Speak by Tunde Oyeneyin book review

Today, we're talking all about taking chances, risks, out on a limb, opportunities, all the stuff. Keep reading to find out what book I'm talking about today. 

Hey, it's Kyla Denanyoh. Today, I'm talking about the book Speak by Tunde Oyeneyin. The book's genre is nonfiction. The theme of the book is memoir.

So, I had never heard of Tunde before. Well, correction. I didn't know I had heard of Tunde before. You know, you'll see a red car in the morning, and you see red cars for the rest of the day. That's what happened with this book. I picked it up because I was looking for books that focused on confidence, speaking out, and being true to yourself. And now I'm seeing Tunde everywhere. She has a Nike campaign. She was mentioned in the show Billion and WAGs were like, Oh, I was doing my course with Tunde. Of course, he would name-drop Tunde. She's one of the biggest Peloton instructors. I don't have a Peloton; I had no idea. 

I'm starting to see Tunde everywhere. She's popping up all over my Instagram, and so this book had a ton of different gems in it. But what I absolutely love is the fact that Tunde is constantly showing us all of the different times and opportunities where she steps up and takes a risk. When she was younger, she was overweight; she was full-figured, well-rounded, and all that. So, she took a chance and lost weight, but then she became self-conscious about her muscular arms. Now, in this day and age, everybody wants some Michelle Obama arms and some Angela Bassett arms, but they weren't a big deal back in the day. 

She discusses becoming a makeup artist and training individuals for prominent brands. She talks about mentorship, and that sparks one of my absolute favorite quotes, which is when she says, "Parenting is about service." Oh, I've never heard anyone describe parenting in a better way. This was right after she was talking about mentoring and giving back to the girls. She would teach them how to do makeup, but she would really just spend time with them. She was there as a friend and a confidant, listening to all that. 

She shares a story about mentorship, and that quote is also relevant because she discusses how there are other ways she can serve before becoming a parent. She's taking care of Caesar, her dog. She's looking after these girls while mentoring others. She's even serving herself and her community by cutting off her hair when she wants to, wearing fake locs when she wants to, doing what she wants, raising her arms, the Tunde arms, raising them, all of those things she's doing in service of other people.

And so, yes, she may not be a mother in the traditional sense of giving birth to a child, but she is still serving all these people. And I love to see it that way because parenting is very challenging, as you can't anticipate another person's needs or hunger. You can't anticipate another person's exhaustion. You can't anticipate any of that stuff. But I had never thought of it as a service. I mean, your kid pops off, I want some juice. Can I get a please? Because you are constantly serving them. 

I love that this is a memoir because I needed to know Tunde's background. I needed to know her relationship with her mother and her father. I needed to know about the brother that she lost. All of those things set us up for Tunde to take the chance to move to California, to leave Texas, and to take chances. 

Until the next book review, Kyla