious, creative and willing to try things. I have always been someone who doesn’t just accept things as they are. If I see something that can be done better, I naturally want to improve it.

I was also quite determined. I may not have always known exactly where I was going, but I have always had this inner belief that I could figure things out. That part of me is still very much alive today.

The difference is that life has taught me patience, wisdom and responsibility. I have learned that being strong doesn’t mean having everything figured out. Sometimes it means being willing to learn, start again and keep going.

NBI: Your mother played an important role in shaping your appreciation for beautiful spaces. What do you remember most about her influence, and what did you learn from her that you still carry into your life and work today?

Olayinka: My mother helped me appreciate beauty in everyday things. I remember how much attention she gave to the home and how the little details mattered to her. It taught me that your environment affects how you feel.

I think that is one of the reasons interior design eventually became more than just a business for me. I understood that a beautiful and well-thought-out space can change how people experience their lives.

From her, I also learned to pay attention to details and to take pride in whatever I am doing. I still carry that with me today.

NBI: There was a point when you had your own home after marriage and began experimenting with spaces simply because you enjoyed it. What was it about that experience that made you realise there might be something more here?

Olayinka: Honestly, I was just having fun with my own home. I would move things around, change colours, try different arrangements and experiment with the space. I wasn’t thinking about starting a business at the time.

But people started noticing. Friends and people around me would ask who designed my home or ask me to help them with their spaces. That was when I started thinking, “Maybe there is actually something here.”

I realised that something I naturally enjoyed could solve a real problem for other people. That was the beginning of my journey into interior design.

NBI: When you founded Querida Living in 2017, what did you want the company to become, and how different is that original vision from what Querida is today?

Olayinka: When I started Querida Living in 2017, I wanted to create beautiful spaces. That was the simple idea at the beginning.

But as we grew, I realised that people don’t just need beautiful spaces. They need someone who can understand their lifestyle, their needs, their budget and their vision, and then take responsibility for bringing everything together.

Today, Querida has grown into much more than interior decoration. We are involved in design, construction and project management, and we are becoming more of a complete built-environment company.

The vision has not really changed; it has expanded. I still want to transform lives through spaces that inspire, but I now understand that transformation requires more than aesthetics. It requires good planning, execution, systems and people who know what they are doing.

NBI: Querida has grown beyond interior design into construction and project management. What have you learnt about the Nigerian built environment that has fundamentally changed the way you approach your work?

Olayinka: I have learned that design is actually one of the easier parts. Execution is where many of the problems are.

The Nigerian built environment can be very fragmented. You can have a good designer, but if the artisans are not properly managed, the procurement is poor or the project is not properly supervised, the final result can suffer.

I have therefore become much more intentional about processes, project management, quality control, procurement and accountability.

I have also learned that you cannot build a serious company around improvisation. If you want to grow, you need systems, good people and clear standards.

NBI: What do you believe makes a Querida space different? Beyond aesthetics, what are you trying to create for the person who eventually lives or works in that space?

Olayinka: For me, a Querida space should feel like the person who owns it.

We don’t just want to put beautiful things together. We want to understand the person, how they live or work, what they value and what they want the space to communicate.

I want our spaces to be beautiful, functional and intentional. I want someone to walk into a Querida space and feel, “This makes sense for me.”

Ultimately, we are creating spaces that improve people’s everyday experience. That is what I believe makes the work meaningful.

NBI: Qpaints represents another major step in your journey, moving from designing spaces to creating one of the materials that helps shape them. What did you see in the market that convinced you there was an opportunity worth building?

Olayinka: Qpaints came from a problem I had already experienced through interior design.

I saw a gap between very expensive paint brands and products that were affordable but did not always deliver the quality people expected. I thought there had to be a middle ground: a paint that gives people good quality, good coverage and a beautiful finish without making it unnecessarily expensive.

Because I was already working in the built environment, I understood the importance of paint and how much it contributes to the final look of a space.

So I decided to move from simply using the product to creating the product. It was a risk, but I believed there was a real market for a quality Nigerian paint brand that could eventually compete beyond Nigeria.

NBI: You are also a pastor, author and counsellor, and much of your work involves helping women navigate marriage, identity, purpose and personal growth. How have those experiences shaped the way you lead, build and relate with people in business?

Olayinka: My work with people has taught me that everyone has a story.

That has made me more conscious about how I lead. I have learned not to judge people only by their performance or by one mistake they have made. I try to understand people, but I also believe strongly in accountability.

Being a pastor and counsellor has also taught me to listen. In business, that matters because leadership is not only about giving instructions. You have to understand your people, communicate clearly and sometimes help people see possibilities in themselves that they cannot yet see.

It has also strengthened my sense of purpose. I don’t want to build businesses just to make money. I want to build organisations that create opportunities, develop people and solve real problems.

NBI: Finally, when you think about the next ten years, what are you building towards? What would you love to look back on and say, “I am glad I had the courage to build this”?

Olayinka: Over the next ten years, I want to build businesses that can stand without me having to personally hold everything together.

I want Querida to become a respected name in the built environment, known for quality, creativity, professionalism and excellent execution. I also want Qpaints to grow into a strong Nigerian paint brand that can compete at a much larger level.

But beyond the businesses, I want to build people. I want to create opportunities for young people, mentor women and contribute meaningfully to the development of my community and the industries I operate in.

When I look back, I don’t just want to say, “I built successful businesses.” I want to say, “I had the courage to start, the courage to learn, the courage to change direction when necessary, and the courage to build something that outlived me.”

That would mean a lot to me.