In a bustling office conference room in the heart of Victoria Island, Lagos, I found myself sitting across from Bolajo Fawehinmi, the co-founder and CEO of the innovative modelling platform RepDoor, now transitioning into the exciting new chapter known as FEW X. Bolajo’s journey unfolded as she reflected on the challenges and triumphs of pioneering a new approach in the modelling industry.
As we delved into the interview, Bolajo shared that despite the backend components—technology, business ideas, and projects—remaining consistent, the shift in the awareness of users’ needs introduced some demands. “Nothing has changed, to be honest, from the backend—the tech, the business idea or project idea. It’s still the same,” she said.
The challenge however, lay in making the technology user-friendly, especially for those not well-versed in its intricacies. Bolajo, as the founder, recognized the need to bridge the gap between tech-savvy expectations and user-friendly accessibility. “As the founder, I’m tasked with the obligation to learn it [tech] but the users aren’t tasked with that responsibility. As users, they want the easy way out of things. Our job every day is to make sure we’re making the tech—which is part of the reason for the change of name— simpler for everyone.”
The pivotal moment came with the rebranding – the evolution from RepDoor to FEW X. Bolajo explained that the name change aimed to leverage existing resources and enhance industry understanding through technology. The CEO told TechCabal, “RepDoor on its own is strictly technology. FEW X is going to be tech, education, and models advisory. This rebrand now comes with more. FEW X, gives us the ability to leverage the resources I already have as a founder” The shift positions FEW X as a subsidiary of FEW Africa – the parent umbrella for FEW Models.
The story unfolded further as Bolajo elaborated on the extensions and what users could expect. RepDoor initially focused on connecting models with agents for international placements. However, over the past 15 months, insights from the platform revealed a need for more comprehensive support. FEW X will emerge as a personalised dashboard offering progress tracking, educational resources, and direct connections to global mother management agencies.
The interview touched on the literacy gap within the industry, revealing that models needed more than just the connections to agents—they needed education about the industry.
“There was a huge [literacy gap] which I felt like models needed more than they needed to be connected with agents—they needed to understand the industry,” said Bolajo.”
The evolving industry demands and the need for constant information led to the decision to revamp the technology from RepDoor to FEW X. “Every day, the models need information to help them navigate their career. With RepDoor, we offered strictly technology and didn’t get into the nitty gritties of career development. But now, we have seen that we have to do more. We have to offer career advice, classes, seminars, and agent workshops to models, While streamlining all with technology one way or another. RepDoor, a social network platform, FEW X is going to be a growth dashboard tailored to every model’s need at each stage of their career. When our re-work is complete, what users will see is their individual progress, uploaded career classes, job castings that elevate their career, placements to reputable mother agencies.” she tells TechCabal
As Bolajo recounted RepDoor’s successes, she emphasised the positive response from agents and the significant number of models onboarded. However, she acknowledged the need to address challenges,“With the models, for the first year, we did a conference call with about 60 of them, and we got a ton of information from that. And part of the reason why we changed the name was credit to the feedback we got on the call.” This discussion turned, reception from users, would spark the transition to FEW X.
FEW X’s strategic focus for 2024 is to propel models to global recognition through the app, as Bolajo articulates, “Our mission next year with FEW X is to get the job done. The first year, we got the numbers – good for us ending the year at more than 7,000 model users and 185 management agencies. The second year, we want to get those numbers and more, connected.” Bolajo envisions FEW X bridging the gap in model-mother agent connections, eliminating the complexity of dealing with numerous super agents. In her words, FEW X becomes a “finding agent” connecting models to a singular mother agent, streamlining their representation and unburdening them from tedious renegotiations. The vision unfolds with FEW X as the catalyst for models to find their voice and propel their careers forward.
In crafting the narrative of FEW X, Bolajo’s journey emerged as a dynamic story of innovation, adaptation, and a commitment to meeting the evolving needs of the modelling industry. The transition from RepDoor to Few X became a narrative of resilience, learning from mistakes, and a visionary approach to shaping the future of model-agent interactions.
By: Tilewa Kazeem